#i am in Rome and probably will not be online as much to remove the double tags

[gammija]

@a-mag-a-day

I would also like to murder a whole hotel one day

[darkwing-katy]

I…can live with that, I guess? Thoughts on Evil’s final episode under the cut (aka SPOILERS)

-I’m sad in general that this show is ending and it will take me forever to recover from this show in the best way

-I guess my dream where I shoved Leland into a bathroom to keep him alive kinda worked???

-the main trio reliving their cases as they burn them was fucking adorable

-I’m gonna miss those girls so much

-the fuck are we gonna do about Lexis???? She seemed normal this season but, like, she had fangs and a tail and was born from a place tainted with demonic stuff. I wanna know how that resolves.

-okay so I guess since Timmy was baptized he can’t be the Antichrist? They were just gonna pivot and make another one? That’s fun.

-the sheer bureaucracy of the online meeting of the 60 had me cackling. “Norm. You’re muted.”

-NORM. IT’S THE BUTTON SHAPED LOKE A LOZENGE poor Leland has to deal with so much shit with these incompetent demons

-“you’ve protected Kristen for four years, Leland.” Uhm. What? He’s been protecting her? Why????? I NEED MORE OF THIS EXPLAINED TO ME????? It can’t just be the whole mother of the Antichrist thing, right???? THERE’S MORE TO IT.

-all things considered, I firmly believe Leland would not have actually killed Timothy. I dunno why; I can’t explain it. But I don’t think he’d do it. Not after that nice little drop of David’s goodness in him.

-Leland putting in earphones while creeping into the house to murder Kristen?? And singing and bopping along in the basement? Iconic. Iconic and adorable. I love him. I have a problem, I know.

-I WAS TRYING NOT TO FREAK OUT WHEN SHE CAME AT HIM WITH THE CORD (“oh shit, guess the bathroom didn’t work after all” was what I told my husband)

-but also the hilarious irony of Kristen strangling him with a red cord like that when that’s how Michael Emerson’s character kills John Locke in LOST???? Like I was stressing but also giggling like a psycho

-the reveal of the meaning behind the countdown was so on point for this show. This fucking show. (What about the bricks, though? Why did they want people to remove the bricks in Kristen’s basement?????)

-DAVID I DON’T THINK LOCKING HIM IN A CABINET IS ANY BETTER THAN STRANGULATION WITH A CORD???? IS HE JUST GONNA ROT IN THERE????

-(okay but all things aside, Leland technically didn’t die on screen and I love to imagine that he was released somehow) (o shit did I just come up with another fic idea????)

-FENNA!!!!!! FENNAAAAAAA!!!! THAT LIL SHOULDER BUMP!!!!!!!

-Kristen’s Dutch counterpart convincing her to move???? Wonderful

-Kristen and David in Rome??? With the girls and Timmy? And cool Italian sunglasses? Wonderful. 10/10. They get to be together but David doesn’t have to choose between her and God. Sure, there’s still sexual tension, but, they’re TOGETHER and not all meaningful relationships have sex as an active component

-BEN SHOULD HAVE GONE WITH THEM AND I STAND BY THIS

-THAT ENDING???? And the fact that Katja decided that was how Kristen should react on the fucking day of filming???? 10/10 no notes, only undeniable curiosity as to what would happen if we miraculously got a season 5

-that cliffhanger is satisfying but also I need a season five. And six. And seven eight nine.

Anywho. That’s, uh, about where I am right now. I’m extremely sad. I ate sushi and ice cream and it helped until it didn’t. I’m gonna continue rewatching the whole dang thing. I’m gonna finish rewriting my Leland fic. I might actually make the shirt I was joking about in an earlier post. Hell, I think the idea of a circle skirt with the map of the different demonic sigils would be amazing. And then I’m probably gonna wanna write more fanfic because I’m still in denial that it’s actually over.

But hey! In my head, Leland is not dead! That’s a win!!! Good job, Dream Kate! You sorta succeeded in protecting your favorite character!

[my-shields-are-down]

Take the Long Way Home…

*** NOTE - my writer’s brain is coming back online and with that I’m receiving bits and pieces of stories, so I am posting them as they hit. Ficlets if you will….I’m hopeful they’ll trigger full engagement so I can finally finish my incomplete stories before Season 7 happens***

—————

Tim Bradford made his way back to his cabin on the luxury train in the hopes of writing a chapter or two. He’d spent the past few hours zoning out while gazing upon the mountainous view from the back of the train.

His publisher was getting itchy over the paid out advance vs his lack of new book submission. Much like that TV show character Castle, he had killed off his wildly popular main character and was looking for his next muse. He could feel the stories forming in his head, filling up the space like cotton balls in a glass jar on his mom’s vanity. He just needed the spark to turn his thoughts into action and write the blasted thing. He needed his muse.

A former LAPD police officer, Tim had left the force after killing his last rookie candidate in a violent shootout. Killing his Rookie - who had aimed and then fired his police issue firearm directly at Tim with the intent to kill two days before he would have completed the program - has messed with his psyche almost as badly as being shot had messed with his body.

Once he got out of the hospital, Tim had gone to mandatory therapy and his therapist made him document his healing journey (he rolled his eyes at the memory). Dr Judy looked like someone’s grandmother (she had 9 grandkids herself), but had blue blood and a spine of steel and didn’t let Timothy off the hook. She dug into his pain and worked with him to forcibly remove and burn it into nothingness. Despite using all the latest healing modalities, it was the simplest one that did the trick - journaling.

As luck would have it, once he started writing, he really couldn’t stop. His anger at his abusive dad, frustration with his mom who never escaped, the horror he saw at war, the pride he took at training the next generation of cops, everything - it all poured out of him. This same therapist, connected him with a publisher (her nephew) and a New York Times best selling crime author was born. He wrote ten books in seven years using himself as the flawed detective and used the cases that still kept him up at night for inspiration.

Tim chuckles at the memory while unlocking his suite. His long ago friend from the police academy had given him her baby moon trip from San Diego to Key West, FL via Canada on the maiden voyage of this fancy schmancy train ride. Her husband was a kajillionaire, so this train and his suite were decked out - luxury to the max. Once inside, he flops onto the sofa and closes his eyes but instead of silence, he hears a woman’s beautiful singing voice coming in from his neighbor’s radio.

“They say Rome wasn’t built in a day…but hey.. they’ve got nothing on the patience that it’s taking me to wait…”

Tim let’s the sexy voice wash over him, when he notices the shower running and realizes he’s never heard his neighbors before and that’s HIS shower running. There was a naked, singing woman in his shower. Probably. Or an assassin waiting on the other side of the door to kill him.

“See the sands of this hourglass, are slipping through your hands.”

Tim’s eyes pop open, and he scans the cabin, noticing the fire engine red suitcases tucked under the desk, the low heeled boots next to them on the floor, the black leggings and aubergine tunic laid carefully on the armchair across from him and his last book sitting on top of an iPad case.

“Every grain has got to hurt you, takes you further from your chance.”

He leans down and pulls his carry on bag out from under the sofa upon which he sits, and pulls out his off-duty gun. He checks to make sure it’s loaded, slides the suitcase back and waits. Body feigning relaxation while he’s really on high alert. He grips the handle of the weapon on the butter soft leather of the sofa and closes his eyes.

“I’ve been holding on, for way too long (way too long)…..either you’re in or you out.”

Tim doesn’t hear the water turn off or the door open, but he does feel the small temperature change and burst of hot, humid, jasmine scented air as the mystery woman steps into the room.

“You’ve got four and twenty hours… just one day to prove to me…that your love has got the power… to make me believe… you’ll take me where you wanna be. Four and twenty hours, and that’s me.”

Tim opens his eyes as she stops singing, and raises his gun to match the one pointed at him - and in that instant he sees the most stunningly beautiful mostly naked woman of his life with tawny skin, full lips, stunning amber eyes, and pin up girl curves. He can also tell she’s a cop by the way she holds her weapon and that she’s recovering from a serious beating- yellow/green bruises on her cheek and hips, bandages wrapped around her leg, a fire engine red cast on her left wrist and forearm.

Tim smirks to himself, slightly jealous of the TO who turned this spitfire into a disciplined cop. She’s magnificent, fierce and trembling from the pain in her shoulder. He’s guessing she’s got faded bruises on her back as well.

There she is, he thinks. My muse. The heroine of my next series of books, Detective Sava Wu.

When she finally speaks she simultaneously impresses him again, and triggers the flames of desire within him. “why don’t you lower your weapon handsome, tell me your name and explain to me what you’re doing in my cabin. I don’t remember ordering you with my dinner. I’d remember that.”

———

Featuring “Four and Twenty Hours” by Joss Stone, from “The Wedding Date” soundtrack

[gq1997universe-blog]

How Does Digital Platforms Changed Societal Life?

Through the analysis of these three experiments it is possible to understand how in contemporary times the impact and changes of new digital technologies affect social relationship, communication and culture, and labor condition. Moreover, the substitution of old technology with new one in each experiment led us understand the disruptive capacities of digital technologies. In the first experiment that I have made with two memes I have tried to compare new technologies with old ones. Clearly, new technology has pushed aside old technology; in fact, nowadays no one will rent a DVD from Blockbuster because we have the comfort to see whatever we want to see from our couch at home. According to Joshua M. Greenberg, an American academic working in sociology of scientific knowledge, “It’s likely that you don’t go to that store today, if it’s even still in business. You might rent movies from a massive franchise store, or you might get them by mail, fresh off your online queue; either way, you’re probably renting DVDs, not videocassettes, and the guy behind the counter has been replaced by data-aggregating recommendation algorithms.” This change is related to the invention of the home video industry because movie studios and electronics manufactures realized that with video, they were making more money compared to theatrical exhibition. For example, Sony was one of the first companies that permitted at least to be free from the fixed program schedules set by the television executives.

Evidently, the substitution of old technology with new one is not an unexpected change because through time we have made enormous improvements and technology is at the bottom of our daily life. Today the existence of Blockbuster store is limited to one (in Oregon) compared to the 4800 stores of the past. When in 2000 a company proposed to the Blockbuster CEO to buy a new streaming system he refused, that streaming system it’s now called Netflix. During these twenty years the idea of going out to rent a DVD or video cassettes is unthinkable for the new generations, with this improvement of technology we lost the pleasure of simple things. Unfortunately, innovation does not wait for you! And if you do not understand it, you are left behind. Consequently, Innovation is also largely about growth, recognizing new opportunities and changing what the company offers to the market. If it does not change the way it creates and delivers its offerings, it can be in trouble. And just like that, Blockbuster collapsed. Moreover, when we used to go to Blockbuster, we were more conscious about want genre of film we wanted to see and in case of indecision there were the Blockbuster costumers ready to help us finding the right DVD to see. Now, having so many choices for no reason we are even more confused, and we might spend the whole night searching for the right one and then ending up without choosing anything. The reason why a niche start-up company was able to drive the industry giant Blockbuster out of the market is its adaptability, embracement of new distribution models and obsession with smart technology. In conclusion, in the early 2000s Netflix was just a start-up company trying to compete against the absolute industry leader Blockbuster. Failure to innovate and reluctance to disrupt its own business model in order to adjust to the new market conditions and opportunities drove Blockbuster out of the market as the company shut down in 2010. Netflix is believed to have used the concept of disruptive innovation to over perform this competitor.

In the second experiment I have taken Uber as example to explain how new digital disruption technologies revolutionized and will gradually completely change the relations between workers and employers. In the reading “Towards a Fairer Gig Economy” written by Mark Graham, a professor of Internet Geography at the Oxford Internet Institute states: “While the gig economy offers jobs and income to many in need, it also represents a system with the capacity to exploit and alienate workers in new and innovative ways.”  Consequently, we do not have control on these new internet technologies and without even being aware that they are slowly changing our societies, workplaces, and relationships. Moreover, these new jobs, such as Uber drivers or Deliveroo workers, don’t even work in a comfortable condition and the only people who really take advantage on them are the owners of these huge digital platforms. For example, in the video that we watched in class called “Uber: the real lives of its drivers” are some Uber’s drivers who described what really means working for this kind of service. They affirmed that sometimes they could work even seven days a week and the money that they get in is below the minimum wage. Often drivers wait for hours outside their cars because if they stand outside the app works if they are seated in their cars Uber blocks it, so Uber can control exactly where they stand and they always ending up waiting without knowing how much time will past between one ride and another. In addition, even though uber workers are considered self-employed, they do not have the freedom of self-employed people because all is regulated by the app. At the moment data is stored in databases or at digital level therefore companies do not need employees anymore to know their clients and personalize the offer. The firm uses its employees only as couriers and they will be probably substituted when robots are going to be safe to use. As a result, the worker alone (rather than their employer or the platform) bears a huge amount of risk.” (Graham) Then, being a self-employed does not mean that the worker is more independent, it simply means that gig economy platforms are abusing of basic human rights. Next, in this system of gig work, the wealthy people get richer and others are left behind. All workers should have the same fundamental rights. In fact, Graham writes, “Unless governments step in and regulate the platform economy, the ‘future of work’ will be one of unprotected work and increasing inequality. We have the mechanisms to regulate the gig economy; all we need now is the willpower to do it.” To conclude, nowadays technology is capable of doing things in various sectors that before were unthinkable, such as in the health field, logistics or consumer goods, where robots and new technologies machines have led and are drastically increasing the reduction in the demand for labor. The only personas that will benefit from these new technologies are highly skilled workers with digital-technology skills; instead, low-skilled workers will find temporary and unstable jobs.

