#me perusing the psychology courses online

[methodwriting]

my toxic trait is thinking i could study so many degrees and switch careers 10x a year

[rachelthompsonauthor]

What is social proof? It’s a marketing concept that we are all inadvertently, unknowingly contributing to every time we click on, retweet, like, reply or comment, and share any kind of social media, article, or blog post on the net. Technically, social proof, as defined by Sprout Social is:

The concept that people will follow the actions of the masses. The idea is that since so many other people behave in a certain way, it must be the correct behavior.

Social Proof and Me

As an author, social media is a hugely important part of my author platform, as it is for any writer or blogger. This is how we connect with readers now, even before the pandemic. Virtual, online events are now the norm. Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube Live video discussions are the new book signings. Twitter chats are weekly on any number of topics; I have two of my own, in fact, #SexAbuseChat every Tuesday at 6 pm pst/9 pm est and #BookMarketingChat every Wednesday at 6 pm pst/9 pm est.

All important for visibility, branding, and most importantly, connection.

However…there’s a limit. I reached my limit over the course of this past year. It didn’t come all at once. It came, little by little, reaching a peak this past month or so.

Why? How? Me, the so-called social media expert?

Access. Like many people, I have issues with the incredible level of access Facebook gives people once we friend them without our consent. PMs (private messages) are automatic, now with the ability for people to call, voice, and video message us, with no option to shut these options to OFF unless we unfriend the person (we can, however, mute a specific conversation). Technically, we do give them consent in the legal mumbo jumbo we all agreed to when we joined back in the 2010s.

I am not okay with this. And Facebook doesn’t care. Nobody cares. You’re probably thinking, “Geez, Karen. Shut up, already. Stop your whining, white lady.” I get it. I do. First-world problems.

I counter with: I hear you. It’s also part of my business. A huge part. Here’s why:

As someone who manages over 70+ various social media accounts as part of my BadRedhead Media business, plus my own accounts as well, Facebook requires I have a personal account in order to manage all those other Pages. I do understand why, particularly with all the ridiculousness of the past four years with the abundance of fake accounts, fake news, and such.

As a survivor of sexual abuse and stalking, this is ultra-concerning to me. So, what happened this past month or so? Suffice it to say, one person repeatedly tried calling me. I never pick up Facebook calls, especially if I don’t know you. Another left me a few voice messages saying they were offended by something.

Yet another left me another message in ALL SHOUTY CAPS that she didn’t find what I posted inspirational enough and she expected better from someone who is “supposedly on the side of authors.”

Oh, and there is the one lady who started replying on ALL my posts to the kind people who did comment that she didn’t think I replied often enough or to her satisfaction.

Well. I’ve been criticized before. You should read some of my 1-star reviews. There’s plenty!

But, for whatever reason, this struck a chord. I got up in my feels. I cried. I talked with one of them and we worked it out because we like and respect each other’s work in the mental health space. The others I blocked. It’s darn frustrating to donate hours of my time each week to helping writers solely because I want to, only to be told it’s not enough. Like, seriously? Fuck off.

My blood raged. My heart sank. Understandable, right?

But what really made me angry is that I put myself in that position by being available. I accepted that ‘it is what it is.’ This is what the social media platforms have given us, so that’s what I have to work within.

I’m too available. It’s too easy to leave me shitty messages. This is why people hire people like me – to handle this crap for them! So they don’t have to read these ridiculous criticisms from judgy people who apparently have nothing better to do or are having a bad day.

And I get bad days. It’s a damn pandemic. We’re all struggling. Where’s the damn compassion for one another?

I have a dislike/hate relationship with Facebook anyway, since about ten or so years ago when I discovered that a past love had died by suicide by going to his personal profile and seeing, “RIP dude,” messages there. We had spoken early that day. It still haunts me.

So…what to do? I’m claiming my time. I’m not posting to my personal Facebook profile right now. I’m ignoring it. I am checking my Pages and of course, my client Pages. When I feel like I can face it again, I will cull my ‘friends’ down from *checks real quick* 4385 people to maybe, I don’t know, the few hundred in my groups, many of whom I do know and treasure.

Social Proof and You

If you’re a writer, social proof matters. This is the world we live in. Publishing is not only writing.

You need to be ‘findable,’ not only on Google, but also on each individual social platform, so your readers can learn more about you and hopefully, buy your books. If you go the traditional route, publishers and agents want to know how many followers you have (easily upped by buying fake followers or likes from Fiverr or wherever). I suggest not doing that, because:

1) fake followers don’t buy books 

2) it’s usually pretty obvious when you have fake followers because they’re all foreign names, have questionable bios, and no tweets

3) do you really want to start your publishing career with a lie? 

They also want to know what you post, how often, and what your branding is. If you’re an indie author, honestly, the same applies. Social proof is about connection, building relationships, and authenticity. I’ve believed that since I started my business and writing career way back in 2011, and I stand by it now. Start slow, grow slow. It’s not a race.

I’m the furthest thing you’ll even find from a conspiracy theorist – I don’t believe in chemtrails, pizza parlor cabals, or that the earth is flat. However, I am a realist. Watch The Social Dilemma sometime. These huge tech companies share our data without our knowledge or consent (Cambridge Analytics, anyone?). Younger generations are so used to this, they don’t really care – ask them.

(My kids think having a chip implanted in their hands with all their data is a fabulous idea. “So much easier than having to talk and repeat everything over and over. Just scan me and be done with it,” says my daughter Anya (21). “Agree,” grunts my son, Lukas (15). Buy stuff, go to the doctor, whatever. Scan and go. Talk with any GenZ kid, you’ll likely get a similar answer. They’ve been tracked since birth everywhere. They don’t know life without a computer, tablet, or phone in their hands.)

Know that whatever we do, it’s all part of each platforms’ AI, and they share data, which is why that darling pair of shoes you just saw on Amazon is now showing up on Google, Facebook, Twitter, and every website you visit going forward. It’s all about the money, and they all get a piece of that affiliate link.

Every bit of every click is recorded, even when you’re watching videos on YouTube, or a subscription service like Netflix, or perusing goods on Amazon. It’s all connected. I’m not shocked or surprised by any of this, are you?

It’s Not Personal

What people say to us and about us is ultimately incredibly revealing about them. We know this, at an intellectual, psychological, and emotional level. Still, when people say mean things, it hurts. We’re human.

Does it matter in the overall scope of our lives? Who can say. It matters at that moment. It can matter when it comes to overall visibility when you’re marketing your book(s) or trying to get that book contract or interview. Only you can say if it matters to you.

Already a longtime fan of THE FOUR AGREEMENTS by Don Miguel Ruiz, I took a moment to reorient myself with this one agreement: Don’t take anything personally. I also stumbled across an excellent short and entertaining TEDTalk by Frederick Imbo. His main message to stop taking things personally is two-fold;

It’s not about me. Look at the other person’s intention and

It IS about me. Give yourself some empathy. Speak up. Ask questions. Pay attention to how you feel and be vulnerable with your needs.

I’m glad I was able to, inadvertently, employ point #2 and work out some issues with one of the people by telling him what he said made me cry. He apologized. I apologized. We talked it through and we’re still friends.

Ultimately, social media is what we contribute to it. What we make it. How much we allow of it into our lives. Social proof is going along with the tide. I’ve been in this space since 2008. Being connected to others is a big part of the work I do to help and support not only other writers, but also other childhood sexual abuse survivors. However, I’ve reached that point. I knew it was coming.

I’m not shutting my doors. I’m just adding a screen. With a strong lock.

***

Read more about Rachel’s experiences in the award-winning book, Broken Pieces.

She goes into more detail about living with PTSD and realizing the effects of how being a survivor affected her life in

Broken Places, available in print everywhere!

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The post What Is Social Proof and Does It Matter, Really? appeared first on Rachel Thompson.

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[awesomelephuoclocblog-blog]

How Produce totally robotized eBooks (with material) in one second

https://lephuocloc.com/commercemojo-review/

In this review, I will be taking an undeniably ordered examine Sqribble–a recently out of the plastic new cloud-based mechanical assembly that awards you to make eBooks, reports, whitepapers or other mechanized books on the fly, rapidly and quickly.

We'll cover what it does, who it's for, precisely the sum it costs, what the upsells are, and the points of interest and detriments of this new instrument, so you can choose an inexorably informed choice about getting it … and if it's optimal for you.

.

What is Sqribble?

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Sqribble is a cloud based eBook creator gadget. It licenses you to make ace looking eBooks, taking into account setup positions inside the contraption, with a couple of ticks, checking you a tremendous measure of time and money.

Unlike other eBook producers, Sqribble in a brief instant got my thought since it has some incredibly significant limits I have not seen wherever else.

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Here's a few limits that genuinely overpowered me:

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Modified material–believe it or not, you can in sureness use Sqribble to fill your book with capable substance, so you don't have to create a word. This is content from around the web, considering the URL you deftly. You can pull content from any URL, stick it genuinely, remove from a Word doc or from their own library of express claim to fame articles.

Full scale PC distinct advantage.

Advancement

This is a BIG solace and a critical notwithstanding for any person who scorns creating or doesn't have the chance to do it.

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Beautiful eCovers–a great deal of eBook mechanical assemblies may screen time, yet they end up dreadful eCovers for your books. Sqribble is various here. The spreads are really uncommon. They wouldn't keep an eye out of put on Kindle or Amazon, and they quickly appear like you're a specialist who requests trust and authority.

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Make Flipbooks–this is among my supported pieces of Sqribble. You can turn your "level" books into canny flipbooks. This causes your propelled book look and to feel significantly progressively like a valid book–with pages that turn (breathed life into like a genuine book page turning) and cause the book to appear as though something you can associate and grab.

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For what reason does this have any kind of effect?

It's connected to standing out and getting attention. In addition, it's a procedure to attract your perusers much better. In case they appreciate the experience of examining your book (" flipping" the pages) they're well en route to get worth from your substance and keep taking a gander at until fulfillment where your pitch or wellspring of motivation is!

Another component of flip books is that you can embed them on your site with a fundamental piece of code that Sqribble supplies once you release your book. Glorious!

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What else can Sqribble do?

Sqribble is adaptable gadget, with packages more limits I discovered obliging. For instance, this is the thing that else Sqribble can do:.

— Automatic course of action.

— Automatic headers and footers.

— Automatic pagination.

— Drag and drop style.

— Add or delete pages.

— Add your own media.

— 300+ Google Fonts.

— 50 eBook groups (covering 15 unique strengths).

— 10 distinctive eBook styles (1 snap alterations concealing arrangement of book).

— Import content from a URL.

— Manually fuse material.

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Business

Which's simply the stuff I saw inside the control board!

There's enormous measures of features squeezed into this gadget, making it phenomenal contrasted with other eBook creators I've seen, anyway there is one minimal irksome point which I'll cover down underneath.

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Who is it for?

Sqribble is commonly organized for advisors, free web online publicists, little exhibiting firms and business visionaries who need to convey lead magnets, release Kindle books, make and sell eBooks, or circulate whitepapers.

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In the event that you're furthermore planning to develop an extra benefit you'll be fulfilled to understand that comparably included is a business firm license to utilize Sqribble for customer work, giving eBook creation organizations, with the ability to convey limitless eBooks which you can sell and keep all the salary!

They in like way give you an all set developed firm site with pre-filled portfolio that you can move to any territory for second position, so you can reveal it off to any sparkling clean potential clients to get work. (Ace locales like this would cost you in any event $600 alone, so it's incredible worth.).

Included is a worked in "Customer input contraption" to team up with clients on eBook occupations even more adequately (I love this segment).

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What does it cost?

Regularly $197, today only 67 (and a nice discount coupon on the page so ).

Any upsells?

Really, there are starting at now 4 upsells. You don't really require all of them to use Sqribble, anyway they may can be found in important depending upon your situation and usage.

This is the thing that they are:.

Advertisement

Upsell 1–Sqribble capable.

Open 150 continuously capable eBook designs (the most perfectly awesome ones are in the master variation), delineations and significantly progressively moment substance for such a specific claims to fame. (So you know, single arrangement designs from stock locales would cost you as much as $450 … for just ONE structure position!) Great for those that hankering greater grouping, substance and significant customers.

Upsell 2–Sqribble Prime.

Get 15 premium "compelled form" perfect eBook formats added to your Sqribble control board every month. This will grow your library after some time, and make you stand separated from various customers. It works out to under 2 dollars for an arrangement design!

This involves 2-in-1 features.

1.) Unlocks a 3D spread creation gadget inside your dashboard, permitting you to turn "level" covers into trademark, 3d covers. Phenomenal for getting more thought and making your books feel and look continuously "certified." Individuals do condemn hastily, so something to suffer at the head of the need list.

Produce "Flipbooks" that change your eBooks into natural and breathed life into pages that turn like, taking everything into account. They can be related with from wherever on the web, similarly as embedded on site pages with a singular piece of code.

In the event that you will use Sqribble to make eBooks as a help of acquire money, by then Vehicle Task Finder is something that you need. It will immediately make sure about you related situations over different autonomous locales and exhort you with the objective that you can fulfill them. A significant solace and cash specialist.

The dreadful.

— 3D spread is rushed behind an upsell.

The extraordinary.

— Easy to use.

— Problem free.

— Unlimited usage (when portion).

The radiant.

— Lots of wonderful structure positions.

— Professional page structures.

— Automatic material (moderates time).

— Flipbook creator (offered through third upsell).

.

End

There have truly been a huge amount of eBook engineer gadgets already, at any rate I have not seen any that make the entire technique as smooth and speedy as Sqribble. It's incredibly glitch complimentary (most practical gadgets like this are truck as perdition) and it's squeezed with some truly cool features.

The designs are remarkable looking, the structures are ace and reality you can immediately consolidate substance causes this an obvious prerequisite to have for any individual who's exhausted on costs hours working over book arrangement, creating substance and playing with gathering.

The great to beat everything is the license to work which is fused. Generally suppliers charge extra for this, so it's a monster worth uncommon prize. The extra offered achieved for-you firm site is essentially over shipment.

Sqribble has truly been developed by Adeel Chowdhry, who is an eminent web business visionary and blockbuster, with over 10 years of experience and has once in the past advanced far and wide hits, for instance, Pixel Studio FX which sold a few endless structures all around the world. He's known for developing first class capable organizations and I expect no less from Sqribble.

