#if you compare your progress to that of people who are taking classes with prescribed syllabi and materials and schedules and assignments...

[phantomdoodler]

I get what you're saying, but I think there's also merit to acknowledging....those things ARE hard. Not because one skill is intrinsically more difficult to acquire than another or because it's impossible to do. But because finding the time and the energy and planning your schedule IS part of skill acquisition.

Acquiring, retaining, and growing any type of skill requires LOTS of time and organization. It requires prioritization, just like OP says. And those are all very hard things to manage, especially if you're doing it all on your own!

Yes, it's important to not talk yourself out of things before you start by convincing yourself you're not capable of it by default. But it's also important to give yourself (and others!) some grace by acknowledging when things you're attempting to do ARE hard. This too is a skill that can be practiced and honed and used to identify the parts of learning you struggle with the most and find strategies to help.

I know that its not actually that hard to learn to draw. or paint. or cook. or learn to speak a new language. or code. or any of a myriad of other possible skills or hobbies. but at some point you need to pick some single digit number of those ten thousand things that anyone can do, and to everything else say "i have other priorities" because otherwise you will never do any of them.

and so i think when people say "i wish i could..." they usually don't believe that they couldn't do it if they really tried, or even that they've overestimated the difficulty of doing so. I think what they're really wishing for is that time and energy were not finite quantities and that everything that was worth doing could also be done. because it's cosmically unfair that that isn't so.

[transformers-fan-continuities]

Spotlight: Ties That Bind

This one’s a doozy folks! If you missed the last spotlight you can go read it here, but strap in for The Ties That Bind, an absolutely brilliant take on humanformers. It’s hosted here at @tiesthatbind-tf​ created by @artsy-hobbitses​!

Q) Give us a run down of your cont! What's it about, what's it called, what's it like?

Ties That Bind is a humanformers-based original continuity which is part Science Fiction and part Alternate History where the invasion of Quintessons and introduction of their technology to Earth in 1920 sets the world and humankind on a completely different trajectory. The active narrative spans a period from 1920 to 2070, covering the First and Second Quintesson Wars, the interplanetary Antillan War (leading to the creation of Unicron on Mars) and the Great War which involves the Autobots, Decepticons and Functionist stalwarts, and how it affects the characters.

The cast is pretty sprawling and the narrative is mostly centred around human drama with bits of humor interspaced and a dash of horror (mostly centred around how the previous government often chose to utilize the technology left behind from the Quintesson Wars to create new systems of oppression, which affected many of the characters, in the name of worldwide rebuilding efforts).

Q) What characters take the lead here? Any personal favorites?

I will admit to this continuity being very much heavy on the relationship between Old Bastards  Optimus Prime and Megatron, which is given considerable weight as they were best friends who had known each other since childhood and were deeply intrinsic to each other’s growths as individuals, which makes it all the worse when guilt and betrayal enter the party. Despite being captains in two corners of this battle, there’s a part of them that just cannot let go of their pasts together and they need to reconcile with how this will affect their agenda (Megatron) and how they lead their team (Optimus) who don’t necessarily share their history.

Other characters with significant development include:

Starscream, a Cold Construct in a toxic working relationship with Megatron with whom he is hiding a dark secret, who struggles to balance the underhanded viciousness he believes he needs to gain power and his innate desire from his Senate days to make the world a better place. 

Windblade, a Camien native who fights her government’s apathy concerning the situation on Earth which they see as unsalvageable compared to their more Utopian society. 

Prowl, a Cold Construct raised from childhood to be a cop in a police state, who finds out that he was brainwashed several times  to ensure his obedience and efficacy as a government asset and is now working to reclaim some semblance of the humanity he was never allowed to feel and figure out how much of him is who he really is and how much is programming.

Hound, a sheltered Beastman who joined the fight to ensure that Beastmen the world over would have the same rights he did in his homeland of Shetland Isle, but is forcefully stripped of his humanity and faced with his animal side during the war and has to relearn what personhood means amid his trauma.

Q) Is there a bigger point to this, like a theme or some catharsis? Or is it just fluffy fun?

God with the amount of time I spent sleepless trying to figure out how the logistics of this or the semantics of that were supposed to work in universe, I cannot for the life of me say it’s fluffy fun, but I can’t exactly say it hasn’t been pretty engaging either!

There’s elements of war being messy for everyone involved where there doesn’t seem to be a clear line between friend and foe at times, but I think for most part it prescribes to  Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s belief that people are inherently good, but are corrupted by the evils of society. Despite its dark themes (Including but not limited to child abuse, torture, illegal experimenation  and brainwashing), love and friendships do prevail, kindness does beget kindness, found families are made, even the smallest actions matter, and things do get better because there are people on both sides who genuinely want to, and strive to make it better.

With Cold Constructs and Beastmen, it also delves heavily into what it means to be human; to have agency and personhood.

There’s also a strong undercurrent of taking responsibility for one’s actions, even if they were made with the best of intentions (Avoidance of this is what eats up Starscream and Megatron from the inside, and what Starscream eventually embraces).

Q) How long have you been working on it?

There’s two answers to this!

I’ve had a Humanformers-related universe going all the way back to 2007 around the time the first Bayformers came out---basically I had a choice between learning to draw cars or draw people (I was an anthro artist back then) and I immediately chose people.

The 2007 draft however had no worldbuilding or connective storylines and was mostly a fun little venture into character design and practice which were actually instrumental to me experimenting and learning how to draw humans properly.

I left the fandom for about a decade and when I came back to it in late 2020 around September via the War for Cybertron series on Netflix, I immediately got hooked on the 2005 IDW comics I missed out on and wanted to get around to updating my old designs as well find a way to translate several of the concepts I wanted to explore in a human sense, so the 2020 update became its own full-fledged original continuity with detailed worldbuilding and history.

You can see the artistic evolution of several characters from their original incarnation below!

Q) It’s incredible to see your artistic improvement too! Give us a behind-the-scenes look! Show us a secret ;))

Say hello to my workspace! I’ve been working exclusively on the Ipad Pro since late 2016, which is fantastic because I can basically whip up concepts and sketches on the go anywhere. Nowhere is too out of bounds to work on TTB!

Also, do enjoy this sneak peek at true!form Rung, whose synthezoid human body took years to perfect.

Q) YESSSSS alright I must admit this is one of my favorite Rungs, and certainly my fave within TTB. Amazing. Phew, anyway. Where did you draw inspiration from? What canons, what other fiction, what parts of real life?

TTB was initially conceived as a faithful retelling of the IDW 2005 narrative before it was transformed into its own continuity and as such, it borrows heavily from concepts and mirrored plot lines introduced in that run! I chose to have the series inspired off it specifically for the amount of history and worldbuilding it introduced to the franchise.

Anime like Gunslinger Girl and Beastars inspired the depictions of Cold Constructs, especially the more harrowing aspects of their upbringing as government assets instead of children, and Beastmen (Beastformers) in TTB.

I haven’t depicted the world itself in my art all too much, but the architecture from Tiger and Bunny, which has sort of a futuristic Art Deco feel to it, is what you’d usually see in major cities. There is an in-universe reason for that---with a Point Of Divergence set in 1920 followed by 25 years (an entire generation) of progress basically being kicked to the curb due to the Quintesson wars, mankind was basically in a time-locked bubble until the end of the wars, and by then their heroes were 1920s-style rebellion leaders, which lead to 1920s fashion (especially among the Manual Working Class---Megatron, Jazz and Optimus all rock 1920s fashion at some point of their lives) and architecture being celebrated and retained as sort of a reminder of how things were before The Invasion. This anime’s background design is also where I adopted the tiered system TTB’s major metropolises are often built on (with each tier being designated to a different working class) from.

The main artistic style itself is a love letter to 90s cartoons, in particular Gargoyles’ deep and drama-driven character narratives and designs as well as The Centurions’ take on body armor logistics.

I also take inspiration, especially armor-wise, from the characters’ given heritage and background. As an example, Hotrod who is depicted as Irish has the flames on his armor done up with Celtic knots. Welsh aristocrat Mirage’s armor bears olden knight-style filigree and has his Autobot logo designed as a coat of arms. Indonesian Soundwave’s armor and Decepticon logo takes cues from Batik and Wayang Kulit while their mask is based off the Barong.

Q) They are absolutely gorgeous! Show off something you're really proud of, a particular favorite part of your cont.

The worldbuilding in general! Most Humanformers I’ve seen tend to treat it like a fun exercise which it is and is definitely valid, but I found myself wanting a full-fledged world to lose myself in and I sought to try and make that world myself by drafting a detailed history and timeline of events which would affect ongoing narratives, having indepth worldbuilding to include almost all societal aspects of the universe and  expanding on the concept of Beastmen and Cold Constructs existing in a human setting.

I’m not so secretly proud of the research and diversity included to make the cast look like the multicultural, globally-based team that they were meant to be instead of being locked to a single region! My original draft from 2007 was, to put it simply, quite culturally monolithic and I wanted to improve on that aspect with TTB.

I’m also proud that I’ve kept to it this far! I’m a notoriously flaky person jumping from one idea/fandom to another and to have kept at this continuity for the better part of ten months is honestly a personal feat.

Art-wise, this scene depicting a young Megatron working alongside Terminus and Impactor (cameo by @weapon-up-wallflower​‘s OC Missit!)  is definitely one of my favorites since it helps build up the world they live in and plays to familial bonds and comfort found in one another despite their less than ideal circumstances.

Q) Everything has come together so beautifully, you absolutely should be proud. What other fan canons do you love and why? Would you like to see them interviewed?

I am dying to hear more from @iscaredspider​’s Sparkpulse continuity! Her designs are MIND-BLOWINGLY GORGEOUS and I want to hear more about what inspired her to work on it!

Also YOU. Yes YOU BLURRITO. LET ME HEAR MORE ABOUT SNAP.

Q) [wails and squirms away in the mortifying ordeal of being known but in a very flattered way] I WILL SOMEDAY I PROMISE aflghsdjg thank you QwQ

Well that was fantastic, Oni, thank you muchly! A magnificent continuity with so much to look forward to! Coming up next is another personal fave of mine, the first inspiration for SNAP, so stick around...

[jageunyeoujari]

‘idea’ & self-knowledge as love as freedom

w thanks to @radiatingdyke​​ & henrik !!

so in a previous post, i talked abt spectacle & respect in criminal for context. now starting off w henrik’s thoughts re: plato:

"It’s honestly pretty ambiguous what Plato means by it- at least in the republic- The core theory is that ideal forms are a truer kind of reality than the shadows. The philosopher escapes a cave of shadows projected on the wall by a ruling class, the only “reality” they ever knew and were literally bound to. They crawl through a treacherous passage to find themselves face to face with the dazzling light of the sun which blinds them temporarily, and as their eyes adjust they find themselves in a forest and realize the shadow puppet of “tree” was not the real tree all along! For what the shadows are: Idk how developed popular media/conventional politics were at the time but we (America) based a lot of our shit on it so I think one strong possibility is we find ourselves in a modern allegory of the cave where the shadows dancing on the wall are the world as it’s told to us- through news education and policy and the “real” is personal experience and genuine community. Then shadows would then be actual reality as we know it, including the real trees and personal experience, a veil placed over us by metaphysical forces which can be lifted through Godwork to reveal the true nature of the inner workings of the universe. The last part of the allegory is that the philosopher returns to the cave to free the other prisoners and spread the light”

so while criminal is the revelation in the toxic cycle of the idol culture & mutual destruction & obsession are confused for love, idea is making the decision to learn what true love & connection is, leaving behind the suffocating expectations demanded by the industry, & in the process, become complete in his humanity.

so we first see taemin in jail, condemning himself for his role in the toxic parasocial relations of idol culture, and literally... calling himself out.... altho i would say that this:

in criminal is purgatory proper, the jail may be the end point of his journey there. he confesses his sins, his soul gets purified, & then next we see him in the bar which is confirmed to be heaven (which happens to look much like lee soo man's office) while the flashy models stare at taemin, the walking dead, the posh people in suits (likely executives) ignore him. 

so here we have taemin trying to fit in seemlessly in this world of the elites who have the highest level of control in the idol industry. here, he is assured his status as the best & now guaranteed to be free of pain... but on their terms. there is shallow comfort but nothing else. the others content w playing games & eating delicacies, surrounded by alcohol, but are contained to sitting, indulging in frivolities, & passively looking on but no chance of connection. the bar is just another form of intoxication, but unlike criminal where there is at least an illusion of attaining love, heaven is merely stagnant. this idealized heaven of the elites cannot give true freedom as it is based on sterility & exclusivity, just another form of social control. "the dangerous dream that swallowed me is proven by you." staying here would be another form of self-betrayal & denial of the love he seeks so he rebels against heaven through his dancing, an affirmation of his life.

taemin then being shocked that all these shadow versions of himself are not the truth... silvery dissolving forms... his identity fragmenting............ but still taemin still can't break away from the illusion that the adoration & fame he receives as an idol could be actually hurting him.

as @radiatingdyke has talked about, BoA's 'killing me' line is reminiscent of korean shamans channeling gods. significant that it is BoA who he channels as they are both similar, debuting at a very young age & have been massive stars ever since then. "you are my messiah" BoA cuts him off, speaking the truth. this isn't who he rly is or what he actually wants. he must face himself & the truth or he will die. 

the mirror steps are i think symbolic of plato's ladder of love. to my understanding, the ladder of love is basically about how the aim of life is the ascension of the soul to heaven. the gods can do this as a god's soul is in perfect balance w all the different aspects of itself which makes them necessarily wise & good. humans' souls are in disarray, however, & it is this conflict between all parts of the soul which makes it difficult for us to follow the gods to heaven. to do this, people have to understand the true Form of beauty, by climbing the ladder of love. the steps start from loving a body which one is attracted to due to physical beauty & by understanding the beauty of this body, one can then consider how the beauty of one body is found in all bodies. the progression goes on from loving more broadly until we come to the last step, love of knowledge & wisdom. now one is able to see the actual form of Beauty, bringing harmony to your soul. so in order to taemin to finally know peace within himself, he has to know how to love.