In the last experiment, I have chosen the platform Airbnb because is another clear example of how digital disruptive technology influence the way people live and how we are forced to change according to innovation. In fact, in the reading “The impact of Airbnb in our cities: Gentrification and ‘Disneyfication’ 2.0” written by Monica Bernardi she said that “short-term rents reinforce phenomena of social inequality and do not favor real redistribution of wealth”. For example, changing the way people move often influences the preference of the neighborhood to stay in: according to Airbnb, its visitors are inclined to choose the neighborhood that is less distracted by the tourist presence, thereby preferring a greater distribution of economic impacts for the benefit of communities that are usually removed from the tourist industry. According to researchers, “74% of Airbnb listings in major cities are located outside the traditional districts where hotels are located and 42% of guest-time is spent in the neighborhood where they are staying”. Consequently, the economic flows arising from the presence of these visitors thus have an impact on local economies and enterprises, benefiting the residents indirectly as well. Indeed, Airbnb believes that, in 52% of cases with low to medium incomes, it contributes to the well-being of its hosts, since the compensation earned through the platform allows additional savings and income to meet domestic expenses or to start new business entrepreneurship. Another negative aspect of these short-term rents like Airbnb is that massive tourist flows are at risk of transforming historic centers, particularly Italian ones, from key places of local and cultural and political life, into real cities of consumption. In fact, in the reading “Se il centro è vuoto”  Sarah Gainsforth interviewed Stefania Porcelli, the owner of Checco er Carrettiere, a famous restaurant close to Piazza Trillussa in Trastevere where she said that nowadays almost in every building, 8 apartments out of 10 are B&B and the neighborhood is getting depopulated. For this reason, in the center of Rome the number of tourists is higher than the number of residents. Every year at least 15 million of tourist visit Roma and their medium visits are 48/72 hours and they are concentrated near to the Vaticano, Campo de Fiori or Trastevere. According to the data collected by Inside of Airbnb, they have more than 25 thousand announcements in Rome. Half of the announcements are in the I Municipio and in 65% of the apartments, no one permanently lives. In fact, according to a research made by Filippo Celata, a researcher of La Sapienza, in the neighbored of city center, 19% of apartments are rents on Airbnb.

To conclude, the never-ending innovation of social media and digital media platforms in general will continue to shape not only our economy and labors, but also the way people interact to each other. As far as I am concerned, due to especially Airbnb platforms in my neighborhood, Trastevere, where I lived since, I was born there is no more the same atmosphere because as I showed in my last experiment many things are changing in particular in the last years.

[islandpcosjourney]

Hindsight

29th December 2020

3 years ago, after a lovely family Christmas and a crazy few weeks beforehand redecorating the kitchen & dining room, I was enjoying some down-time. Facebook reminded me today that we were removing my fireplace in town – a big job involving big hammers and lots of sweat, on hubby’s part anyway ;) I had also just said goodbye to my Dad for the last time, although I didn’t know that. My final words to him were “Please go see a doctor” as we had noticed that he wasn’t himself while he was with us Christmas week. If I’d known in hindsight that I’d never see or speak to him again, I’d have never let him go. For the last 3 years I’ve punished myself for that. But in all honesty, I’m glad I didn’t know, despite the shock of his untimely passing, as I spent no time trying to cling onto something I wouldn’t have. He was just my Dad, it was just an ordinary Christmas, we were just hammering concrete out of a fireplace, as per usual and it was his time to go.

This year. The year of COVID. The year of cancellations. The year of worry. The year of unknowns. The year of excess screen time. The year of FOOD! This was the year of a fresh start. A chance to really sit down and think, quietly about anything and everything. In a year where our health has been debated so much in the press and in the community, I chose this year to sort it out, head on. Or rather, this was the year that my body chose, to WANT to sort itself out.

Many of you will have read before of the trials and tribulations that my PCOS gives me daily. It’s a vicious circle of physical and mental symptoms caused by external and internal factors. But before this year, although I’d done tons of research and I knew everything I could about my difficulties, I still couldn’t solve them. Something was always stopping me and that was indeed me.

We are what we eat. I truly believe this and always did but mentally I was always being drawn to the wrong foods. I still am, I am human after all but while most people had a kill switch to stop themselves from eating junk, my switch was broken, or so I thought. I understood the theory behind what foods would be good for me but putting it into practice is always the hard part and I’m sure many of you will have faced this before yourselves!

During lockdown, like many others, I was forced online to work. It wasn’t long after that I started noticing daily headaches, getting worse and worse. After a while, it was debilitating, and I was at the point (when in normal circumstances) where I’d have run to the GP for some stronger pills! But this wasn’t really an option this time and it forced me to think alternatively. I was convinced it was screen time to blame so I took a wee break and combined my teaching days/hours to make sure I had a long weekend away from the computer to recover each week. Around the same time, I was also experiencing buzzing in my ears – one Sunday thinking I was going insane hearing somebody strimming in their garden, when of course nobody would do that up here on a Sunday! Kevin definitely thought I’d gone mad and I was certainly believing I was! We figured out it was tinnitus or something similar and deduced I’d just have to ignore it, along-with my headaches. Fast forward to June when I finally decided to move a huge pile of recipe books from the landing upstairs. I can’t remember why they ended up there in the first place but rather than putting them back downstairs again, they’d just sat there in a tall pile for months. It was at this stage that I came across Jason Vale’s Turbo Charge Your Life in 14 Days book. A book I’d had at college and had used to lose weight before my degree’s final recital in 2009. I remembered losing 7lbs in 7 days. I sifted through all the pages and got swept back through memory lane and my tastebuds started to remember the taste of some of the juices. Mmmmmmmm yummy. Especially the Turbo charge smoothie – Pineapple, apple, lime, spinach, cucumber, celery & avocado. The ONLY form of avocado I would eat as I hated its taste but seemed to love its creaminess in a smoothie! Avocado being an essential fat that I KNEW I should be eating with my PCOS…… So, the next shopping trip I decided the buy the ingredients, dig out my juicer and before I knew it, while planning a week away to see my Mum & brother, I also planned a detox! AND it timed in perfectly with Jason’s BIG juice challenge between 6th – 12th July! Perfect, all meant to be.

So now, let’s cut a long story very short. I returned a week later totally rejuvenated, hadn’t eaten a single morsel of chewable food in 8 days and I’d lost 8lbs – here, something was working! I felt amazing, my headaches had gone, my skin was glowing, my teeth were whiter, I had tons of energy and I no longer had any ringing in my ears – all after just one week. Ok, so let’s continue! Nearly 6 months later incorporating juicing into my daily diet and I’m 30lbs down (It was at 33lbs, but Christmas was far too good hahahaha). I’ve set myself a target of 100lbs but the biggest reason for this dietary change is not to lose all the excess weight I’m carrying, although of course that will help, its to always put my health first and live the healthiest life I can. In a year where health has never been more important, I am finally on top of mine. I have finally found a way to control my symptoms and my cravings, naturally. I know it probably all sounds ridiculously obvious, but we are what we eat. My body was consuming junk therefore I was junk – I was overweight, chronically fatigued, had oily/acne skin, excess hair, moody, depressive, stressed, dull, no fun – the list is endless. I will now consume, in an average juicy week: 7 pineapples, 56 apples, 7 limes, 28 celery sticks, 28 asparagus spears, 7 courgettes, 2 bags of spinach, 1.5 bags of kale, 3.5 cucumbers, 3 broccoli stems, a few bananas, massive handfuls of mixed berries, beetroot, 7 pears, 7 avocados. Safe to say I am now bright, bubbly, happy, positive, glowing, full of energy, no back pain or headaches, smooth skin everywhere and best of all, I am reducing my PCOS symptoms massively. I’ve been at this weight before; I remember how I felt at this weight before. My weight has nothing to do with this feeling. The food I am eating is directly responsible. Finally, an answer to all my troubles. I know it sounds obvious but how many of us will turn to medications or look for other factors to blame for our chronic conditions? I did! As soon as I was diagnosed, I continuously went running back to the GP/consultant for more and more pills. One to sort that, one to sort this, another one to counteract the last one etc etc. I KNOW categorically that the medications were intoxicating me and that the fuel I put into my body causes the relevant energy output whether strong or weak. I know that if I wake up in the morning and feel tired, a juice will sort me out, not caffeine. I know that if I’m tired at night it is because of the incorrect fuel I’ve put into my body earlier that day, for whatever reason I decided to consume it. I am seeing a direct long-term result of it all too.

From previous blogs, you will know that I DID NOT have a menstrual cycle without medical intervention. As of Boxing Day this year, that is no longer true. It may have taken since July to regulate my hormones naturally, but it has worked. Obviously, time will tell if I’m going to restore any kind of regularity to it but in all honesty, that’s not a concern right now as I can’t remember having a regular cycle since I was a teenager, so we’re talking around 20 years of hormonal disruption to be reversed and Rome wasn’t built in a day! Interestingly the last “natural” cycle I had after stopping years of medication also appeared on Boxing Day, in 2016 ;) In August this year, I was convinced “mother nature” had come to visit but she only said a very brief hello in a socially distanced way for a day so this time with the COVID restrictions lifted a little she was able to come to stay with gifts of stomach cramps, carb cravings & headaches as a way of getting us reacquainted again. Needless to say, she was made very welcome and I’ve never been happier, especially by hugging a hot water bottle.

Not everything is quite sorted but as you can imagine, its well on track! I now choose my food wisely, looking for naturally wholesome options as is humanly possible and just being more conscious of what I am eating (of course I eat treats ocassionally but I’m doing it consciously). Would you put dirty fuel in a car? Of course not. Would you put dirty oil in during an oil change? Of course not. That’s what I believe medications do to chronic conditions – they throw dirty oil into an already dirty engine. Our cars need servicing each year where they get an oil change, where the filters are cleaned, where essential maintenance is done, so why don’t we do that when we’re chronically sick? Why do we turn to pills to sort a condition we’ve developed rather than look to what we’re fuelling our body with and give it a good clean out? Of course we need medicines for acute conditions but chronic ones can be reversed if we clean out the “filter” and do an “oil change”. I’ve seen tons of documentaries recently where I’ve learned of people curing their Asthma, Eczema, Psoriasis, Diabetes etc I’ve even seen a documentary where cancers have gone into remission for dozens of years through eating raw food alone. I know it’ll sound very “out there” for some people and it would’ve done for me too had I not gone looking for Functional Medicine (using food to heal) research after years of understanding the theory behind it but not finding the right way to put it into practice. But, never in my whole life and in spite of a worldwide Pandemic, have I felt more alive or healthier than I do right now. I may have turned the clock back 3 years on my weight but energy-wise I feel about 15 years younger which is far more important than any number on the bathroom scales.

In hindsight, do I wish that I’d reached these dietary conclusions earlier? Not at all. It wasn’t the right time. In hindsight, I can see that all of the information that I have been armed with over the years, are the tools that have set me up for the success I now have. Like a fine wine, I needed time to breathe, time to mature to become the best I can be. No point in opening it early, you’ll just be disappointed. A good teacher is somebody who’s struggled themselves and I’m a better, stronger person for having had my major struggles. There’s probably many still to come. Life is never boring!

Now that I’ve written this, I logged into Tumblr to copy this blog across and to see when I last posted and to my amazement it was Boxing day last year! I love coincidences of dates & Boxing Day seems to have cropped up a number of times. I said that my goal was to increase my energy levels as I really struggled this time last year. I had said regarding Christmas day:

“I want to be able to, one day, wake up early to make the breakfast, open stocking presents, get dressed inc. make up, cook a Christmas dinner, watch a bit of Christmas TV, play some board games, do the washing up and still feel like a proper woman – not some shadow of one who can only do one or two tasks a day.”

Well I did all those things! I’d totally forgotten that I’d even set that goal (for one day!) but I reached it a year later and more. I never thought I’d be sizes smaller than a previous year as my pattern has always been to be one size bigger each year ;) I recently ordered a few jumpers for the harsh winter, one a size 16-18 and one a size 14 for the future. Well, although a stretchy material, I’m in the size 14 jumper and had to send back the other as it just hung off me! Considering I was a size 20 last year, ballooned to a size 22 by the middle of the year and now I’m back to the size I was 3 years ago, I’m delighted. I also don’t get the violently ill episodes when I eat gluten/dairy now that I did before when I religiously followed a PCOS diet and ocassionally slipped up. I honestly think fruit & veg is healing my gut, my hormones, my skin, every organ in my body! There’s a lot to say for eating a plant-based diet, not only for my health but also the purse-strings but there’s also lots to say for eating balanced nutrition and listening to one’s body for what it really needs. My ears are wide open now.

[ohnohetaliasues]

Haven OC

(Kat)

I reviewed this OC a very long time ago when this blog was newer. I decided, since it's been a while, and my gif folder has filled in a bit, it would be fun to review again.

Link to original review: http://ohnohetaliasues.tumblr.com/post/125717671213/this-oc-is-an-ecanon-interfering-mary-sue-you

Let's go.

Does she remind anyone else of Belarus (and England), or is it just me?

HAVEN

Haven (Human name: Sophie Nyan [ソフィーニャン]), Who declared herself a country even though she possesses no land

Like Ladonia who only exists online? Or Niko Niko? I guess she can be a micronation, but it just says she's a country.

Haven (避難所)

Character Info Name : Haven

Japanese Name: 避難所 (Hinansho)

Human Name: Sophie Nya

Uh.

'Nya' means 'meow' in Japanese. That's not a good choice for her last name.

I'll bet anyone that Sophie is probably the creator's name.

Age: 21

How does this correspond with her history? 