On the off chance that you're planning to make eBooks, reports or Kindle books later on, you merit it and your psychological dependability to pick this up as it's a mechanical assembly that you'll absolutely require in your business.

Snap this associate with see Sqribble, all things considered

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Customized material–believe it or not, you can in truth use Sqribble to fill your book with talented substance, so you don't have to frame a word. Produce Flipbooks–this is one of my favored things about Sqribble. Something different about flip books is that you can embed them on your site with a straightforward piece of code that Sqribble supplies when you release your book. Get 15 premium "limited adaptation" recently out of the plastic new eBook designs added to your Sqribble control board every month. On the off chance that you will use Sqribble to make eBooks as a help to get paid, by then Auto Task Finder is something that you need.

https://lephuocloc.com/commercemojo-review/

https://lephuocloc.com/

[inaneness]

Casino Affiliate Marketing

Advancing on the web casinos as an associate can be rewarding however it takes a great deal of difficult work and commitment to be effective in an exceptionally serious industry. Countless partners have joined casino subsidiary projects just to discover that it's anything but a simple as it looks. Tempted by huge commissions they enter the business with no exploration and arranging and this is the motivation behind why such a significant number of associates fizzle. Neglect to plan and you intend to fall flat.

Being a member in a serious market ought not be looked on as a negative factor, it ought to be seen as an extremely positive circumstance since it affirms the way that there is heaps of cash coursing right now. Enormous rivalry essentially implies that you should work more earnestly and more intelligent than different associates to be effective.

To empower you to do this adequately you ought to do some underlying preparation with the goal that you are setting your casino member business up on strong establishments. Examine the casino business as an industry so look at the numerous casino news sites so you can have a genuine knowledge into what's going on right now in the market you plan to enter. Additionally examine the casino partner programs and do some examination into every one taking note of down the commission structure that they offer, advertising apparatuses gave and the degree of help from the casino associate director.

Not exclusively will this examination open up new roads that you might need to seek after as mainstream specialties right now it will likewise elastic stamp that this business is for you. You have to affirm this by being straightforward with yourself. To make it as an effective casino member you must have a certified enthusiasm for the business you are advancing. On the off chance that you don't, at that point the odds are that you will become weary of perusing and composing articles about it in the blink of an eye by any means. Trust me I have been there. This figures out how to do is burn through significant months of your valuable time and pay setting the business up. So before you continue any further into the casino partner showcase simply affirm to yourself this is the thing that you truly need to do.

Likewise do some examination into your opposition. Visit their sites and note down what you discovered was sure and negative. How might you enhance this site? This is the speediest method to fabricate the structure of your site. When you make a note of your site content you can draw a spurious site on paper so you can put everything in it's place before you start any structure work. This arranging will spare you unlimited hours on the PC.

At this phase of the procedures you ought to have a thought of what regions of the casino associate industry you need to advance and how you might need to advertise them viably. Possibly you need to begin your own casino registry and you will visit every casino you are advancing and review a legit examination. This is an extraordinary method to advance online casinos. No two casino programs are the equivalent so you can download and play the free programming as a visitor and expound on your encounters. How great was the product? Shouldn't something be said about the help? Are the rewards appealing? Do they have reliability programs for normal players? At the point when you are exploring various casinos there is no restriction to the data you can reveal and expound on.

You will compose this data in your own words including obviously any negatives that you may discover. In the event that you compose all positives, at that point the site guest will earnestly not trust you. Not everything in the World is incredible and same goes for online casinos. Just when you communicate with your guests and seem to be somebody fair will you gain validity which brings about the development of your business? On the off chance that a casino you visited and played at is poor, at that point don't have a fear about composing negatives. It is only your genuine feeling dependent on realities. This is the thing that site guests like and is the thing that makes them return to your site over and over.

You should begin a pick in list so you can email the rundown when you have finished another casino survey. On the off chance that the casino gets a decent survey, at that point include your associate connection in the email or point them back to your site to see the full audit.

There are numerous elements from a player’s perspective that transform a site guest into a functioning player. This perhaps the greeting rewards, multi-lingual alternatives, multi-cash stores, reliability programs, programming quality and so forth. These are the primary concerns you ought to concentrate on when you compose a survey. You have to get into the brain of a player not the subsidiary. Exactly what are the players searching for when they come to play at a casino? What are the snares to pull in them to play? What are the psychological triggers that are going to transform a uninvolved site guest into a normal player that may bring you salary as an associate for the lifetime of this player?

There are numerous approaches to advance casinos as an offshoot and inspecting and beginning your own index is just one of them. View the business by doing some exploration and you will discover new thoughts and specialties essentially leap out at you and give you heaps of something to think about on how and what region you need to advance. Being a casino member in one of the most energizing and worthwhile media outlets in the World can be fulfilling.

[totalfitketo-blog]

Keto Mode : Weight Loss Diet Pills, Benefits & Buy(SHOP)!

OFFICIAL WEBSITE@>>https://walgreensdiet.com/keto-mode/

Keto Mode:- Read Cost, Side Effects and Benefits Before Buying!

Heftiness is the primary driver of different maladies and we realize that it is difficult to diminish weight. numerous individuals' likewise attempted numerous endeavors in exercise center and even they additionally starving themselves however it isn't such a great amount for diminishing weight. there are additionally numerous enhancements in market and some of them are bad for wellbeing. Things being what they are, in this circumstance how you will decrease weight? numerous individuals are looking from the issue of heftiness and they imagine that it is difficult to decrease weight yet is it substantiates truth?

As indicated by me, it isn't genuine certainty supposing that you are going with incorrect approaches to expel it then it will hard to diminish it. Yet, on the off chance that you are going with right approach to expel it, at that point you will definetly evacuate it permanantely. In any case, what is the correct course for lessen it? The appropriate response is Keto Mode which is a characteristic weight lose supplement. Peruse the beneath article for more data.

What Is Keto Mode?

Keto Mode is a characteristic weight reduction supplement which is made with common concentrates and it doesn't have any damage on body. When you will devour this enhancement then it will give you an ideal state of your body in interim. The best piece of the enhancement is that it improve your digestion framework and absorption so as to give the correct structure of the body.

Besides, this weight lose supplement is clinically endorsed by the confirmed labs of USA. The majority of the fixings are sheltered to devour. On the off chance that you need to expel stoutness totally from the body, at that point this enhancement is better decision for you. Along these lines, for what reason are you squandering your time, simply proceed with this enhancement for fast outcomes.

How Can It Works?

As a matter of fact, Keto Mode works as indicated by the elements of the item. Right off the bat, it improve the digestion and absorption framework so as to discharge unsafe poisons from the body. It will decrease your abundance fat in that simple way from which muscles does not impact. It keeps you full for the entire day with vitality as it keep up your longings of nourishment. As it is reality that we expend a larger number of calories than obligatory and we put on weight.

It likewise decline your feeling of anxiety with the goal that you can basically think to your work. The facts demonstrate that you eat more when you are in sorrow or stress. It will keep your mind tranquil and glad to keep sound your psychological condition. It will lessen your longing of nourishment and numerous kinds of nutrients, minerals are incorporated into this enhancement to give you vitality and more power.

What Are The Benefits Of Keto Mode?

There are loads of advantages of Keto Mode and you will get following favorable circumstances in the wake of utilizing this enhancement:-

– it diminishes your weight with no symptom.

– it additionally reduces calories more and gives you heaps of intensity and stamina.

– it will improve your digestion rate and processing and cause it to end up more grounded and solid.

– it likewise control your desires of nourishment and gives you bunches of vitality in your body.

– it serves to confines the tiredness and shortcoming so you will feel progressively enthusiastic and dynamic for the duration of the day.

– it additionally help to diminish your feeling of anxiety by upgrading psychological wellness. You can without much of a stretch concentrate to your work joyfully.

– your certainty level likewise get improved by its utilization and you may awe to anybody from your fit and provocative body.

Fixings List Of Keto Mode

Keto Mode is made with unadulterated normal and natural concentrates which has no any reactions of it. Every one of the concentrates are made under the screening of specialists and every one of them are home grown however the fundamental concentrates utilized in this weight lose supplement is BHB (Beta-Hydroxybutyrate).

It encourages body to venture into ketosis procedure and makes your body to deliver vitality by expending fat as opposed to sugars. It is really, a blend of normal and natural fixings and propelled science that is the reason there are no any rundown of fixings. Henceforth, it is 100 % safe to expend.

Are There Any Side Effects Of Keto Mode?

Your wellbeing is first need for our organization and this viable weight decrease supplement is made with 100% common and natural fixings which has no any symptoms on body. Keto Mode is 100% totally secured to devour as it is experimentally endorsed by specialists and therefore, there are no any symptoms of it. You can likewise devour it openly for use.

Safeguards Procedures Whils Using Keto Mode

There are a few safeguards which must be pursue before utilizing Keto Mode. These are as per the following:-

1) Pregnant and supporting woman can not devour this enhancement.

2) Keep this enhancement far from the range of kids.

3) If you are taking any medicinal treatment from others then you should guidance it your specialist.

4) Keep this item in cool and dry spot. Ward off it from direct daylight.

5) Above 18 years age may utilize this enhancement as it isn't made for underneath 18 years.

6) Use this enhancement consistently for getting viable and best outcomes.

Where We Can Purchase Keto Mode?

In the event that you truly need to purchse Keto Mode so you don't need to take any stress. You can without much of a stretch getting it online by visiting official site of maker. There you will discover same page of this item and after that you need to fill the obligatory subtleties of your location. Cause online installment and afterward to present the subtleties. There numerous offers are accessible online yet just for restricted timeframe. So you can profit your idea there. Try not to squander your time, go to site and purchase this item.

Synopsis

Overweight is one of the regular issue of everybody. Keto Mode improves the digestion rate and it will likewise improve your stomach related framework in way to give you fit body. It controls your craving packs so you will eat less and weight will diminish more. It improve your vitality level in body to make you dynamic and lively for the duration of the day. as a matter of fact,

[hcgdietinfodotcom]

About Jen: My Success with Medical Weight Loss and the Hcg Diet

My background: My name is Jen. I'm a Naturopath, former nurse, and hold a PhD in Holistic Health. I have spent much of my life studying at Rutgers, UNLV, Yale, & Oxford University. I have over 20 years of experience in medicine, with a nursing background that includes certifications and specializations in emergency and acute care, psychology, pathology, nutrition, fitness & rehabilitation.  I have a strong passion for understanding behavior and its links to obesity. More importantly, how that behavior can be changed to acquire the healthy lifestyle everyone deserves. This focus came after I personally lost nearly 90 pounds with Hcg & medical weight loss. I am also the founder of HCG Diet Info. I made the decision to create HDI in 2002 when I was on the HCG Diet and I realized there was not a single site online to help others on the protocol. I had 13 visitors my first week. In 2013, HDI passed 100 million visitors and continues to grow today, as the leading authority on the HCG Diet Plan and medical weight loss. I have also personally lost 90 lbs with medical weight loss and successfully kept it off for over 10 years.  I then lost another 45 lbs of baby weight with help from Invigor Medical and Diet Doc.

My Successful Approach to Weight Loss and Longterm Maintenance

Medical weight loss changed my life, and while I believe in using this approach for initial weight loss, I also have a passion for utilizing behavior modification, hormone therapy and medical weight loss from a holistic perspective, for longterm weight management. Welcome to HDI: Hcg Diet Info, Medical Weight Loss & the Hcg Diet I started the first Hcg Diet website: 15+ years later, 100 million visits, over a million pages, & countless lives changed… HDI has become the true highlight of my weight loss journey.

My Success Story

My Hcg Diet success story?  I lost 88 pounds with prescription Hcg, and in less than a year.  I went from a size 18/20 to a size 6 and maintained a healthy lifestyle for over 10 years.  When I had a baby, I chose Hcg, lipotropics, B12 and medical weight loss supplements to lose 45 lbs, with a modern, modified protocol. From Fast Food Junkie to Next-Gen Health Nut Several years ago, I had some guests staying over; friend's of friend's from overseas that didn't particularly know me or my lifestyle habits. As I was settling them in, I told them to make themselves at home, and two of them opened my fridge and were perusing my kitchen. I heard them talking amongst themselves as I was talking to my friend. One of the girls finally asked, "Do you always eat like this?" I had no idea what she was referring to. "Like what?" I walked over to my fridge and looked. There it was in all it's glory: stacks (yes, stacks) of organic kale, tubs of spinach, rows of english cucumbers. A fridge door full of coconut water. I looked on my counter where the other girl was pointing: Bags of raw spirulina chips, containers of Amazing Grass vegetable shakes. Vega protein drink mix. Terra chips. Raw Bars and Kind Bars, Amazing Grass bars, chia bars. And of course, my beloved, and well-used Vitamix. My entire kitchen was that of a next-gen, health nut. I remember that moment well. I couldn't help but wonder... "When did this happen???? When did I start eating like this? Heck, when did I start to ENJOY eating like this???" This truly was an eye-opening moment for me. I remembered the days when I had a box of twinkles (gag) stashed in my car, and couldn't pass through a grocery line without grabbing a snickers and a diet coke (btw, my size 2 friend once told me, "only big girls drink diet coke" and I've come to realize she was right.) I ate fast food... and enjoyed it. I overstuffed myself at every meal and didn't own a swimsuit... on purpose. Ahhh.... those were the days (the days where I would have been happy to fit into a size 16 because those were my "skinny jeans"- I was much more comfortable in a size 18 or 20.) Well, times have changed and I have evolved... and continue to evolve, into that vibrantly healthy woman I never imagined I could be. Now that I am at my goal weight, I focus on maintenance and always improving my overall health. I take a number of supplements, lipotropics to help my body burn fat, and B12 when I need an energy metabolism boost for those periods when I just can't get into the gym. I use other products and supplements depending on what my body needs at the time, what my schedule demands etc. 2017 Hcg Diet Success Story Update After maintaining my size 6, post-hcg diet weight for over 10 years, I have had a baby and am currently a size 14 (such a small price to pay  after waiting 20 years for my bundle of joy!) I have just stopped breastfeeding and am preparing to start my 2nd Hcg Diet Success Story this year! 2018 Hcg Diet Success Story Update As you may have seen on my blog, I have completed three rounds in 2017 and am feeling great!  My stomach is flat once again, my abs are looking hot, and while I still have some post-baby curves going on, I really feel amazing and am happily eating well and enjoying life in a bikini once again! 2020 Medical Weight Loss Update I was briefly struggling to maintain my weight, but was not carrying enough to warrant using the Hcg Diet; I needed something far more simple, with slower loss rates so I could focus on maintenance strategies and healing from losing nearly all of my family within 5 years, including my sister to domestic violence. This has led me to research a lot about stress, grief, cortisol, hormones etc and how this can effect your weight and overall health. It has been a sad gift in my life, allowing me to learn so much about myself, about healing, and about evolving. By now you will have seen my new perspectives integrated into this site. It is my utmost hope, that my experiences and knowledge will help each and every one of you reach your own health goals.