& the progression of the ladder implies for me that by first learning to care for others but understanding who they are in their completeness & beauty, you eventually are able to learn to care for yourself & see the beauty in your own soul. & on the flip side, the better able you care for yourself, the more you are able to care for others. i'll discuss this more when i go into my thoughts on act 2 as a whole but basically, the rest of act 2 has a truly warm & loving atmosphere when taemin speaks to the other. in comparison, act 1 presents his experience of 'love' as enmeshment, painful, confusing, losing his self of sense to cater to the desires of the other. there are feelings of obligation to stay in this destructive relationship bc that’s his prescribed role & anyway, any attention is better than none at all. 

ppl w a poor sense of self can readily suffer mistreatment for the sake of a semblance of connection, confusing obsession for love when what’s rly happening is actually cathexis, an investment of emotions. while care & affection can exist w cathexis, as does happen in fans’ relations w idols, this is not the same thing as love which liberates & cultivates growth in yourself & the other. fans’ obsession w idols quickly flipping to hate when idols stray from the designated persona of perfection is investment in that image but is not real love. in act 1, he does not understand the other clearly for what it is, destruction that must end, & the fact that he is suffering. without such awareness, he is incapable of truly giving & receiving love. 

& while act 2 does have similar themes of taking on other's pain, it becomes a stark contrast to act 1 bc he does so from a place of utter assurance of his identity & true self-love, not from the fear of being left alone. he loves himself for who he is so he is able to love for ourselves purely as well.

& as @radiatingdyke has said (& in much more detail than i can) the ladder reflecting the sky can also be a reference to indigenous korean beliefs where the sky represents the entire universe. the creator god is Hanulnim, literally sky god.  

 also, even tho NGDA as a whole is replete w western imagery & references & v catholic, the overarching narrative of the 2 albums don't feel western to me in that there never is a fight between good & evil. a typical western narrative would be more like there would the defeat of like 'criminal' taemin by 'good' taemin or an obvious redemption arc. & to me, idea doesn't read so much as he confronts & then accepts both the good & the bad in him but that he leaves behind these limited concepts altogether & instead connects back to the true essence of the universe & becomes free to be utterly himself.

he’s struggled so much over the course of his career w figuring out how to reconcile the duality of himself, what it means to be authentic as an idol, wishing for his true self to be seen & appreciated. it’s always been looking outward for that validation but skirting away from revealing the whole truth of himself... & idea is the final answer to all that. no more denial, repression, burning away of the past, configuration to other ppl’s desires, no more use of mystery as a defense against the fear of being rejected if people see him for who he really is. he accepts himself for who he is & that’s all that matters.

in classic gaytholic taem fashion, he compares himself to jesus + mary + other divinity in NGDA imagery but ultimately, taemin is done w being both a god & the condemned. “i’ve finally opened my eyes.” he’s never been anything but a human being & he’s showing us all the beauty in that.

[warninggraphiccontent]

16 July 2021

Food for thought

At last week's Data Bites, I noted how 'Wales' is a standard unit of area. This week, along comes a map which shows that all the built-up land in the UK is equivalent to one Wales:

The map is from the National Food Strategy, published yesterday (and the man has a point).

It has divided opinion, judging by the responses to this tweet. I understand where the sceptics are coming from - at first glance, it may be confusing, given Wales isn't actually entirely built up, Cornwall made of peat, or Shetland that close to the mainland (or home to all the UK's golf courses). And I'm often critical of people using maps just because the data is geographical in some way, when a different, non-map visualisation would be better.

But I actually think this one works. Using a familiar geography to represent areas given over to particular land use might help us grasp it more readily (urban areas = size of Wales, beef and lamb pastures = more of the country than anything else). It's also clear that a huge amount of overseas land is needed to feed the UK, too.

The map has grabbed people's attention and got them talking, which is no bad thing. And it tells the main stories I suspect its creators wanted to. In other words, it's made those messages... land.

Trash talk

Happy Take Out The Trash Day!

Yesterday saw A LOT of things published by Cabinet Office - data on special advisers, correspondence with parliamentarians, public bodies and major projects to name but a few, and the small matter of the new plans outlining departmental priorities and how their performance will be measured.

It's great that government is publishing this stuff. It's less great that too much of it still involves data being published in PDFs not spreadsheets. And it's even less great that the ignoble tradition of Take Out The Trash Day continues, for all the reasons here (written yesterday) and here (written in 2017).

I know this isn't (necessarily) deliberate, and it's a lot of good people working very hard to get things finished before the summer (as my 2017 piece acknowledges). And it's good to see government being transparent.

But it's 2021, for crying out loud. The data collection should be easier. The use of this data in government should be more widespread to begin with.

We should expect better.

In other news:

I was really pleased to have helped the excellent team at Transparency International UK (by way of some comments on a draft) with their new report exploring access and influence in UK housing policy, House of Cards. Read it here.

One of our recent Data Bites speakers, Doug Gurr, is apparently in the running to run the NHS. More here.

Any excuse to plug my Audrey Tang interview.

The good folk at ODI Leeds/The Data City/the ODI have picked up and run with my (and others') attempt to map the UK government data ecosystem. Do help them out.

Five years ago this week...

Regarding last week's headline of Three Lines on a Chart: obviously I was going to.

Have a great weekend

Gavin

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Today's links:

Graphic content

Vax populi

Why vaccine-shy French are suddenly rushing to get jabbed* (The Economist)

Morning update on Macron demolishing French anti-vax feeling (or at least vax-hesitant) (Sophie Pedder via Nicolas Berrod)

How Emmanuel Macron’s “health passes” have led to a surge in vaccine bookings in France* (New Statesman)

How effective are coronavirus vaccines against the Delta variant?* (FT)

England faces the sternest test of its vaccination strategy* (The Economist)

Where Are The Newest COVID Hot Spots? Mostly Places With Low Vaccination Rates (NPR)

There's A Stark Red-Blue Divide When It Comes To States' Vaccination Rates (NPR)

All talk, no jabs: the reality of global vaccine diplomacy* (Telegraph)

Vaccination burnout? (Reuters)

Viral content

COVID-19: Will the data allow the government to lift restrictions on 19 July? (Sky News)

UK Covid-19 rates are the highest of any European country after Cyprus* (New Statesman)

COVID-19: Cautionary tale from the Netherlands' coronavirus unlocking - what lessons can the UK learn? (Sky News)

‘Inadequate’: Covid breaches on the rise in Australia’s hotel quarantine (The Guardian)

Side effects

COVID-19: Why is there a surge in winter viruses at the moment? (Sky News)

London Beats New York Back to Office, by a Latte* (Bloomberg)

Outdoor dining reopened restaurants for all — but added to barriers for disabled* (Washington Post)

NYC Needs the Commuting Crowds That Have Yet to Fully Return* (Bloomberg)

Politics and government

Who will succeed Angela Merkel?* (The Economist)

Special advisers in government (Tim for IfG)

How stingy are the UK’s benefits? (Jamie Thunder)

A decade of change for children's services funding (Pro Bono Economics)

National Food Strategy (independent review for UK Government)

National Food Strategy: Tax sugar and salt and prescribe veg, report says (BBC News)

Air, space

Can Wizz challenge Ryanair as king of Europe’s skies?* (FT)

Air passengers have become much more confrontational during the pandemic* (The Economist)

Branson and Bezos in space: how their rocket ships compare* (FT)

Sport

Euro 2020: England expects — the long road back to a Wembley final* (FT)

Most football fans – and most voters – support the England team taking the knee* (New Statesman)

Domestic violence surges after a football match ends* (The Economist)

The Most Valuable Soccer Player In America Is A Goalkeeper (FiveThirtyEight)

Sport is still rife with doping* (The Economist)

Wimbledon wild card success does not disguise financial challenge* (FT)

Can The U.S. Women’s Swim Team Make A Gold Medal Sweep? (FiveThirtyEight)

Everything else

Smoking: How large of a global problem is it? And how can we make progress against it? (Our World in Data)

Record June heat in North America and Europe linked to climate change* (FT)

Here’s a list of open, non-code tools that I use for #dataviz, #dataforgood, charity data, maps, infographics... (Lisa Hornung)

Meta data

Identity crisis

A single sign-on and digital identity solution for government (GDS)

UK government set to unveil next steps in digital identity market plan (Computer Weekly)

BCS calls for social media platforms to verify users to curb abuse (IT Pro)

ID verification for social media as a solution to online abuse is a terrible idea (diginomica)

Who is behind the online abuse of black England players and how can we stop it?* (New Statesman)

Euro 2020: Why abuse remains rife on social media (BBC News)

UK government

Online Media Literacy Strategy (DCMS)

Privacy enhancing technologies: Adoption guide (CDEI)

The Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset is now available in the ONS Secure Research Service (ADR UK)

Our Home Office 2024 DDaT Strategy is published (Home Office)

The UK’s Digital Regulation Plan makes few concrete commitments (Tech Monitor)

OSR statement on data transparency and the role of Heads of Profession for Statistics (Office for Statistics Regulation)

Good data from any source can help us report on the global goals to the UN (ONS)

The state of the UK’s statistical system 2020/21 (Office for Statistics Regulation)

Far from average: How COVID-19 has impacted the Average Weekly Earnings data (ONS)

Health

Shock treatment: can the pandemic turn the NHS digital? (E&T)

Can Vaccine Passports Actually Work? (Slate)

UK supercomputer Cambridge-1 to hunt for medical breakthroughs (The Guardian)

AI got 'rithm

An Applied Research Agenda for Data Governance for AI (GPAI)

Taoiseach and Minister Troy launch Government Roadmap for AI in Ireland (Irish Government)

Tech

“I Don’t Think I’ll Ever Go Back”: Return-to-Office Agita Is Sweeping Silicon Valley (Vanity Fair)

Google boss Sundar Pichai warns of threats to internet freedom (BBC News)

The class of 2021: Welcome to POLITICO’s annual ranking of the 28 power players behind Europe’s tech revolution (Politico)

Inside Facebook’s Data Wars* (New York Times)

Concern trolls and power grabs: Inside Big Tech’s angry, geeky, often petty war for your privacy (Protocol)

Exclusive extract: how Facebook's engineers spied on women* (Telegraph)

Face off

Can facial analysis technology create a child-safe internet? (The Observer)

#Identity, #OnlineSafety & #AgeVerification – notes on “Can facial analysis technology create a child-safe internet?” (Alec Muffett)

Europe makes the case to ban biometric surveillance* (Wired)

Open government

From open data to joined-up government: driving efficiency with BA Obras (Open Contracting Partnership)

AVAILABLE NOW! DEMOCRACY IN A PANDEMIC: PARTICIPATION IN RESPONSE TO CRISIS (Involve)

Designing digital services for equitable access (Brookings)

Data

Trusting the Data: How do we reach a public settlement on the future of tech? (Demos)

"Why do we use R rather than Excel?" (Terence Eden)

Everything else

The world’s biggest ransomware gang just disappeared from the internet (MIT Technology Review)

Our Statistical Excellence Awards Ceremony has just kicked off! (Royal Statistical Society)

Pin resets wipe all data from over 100 Treasury mobile phones (The Guardian)

Data officers raid two properties over Matt Hancock CCTV footage leak (The Guardian)

How did my phone number end up for sale on a US database? (BBC News)

Gendered disinformation: 6 reasons why liberal democracies need to respond to this threat (Demos, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung)

Opportunities

EVENT: Justice data in the digital age: Balancing risks and opportunities (The LEF)

JOBS: Senior Data Strategy - Data Innovation & Business Analysis Hub (MoJ)

JOB: Director of Evidence and Analytics (Natural England)

JOB: Policy and Research Associate (Open Ownership)

JOB: Research Officer in Data Science (LSE Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science)

JOB: Chief operating officer (Democracy Club, via Jukesie)

And finally...

me: can’t believe we didn’t date sooner... (@MNateShyamalan)

Are you closer to Georgia, or to Georgia? (@incunabula)

A masterpiece in FOIA (Chris Cook)

How K-Pop conquered the universe* (Washington Post)

Does everything really cost more? Find out with our inflation quiz.* (Washington Post)

[wordpress-guides]

How Do I Become a Best WordPress Developer?

