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fadinginfluencerblaze · 6 years ago

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Fallen Dreams

Disclaimer~ Art is devised by me and all editorial work is a solo operation. “Fallen,” will be my last publication before my vacation: https://adventvoice.newgrounds.com/news/post/1057611 If you would like commissions or requests for art work done please visit my patreon account https://www.patreon.com/AdventVoice https://adventvoice.newgrounds.com/news/post/1057550 https://adventvoice.newgrounds.com/news/post/1057522

From several authorities of art and creativity, I’ve heard something after completing “Loving My Dragon,” something I’ve not heard since I was sixteen. My ability in the arts is worth more than a few hearts, likes and the endorsements of a few passerbys. It is better than what people have been forced to digest in the past twenty four years. Could be longer really. Depends on your tolerance for main stream media.

Forced to settle, due to never being exposed to minds similar to my own. Which there are a lot of us. I’ve realized as I dig deeper into the internet, blogs, and journals of other dreamers.

There was a study, a social experiment really, given by Facebook and other online platforms, seeking to gauge how to rate worker performance by emoji. Wanting to reward creative minds who earn the most accolades and applause of the people. It can become rather addictive and I find I may be falling into that same trend. Advertising more or less for the approbation of people and not so much for pay.

I explained this to a few supporters and they were shocked. Believing me to be worth far more than the few seconds of increased impressions on twitter and the level of dinner table conversation I can influence with a few well directed bards and illustrations of the latest trending topic.

Now if only I could find a paying sponsor that believes the same thing. Then me and the Dream Weaver would really go places. Here’s the thing about me, that is different from your average ambitious and dedicated creator. I don’t want to go anywhere my friends won’t be invited to reap the benefits.

I’ve seen too much in this life to believe I can do anything on my own and be a success at it. You know I remember a time when people could have 500+ Facebook friends and no one spend a dollar with or on each other. On anything that could turn a profit. Nearly a thousand people talking, interacting, mingling and no money is made on the effort. Oh there is a lot of sexy talk, a lot of people locked up cause the girl is underage and the guy is enthralled with her pictures. Oh there was a lot of room fo shows like “Cheaters,” to corner a market in tracking people via location recognition devices on the broadband signatures, but for nearly ten years, no one was making any real money that would put them on the Forbes list as the best entrepreneur, besides those buying out all of the larger retail stores and Disney. Could be why I spend so much money on everyone else and not on myself. Makes me feel like I am saving the small business owners world, one click at a time.

The loss of Tina-Raze on the internet and access to her work has really made me appreciate the gift of visibility attributed to my own work. Sure I desire a physical gallery, but that cost money and you need dedicated staff. An online gallery is a one man show that will last as long as I have material, drive and an interactive audience. But when outside forces wage against one’s output and you are forced to erase everything and the years put into a showcase are no longer accessible; there is something daunting in the realization that everyday I have a chance to present anything, it should not be wasted on the trivial.

That is a sharp word because I highly doubt any of us have the authoritative right to define what is relevant or trivial to a creator. We can choose to interact with a product of not but we can’t say what someone was seeking to share has no value and thus erase them from existence. Not if we have any respect for the sanctity of the culture of art and the freedom in which we universally share this gift.

~ I can never say enough of how much I appreciate the time we shared and I hope you return to the creative scene soon Tina-Raze.~

I was reviewing “The Action Bible,” published by David Cook and illustrated by Sergio Cariello. It is an extensive publication that sought to illustrate the entire Bible, without the mistakes seen in previous renditions. It really took that whole group a while to find the best method to bring the Bible to life for young and old readers. I enjoyed their expressive illustrative skills and dedication to keeping to as much as can be had with a book as fantastic as the Bible.

What surprised me was the decision to eliminate the wings of angels and go with the ‘golden locks,’ signature. For years the wings of angels and demons played a big part in aiding people in separating the two worlds. Without the wings, we are no more than disembodied spirits, ghosts of our formers selves and have a long journey yet to that pinnacle of glory that awaits the faithful. So it was taught to me at least.

There were a lot of ideas shared with me as boy that I spend little time contemplating now, because I am a man and more than assured of where I will be regardless of the mistakes in this life.