My Early Hcg diet Journey: How it started

Once upon a time, I weighed 240+ lbs. I had tried every diet on the planet (or at least it felt like it) and ultimately ended up in a size 18/20. A friend once mentioned she was on this "miracle medical hormone diet" that a doctor she worked with had recommended. I was shocked- she had been a size 2 for as long as I had known her, but apparently that wasn't always so. Imagine the expression on my face when she said she had once been over 170 lbs. I suddenly had visions of what it would be like to live a life where I could eat something... anything, without a mix of guilt and shame, and shop in the "normal girls" section. I felt desperate to find information on this diet that could possibly have such long term results. I searched on the web for hours...days... weeks. I found nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada. I started a yahoo group, searching for others that had heard of this diet. A few gathered, and a few shared tips on possible clinics and physicians that would prescribe HCG for weight loss. Another woman shared an outline of the original manuscript she had gotten from a doctor. One thing led to another and a month later, I had my HCG and was ready to start. I modified the 500 calorie diet, adding more greens, and a few supplements. I was motivated to exercise. Within a few rounds, I had lost nearly 90 pounds, and I felt better than I had ever felt in my life. Over the following year, a few nurses and doctors joined the cause, providing valuable insight to Dr. Simeons work. All of these people joined together, creating the first, largest and best Hcg Diet resource on the web. I couldn't have done it without them.

Where I'm at today...

Over the years, my weight has fluctuated a little but I have never gained all that weight back, not even close. While I had no guidance to the maintenance phase, it was trial and error that slowly led me to the healthy person that I am today. My average size over the last 10 years has been a size 6/8. I have been as high as a size 10 before figuring out what the problem was, tweaking my diet/lifestyle and making my way back down to a size 6/8. I looooooove to workout... although I rarely call it working out. Instead, you'll hear me say, "I love moving." (Moving is so much more fun than exercising, don't you think?) I box- yes, gloves and all. I lift weights and I love it. I'm not afraid of a paddle board and have been known to win a paddle-battle with my friends (sorry you fell in, Justin) I love to swim, and even jog now and then. Oh, and yoga is a daily now. What about food, you ask? The difference between "before-Jen" and "after-Jen" ... I know my food limits and I know my body. I know what I can "get away with." I know excessive dairy makes me gain weight quickly and makes my face break out. I know my body loves berries of all kinds. I know I do better on a diet with mostly fish, vs. beef or chicken. I know that my body does really well with a boost of B12 now and then, and various supplements. Chocolate; I only reach for dark chocolate- healthier choice and now, I prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate. I love spinach and I put it in everything; I toss it in my omelettes and smoothies. I tear it up and add it to tuna salad. I throw it on top of my pizzas. Yes, I eat pizza. Yet, I go ages without buying bread. I used to love sprouted and spelt bread, but somehow, I've slowly gotten out of the habit of bread. Wraps- I'll do spinach wraps occasionally; I do love wraps with nothing but spinach, avocado and tomato, sprinkled with sea salt and Braggs amino acids. I suppose you see a trend here right? Healthier food choices have now become my natural preference. I also understand portion control. I know that a bite or two is so much more satisfying than handfuls of food. Once I have more than a few bites, I'm good. I recently realized that my biggest post-HCG Diet accomplishment, was actually letting go of the battle. This alone makes it incredibly hard for me to gain weight. As I mentioned above, I am currently holding onto some post-baby weight. The weight is not coming off easily... but unlike years ago, the weight is not coming on easily either. In fact, it's the holidays and I have been eating plenty, and enjoying it! I stepped on the scale the other day expecting to have gained a few extra pounds. I had lost a pound. Read the full article

[stereksecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, @lucifers-lawyer!

I hope you like this story, and I also hope that you have a wonderful holiday season! <3

Read on AO3

*****

The Truth Will Out

“This emotion I'm feeling now, this is love, right?" "I don't know. Is it a longing? Is it a giddy stupid happiness just because you're with me?" "Yes," she said. "That's influenza," said Miro. "Watch for nausea or diarrhea within a few hours.” ― Orson Scott Card, Children of the Mind

+

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a brokeass college student in possession of multiple student loans, must be in want of an easy way to make a quick buck.

The threat of being unable to pay this month’s rent had been a concern that lingered in the back of Stiles’ mind over the course of the past week: the semester’s student loans had managed to take care of the teen’s class books and the university’s (outstanding) tuition, but with his own finals approaching, Stiles had been unable to go his usual route of making money between classes and assignments and projects: writing essays for others and posting them online for payment. No amount of insomnia-driven researching sprees had managed to grant him the time necessary to do so—what with his own courseload and the latest supernatural disaster still being pressing issues—and Stiles, unfortunately, found himself coming up a little… short.

Formal eviction was a relatively lengthy process, so the amber-eyed student knew that he had a bit of time to make payment—and next month’s, too, as a gesture of goodwill and a pseudo bribe to beg his landlady to forgive and forget and let it be water under the bridge—but how to do such a thing was proving a little bit, uh. Difficult.

Focused more on the phone in his hand as Stiles scrolled through the dark web’s various magic-focused forums, the whiskey-eyed teen absently sketched a rune for good fortune in the air, habit long ingrained in his motions from one too many Hail Marys and Hallelujahs growing up amidst the supernatural population of Beacon Hills. Drawn with only half an awareness or not, the luck still held: the Spark was passing by one of the announcement boards that littered the campus’ buildings’ hallways, and the laces to one of Stiles’ shoes came undone at just the right moment, just as he was taking a step forward.

Clumsy awkwardness never truly grown out of, Stiles tripped over his own feet and immediately went plowing into the cork board, limbs akimbo and arms pinwheeling uselessly in an attempt to stop himself from going ass over teakettle; the effort only partially saved the student, however, and—regardless of his efforts—the amber-eyed teen still went face-first into the announcements.

And Stiles had his nose smooshed into an announcement that would potentially solve all of his problems:

Department of Psychology PAID RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY Romantic Couples Study You and your partner are eligible if you meet the following criteria: Are in a committed, monogamous relationship Have been dating for at least six months Are currently living together Are over the age of 18

While Stiles met none of those requirements—wasn’t even in a relationship and hadn’t been since Malia and Lydia, to be honest—desperate times called for desperate measures: the whiskey-eyed teen ripped off one of the ‘Contact Me Here!’ slips, mind immediately twelve steps into one of Stiles’ Grand Plots.

The only issue was actually getting his fellow partner-in-crime to actually agree to the scam.

+

“No.”

Stiles knew that this was going to be an uphill battle from the start, and so he buckled down and dug in his heels—Derek typically had the same sort of reaction whenever the teen tried to rope him into one of his schemes or plans, but Stiles had always been persistent in his follow through and, sooner or later, the one-time Alpha would cave.

(Never with grace, though, so Stiles also knew that he was going to be in for some top-level Bitch Face for the forseeable future. Worth it, though.)

It was times like these, however, that the Spark wished that ended up paired with one of the other pack members for the college experience. But everyone else had picked universities near each other, and it had been simple enough to pair those people together; the only issue came in the fact that Stiles had been the odd man out in his acceptance to the University of Maryland College Park—and so had been sent on his way with Derek since the older man had finished his college degree several years before.

The relationship that the two men had maintained all throughout Stiles’ high school career managed to evolve over time—but some things, like now, remained the same.

“Derek. Dude. I’m seriously begging you right now,” Stiles began again as he determinedly followed the ‘wolf around the elder’s one bedroom apartment, dogging Derek’s heels as he yet again laid his plan out for the other’s perusal. “My bank account is—as of this very specific moment—in the single digits, I don’t have the time to write other people’s papers, I don’t have the supplies needed for most of the spells that people are currently ISO, and if I don’t pay my landlady in the next two weeks, she’s gonna start the eviction process.”

If anything, listing out the reasons why this was the only viable plan to get money just seemed to make Derek quicken his pace in an attempt to get as far away from Stiles as possible in the enclosed space. Undeterred, however, the teen just lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the ‘wolf’s shoulders to hang off of Derek’s back like a limpet.

“Derek!” the Spark continued on, clinging for all that he was worth. “Do you want to be the one to explain to my dad what happened the next time we have to visit Beacon Hills—tell him why you’re returning home by yourself, how I’m somewhere—homeless and alone—back in College Park and that you have no idea where I currently am. Who knows if I’m dead in a ditch somewhere? Freezing from the cold? Shivering in my red hoodie, wishing that Derek had only just said yes to my plan to keep my apartment. If only—“

The sigh that Derek gave in reply was a full-bodied one, enough to lift his shoulders—and the hanging Stiles—up and down in audible defeat. It was also a sound that Stiles was rather familiar with, and the amber-eyed teen immediately perked up as he hooked his chin over the other man’s collarbone to take a peek at Derek’s face.

“Fine. Yes. All right, okay, I give up. Yes, Stiles, I’ll help you in your attempt to swindle your Psych Department,” the dark-haired man finally said, agreeing to a plan that Derek knew would come around to bite him in the ass at some later date and time—because, while Stiles usually was able to come up with the best plans out of the entirety of the pack… this particular one just seemed to scream ‘Disaster Waiting to Happen.’

It was obvious that Stiles didn’t seem to share the same sort of trepidation, though: instead, the teen practically lit up at Derek’s agreement, grinning bright and wide and already smug in the assurance that he’d be able to keep his apartment (by the skin of his teeth, true enough—but the how and why didn’t really matter so long as the ends justified the means).

“Awesome!” Stiles crowed in victory and unhooked one arm just enough to pull his phone out of his back pocket, dialing up the Department Head’s number that he had saved from the little slip of paper from earlier. The amber-eyed teen didn’t bother letting go of Derek, however—not wanting the ‘wolf to attempt an escape, especially since Stiles had finally managed to guilt him into saying yes in the first place. There was no way in hell that the teen was willing to take any chances, and the way that his fingers curled into the front of Derek’s shirt spoke volumes regarding that intent.

It took only a couple of minutes to arrange an interview with the Department Head in the next couple of days—after that, Derek’s fate was pretty much sealed.

+

“Ah, you must be Derek and… Stiles, was it? A pleasure to meet you both,” Doctor Tekisha Daniels murmured in greeting as she came around her oak desk to offer a hand to the two men. The Psychology Department Head was dressed smartly in a teal pantsuit, the nude of her heels and the rich color of the suit’s cloth standing in gorgeous contrast to the darkness of her skin. She was elegant in a no-nonsense sort of way, and the brown eyes that settled on Stiles were assessing and shrewd.

For the first time since he had come up with this plan, Stiles felt a sense of trepidation and concern.

“Uh, yeah. It’s Stiles—well, it’s actually a nickname, but I’ve been going by it for so long that it’s pretty much all I respond to nowadays,” the teen answered, rattling off his reply in the nervous habit he’d never been able to quite shake off completely. Brushing a palm over a thigh, Stiles finally took a step forward to take Dr. Daniels’ hand.

After he was done, already shifting from foot to foot, Derek moved closer and shook the doctor’s hand, inclining his head in a silent greeting. The contrast between the two men had the older woman tilting her head in consideration, but the smile she still offered them both was kind and welcoming.

“Please, take a seat,” she offered with a gesture to the chairs situated in front of her desk before making her way around the corner to once more settle back in her own chair. Legs crossing and settling back comfortably—obviously at ease and in control of the interview—Dr. Daniels continued once both Stiles and Derek were seated across from her. “First, I’d like to thank you for your interest in participating in my student. Before you get accepted, however, you need to go through an interview process—which is why you’re here, as I’m sure that you both have realized. I’ll be asking a series of questions to ensure that you meet several more criteria—as well as to get a feel for you both as a couple and as people—and then we’ll go from there. So, to get things started, let’s begin with an easy question: How long have you been involved?”

“Three years,” Stiles answered with a pleased smile, curve soft as it bowed his mouth upwards.

At the same time, Derek replied: “One year.”

The difference in their answer had Dr. Daniels shifting back in her seat, propping a cheek in the curve of one hand as a solitary eyebrow quirked in a silent request for clarification. Derek glanced away guiltily from the suspicion in the older woman’s gaze, though it was similar enough to Stiles’ dad’s interrogation room stare that the teen just jutted his chin defiantly upwards.

“I turned eighteen last year,” the teen began, easily meeting the challenge in the professor’s gaze. “I’ve liked Derek since I was sixteen, always have no matter what, but consent and being of legal age are two things that are very important for Derek. So I never planned on pushing it.”

Despite slowly being able to move past the issue of Kate and what she had done to him and his family, the entire situation had always been a rather touchy subject for Derek—and one that (most) of the pack tended to avoid out of respect for the hazel-eyed man. Even now, having the topic brought up in a vague enough manner, had Derek once more shifting his gaze away from Dr. Daniels, refusing to meet her eyes. This was his particular demon to bare and, though Stiles had probably been aware of Kate and what she had done to—with—him long before the rest of the pack had caught on, it was also something that Derek never intended to share with outsiders.

The flat look in Stiles’ whiskey-hued eyes dared the doctor to push for more detail and, wisely—sensing the landmines just beneath the surface—Dr. Daniels let it go to move on to the next question: “What is your partner’s greatest fear, gentlemen?”

Again, Stiles managed to answer first, words tripping as clumsily from his mouth, paralleling the fawn-like steps that typically had him going ass over teakettle. His answer, however, had Derek tensing in surprise as he glanced over at the teen with wide, vulnerable eyes. “Derek—and probably everyone else, too—would say that his biggest fear is fire. But… it’s something that Derek’s afraid of, but it’s not his biggest fear. It’s of being alone. Like… I know the quote gets overused a lot nowadays, but… When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives. No pack ‘cause… y’know. No friends, no family, no lover—that’s Derek’s greatest fear.”