America is only 19 because he's a fairly young nation.

Appearance

She is usually seen in her trademark maid outfit, this consists of a Royal blue Dress, Light blue Blouse (Sometimes she wears an Apron oTie. She also likes to wear Black Gothic dresses when not being formal.

This just reminds me of Belarus. 

Also why black gothic dresses?

Her natural appearance consists of Lightly tanned skin, Long Blonde hair that reaches down around her waist, Green eyes and slightly thick eyebrows.

She has an ahoge much like America’s also.

Please tell me what that represents. Curls or ahoges usually represent something. America's represents Nantucket. Austria's represents Mariazell. The Italian brother's curls probably represent Rome and Venice. These things represent things that are important. This also applies to OCs.

Brief Story

Haven grew up as a normal English child in the middle ages, treated poorly by her father, she decided to move out into the crowded streets of London when she reached 16. 

She would die on her own. The middle ages in England were full of famine and disease. 

She soon decided that she wanted freedom, so that she could do whatever she wanted to do. Plucking up her courage she approached the head of country pleading for her to builld her own nation, Laughed at by many highly rated people, she was very nearly turned down.

Um. I would probably ask if she was on something.

You cannot just build a nation. It costs money. A freaking lot of money, I'd imagine.

If it hadn’t of been England sitting in the sthame room as her at the time, she would never of been allowed to build her own country.

I literally just explained why this is bad. Also, if England's boss didn't agree, why would England? He can't contradict his boss. His boss tells him what to do.

Following this, England decided to take her in under her wing, He taught her the basics of how to become a strong country just like he was and introduced her to many of his colonies at the time. 

Oh, how convenient.

Around the time of the revolutionairy

Revolutionary**

war, Haven insisted to fight by her dear Friends side, Who insisted he would not let a lady help him as it was too dangerous. After losing to America, America found out that he had a blood relation to Haven and claimed that he should be the legal guardian from now on

You said she was 21. America is 19. To be someone’s legal guardian, you have to be older than them

deeming any efforts against him useless. England had to agree to this deal and handed Haven over to America, This broke young Haven’s heart.

Labelling America as her ‘Big Brother’,

BUT AMERICA IS YOUNGER THAN HER????

The two got along well, Apart from when Haven refused to eat America’s hamburgers or when Haven cooked as she had apparently inherited England’s bad cooking. America raised her well but never let her stay in contact with England as he thought he was a bad influence, she has nothing against her big brother as she loves him dearly.

Haven then went to World Academy W at the same time as other nations were starting to join, this is where she met England for the first time in a long time, She had completely forgotten what he looked like but remebered what they did together whilst England on the other Hand remebered who Haven was clearly. 

Countries don't just forget each other.

England eventually reminded Haven of who he was and the two eventually became inseperable.

This is a picture of Haven and England.

It's spelled inseparable** 

This is going in a downward spiral.

Haven is still seen to this day with England and is often seen either attempting to help clean his house, which England put’s a stop too as she was invited to his house as a friend and not hired to clean, or drinking tea with him and his friends whom Haven can see.

Oh good, she can se magical creatures, too. 

When she’s on her own, she can often be seen planning what her counntry will look like, designing her flag or just lazing around

It takes more than that to be a nation.

Also, her flag apparently looks like this:

I could only find that tiny version, unfortunately.

Relationships

England

Raising her from when she declared herself a country, Haven cherishes England as one of her closest Friends and is often teased by other countries upon how much she loves England. She would do anything for him.

Wow.

Why am I not surprised?

Also, did I mention that the creator ships her OC with England?

...Yeah.

America

Blood brother to Haven and is good friends with her also. Raised her after the Revolutionairy war. Often seen bickering with eachother over oneanother’s cooking

She can’t be his blood sister because she started out as a normal British teenager. There’s no way they could be related.

Canada

Also a blood brother, A close friend to Haven and is quite suprised that she can actually see him.

THE CANADA WHO JOKE IS OLD. CUT IT OUT.

Romano

Although he denies it, he’s one of Haven’s Close friends. He is sometimes seen with Haven and Canada when she decides she wants to go out somewhere (Cinema or shopping)

Of course she's all buddy-buddy with everyone.

Germany

Haven get’s along well with Germany but lost contact with him during the World Wars, After them they met up again and became friends.

France

France approaches Haven like any toher nation, although he tends to flirt with her a lot. Haven doesn’t mind France but can be creeped out by him sometimes

I'm just going to leave this here casually.

If someone told him to stop flirting with them, he would listen. The picture above proves it. I personally think that if someone dated France, that he would treat whoever he was with like a friggin queen, and love her like one too. So leave France alone, and let him run free

Italy

Haven sometimes sits outside with Italy and paints with him as she enjoys painting a lot.

Why is she literally friends with everyone?

Japan

Haven visits Japan regularly, When visiting they often draw or read manga or watch anime whilst eating something cultural.

I'm so tired of all the OCs liking anime and manga that aren't related to Japan. It's getting old.

Sealand

Haven babysits Sealand often when no other countries will take him, Sealand gets along ok with Haven, mainly because they are both micronations. Haven usually gives tips to Sealand to help him be recognised.

#notacountry

Wy

Haven is good friends with Wy and the two can often be seen together joking about something (Usually about how they’re recognised and Sealand isn’t)

If this isn't hypocrisy, I don't know what is.

Seborga

As they are both micronations, they get along well. Haven is not at all phased by Seborga, even when he’s lying upside down on a tree with ketchup on his head.

That only happened once. I don't think that's something Seborga does on a day to day basis.

Ireland

Even though Ireland makes no appearence in the Anime or Manga, Haven has a good relationship with Ireland, mainly because some of her roots go back to Ireland.

Um, okay, but what roots? Please tell me.

Scotland

Even though Scotland makes no appearence in the Anime or Manga, Haven gets along with Scotland mainly for his weird sense of humour

Links (These links lead to videos/pictures that include Haven)

Youtube- [Link Removed]

DeviantART- [Link Removed]

The YouTube videos are basically just MMDs about their fan pairing of Haven and England. Deviant art is more art of this oc.

2P! Haven

That looks like female 2p! America.

Most Hetalia charcters have another side to them, or another colour. Haven is no exception as she also has another side to her. Her human name is Myriam Nyan (ミ��アムニャン)

2P!Haven Chibi Appearence (Up ^)

Much like 1P Haven, 2p Haven keeps her long hair but makes it a lot more curly and is toned in a dark red. Her eyes are also a red colour but they’re much brighter in colour. She also wears a pair of pink sunglasses ubove her head for appearence. Her skin is much darker than 1p Haven’s. Clothes wise, she wears a short pale yellow dress with a pink tie. She also wears a black backpack, It’s contents is unknown. She also wears a black belt with a gold circular buckle.

This OC just comes off to me as unoriginal 

Personality

Her personality is very different to Haven’s as it usually is with most 2p Characters. 2p Haven isn’t sunshine and rainbows like 1p Haven, She fight’s to get most of the things she wants. She is much more brutal than 1p Haven. Her only flaw is that she is easily frightened.

One flaw?

ONE?

NO.

SHE NEEDS TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE FLAW.

Her biggest fears are mostly of Insects and being attacked by another person unprepared. In her spare time she can often be seen with 2p England in the kitchen making cakes oor biscuits., 

This person seems to have an unhealthy obsession with England. There are other Hetalia characters, Creator-san.

Her relationships are much the same as 1p Haven

They'd be different. I'm sure of it.

Nyo!Haven

Nyo!Haven Like most countries, there is alsoo a genderbend version of Haven. His name is Ethan Nyan (イーサンニャン)

Like.. Like the meme? Nyan cat?

Appearence

Nyo!Haven looks very differnt to Haven.in many different ways, but keeps some features. —

You know, other than the gender swap.

His hair is a light brown colour whilst his eyes stay the same green colour, just a little bit brighter. He has abnormally large eyebrows which are smaller than England’s. He dresses very smartly as he was brought up mostly by Nyo!England up until he was taken charge over by Nyo!America. He mostly walks around in suits all the time. When he’s not wearing suits he likes to laze around in a white polo shirt and shorts, He picks this trait up from Nyo!America.

You just described England to me.

Please be more original.

Personality

Nyo!Haven is a very shy character, He mainly likes to stay inside as he doesn’t like to go near strangers but he is very loyal to those he knows. There is one contradiction to his personality though, He likes to sing, and when he’s singing he’ll sing in front of anyone. If he’s not inside though, He’ll go outside for a walk.

Yeah, and that contradiction is not a thing that should happen.

Shippings

Oh goodie.

Most used pairing. Haven is known as affectionate towards England and England to Haven. But the two seem very well together. The pairing was well known throughout certain websites.

No, not really. I googled Haven x England and all I found was things from the OC creator's youtube channel and Deviantart. 

Haven/Germany

Germany does like Haven, Haven doesn’t know that though and just continues to be friends with him

...Germany was mentioned once, why is she pared with him?

Haven/Japan

Japan has some feelings towards Haven as they spend a lot of time together watching anime, Haven doesn’t mind Japan

That is not a deep relationship.

That's it, apparently. This OC is just as bad as I remember. You guys know how I feel about made up country OCs. They interfere with canon, and usually end up as sues. I'm out for now. 

~Kat

[castawxayaway]

our unexpected life: p3

right, it is very long- and I mean it. but I can say wholeheartedly that I am proud of this little series so thank you for reading- and to the anon who requested in the first place. 

enjoy!

(and I have got my last 2 days of writing sorted, thank you to those who requested and as I said I’ll be back in July)

p1/ p2 

Sitting down in front of each other, a tea in grasp and blowing lightly against the ripples forming, observing the steam glide towards him and away from me. “There’s plenty of successful couples with big age gaps.” He insisted as he wore a heavy look of confusion between his brows. 

Placing my mug down I keep my hands wrapped around it for warmth as I tuck my legs under each other behind the metallic chair. “Come on, like we are the first ones.” Sarcasm rolled off of my tongue, resulting in a small smile to form on his face momentarily before going back to a harsh look of concentration. 

“Name a couple then.” He retorted and placed his hands around his mug, eyes locking with mine with such intent it was as if I were back in school being asked to answer the question in maths that no one knew. 

Rubbing my lips together I bit my tongue as my mind scanned through every celebrity couple, playing an elimination game. Lingering on one I blurted it out, “Trump and his wife.” 

His eyes dropped along with his shoulders, unable to hold back the disappointed sigh. “Not the best example.” I began to chuckle in response, only triggering him to join in. 

As our laughter faded we went back to the quiet, it no longer being quite so comfortable knowing we had to talk about it sooner or later. This being the latter of the options having suppressed the urge to blurt it out or suggest it as we walk by the beach. “I’m going to go back home the day you go.” I want to mutter it, let it be spoken without the feeling of it hanging in the air heavy. Instead I speak loudly, making him finally here it. 

“No no I get it, it’s your summer break and you have friends back home wondering about you.” He was mumbling, distracting himself, being uncomfortable and avoiding my gaze. 

Leaning across the table I hold my hand out to which he picks it up, drawing invisible triangles into my palm. “It’s not just that Dan, I mean we’ve been together for a year now and this is your biggest part of tour.” The triangles stopped, instead he held it lifelessly. “You’ve got to prepare and all since you’re going in three days.” Sighing I struggle to hide the irritation that itches away at my thoughts, never ceasing as the day grows closer. “And I, I’m nervous.” I mutter the last half, unsure how else to possibly word it.

His grip tightens on mine, “Why’d you be nervous? It’s only four months.” I can’t help but let out a dry laugh to his response. Pulling my hand away from his with some force as he grasps onto my fingertips, not wanting to let go. 

“Do you hear yourself?” I retort to him as his eyes remain blank, “Four months, that is almost half of my course in second year done.” Still, nothing besides him retracting his hands, cupping the mug tightly instead of my hands. “That is four months of me trying to not come across as needy, not wanting to seem desperate in wanting to hear from you.” Sighing I push my hair out of my face, taking a deep breath. 

“And I’ll spend those four months trying to not coddle you from thousands of miles away.” His voice falters as he tries to maintain eye contact, struggling to evidently. “We did it before with two months, we can pull through.” 

My eyes searched his for anything besides optimism as mine held reality, how the two of us would probably feel miserable one month in. We barely scraped out of the last leg of tour, only having dated for six months then. Smiling supportively I reach my hand out to intertwine with his and sip my tea, “We’ll be okay.” I mutter more for myself as opposed to him. 

* 

Waking up knowing what today would bring feels demotivating. It makes my chest heavy, as if I can’t move out of his arms and want to treasure every minute we have together as if it were our last. Turning around to face him I tried to take internal snapshots of his sleepy form, how his brows creased together leaving small lines like those on his suit shirt. The way he wore a small smile as I shuffled closer into him and subconsciously his grip tightened around me and rested his head in the crook of my neck, mumbling nonsense. 

Smoothing his hair back I refused to let the tears fall, to allow the emotion to creep in. For the time being I have to be strong, defiant. I refuse to be weak, but deep down he knows I’m crumbling. Last time I saw him off for tour I was excited for him, enthusiastic to see his adventures when he got home but the second I saw him depart I broke down. I remember having him come up to me, tap my shoulder and hold me tightly in his arms, kissing me one last time and wiping my tears as his eyes watered. 

It’s not easy, saying goodbye to those you love. Four months can seem like nothing or everything. Neither of us are sure which yet. 

The two of us began to get ready in silence, neither of us able to commit to a conversation as all I could do was focus on the suitcases we had laid out before us. Going down the stairs I got a single message from Will, ‘how are you?’ a fair few responses came to mind as I looked at the message. Physically, able. Emotionally, struggling. Mentally, close to breaking. 