Others may doubt. Others may seek to clip my wings as I ascend. Others may project their insecurities and through bitter imaginations suggest that because of the curse of Ham, and Nimrod, the black race will never have a place in heaven. Some may build a whole world of fantastical proportions and place compartments, as zookeepers, locks and doors upon the gates, with signs that say, “If you never drank yourself into oblivion while on earth, you go here, you never loved anyone but God you go here, if you never where tempted to fuck a woman in the ass, though she begged for it, you go here.”

Another sign reads, “Collect your white wings for perfect attendance on the earth, to every Sunday meeting.” In this corner of heaven, you should have received a notice in your casket upon death, we were sure to send Gabriel, who after years of working for God, never got his golden winged promotion.

All who have been the black sheep of the family and have been to prison more than once in their life time be sure to collect your “black wings,” down isle five. Five is the number for grace and that is the only reason you’re hear, so don’t be cute and try to steal the ‘white wings,’ from your betters, who happen to shine a little sharper in hue and have more gold flakes in their hair.

Those who were on earth and always fought for a righteous cause but failed to achieve any victory and remain angry behind the loss, you will receive your ‘red wings,’ in the dust falcons chamber. Some of you were clumsy on earth. Always bumping into things. Could never walk in heels or win a fashion show. Never turned the heads of men or appealed to women. Had a haunch in you back from never learning poise and posturing. Be sure to pick up your set of ‘spotted owl,’ wings, found in the east gate.

God is a god of order and angles never complain about their lot in heaven. There in whatever state they are in, there, they are to be content. There is a hint of a karmic code in association with the hue and colors of heaven and I was never one to believe in eastern influences when it comes to what my place in heaven would be like. I bend so far on earth, doing what I am told, I will go to heaven with white skin, white wings and all curse will be lifted from my body upon death and the curse of the previous life that marred me and made me black, while I was alive.

I don’t think so. No, I’ve believed for a long time now that even black angles deserve to fly. https://avproductionsblog.wordpress.com/2017/11/03/even-black-angels-deserve-to-fly/ https://avproductionsblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/18/you-read-it-here-first-black-amethyst/

I know I am not one to be denied.

Those of you that know how to twirl and twerk and shake your tail feathers, to win the Twerk Team Auditions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rba9Z0CcWwQ&list=PLxwfHzPeMrG0N0E5Q3hBI_vRjXl-BqJAR or hang out with DJ UNK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeLdCPINh6M and earn 15 minutes of fame for being a video vixen with a phat ass, you can gather your eagle wings in the North tower. You should notice the Notorious BIG Smalls in the butlers uniform, set to serve and assist you wonderful ladies in fitting for your wings. He was always so good at zipping up Faith Evans dresses, we thought he’d like doing that for eternity.

Just stand there and zip wings.

He was way too dark and ugly so he never earned his own, but Puff Daddy sand and danced enough to ensure he’d make it in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LHyvFryW2M

What a joke, eh that might have been a cheap shot to bring Puff Daddy and Biggie into this conversation, it’s just, I am so sick of color being a barrier for people I guess. But as long as there are people, it will play a part in the minds of men and women that hold their minds hostage and will build politics and kingdoms centered around it. We will split God into figures of hued stone that resembles us in some fashion and suggest if he looks like me, then he is the one that created me. Odd considering how I can create characters of different races, backgrounds and love each with as much joy as the next. Why would I doubt God would love me less because my hair is not wavy or red and ruddy and my skin is not peached or pinked, but bronzed and red? Why is my tolerance for people and the curves, shapes and hues greater than that of a god and I am a mere man?

King Solomon, black but comely: I am glad I’ve never heard it taught, due to Solomon’s hue of skin the temple came down. Why are we so caught up with color that we would actually base our safety on it, risk our lives for it? When in the middle of turmoil, pain, upheaval, or simply in a moment of benign joy during an annual parade in the city, color should be the last thing discussed.

Ever since I was a boy, I’ve held a rigid position on color talk. I had to be set because all of my friends where white. My first love was a gothic princess, that used to put a cat collar and a leash around my neck. I lived in New Jersey and traveled to upstate New York and Ohio all the time and had so much fun playing video games, poker or reading comics with white people. Lived in Kansas where they tried to make me where a confederate uniform for the JROTC program. I did not know if it was a joke of if they really felt I would be honoring someone’s death by wearing that uniform.

I sought to be above the barriers poised by classification and color because I am an artist. Because I am a storyteller and find relevance in people and can’t deny anyone based on my insecurities. I would not want someone to look at me and deny me access to anything. A communicable discussion, a forum, anything political, or my own comfort and what I believe to be good for me because of my color, because their preconceived beliefs denotes I should be marginalized.