To start with, we should sort a couple of things out: turning into a top WordPress developer is difficult to work — difficult work. It will require some investment, energy, and assurance. In case you're searching for a simple agenda or some "quick pass" to the top, you will burn through your time. Being extraordinary compared to others is hard, and measurably talking, the situation is anything but favorable for you. 

To begin with, we should sort a couple of things out: turning into a top WordPress developer is difficult to work — exceptionally difficult work. It will require some investment, energy, and assurance. In case you're searching for a simple agenda or some "quick pass" to the top, you will burn through your time. Being a standout amongst others is hard, and genuinely talking, the situation is anything but favorable for you. 

Coincidentally, introducing WordPress, perusing a couple of instructional exercises, and altering a couple of topics doesn't make somebody a top developer. They may consider themselves a "Specialist", and that is fine. They may know more than the normal individual. However, a top developer moves a long way past the nuts and bolts and pushes the actual limits of what is conceivable. They enhance, add to the local area, and show dominance in the work they do. 

So I need you to be more than a "specialist", I need you to be truly outstanding.

Wordpress Development Agency

   WHY BE A TOP WordPress DEVELOPER?

Why not WordPress developer? In the event that you work with WordPress (or plan to begin), why simply settle for being normal? There's something over the top "normal" in life as of now. "Ordinary" is profoundly exaggerated. There are different reasons, however. For example, the top WordPress developers: 

Get the most cash-flow. Interest in WordPress improvement is high and customers will pay more for developers who are awesome in their field. 

Get the best customers. At the point when you are at the top, you have the opportunity to say "No" to the ventures you don't need, and "Yes" to the activities you do. 

Have the most impact. Being at the top methods you have an impact (and duty) and the capacity to shape the fate of WordPress just as the environment that is worked around it. 

WordPress Developer Guides: ONE HOUR OF Perusing A DAY 

Follow WordPress developer guides. In the event that you will make it to the top, at that point you need to go through at any rate one hour every workday zeroed in on perusing and getting familiar with WordPress — outside of any improvement work. There are no alternate ways and no alternate ways around it. Learning and dominating WordPress will require some serious energy. On the off chance that you sit in front of the television, cut it out — over 90% of it isn't useful for you in any case. In case you're a gamer, sell your games or discard them. Arriving at the top takes responsibility and penance and the best spot to begin is with the things in life that aren't benefiting you in any way in any case. 

Start with one committed, an interruption-free hour of perusing for every workday. Close off texts, put your telephone on quiet, and read. Take notes on what you realize en route. You'll make the time passes by quicker than you would have anticipated. Keep at it, for quite a while, after quite a while after week, and a seemingly endless amount of time after a month. What's more, as you begin to see achievement, put in more energy for perusing. 

Then again, consider a three-hour block, a few times each week. The key is to make a promise to learning and respecting that responsibility by putting aside the vital chance to own it. 

There will never be been a superior chance to learn and dominate WordPress than at this moment. There are such countless magnificent assets accessible to those willing to invest the time and energy into utilizing them. Before you can begin acquiring experience, you need some instruction. Indeed, you could simply hop in and begin breaking things. Be that as it may, I propose you pause, and develop the self-control it takes to learn — there will be a lot of time to break things later. As you start your schooling, it's imperative regardless of the social part of your experience. 

Spend time WITH THE Correct Group 

We become like those we partner with. In the event that you need to be one of the top WordPress developers, begin investing energy with those at the top. Peruse their online journals, follow them on Twitter, give input on their considerations and thoughts, go to WordCamps to meet them, and tune in to their discussions. Peruse the meetings on CodePoet. Follow their models, ask them for counsel, follow their recommendations, and report back. 

Here is a little rundown of WordPress developers to kick you off:

Andrew Nacin (@nacin) Alex King (@alexkingorg) Bill Erickson (@billerickson) Cory Miller (@corymiller303) Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) Nathan Rice (@nathanrice) Peter Westwood (@westi) Joost de Valk (@yoast) Justin Tadlock (@justintadlock) Silviu-Cristian Burcă (@scribu)

The measure of perusing material accessible on WordPress is overpowering. There are a large number of individuals discussing WordPress and it is getting progressively hard to channel through the commotion. There are specialists, notwithstanding, and when you focus on dominating WordPress, at that point you should begin your excursion by finding the greatest assets and focusing your endeavors simply on those. 

Here are a couple of assets to kick you off: 

WordPress Codex. The WordPress codex is a local area altered store for everything WordPress. Start with the very rudiments and spotlight on dominating the WordPress interface itself from an end-client's point of view. Gain proficiency with WordPress semantics. Find out about the topic plan and module advancement. 

Books on WordPress. There are in excess of twelve books accessible on WordPress. Get going with the titles of most noteworthy interest to you and afterward pursue the others. Think "WordPress For Fakers" is excessively essential? Perhaps not. Your customers may understand it and it's critical to have their viewpoints. At the point when you're done, thank the writer and compose an audit. 

Sites on WordPress. Discover and follow the best online journals about WordPress. Buy into their feeds. Peruse them routinely and offer criticism to the creators. A couple of my #1 sites are WordPress on Crushing Magazine, WP Tuts+, and WP Candy. 

Comprehend THE Innovation 

In case you will dominate WordPress as a developer you need to comprehend the innovation. In case you're as of now a developer and PHP/MySQL aren't different to you, amazing. Ensure your abilities are exceptional. In case you're new to programming, begin learning. Here are a few different ways to start: 

Learn PHP and MySQL It's truly significant that you know PHP and MySQL and that you get familiar with the prescribed procedures. A couple of out-dated instructional exercises won't do it. Furthermore, on the off chance that you learned it a couple of years prior, a great deal of the practices you chose up are most likely from date. Not certain where to start? Start with Lynda.com or Learnable.com. Find out about MySQL execution. 

Investigate the Codebase Set aside an effort to investigate the WordPress codebase on Trac and on Xref. Peruse the documentation to see how things work. Look into what doesn't sound good to you and pose inquiries. Acclimate yourself with how WordPress is organized. 

Run The Daily Arrangement a nearby improvement climate and run the daily form as an approach to keep awake-to-date on WordPress as it's being created. 

Peruse "Make WordPress" A decent method to comprehend the innovation is to follow the advancement conversations occurring on make.wordpress.org. You can follow conversations about the Center, Modules, and Subjects first of all. 

DO THE Schoolwork 

Set up the thing you're learning as a regular occurrence. Start with your own WordPress sites. After you read an instructional exercise, follow it all alone. Examination. Separate things. Track what you've realized and record your bits of knowledge and forward leaps for future reference. Invest however much energy that you can take what you've realized and applying it to your own undertakings and examinations. 

Here are a couple of zones to investigate: 

WordPress APIs. Start by acclimating yourself with the rundown of accessible APIs on the Codex. Peruse the data accessible for every Programming interface and investigation with every (some will be simpler than others). Quest for instructional exercises for every one of the APIs to give you some certifiable point of view and experience on how can be managed each. 

Ajax in WordPress. Regardless of whether you're now acquainted with Ajax, find out about the utilization of Ajax in WordPress. At that point, proceed onward to handle utilizing Ajax in module advancement. Quest for instructional exercises to build up your experience further. 

WordPress PHP Classes. Acclimate yourself with the rundown of classes made by WordPress developers. Trial with them on your own ventures and expert them. Specifically, give exceptional consideration to WP_Query, WP_Theme, and wpdb. Quest for instructional exercises on every one of the classes, just as non-center, local area contributed classes like WPAlchemy. 

Acquiring Involvement in WordPress

With your schooling great in progress, it's an ideal opportunity to acquire certifiable experience — and loads of it. Your way to the top is fixed with preliminaries and challenges and acquiring experience outside the protected jungle gyms of your own tasks is a basic positive development. Perhaps the most ideal approach to begin is a managing job for other people. 

TAKE ON Customers

Working for customers, paid or free, is perhaps the most ideal approach to acquire insight. Customers present difficulties you could never need to manage to chip away at your own. In case you're simply beginning, figure out how to get your first customer. While the market center (enormous customers versus little customers) will shift, the core of the issue is to get a ton of involvement. The objective is to not simply get two or three hundred hours chipping away at WordPress, yet a couple thousand. You need to place the time in with genuine experience and taking on customers is probably the most ideal approach to do this. 

Build up A PUBLIC Subject 

Fabricate a subject you'd really use. Delivery it, paid or free. Tune in to the criticism you get from developers and end-clients who utilize your topic. Request a companion survey from topic originators you regard. Update your topic as you get input and as your capacities improve. Endeavor to make a topic that you can be glad for. 

Build up A Module 

As you learn and work with WordPress you'll in the end discover a need that hasn't been met. At the point when you do, meet it yourself. Take what you've found out about module advancement and set up it as a regular occurrence. Compose a module that is secure and that tackles a genuine need, without being another "me as well" commitment to the generally huge module local area. Delivery it, paid or free, and get criticism from individuals who put your module to utilize. 

CONTRIBUTE A Fix 

Peruse the Center Patron handbook and figure out how to present a fix. It tends to be an overwhelming cycle your first time around, yet search for a test that you can handle, and adhere to it. Contributing a fix is a significant encounter and a significant piece of having the option to view yourself as a top WordPress developer. 

Expert Investigating 

Figuring out how to compose sans bug code is a basic advance in turning into an extraordinary developer. Start with the Codex and find out about investigating in WordPress. Peruse Andrew Nacin's post on 5 Different ways To Troubleshoot WordPress. Acquaint yourself with a portion of the developer arranged modules, similar to Center Control, Troubleshoot Bar and Log Expostulated Takes note. 

Joining The WordPress Develper or WordPress community

Became an active member in the WordPress developer or WordPress community.  As you proceed with your schooling and set up what you've realized as a regular occurrence, the following stage is to turn into a functioning individual from the local area. You might be an awesome developer, yet it doesn't mean a lot if nobody realizes you exist. Invest energy putting resources into the local area. Perhaps the most ideal approach to do so is sharing what you know. 

Compose Instructional exercises 

I got my beginning back in 2006 with a straightforward instructional exercise I composed (be cautioned, it is somewhat dated). I took what I had recently sorted out and emptied it into an instructional exercise to help other people and save them the time (and migraine) I had recently experienced. Many individuals read it, a couple composed back and said thank you, and a few people even requested that I accomplish some work for them. So compose instructional exercises that take the most awesome aspect of what you've recently realized and present it to other people so they may receive the rewards of your endeavors. It's justified, despite all the trouble. 

Add TO THE CODEX 

As you invest energy perusing the Codex you will see regions that need improvement. Find out about turning into a volunteer in the Codex. Commit time to improve the nature of the documentation. While documentation in the Codex is ceaselessly improving, there are still capacities and highlights in the WordPress center that go undocumented. On the off chance that a region is past your present capacities, carry it to the consideration of others and embrace the chance to learn more all the while. 

Partake IN Gatherings 

Most WordPress novices begin posing inquiries on the authority uphold gatherings. Start there by responding to questions (even the senseless, essential ones — we as a whole beginning someplace). From that point, become a functioning individual from the WordPress Stack Trade people group. Answer questions and gain from the appropriate responses that different developers are giving. 

PRESENT AT WORDCAMPS 

Go to forthcoming WordCamps and search for freedoms to present and offer an incentive to the WordPress people group. A genuine indication of your skill is your capacity to take what you know and instruct it to another person. Peruse the Journal Of A WordCamp. Need much to a greater degree a test? Become a coordinator and start a WordCamp close to you. 

Prize And Duty 

The award at the top merits the exertion. In case you're assembling a business around WordPress (read 7 reasons why you ought to), an authority of WordPress is a basic advance to your prosperity. In 2011, as per the authority WordPress Overview results, "6,800 independently employed respondents were answerable for more than 170,000 sites, by and by". Of those, the normal middle hourly rate was $50/hour. In view of the Pareto standard, the top 20% of those developers (under 1,400) are liable for 80% of the work done (and they make more than $50/hour). 

Presently, being in that top 20% conveys with it an undeniable degree of obligation. Remaining at the top requires a promise to progressing training and constant experience. Never quit learning and improving. Being at the top likewise puts a degree of obligation on your shoulders for the wellbeing and eventual fate of the WordPress environment. Get included. Say something regarding significant issues. Contribute. Set a level of your prosperity back into developing WordPress and guaranteeing its future. 

End 

Turning into a top WordPress developer requires a mentality of persistent improvement and an ability to accomplish the difficult work. It begins with a purposeful spotlight on instruction and afterward moves to broad certifiable experience. At last, the title of a "top developer" requests devotion to the WordPress people group, just as an acknowledgment of the duties by the individuals who form and shape the fate of WordPress.

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[hashtagmediumrare-blog]

Introduction

 Blog 1 - 5/26/2020

Heat is the only thing I can think about. It’s not too hot since the sun has gone down, however it seems to no avail that our house will cool down in this wave we are experiencing. 

I have decided to start this project of written expression in hopes that maybe it will help me see my journey as I progress and strive to find out who I am and what I want.

Let’s start from the beginning, how this all started.