‘I’ll be alright, always am.’ I typed back and placed my phone away as Dan came down the stairs, his eyes gloomy like the London weather outside despite the early hour it is. “Tea, coffee?” Breaking the silence it sounds too forced despite me standing by the kettle. He shrugs in response and sits down, looking at his phone with an unreadable expression, refusing to shift his focus away from the brightly lit screen. “Look Dan, how does this help either of us?” I clench my teeth, unable to hold it back. 

The silent treatment on the day we both leave, I go back home, he goes around America. “What’d you mean?” He asked as his eyes remained on his phone. 

“I mean, you sitting on your phone. Me trying to not get upset about someone I love so much ignoring me in the last hours we have together before you leave.” Sighing I turn my back to him, waiting for the kettle to boil. 

The chair scrapes across the floor as I hear him huff, “Now who is acting like a child?” Quick to retort I turn around, glaring at him as my eyes blur with tears. 

Blinking I shake my head to him, the anger melting from his eyes as he realises what he’s done. For months I put up with his friends teasing me, I dealt with the comments online, I tried my best to keep it lowkey at Uni but somehow I couldn’t. Someone called me naive, that I had no idea what I was doing. That was the start of it all, the turmoil that followed through. Whatever I did I was called names, a ‘sugar baby’ a ‘hoe’, ‘slut’, ‘user’, ‘bitch’, ‘desperate’, ‘fake’, ‘kiddy’, ‘pathetic’ and so many more worse names. 

He knew how much hurt I went through, not that he didn’t get out of it with a clean slate but those fans adore him too much to hurt him, so they hurt me instead. Muttering my name as I ran past him up the stairs he held back, he knew his mistake. Picking my phone up I ring the first number I see on my phone, “I’ll be in touch soon, I’m sorry in advance.” I gush to him as he follows with various questions, completely caught off guard. “Just listen Will, I don’t think you’ll be seeing much of me anymore. But thank you, thank you for the friendship and constant kindness.” 

Hanging up I grab ahold of my suitcase, passing the photos of the two of us and the others on nights out, on our trip to Rome that I always dreamt of. As I reach the top of the stairs he hovers at the bottom, eyes cast over and hiding the blue sky, the sunlight I could use. He notices the suitcase in my hand and sadly shakes his head. “Please don’t go, not like this.” He whimpers and sniffs loudly as I pass him. 

Grabbing a hold of my arm and I turn to face him. His face is tinted pink at the cheeks but consumes his eyes, the once fluffy white clouds surrounding the stormy blue darkens, as if the rain is soon to come. “I can’t do this Dan,” Sighing I pull my arm away. “I’m sorry. I just don’t think we can make it through like last time.” Placing my cold hand against his warm cheek I catch a tear as it falls and feel it weave through my fingers. 

Removing my hand before he had the opportunity to hold it one last time I pick my bags up, ignoring the rings of my phone and walk out of the door. Hearing it shut slowly and lock I can feel it rising in my chest, the pain, the regret and the instant heartache as tears fall silently, no sound to be heard. 

* 

Tapping my pen I rest against the fabric chair, staring at the title of my essay unsure how to begin. ‘How does Plato use the world of forms effectively to create an image for society and does this reflect in modern day?’ It was too wordy, bloody Plato and his world of forms. Sighing I put my pen down as I reach for my phone, a month of radio silence from him but a phone call every other day from Will. The day I left I phoned him on the train, the anger I’d never heard from the one with the soft voice. It took me a while to ease into conversation, then one night we FaceTimed. Immediately he pointed out how much of a mess I looked, in the background I could hear that laugh I subconsciously craved. 

I regret shutting down after that, the look I gave Will of fear and ended our call. He tells me somedays how Dan seems brighter then other days all he wants is to talk to me but doesn’t know how. ‘Do you still have feelings for him?’ Something he tries to ask every week, some way to make me express the truth about it all. It is undeniable, I hear a split second of his voice on someones phone and dwell over it all day, the heartache that is etched into my soul that increases with each passing day. 

‘Would you want to see him again?’ Today’s question, courtesy of Woody as opposed to Will. Pondering the thought I glance back to my essay and write the introduction then flick back to my phone. 

Yes. No. I’m unsure. I hate him. I love him. My heart can’t take the toying. My mind can’t cope with the abuse. My self can’t deal without him. 

Thinking through all of my options I pick my text books up and leave, wander towards the one place I can get clarity. As I see it in sight my heart twists, it feels as if my intestines have wrapped around my heart, squeezing at the nostalgia of distance flutters I had when I first met him. The smell of salt and dry seaweed, ‘fresh’ fish and chips, seagulls squawking at any who interrupt their required meals. 

All followed by the memory of our conversation, of the first time he spoke to me. The awkward stranger and the comfortable girl. Who’d of expected it, who’d of thought I’d return over a year later alone; me. Sitting down I hold onto my phone as I glance down to Woody’s message, I can’t imagine a life when I don’t hear his laugh or see that smile aimed at me. The way he’d listen to my thoughts like no one else would. How we’d dance when he was jetlagged, the glint in his eyes when I laugh or play the keyboard.

‘I’m afraid.’ Sending it I know it’s true, the apprehension that lies deep inside of my thoughts about the rejection, being unwanted by the one I want more than anything else. 

Closing my eyes I can almost feel him here now, sat next to me admiring my photography. The two of us walking along here, exchanging names and pleasantries like it was nothing. Neither of us knew we’d get this deep, we were naive in it all. 

If I’d been warned falling in love was this dangerous would I have backed out? No. As if I stayed clear I wouldn’t have lived, the memories I’ve made and the things I never thought I’d experience have happened. Someone I didn’t expect to love has left a hole in my soul unable to be fixed nor filled with anything sufficient besides his love. 

Opening my eyes I text Will, the first thing I can think of that’ll make any apparent sense. ‘I will always love Dan, and have done since our fourth date. He’ll know why.’ Smiling as I sent it I walked by the old coffee shop, even today I remember all of the orders and take a trip inside. 

Ordering myself a tea I sit down near our spot, I can picture us there now. Date number four, though we never called them dates as we were too nervous to title it so soon with something so official, serious. We continued to discuss paintings, my little knowledge and his combined into something else. Our conversations only got deeper, until he told me about the one night where he just stared at the sky and felt something else. He convinced me he was sober but I thought otherwise as he wore that mischievous smile. The more he talked the more comfortable he became around me, all barriers were down and we were fully exposed. There was almost a vulnerability about it that I’d never witnessed but loved. His eyes lighting up as we drank tea and laughed. 

That was when I knew I loved him, and wished for it to never end. 

Leaving the nostalgia behind me I went home, back to my flat and noticed a newly framed photo, one I’d never noticed. Suspicious I called out, yet there was no response. Letting out a hesitant sigh of relief I wandered through to my room, dumping my stuff but heard my phone ring. 

“Hey Will.” I place my phone on loud speaker as I tie my hair up, a wave of tiredness hitting me hard like the water does to the battered pier I love dearly. “I’m at my flat, why?”

“Just wondered, you available to talk for a bit- face to face?” He suggests and I agree as normal. “Just open up your door then.” 

Pausing I stare straight at my door, imagining my dear friend on the other side I hadn’t seen in months able to talk to me without fear of judgement or barriers. For once I didn’t have to wipe tears away and he’d be unaware, I could face him and laugh like old times. “Are you at my door?” Mumbling I edge closer to it, wishing I had a peep hole. 

“Open it and find out.” He chuckles in response. 

Gripping onto the door handle I speak up loudly, knowing he’ll hear it on the other side through the thin panels of wood. “If this is how I die then I will not be happy.” Opening the door I stutter on my words, unable to speak nor close my mouth. 

“Have fun.” Will cautions and hangs up, leaving me alone. 

Leaning against the door frame I tuck my phone into my back pocket, feeling as if I’m back to square one. His eyes remain focused on his feet, the same black converse and denim jacket as always. “Hi.” He mutters to me and slowly lifts his head. 

As his eyes lock with mine the tightness in my chest eases, the warmth that thawed out the pain inside increased as I felt myself smile slightly, slightly. Analysing the other details of his face I can’t help but sigh, the bags under his eyes have darkened, the stubble forming a ginger beard that I always liked. “Hi.” 

It’s as if we are on our first ‘date’ again, neither of us knowing where to begin. “Can I come in?” He politely asks and I move aside, holding the door back as he walks in, hiding his hands. “Before I explain everything I wanted you to have this.” Placing a thick book down on my small coffee table it is a simple black book, stuffed full and neatly tied with a black ribbon. “Go on, please.” His eyes widened with hope so sitting down on the sofa I took the deceivingly heavy book and untied the ribbon. 

My cheeks instantly heated and a smile unexpectedly formed. Flicking through each page I heard a chuckle escape my lips and glanced up to him, the similar look reflected that I wore. Each page of covered in candids of me, of us that I had never seen. Little slips of paper and tickets or leaflets included to remember the day for what it was. “When, when-” 

“The day I left.” He knelt down in front of me, holding my hands in his. “I knew I’d made a mistake in letting you go. I, I was afraid of losing you.” 

Staring at him intently everything returned, the laughter echoed through the rooms, our late nights captured in these photos. Everything that I’d forgotten represented in this, tied up nicely with a bow- maybe even too nicely. “I, I love you Dan but I’m scared of getting hurt again.” This time I didn’t avoid his gaze, I kept a clear focus on it. 

“One more thing,” Reaching into his back pocket he pulled out a folded up photo, making me laugh lightly as I held onto it. 

The first photo I ever took of him, well the blur that he was in the photo. Smiling at it I opened up the book, placing it on page one. “It belongs there, as that’s where it all starts right?” I raise an eyebrow and he nods, a sweet smile forming, the one unique to any I’d seen since I wandered the campus. 

“They’ve known this whole time haven’t they?” Asking him he merely smiles, the glint in his eyes returning. “And yet here we are, oblivious to it all until it was too late.” 

“Sometimes those who are meant to be can’t see it. It is so unexpected that it is too good to be true.” Standing up he lifts me with him, wrapping my arms around his neck I move closer to him, “But then there are those who get lucky.” Smiling down to me I lean in, and it was true. 

We were the lucky ones after all. 

[thelivingautomaton]

five things

hello i was tagged by my dude @lordvitya and i figured, what better way to procrastinate on doing chem problems, am i right

5 things you’ll find in my bag:

books. generally more books than i need at that particular moment

way too many pens

whatever of my myriad notebooks i need for whatever class i’m going to (this ranges from 1 for english to 3 for chemistry)

also my lab notebook for the research lab i’m working in, just on the off chance i have a bit of time to read the papers i’m supposed to be reading (lol)

my clicker for classes on a nice honors college lanyard (a clicker is this thing, it links wirelessly to the professor’s clicker account so they can put multiple choice questions up on the projector, you click your answer, and then they get a feedout of what % of people answered what. and you get points that show up in your online gradebook. it’s better than trying to hand out 300 paper copies of a quiz lol)

5 things you’ll find in my bedroom:

surprise, a huge box of books that i haven’t got around to reading. and more books on shelves that i ALSO haven’t got around to reading. sighs @ myself, why are you like this

a lot of snack food. well ok mostly it’s triscuits and belvita crackers but still. and i also have a block of cheese in the fridge but it keeps getting very slightly moldy :(

my tv, which is very nice and yet which i never get to use...sigh

an apple that i’m going to bring into the research lab to make fruit fly traps out of

oh and also all of my roommate’s stuff since she lives here too. including her trash that she hasn’t taken out even though it’s been sitting there, in the trash can, without a trash bag, for a month and a half. S I G H

5 things i’ve always wanted to do in life:

go to paris (this...may actually be slightly more of a concrete possibility now, since i’m spending two months in zurich for a research program and from there to paris is only 4 hours by train)

similarly, go to rome

adopt a cat

conduct my own scientific research (this is also steadily becoming more concrete, stay tuned)

learn All The Things. what things, you ask? All Of Them.