I laughed myself into stitches, when during my junior year of highschool I realized all of the black children expected me to eat my lunch on the wall and away from the ‘preppy-white,’ children because they decided to self-segregate. Because they felt they did not have a life style or come from a family that could afford to play golf at the local country club. That they would not and were not admitted to be apart of a society setting our grandparents and great grandparents were conditionally denied. I was infuriated by the idea of having to defend my home and right to existence, from people of my own color, if I ever married an Asian, white, Indian, Arab, anything besides a black woman. Especially to look at me, you’d never out right believe I was of African decent until I grew out my hair, which I would wear proudly, long and wild.

Fredrick Douglas had nothing on me in my desire to topple the walls the youth of my generation would build around themselves for the sake of traditions that should have been long dead. I would have loved to ignore this conversation, but it is all over the conservative radio, it is misdirected or used callously on liberal stations and it’s become too easy to degrade someone you might disagree with on a benign social discussion, as a racist.

It is too easy to believe I don’t attribute credibility in the claim when you call me an Uncle Tom because I speak well and try very hard not to curse when it would be so much more convenient to do so.

https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/730095

Honestly in the world of art this should never be a discussion and if life truly imitated art in this dynamic the world would be a better place. At least confrontation and schisms would not be as prevalent as it is today. To me it is like we begin the topic of hues and what is beautiful or seen in heaven, because we don’t have anything else to talk about.

I illustrated “Fallen,” as a response to how ridiculous of an idea of not being accepted by God or anyone would feel that way, because they are black. That someone would use the Bible to teach that and we would stop illustrating wings when talking about angels, in order to unify the spectrum of colors that make up our world into the kingdom of Zion.

Hard to imagine; in some aspects we still can’t agree on a marketable environment that unites black, white, Asian, and Indian dreamers.

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crimsonbluemoon · 7 years ago

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Prompt 5: Why do you hate me?

Good morning everyone! So I spent a good portion of the morning cranking out some of the prompts, so I’ll be posting them sporatically through the day. So for now, please enjoy this one asked for by @risualto . It’s not SUPER angsty, just a pinch, but I hope you enjoy either way!

Couple: MiniCat (Implied? Hinted)

5. “Why do you hate me?”

It’s been like this for nearly two weeks, and Mini’s not quite sure how to fix it.

He hadn’t thought anything was different between them when they met up with Evan for their trip to the mountains. The boys had spent two days together, away from youtube, stress, and everything else that could be forgotten on the slopes of the mountain. Evan had shown both of them up in ice-skating, which was expected by the ice hockey player. They had spent the night drinking and making silly pictures involving bananas as guns or phones, depending on which person Mini was taking a picture of. They had a lot of fun, simply chilling and playing video games with no concerns about face-cams or ping levels. They just competed against each other, Mini and Evan laughing as Tyler was knocked off the track for the fourth time by a blue shell.

The next day had been...less relaxing. Craig had a little too much confidence in his snowboard skills, pushing himself more so than he had in a long time. Evan continued to ask him if he wanted to get lessons, but Craig had shrugged him off when seeing that neither of his friends were planning on getting a refresher. Mini just needed time to practice, that was all. So he went through most of the day, falling over or getting passed by kids that were half his age on the bunny slopes. Tyler teased him each time he could, only elevating Mini’s desire to get onto the same track as his two friends. And despite being tired, sore, and ready to call it quits, Mini decided to trek up to the location of Evan and Tyler for his last run down the mountain. Evan was supportive of Craig, though he did question if he wanted to tackle the mountain another time. The weather was starting to get colder, the sun beginning to drop low. But Craig had shrugged off his concern with a grin and a wave before starting his trip down the mountain.

And then, chaos ensured. He hadn’t seen the rock in the slope, as the sun’s reflection had hidden it from his bad eyesight. When his snowboard smashed into the hidden obstacle, Craig was tossed into the air, his body slamming into the slope hard. He rolled a few times before coming to a slow halt, the word spinning behind his glasses while he tried to re-orient himself. The helmet he had hated wearing had been lost up the slope at some point, along with one of his gloves. The snowboard had unclipped from one of his feet, the other ankle screaming with pain while being tossed around in the fall. Mini’s head had been fuzzy for the rest of the day (he later learned it was a concussion), and he didn’t remember how he had gotten back to the house. He actually didn’t remember much of the rest of the trip, just that he had slept for a whole day when he got home.