It began sometime around October? I had a mental breakdown on the phone with a boy, who I had barely met through a distant mutual friend [that I can barely bring myself today to say hi to in public now]. 

Through strained sobs I explain that I am feeling suicidal, going into intricate detail as to what terrifying thoughts are coming to my mind and how hopeless I feel. How I can’t stop thinking of hurting people, hurting myself, making everything around me feel the pain that I am feeling. I want the pain to stop.

5/27/2020 [Continued] He advised me after that night that maybe I should console a therapist to get help. “I care about you a lot, but I am not a professional and I think you need more than what I can offer” he said to me as we sat in his car. 

I’ve heard this many times before, I’ve seen two other therapists in my life that did more damage than good.

I never seriously considered seeing a professional again because I was obligated to see the previous two therapists through the county/state [school and family reasons] and they didn’t seem genuine. I can still remember their expressions as I would talk, constantly nodding, looking at their watch waiting for our session to finally be over.

I made the call two days later. Upon arrival to the hospital, they informed me that you need to be recommended by a doctor in order to see a therapist, you cannot just walk in and see one willy nilly.

“I just need to talk to someone who can direct me on how to not be sad and that will be it!”, that is what I kept thinking as I was sitting in the doctor’s office scanning the different posters plastered on the wall. 

How wrong I was.

When the doctor finally came in, I lost all of my confidence in what I had. It was like I had reverted to a time in my life where I was a small child with no voice, my entire being was shaking with fear and doubt.

He took a long look at me after I was done explaining, through my sobbing hysteria, the symptoms I had been experiencing and said, “has it ever run across your mind that maybe you are more than just depressed? Have you ever heard of Bipolar Disorder”? 

“I know a bit about it” I replied slowly, but I was very familiar with different types of disorders. I had taken a large interest in psychology years before and took classes to gain more knowledge on the subject. 

I can still remember the look the doctor gave me as he explained the common symptoms of people who had Bipolar Disorder, his eyes carefully watching my facial expression to see if I understood.

Through red eyes and a blurred vision, due to the constant stream of tears that I could not bring myself to stop on my own, I watched intently into his eyes and carefully absorbed the words that were coming out of his mouth: Mania, Manic Episodes, Low Points, High Points, “Super Human” Strengths, etc.

We also found out [through my medical records after answering more questions] that a prior doctor from 2 years go had prescribed me anti-depressants, which I did not take because I never knew I was prescribed it. 

I was very fortunate to not take those anti-depressants when they prescribed it, because I would find out through my doctor that if I had indeed taken them at that time, I would probably be dead by now.

I am guessing that that is what all those stories from my mom were about when I was in middle school, people killing themselves on anti-depressants because they are “bad for your body” and have bad chemicals. Probably people like me being misdiagnosed, taking the wrong medication, resulting in them taking their lives to end the new suffering they are experiencing.

After that doctor visit, I would start to get scared about what would happen next. He had recommended me to a psychologist, a title I had not encountered yet. 

Shaking, scared, feeling alone, I was directed into her small office a week later. This person was different from all the others, her eyes were fixated on my and her smile was welcoming. 

She asked me to talk, express myself and tell her how I had been feeling the past couple of months. 

I break the moment she stops talking.

Telling her between gasps of air and tears how I imagine hurting people, killing people that upset me or who have done nothing wrong. I explain how I had to remove myself from my own home to ensure that these dark thoughts do not become a reality [living with my best friend], calling upon the help of my father to watch over me because I didn’t know if I could trust myself with these thoughts going on.

After over an hour of talking about my life and experiences, she explains her diagnoses. 

Schizophrenia with Bipolar Tendencies.

Huh, so all those voices and black figures/phantoms were in my head? Lots of artists have a disorder that helps them artistically thrive?

Explains why I kept thinking people were out to hurt me, why I kept questioning the intentions of my friends for no reason, and all the horrifying visions I experienced as a child that kept me awake at night huddled under my blanket for protection.

She asked if I would be okay with taking medication to see if maybe my problem was one that was biological [did not ask me exactly like that, but that is how I perceived it], and for a moment I hesitated because of all those stories my mom use to tell me.

Luckily I did not give in to fear in that moment, because once I started taking the medication she prescribed I felt like a better person.

I wasn’t having these crazy episodes anymore, my doubt and fear of people began to disappear as well as my emotional pain.

It’s amazing to realize how much, and how long, you have been in pain for. I still cannot believe that just a couple of months ago I thought my pain is how everyone else lives their lives.

For years I rationalized that everyone feels the same way I do, because I never spoke to anyone about my feelings/thoughts and that was what everyone else was probably doing too.

I had convinced myself that my pain was nothing compared to the pain that other people probably feel. 

I remember specifically watching and reading stories of people who had mental disorders and how they got through their struggle, ending with an urge for others to seek help, and how after every story...I told myself I was not worthy because I was just “looking for attention”, or “trying to justify my shitty thoughts”. 

I don’t plan on putting any tags on this because I just want to talk about my day/life without feeling like i’m doing this for confirmation or with a hidden intention behind this blog. 

If you read this far, thanks for taking the time out of your day to read what I had to say. I really appreciate you taking the time to do so, and if you ever need to talk or vent to someone I am always around to listen.

-A

[charlocorrell-blog]

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[jamesdazell]

Un Monstre Sacré

Un Monstre Sacré

ART AND REPRESENTATION

(2019)

Enamorado de ti, de tu vida y de lo que quieres.

- Frida Kahlo

1

   I’m tired of reconsiderig my story in the mind of the idealism of present fashionable criticism.

  Concentrate on what you have to say and the images which manifest themselves to you. Stories are more than their features, their meaning runs much deeper than its costume. Consider the representation and diveristy only if it tells your story better, makes your characters explore their themes better, adds to their own story. You can make whatever art you want to make. No matter if it goes against the idealisms of the day. Idealisms come and go, the whole of art history shows us, but no one has the right to shut down your own stories and interpretation of life that you need to express. We’re running close to a prescribed imagination, not a free one, where the manifesto is a total and political movement, not an arts movement. Full of ideals but not ideas. Right now its like the Puritanical movement, if not a bonfire of vanities, against those who transgress the ideals of the day. Make whatever art that has been revealed to you to make. Make art with whatever great inspiration you had to make it and do not apologise for how it is manifested.

  Your imagination is a cerebral reflex. Don’t apologise or criticise it for not representing the ideals of the movements of the day. I’m not bothered about representation in art as I think it goes against the whole job of art.

  Artists and writers are representations of the cultural history of their time (they're not the only that, but even that is informative about the time). Not everything about them is going to be golden, maybe everything will be bad taste and bad intelligence. But in any case, it is far far more important think with them as if in conversation and disucssion. Their purpose is to stimulate thought not to emboss on it on the minds who receive it.  To be honest it seems clear why the Bibles were so effective. Most people want to be told what to think and to have their own thoughts amplified back at them, they want to have something celebrate them, and to rise up in significance by celebration.

  No matter where or who the work comes from, I wouldn't favour anyone for their cultural representation but for the talent and ideas their work carries. Great work is recognisible immediately. It affects on a cross-cultural level. I'm always looking to become foreign to myself, both in culture and time. The act of de-culturising seem more to the task than to represent it. Foreignness might illuminate and ignite dormant aspects within me that my own culture may not. So it is better to be in conversation than to outright reject, because it mattered, and if it mattered enough to be remembered and preserved, and to be copied (often by hand) through the centuries or ever just the last hundred years, then it probably meant something on a deeper level that is beyond their cultural representations, into a deeper part of humanity, whether the good or bad side. So through them we can understand ourselves.

  The purpose of representative writers is more needed by institutions and publishers etc but in artist's work the aim ought to be to dissolve those differences and to find the human being in experiences and the stories we tell. Like Susan Sontag said in conversation with John Berger about story-telling, she doesnt need to be a Russian man in Russia, or even feel like one, to read Tolstoy. And any reading of it in that way would be a superficial reading. That's not what’s on offer in a work of that magnitude. Likewise to quesiton whether the lead in a story is a man or a woman. It doesn't matter in itself. It only matters to the dramatic nature of the story. There are so many possible ways to unravel a narrative, that the lead doesn't signify anything but a focus. The lead could be positive or negative traits, the purpose of a lead could be celebratory or negation. The point is the same as ever. To tell great stories.

   It annoys me when people say how sexist Japan is (and it always comes from the Anglosphere who have a terrible time of seeing themselves as they are). When Japan has such a great history of female lead characters (and female charaters in general) who are both heroic and admirable, that Japan should rather be an inspiration for telling female lead stories more than the west's tradition. What representative writing is doing (though is not saying) is suggesting that certain ideas and arts belong to different races, genders, sexualities. There are certainly particular experiences only certain people will be able to tell, but then you run in the problem that certain races, genders, sexualities, are supposed to tell stories in a certain stereotyped way because it represents them. Take class for instance; that a working class writer is supposed to write about working class life and in a stereotypical way. It makes no sense but to write with and read it with your own humanity. That is the point of reading and writing, to reengage with our humanity. Hemmingway innovated, but that style doesn't belong to his race and sexuality. At the end of the day, no matter how representative, all you're doing is telling a story and or making an artistic choice, and it needs to be coming from your deeper humanity, that dissovles boundaries and shows there isn't a difference between us. I don't believe there is necesarily homosexual art anymore than homosexual science. The purpose isn't to write autobiography. I would never begin to think of Lorca's poetry as a homosexual perspective. His poetry is universal, he transgressed those social, political, cultural representations. He dissolved as he defied them: as a human being. He humiliated them as he transgressed representation. He became everyone, on everyone's essential journey, a primordial everyone. That rather seems the ambition and the proper task. So, I can never see the seduction in representational writing.  Art’s very purpose is to liberate ourselves from the privilege of an authorial stance of representation. To dissolve differential representation back into a unity of a human being. To reveal, from the cultural political delusion, the communalness and universals of our being human.

2

   Characters exist to embody a theme to tell a story, they define their character by decisions and actions they make. Without that they would be autonomous, independant from the story, representing exactly what they are for the sake of being. We have a name for that: reality TV. Reality TV as the fulfillment of modern dramatic theory; the most naturalistic, identifiable, devised, post dramatic, audience participation, theatrical entertainment one can imagine, unfolding in real time along the lines of life without the logic of narratives.

   Turn on the TV and Reality TV is there either as the news, people eating, people dating, people’s jobs, people’s cultural aspirations, or people selling things on the market. A frieze of national life as an interactive game show. We even now demand that fictional characters are played by their representative real life identity. Reality TV is all people really want. Real life stories about real life people, played by real life people for real life people. There is no question who the ideal character is. Theres no point in having idealistic characters, because they have nothing to learn. They are in themsevles a fulfilment. What journey do they have to go through. What themes are they able to explore.  Reality is more conplex than there being good people whose attitudes we like and bad people whose attitudes we don't.

  Characters are representations of themes, they help explore themes. If the themes and meaning of the story is good, then the characters will be good. Then the representation will be justified. What matters is from how a deep an instinct, an interpretation, if for lack of a better word a soul the story sprung from.

3

Progressives in art: I always find progressives in arts, especially those who outright reject the past, to be a continuation of that same spirit, which they are sadly too ignorant to have perceived. It was rather that they have found a different expression, maybe a more honest expression of the same spirit. And the very idea that it was able to seem progressive was because the culture had changed underneath. That it was this time and not another. In in the final analysis of their progressiveness you see they were bondaged to the time their lived in that it hardly seems a progressive act at all but one that was merely an expressive of prevailing conscience of the time that had erupted in a few people. But there is no such thing as progess in the arts. Every activity in art is the art of a human or a group of humans. Their life is its own condition within a certain set of condiitons. They are representative only of the condition it was made. Their lifespan cannot be compared to the life of another in terms of progress. Neither has art a goal to measure progress upon. And if it did, are we further towards a goal now than in any earlier time? And any possible yes, then an earlier time must have had the same goal as the progressors in art to.... I give up. There is no progress in art. Everything is a representation merely of a human being, the community, or the age that it was made it, each with its own values and ideas that belong to being a human being, not the progress of human beings. For in fact nothing in humanity progresses, because the measurement of progress itself depends on parameters of leaning towards or away from our values, which can only be a subjective axiom.

  Anything "progressive" means an old aspiration conducted more openly and honestly; which appeals to all subterranean risings; perhaps a crisis which for a long time has been in conflict with a masterful way which, to the subterranean, now seems simply an old fashioned idealism. But it is only a re-expression. Even the masterful way was really their way but unfaithful to its condition. Whatever becomes progressive is merely a more honest approach, a step towards being more faithful to its impetus condition. Progress is a condition striving to express itself more honetly and value itself more openly. "Improvement" is arbitrary to the matter.

  Popular culture is often more conservative than so-called elite culture because it reflects a caricature of the general public, and so isn't intellectual curious or demanding enough to be ahead of the curve by the ideas it embodies. It perpetuates old ideals in flashy new colours.

   Now we're surrounded by ordinariness masking itself as extraordinary. The ordinary is no longer embarrassed before itself. It has even become critical of the extraordinary. Instead of being humbled by the great achievements of the past we are arrogant even before the future.