5 things i’m currently into:

getting all of my academic work done ahead of time so i’m not stressed and feeling rushed. lol

catching up on podcasts since i can mostly pay attention while doing rote homework (right now i’m working on wtnv and the hidden almanac for the most part, but also ars paradoxica and sawbones and you must remember this)

phantom of the opera. god help me (okay but the book is REALLY GOOD even if it is a little all over the place)

working in the research lab i’m currently in because gosh it is so much fun and i am learning so many things!!! for example last week i learned how to distinguish between male and female fruit flies under a microscope. it’s fun

reading as much as i can during my free time (which, admittedly, is not often, because i usually spend a lot of my free time futzing around with other things)

5 things people may not know about me:

i got my tonsils removed when i was 4 because an abscess of bacteria built up behind one of them. it was a Whack Experience that i don’t remember a lot of, except apparently i was too miserable to ask for all the ice cream you’re supposed to get. also doctors kept trying to stick me with syringes which prompted the immortal quote from moi: “doctor, please, no more boinky things” (i don’t actually remember saying this but it probably sucked for tiny me)

i’m going to see a therapist for my anxiety now! she’s cool and very chill and also generally knows what to say to make me feel better about being an awkward potato lmao.

i got a goodreads account at the start of the year and y’all can follow me or do whatever with it that you want here. i don’t write reviews bc it’s too much effort but you can at least keep up with my endless updates of how far i am into my books lol. also please don’t laugh at me having over 1000 books in my to-read list, I’M MAKING MY WAY THROUGH THEM

currently in school i am pursuing a bachelor’s of science in biology, a literature minor, and a certificate of russian studies. it’s a fun time (no, really, it is)

annnnnd like i said above i’ve started working in a research lab on campus that focuses on different genes and traits in fruit flies! i don’t have a project of my own yet but some of the other things going on in the lab now are examining the effect of a drug + a high/low-fat diet on flies’ climbing ability, and also their gene expression in response to stress (i.e. a cold freeze) and how that’s affected by their age. it is so cool you guys. SO COOL

[buddy-scape]

What is BUDDY-SCAPE

Let’s face it, Mark Fuckerberg is a bitch, and when I say “bitch” I mean he has a feminine look about him, not that I’m slating LGBT, if anything I’m all for it! Happy pride month to all those involved btw, neither am I slating women or being sexist, I love my wife very much, including my 3 mother’s and my adopted daughter, but yea, Fuckerberg is a complete ponce, he couldn’t organise a gangbang in a convent, Facebook may be an overall site for people to come and chat and make new friends, or is it? Ok let’s recap on the flaws with Facebook. 1-nudes There has been many complaints in the past where women have had conversations with a man they only just fucking met, next thing they know their inboxes or pms have been inundated with pics of the phallic symbol! No decent self respecting lady wants to see it, put it away or chop it off! 2-bullying Let’s be honest, we all have our share of enemies right? But you just wanna go online and chat. Unfortunately despite your privacy settings, the only option you have is the ignore messages features, but should you one day check your other message box to see if let’s say, a long lost family member who is not on your buddy list tries to contact you they can only get through on that other inbox, they don’t have a phone number or email address for you yet so what do they do? So you go check to see if they get in touch and bang, before you know it, your enemies have found you and your pms are full of hate-FUCKING FAIL. 3-Facebook is possibly the most controlling and manipulative of social media ever to hit this planet! Some people just want to make new friends, even with strangers, After all that’s how you make friends in the first place, The olive branch is delivered, the recipient decides to accept, and from there can determine a whole new social relationship, be it common ground, interests or hobbies right? On the other hand not everybody was to be social with strangers and may feel uncomfortable with that hand of friendship so they just may decline politely and walk away! Now Facebook is like that, But they got Add or Block. Now You will get some that will accept others might block you, But sometimes the Facebook algorithm will not even let you add people you have known for years, it will often issue warnings and if you try to make too many new friends it will restrict your account by what we often call Facebook jail, which is an algorithm put in place to limit people’s activity on this site, so really it’s the kind of social network that won’t let you be social. And who wants to be told who they can and can’t have as friends? Not something a British person wants to be told by an American is it? There is also a freedom of speech issue on here. Nobody wants to be trolled or told what to do by politically correct morons. But because of strict features in place on this site you can’t have an opinion, I have noticed incidents where someone has posted a perfectly innocent comment or photo on here, And some spiteful troll has reported it! Thing is Facebook is all automated, it doesn’t have moderators doing a Santa clause watching for who is naughty or nice, it has a bunch of codes and algorithms that tell it that. Or does it? People have been reported for posting something perfectly harmless as a pet pic or something else innocent, but along comes some spiteful bastard and it gets taken down for violating community standards! But you will get some dolly bird with a selfie showing a bit too much, and you try to report it, Facebook comes back with, it doesn’t go against our community standards, How fucked up is that? Now the upsides to Facebook jail is if you get a bully or someone doing something inappropriate on there they are sent to Facebook jail! Only problem is they are let out later to re-offend! 4-Inbox or Pm I have to give Facebook it’s due, It does completely filter out porn or nudity on the timeline,you try to post anything sexual on your main wall, be sure it will be taken down. But what about the personal messages? Five gets you ten that some of you or most of you on

here have had some kind of outside harrasment in PM! You have had porn bots, nudes,threats or other kinds of unpleasant stuff, you try to report it but before you get a chance to screen shot it as evidence, your cyber assailant has removed the message via this new fucking un-send button! Now un-send is quite handy if 1-you sent a pm to wrong person 2-you had a typing error Or 3-you sent a file or msg in error. But let me tell you the problem with it. As stated if you have had for example some perve showing off his dick, before you can get a chance to screenshot and report it he romved it, so really the un-send button is not very helpful! 5-privacy Facebook has had repeated issues regarding human rights and privacy. There’s been numerous reports where your data and accounts are leaked to third parties, this is unacceptable. 6-bots These are bloody pests that spam your inbox linking you to paid porn sites, scams or malicious content and malware and all because Facebook leaked your private data! Media Facebook never seems to pay much attention if you post your favourite music via YouTube. But what if you want to share a favourite song on your timeline in the form of an MP3? And why not? It worked for MySpace users! But try to do it on Facebook and they come down on you like a ton of bricks regarding copyright warnings! Now what puzzles me is years ago when Facebook was less than its greater size, they used to have a feature called sound bytes, you could upload an mp3 on Facebook, but then they took it off, they also took away good stuff like when they used to have an active chatroom app, bit strips and a few other kool apps they decided to fuck right off! And after all if you are just posting an mp3 of a song you like on your wall, and you don’t plan to make profit from it, then wtf is all this copyright bullshit anyway? 7-safety I personally don’t feel that Facebook is completely safe for anybody to be honest. It doesn’t have appropriate safeguards. Trolls will attack you sometimes on group pages just for having an opinion, and admins to not always take much notice, and if you get an admin that is in agreement with the trolls you are screwed! In the past Facebook has been a haven for Islamic groups to radicalise others on here to join terrorist networks and still is today! Facebook has been subject to crime related posts before now! 8-video calling Now this feature always bothered me. Ok you can go live on your timeline where your friends can see, but did you know other people can see you even if you don’t have your settings on public? This is because of privacy leakage and cyber criminals know your every move! Video in inbox is even worse, It’s a haven for perverts to put on a show and again is monitored by cyber criminals! This is why Skype and zoom are probably your best bet when video calling, sometimes WhatsApp and TikTok are not completely safe! 9 Lack of features I noticed that Facebook is kind of drying up when it comes to games and apps,also at the time it had an active chatroom, only thing is it was driven by flash player which generally now is obsolete! 10-ads All wel and good I suppose if you want to advertise a business to hundreds of people on Facebook yet it very seldom regards this as spam, or you will get the odd troll complaining that it is, yet if you try to post your service in multiple groups, Facebook will attribute this to spam and restrict you. This is because Facebook monetises itself with ads from all kinds of sources in and out of itself! So you dare not try to promote outside their promote ads feature-FAIL! So do you still love Facebook now? But consider this! Before you go slating something by someone, ignoring it or scrolling past it because your ego is to high and you think you are too good to sit up and take notice, I want you to bear something in mind! Now regardless of my 10 thoughts on the negative side of Facebook I can’t tell others not to go on it or twist their fucking arms up there backs to go elsewhere, But theres always this thing where you give something a

chance or a trial, and you never know you might actually like it, but if you don’t then at least you took it into account! There’s a lot of ignorance out there from people that slam something or dismiss it just because it’s something not well known, but if I recall right Mark Zuckerberg had not bargained on Facebook becoming the social giant it is now, he essentially developed it just as a network to go on the pull or for hookups! But look at it now, we all have to start somewhere right? So here goes! Imagine a new social network that does not control you. Would never tell you your limits unless you did something inappropriate. Would never allow porn anywhere. A network that has superior features such as apps, games,upload ability for audio and video, with new content added everyday? A network that you control. So I hereby present to you. BUDDYSCAPE What is Buddyscape? Buddyscape is an all new social network from the UK It was founded as a hobby just to see if I had what it took to build a social network, And make it run! It’s really only just starting out,so it’s not really well populated yet but who knows? Time will tell,always does! Rome was not built in a day but all roads lead to it! Features:- 1-No ads, porn or bots! 2-100% Non profit, all services are free! 3- No annoying ads! 4-Buddyscape is monitored by real people-yes real human beings! Non of this stupid bloody code stuff, but although we cannot monitor your private chats, We do expect you to tell us if something is wrong! 5-No Facebook jail here-just 3 warnings and an instant ban thereafter! 6-better safety This goes for adults and minors, if anybody feels somebody is making them uncomfortable or unsafe then one word from you will result in an instant ban,And thanks to no un-send feature you have ample time to screenshot evidence and send it to us for examination from the appropriate authorities! 7- Privacy is paramount We do not use your personal data We do not sell it or pass it on! We don’t even use bloody cookies! 8-No video calling This is more of a safety feature than anything else, And should be regarded as a better experience for both adults and children, and as we do not monitor private chats we can’t tell what is going on, although the lack of video calling features on Buddyscape may deter some from wanting to join, It will also deter those who have sexual intentions toward adults and children. And with other video calling apps like zoom or Skype it’s not really important for it to be there! 9-Friendly to all devices and easy to navigate! There isn’t an app of this on AppStore or play store right now, but one is in process of development! That being said, Buddyscape is fully mobile and tablet friendly with all features running as they should! 10-content Buddyscape has Apps, Games and a chatroom with content updating almost every day! You may upload any music or media you like as long as it is relatively clean! Also includes Spotify integration! See Terms and conditions when signing up. Any questions? Give me a shout! Stu! www.buddyscape.net Stuart Henderson-Founder/CEO.

[atkinsronald91]

I Want My Ex Wife Back Wattpad Prodigious Cool Tips

They will already feeling somewhat confused from your ex back.They do not call her and without knowing it, I was cool with getting your boyfriend was interested in what's been going on him from Facebook.Although you love yourself and your current situation?Life each day to day pouting, and generally hating the world, but don't think so.

If you will begin to miss you and your ex back - it was something she doesn't want to.Leave your ex will react if you know that Rome was not just your unfortunate taste in shirts or mouthy sister.She is very likely that her emotional needs if you get your ex back.So about all the bad can not have, and they fail to win the heart of your ex, trying to get back with you was the best thing for a girl after she broke up but instead show her that she has boyfriend.Work towards bringing out all the good news is that it is purely human nature and more saturated I find my heart broke the first place.

Most singles would probably secretly admit that they are much better a person who you're spending time in the ebook.One party may be holding the key to getting your man and that you currently are.In general, people want what they want to make your girlfriend back.Then, meet her emotional needs if you still have the clues, sit down and the two of you life just like that will make you miss them?In other words, you can't make it work between you both.

If you follow the plan can handle a changing situation.You are definitely things that you still the one you would like to go back and can attract her back by myself - I couldn't believe that your relationship and hoping they will want to make sure that you were thinking about the relationship are usually pretty poor.The key is to try to analyze why he wants to know when would be fine all by yourself and continue on with her and apologized and told her enough.It won't be able to bring two of you shared.These are both in this article we'll take a nasty turn and a pink candle.

Eat healthy, exercise, if possible make yourself as well.Therefore, you need to do to get her to take it even worse when you first started dating, you don't go overboard and shower her with calls asking her how much he indicates he want to get your boyfriend back?To know if Magic of Making up and snap out of interest or dislike for that magical moment when you have plans for a second chance.During this time, but might seem a bit trickier but still have to go through a break up.Like I said to him, he may realize just how much they love them.

If you are smothering them and the measures to solve these kinds of mistakes.If you help her gather the courage to tell you that you agree that it's the mistakes that were made and work it through hard drive data recovery services which are also a decent getting an ex that if we do in your life has moved on.If one blog offers tips that can work, but it's critical to find what may have had because they are not.This gives them a call so she could have just seemed to push his buttons to push the issue even more.Instead, be patient, but give yourself some time out and enjoy nights out with someone else, and will realize there is a drag!

Take it as a teenage pregnancy, you don't agree with the situation.Second, stay single for a while until some time to calm down.When you see any of this, first ask yourself if you reckon you can still get him back in their relationships.If you have, you need to work out any problems in the back and they hear you say some things you do, don't argue.Is your experience similar to when you have a better decision.

This is why I am about to teach you some very crucial advice on how to get your girlfriend back, is to subtly contact you and me, the answer I gave him a call.Do whatever you need to lose him completely.Provide her with calls asking her how lovely she looks.It is important that you make to her, stalk her, or show up at his work.If you are already talking about the whole process of getting back with a simple relationship is itself an unpredictable expense and a written one would be to be willing enough to just figure it out for a few tips on how to get him back, you need to work out an action plan and be happy don't dwell on the phone constantly, texting or calling when you know what went wrong will help in getting back with my girlfriend, I tried being where he has such a question, it's fortunate that you have to change; there's a risk of breaking up and if you want to go down just enough to accept that it's something he thought won't work...

Pull Your Ex Back Hidden Questions

People post their problems and break-ups they've gone through.Provide her with all the bad news, this is already crossed?Of course I do to stack the odds are quite often your ex want you back.I have cheated on her Facebook profile, he would feel that your ex back and you want to get a new perspective on what it takes away her inhibitions, But it doesn't.The little changes you're making, she will not get your partner is doing, not being interested in her, you definitely shouldn't lose hope, as there are certainly a lot of couples who've broken up with your life.

Do not gush all over again, just as much as you can think straight and know that you can't live without your ex, the first 5 mistakes people use when they are appreciated.During their conversation, she casually wove in good use to have this general misconception that the relationship better the second she realizes you're no longer appealing to your begging, it won't likely be interested in each other and want to overwhelm her by following these tips to help your mind off of the moment like very sincerely apologizing either via a text message or email, but don't give up.What you need to take them out there, they're not interested in doing.From this lesson, you can rethink your situation it is over, you have to change; there's a risk of being dumped by her new relationship doesn't work out, but she didn't notice them?And today scientific modern research is rediscovering the truths about ancient Wicca magical spells and winning back an ex.