Watching Derek’s expression as Stiles spoke, watching as his eyes went wide and his expression heartbroken, Dr. Daniels knew that the younger man’s assessment was correct. However, she still needed the verbal confirmation from the elder: “…would you agree that that is correct, Derek?” she asked, voice surprisingly gentle.

“Uh, yeah… yes. I. I’d agree,” Derek rasped, voice low and fumbling, broken as he blinked and glanced away, huddling in on himself. It took only a moment or two to compose himself—and the psychology professor took note, if only because it spoke of an ability to bounce back from an extensive amount of trauma—and then Derek was offering his own response: “For Stiles… it’s autonomy. Having it get taken away is what scares him the most.”

Stiles obviously hadn’t been expecting that particular answer; he blinked in surprise, brows furrowing as he eyed the ‘wolf sidelong. “Not losing my dad?” he asked in turn, feeling out the reason for Derek’s reply.

If anything, the question had Derek quietly snorting in dark amusement. “No,” the hazel-eyed man said, offering the teen a smile that had a bit too many teeth to be anything than predatory in its intent. “I’ve seen a variety of things try to take your dad away from you, Stiles, and I’ve also seen you fight tooth and nail to bring him back each and every time.”

The ease in Derek’s reply gave away the fact that it was something that he’d at least thought of before—and the admiration in the ‘wolf’s voice had the teen flushing slightly, shifting his gaze to settle determinedly on the top of Dr. Daniels’ desk.

“…oh.”

There was an ebb and flow to their conversation, a multilayered element that the professor knew she was only partially aware of: everything that had multiple meanings, that which slid beneath the surface… there was a lack of understanding on Dr. Daniels’ end; she knew enough about people by this day and age to hear the doubled conversation that was taking place in front of her desk.

Knowing that there was a very little chance that she’d be clued in on the second conversation anytime soon, the professor shifted the interview to a new question even as her attention carefully split between the two men so that the researcher could take in both of their reactions.

“Home is a rather complex topic for many of us. Most of the time—not always—we still end up carrying bits and pieces of home even as adults and after we’ve supposedly ‘moved on.’ What does the other keep as a memento?”

Both men flushed red and very pointedly ignored both Dr. Daniels’ gaze, as well as the other’s.

Hesitantly, though, Derek began—carefully picking and choosing his way around the words to say. “Stiles… there’s a pillow from home that he always takes with him. He can’t sleep without it. And…” The ‘wolf paused, weighing whether or not he should continue before eventually lifting his head to glance at the amber-eyed teen’s profile. “You keep a sample bottle of your dad’s cologne and your mom’s perfume in a little pocket that you sewed in a corner of the pillow.”

Not even his dad knew that specific fact about Stiles’ pillow—only Scott did and only because he had been with Stiles when the amber-eyed boy had approached the perfume counter worker in the mall to get those bottles. It was… terrifying, in a way, to know that Derek somehow knew that.

The Spark slowly turned his head and met Derek’s hazel gaze with his own whiskey-hued one. “You have a box with your parents’ wedding rings. I don’t know where you put it when we moved to College Park, but I know that it’s somewhere in the apartment.”

Derek exhaled slowly, breath shuddering out of his lungs, and Dr. Daniels’ fingers curled over the armrests of her seat.

Despite the seriousness of the topic and the fact that both were showing the other a particular type of soft underbelly, the Department Head lifted a hand to hide a small smile when Stiles and Derek glanced away from one another, upper bodies leaning in towards the other just so--subtly done and to the point that neither seemed to notice the quiet gesture from the other; this was one of the reasons why the study asked further questions before accepting applicants. The older woman allowed the silence to linger on for a bit longer before finally clearing her throat to ask the next question: “Why did your partner choose their particular field of study?” A pause and then a nod towards Derek, “Or their current career?”

This time around, Derek was able to answer before Stiles could even open his mouth. The smile that he gave as he spoke was surprisingly tender, soft and blurred around the edges. “Stiles’ dad is in law enforcement and most people will probably think that he’s going into criminal justice to follow in Noah’s footsteps. But… Stiles is a fan of puzzles, of solving riddles and other things. And, this way—with this career—he never gets to stop. Every case is a new puzzle, a new challenge, sometimes something that he has to race against the clock to solve. But Stiles has always been good at working under pressure.”

The wide eyes returned, this time on Stiles’ end of things, and the look in his honeyed gaze was something that Dr. Daniels found to be frighteningly honest—to the point that she began considering changing the last question she typically asked of the pairs that came in for this particular interview. It was obvious that Stiles floundered for a moment or two, trying to find some sort of solid footing, but it wasn’t long before the teen was clearing his voice to offer his own reply: “You focused on physical therapy to help people who managed to survive physically traumatic events. You specialize in burn victims because of what happened with Peter and because you couldn’t be there to help him heal after the fire. It’s your… penance, I suppose. At least it was in the beginning. You have a client now, though, who’s helping you through that even while you help him—her?—through their PT.”

Derek suddenly wheezed for breath, huddling in on himself as if Stiles had managed to sucker-punch the elder of the two; his expression was gutted, terrified in a way that clued Dr. Daniels in in the fact that this was information that Derek hadn’t expected Stiles to have. Her theory was proven correct when the dark-haired man stood up from his chair, moving away from the desk and towards the far wall so that he could pace—steps quick and frenetic, nearly manic in the emotion that was building up within the air. “How. How did you know that??”

Stiles offered the ‘wolf a crooked smile at the question, eyes apologetic even as he continued to evenly meet Derek’s gaze. “You were the one who said it—I’m good at solving puzzles, right, Sourwolf?”

The elder of the two gave a laugh at that, the sound sharp and vaguely broken as he covered his moss-colored eyes with one hand. Hiding himself away from the revelations playing out before him: so, too, Dr. Daniels began to suspect—perhaps this was the first true conversation between the both of them on the topic of their emotions and perceptions of one another. She had several suspicions as to why that may be—multiple reasons stacking up to become the current tension-filled atmosphere she found herself in—but, well… in for a penny, in for a pound:

“Do you love each other?”

Dr. Daniels’ inquiry was enough to have Derek jerking his hand far and away from his face, motions abrupt and sudden and startled even as he stared at her. “What?!”

“Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

Stiles’ reply had Derek shifting around once more, this time directing his attention towards the boy instead; the vulnerability that had threaded itself through his light gaze instead sharpened, turning blade-fine and predatory: something not quite human flaring within the intensity of that stare as Stiles met it head-on with his own whiskey-hued gaze.

“You weren’t lying. I heard it—you were telling the truth.”

Dr. Daniels’ shifted in her hair at Derek’s specific phrasing; it had been a statement, not a question. As if the elder was already certain of Stiles’ answer and was able to verify it beyond a doubt some other way.

“Well, yeah,” Stiles shot back, and the crooked smile once more returned, lopsided and wry and with fear so very, very stark in his expressive gaze. “I wasn’t expecting to get asked that question, but it’s not like I could’ve lied. You’d know. So… the truth will out.”

“Since when?”

Stiles gave an absent shrug to that, finally glancing away to fiddle with the hem of his shirt. “You were the king on the chessboard, Derek. Ever wonder why?”

Before the conversation could progress much further, however, Dr. Daniels cleared her throat, offering an enigmatic smile to both men as their attention once more shifted her way. “I do believe that this is a conversation that should be addressed in private, at one of your apartments,” she began—knowing that her guess was correct from the way that Stiles shifted guiltily at the subtle call-out. “And, on that note, I will have to decline your participation in this particular case study. However, should things work out between the both of you, the department will have another study we’ll be advertising for starting next week. For new couples.”

+

No matter how quickly Stiles walked, attempting to outpace Derek, the teen knew that it was a losing battle from the start. He figured that he might as well get some points for effort, though—and there was, too, the dogheaded sort of stubbornness that Scott was typically the poster boy for in Stiles’ determination to avoid the conversation that he could feel hovering at the wings.

On Stiles’ end, though? He might as well have had a giant flashing sign that said Do Not Want.

It wasn’t surprising, then, that it didn’t take all that long before Derek’s patience reached its longsuffering ending. “Stiles!” the ‘wolf snapped out and sped up to block the teen before he had the chance to escape into his bedroom—and, thus, behind a locked door. “You know that this is something that we have to talk about.”

“Why?” the teen shot back even as he stepped away, wrapping his arms around himself in an obvious gesture to offer himself comfort for the conversation he believed was coming. “I already know what you’re going to say—it’s one of the reasons why I never said anything before—and, yeah, it’s out in the open now, but it’s not like I actually expect you to do anything about it. I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t ever do something like that to you, Derek.”

“I was going to be the one who came with you to whatever university accepted you,” Derek suddenly said before Stiles could get any further; the amber-eyed teen blinked, confusion settling across his face as he attempted to comprehend just what it was that Derek was saying—why it was saying it, as well. The ‘wolf continued before the confusion could set in any more, however: “Even if someone else ended up in a college not far from your own—before the pairing up happened and the assignments were divvied up, I told Scott that I would be going with you.”

“I… I don’t understand, Sourwolf. What? Why?”

Gesture so incredibly cautious, Derek slowly reached out; when Stiles didn’t flinch away from him, the ‘wolf lightly trailed his fingertips over the tendon of Stiles’ throat, stepping closer to crowd in against the Spark until their bodies were pressed flush against one another’s. Still slow, still cautious—not quite certain of his welcome—Derek shifted closer until he could press his face against the bend of Stiles’ throat, breathing deep to draw in the teen’s scent.

“…Derek?”

There was a trembling to Stiles’ voice, one that the ‘wolf immediately wanted to soothe, and he rubbed his beard against the pale expanse of the teen’s skin, turning it bright red from the burn until they were finally standing cheek to cheek.

“Stiles, you’ve been my anchor since the night of the pool.” He paused, just for a moment, and tossed the Spark’s own phrasing back at him: “Ever wonder why?”

Derek fell silent after that, giving the younger man the time needed to process what it all meant—the fact that each had cared for—loved—the other for years until, as Stiles had quoted earlier, the truth will out. Gesture cautious, as if he was still trying it out, Stiles reached up to gently cup a hand over the nape of the ‘wolf’s neck. There was a certain type of strength to the gesture, one that Derek had come to trust and rely on throughout the years—and he sighed, sound almost inaudible, as he leaned that much closer to the teen.

Another moment or two:

“Soooo… does this mean that I don’t have to worry about Mrs. Lawson evicting me anymore?”

Tender mood ruined beyond repair—and, if Derek was honest with himself, he couldn’t bring himself to feel surprised by that fact—the ‘wolf groaned and admitted defeat, tossing Stiles over a shoulder as he turned around to head back into the teen’s bedroom.

“Derek? Derek! You didn’t answer my question!”

+

(Mrs. Lawson did end up evicting Stiles—the process sped up by the fact that, starting that night, the neighbors began filing excessive noise complaints for Stiles’ apartment. Luckily, by that time, Stiles and Derek had managed to find a larger apartment.

--to share.)

::fin::

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AN (IM)PERFECT COLLECTION

An Horological Psychologist’s Magnum Opus, or How a Lowly Graduate Student Amassed a World-Class Collection of Fine Timepieces.

By: Andrew Lawrence Smith

Part 1

You might think it’s easy to collect watches, but I’ll have you know that even if you’re the richest person in the world, you simply cannot know what to buy and when and where and why to buy it until you have put in an insane amount of work. In some ways it really evens the playing field between the rich and the working class because it’s not about money, it’s about achieving a holistic collection that balances and harmonizes everything from wrist-time to occasion. Collecting is as much of an art as the watches themselves. Some people get lucky, sure, but then again some people win the lottery and if you’re reading this, that is not going to happen to you, probably ;).

Hi there. My name is Andrew and I am a 37 year old PhD student and Jungian Depth Psychology Consultant finishing a dissertation in Jungian & Archetypal Studies and Horology at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Do they offer the horology part? No. I created that after being unable to separate my depth psychological research from wristwatches. This is what we deem a vocational call. When you spend hours observing the least and the greatest of watches under magnification to understand what “fine” means and when you press each watch against your ear to hear every tick and tone made by the watch, you’re just barely beginning to be on the path. My research discusses how timepieces, the wristwatch in particular, might function as a modern mandala, having a real connection to the unconscious archetypal Self, but that goes way beyond the scope of this essay. To understand some of the terms I use, you might need to dip into Jungian depth psychology, and for the most important definitions, they can be found here: http://www.psychceu.com/jung/sharplexicon.html

Many arrive at a collection that fits them by procuring countless timepieces and then throwing them back into the abyss in order to please their peers (fashion watches and status pieces) and have the experience that refines one’s taste, some of which I’ve done, but the serious collector will lie in wait like a dragon observing from atop a mountain of gold; the gold being serious knowledge, in the vein of attempting to acquire an horological and psychological philosophers’ stone. When all variables align—after months and years of reading and discussing and visiting boutiques and second-hand shops either brick-and-mortar or online—only then will one receive the full satisfaction of the perfect watch for them, the perfect complete set, and the perfect price to once again return to one’s perch fully satisfied with the catch/game of a lifetime. Needless to say I will not be discussing the auction world at all. Auctions are for rich people. Although the rich or super-rich should go through the process that I have gone through, they really don’t have to. Their loss. Then again, they hire guys like me to pick out their watches! This is a story for the ultra-conservative (no politics implied) watch collector. The metaphor of the miserly, yet punctilious dragon, represents the foundation of the composition of an horological psychologist. Horology is cool, psychology is cool, but I contend that it is only when the whole process of being an horologist is twinned with the knowledge and experience of depth psychology that one can truly enter into this deeper world of alchemical achievement, understanding, and appreciation.

Put another way, what I have found from studying wristwatches—as they relate to universal mandala symbols—is that the image of the timepiece, especially the wristwatch (in my own psyche) replaces every single religious symbol with a unified and integral symbol of the height of human consciousness and beyond. I’m more than just your average atheist, I am an horological psychologist who has integrated world mythologies into a knowledge and gnosis of being that connects the alchemically perfect timepiece and the supreme meaning of the individual and collective psyche; Jung’s notion of the archetype of the Self, the whole being of the individual. For more on that, you can hold out for my completed dissertation, and in the meantime read C.G. Jung’s “Memories Dreams Reflections.”