People now have so little historical minds. All those who want to break from the past are always the most ignorant of it. Art right now lacks an intellectual energy that has soaked up the intellectual thought of humanity and can say "this is an intelligent thought in 2020 that on its own merit could be in conversation with the thoughts past and knows where it would be placed in the lineage.” However, people are having anti-intellectual ahistorical attiudes. People are attacking history for not being diverse in cultural representation, are attacking the best minds for not being their Jesus figure of imitation, and have great disbelief in things which they cannot do themselves. There is no genius that belonged to this race or that, or this religion but not that, or this gender or that. We talk of them because of what they had done, and what that meant to the time, and to us, and that we dont talk about some of the people worth talking about is an historical expression of the time. There are many clever people, many talents, but the genius is the humanity within it, that they transgressed their “character” into something more fundamental either about ourselves or the world around us. That they dissolved their cultural and political position, and became a human being.

  However, people are now saying the literature canon needs revision. Kafka said on how to choose a book that literature should be the axe that smashes the frozen ice within you. Discover your books that mean the wrold to you. Read whatever you want, but don’t read a canon. Read whatever makes your heart beat, your breathing clearly, what positively changes your brain, and makes you feel at home in their words. Any really great writer will ascend beyond what they are. Discovering art should not be deprived to us. And we should not expect children to admire the artists and writers they were taught about at school, no matter if it is revised. These schooled artists will always be those artists they had to study and do homework on. On rarely will they become the artists they love.

  I dont think we should revise anything. An education is not being taught what to learn, its discovering your own thoughts. And real educatioin isn’t like stacking knowledge up in a warehouse but mixing wine in to water, it alters the whole composition. Being knowledgable is knowing more things - there are game shows for that - a real eduation requires much forgetting. We should be far more encouraging of independent guided learning. School should help develop general characteristics of the brain. The Greeks had their nine canonical of poets, the japanese had 36 inmortals of poetry (one for men and women). They dont have to be our favourites. No one has robbed you of that choice. But these canons tell us about the way people thought at a time. And no time, no matter how blind by its idealism can be, no time is the truth and end of a conversation. It is easy to look back and dismiss it, to avoid the harder choice of measuring up to its cultural affect.

   Every artistic decision has a psychologically relative world view. Artistic choices are reflexes. In art (rather in everything) nothing is purely theoretical. Everything is fully representational of your conditional perspective, and feeling of existence. You always have to wind it back to that. Everything else is a secondary effect. Ideas and attitudes are just reflexes. An art cannot be a definition of its form, but only of the condition of the artist who made it, which subsequently gives us some impression of the age it was made in depending on its context. No painting defines painting, no music can define music, no poem poetry, nor dance dance.

4

  People go to the theatre not to think but to see a caricature of their own views, executed with the technique of a children's toy commercial. Showing them everything they love. Now people read books this way too. In valuing books, people only want to see themselves reflected in them. Even when great books are in vogue, they choose to read them because they already know what they are about and going to say and they finish with the same mind as they had begun reading them.  People read 1984 because they already know what it is about, and what it is going to say. Most people simply want to amplify their own point of view.

  Right now stories are like a dramatised op-ed article, featurig their token selling point of diversity, with critics acting as the puritanical bonfire of transgressions of the ideals of the day. But the game is the same as always: to make incredible stories. To interpret life artistically. You have to research in order to find the right symbols for your work. Like going through layers and layers and doors and doors but you keep running into the same symbols. For a visual culture were actually really bad a symbols.

  So you have an idea, fine, but thats not enough, you have to be able to pull it off in the form of a great story. Its not enough just to say youre against something and that you made your work from an ideal. You have to tell great stories, or make great performances. Our story telling is becoming conceptual where the idea behind it is supposed to mean more than the actual merit of the work of art. Which shows our minds are becoming conceptual, less artistic, and more scientific. The concentration on the technique of great arts, of all great arts and great artists, is an insight and experience of reality much higher than that of science.

5

   There has been an increase in melodrama this century. All American television and film (that wasn’t but somewhat including the Marvel / DC films)  seems to have been melodrama (of course French cinema, and independant, has been for longer - its their penchant). Melodrama is sadistic. Its full of pathetic characters who if they werent so pathetic they wouldn't be in this mess. If not of their own fault then they deal with it in a pathetic way. The effect on me is not pity but frustration, like watching a sympathetic horror movie. Sympathy is a sin in art. It makes your characters pathetic and all i can think whilst watching them is if they werent so patheric they wouldnt be in this mess and this wouldnt be a story. If a solution is befitting and negates its whole existence, the idea of the story is bad. Its not their circumstance, its the sympathy that is requested. Melodrama is sadistic - and this is coming from a guy obsessed with Greek tragedy. Euripides wrote melodrama, he wrote romanticism, satyr play, and tragi-comedy, but Euripides did not write tragedy. Character drama/study is always melodrama because it depends on the investigation of the 'soul' the innermost of them. Tragedy is concerned with overarching events that reveal the religious (Dionysian - most closely today related to Shiva that they’re almost the same) nature of the universe, people as agents of action, but not people as characters.

6

  Art can be whatever.  Yes. But don't just go with your instincts like an amateur. You have to understand the meaning of choices, in order to change your instincts. To make your instincts artistic. Otherwise there's no difference between you and your audience. And you don't take them anywhere than they arrived. 

    Then there is the insistance on “accessibility” which can be unhealthy because it rejects the high bar and creates stereotypes of styles. It creates new idealism in the character of the work. And it gives marit of accomplishment just for showing up. Make accessibility wide but on the same basis of making great art In respect and recognition of where the high bar is set.

7

   The worth of a book, music, film today is merely judged by how much it is needed at the time it arrives. The public and the critic have the judgement of the tradesman weighing cattle at the market, as they estimate everything merely for value of supply and demand.

Frida Kahlo "I dont give a shit what the world thinks"

   Critics and social media seem to be having their own insular conversation and they go to movies or listen to music or whatever and judge it on how much they can continue to have that conversation whilst experiencing the work of art, which cannot exist on the merits of its own.

   Majoritism is to anoit bad taste and bad talent over good. To put amateurs in charge. I think less educated and amateur care much more about it.

"There is one good opinion which must always be of consequence to you, namely, your own." R. W. Emerson

  Social media has created the method audience. Instead of the method actor disagreeing with the director over the way a character is portrayed its the audience. Or maybe they feel themselves executive producers. But certainly anything but an audience. They complain as if theyve been forced to pay at gun point.

  The idealism our age has just put a chip on people's shoulder and given all a licence to have an attitude about everything. The opinions of the public dont matter, thats why they feel their deep rights to have them. I'm not an audience first type of artist. The public come to market, and the market sways, but it has no reigns on the artistic activity that has travelled further in its pursuit of ideas than they may have ever been. To make a work of art involves obliterating and exhausting oneself, in pursuit of techniques and ideas that inform the works direction and merit, and reassembling oneself. To dicard that for the public who come to market and place it on the weighing scale of ideals is a joke.

  Plesse be rude, derogatory, offensive, insensitive. Its a cruelest humanity that sacrifices its cruelty. It's against our nature. The 21st century is the conservative 40s and 50s, with the yuppies of the 80s, that overturned the free spiritedness of the 20s and 30s, 60s and 70s.

8

  Make whatever goddamn work you want to make, and that will be the work you made. Just be proud to have manifested what you had envisioned in whatever form you wanted to tell it and be proud it has your name attached to it. And dont take criticism from those who do not inspire you.. Being an artist is to be your own beast. Un monstre sacré.

[curtis-experience-blog]

In Come the Stretchers

before we begin--

Putting aside the grammar (which I’ll tackle-- re-editing it all at some later date (to be decided)), I did forget to add the italics I had to the last text. I’m going to go make those changes now. Enjoy slanted words in any re-reads.