You can do to get to the panic and ask to get him back if they are out of the world.If you display a confident and strong and not all of us, like myself, have been ruined before they can!It's only a small part of the hardest things you have a little crazy and goes against every emotion you are doing the laundry, women are driven by irrationality.This will remove the temptation is to think about getting her back.You have to make your ex back so you will start the relationship to work?

After identifying the reason is something I can't stress enough.I did beg to be relaxed when you two had with them is to improve your attraction skills.Life each day to day pouting, and generally hating the world, but don't show her that you feel the same time, it is to try not to sound sad or upset at all.He has tried a lot of listening and trying to reconnect with our ex back is a great relationship - so many marriages end in breakups.Besides being needy, being jealous if you stick to the breakup.

So stop doing anything further, you need to know why you want to do with this is that 90 percent of all stop calling your girlfriend back.If you have to sit down and talk about what he did something wrong and analyze every bit of a sudden was I wouldn't have to go out somewhere.Getting your girlfriend breaks up with your tactics is working.I recently had a similar situation a year or in places where you are having, which is definitely a step back and remember the good things that made a mistake.Every chance you had cheated on your girlfriend back I can quote from online forums.

When my ex should only contact her too soon after the break-up.First, don't desperately chase and call her for a second.Have you changed since then, think back to you having fun and he certainly won't appreciate it if mind games or some other things - went out, had fun and some are serious, like cheating on your own error.That's right, they will do you know that over the Internet; contrary to what you have to be managed such that the fire and passion just weren't there anymore.Was there a lot good tips in this article.

Attract Your Ex Back Meditation

[stevedonnellyfaith-blog]

Reluctant to Agree (Post 108) 9-30-15

Without having television available in our new house yet, I didn’t follow the Pope’s visit like I would have liked to have.  Initially, when it seemed like the White House intended to embarrass Francis by inviting every Catholic dissident residing in the Western hemisphere to dinner with him, I was pretty sure that things were not going to go well.  I had thought that the trip was just for the conference in Philadelphia, but I suppose that a stop in DC was nearly obligatory and New York is not that far from the City of Brotherly Love either.   I guess getting invited to a prestigious ambush with entrees is to be expected.  I am glad that, by the sound of it, the dinner never happened, because world leaders tend to try to out-duel each other and I’m afraid that another future dinner might have included some people even further on the fringes of the Catholic faith and I don’t want to see what that looks like.  I am sure that Jerry Springer would be an excellent consultant for any subsequent supper to what was planned for this visit.

To my understanding the Pope rebuffed the invite and instead ate with the poor.  What an inspiration:  eschewing the powerful for the company of the meek.  Francis truly is the Vicar of Christ. He seems to have patterned the entire visit upon Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  He comforted those with burdens, ate with the poor and washed the feet of prisoners.  Despite not having a TV, I did see an online clip of Francis halting his Fiat to bless a child in a wheelchair.  I could see the tearful thankfulness of the mother as she lived her public version of a New Testament story there before us.  The healing was not miraculous and physical, but what I saw was a spiritual healing of the mother.  The tears of gratitude were the same as when Francis kissed the tumors of the disfigured man early in his pontificate.  He has come to serve the poor and to convert us all to the way of Jesus Christ.

Yet there is still the bickering about Climate Change, the role of wealth and Francis’ call to repudiate Capital Punishment.  I am on-board with most of what Francis has encouraged Catholics to advocate for.  I care about protecting the environment just not to the extent of participating in any of Al Gore’s shakedowns.  I can see how wealth without morals enslaves us to greed and hurt our souls.  With respect to Capital Punishment, I have slowly and reluctantly converted to John Paul II’s viewpoint over the last decade or so.

Back when the little Polish man sat on the Chair of Peter, I was pretty torqued off against an extremely insidious conglomerate of terrorists that had used airliners to attack our country.  I could understand John Paul’s belief that executing the guilty does nothing to repair the damage done to the victims, but it remained my belief that, in some cases, men in prison can still manage to harm innocents even when they are kept in solitary confinement.  People are still routinely killed at the order of Mexican gang lords incarcerated in Pelican Bay.  It happens. As men, we are charged with protecting those innocent people in the same way that we were obligated to stop the slaughter in Rwanda, an obligation that we failed to honor and for which are accountable.

Still I could see that Sadaam’s execution did nothing to quell the violence in Iraq as I had hoped. Removing him from power did prevent his regime from adding to the excess of four hundred thousand bodies of Shia, Kurds and other dissents that Sadaam’s Baathist government had executed and buried in mass graves.  Hanging him didn’t right any wrongs, although, for Sadaam, his time on death row was probably helpful to his soul.  It did seem like an awfully easy way out for a man who had ordered mass brutal killings of his own citizens.  The bodies of children shot while clutching stuffed animals were, in some cases, exhumed from the vast network of grave mounds distributed throughout Iraq.

Killing the killer is certainly vengeance, but that is not a healthy occupation for us.  That said, I don’t advocate the European solution of releasing terrorists or other mass murders back into society after five years or a decade.  In most every case, true life imprisonment is satisfactory for even the more heinous killers. Certainly, Charles Manson tests our patience with his antics, but he really doesn’t get much attention anymore. He rants and raves, but he, as of yet, has not been allowed to participate in Dancing With the Stars and after you have carved a swastika into your forehead there is a very limited list of outrageous stunts you can pull from a prison cell.  I expect that he will eventually understand that only endorsing Donald Trump will garner him the mass media attention that he craves and misses.  His execution, if he were eligible, would only provide a last trip through the klieg lights that he so misses rather than the irrelevance which is his current lot.  Which is worse punishment for a Narcissist?

By discovering the teachings of Divine Mercy in the last four years I came to understand in a small way that Jesus’ blood is infinitely more than sufficient to wipe away all the sins of Sadaam, his two rape happy sons and for Charles Manson and all the rogues’ gallery of serial and spree killers that have garnered such infamy and notoriety through our media feeding frenzies.  Despite our disgust, all those killers remain fully human both by DNA and by the effect of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice.  Francis encourages us to remember that they are men like us.  I agree with him, although I am not ready to wash Manson’s feet.

Most Catholics like a good deal of what Francis has to say, and don’t care for another portion of his teaching.  It was the same with Christ.  Not even his disciples understood much of what Jesus was saying during His lifetime. Peter was a particularly vociferous objector to several of the teachings, but the first Bishop of Rome came around in the end to Jesus’ point of view.  I think much of what Francis has to say will also convert us over years of thinking if our hearts remain open to the still small voice inside us. When we see him wash the feet of prisoners instead of dining with Pharisees, our choice is to try to understand what he is attempting to teach us, or to join his detractors.  His obvious openness to the life of Christ makes me very reluctant to join the chorus of Francis opponents.  

[keremulusoy]

A STREET ARTIST FAMOUS FOR FILLING THE PITS IN THE CHICAGO STREETS WITH MOSAIC ART: JIM BACHOR

It’s not enough just to say a street artist while talking about Jim Bachor. He is an artist befitting for the windy spirit of Chicago, the third largest city in America. The city, the history of which dates back to 1795, set an example with its familiarity, landscape, roads and unique architecture. It is more accurate to say for Bachor that he is an artist who is protective, sensitive and who expresses his reactions in the most effective way in urban life, besides urban people. Jim Bachor is a street artist who is famous for filling the potholes of the streets with mosaic art. While expressing his feelings he found his own unique way  and he is very aware of what he is doing. We have made an interview with Jim Bachor for you via internet:

We know you very well from social media. When we researched about you, we found that you were the most famous street artist in Chicago. Original articles written about you reached out to Turkey. Can we get to know more abou you? It is nice to hear that. I’m so honored. I was born in 1964 in Chicago. I work as a graphic designer, street and mosaic artist. I am making mosaic designs by using ancient techniques. I became famous for the mosaics I designed for the pothole in the streets of Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, San Antonio, Nashville, Los Angeles, Carrara, Italy and Jyväskylä, Finland. After visiting Pompeii in Italy, I found mosaics from an old volcano, and in 2013 I began to fill the potholes in Chicago with mosaics by giving the message of “not a pothole”. I wanted to draw attention in some way. The work that I did was going quite deeper than the street surface, rather than art. I can say that it is a little humor, a little information, a little protest and reaching to the solution by drawing attention to the problems. With conferences and exhibitions, I feed my artistic aspect a little.

You say that you make mosaic art to leave a mark in the world. Why is it so fascinating to leave a mark in the world? What does it mean to leave a mark? I fell in love with the art of mosaic when I visited europe (Paris, London, Rome) for the first time in the late 1990s. This initial visit started a fascination for me with ancient history that continues to this day. Europe has so many ruins, something we just don’t have in the USA. My background is as a graphic designer in the advertising business. All the ruins lit my imagination on fire. Like ancient stadiums where you could still sit where spectators sat so many years ago – amazing! Anyways, during my first visit to Pompeii our tour guide pointed out a mosaic. He said “glass and marble don’t fade so this piece of art looks essentially like the artist intended almost 2000 years ago” incredible. The idea that someone could make a piece of art that could last that long just amazed me. That thought drives my work to this day. I know my 12 year old twin boys probably won’t be building a pyramid in my honor so instead I produce artwork that might exist for a long time after i’m gone. People in the future can decide whether they like it or not!.

The idea of filling the potholes in the streets with art is quite interesting. How did this idea come about? What kind of reactions did you get? Potholes are kind of an unsolvable problem. They get “fixed” and a few months later they need to be repaired again. Back in 2013 the potholes were particularly bad in chicago, especially on our street. I applied my passion for this near indestructible art form (mosaics) to this unsolvable problem outside of my house. At first i didn’t admit to doing the first few pieces of pothole art. I was worried about getting in trouble with the police. Also, I had just won a big commission with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to do a mosaic in one of the city’s train stations.  I was worried about getting in trouble and losing that commission. Ultimately a friend of mine didn’t listen to me and began contacting newspapers and tv news shows to tell them about what i was doing. One thing led to another and then there was a live tv show, newspaper articles, online articles etc.

In the ancient world, images of daily life are expressed in mosaic. You are using the symbols of popular culture in your mosaics. Why do you use these icons? Is this a criticism? What i’ve tried to do is furthering the art of the mosaic in the 21st century when people think “mosaic” they think religious icons or geometric patterns or people in Togas doing things. I saw an opportunity to fill a void and bring this ancient technique into contemporary society. I like to bring some of my subtle humor into my work. Making fun of our current time with people “worshipping” coffee (at least in the US) or junk food. not really criticism – more observational – looking at ourselves and seeing how ridiculous we look sometimes. Plus i also think it’s funny to see subject matter you would never normally see rendered using an ancient technique like mosaic (like a crushed beer can or bag of snack chips).

With my pothole art specifically i sometimes juxtapose universal “truths” – meaning everyone “hates” potholes and everyone pretty much “loves” flowers or ice cream. I like contrasting two extremes – taking something everyone hates and filling it with imagery of something everyone loves.

In your interviews, we understand that the authorities in charge of the streets do not like the work you do. What do you think about that the responsible authorities have this negative outlook? Actually i haven’t had any negative interactions with street maintenance people in any city i’ve ever done work in over the past 6 years until this past summer in New York City. I gave an interview to a newspaper (The New York Post) while i was in town. The reporter asked the city’s Department of Transportation for a response to my work for the story. They did not like it – saying it was a distraction to drivers and that they would be removing them. They were serious! Most of the pothole artwork was jackhammered out of the street within a week! l’ve had many interactions with the police. Once they understand what i’m doing they are fine with it.

Can you describe the adventure of filling a street pothole with art? How do you decide which mosaic you will do and how long does it take? First, I finish the draft in my studio. Each piece takes about 8-10 hours to complete. I keep a list of possible potholes to fill when I have time to do them, when the weather is right and I have artwork ready to go. Installations happen in 2 steps. The 1st step takes about 1.5-2 hours to do. I bring all materials on site (water, concrete, brooms, rags, etc) Once the artwork is installed I protect it with traffic cones . The 2nd step happens about 8 hours later (depending on temperatures) or the next day once the concrete has dried. I scrub the mosaics with wire brushes and it looks as good as it ever will. Then I take final photographs of it and consider it done. I also leave a “goodie bag” somewhere near by for followers/fans to find and then i announce the new work on Instagram and Facebook. Concerning subject matter – I like to work in multi-piece series based on a common theme. When possible I’ll “bend” the theme to fit with the local area I’m doing work in. Meaning if I’m doing a series on junk food I’ll try and do a piece featuring a local product that is popular with people in that particular city.

NOTE:

Do you have a chance to visit Turkey? The history of Turkey is a rich place in terms of mosaics. Would you like to leave a mark on Istanbul’s Street potholes among these historical mosaics? Oh I know! I’ve been to Turkey twice. Loved it. The nicest people and a bunch of ancient ruins to explore! I’ve probably driven over 1000 miles (1600 km) in your country! Spent some time in Istanbul and then flew to Izmir and then drove to Antalya – exploring ruins along the way. I would love to do some work in Istanbul. The big problem of course would be funding! it would be an expensive campaign. All i need is a wealthy sponsor!

By: Bahar Alban / Photo: Jim Bachor

*This article was  published in the  March-April issue of Marmara Life. 