Oh, and that Tyler now hated him.

“Mini, can you fucking hit someone?” The growl from his tall friend made Craig sigh, trying to keep his voice from shaking in anger while he responded.

“I’m sorry, I’m not the one with the gold scar and a full shield.”

“And it's not my fault you’re shit at this game.” The comments were vicious, even for Tyler’s standard. It was enough to create tension in the group, Marcel keeping quiet as he tried to heal up Brian.

“Tyler, man, can you give him a break? He’s working with like, no sleep and a focked up ankle.” Brian’s sympathy was appreciated by Mini, who was trying to hide long enough for the fortnite circle to trap their enemies. He was slightly distracted when a scoff was heard through the discord.

“If he’s going to whine and bitch about being tired, then he shouldn’t bother playing.” The nasty remark was the final straw for Mini, who let his anger show in his snapped reply.

“Fuck you, Tyler.” He didn’t care about the lost footage as he clicked out of the game, ignoring Marcel and Brian’s call of his name as he disconnected from Discord. His headphones were tossed onto his desk as he pushed his chair back, the anger still boiling in his chest. Why was Tyler being such a dick? How come he couldn’t just have a normal conversation with Mini about whatever was stuck up his ass?

Craig wanted to believe it was only anger he was feeling, but he wasn’t stupid. His eyes moved away from the brightness of his screen as he stared at the leg still wrapped in a cast. Though he had been annoyed at the outcome of his accident, he wasn’t stupid; losing his helmet and smashing his head into the ground could have ended up with repercussions that were far worse than a concussion. Head traumas were common in snowboarding, and Craig had known people who had personally gotten taken out of the sport because of a similar type of accident. From Evan’s account, his helmet had flown off mid-air, meaning his head hit the ground at full impact. The broken ankle sucked, but he was lucky that he wasn’t hospitalized.

He thought that the accident would only strengthen friendship with Tyler. Evan had been keeping in contact more, making sure that Mini was all set. A few of their friends had sent supportive texts, and made sure that he had enough content to give him the extra money he’d need for doctors visits and medication. But Tyler had been missing in action. The only times he talked to Mini were in gameplay, and it rarely was the comforting kind. Over the past few weeks, everything that Craig did was wrong. Whether it was his golf game, the card he chose in Cards Against Humanity, or which gun he picked in Fortnite, Mini was wrong, and Tyler was going to tell him. It was as frustrating as it was sad, because he wasn’t sure what had caused the huge wedge between them.

His morbid thoughts were scattered when his ringtone went off, Mini glancing over to the table to see the screen light up. ‘WildCat’ blinked across the screen, and Craig gave a quiet groan before he swiped the phone off the surface and answered the call.

“What now? Did I exit the wrong way?” Mini knew that he was being an ass, but after the last exchange between the two, he wasn’t feeling mature enough to hold back. He leaned his feet (the broken one at a much slower pace) up on his desk while his computer chair shifted, listening to the annoyed sigh on the other side of the phone.

“Well, yeah, but that’s not why I called.”

“Good to know.”

“Look, I-” Tyler paused in the conversation, his angry tone seeming to fizzle out when he started the conversation again. “I don’t want to fucking argue with you.”

“That’s all you’ve been doing,” Mini answered, his eyes casting to the side. “It’s...it’s like..”

“Like what? Just spit it out.” The clipped tone that Tyler used made Craig wince, his hand balling up on the armrest of his chair.

“Why do you hate me?” Mini hadn’t meant to ask that particular question. It had been floating around in his head for days, but he didn’t think he’d ever actually say it. The feeling had festered from a small hole in his heart, trickling out the edges and leaving him feeling more vulnerable than he wanted to admit. Even now, as he thought back on what he had said, he felt his stomach twist and his lips tug down into an unpleasant frown. Fighting with Tyler...it didn’t feel right. It was uncomfortable, and held more weight than Mini was willing to admit. He had gotten into small fights with all of his friends, but none hit him as hard as this with Tyler.

“What the fuck?” Tyler’s stunned tone caught Mini off guard, the British man blinking as his friend continued. “Dude, I don’t hate you.”

“You’ve been coming at me for days,” was Craig’s answer, hoping the slight change of his voice wouldn’t show how the shift in their friendship had bothered him.