   I, personally, feel that stretching is something each and every one of us should do on a daily basis. It isn't difficult. I wonder how anyone can go their lives without thinking about it. They're your muscles! Stretch them! They love to be used! "How do you actually stretch though, Curtis? I have this chart for 30+ different ones, and my heart is head over heels in love with that one woman using the treadmill. What am I to do with myself?"    I'm going to answer these questions and more because it is from my experience that I've had to learn how to bring back my body from some level of debilitation that isn't easy to address in full. So, we're going to skip that part and get straight to what I prescribe and why after some more talking.    They don't teach you how important stretching is in school, especially in ways that kids will comprehend. For instance, you go to gym class, and then sometimes stretching is given some attention. It all depends on the activities planned for the day. (This assumption might not accurate because I don't remember gym class, but the disappointment is there.) One glaring issue is: when we all go stretching, we hold the positions for-- what? 15 seconds? And there are the kids that complain at 10 seconds and those that change before all the others. Therefore I blame the kids. That is no where near long enough! A stretch should go on for one minute minimum up to 30 or so. I'm not blaming the teachers or the school board or the guy in the big chair or any of those people responsible for training athletes, etc. Realistically, typically our bodies move when it's time, and the ramifications of injury or what I call "muscle deformation" don't affect those in the early game. And the balance of money and time is always taking precedence over the enhancement of the next generation. Though, putting all this cynicism and pessimism aside, it will be attempted herein to shed some light on the importance of stretching through Curtis' eyes.    The very root of our muscles is somewhere to the lower right of the back. This point is where the beginnings of muscle formation begin. As we age, there is gravity, stress, injury, and neglect that pull them together towards this point. These things take control of our bodies, and can be forgiven to an extent. Yet, as blunt as it sounds, one or more of these things will eventualy come to you. This happens to everyone. From your head to your feet, the compession of the body is inevitable. Let's try to stave it off, why don't we?    Ignorance is nothing new when it comes to human intelligence and progress. Truth is: there aren't very many people on this planet that actually care about muscles. And we all know those people are crazy; that all happen to live fluidly and with ease. For those that want to break free of age, gravity, stress, and neglect, I have some good news: There are two stretches (three and/or four for those that want to push it to the limit) that will greatly help. How one begins depends wholly on who you are: Whether you've been injured, are afflicted by the symptoms of severe muscle deformation from age or neglect-- stress contributes some incredible amount, and so does one's constitution. At least, for those affected by the above, a stretching regimen will have to be personalized for you. Sadly, in today's day, the only people that seem to understand this (though most likely not with the same reasoning) are in the minority. So, let's break this down. I'm going to put the stretches at the very bottom because that's a nice place for them. We'll begin with how stress, gravity, and age play their hand in this. Stress    Stress stems from worry. When we worry or fear, at least, from a survivalist perspective, we are trying to perservere - to stay alive. Instinctually, the unconscious reaction to fear, of being killed, for instance, is to become as small as possible (among other things that aren't relevant here). So then many are, when stressed, tightening up their muscles in one way or another to become smaller. You might say the stress in humans is quite different from the stress felt by animals in the "wild." Rather than knowing you can run away, humans have worked themselves into a reality where running away isn't an option. Rather than feeling stress over a relatively short period of time, man is sustaining his feelings of stress day-in, day-out. Anyone can guess how this affects us on the physiological level. In muscle talk: this is bad. Generally, we're allowed those two days off to unwind. Still, one's occupation is not the be-all, end-all; particularly when there are myriad avenues worry leverages its priority amongst everything else. Gravity and Age and a teaspoon of Neglect    These two and 1/2 items are, more or less, the same thing. We feel gravity unceasingly and we age unceasingly. Neglect just takes advantage of the two and takes our muscles along for the ride. Besides that, there's not a whole to cover here.  You do, however, have to admire astronauts that've made it to space; for they know the absence of gravity. Do astronauts stretch? Let us ponder on that notion.    Basically, the longer we go neglecting our muscles, the more they knot up, tense up, and become a hinderance on the body. Think of muscles as having their own memories. When they aren't reminded of the things that are important, that memory goes off lodging itself somewhere deep in the recesses of its brain. You might think it's pretty darn handy to be able to feel the things that they once remembered. Kind of a tongue-in-cheek speculation when the ways muscles tell us they're is a bad state are usually through pinched nerves and pain, etc. But if you want them to go back to the way they were, then you'll have to slowly have them remember by actively stretching. I insist that a little bit of stretching can do absolute wonders for those who's muscles have been the victim of age and neglect and all this other nasty stuff. Injury, cause for individualizing    How injury takes root in our muscles is as diverse as the number of injuries we can pass onto them. Luckily muscles pretty well always end up looking the same way after enough time passes (when nothing's done about it). Old injuries from your childhood can surely be felt by an experienced masseur or masseuse. (Don't blush. I know you can.) Unless you were brought up under a rock and plan to continue living under a rock, you'll experience one or more injuries. What you can do about it is: something.    And this is where you have quite a few options. You can go see a chiropractor, massage therapist, your GP, fitness instructor, physiotherapist, read up on the interwebs, and more. Don't be lazy - is what I'm trying to say. However, while I do encourage someone who's afflicted by one thing or another to do something, I do very much prescribe to the belief that your thing may not be what one professional or another can address. You might need the help of someone else.  Additionally, I strongly believe that exercising to prevent an injury from recurring is also common sense. It'll save you money. It'll save you the inconvenience. It'll make your body happy.    I did touch on constitution earlier. There are indeed some folks out there that have been dealt a hand that can be described as unfortunate in one vein or another. As with what I'd written earlier: a personalized regimen is surely the only way to treat your body as everyone is different from the other. This takes time and experimentation, and above all, the determination to find an answer. When all else fails, there is [almost] always a solution. I'd like to reiterate: For some people, the only way to treat their body is something they must learn for themselves through self-discovery. There are times when a professional can only share their understanding of how things work. 90% of the time this is definitely foolproof. Folks that make up the other 10% are probably some of the most frustrated. I was among them. When I say deformation - Is it a word?    A deforming of muscles is apparent. I call it deforming. People that've studied and know all the proper words likely call it the receding of muscles.**  Those suffering from severe muscle deformation definitely need their own plan. It's extremely time consuming bringing back your muscles from such recession. You'll go months with very little sign of improvement; and there's no way around the laws of cause of and effect. For instance, aftereffects of stretching in persons with severe muscle deformation may experience dizziness or have a difficult time catching their balance. One's equilibrium is a sensitive thing. The most you or I can do is be confident in knowing that the stretch is good for us and, whether we like it or not, the effects of stretching on a body that has been neglected for so long will go through some very dramatic changes. This has to do with nerves, the pressure on them (from knots), and the brain in its attempt to deal with it all; to get you to a feeling of normalcy despite all the muck going around under the surface.    Though, before you go blaming anything, think about how long you've been alive and compare that to how much time you spend on maintaining your body. Most people don't even consider that their muscles require maintanence. Like USB ports: plug it in and go. (Some unclear, not very relevant techno-simile for saying when waking, consciousness is injected into reality.) They do! They really should be!    From the time you're born you're given what can arguably be considered a perfect body. (Folks that weren't born with muscles will have to forgive my assertion.) Gradually the tissue of the muscles begin to retreat. If we use another personalification, they no longer know they need to move this way or that way. When, for however many years, a muscle is used only to contract, its learned range of motion is decidedly changed. Scar tissue, by way of nature, builds and builds forming new knots which push old ones deeper; and the cycle continues in this way. Usually I use the term muscle deformation in the context of muscles with noticably or severely inhibited range of motion, but in reality, there are so many things we cannot see with the naked eye. The area in focus will be affected by lots of groovy stuff.    For those persons, such as the elderly and/or severely afflicted so, taking up stretching can be incredibly frustrating. What can appear so easy to others like those depicted in stretching illustrations is not easy. In fact, some of those stretches are quite literally detrimental to one's betterment. Do these people go to their GP for advice? Do they go to a physiotherapist for clarification? Do they get the advice they need to help themselves? I assume most don't do anything. It is confusing, misleading. The stretches make you sore and hurt. These people accept their bodies aren't like they once were, and that's it. That's all there is to it. So, the big question is "Why?" For starters: Why do these stretches hurt? - It's because of gravity. For those stretches that have the person stand: that's too much weight! It's, plainly, too much stress on the joints. The protection and support that muscles provide is absent. The joints are held too firmy by what's underneath.* - It's because of injury. When a muscle is torn (in anaerobic excercise too) and/or strained, it is forced to compensate for the space, building more tissue there. This creates knots. Knots, and the scar tissue in them, hold the healthy muscle back. It hurts because the fibres are stretching to make healthy bonds again.    Now, what will be described below should be consumed with the implicit theme. To be more direct, be aware! Talk, deliberate, criticize, and do so as to feel more comfortable with one idea or another. It doesn't matter if it came from here or some place else. As long as it encourages you to care more about your muscles. At the very least, the stretches I have to offer come with various considerations. From my experience, I've put together a rough sketch of what can be contemplated and tried; that, I hope, is helpful. Stretch Points - Hold a stretch for 1/5/15/30 minute(s) or more. How long one holds a stretch depends on two things: 1) The nature of the injury/injuries and 2) How the stretch makes you feel. The latter may not present itself until the next day. - Warming up in one way or another will help, but for some, this is not an option. Don't think too much about it. After 5 minutes or so of a light stretch, the area will naturally warm up. How long this takes depends on the person. Just means one has to be more patient. - Listening to music may help to stay patient. - Never quickly assume a position. - Do not force a stretch beyond what is moderately comfortable. - Unexpected sensations from stretches described below include, but are not limited to, tingling, pain behind the right ear, pressure behind the eyes, tightness in the forehead. - Depending on how and where a knot forms, one or more sensations will manifest when stretching. These feelings will change over time. The rule of thumb being: the worse off the muscles, the more dramatic the changes in the body. Stretching stretches #1: Simple neck stretch - Let head hang forward to where it is comfortable. Lace hands behind the head, applying force back into them with the neck.  Use counter pressure with your arms, gradually increasing strain to a comfortable level over the course of the first minute or so. - Sitting position is recommended. Be comfortable. - Allow head to raise some as well before applying pressure. Be comfortable. Benefits and cautions: Someone who has limited range of motion of the head, looking left to right, will find this stretch very good. Someone with a plain stiff neck, also, will benefit greatly from repeated use of this stretch. May cure headaches. Note: Please be thoughtful if you are a person with whiplash. Even if you are gentle, you may experience soreness and/or stiffness. Expect discomfort. Through experimentation users will have to learn what is too much strain. #2: Simple back-with-legs-up stretch - Lay on back with legs up against a wall. - Do not force your butt firmly against the wall if it is not bearable. - Using one's bed is a convenient apparatus to stretch on before going to sleep. Be comfortable. - Pair this stretch with the simple neck stretch above for added effect. - Users can alternate between legs stretched out and bent at the knee. Benefits and cautions: May cure any number of pinched nerves in the back and/or neck. Note: Persons unable to scoot closely to the wall: please do not be discouraged! Everyone starts somewhere!

#3: Simple wrist stretch - Use a countertop or other comfortably accessible surface edge to rest fingertips of both hands on. Fingertips facing up. - Slowly lean into wrists over the course a minute or so. - Adjust strain during stretch as needed. - This stretch can be done almost anywhere by placing your hands on your hips. Bear in mind: stretch should be held for at least 2 minutes as about the minimum. Benefits and cautions: Reduces forearm stiffness. May cure Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Q&A Q: How often do I do these stretches? A: That’s something, I feel, that should be left to the individual and how their body reacts. Q: I had a broken neck/wrist/back. How long should I hold these stretches for? A: That is, again, something you'll have to learn for yourself. I don't know what  your physiotherapist says. Perhaps they've already made a plan for you. Q: Of all the professionals out there, who do you think is the best? A: That all depends on what's going on with your body, yea? Maybe a chiropractor is a good idea. Maybe a massage therapist is a good idea. Who knows? One thing I do know is: it's important to try things and find out which of them works. That being said, especially with stretching, you have to make an effort to see results. Someone who tries stretching once, then says it didn't work, may as well have never bothered to in the first place. Q: Can I trust these direction and what you have to say? A: There is risk in everything. I can tell you what's worked for me and some of those that I know. That's about it though. If you're skeptical, as I wrote earlier, consult learned professionals. Q: Is there a chance things will get worse if I stretch?

A: Yes. The body and brain is incredibly complex. It's up to you to learn what a good pain is and what a bad pain is to make progress. The knots in our muscles are almost like a game of Whac-A-Mole. As knots work their way out of our bodies, new ones spring up. How these new knots affect our nervous system all depends on where they are, how big they are, etc... There is no world where stretching is bad for you. The sensations may be alarming; there may be good days and bad days. What you go through all depends on what you've done with your body.

Q: Can stretching replace visits to a chiropractor or the like? A: Maybe. Probably. The potential is there. Along with all my other wacky ideas, I do strongly feel that stretching will definitely strengthen the bonds in our bodies, making it more durable against the troubles these professionals practice to remedy. * Someone familiar with anatomy or learned professional can explain better

** Probably

4.92/10 Experience points

[alta-precisao-blog]

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Believe that relating to what your self require towards say just before on your own say it. And frankly, we can’t blame the dad for feeding on things to consider relating to the biology tutor. Raises the caffeine-like substance to the fusion oncogene and certain genetic studies. Primarily speaking about, which suggests by yourself purchase an music that is CD Great high quality. Now drink this tea sip by sip. By now Pizza Hut performs within just 84 nations around the world and territories in the course of the worldwide. The DSM fails to clarify the exact relationship between Axis II and Axis I disorders and the way chronic childhood and developmental problems interact with personality disorders. Please note that this article refers specifically to Viagra, the original sildenafil citrate product that is approved for treating erectile dysfunction. Uthealth, contributed to prescribe targeted agent, meaning potassium that minimize or report,.

[halfwaybetweenagonyandhope-blog]

What is the Rick Simpson Cannabis Oil and How to Make it?

 In the event that you've done your exploration on Cannabis oil, you've most likely unearthed the name Rick Simpson. Particularly as a few people have named his oil as a definitive Cure for Cancer. In this article, we will clear up any disarray about this well known oil.

 We'll cover all you have to know; we'll investigate look into discoveries, give you the total down and out on who is Rick Simpson and uncover the formula that has made this oil so well known.

 Who is Rick Simpson?

 Once classed as a regular person, Rick has changed into what you may call a "Cannabis Celeb, because of the mending forces of his cannabis oil. Be that as it may, it wasn't constantly similar to that…

 In 1997, Simpson was functioning as a designer in a healing center in Canada, covering asbestos on a doctor's facility's evaporator funnels with channel tape. Utilizing an intense vaporized paste in ineffectively ventilated rooms drove him to in the long run go out, which constrained him to be surged off to the crisis room. Following a couple of long stretches of wooziness, he was sent home to rest. Trusting it was an irregular episode, he returned to work, yet the wooziness was before long back and again he was constrained back to crisis. The episodes were winding up progressively visit and furthermore abandoning him with an upsetting ringing in his ears. Compelled to take conventional drug, Rick quickly looked for a characteristic option and before long fell under the control of the cannabis plant.

 As per Rick, it had enhanced his circumstance more than anything he had ever recently attempted. Besides, it had surpassed every one of his desires enabling him to quit utilizing customary drug.

 Cannabis turned into an incorporated piece of his life, yet he would never have envisioned that it would fix him of one of the present most awful conditions.

 Just a couple of years after the fact after Rick had conquered throbbing head torments did he find three Cancerous knots on his arm. Again Rick swung to Cannabis for an answer and put cannabis oil on his skin. The outcomes were extraordinary, and specialists were overwhelmed by the outcomes. Despite the fact that specialists would not authoritatively concede or lawfully prescribe utilizing cannabis oil, Rick realized that cannabis had restored him by and by.

 These two extraordinary occasions prompted him to start his vocation as a healer. At first, he began helping those with comparative skin infections however immediately proceeded onward to help diverse individuals who experienced melanoma and glaucoma. From that point forward Rick has turned into a pioneer and well known figure inside the cannabis business, helping individuals with his unadulterated Cannabis Extracts.

 Other than disease, Rick Simpson Oil has likewise been accounted for to help treat diabetes, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, torment, asthma, headaches and numerous different conditions.

 Cautioning ABOUT THE USE OF THIS MEDICATION

 We are not medicinal specialists, and in this manner before utilizing RSO, it's compulsory to counsel with a doctor who underpins the utilization of therapeutic cannabis and who has involvement with it. These sorts of oils can have genuine reactions, particularly when utilizing together with pharmaceutical medications. If you are looking for more information about Rick Simpson Oil visit Simpson-oil.com right away.

[islandpcosjourney]

Reminiscences

21st August 2021

I don’t particularly look forward to my birthday each year. I suppose I used to as a child – one always looks forward to being made a fuss of and opening exciting presents! But when you become an adult, it CAN become that moment to dread, realising another year has gone and what’s changed? I suppose some people use New Year as their moment to reflect and plan forward, making resolutions they PLAN to keep because there’s something they want to achieve. But, doing something when everyone else might also be doing the same thing at the same time might put too much pressure on folk to achieve what they want to achieve, and in turn, too much pressure breeds resentment, rebelliousness and ultimately failure. Compared with say, making your own decision at your own point in time when you’re ready and prepared to make changes. I did just that in June 2020 and you may have read a bit about it in my previous blogs – my decision to turn my life around for the better.

Despite changing my lifestyle last summer, my birthday felt bittersweet for it was my 33rd and the milestone in my life which meant I had now reached the age when my mum had given birth to me. As someone who longed for a child her whole life, reaching the age of 33 was difficult, for I had no hope of becoming a mother any time soon. However, having changed my daily nutrition, I was seeing regular changes in my health and body so my thoughts turned to “let’s just see shall we – this year can’t be any worse than the last”.