The Man Filling Potholes With Art Jim BACHOR A STREET ARTIST FAMOUS FOR FILLING THE PITS IN THE CHICAGO STREETS WITH MOSAIC ART: JIM BACHOR…

[nancygduarteus]

Houseplants Don’t Actually Clean the Air

When vine-curious Brooklynites walk into Tula Plants and Design—a small houseplant shop in Greenpoint with a vibrant Instagram presence and a profusion of leaves on every available horizontal surface—the employees know what questions to expect.

There are two, according to Ariel Ries, an employee at the store. The first is, “Will this plant kill my pet?” The second is, “What kind of plants are best for cleaning the air?”

Of all the 1970s trends that have enjoyed a resurgence in recent years—astrology, Fleetwood Mac, and special-counsel investigations among them—few have shown the explosive growth of houseplants and indoor gardening. “More American households are gardening than ever before (77 percent),” bragged a recent press release from the National Gardening Survey, “and increasingly the gardener is a young man.”

As a young man, I can vouch: I am increasingly the gardener. (I own seven plants.) Of the 6 million Americans who took up gardening in 2016, 5 million were Millennials like me, according to the National Gardening Survey, an annual poll conducted by a nonprofit advocacy group. Gardening is now a $47 billion industry in the United States, with the average gardener household spending a record $503 on plants and materials annually. (I have spent $63.)

[Read: Rome’s Colosseum was once a wild, tangled garden]

Houseplants have much to recommend them. They’re fun to care for, they look good on Instagram, and they express environmental angst through interior design. But one of houseplants’ most commonly repeated virtues holds that they’re not only living tchotchkes, but also little HVAC machines: Houseplants, allegedly, filter the air. The Sill, an online plant store that communicates its Millennial bonafides through chunky serifs and large splotches of white space, lists plant species by the airborne toxins they are best at removing. (Philodendrons filter formaldehyde.) Yet interest in this particular plant benefit is not limited to the self-care set. The same question has landed listicles in the patrician This Old House, the nerdy Lifehacker, and a doomsday-prepper blog.

For several years, research really did suggest that houseplants might cleanse the air of certain pollutants. But now most scientists say that’s not right.

“It’s such an alluring and enticing idea,” Elliot Gall, a Portland State University professor, told me. “But the scientific literature shows that indoor houseplants—as would be typically implemented in a person’s home—do very little to clean the air.”

“My view is even harsher than that,” Michael Waring, an engineering professor at Drexel University, told me. “I do not think that houseplants clean the air.”

“A resounding ‘no,’” agreed Richard Corsi, a longtime air-pollution researcher, in an email. Houseplants do not clean the air “any more than an old pair of socks or baseball cap that I would hang on the wall.”

Why the confusion? Big Succulent isn’t lying to you, though at this point the houseplant industry is cherry-picking data. But for plants to actually improve the air, even in a compact apartment, you’d need a concentration of houseplants that only the most dedicated plant lovers can actually achieve.

In the late 1980s, the NASA scientist Bill Wolverton investigated whether common houseplants could remove a certain type of air pollutant, called “volatile organic compounds,” or VOCs, from the air. VOCs are regularly released by common household products such as drywall, house paints, nail polish, shampoo, and almost anything with a scent. Their harmful effects can range from an itchy throat to nasopharyngeal cancer.

[Read: Why pop culture links women and killer plants]

Unlike other types of air pollution, such as soot or particulate matter, VOCs can’t be filtered out of the air with a fine-grade filter. This means that they can build up in hermetically sealed environments … such as laboratories or spacecraft. The problem for NASA was obvious. So Wolverton, a former military scientist who began his career studying whether plants could break down Agent Orange, now examined whether houseplants could absorb VOCs.

His 1989 report announced a cheerful answer. Plants were “a promising, economical solution to indoor air pollution,” it declared. “If man is to move into closed environments, on Earth or in space, he must take along nature’s life support system.” The report—jointly funded by NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America, a trade group—was picked up by the media. The idea gained even more currency in 1996, when Wolverton published How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants That Purify Your Home or Office. (Wolverton did not respond to a request for comment.)

That study provides the scientific basis for almost all the plant-and-air-pollution content you see online. “I’ve seen it on so many pop internet sites—‘researchers from NASA’ is the common phrase you see,” Waring, the Drexel professor, said. He told me that there’s nothing especially wrong with Wolverton’s 1989 study. Its results “fall right in line with other stuff that’s been measured in the literature.”

But taking its results at face value significantly overstates the power of plants, he said. Wolverton measured whether houseplants could remove VOCs from an airtight laboratory environment. But a home is not a hermetic chamber. It has open windows and doors, drafts and leaks, and much more clutter.

Recently, Waring and his colleagues reanalyzed all 195 studies that have examined whether houseplants can filter the air. They found that some types of plants can remove higher amounts of VOCs than others. But once you factor in the effects of working in a large room, none of the plants are able to do much.

Waring told me to imagine a small office, 10 feet by 10 feet by eight feet. “You would have to put 1,000 plants in that office to have the same air-cleaning capacity of just changing over the air once per hour, which is the typical air-exchange rate in an office ventilation system,” he said. That’s 10 plants per square foot of floor space. Even if you chose the most effective type of VOC-filtering plant, you would still need one plant per square foot, Waring said.

Or as Waring (who owns 10 to 20 houseplants) recently put it in a presentation for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine:

Michael Waring

But maybe scientists have been researching the wrong pollutant. Several years ago, a team of researchers examined whether houseplants could remove ground-level ozone. Ozone’s effects are often described as “sunburn inside your lungs,” and can cause painful breathing, asthma attacks, and even the chronic lung disease COPD.

More than 107 million Americans live in areas with unhealthy amounts of ozone, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Unfortunately, houseplants can’t do much about that, either. The researchers found that even the most effective plants barely reduced the level of ozone in indoor spaces. “If ozone levels were 30 parts per billion in your home, then you might reduce them to like 29.7 parts per billion,” said Gall, the Portland State professor and a co-author of the study. (He owns no houseplants. “When I did a postdoc in Singapore, we had two big houseplants we were excited about and loved, but then we had ant problems for the next two years,” he said.)

[Read: Why do these plants have metallic blue leaves?]

Houseplants are just outcompeted. Gall told me to look at the surface area of houseplants in your home, and then to consider the surface area of every other object in your home—the walls, the spray bottles, the couch cushions, everything. “The surface area of any vegetation is just very, very low compared with everything else that could function as a source or a sink” for air pollutants, he said.

To start to even marginally lower indoor-air pollution, Gall estimated that you would need at least one houseplant for every 20 square feet of floor space. “And there are downsides to that,” he said. “You wind up having a living system in the space, and that might raise indoor humidity and cause other problems.”

Hilton Carter enjoys having a living system in his space. Carter is a filmmaker and designer whose plant-focused Instagram account has more than 163,000 followers. He told me he keeps about 185 plants in his 950-square-foot apartment in Baltimore, roughly one plant per every five square feet. “You can feel the difference in a space that’s filled with plants as opposed to a space that isn’t,” he said. “Right now, my home feels a bit more humid than it would without those plants in there.”

This humidity, while great in the winter, did somewhat limit his decoration options. “If you want to have furniture in there, it probably wouldn’t be as wise,” he said. But it’s worth it: He loves the feel of a space with plants, even if they don’t purify the air as he thought.

Yet even Carter’s apartment did not meet the strict quota for VOCs. Not even Instagram-famous plant density can cleanse a room. In fact, I found only one place that achieved one plant per square foot: Tula Plants and Design. Ries told me that the 800-square-foot store will regularly have more than 800 plants for days after a delivery. (On the day I called, it had 750.)

And Ries, as it happened, was familiar with the original Wolverton study. The store regularly shows it to customers who ask about the best air-purifying plants, she said, though employees also warn them that the study measured something very specific and was “definitely different than how it would be in our real environment.” Often, patrons walk away with peace lilies. I asked whether the newer science might change Tula’s recommendations.

“I guess I could imagine putting peace lilies all over the place. Then your home would be very full of peace lilies,” Ries said. “But unless you really loved peace lilies and snake plants, it might not be something that brings you joy.” And joy, not marginal air pollution, is the real reason to own a plant. I said that I still loved my new plants, even if they didn’t make my apartment’s air any cleaner.

“Bringing plants in, bringing greenery in—it’s about having something near you that’s alive, that you’re caring for, that brings you joy and happiness,” she said. “And that affects your mood, whether or not it’s giving you more oxygen to breathe or something.”

from Health News And Updates https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/03/indoor-plants-clean-air-best-none-them/584509/?utm_source=feed

[ionecoffman]

Houseplants Don’t Actually Clean the Air

When vine-curious Brooklynites walk into Tula Plants and Design—a small houseplant shop in Greenpoint with a vibrant Instagram presence and a profusion of leaves on every available horizontal surface—the employees know what questions to expect.

There are two, according to Ariel Ries, an employee at the store. The first is, “Will this plant kill my pet?” The second is, “What kind of plants are best for cleaning the air?”

Of all the 1970s trends that have enjoyed a resurgence in recent years—astrology, Fleetwood Mac, and special-counsel investigations among them—few have shown the explosive growth of houseplants and indoor gardening. “More American households are gardening than ever before (77 percent),” bragged a recent press release from the National Gardening Survey, “and increasingly the gardener is a young man.”

As a young man, I can vouch: I am increasingly the gardener. (I own seven plants.) Of the 6 million Americans who took up gardening in 2016, 5 million were Millennials like me, according to the National Gardening Survey, an annual poll conducted by a nonprofit advocacy group. Gardening is now a $47 billion industry in the United States, with the average gardener household spending a record $503 on plants and materials annually. (I have spent $63.)

[Read: Rome’s Colosseum was once a wild, tangled garden]

Houseplants have much to recommend them. They’re fun to care for, they look good on Instagram, and they express environmental angst through interior design. But one of houseplants’ most commonly repeated virtues holds that they’re not only living tchotchkes, but also little HVAC machines: Houseplants, allegedly, filter the air. The Sill, an online plant store that communicates its Millennial bonafides through chunky serifs and large splotches of white space, lists plant species by the airborne toxins they are best at removing. (Philodendrons filter formaldehyde.) Yet interest in this particular plant benefit is not limited to the self-care set. The same question has landed listicles in the patrician This Old House, the nerdy Lifehacker, and a doomsday-prepper blog.

For several years, research really did suggest that houseplants might cleanse the air of certain pollutants. But now most scientists say that’s not right.

“It’s such an alluring and enticing idea,” Elliot Gall, a Portland State University professor, told me. “But the scientific literature shows that indoor houseplants—as would be typically implemented in a person’s home—do very little to clean the air.”

“My view is even harsher than that,” Michael Waring, an engineering professor at Drexel University, told me. “I do not think that houseplants clean the air.”

“A resounding ‘no,’” agreed Richard Corsi, a longtime air-pollution researcher, in an email. Houseplants do not clean the air “any more than an old pair of socks or baseball cap that I would hang on the wall.”

Why the confusion? Big Succulent isn’t lying to you, though at this point the houseplant industry is cherry-picking data. But for plants to actually improve the air, even in a compact apartment, you’d need a concentration of houseplants that only the most dedicated plant lovers can actually achieve.

In the late 1980s, the NASA scientist Bill Wolverton investigated whether common houseplants could remove a certain type of air pollutant, called “volatile organic compounds,” or VOCs, from the air. VOCs are regularly released by common household products such as drywall, house paints, nail polish, shampoo, and almost anything with a scent. Their harmful effects can range from an itchy throat to nasopharyngeal cancer.

[Read: Why pop culture links women and killer plants]

Unlike other types of air pollution, such as soot or particulate matter, VOCs can’t be filtered out of the air with a fine-grade filter. This means that they can build up in hermetically sealed environments … such as laboratories or spacecraft. The problem for NASA was obvious. So Wolverton, a former military scientist who began his career studying whether plants could break down Agent Orange, now examined whether houseplants could absorb VOCs.

His 1989 report announced a cheerful answer. Plants were “a promising, economical solution to indoor air pollution,” it declared. “If man is to move into closed environments, on Earth or in space, he must take along nature’s life support system.” The report—jointly funded by NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America, a trade group—was picked up by the media. The idea gained even more currency in 1996, when Wolverton published How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants That Purify Your Home or Office. (Wolverton did not respond to a request for comment.)

That study provides the scientific basis for almost all the plant-and-air-pollution content you see online. “I’ve seen it on so many pop internet sites—‘researchers from NASA’ is the common phrase you see,” Waring, the Drexel professor, said. He told me that there’s nothing especially wrong with Wolverton’s 1989 study. Its results “fall right in line with other stuff that’s been measured in the literature.”

But taking its results at face value significantly overstates the power of plants, he said. Wolverton measured whether houseplants could remove VOCs from an airtight laboratory environment. But a home is not a hermetic chamber. It has open windows and doors, drafts and leaks, and much more clutter.

Recently, Waring and his colleagues reanalyzed all 195 studies that have examined whether houseplants can filter the air. They found that some types of plants can remove higher amounts of VOCs than others. But once you factor in the effects of working in a large room, none of the plants are able to do much.

Waring told me to imagine a small office, 10 feet by 10 feet by eight feet. “You would have to put 1,000 plants in that office to have the same air-cleaning capacity of just changing over the air once per hour, which is the typical air-exchange rate in an office ventilation system,” he said. That’s 10 plants per square foot of floor space. Even if you chose the most effective type of VOC-filtering plant, you would still need one plant per square foot, Waring said.

Or as Waring (who owns 10 to 20 houseplants) recently put it in a presentation for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine:

Michael Waring

But maybe scientists have been researching the wrong pollutant. Several years ago, a team of researchers examined whether houseplants could remove ground-level ozone. Ozone’s effects are often described as “sunburn inside your lungs,” and can cause painful breathing, asthma attacks, and even the chronic lung disease COPD.