The image above was taken by me and is from C.G. Jung’s “The Red Book: Liber Novus.” It is one of many mandala images that Jung created to symbolize the whole Self archetype. A perfect watch on the wrist does not fall short of the feelings evoked through this depiction of presentiating origin: becoming fully integrated into the purest harmony of consciousness.

Part 2

It was by accident, or rather synchronicity, that on the 28th of June, 2012 I found myself attracted to a cheap, skeletonized mechanical wristwatch that was glaringly out of place amid items I was perusing to fill a few needs for my San Francisco apartment. I had been studying Nikola Tesla in depth and was possessed by the genius of his inventions and notions of free electricity. I thought that using/wearing a watch, which would need no battery replacement, was/is an ecologically responsible and very cool thing to do. At $120, it seemed expensive, but I was overcome by a strange feeling of passion and curiosity in the name of the great Tesla (best human who ever lived) and so I ordered it. Full disclosure, I sweat bullets on the MUNI back then thinking someone would mug me for that watch. Now I ride the bus with a Rolex hanging out like IDGAF x). But I digress.

Upon removing the watch from its box for the first time after it arrived at my door, little did I know that I would from that day forward never go another day without enjoying a mechanical watch on my wrist. Case and point, at this very moment I am wearing my Breguet 5327. Thus commenced hours upon days of winding, listening, and viewing the watch under magnification so that I could figure out how everything worked. It might’ve been a poor excuse for a watch, but I could not stop staring at all of the moving parts, which had me mesmerized as if I was flying through the clockwork at the train station in the film Hugo.

Even in this bottom-of-the-barrel movement that had been manufactured in a place with vastly lower standards than Switzerland, I could see motion and beauty that had/has me transfixed on a level that was/is far greater than any basic aesthetic, technical, or functional appeal. I purchased a few loupes—5x, 10x, and 30x—to get a closer look. Since I still have this watch, I do not have to imagine what it feels like to dive into the minute details of every stationary and moving part. I can gaze upon, and through, the synthetic rubies right now and see a universe of possibility in an instrument that is only meant to tell us where the sun in the sky might be at any given moment so that we will know when to perform certain socially agreed upon human rituals. That said, with each of my watches I often engage in Active Imagination (a Jungian method by which one re-members or discovers knowledge sourced from the collective unconscious) and the imaginal entities that animate in my own mind, inspired by the wristwatch, tell endless, fascinating stories.

Two years after encountering that initiatory watch, owning cheap mechanical watches of various designs and complications (my experience of horology exposure 101), I finally took the plunge and bought my first fine timepiece. Now to be fair, I must mention that I spent a lot of time during those years defending my cheap watches as if owning something that costs more than a few hundred dollars US would never be necessary, like some poor souls still do, but eventually I grew up and made the sacrifices necessary to possess something serious. You need a thick skin in the watch world in order to interface with other Modern Day Watch Enthusiasts who are worth talking to. Surviving your own ignorance to become horologically knowledgeable is a noble and brutal journey through the underworld. And as Jung would have it, emerging from this underworld is simply another stage of individuation; an expansion of consciousness improving the abilities and life of the individual.

My first fine watch was the Omega Speedmaster Professional ref. 3577.50 “from the Moon to Mars” purchased on the 2nd of January in 2014. Obsessed with Elon Musk’s dream to travel to and terraform Mars, as a byproduct of being equally obsessed with Nikola Tesla, this was a watch that not only met all of my horological desires but also instantly possessed a multiverse of meaning for me. I imagined that one day I would take this watch with me on a public transport to the Red Planet. Elon wants to die on Mars, and quite frankly, so do I. To me this watch was so expensive (for me at the time) and so perfect that there would never be a reason to own anything else. Again, little did I know that I would be very wrong about that. Enter the “Coke.”

The Rolex GMT-Master II 16710 Coke began to burrow into my mind as I continued to scour the internet for the best deals on fine watches of all kinds. Every single day I was on eBay, Chrono24, watchestobuy, watchuwant, Crown & Caliber, Jomashop, The RealReal… You name it, if the site was selling fine watches, I was keeping tabs. Apologies to anyone I missed. By this time I was reading magazines, blogs, and watching all sorts of videos that were giving me a fairly exhaustive exposure to what was out there and who was buying/selling certain kinds of timepieces in certain categorical brackets. My aim was/is to understand watches on a deep psychological level as they affect the experiences of others and of course my own Self. Not just to be a numbers guy who can flash the timepiecs but say almost nothing meaningful about them. I must confess that it is important to know that, in regards to my personality type (INFP), I operate heavily by listening to my own intuition, and I could not shake this watch; just as I could not shake the Mars. There was more than just the analysis and process of elimination, it was something like a powerfully religious magnetism. The Coke was coming to me in my dreams. I have the dream journal to prove it! However, that’s in my dissertation. On a number of occasions I placed offers on a Coke, but came up with nothing because either a) the seller was shady, or b) I just couldn’t get the price or set where I wanted it. Dealing with watch sellers can be tricky, unlike being face to face with your local AD, so it’s important to be patient and cautious; to not be so excited about that exact watch you’re hunting that you get taken for a ride.

Then finally the day came when I saw a great deal for a clearly authentic Coke (gotta have that paperwork) in amazing condition and I made an offer that stuck. Again, I thought I was going to be done forever. That this was the collection of a lifetime. I had unique Speedmaster that almost no one else had and I had a Coke, which is a highly respected and desired timepiece across the globe. I chose the GMT because I could use it to track 3 time zones more efficiently than on any other timepiece, including world timers, and this came in very handy with all of the traveling and international communicating that I do. Not to mention, the whole design of the watch and color scheme is unusually attractive and versatile (still my favorite Rolex, aside from material objections), but I had not ever seen one in the metal. On a flight home from Cyprus I ran into a guy who was wearing one. I asked him if I could see it and of course he obliged. I have pictures to prove it (see below). I was wearing my Moon to Mars and just knew that the Coke would complete the circle for me. The one thing that I did not really take into account until my own Coke arrived was the size, which didn't register on that agonizing flight back to the US from Cyprus, where I had attended an amazing conference on Time and the Psyche. The conference was a magical experience, but I do not recommend that anyone fly a cumulative 44 hours just to have 5 days on the ground, no matter where you are going.

I ordered my 16710 from 1989 at a great price in pristine condition with papers and when it came, I was bewildered. It seemed so small! Was it actually fake? Did I get bamboozled? Impossible. All of this time I had been looking at huge blown up pictures of the watch and assumed it had the same presence as a Submariner, but there it was, 100% authentic and smaller than I expected. I wanted that Submariner-style crown, big and chunky, but after a while the size of the 16710 crown began to make sense and the tasteful nature of this specific piece became clearer from one day to the next.

I spent so much time examining this Coke, to make sure that it I hadn’t made a mistake, that synchronistically every aspect of its charm became powerfully apparent and intoxicating beyond belief. I had been wearing obnoxiously large watches with Chinese tourbillons that dwarfed even my Speedmaster and now finally the curse was lifting. I saw the light. Praise the gods! Certain watches worked for certain wrist sizes and certain moments in life. Wearing a watch that is too big for you is simply childish and lacking in discipline and taste, just like believing that there is a god that is literally real. This Rolex functioned as training wheels for wearing watches that actually fit properly and looked correct for my physical build and personality type. I remember thinking that the bracelet was too narrow and that the case of the watch only covered the surface area of my wrist, which made it feel like there wasn’t enough watch there, but in reality it was a match made in mythological, alchemical heaven. To this day I still think that the textural design and character of that vintage Oyster bracelet is better than the new 904L iteration and that the 116710 is right on the line of just barely being not too big. Unless you’re deliberately trying to be a clown, a dinner plate on the wrist is no bueno.

In all of my idealism, I thought that the Coke and the Mars were going to be my life companions, but alas we never really do finish growing and developing. Especially when we finally meet that special someone! Enter the Kwan.

Part 3

It was my great fortune to synchronistically meet (a story for another time), date, and ultimately marry my wife, the magnificent Jane Kwan, who for better or for worse has supported me through this transformational journey that is watch collecting. She was kind enough to be fascinated at first, and is now at least tolerant, but when I began to show her how you could actually store value or even potentially make a little money with the acquisition and sale of certain timepieces, she started to pay attention. Chinese people, like those of my Jewish heritage, love a reliable investment opportunity. I made it my goal to abandon hunting “good deals” on a wide range of watches and began hunting the exact watches that I would personally want to own and wear (not just stick in a vault), but only if the price was extraordinary or unusually fair. The Internet has made this relatively easy, if you’re willing to put in the time, and so I scoured the entire visible market for what I felt would be the perfect watch. Long story short, I discovered and then began to obsess over and follow/hunt the Patek Philippe Calatrava 5153G-001. Believe me when I tell you that I have written many pages about why this watch is, to me, the perfect dress watch, if not the perfect watch all around, aside from not being as durable as a Rolex, but again I digress. To be honest, this watch was my holy grail (a subject that I have expounded upon in other places as possibly the single most abused horology term aside from “in-house”) and I thought that I would never get to see it in my lifetime.

One day I found the Calatrava for sale online at a price that was unbelievable. My wife is almost painfully patient, and so we watched the piece sit on the website for nearly a month, while I nearly fell apart with anxiety waiting for her to make a choice. In the end, her instincts were right because the price continued to go down. But I really could not comprehend why no one was buying it. When we made the phone call to see about a best offer, we were able to take the price down even lower and so acquired the watch well below value thanks to my wife’s belief and investment in me, your humble watch hunter. Blasting into the side of this mountain precipitated a landslide to follow.

Not long after that my wife wanted something that she could wear every day. I had been hunting the Rolex Datejust 116234 with black dial, because it is my favorite iteration of the DJ and was able to find that watch well below value also. I thought it might be a bit large for her, but when it arrived it was a perfect fit at 36mm. While the watch is very cool, and occasionally I’ll sneak it away from her to wear it for a little while, it doesn’t make the cut for a perfect collection for me. I needed my watch collection to devour the catalogue of essential horological functions and representations.

However, I was jealous of the almost white-gold looking oyster bracelet and thus I faced a dilemma. The call to adventure was back! I realized that I could own both my Mars and Coke or I could sell them and own the singular Rolex GMT-Master II 116710 BLNR as basically an even trade (at the time), a watch that I still think is slightly less appealing aesthetically than the Coke as it at that time pertained to my personality, but possesses the ultimate in materials ever released from Rolex. I needed some time to think about this. Rolex’s alchemy game had become massively stronger than where it was in 1989. A few weeks later, in Honolulu, I was flipping through one of the tour books and when I turned it over to look at the back, there it was: the BLNR. Synchronicity, as usual, was determined to prevail. Now, I know that this watch is heavily advertised, possibly more than Tag or Hublot if that’s possible, but at that moment I felt like I was looking at a picture of a long-lost friend. The time had come to pull the trigger. I had spent several lovely days swimming in the ocean with my Coke, and now it was time to let it go.

The beach I frequented during my stay in Honolulu. Anyone who has been there knows where it is ;).

A shot of my Coke in Honolulu on the way to get some Spam Musubi!

The rosary bracelt pictured here was acquired in Cyprus, gifted to me by the great Angeliki Yiassemides (author of “Time & Timelessness”), not long before I managed to acquire my Coke. The meaning is strong in this image…

The book in the hotel room demanding that I trade up.

Horology boutiques... Always calling me…

Impossible to find one with black dial in a boutique, I spent some time admiring this beauty in white before that time came when my wife made a dream become reality.

With a heavy heart, I managed to part with my first fine watch and my first Rolex, selling them for fair market prices. Finding the BLNR for a steal is basically impossible, especially if you’re looking to buy within a relatively tight timeframe (aiming to acquire the watch mere months before moving to Copenhagen), so I found the best deal I could with a complete set and as planned basically traded about the same amount of money for those two watches to buy the one BLNR. This was good enough for me and my wife because it is still holding around the same value I invested and I basically had the experience of buying a brand new Rolex with a complete set minus stepping foot inside of an Authorized Dealer, an experience that is not at all important to a watch hunter like me; at least not at this time of life, but maybe later when I have established myself and I can afford that level of treat.

I honestly thought that I wouldn’t be as happy with the BLNR, as with the Coke, because black and red is so much more “me” along with other reasons and qualities (yadda yadda yadda, as Jane is fond of saying), but when it came I was filled with excitement. I opened the box and there it was: my long-lost friend whom I had been missing for the gods know how long. Most call it the Batman, I knew immediately that this was to be my R2D2. It doesn't matter that so many others own it or that the adverts were drilling into my brain. Consolidating to this watch was possibly the best horological decision I’ve ever made because although there was still a lingering color objection, I suddenly had a monstrously better watch to wear every day that met every single other checkpoint I felt one could demand from a daily-wear: 1. 904L steel, which really does feel like wearing white gold, but not quite as heavy a. Something that can take the hits and scratches and will withstand polishing dramatically better 2. White gold hands and indices, which contrast perfectly against the black dial 3. Blindingly bright blue lume, which my wife prefers to her green lume and makes it easy to tell the time under any circumstances aside from maybe actual blindness 4. The blued Breguet overcoil hairspring in the tried and true 3186 movement, something I don't even need to see to appreciate 5. The 5mm comfort link, which is a huge design leap forward compared to the oversized and floppy comfort extension on the original Oyster bracelet 6. GMT aligned clicks, which didn’t really ever seem to line up perfectly with the 16710 7. And most important of all, the very first two-color Cerachrom bezel, completing, to me, the most wearable, useful, and legible timepiece ever made 8. When you consider that this watch not only embodies everything you’d want and nothing you don’t, it’s easy to excuse the blue and simply hope for the red to come through someday 9. Finally, in review, this watch contains the best of every Rolex white metal: 904L steel, white gold, and platinum. As such, it is an alchemical masterpiece; and it has that chunky Submariner-style Triplock crown! Now I like both crowns for different reasons.

People have been calling it the Batman, and I get that. I’m a huge Batman fan and wouldn’t try to change the moniker even if I could, but for me it is the R2D2 riding along with me as I pilot this time machine we call a human body. My consciousness is the Luke inside of this Incom T-65 X-wing Starfighter and my 116710 R2D2 is the choice navigator, always down to take a beating for the rebellion ;).