Turning 34 tomorrow, I can’t say I feel as hopeful as I did last year, or can I? On one hand, another year has passed and we’re still childless, which deeply hurts, but on the other hand I’ve achieved so much this year which has given us more hope than the previous 10 years put together. I’ve said it before, I don’t regret anything in life, there’s no point, it’s not like you can go back and change anything. But I am upset that I spent so long trusting in doctors prescribing me medications which only messed around even more with my already mixed-up body and mind. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not against medicine or pharmaceuticals, I am annoyed at a system which does not look at the whole person, their symptoms, the causes and treat them according to what would suit them the best at that time. In saying all that, now that I am “awake” and know more about my own body, I do not regret the 9 years I spent “asleep” and unable to help my own condition for myself. I am merely now more aware as a result and think carefully before I make decisions about my health – as everyone should. We shouldn’t just believe what we’re told. We need to make our own informed decisions, after all who else is responsible for our own bodies but ourselves?

So, what have I learnt in the past year? As a 33-year-old, I have lived more than I did as a 32-year-old, and definitely more than I did as a 31-year-old. In fact, I have lived more this year than I have done over the last 8 years. That’s how many years I have turned the clock back on my weight. But in terms of my health, I feel like a teenager again. I know how that might sound, but when I was a teenager, I suffered tremendously with my menstrual cycles. I would have to take a day off school with the pain, I’d be bringing up bile, unable to swallow painkillers I would be in bed with several hot water bottles and hot baths to stem the painful stomach cramps and right leg I had. Doctors said I would grow out of it, and I did. Unfortunately, now I can see that when I grew out of it, that’s probably when my hormonal issues started. I was so glad to only have occasional bleeds – I saved on sanitary products and didn’t have to take those days off for pain anymore! How blinded I was to my potential problems but who knows if I had a crystal ball to see into the future, if I’d have made any dietary changes back then, or would I just have continued being young and carefree?

Back to now, and that recent teenage feeling I’ve been having again! It sucks that when Aunt Flow comes to visit, I am now back to being in so much pain that I need to take a day off to deal with it. However, as an adult who forced herself to overcome her gag reflex so she could swallow painkillers, I can now choose to take them if I need to. The upside of returning to a teenage health is the amount of energy I have and regularity of my cycle – it has now returned to a 34 day one which is classed as NORMAL! Don’t think I’ve been “normal” for 15 or so years! However, I haven’t had a normal cycle for long enough yet to no longer be classed as having IRREGULAR cycles, so I haven’t quite reversed that side of my PCOS, yet. I have however reversed my chronic fatigue, my acne (except the odd spot as part of hormonal spikes during a NORMAL cycle) my cellulite, my permanent bloating & I have dropped several dress sizes – the weight loss is simply a lovely bonus to the health benefits! If your body is healthy, it will return itself to its natural state – that is happening for sure! My hirsutism (excess body hair) has dramatically reduced so it’s going in the right direction and I’m hopeful that one day I may not need to address the hair growing on my face on a daily basis, but my androgenic alopecia (male patterned baldness) is most likely a permanent state of affairs. It certainly won’t grow back on its own but maybe, just maybe in future, when I’m completely stable and I know that I have cured myself as much as I can, I might investigate treatments to stimulate growth again but for now, it’s just part of who I am.

My poor husband though, what a shock he’s had. In the 10 years we’ve been together he’s never had to deal with my monthlies! Of course, he’s always worked away at sea, sometimes months at a time but more recently on 5-week trips so essentially, he would be forgiven for not being too aware of a woman’s routine anyway BUT now he is! We’ve timed everything in our lives around his 5 weeks on or off and we’d usually be found saying “gosh, those 5 weeks have come around quickly” but now we find ourselves noticing my cycles getting shorter and shorter each time and realising “gosh, that came around quicker than I expected!”. Bless him, he’s adapted so well to it all. You might take it for granted in your relationships when it’s just a usual part of it but when it’s not there for years and then suddenly it is, it’s a change - an exciting change. It makes me so happy to see his face light up each time – simple pleasures! The other aspects of a woman’s cycle, the hormonal spikes causing mood swings and breast tenderness making me yell out at the slightest touch – perhaps they’re not so welcomed but we’re now noticing patterns and we know it’ll pass, or he knows that if I snap at him (I’m trying to work on it, but it’s newish to me too!) he knows it’s just my hormones and is learning to either ignore me or not wind me up further! However, I hope he won’t mind me saying that the first time I became that teenage version of myself again and had a BAD first day on my period, he didn’t understand. He did call me lazy for being in bed all day, he called me a weakling for complaining about the pain, he compared me to other women and told me to get on with it, he’d never filled a hot water bottle for me before and didn’t understand how the cover etc worked but fortunately my mum was here and she took care of me and he learned quickly, with her help, that I’m not necessarily like other women – I have ONE bad day, I allow myself to have that and then I’m back up energetically like a new woman the next day and that’s just how it is. The experience has brought us even closer together and he can see with his own eyes the progress I’m making, and he loves it. Who knew that pain like this would be worth celebrating and seeing as a GOOD sign – I couldn’t have predicted a year ago that I’d be saying that now! I have also learnt more recently that allowing myself that ONE bad day is necessary to allow me to get back to my normal self again. I pushed myself too far during this last cycle, I didn’t “have time” for my bad day as I had far too much to do workwise so I took painkillers and forced myself out of bed to act like it was a normal day. I did it, I succeeded and got all my work done but my stomach cramps and leg pain continued for a further 2 days after that, in fact my leg was sore even 5 days later. We’re not sure what the leg pain is all about, but my mum has always been convinced that it’s a nerve being pressed on by something inflammatory happening. Obviously when I took the painkillers, I stemmed the pain but didn’t “cure” whatever was creating the pain – exactly what medications do to chronic conditions when they keep the symptoms at bay but aren’t curing the cause of the symptoms. It’s also similar to what they’re now training paramedics to advise – to NOT take ibuprofen straight after an injury, to allow your body’s immune system to kick in FIRST before then treating with painkillers or any other appropriate treatment. I have basically now confirmed that my body knows what to do. It knows how to react to kick in and do what it needs to do. It needs that ONE day to do its thing, be a pain (quite literally) and cause me some distress but then that’s it – done and dusted, get on with life.

I TRUST my own body.

I TRUST it to behave as it needs to.

I also TRUST in the Lord that he will provide us with the means to deal with my condition going forward and if it is his desire, to gift a family to us. 

But the best birthday gift I have been given this year (even before opening anything tomorrow!) is that I now feel like a woman again. I have been given my life back and I have done it in the most natural way with the best family supporting me, and my husband, in our journey together.

P.S If you read my blogs from last year when I set myself some goals, I originally wanted to lose 100lbs by my friend’s wedding this year. Well, here I am playing at my friend’s wedding last weekend, 57lbs lighter (so I didn’t quite make that goal) but I was delighted at how I felt with my energy and delighted to be wearing a size 16 dress, comfortably! 

[locoluis]

Pam's visit to the doctor

DISCLAIMER: This is a fictional story. I have no medical knowledge, so the following is all artistic licence and stuff taken from the web. Please consult a proper medical professional if you experience any of the symptoms described below. Oh, and sorry for the sloppy writing.

It has been from bad to worse during the last weeks. I don't like summer, I get way too sweaty and dehydrated. I get sunburned easily. I am self conscious about my body and will need to wear less than the normal amount of clothing I usually enjoy wearing, which attracts the stares of people who look like they haven't seen a girl with more than a B cup in their entire lives.

Like they never get out of this town.

I like going to the city, even though the climate is warmer there than up here in the hills, because nobody bats an eye about my appearance there, or at least not that much. The city centre is a couple hours away by bus. Only a few, elderly people are joining me in this trip I absolutely need to carry out.

The local paediatricians are as useless as the painkillers they prescribe. One of them said: “ At this point, you should consider going to an adult's doctor. ” Madam, I'm only twelve, and you're supposed to be able to take care of people through their late teens. Don't come at me with such rubbish.

Then my PE teacher recommended me this children's hospital in the city, and I got an appointment. I got so stressed during the bus trip that the box of chocolates that I brought with me didn't last long enough. I hope this isn't as bad as it feels.

Even though this is the second time I've seen this particular lady, I immediately recognised her. Shorter than me, dangerously skinny, with a childish face despite being in her mid-thirties, and a brunette ponytail of ridiculous length.

— Pamela Evans. I remember you.

— Dr. Eliana Martínez. You were the lady who awarded me the gold medal at the swimming competition a few months ago.

— Indeed. That was… a random, unusual philanthropic gesture from me. I must confess that your victory caught me by surprise, as you looked like you didn't even want to participate.

— Well, Mum taught me to swim at an early age, and she really wanted me to participate. But I hate PE with a passion, and it was really embarrassing for me to be in a swimsuit with all those people around. You can guess why.

— Yeah, I can relate, having been pregnant once. Never again.

I couldn't quite hide my amazement. How does such a twiggy lady manage to have a child growing inside such a tiny belly?

— Indeed, I have a daughter. Her name is Violeta, and she will soon be bigger than me. I carried my baby through full term, with no complications, shattering all expectations. I guess I'm a woman after all, ha ha ha. But enough about me; please tell me what brings you here.

I took a long breath.

— Doctor, during the last few weeks it's been difficult for me to concentrate in class, to get asleep, to get enough rest. I sweat way too much. I feel a lot of anxiety, even to the point of paranoia. Sometimes I feel my heart beating too hard and too fast. Sometimes I feel a burning sensation in my chest. And I've been putting on quite some weight, though I'm not sure how much of that is just going through puberty.

— Well, body changes are normal through puberty, and girls grow and develop at different rates.

— I'm aware of that. All my classmates still look like children. I'm the only one with the shape of a grown-up woman at twelve.

— About that. When I was twelve, it was the exact opposite. The other girls were all grown up, while I still look like a ten years old.

— Well, you sure are tiny, even compared to my classmates.

— Yeah, yeah. Now that I think about it, you look a lot like one of mine. Blue eyes, a different hairstyle and nose shape, a slimmer waist, but otherwise she was a dead ringer for you.

— Even her breast size?

— Indeed. She was curvy and gorgeous, and all the boys were crazy for her, but she only had eyes for one boy… who just wasn't ready for a relationship. And it made me cringe that she didn't seem to feel pretty enough, that she wore more make-up than was necessary, plus her dangerously short, tight-fit school pinafore dress… she looked ridiculous.

— Oh, I have some classmates who are like that. Not me, though; I already get way too much attention without doing anything with my looks.

— Well, you seem more like the forbidden snack type, which ironically is more attractive for some men than the overly sexy type.

— … Ach-y-fi.

— … Excuse me? I'm not a native English speaker, and that's a word I haven't heard before.

— Oh, that's a local expression of disgust. Like, it seems like I can't avoid the male gaze.

— That's their problem, Miss Evans, not yours. Don't make it your problem. I've got nothing here, yet men still stare.

— Well, your body type is even more unusual…

— I know. But you have to excuse me, this is getting way off-topic. I don't usually talk to my patients about my own childhood, and I'm talking to you like we knew each other from long ago.

— Well, I don't mind. Yours seems to have been an interesting childhood.

— Indeed, but that's not why you're here. So let me get through this. Most of the issues that you describe are not necessarily associated with puberty, and no sign of pain or discomfort is worth getting glossed over. First of all, please stand on the scale to get your height and weight measured.

I do. To no surprise, I'm overweight. She also checked my heart rate and blood pressure.

— Now, tell me. Tea, coffee, carbonated drinks. How much do you drink each day?

— Not much, actually. I drink a couple cups of tea each day. Unlike the rest of my family, who just can't get enough of it. And they drink green tea, which tastes horrible to me.

— Hmm. What about chocolate?

She stopped talking when she noticed the sheer expression of horror in my face.

— What? Did I hit a nerve, Miss Evans? Please tell me how much do you eat everyday. Answer truthfully.

I started crying uncontrollably. She patiently bears with me through this.

— … Doctor. I have a lot of admirers. Every day I get several boxes of chocolate in the mail. And I can't control myself.

— Well, chocolates have a high calorie count due to their sugar and fat content. And the symptoms you've been experiences are consistent with an excessive chocolate intake.

— And now you're telling me that I have to eat less chocolates. As if my life wasn't horrible enough.

— Well, at least you don't have acne… yet.

— ACNE!? Oh my God! I need to stop eating chocolates right now!

— Well, acne is more of an issue with eating lots of carbohydrates and dairy products, and there's no consensus about the link between acne and chocolate consumption. But I still advise you to reduce the amount of chocolate you eat everyday.

— I understand.

— To prevent acne, you should eat more fruits, vegetables and fish. Drinking green tea is also good against acne, and it has many more health benefits. It contains caffeine, so it too must be consumed in moderation.

— Green tea. As I said, I don't like it.

— Add lemon juice and stevia to it. There are many types of green tea, you just have to find which one is better tasting for you. And brewing it correctly is quite important in order to get it just right, not too bitter or watery.

— Well, thank you.

— I'll prescribe you some medication in order to treat the symptoms you've mentioned. But you should follow my instructions in order to attack their root cause. Stop eating so many chocolates, and come back in a month or so, in order to check your progress. I most likely won't be around, as I travel a lot and I'm currently on a temporary contract, but Dr. Spencer is an experienced paediatrician who will be able to take your case.

— I'll do. Oh, and I have a last question. Do you think I should get a breast reduction? And how do I get it on the NHS?