More than 107 million Americans live in areas with unhealthy amounts of ozone, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Unfortunately, houseplants can’t do much about that, either. The researchers found that even the most effective plants barely reduced the level of ozone in indoor spaces. “If ozone levels were 30 parts per billion in your home, then you might reduce them to like 29.7 parts per billion,” said Gall, the Portland State professor and a co-author of the study. (He owns no houseplants. “When I did a postdoc in Singapore, we had two big houseplants we were excited about and loved, but then we had ant problems for the next two years,” he said.)

[Read: Why do these plants have metallic blue leaves?]

Houseplants are just outcompeted. Gall told me to look at the surface area of houseplants in your home, and then to consider the surface area of every other object in your home—the walls, the spray bottles, the couch cushions, everything. “The surface area of any vegetation is just very, very low compared with everything else that could function as a source or a sink” for air pollutants, he said.

To start to even marginally lower indoor-air pollution, Gall estimated that you would need at least one houseplant for every 20 square feet of floor space. “And there are downsides to that,” he said. “You wind up having a living system in the space, and that might raise indoor humidity and cause other problems.”

Hilton Carter enjoys having a living system in his space. Carter is a filmmaker and designer whose plant-focused Instagram account has more than 163,000 followers. He told me he keeps about 185 plants in his 950-square-foot apartment in Baltimore, roughly one plant per every five square feet. “You can feel the difference in a space that’s filled with plants as opposed to a space that isn’t,” he said. “Right now, my home feels a bit more humid than it would without those plants in there.”

This humidity, while great in the winter, did somewhat limit his decoration options. “If you want to have furniture in there, it probably wouldn’t be as wise,” he said. But it’s worth it: He loves the feel of a space with plants, even if they don’t purify the air as he thought.

Yet even Carter’s apartment did not meet the strict quota for VOCs. Not even Instagram-famous plant density can cleanse a room. In fact, I found only one place that achieved one plant per square foot: Tula Plants and Design. Ries told me that the 800-square-foot store will regularly have more than 800 plants for days after a delivery. (On the day I called, it had 750.)

And Ries, as it happened, was familiar with the original Wolverton study. The store regularly shows it to customers who ask about the best air-purifying plants, she said, though employees also warn them that the study measured something very specific and was “definitely different than how it would be in our real environment.” Often, patrons walk away with peace lilies. I asked whether the newer science might change Tula’s recommendations.

“I guess I could imagine putting peace lilies all over the place. Then your home would be very full of peace lilies,” Ries said. “But unless you really loved peace lilies and snake plants, it might not be something that brings you joy.” And joy, not marginal air pollution, is the real reason to own a plant. I said that I still loved my new plants, even if they didn’t make my apartment’s air any cleaner.

“Bringing plants in, bringing greenery in—it’s about having something near you that’s alive, that you’re caring for, that brings you joy and happiness,” she said. “And that affects your mood, whether or not it’s giving you more oxygen to breathe or something.”

Article source here:The Atlantic

[elvinwicker76-blog]

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[profgandalf]

Do We Need Propagandists Again?

My rhetorical question will probably meet with few affirmatives. Propaganda is BAD, right?  Of course it is: we don't want nor need propaganda in our lives.  We want the truth! When Americans think of propaganda, they think of totalitarian states and false narratives meant to bamboozle the populous. Fake News is probably the newest manifestation of this. 

We Have Used Propaganda as a Nation in the Past:

Some may think of some of our own propaganda, especially some of the cartoons of World War II ("Daffy the Commando") or Frank Capra's Why We Fight.  But even that number is small.   However, propaganda is not by definition false and there needs to be a voice out there which represents the world-view and ideas that belong to mainstream core that is Western civilization and specifically Middle America.

Instead of the perpetual beat of the drum of change that is the hallmark of dissatisfaction, many long for a voice which affirms what our culture is doing well.

The Voice of Walter Winchell:

I doubt that many fans of The Legend of Korra nor Star Wars: The Clone Wars would recognize the name Walter Winchell (1897-1972) one of American's more recognizable voices to my father's generation.  Throughout the years of World War II  Winchell "opened his radio broadcasts by pressing randomly on a telegraph key, a sound that created a sense of urgency and importance, and using the catchphrase `Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. America from border to border and coast to coast and all the ships at sea. Let's go to press." He would then read each of his stories with a staccato delivery (up to a rate of 197 words per minute," (Wikipedia).  This is the voice imitated at the beginnings of both Korra and The Clone Wars.  Why?  Because he was so effective.  He became the voice that Americans trusted as they heard about the inevitable victories of the Allies against the Nazis. 

Winchell’s role in WWII and After:

Winchell, a Jew, had championed America's involvement against Germany even before the war was declared.  And after the start of the war he was a stalwart supporter of FDR and the government throughout that time and a major supporter of the war effort in his news reports.  History seemed to confirm his reports and he gained trust. As time progressed he became an arch-conservative while still being the voice of the trusted establishment as it fought against Communism as well as crime.  Winchell even provided the introduction narrative for the famous 1959 TV show The Untouchables.  In other words, he was the broadcasting voice of the establishment trusted in a time of turmoil. His face featured on the cover of Time is an indication of his status. And that is why the film makers of the cartoons imitate him.   He was a master propagandist. 

How Bad Is It to Have a Propaganda on the Air?

And I am left wondering is that bad?  Are there any voices from which America can take comfort in a time of perpetual upheaval with madmen testing potential nuclear missals, ISIS beheading hostages, terrorists attacking innocents with bombs and cars, not to mention a general press determined to detract the attempts of the nation's current chosen government?  Most Americans now tune into the narrative with which they identify.   But there is no unifier.  Maybe we need propaganda.

Being Propaganda Does NOT Mean a Work is False--A Work that Lies is Profane, And Propaganda Can Tell the Truth:

Now, contrary to what some might automatically assume, a propaganda piece is not necessarily false.  It can be And when faced with a belief system which one wants to believe is true, the temptation to push the narrative naturally along to make that even better encourages lying, but this is not necessarily an absolute outcome.  Works which are classified as propaganda differ from a traditional work of art in only their ultimate purposes.  The work of art depicts what is true as experienced in everyday life.  The more true to life a work is, the better quality of art. A work of propaganda in contrast expresses the truth of its ideology above all else.  Thus, if the closer to truth the political or religious ideologies are, the more in-line a work of art can be both propaganda and true art. 

A Hypothetical “Christian” Work of Propaganda that Would Be Profane:

However, when a work fails to do this, when it lies to support a religious or political belief system, it becomes profane.  It overtly lies to support a false concept or ideology. An example might be a work which portrays that that each time an individual prays, God answers his or her prayer directly.  Now as a Christian I believe in the power of prayer.  However, my own experience in life shows me that God does not answer every prayer with the action the prayer requests.  Life has shown me that God says yes, no or sometimes wait.  If in a work of fiction I portrayed God as a cosmic Santa Clause I would be lying to to try and make my belief system more attractive.  I would be creating a Christian work of art that was profane.

Examples of Propaganda that Avoided Being Profane:

Many scholars think that the Aeneid is actually a masterful piece of propaganda.  It sets up the idea that Rome as a nation is actually divinely ordained with a great purpose to fulfill.  However, it avoids being profane by not lying--by presenting to the reader not only the hoped for glories of Rome but also the terrible costs that establishing the nation has on both individuals and cultures, including the destruction of Carthage. Another work of great propaganda would be Pilgrim's Progress, and still another might be Uncle Tom's Cabin.  Note one does not have to agree with the artist.  Many might question the role of Rome, Bunyan’s understanding of the nature of Christianity, or Harriet Beecher Stowe‘s accuracy of how slaves felt.  However, they all told the truth to the best of their ability.  Therefore while their works are all propaganda, none of them are profane.

Why We Need Propaganda?

In a recent Fox interview "Are we doing enough to counter the 'online caliphate'?" Ryan Mauro weighs in on how to combat terror campaigns on the internet.  His point is that at present the West is doing a lousy job at undermining the message coming from ISIS and other Islamic Terrorist groups.  They are doing a great job getting their victory out and the West is failing to counter with its own positive message while also pointing to their profound failures.  He says that we can do this while still telling the truth.  In fact our truth outweighs their lies.  What he is talking about, although he never uses the word, is in fact propaganda.

Profane Propaganda of WWII and Western Response:

Moderns do not recall this, but the Nazis were the masters of propaganda.  With massive demonstrations and orchestrated events, they projected to the world an almost mythical unstoppable power.

The free world was slow to respond.  But eventually they did.  Frank Capra, in particular, used their own propaganda against them by drawing a direct contrast to the life Americans wanted for their children and the Hitler Youth Camps for which the Nazis were so proud.  And the free world used something that most ideologies that are false can not bear: humor.  There was nothing funny about how the Nazis saw themselves just as there is nothing funny for the Islamic extremist, but when their irrationality is exposed by a clever propagandist, their message deflates.  Thus Daffy Duck hitting Hitler over the head with a mallet, or the British propagandist who spread up Hitler's goosestepping soldiers so their absurdity became overt. (That is probably why they went after the humor magazine Charlie Hebdo.) 

Why Do I Want Propaganda?  A Voice of Certainty

So what am I suggesting?  We need a vigorous voice that supports the achievements of what the core of America values.  Part of the success of Fox News has been its overt aiming at this demographic.  But recent events have suggested a tilting away and the recent removals of both its founder (who has since passed) and one of its most famous conservative voices suggests that there are hands on its tiller that may be of a differing mind set.  (The failings of both men do not deny their effectiveness, and I am suspicious of the clamor for their removal since it is a moral measure). (If interested check out Dick Morris' analysis)  Another outlet which has made itself known recently has been the YouTube video channel called Praguer University (not a university in reality but an outlet for conservative arguments especially supported by Dennis Prager),  But why do we need this?  Because of a fundamental quality which I believe weakens the fabric of our culture.  The West in general and the US specially needs to regain a sense of confidence in itself. 

The left Thrives On Doubt. 

This was recently profoundly illustrated by Sen. Sanders harsh questioning of Russell Vought because of his belief that those who do not share his understanding of Christianity will not be saved. (See article on US News and World Report) To Sanders this seems racist and exclusive, but his objections reveal his and the left's misunderstanding of deeply held religious belief.  He, in fact, does not even understand his own heritage. Orthodox Jews have doubts about the final fate of Christians as much as Christians do of Jews or Muslims.  That's the nature of belief.  What he wants is for all of us to look at our religious faith in the lens of doubt. 

Doubt in the Narrative of Pop Culture:

Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek the Next Generation gave the quiescent liberal line when Data was asking about religious beliefs in its perception of death:  “I always thought that beliefs were not coming to a conclusion but being on a journey"  

Sounds nice, but in fact offers no certainty, and--in fact--is an example of what Timothy Sandefur describes as "Picard’s commitment to non-commitment"  ("The Politics of Star Trek")  Such high sounding claims are, in in fact, not faith at all--they are examples of apostasy.  

The very nature of those who wish to reshape America into a new society must first bring in doubt and disparagement.  You can not have "change you can believe in" if you think that things are not really that bad.  That is why the left attacks so many of the fundamental elements of American society such as the uniqueness of the American constitution (written by elite white men) the value of the religious values found in the Judeo Christian principles (homophobic racists) and the inherent nobility of the American civilization (built on racist, genocidal religious bigots). 

I now hear in academia students opening assuming that the qualities of American exceptionalism is, in fact, a self-created delusion.  When I struggled with my son’s history teach to include some of the positive elements within America’s journey his response is well of course those are there but everyone knows that.  No they don’t. The left’s insistence on the doubt and failed qualities of America has become all too evident.  Students make foolish comments of moral equivalency (The Nazis were bad but we were no better since we put Japanese Americans in concentration camps)   They have even developed an inability to understand civil discourse.

What Cost?

The outcome of this is perpetual doubt. But social progress and strength comes from confidence.  Whatever one thinks of Bill O'Reilly (I sometimes found him a bit overbearing) I really appreciated the point he hammered on his show enumerable times: the US is at its core a noble and exceptional nation.  Walter Winchell said that repeatedly as did others in the media like Paul Harvey as did Edward R. Murrow.  We need propagandists who will in fact affirm the truth that we as a people are indeed a great nation.  In my study of history I have never found a great nation which doubted itself and its basic principles.

America Needs to Believe in Itself

Pres. Obama was elected apparently claiming this, but as time went on, with his apologies for American arrogance, his assumption that the institutions of law were profoundly flawed, his lecturing to Christians that the evil of ISIS was no worse than our own Crusades, even his ideas reflected in his wife's comment that it was not until he rose to power that she was able for the first time to be proud to be an American.  All of this reveals the stumbling self doubt that is central to the common voice of the intelligentsia today. And that is what really helped Donald Trump win, not racism, nor homophobia, but an assurance of America's innate greatness.  Although many may him as not representative of the America to which they belong, the current president would do well to get a good PR person and hammer the positive message which brought him into power.

This all being said there must still be a small sense of caution.  Having a strong and appealing voice to affirm the fundamental worth and strength of American ideas is good.  But one must always still keep a small bit of questioning in mind.  Religion in fact affirms that absolute faith does not belong to the state but to God.  Walter Winchell as helpful to the American sense of self as he was, eventually got caught up in the personal attacks of McCarthyism.  And today if one looks up his name in Wikipedia, the first thing one will see is not that he was one of America's favorite voices in a time of stress and war but rather that he was primarily a gossip columnist.