So now I had a BLNR and a Calatrava shared with my wife (plus her 116234 to enjoy when she isn’t wearing it), completing two out of four watches of a complete set that I call “a holy quaternity.” What more could a man ever hope for? Would I really ever need to break a sweat over more than these two watches to complete the ultimate collection? I even had access to my favorite Datejust when my wife wasn’t wearing it, even though it does not fit the bill for my personal living symbol of wholeness of Self. My little wrist R2D2 and our white gold Darth Vader seemed like a complete set all by themselves. And yet, there was more to come, and rightly so!

My wife and I moved to Copenhagen so that she could attend DTU to earn her MA in Architecture. Being the unreasonably lucky guy that I am, I got to tag along and spend my days exploring one of the coolest (and happiest) cities in the world whilst writing my dissertation on psychology and horology. Several months in, after spending day after day chatting with awesome folks on MDWE, a gentleman put a Speedmaster “Legendary Moon Watch” ref. 311.30.42.30.01.005 complete set in basically new condition up for sale. A discussion about how this boilerplate design was so perfect it’s boring was going around and so at first I wasn’t too keen on the watch. I remembered my Mars and thought that the original Moon Watch was too plain and too common. However, the more I looked at it the more I realized what it had to offer. So many guys were/are going in for that vintage chronograph with the running seconds and 30 minute register without the hour register, which is a great and classic and traditional watch concept/discipline, but I need the hours! Even if it challenges aesthetics and purity. Honestly, purity has never really been my thing ;). Authenticity is a whole other kettle of fish! So then what I realized was, this was not going to be a watch that I spent time looking at during the day. This was a Good Night Watch that needed/needs to be useful in the dark. What better watch for darkness and time writing/recording/chrono-scoping than a boilerplate Speedmaster?!

The price was fair and I could certainly get most if not all of my money back if I needed to sell it, so I figured, why not experience the moon watch as a complete package in all of its boring glory. Sure, it’s no Moon to Mars and the literature won’t come in Japanese with a dedication to one of the world’s greatest artists, Leiji Matsumoto, but it would still be qualified by NASA for space missions and there were lots of other very cool accessories that would be fun to explore. Not to mention the history, which I must say ought to be valued well above just one spectacular artist. I pulled the trigger and the watch and its enormous packaging were at my Danish door within a few days. Upon opening the display box, a feeling came over me that I did not expect. The watch was/is so much nicer than the Moon to Mars, so much more sober and less cartoonish (not really an insult, actually accurate), and it instantly felt like it belonged on my wrist and that it would blend in like some kind of chameleon-like symbiotic creature. Almost instantly I finally knew what this watch was for.

While the Speedmaster had been and is still being used for outer space missions, I would be and am using this watch for INNER space missions. I sized the bracelet, which was a joy because it came/comes with screw end-caps rather than the basic link pins, placed the watch on my wrist and then started the chronograph right before going to sleep. When I woke up in the middle of the night to journal my dreams, I knew almost exactly how long I had been asleep, which really helped me to prioritize my time so that I wouldn’t wake up so much that I wouldn’t be able to return to slumberland. After finishing my journaling, I started the chronograph again, went back to sleep, and when I woke up I could see that I had gotten the eight-ish hours I needed to be rested enough for the day. I’m sure some of you go through the process of sleeping for eight hours without even thinking about it, but my dream life is so active that it is easy for me to lose track of how long I’ve been asleep, so this watch became an instantly useful tool that I can’t live without, just like the BLNR. And because it’s manually wound, I don’t have to stress out the winding train of an automatic chronograph; plus I have the pleasure of winding a watch every morning as the third thing I do after photographing the dial and resetting the chronograph. What a sweet ritual for a watch enthusiast!

My collection was complete. Right? I had my R2D2, which would go with me everywhere during the day, and I had my Good NIght Watch, which would track my sleep intervals and follow me into my dreams. And when it came time to celebrate something special, the Darth Vader (Calatrava) would take its place on my wrist under a cuff. Who could ask for anything more? There was only one slight problem. A large part of my journey after receiving that first mechanical wristwatch was exploring RGM in depth, which led me to Breguet. While I wasn’t sold on the idea of spending big money for a tourbillon since the science shows that it essentially has no real effect on accuracy, there was an element to watchmaking that I had fallen in love with before I even considered owning a fine watch of my own: guilloché.

RGM makes a killer tourbillon (reminiscent of a Speake Marin/Hamilton hybrid), let’s not mince words, only paralleled by the likes of Breguet, Patek Philippe, and Greubel Forsey (honorable mentions, Louis Moinet and Jaeger-LeCoultre - that one’s for Tim Mosso), and does some outstanding guilloché work with their own rose machine/lathe in Lancaster, PA. However, if you’re going to really tighten the restraints on a collection that is meant to be perfect (a true holy quaternity), there’s really no other choice than to go with the godfather of the practice: Breguet; arguably the most important historical figure/alchemist in watchmaking, and the inventor of many components that even the so-called “holy trinity” (lame designation, because Christianity is for people who don’t want to read more books—funny/not funny) still benefit from today. Hence I controversially argue that Breguet completes the holy quaternity and in many ways is still on top of PP, VC, and AP as the senex manufacturer (Harlan MDWE, bless his heart, will of course agree–love you, mean it). By this time I had visited so many boutiques, Tourbillon SF being one of my favorites, that I was saturated with the knowledge of what Breguet and other top-end (not just high-end) watch companies had to offer. Out from behind the stormy clouds of tourbillons and Jacquet Droz and Blancpain and A. Lange & Sohne and De Bethune and Ulysse Nardin came a piece that on any other day I would’ve ignored.

The Calatrava that was/is already in our possession does in fact have a guilloché black sunburst dial, but I wanted something that had/has/emanates the vibrant, timeless energy of 18th century watchmaking tradition, radiating from its finely crafted alchemical masterpiece of a dial and case. I had the opportunity to experience the skeletonized Breguet perpetual calendar tourbillon, but there was something missing even with that watch. Again, size and money are meaningless and relative. It was when I finally had a chance to take a close look at the 5327 that I saw that in any class for any money, this watch had/has it all. It has one of the most extraordinary complications ever invented, the perpetual calendar. It has moon phase, which is hugely important in psychology as a principle of divine consciousness. It has power reserve, which is arguably unnecessary on an automatic watch, but with the layout of the power reserve, moon phase, and date register at six o’clock, the 5327 pays perfect homage to the notorious automatic (perpétuelle) quarter-repeating watch with dumb (à toc) repeater from the late 18th century. This was/is the Breguet to own! Sitting in an office piled with books, including volumes about Breguet and the lovely publication that was created for The Legion of Honor in San Francisco, when they had their Breguet exhibition and lectures, I found myself having a full experience of awakening to the truth of yet another wristwatch. Except this time it was THE ONE. The only... This time, without a doubt, it was THE watch to end all watches, for me. I had done the work. I had read the books, scoured the Internet, been to the boutiques, met or at least studied the people, and in the end the Breguet Perpetual Calendar Classique 5327 presented itself as the answer I was looking for from both the multiverses of horology and psychology: all of the craftsmanship, all of the technology, all of the meaning, and all of the enjoyment from wearing one could ever ask for. Period, paragraph, life mission accomplished. Except, I didn't have the money x). That solution, which came later, was the real blessing.

Before I get into that, on a more somber note, I would like to mention that compared to Breguet’s latest QP, the ref. 5447, Breguet made an unfortunate design decision that is not in keeping with the more traditional layout. Maybe it’s great for marketing, but it does two things: departs from the classique tradition in a way that is unbearably modern, and treads dangerously toward cheapening the name of A.L. Breguet. Swapping power reserve for retrograde month was a particularly unfortunate decision, almost as undesirable as the choice to switch the angle of the moon phase to a less interesting and, I would contend, invasive vertical position. While that dial might be slightly more efficient in terms of the flow of reference and legibility, it is far from an upgrade and has lost that original 18th century charm. I’d wager that Breguet himself might agree. As such, this specific reference, the 5327, continues to wear the crown (pun intended) as what I feel is the greatest Breguet QP wristwatch ever made. That being said, I have dubbed the watch my Holy Grail, together with the Speedmaster, the GMT, and the Calatrava, this completes my personal Holy Quaternity. However, there is always a “fifth element,” intentionally playing on a reference to the film of the same name from 1997. That fifth element (the eternal energy of love and passion) to me is the transcendent holy grail, which is a watch that is so extraordinary and so perfect for the individual that it doesn’t even exist yet. The super rich uber-collectors will know what I’m talking about: a subscription piece that perhaps one’s preferred watchmaker doesn’t even know how to make. For me, in all seriousness, this would be the currently imaginary and absurd Greubel Forsey Quantième Perpétuel Chronograph Grande Sonnerie in a 41mm platinum case. Although, I’d take a GF chronograph, as long as it’s hand-wound. Could it ever possibly get any better than that? I seriously doubt it. At least for an individual like myself.

And so recently I found this perfect Breguet at a ridiculously low price. I mean a price that normally only dealers get from other dealers. This watch needed to be procured. My wife was not about to invest another substantial sum into a wristwatch since she felt that she had already diversified in that direction far enough with the Patek. And so she suggested that I ask my father if he would be interested in making the investment. After lengthy explanations over email and handling some obvious objections that a non-horology scholar might have, he generously agreed to help me make the investment to both aid in my research and hold value that only presents itself once in a lifetime. Due to this generosity and collective cooperation, it is my privilege and responsibility to care for this Breguet as the final piece to my horological individuation puzzle. The mandalas to complete the supreme mandala of the current manifestation of my own archetypal Self have been assembled like Voltron. And now that the collection is complete, my mission is to take exhaustive photographs, engage in active imagination (alchemical hermeneutics) with each piece and the whole collection for my research, and to cook it all down in the vas alembic of consciousness to create my very own horological opus.

Here’s an example of what enters my imagination when I engage in reverie (Active Imagination or Alchemical Hermeneutics) around one of the watches (often including its literature), offering a lingering (reverie) around or daydreaming into the Breguet dial: The guilloché pattern for the power reserve looks like the waves of the sea or the ocean. I am reminded of the image of the solar barge in Liber Novus p. 55. Aptly placed, it is above the other complications, next to the moon phase, which is obscured by a hand carved cloud pattern: the essence of the imagination. So the heavens and the waters, forged in fire and carved into earth or metal. The pattern in the date register is that of a waterfall or descending cliffs, reaching down into the underworld. All of these being supported by the primary dial hand carved rose lathe or rose machined pyramids (clou de paris). The pyramids or sacred geometry of transcendent consciousness. Within the big mandala that is the watch dial are 5 smaller mandalas: the moon phase, which embodies our human-centric lunar story and mythology; the leap year, which makes it possible for me to see the accurate date for the rest of my life without adjusting the timepiece; the month, a centered indicator of the positions of the gods; the day, a de-centered indicator of the positions of other gods; and finally, the date, a concept invented by people who want to control time and other people, to no avail one hopes. Might be best to simply let go of that craving for control, let people be peaceful unto themselves and allow time to flow with the Force of Nature. A dream within a dream... The watch does have Breguet’s signature coin edge or fluted sides, so the watch is to be treated as a sort of super sacred coin. This coinage or coin edge appears to be symbolic of the archetypal pillar: the pillars that held Samson, the pillars of Rome, and the pillars of current modern civilization. However, even after this current human experiment is dust and rubble, the pillars of time will stand as strong as they always have and it will never have mattered that humans were a part of it. A testament from the Antikythera mechanism.

It is possible that I may actually have to sell the Breguet after I am finished with my research sometime next year, unless by some miracle I make enough money to completely own the whole thing by myself, but that is not important because all that matters is that for a time in my life I had, in my possession, a perfect collection. The Holy Quaternity! “For a few minutes, they were mine. That is enough.” https://youtu.be/c9O1VVeMzhc Charade (8/10) Movie CLIP - The Most Valuable Stamp (1963) HD.

It doesn’t matter how it got there and it doesn’t matter if I don’t get to keep it. What matters is that, since we can’t take any of this with us to the grave anyway, I have the priceless gift of the experience. This was a group effort. My sacrifices and investment were/are largely those of time, obsessive research, and unearthing opportunities, which in reality is just as valuable as the money others allowed me to use to assemble this project. From the depths of passion, love, and family, I have been made individuated and whole, for now. Through psychology and horology I have healed myself in ways most people cannot imagine and have had the great fortune to inspire others. Countering the cruel trick of the perpetual calendar complication (never being able to live long enough to see it need an adjustment), I am filled with gratitude for what I have had the privilege to do with the time I have been given. Through bringing all of these elements together, I have found true happiness and may for a time be with this imperfect, perfect collection to remind myself of the cost involved in striving to create something truly special: a genuine opus, if not magnum opus. No one can do it alone. We require relationships to individuate, as Jung said, and at the ripe age of 37, I know that my watch collection and my Self are at last in harmony.

Conclusion

Watch collecting is not just some silly thing men do with their extra money, nor is it about amassing a monstrous volume of different examples for the sake of becoming your own museum. Watch collecting is as much an art as is watchmaking itself or the creation of any sculpture or painting. It requires focus, dedication, precision of craft, and most of all it requires a determination to produce the best possible result from the knowledge that has been gained and the resources—people or otherwise—that have been procured.

I am continuing to work on my dissertation on psychology and horology while figuring out where I want to focus my career from here on out. It seems like Tesla, Inc. is the most logical choice, so we’ll see if they or a watch boutique will have me. As far as this collection goes, what I know is that I will always have my R2D2 because it is the one watch that I can’t live without that can go anywhere: land, sea, air, and space. Depending on what the future holds for me career-wise, I might have to live without the Speedmaster and just use a beater chrono until I rebuild my value strength, since it takes quite a bit more to hold a collection like this all on one’s own. The Calatrava will be here because it is my wife’s investment and my privilege to enjoy as part of our partnership. However, it is worth bearing in mind that none of these things are permanent and that any amount of time being in ownership of the completed holy quaternity set is ultimately more than enough of an accomplishment no matter how long you keep it together. It takes a lot of work to learn about all of these manufacturers and iterations and value propositions. It’s even harder to get clear which ones matter to you on a profound level to the point that you would choose four and exclude all others; especially when considering that owning these watches is a choice that was made at the exclusion of any other products, such as cars, houses, hoarding currency, and any other type of man-made creation. And then to have them all just sort of casually ticking away on your desk is a luxury that very few people will ever know/experience. For that I cannot thank the people who believed/believe in me enough. I am lucky, I am grateful, I have my wife and family to thank for everything, in addition to other friends and enthusiasts who were willing to engage my passion, and I hope that what I have learned and my story will be something that is paying my fortune forward: giving back to the collective community of folks who simply wish to be their best selves; to be good citizens, as Plato might’ve imagined it.