— Well, first of all, I don't think it's advisable to get one while you're still developing, except in extreme cases of breast hypertrophy. Second, you should get down to a stable weight, and get an assessment with a psychiatrist or psychologist. Third, as there are many women seeking to get breast reduction surgery on the NHS, the waiting list can be up to several years, and a lot of women are being turned down as not meeting their criteria. Also, private treatment is quite expensive. And… would you like me to measure you?

— Yeah, sure.

Her procedure for measuring my breast size is a bit more complicated than what I knew. She then puts the measurements on a spreadsheet, which gets her a bunch of numbers.

— Wearing a good-fitting bra can alleviate many of the issues associated with large breasts. Also, I'm recommending you some exercises that can strengthen your core muscles, and some tips to improve your posture. But I wouldn't advise a breast reduction surgery on someone like you, as its risks and consequences certainly outweigh the possible benefits. They're not that big, actually; you just have a delicate body frame. Your ideal weight is lower than that of other girls of your age and height.

— I understand.

I need to make a lot of sacrifices in order to stop feeling like this. Mum is going to stare me down and tell me: “ I told you, Pam ”. And then I'm asking her what we should do with so all those chocolates.

[mediseller-international]

HIV and AIDS treatment and prevention

According to UNAIDS, around 38 million people across the world were living with HIV in 2019. In the same year, reports suggest about 1.7 million new cases across the globe, a decline of 23% compared to 2010. Although these numbers are staggering, HIV/AIDS is no longer the death sentence that it once was.

HIV or human immunodeficiency virus weakens our immune system by targeting and destroying white blood cells that fight infections. HIV increases the risk of developing other illnesses and can soon progress to AIDS without proper treatment.

AIDS or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a chronic and life-threatening condition, the last stage of HIV infection.  

Today with the progress in medicine, people diagnosed with HIV can live as long as those without HIV. Similarly, the life expectancy of those living with AIDS has gone up considerably.

HIV/AIDS Treatment

The first step towards treating HIV/AIDS is detecting it. The earlier you diagnose, the better. Let us first take a peek into how you can diagnose HIV/AIDS.

Diagnosing HIV

You cannot depend on symptoms to tell you if you have HIV. The only sure-shot way to know your HIV status is by getting tested.

There are three primary tests for HIV,

Nucleic Acid Test or NATs

Antigen Tests

Antibody Tests

If you doubt having contact with someone with HIV, seek help immediately. The initial test will be an antigen or antibody test like ELISA. These tests check for antigens or antibodies that your body develops to fight HIV.

If you test positive for the initial test, your healthcare provider runs a follow-up test such as a NAT. A nucleic acid test searches for the specific virus and allows them to be sure that the diagnosis is correct.

Treatment

Although there is still no cure for AIDS, modern medicine can now slow the progression of the disease to a large extent. These medications and therapies have considerably reduced the number of deaths due to HIV/AIDS.

Antiretroviral Therapy

The most effective treatment for AIDS today is Antiretroviral Therapy or ART, which is a combination of numerous medicines. ART prevents the patient from developing resistance to any particular drug while slowing the spread of the virus and reducing the amount of virus (viral load) in the body.

Today there are several types of Antiretroviral medications available, including:

Protease Inhibitors: HIV requires an enzyme called protease to multiply. These meds bind to this enzyme and prevent growth.

Integrase Inhibitors: Integrase is another enzyme that is essential for HIV to multiply. Integrase Inhibitors bind to Integrase and prevent replication of the virus. Doctors often suggest these as the first line of treatment for HIV patients due to their effectiveness in stopping the virus.

Nucleoside and nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor: These meds block another enzyme called Nucleoside or Nucleotide reverse transcriptase.

Entry Inhibitors: Entry Inhibitors prevent HIV from entering the cells (T cells in particular), thus prevents replication of the virus.

PEP Emergency Pills

If you suspect you have come in contact with HIV, get in touch with a healthcare provider immediately. Your healthcare provider depending on the situation may prescribe PEP or post-exposure prophylaxis pills.

Although they aren't 100% effective, consuming PEP pills within 72 hours of exposure significantly reduces the risk of getting infected.

These pills fight the infection and stop the spread of the virus in your body.

HIV/AIDS Prevention

To date, we have not discovered a vaccine to prevent an HIV infection. However, there are some practices you can adopt to prevent an HIV infection.

TasP

TasP or Treatment as Prevention refers to medications taken to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV.

HIV patients who effectively take TasP medications as prescribed have a minimal risk of transmitting HIV.

Barrier protection

Using barrier protection such as condoms can considerably reduce the risks of contracting HIV infections. Using a new latex condom every time you have sex and choosing a water-based lubricant, if appropriate, can prevent HIV and other STIs.

PrEP

Persons having high risks of being exposed to HIV can take PrEP or pre-exposure prophylaxis medications.

Other Methods

If you have paid attention in sex-ed classes, you might remember some ways to prevent STIs. These methods are also applicable in the prevention of HIV. Below are some additional preventive measures you can take,

Do not share needles. If you need syringes to inject drugs, use sterile and clean syringes.

Know your partner's HIV status.

Limit exposure to bodily fluids that may carry HIV.

For More Information of Healthcare Products

please contact Following us:

Phone Number:   +91-9773529259,  +91-7303072644 E-mail:                  info@mediseller.com                              medisellers.india@gmail.com Visit Website:       https://www.mediseller.com/

[recentanimenews]

Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun – 02 – Boosting Social XP

With Fumiya’s goals laid out, it’s time to grind! Talking to three different girls is a steep task for someone who virtually never speaks to any, but Aoi has a detailed plan for  him. First, she’s already chosen to whom he should speak from her circle of friends—a measure of quality control. But she notably doesn’t hold his hand the whole way. He has to get out there and execute on his own.

An added wrinkle is the the fact girls at their school have a choice of wearing either a bow or necktie, and the custom of only the popular girls wearing the latter. Two of the girls he must speak to are with the “necktie team,” which feels like an added level of difficulty. But in his very first exchange with necktier Izumi Yuzu, simply asking her for a tissue, Fumiya does fine; he even interacts with a second girl in bow-tier Kikuchi Fuuka.

Fumiya hesitates in his next interaction during home ec, with the lively Nanami Minami (AKA Mimimi), because the plan said Aoi would be present to have his back, but this also seems like Aoi putting him on the deeper end of the pool to see what he’s got when faced with the unexpected. He ends up lauding Minami for her “empathy” when she says “I get that”, sounding like an old man and eliciting genuine, non-mocking laughter from her.

So far so good, but what happens when the social situation—or “battle”—is complicated by additional “combatants”? First, Natsubayashi Hanabi (AKA Tama) arrives, adding a completely different vibe to the conversation as Mimimi affectionately gloms onto her and tells her “Fumiya is funny!”

Before Mimimi or Fumiya can explain it to Tama so she doesn’t feel out of the loop, the three main “in-crowd” dudes arrive. They’re led by Nakamura Shuuji, whom we know to still be sore over his TackFam loss to Fumiya. Mimimi explains Fumiya’s “joke”, Shuuji dismisses it as no joke at all, and Mimimi puts it to a vote.

Fumiya notices that Tama doesn’t vote, so he also abstains so as not to keep her feeling left out. Finally, Aoi arrives and votes for Fumiya, giving both him and Tama the cover they needed to vote for him. She even uses the opportunity to bring up the fact Shuuji lost to Fumiya, and how his resultant sour attitude may be why he was dumped.

If all this sounds extremely complex, it’s because we’re watching all of the intricacy that lies behind seemingly mundane or effortless high school social interactions through Fumiya’s eyes: as a novice trying to familiarize himself with the game’s  mechanics and and pitfalls.

In their afterschool debriefing in the sewing room, Aoi explains how she wasted no time broached the topic of Shuuji’s TackFam loss as part of a larger effort to avoid Shuuji—who like her has considerable social clout—from being rude to Fumiya and hurting his progress (since it would give others permission to be rude).

Aoi believes that on balance, Fumiya’s first “field practice” was a huge success. He was a little shaky out there, but the conditions were met without cheating. She also has him rely on his own instincts by garnering comments form him. For instance, he noticed Tama seemed “a bit off”, which Aoi chalks up to Tama’s strong will and hesitance to “go along to get along”

Between the vote and debriefing, Fumiya witnesses the interactions between just the trio of Aoi, Mimimi and Tama, and learns why Hanabi is nicknamed Tama (b/c “hanabi” means fireworks, and you traditionally say “tamaya!” when they explode…pretty clever!) We also learn that Mimimi is not afraid of showing affection for her friends, whether it’s glomming on Tama or tickling Aoi’s navel.

Aoi “returns fire” by going in for a kiss—which seems to thoroughly through Mimimi off balance—only to gently blow on her lips. Both this incident and the fact Aoi being the only one in class with the “guts” to tease Shuuji further reinforce the reality that Aoi is an elite, “utterly terrifying” player of this game. Like Fumiya in TackFam, if you’re coming at Aoi IRL, you best come correct!

Now that Fumiya has familiarized himself with conversation somewhat, the next step is to get better at it by continuing to recognize the reactions of the girls he talks to, the shifts in mood those conversations take, and become comfortable with adjusting on the fly.

Being able to join in conversations with girls multiple times per day (no one-and-dones here) will also help him make progress towards his medium goal of getting a girlfriend, because the more girls he talks to, the more he’ll know who is a better fit for him, thus determining to whom he should be committing more effort. It’s akin to knowing your enemy’s levels before entering battle to ensure victory.

While becoming more agile in conversation through the accumulation of XP, Fumiya will simultaneously be practicing proper posture. A stronger posture will result in a stronger state of mind, just as confidence can be boosted by drawing on the positive reactions better posture will engender. Aoi clutches Fumiya’s buttock, but not as a flirtation. It’s merely a clinical check to ensure he’s using those muscles properly.

That afternoon, Aoi says she’ll be heading home with two of the three in guys (not Shuuji) and Mimimi, that he’ll be accompanying them, taking mental notes and honing his conversational skills. With Aoi with him this time, she’s able to support him with his “butt exercise” comment, which might’ve clanged to the floor without her seconding its efficacy.

Aoi then throws Fumiya a curveball mid-trip home: he and Mimimi are getting off early, since they live in the same area, so he’ll be interacting one-on-one with her, just like in home ec. Fortunately, Mimimi has no problem with his. On the contrary, she seems eager to help Fumiya come out of his shell even thought she’s unaware of his training, giving him an encouraging pat on the back.

Fumiya and Mimimi casually discuss his glumness and her liveliness, and when he asks if there’s ever times she’s not “all smiling and bubbly”, she says those times are when it’s most important to be that way. He then recalls what Aoi said about the body and mind being liked, and Mimimi can’t help but bring up the fact he and Aoi have been awfully buddy-buddy of late.

Fumiya sidesteps that by declaring Aoi out of his league, but Mimimi maintains he should “let his fun side shine” more often, since he’s shown he’s actually pretty funny when he wants to be. Fumiya explains that fun isn’t the end-all-be-all for him; in TackFam, for instance, he plays because he loves it, and the fun is a bonus.

Mimimi also shows quite a bit of self-reflection when the subject turns to Tama, comparing her “won’t bend or be bent” nature to her “always be bending” attitude. It’s another great success for Fumiya, as he and Mimimi never had so much as an awkward silence while walking together.

As for determining who might be girlfriend material, that remains to be seen, but in their next debriefing Aoi has Fumiya acknowledge that his tendency to speak his mind regardless of the mood of the conversation makes him similar to Tama, who isn’t afraid to speak hers. Aoi believes that’s a strength in both, and Fumiya shouldn’t be afraid to use it.

Like the previous meeting, Aoi asks Fumiya to bring up anything else he learned, and he says he’s become aware that any productive conversation requires specific roles be filled, like different jobs in an RPG party: someone who introduces new topics (like Mimimi) and one who expands on existing ones (like Aoi).

Aoi is glad he’s picked up on this organically, and directs him to practice playing both roles. She expresses her joy with the phrase “HEXactly!”, which she finally explains was the catchphrase of a retro game she loved. She’s so delighted he’s heard of it she breaks out of teaching mode…but only momentarily!

To that end, Aoi has prepared flash cards of conversation topics for Fumiya to practice, and also recorded their meeting so he can listen to the sound of his voice. She also arranges their first Saturday meet-up. The fact she’s spending a day she’s free of club work on Fumiya means Aoi is determined to make her reclamation project a resounding success.

It’s great to see Fumiya not just making steady progress, but for the difficulty level not to be artificially heightened by, say, cartoonishly intractable personalities. At the end of the day these aren’t tough “bosses” Fumiya is being made to fight: Mimimi, Tama, Yuzu, and Fuuka are all nice people who aren’t hard to get along with, and all seem willing in one way or another to give him the benefit of the doubt despite his reputation.

At the same time, I’m thoroughly pleased Fumiya doesn’t need to be dragged kicking and screaming from his morose philosophy. While understandably a bit reticent at times, he’s neither resistant nor stubborn about submitting to Aoi’s prescribed plan. The best way he can show respect to her not inconsiderable efforts is by being a model trainee; a veritable sponge absorbing as much as he can, while not forgetting to have fun. So far, so good!

By: sesameacrylic