“That’s because-fucking shit, did you see your head, Craig? Did you?” The question wasn’t where Mini had expected Tyler to go, and he didn’t have a quick enough answer to step in. “Because I did, and there...I couldn’t stop it. Your fucking head smashed against the ground like a bouncy ball. Your whole body just kept rolling, and I was sure you-it’s not like I could fucking stop you. I had to just sit there and watch the whole thing happen, and then you weren’t moving and I thought you were-of course I fucking got mad!”

“You were scared?”

“Did I say I was fucking scared?!” But from the loud denial, Mini knew the truth. Tyler had never been the one to show his feelings, not when they made him vulnerable. “It’s not like I could have stopped you. Even if I was the one who was saying shit, you’re the one who came up to the slope when you weren’t ready. Who does that?”

“Tyler, are you...blaming yourself for my accident?”

“I never said that.” Was the quick response, but Craig was ready for it.

“You’ve talked about not being able to stop me, like, three times.” Then there was silence on the phone, and Mini took a chance to press the topic. “Just so you know, I don’t blame any of this on you. Yeah, you were teasing me, but that’s just you normally. I wanted to go up there.”

“But would you have if I wasn’t being such a fucking ass?”

“Duh, I just wanted to be where you were.” The confession was fast, Craig realizing instantly that he hadn’t meant to say it. Hoping to recover, Mini gave a loud laugh, his cheeks brightening as his pitch and speed quickened. “And Evan! Both of you, really, because you’re both my friends and why would I only want to see you? That’d be weird unless I liked you or something-”

“Chill the fuck out, dude.” It was the first time since the incident that Craig had heard the laugh, and it stopped his rambling as quick as it started. When Tyler spoke again, it lacked any anger, the edges smoothed over with relief and affection. “You’re such a moron.”

“Hey, I resent that.” He really didn’t, if the smile now spreading over his lips was any indication, but he tried to keep his dramatics up by pressing a hand to his heart. “You’ve wounded me, Tyler, and I don’t think I’ll ever recover.”

“Shut up and get back in the game.”

“I thought I sucked?”

“You do, obviously. But it’s good for content.”

“Fuck you, Tyler!” Except this time, he was laughing while he said the words, the heart which had ached before now filled with a warmth that only Tyler could give him. Maybe another night, he would really question why that was. But for now, he just wanted to get back to playing the game and being friends with the other man.

And thats the end! So, writing in 2k is hard. And I feel like this needs so much more, but ahhh I did my best! I hope you enjoy it regardless >.< So as always, like, reblog, and let me know what you think! ^.^

#minicat #mini ladd #wild cat #Banana Bus Squad #bbs fanfiction #bbs squad #BBS #CrimsonBlueMoon #short but sweet

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recalculatingthegenderwar · 8 years ago

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Woman Women feminist shitstorm begins Part 2: Feminists can't help but endorse blatant sex discrimination against men

Recently, I wrote about the Alamo Drafthouse holding women's only screenings of the upcoming Wonder Woman movie. I wasn't surprised, since Wonder Wonder has always been a lightning rod for gender politics. While the movie itself looks like it might good, I fully expected its release to foster some kind of deluge of feminist craziness.

Unfortunately, the Alamo Drafthouse doubled-down in the face of legitimate criticism by setting up screenings at their Brookyln location too. They have even decided to donate all the proceeds to Planned Parenthood, an extremely controversial organization that many women don't even support. The Drafthouse could have picked hundreds of other more inoffensive, apolitical women's health organizations. They could have even donated the proceeds to some sort of men's charity as an apology (Sorry guys, we already sold the tickets so we have to do this, but all money is going toward this men's health charity). It seems less and less like Alamo Drafthouse accidentally stepped on a gender politics land mine and more like they are planting explosives themselves.

Many mainstream media outlets covering this have been relatively neutral. However, women's sections are filled with less objective reporting and more snark. The New York Time's Women in the World writes:

"Although it’s important to point out that the screening is set for June 6, four days after the film officially hits theaters nationwide, that did not stop the tide of frustrated comments from men who realized that the theater would not change their plans and that by virtue of their Y-chromosomes, they would be unable to attend the showing."

The WITW staff finishes the article with what they seem to believe destroys the entire controversy.