In review and in final conclusion, this is an imperfect watch collection that to me is perfect, in my estimation from the research I’ve done and the experiences that I have had:

It is my personal gnosis, based on my research in depth psychology and horology, that there are two kinds of quaternities (not trinities, because a trinity is really just an incomplete system, lacking the feminine principle, among other things) in the horological universe: 1. The top four watchmakers in the Swiss watchmaking industry a. Breguet b. Patek Philippe c. Vacheron Constantin d. Audemars Piguet 2. The top four timepieces in an individual collection a. The Good Night Watch i. A chronograph worn to bed to time sleep intervals ii. An instrument that centers one’s being between sleeping and waking b. The R2D2 i. The most essential and sturdy of all of the timepieces ii. A trusty companion for all of life’s terrains c. The Darth Vader i. The finest example of elegant simplicity with a touch of violence ii. A watch that possesses a seemingly invisible and powerful Force d. The Holy Grail i. The watch you will wear on your deathbed that will outlast you ii. The QP is a cruel trick because it offers a feature that you will never live to enjoy: not having to adjust the watch for over 150 years. iii. A watch that satisfies one from ever wanting to buy anything better, for now ;).

Quick note: I’ve mythologized part of this collection with Star Wars metaphors because that is the best story I grew up with: the futuristic mythological vision of Joseph Campbell only barely understood by George Lucas (as is evident in his prequel trilogy), based on his seminal “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” One could easily substitute other similar archetypes for the designations that I have commandeered. Whatever gets you there. It’s all imaginal, but inarguably objective in terms of the archetypes.

As for the selected manufacturers, my opinion here is highly controversial. Breguet should be at the top, Swatch or no Swatch, because Breguet is the Grandfather of all of these other innovators. A Breguet watch lacks nothing in quality and discovery that these other companies are engaged in and in fact, in addition to the legacy/pedigree/history of invention, Breguet is still making timepieces that exceed the expectations of any connoisseur. Every little detail is given the utmost care and contemplation. This does not, of course, take into account watchmaking in other regions. Germany, A. Lange & Sohne in particular, is making watches that appear to be exceeding even the Swiss standards of excellence. This also does not take into account even conceivably more exciting independent watchmakers and inventors like Greubel Forsey, Roger W. Smith, nor even the late George Daniels.

Final thoughts, for now:

There’s a point at which, once you’ve hunted your favorite watch for it’s best price, you stop thinking about what the watch is worth and you begin to think more in terms of what the watch is. For example, I could stand outside in shorts and a t-shirt sipping a beer while admiring a watch that retailed once for $65-70k, but what I’m really thinking about is, 1. how does it fit my wrist? 2. how long will it last? 3. when will it need service? 4. how legible is this dial really? 5. do I like the weight and the fit of the band (strap or bracelet)? 6. could this have been designed better in terms of how it handles a diverse set of lighting situations? 7. was this really the right choice for the lug length? Cheers, Marc Goldberg ;). 8. could the moon phase have been tooled to be more accurate. 9. why isn’t the power reserve exact? 10. Are there any flaws in the guilloché? I’m looking at you, FPJ! 11. Why did they design the clasp like this as opposed to the Patek clasp method? 12. And sure, this dial is amazing with all of the guilloche patterns, but I can’t really see them without magnification because a) I’m getting old and my eyesight isn’t what it used to be and b) the beauty and contrast is only apparent under certain lighting, which makes the dial look washed out at all other times; not nearly as aesthetically pleasing as the Patek, which always looks good even when its sunburst guilloché pattern disappears into the black. 13. However, the most important question of all is four-fold: a. what did/does this watch and the work mean to the watchmaker? b. what did/does this watch mean to the manufacturer? c. what did/does this watch mean to the boutique collective? d. and what does this watch mean to the consumer in every sense: aesthetically, spiritually, historically, and depth psychologically?  

What’s next?

There are many watches that I still find attractive and many watches to come from the various great houses that might cause me to fall in love with one watch more than another, but to be honest I seriously doubt it. I mean, the only watch I want more than my BLNR in its category is a Coke version. The only watch I want more than my Speedmaster in its category is another Speedmaster of far rarer origin and pedigree, a vintage example maybe or who knows. As far as the Patek and Breguet are concerned, there are no better iterations of those watches and there never will be. Finally, for the ultimate grail watch, I believe that it has to be something so amazing that it doesn’t even exist yet. It has to be a dream or a fantasy that one chases and pines over until one’s heart is so broken that one cannot even leave the house without wishing it was either already on the wrist or to finally acquire the watch. As mentioned before, for me, that would be a Greubel Forsey QP chrono with moon phase and grand sonnerie; or yeah, I’ll simply take a GF chronograph, because that is what would replace the super boring yet perfect Speedmaster. Yes, the only thing that will replace the Speedmaster for me is the currently non-existent, fantasy hand-wound Greubel Forsey Chronograph. Sadly, as far as I know, it’s just not going to happen and that hurts me deeply. I want, after I’ve amassed an impossible amount of wealth near the end of my life, well beyond having had the opportunity to help others, to fund what I believe to be the greatest wristwatch ever made and while I may not be the man to do it, it is the fact that I want this for the whole of humanity and my Self that I put this energy out into the world and wish it will happen to someone someday. What you buy is a vote. When you make a purchase, it casts a ballot. I vote for fine horology all day every day. Everything else is an accessory to horology and life, even psychology and fancy electric cars, in spite of my obsession with Tesla’s inventions and values.

The argument could be made that this is not a perfect watch collection because not all complications are represented. For example, I do not have a minute repeater, much less a grande sonnerie. To that I say, I’m not dead yet. At this time of life I can still see (you know, literally, with my physical eyes) and there is this amazing thing, lume, you’ve heard of it, that makes it possible for me to tell the time in the blackest of darkness, so sure, I would love to own a chiming watch, but they’re not only way out of reach, but I don’t have any real use for them in the same way that there is value and use for the watches that I have selected (see what is of value and of use in Liber Novus). Will I ever own a QP chrono minute repeater grande sonnerie, with all of the bells and whistles like power reserve, moon phase, and sunrise sunset and equation of time someday? I certainly hope so!

P.S. Synchronistically, after finishing this essay, I went downstairs and found this puzzle to solve for my horological and mildly intellectual enjoyment :).

Okay, I swear this is it:

Some might ask, “so then what are your values, exactly, spending all of that time, and yours and other people's’ money, on wristwatches?” Don’t you have a job, a house, kids, a car, money, etc.? The answer is this: 1. I’m courting the job that I want to do until my heart stops: Tesla, a watch boutique, or something like that. 2. Having a house is not important to me, but maybe someday we’ll have one. Until then, my time and value will always be dedicated to horology in some way/shape/form. 3. Kids are just more people. People die. Watches are forever. 4. Cars are for suckers, unless you own a Tesla or a really sweet mechanical car, as is essentially the same case with watches. I ride a bike, and not a nice one, a cheap one, because I’d rather spend the money on timepieces.   5. I’d rather have the watch of my dreams than any amount of money. Money is just an imaginary number. The right watch is an instant and immortal best friend. a. To further make this case, look at the gentlemen at auction who are spending more more money with reckless abandon to own the perfect watch for them. Money is essentially meaningless outside of holding value to acquire goods and services. A watch is a deeply psychological and spiritual enterprise for those who really get it, and so it makes sense that one would spend it all to acquire the ultimate alchemical composition that bridges one’s “I” with the Self archetype—via an horological mandala—through the chain of watchmaker, to manufacturer, to dealer, to owner; or as Patek Philippe would have it, caretaker.

Thank you for reading.

The super sacred Holy Quaternity in all of its gorgeous horolgical glory!

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[antigonick]

do you read many ebooks? do you think it changes the way you (individuals) read / experience because I'm a believer that a mood can have significant affect on the experience of a book; I somewhat agree that each book has a perfect time to read but sometimes I wonder do I enjoy a book more when digital or in my hands

I agree that there might be a “perfect time” to read a particular book; at least when it comes to “relevant” books, and not books chosen exclusively for entertainment value (I guess I have a mental hierarchy—books where I will consciously switch off/down the reader’s awareness to enjoy and devour in hours rather than dwell and absorb).

Anyway. I do not read many ebooks—the only ones I read, in fact, are chosen for budget reasons, because I can either get them for free or need them immediately. This year, I have also taken the habit of reading most of my study-related readings online (thank god!), which makes reading e-books even more psychologically alien to me—it seems digital reading is more and more connected to mandatory reading notes, more focus, and sometimes—less pleasure.

Anyway, that’s obviously very personal. That being said, I do think that the way you enjoy a book can absolutely be influenced by the medium you’re using; I just think it depends on the individual, their habits, their preferences.

My experience of reading is enhanced by the hard copy; there’s a context around it; there’s the research about the book beforehand, the trip to the store—even the choice of the store—, the choosing of the edition I like best; the perusing before the buying, the looking over every copy on the stand to choose the neater one; the possession of it—smell, touch, the cover and the font, the weight of the pages—; and then of course, the obsessive highlighting, which has become so natural that I feel very uncomfortable when I am not able to highlight the passages I like best, to the point where I consider them unread and I come back to them if I forgot my pen. All of these are lost in digital reading, and consequently the books I read digitally feel to me like ghosts of themselves, read for sure, but not experienced.

[mrhotmaster]

The Social Dilemma: A New-Age Horror Film Tragedy Film That Will Cause You Care Of Your Technology Applications On Your Phone Switch the alerts off. Delete the not required settings. Only keep your phone out. Hold your phone away. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Social Dilemma — another narrative that investigates the effect of long-range informal communication, which delivered on Netflix a week ago — figures out how to answer why you're watching it even before the primary scene closes. Coordinated by Jeff Orlowski, this narrative made me need to kill my notices. Erase the applications I needn't bother with. What's more, fend my telephone off. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); On the off chance that you watch the film just on a superficial level, doomscrolling through your course of events or performing various tasks across about six applications, you likely won't be enchanted by it. The Social Dilemma basically mentions to you what we've been hearing for years – that you have to utilize innovation and web-based media with alert. That these applications gather our information, that an excess of time looking through them can be destructive, particularly for psychological well-being, and that web-based media has contributed a lot to the spread of falsehood. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); It plunges profound into these issues and puts forth a convincing defense by clarifying the entire cycle in incredible detail. One reason The Social Dilemma, which appeared at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year, prevails with regards to driving home the message is a direct result of the individuals in it. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Insiders from organizations, for example, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, caution us about the very frameworks they helped assemble. This makes it much more compelling than perusing an article or tuning in to a webcast about similar thoughts, likewise as a result of the conspicuous commitment factors – Netflix realizes how to pull in its watchers. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Social Dilemma shakes you up, and you can tell that that was the arrangement. It has audio cues normally saved for thrillers and is altered to cause you to feel like you have to focus. Alongside fresh meetings of tech specialists, the narrative runs an equal anecdotal tale about how web-based media influences the life of a rural family. There is an especially hard-hitting snapshot of a little youngster putting it all on the line to contact her telephone that will remain with me for some time. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); A portion of the tech specialists met in the movie incorporate Tim Kendall, previous leader of Pinterest and ex-Director of Monetisation at Facebook, Jaron Lanier, writer of Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now, and Tristan Harris, prime supporter of the Center for Humane Technology who used to work at Google and is plainly the main thrust of the narrative. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); At the point when the item is free... A convincing point that could persuade you to manage your web-based media use is realizing that these tech specialists direct, if not through, and through boycott, the utilization of the very applications they made with their children. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Harris clarifies the three principal objectives in innovation organizations. The commitment objective, to keep you looking over; the development objective, to keep you returning; and the promotion objective – the one that takes care of the tabs. These objectives are supported by calculations, that realize what they have to show you. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The circumstance of this narrative is both appalling and radiant. Coronavirus has pushed every one of us to grasp innovation like never before. By what other means would we converse with companions, investigate family members, stay aware of the news, go to talks, and last yet presumably the most significant – doomscroll? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); So sure, The Social Dilemma brings up significant issues, yet do we need to make a quick move at this moment when innovation would one say one is of a couple of strings holding every one of us together? Of course, COVID has fundamentally quickened the spread of phony news, and mediums like WhatsApp and Facebook are being utilized to spread falsehood. Synchronous perfect world and oppressed world, that is the thing that online media offers. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); On the off chance that you step back for a second, it's practically unusual to think about the time and vitality these very rich people are spending on you – on us all. The way that they know – and not unintentionally – that I put in a few a larger number of seconds on kid's shows these days than I do on canine photographs is mindless. We might be unimportant to them, however, our information isn't. The consistency models it empowers Big Tech to make dependent on our information isn't. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Informal communities aren't the issue — the plans of action are 'Battle Fire with Fire' is one of the Take Action choices on The Social Dilemma's site, and is properly named so. It urges you to share The Social Dilemma via online media, with the ones who need to see it the most. Many have without a doubt taken to web-based media to examine the narrative, with a disclaimer that they know 'of the incongruity' of doing as such. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Yet, that is the manner by which we impart, so it isn't generally astonishing. Person to person communication stages aren't the demon, the film contends – the destructive plans of action are. We can request that these items be planned humanly. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Tim Kendall, the previous leader of Pinterest, portrays an occurrence when he was unable to get off his telephone subsequent to returning home from work. He was going to work during the day and building something he was then falling prey to around evening time. "I was unable to support myself," he says. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); That is an inclination the vast majority of us know about — not being the leader of a tech-monster, yet of finding ourselves falling prey to the draw of online media and innovation, however not having the option to (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});  support it. The steady looking over and the dopamine surge each time we see another notice is something our whole age is very acquainted with.  Download Our Latest Android App Apk Directly From Here Now To Get Instant News & Update: http://bit.ly/get-by-here (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Another significant topic investigated in The Social Dilemma is the political polarization online media has prompted – it includes genuine clasps from fights in various pieces of the world. We anticipate that individuals should know very similar things we do, however, overlook that they won't, on the grounds that the calculation works diverse for them.  (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Mood killer your notices At a few focuses in the film, I'm helped to remember the Big Tech Anti-Trust Congress hearing that occurred in the US two or three months prior. I'm helped to remember how often these influential men addressed "I don't have a clue," or "I'll hit you up on this," to questions raised by officials. A large portion of these were because of inquiries concerning information penetrate, obstruction in political exercises, and market predominance. I'm reminded that we're simply pawns in the major event. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Social Dilemma is certainly worth a watch – there's no situation about it. It might be founded on things you're as of now mindful of, yet it expounds on significant focuses and brings up applicable issues – however it doesn't vital give answers.  For Regular & Fastest Tech News and Reviews, Follow TECHNOXMART on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google News and Subscribe Here Now. By Subscribing You Will Get Our Daily Digest Headlines Every Morning Directly In Your Email Inbox.             【Join Our Whatsapp Group Here】 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

http://www.technoxmart.com/2020/09/the-social-dilemma-modern-tragedy.html

[holytheoristtastemaker]