"Insisting that the criticism is unfounded and that the “women-only” screening is a celebration of the character as a feminist icon rather than a conscious attempt to exclude male fans, the theater chain has held firm and added a second “women-only” screening at its New York Location. Sometimes the lasso of truth hurts, gentlemen."

Sassy. I'm hearing this argument about the supposed "veterans events" at the Drafthouse come up a lot. However, the WITW staff provide no evidence the Drafthouse has ever excluded non-veterans from public screenings. All I can find is that the Drafthouse once gave veterans free tickets. This is very different from barring non-veterans from public screenings. Also, even if the Drafthouse did bar non-veterans from public screenings, that wouldn't some how make baring men from public screenings okay. Ignoring the important differences between veterans and men, when did two wrongs make a right?

I won't even get into what the WITW is inadvertently saying about feminism by claiming that women-only events are needed to celebrate feminist icons.

Feminist outlets are much worse

A lot of coverage from smaller media outlets is even more dismissive and patronizing, but it doesn't hold a candle to coverage from feminist media outlets:

On Feminist cesspit Jezbel, Lauren Evans wrote "Men Lose Their Shit Over Alamo Drafthouse's Women-Only Wonder Woman Screening, Theater Responds By Adding More". Evans writes, "It sold out immediately, and with good reason—what better way to spend an evening than with Gal Gadot, a vat of rosé and a blissfully dick-free environment?"

Like a lot of feminist commentary on the Drafthouse screenings, Jezbel doesn't explain how a "dick-free environment" enhances the experience. The writer then goes into a predictable list of women's grievances:

"Men make 20 percent more money than women; they perform fewer child care duties and household chores (even when their wives are the family breadwinners). They pay less for pants and haircuts, and they are responsible for dictating our abortion laws. But GOD DAMN IT if they’re going to let a few dozen women celebrate the rare arrival of female superhero protagonist!"

I could spend a whole post just on this paragraph, but I'll resist. The wage gap has been debunked to the point of cliche and I've written about the alleged differences in prices for men's and women's consumer goods.

I also don't have to address any of this right now, because it's a basic logical fallacy to suggest that supposed injustices toward women invalidate injustices toward men. This is a common feminist tactic. It also makes about as much sense as me saying you don't have a papercut BECAUSE I broke my leg.

The most interesting article I've seen so far is from i09, Jezbel's nerdy sibling. Beth Elerkin's sensitively titled "A Women-Only Wonder Woman Screening Is Predictably Upsetting Dumb-Ass Sexists" actually gives a (very bad) reason for why a women's only screening is needed. Although it provides no evidence to back up the claim that the people condemning the unnecessary sex discrimination against men are some how the real "sexists" here. The article starts off about as diplomatic as you would expect:

"Within a matter of hours, a movie theater in Austin, Texas sold out its first women-only screening of DC’s Wonder Woman, and they’re already planning at least one more showing. Unfortunately, the laws of the internet dictate that anytime women get something cool, some men have to bitch about it"

And only gets better from there:

"Some men have promised to boycott the Drafthouse in retaliation, and the movie theater company’s Facebook page and Twitter account are full of cries of “reverse sexism,” “misandry,�� and whatever other nonsense these jackasses use to try and explain something that doesn’t apply here at all. "Let me be frank: A women-only screening of Wonder Woman is an excellent idea, and any man who thinks it discriminates against them needs to spend the rest of the day staring in the mirror while a single tear flows down their collective cheeks."

Elerkin goes on to argue that barring men from a screening of Wonder Woman is some how justified since the majority of major superhero movies have male leads. An argument that simply doesn't make any sense.

"We’ve had trilogies for Blade, Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man, among countless others. The Hulk has had least three different films so far, each with different actors, and Spider-Man is on his third franchise in a decade, with at least one sequel already guaranteed. Do you know how many of those 130 films had female leads? Eight"

Okay...but how does this justify, or even relate to, barring men from a public event?

"So, to all the men complaining that a couple screenings of Wonder Woman exclude them, I say this: just shut up. Women have had to deal with the bullshit of non-representation for generations, and we will probably keep having to deal with it for generations to come. Wonder Woman is the first blockbuster comic book film starring a woman in American history, and it happens to star comics’ biggest female icon. At the very least, women deserve to have a space—even if it’s just a single screening of a movie that’s going to open in literally thousands of theaters across America—where they can celebrate that together. Any man who doesn’t respect that doesn’t understand what Wonder Woman’s been fighting for all these years."