Readers with exceptional taste in film will have no doubt been ecstatic to hear the recent news that The Matrix trilogy is getting a fourth instalment, with Keanu Reeves and Carrie–Anne Moss making a leather–clad comeback (if you haven’t seen the original saga, it’s kind of complicated; here’s a short synopsis). Aside from indulging my passion for highly quotable dialogue and unwarranted overuse of CGI, I’m bringing The Matrix into a UX blog because it’s full of allusions to real–life psychological principles. As a UX practitioner, I’m interested in patterns of thought and behaviour that influence how people make decisions when using an interface. So without further ado, here are few principles found in The Matrix that are relevant to experience design, starting with Zipf’s Law. 1. The principle of least effort (sometimes called Zipf’s law)        Neo swats off Agent Smith single–handed. Retrieved from GyfCat. “Come on. Stop trying to hit me and HIT me.”Zipf’s law relates to choice. If there are several ways of achieving the same goal, people will usually choose the least demanding course of action – they’ll choose the blue pill.In the 1940s, linguist George Kingsely Zipf pointed out that an abundance of words exist in natural languages (like English), but humans typically communicate using a relatively small selection of these words. This is due to our tendency to communicate efficiently, using the least effort possible. In the 1980s, librarian Thomas Mann noted the same pattern when people look for information in libraries; people tend to stop searching as soon as minimally acceptable results are found. Today, it’s easy to see how this plays out; how often do you peruse page three on Google?The principle of least effort is so foundational to a great UX design that you might not even recognize it when you see it. To borrow a metaphor from Jared Spool, founder of User Interface Engineering: “Think of it like a room’s air conditioning. We only notice it when it’s too hot, too cold, making too much noise, or the unit is dripping on us. Yet, if the air conditioning is perfect, nobody says anything and we focus, instead, on the task at hand.” It sounds like common sense and a simple idea, and indeed it is, but its effect on how we design products and services is profound. Carving out and designing for the path of least resistance is a challenge that most organisations online still don’t get right. For further reading, I’d recommend Steve Krug’s “Don’t make me think” which is superb at explaining what’s involved in simplifying users’ tasks at an interface level.  2. The principles of grouping (Gestalt principles)       Cypher was quite happy to go on living in the Matrix. Retrieved from Shazoo. “…there’s way too much information to decode the Matrix. You get used to it, though. Your brain does the translating. I don’t even see the code. All I see is blonde, brunette, redhead.” Gestalt principles relate to the human trait of seeing disparate elements as a complete object. Like when Cypher was caught enjoying the matrix a little too much (he really was the worst). Our brains constantly try to perceive meaning and order even when we’re looking at something that is random or incomplete. This means UX designers should be aware that users may discern meaning from how you position items, patterns, colours and content, whether or not you’ve planned for it. For example, one Gestalt principle is the ‘Law of closure’, whereby people tend to perceive incomplete shapes as a whole object before they see any individual elements. Law of closure. Retrieved from Interaction Design Foundation. 3. The continuity principle       The two options offered to Neo didn’t look too different at first. Retrieved from Youtube. “I know what you’re thinking, ‘cause right now I’m thinking the same thing… Why oh why didn’t I take the BLUE pill?” The continuity principle may have been at play in The Matrix, which states that similarly looking and positioned items are similar and related to each other. The stakes were much higher in choosing the red pill, but the way Morpheus presented it to Neo made it seem less scary – after all, it was the same size and shape as the blue pill. Perhaps if the red option was presented in a syringe, or locked in a guarded safe, or concealed in a jar of Marmite (yes, I’m aiming to be controversial) he may have thought a little harder about swallowing it.       The continuity principle can encourage users to consider more products. Retrieved from Amazon. Think about how Amazon presents recommended products. One minute you’re looking for a sweet–ass black leather cyber–punk trench coat for Halloween, and next you see a row of long, tailored designer jackets, each image having similar proportions, spacing and white backgrounds. It’s an excellent technique for cross selling. 4. The principle of loss–aversion        Trinity and Neo. Retrieved from SciFiMovie.com. “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.” People hate losses more than they love gains. Some studies have suggested that the thought of making a loss can have twice as much impact on our decision making as the opportunity to make an equivalent gain (Dawes, 2004; Tversky & Kahneman, 1992). Morpheus made the blue pill sound like a loss: ‘wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to’. In other words, if Neo picked this option he knew he would lose his one opportunity to learn the truth about his reality. A good example of this principle at play is in pet insurance marketing. Most of us with pets have no real idea of their genetic history or the likelihood that they’ll have future illnesses. Do you as an owner risk it (and get lucky that you don’t rack up expensive vet bills) or fork out for insurance ‘just in case’? Petplan in the US play on this by emphasising the potential financial impact of ignoring insurance for your little furballs.                                             Pet insurance advert. Retrieve from NNG. All of the messaging a company communicates plays a part in UX. Remember though, there’s a fine line between showing customers that you know about their needs, and trying to scare the money out of them. 5. Framing        Neo weighs up the choices. Retrieved from Energy Matters. “Remember, all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.” A similar but subtly different principle of psychology is the “Framing effect”. It relates to how people react to a particular stimulus dependent on the context in which it is presented. In a study by Levin and Gaeth in 1988, consumers rated several qualitative attributes of ground beef that framed the beef as either “75% lean” or “25% fat.” The consumers’ evaluations were more favourable toward the beef labelled “75% lean”. More importantly, the magnitude of this effect lessened when consumers actually tasted the meat.        Cypher enjoys a virtual steak in The Matrix. Retrieved from Youtube. In another study (1981), Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman asked participants to choose between two treatments for 600 people infected with a deadly disease. Treatment A would result in 400 deaths. Treatment B had a 33% chance that no one would die, but a 66% chance that everyone would die. Each treatment was presented in a positive and negative frame. For example, for treatment A: Positive framing: Save 200 lives. Negative framing: 400 people will die. Treatment A was chosen by 72% of participants when framed positively, dropping to only 22% when framed negatively. Framing can very much influence thoughts, perceptions and ultimately behaviour based on how things are presented or communicated. Morpheus told Neo that he was only offering him the truth – coincidentally, that’s exactly what Neo was looking for. He could have said “Hey Neo, do you want to wake up in a robot incubator covered in fluid, get beat up a bunch of times and lose everyone you love?” Still the truth, not so persuasive. In the online world, persuasion is a powerful tool. The effect of framing, when applied correctly, can influence customers to take the path that you carve out for them. Conclusion The principles of psychology tell us that humans typically behave in common ways when exposed to particular patterns of design. But understanding human differences is the lifeblood of UX and service design. Getting to grips with people and their uniqueness as well as their similarities is what keeps the UX and Service design industry so in–demand and highly valued in the ultra–connected, consumer–centric world of 2019. Remember, your customer is not Keanu Reeves in the movies. Online, people are typically lazy, impatient, biased and fearful of loss; scared of going down rabbit holes with a product or service. Businesses and creators of interfaces and services should make their customers feel motivated and confident to follow the path of least resistance. Keep those red pills tucked away, seem unattractive if found and ensure your users remain calm and feeling in control. And keep them away from the matrix of complexity. We’re not all the chosen ones.

http://damianfallon.blogspot.com/2020/04/what-matrix-teaches-us-about-design_2.html

[readersforum]

How to Use Limited Time Offers to Drive Sales

New Post has been published on http://www.readersforum.tk/how-to-use-limited-time-offers-to-drive-sales/

How to Use Limited Time Offers to Drive Sales

Last week, this appeared in my inbox:

I hadn’t even planned on online shopping that night — and, while I’d been in the market for a new wallet, I wasn’t considering Kate Spade as an option until I received this email.

But those two words — last chance — compelled me to click, and subsequently purchase, from Kate Spade’s website.

I mean … I didn’t want to miss out now, did I?

Limited time offers are rooted in the psychological phenomenon known as loss aversion, which is the idea that people prefer avoiding losses over acquiring gains.

Simply put, someone would feel more upset losing $10 than they would feel happy winning $10.

When I received Kate Spade’s limited time offer, I immediately felt an impending sense of loss — if I didn’t act immediately, I’d lose the bargain. This spurred me into action. This is why limited time offers could be a good tactic to drive sales for your business.

Here, we’re going to take a look at impressive limited time offer ad examples, as well as compelling limited time offer wording, to ensure you’re able to create your own highly engaging limited time offer ad.

Limited Time Offer Ad Examples

1. Bath & Body Works Semi-Annual Sale

Bath & Body Works Semi-Annual Sale impressively has its own landing page, and uses cute cartoon rubber ducks in a 42-second video to convey their deal. Plus, the limited time offer is incredibly compelling, using phrases like “up to 75% off storewide” and “the biggest sale of the year” to urge hesitant shoppers to stock up on their favorite soaps and candles. When creating your own offer, you might consider going all-out with a landing page and video to signify the importance of the deal.

Image courtesy of Bath & Body Works.

2. Dunkin’ Donuts’ Pumpkin Spiced Latte

Every fall, Dunkin’ Donuts’ customers can get excited for new flavors for a limited time, including Dunkin’s Pumpkin Crème Brulee Latte. Their “Pumpkin’s Back, Get Pumped” messaging is funny and clever. This ad likely encourages returning customers to drive to a Dunkin to try something new — additionally, it could appeal to a new demographic particularly intrigued by the pumpkin flavor. For your own limited offer, consider a seasonal product you might offer to incentivize both new and returning customers to purchase.

Image courtesy of Theimpulsivebuy.com.

3. Target’s Video Game Offer

Target often offers limited time two-for-one deals on their products — in fact, they have a “Buy 2 Get 1 Free” landing page for their video games. Additionally, they temporarily offered a $10 gift card to incentivize customers to pre-order Borderlands 3 before April 9. For your own offer, you might try offering added value, like a gift card, on a product to encourage initial interest.

Image courtesy of Target.

4. Tobi’s 60% Off Denim Deal

Tobi, an e-commerce clothing store, does an impressive job regularly attracting visitors to its site through deals and limited offers. For instance, take a look at this “60% Off Denim Sitewide” email from Tobi. The use of emojis helps the offer stand out in the user’s inbox, and could even help a user more easily spot the email again after she opened it.

Similar to Tobi, you might also consider offering an all-encompassing sale on a specific product category, like ‘Denim’. Whether a user is interested in shopping for denim or not, the offer will likely peak users interest enough to attract more traffic to your site.

5. Macy’s Lowest Prices of the Season Sale

Not going to lie — the ticking clock at the top of their web page even incentivized me to peruse some of Macy’s temporarily on-sale products. Additionally, the “lowest of the season” messaging could urge hesitant shoppers to purchase products today from Macy’s, rather than waiting to compare competitor’s prices. Perhaps you offer your own “Lowest Prices” deal, which could motivate shoppers to purchase your products immediately.

Image courtesy of Macy’s.

To sum up, there are plenty of strategies you can employ to find success with your own limited offer deal. Here are a few suggestions, inspired by the deals listed above:

Create a landing page for your offer.

Use video, not just text, to convey the deal.

Get clever with your wording.

Offer a seasonal product.

Give away a gift card in exchange for a specific purchase.

Use emojis in your email blast.

Offer sales on certain product categories.

Put a ticking clock at the top of your web page, so users feel an added sense of urgency.

Next, let’s consider what type of wording you’ll want to use in your limited time offer to truly motivate users to purchase immediately.

Limited Time Offer Wording

Hurry.

Last chance.

Don’t wait!

These are the types of phrases you’ll see accompanying limited time offers, and for good reason — all of these phrases convey a sense of urgency, and even inspire a sense of anxiety in viewers.

When you see “Don’t wait!” in your inbox, for instance, you’re more likely to pause and consider your options right away, since the messaging is clear — you don’t have the luxury to consider your options tomorrow.

Of course, you want to be cautious with your limited time offer wording. If you’re too aggressive or pushy, you risk frustrating viewers into deleting the message completely.

When wording your limited time offer, you’ll want to consider why this deal is special, and how long the deal lasts. Additionally, it’s critical you include an exciting and compelling CTA.

Remember how Bath & Body Works mentioned “The biggest sale of the year”? It’s necessary to tell viewers why your deal in particular is special. If it isn’t the biggest sale of the year, maybe it’s the first deal you’ve ever offered on a specific product, or a new seasonal product only offered for a limited time.

Ultimately, users need to know why they should care about this deal over all the other deals flooding their inbox.

Additionally, it’s vital you clarify the time period of the deal. “Hurry, deal ends tonight!” is helpful, as is, “Offer valid through April 31” or “Today only”. You’ll need to let your viewers know how long they have to act on your offer.

Finally, you’ll want to include a compelling CTA. For instance, when I click on Tobi’s “60% Off Denim” link, the CTA says, “Get 60% Off Now”. Who wouldn’t want that?

Alternatively, you might try “Sign Up for Savings”, “Claim Your Free Wallet”, or “Send Me The Coupon”.

Take a look at “31 Call-to-Action Examples You Can’t Help But Click” for more CTA inspiration.