Wonder Woman is definitely not the first blockbuster comic book film starring a women in all of American history. What happened to those eight movies with female leads she mentioned earlier? What definitions of "starring" and "blockbuster" is she using? The recent American Ghost in the Shell movie stars a female lead and it was based off an incredibly popular Japanese comic book (which spawned several movies, video games and a TV series).

Also I don't think Elerkin understands "what Wonder Woman's been fighting for all these years". As I mentioned in my last post, Wonder Woman has often gone against the rule that no men are allowed on her home island.

However, Elerkin does finally give us some kind of argument as to why a women's-only showing is necessary. Women apparently require a women's only space to soak in this incredible moment. A space that would be ruined by their male friends, but not by female strangers. Oh...and revenge. That also seems to play a major role.

The dumbest thing feminists could do.

Feminists have a pathological urge to squash any suggestion of the mere possibility men could face sex discrimination. It protects feminism's monopoly on gender politics. However, commenting on this was a very poor decision for feminists. While the Drafthouse's Planned Parenthood donation certainly narrows down their likely political views, it is unclear if the management are actually feminists. Feminism had plausible deniability for an instance of objective sex discrimination against men that has little real political value to the feminist movement. It's not like this will affect abortion legislation.

But many feminists couldn't help themselves. They are putting their seal of approval on the Drafthouse's actions. Now we don't just have an instance of blatant gender discrimination against men, but an instance of a feminist supported (if not outright celebrated) instance of gender discrimination against men. Again, our self-proclaimed champions of gender equality can't resist showing they actually fight against gender equality.

Notice none of the feminist responses convincingly argue that the Drafthouse's action aren't sex discrimination. At most they just say this sex discrimination doesn't matter, but they don't adequately explain why. While many people have dismissed the Drafthouse's women-only screenings as simply not being a big deal, feminists doesn't have this luxury. Feminism has spent decades shrieking at supposed sexism hidden in every shadow: in climate change, in air conditioning, in the way men (supposedly) sit down, etc. Feminists have set their bar so low for sexism, they can't help but trip over it when it comes to discrimination against men. I could only imagine the feminist response to a male-only showing of a movie about a male superhero from an all-male island who comes to our world to hack up hordes of evil women with a sword.

The hypocrisy only gets worse when you remember feminists constantly try to sell feminism to men under the guise that it will allow them to honestly express feelings of weakness that the big, bad patriarchy makes them keep inside. A patriarchy that supposedly demands men are always stoic and emotionless. A patriarchy that uses shame to keep them in line. However, feminism has again shown the moment men express any sort of emotion that feminists don't like, its accusations of whining and #masculinitysofragile. It doesn't take much for feminism to show that it's actually the devil it claims to fight.

#wonder woman #feminism #antifeminism #sexism

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topicprinter · 5 years ago

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Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.Today's interview is with Sam Evans (u/haulincubes) of You Call We Haul Junk Removal, a brand that makes junk removal servicesSome stats:Product: Junk Removal ServicesRevenue/mo: $18,000Started: May 2016Location: Central PennsylvaniaFounders: 1Employees: 3Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?My name is Sam Evans. I am 23 years old and a recent graduate from Penn State Altoona. I am the founder of You Call We Haul Junk Removal, a junk removal company that removes anything from single items to hoarder home cleanouts. We’re located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and have been in business (part-time) since May of 2016.We service any and everyone who may have unneeded items they are looking to get rid of. People often ask what items we consider junk, to us junk is anything you no longer need or want.Our main customers are middle-aged and up adults, typically with a higher income that do not want to or are unable to do the work themselves. We complete over 75 jobs per month, bring in about $20,000 in revenue per month profiting about 65% per job.imageWhat's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?When I was ending my freshman year of college, I was sitting in my dorm room one day when I got a call from my cousin. Both of us had been flipping items on eBay since we were 14 and always loved to find ways to make some extra money. He told me about a book called Effortless Entrepreneur, written by the founders of College Hunks Hauling Junk which is currently the world’s second-largest junk removal franchise.I ordered the book on eBay for $4 and as soon as it came to my dorm, I immediately started reading. About 20 pages into it, I called my Dad who is a used car salesman. I told him that I was going to start a junk removal company and that I needed his help finding a truck. After nearly a week of calling him telling him every reason I could come up with as to why I needed to start this company, he was finally in. He helped me find a $1,000 truck on Craigslist, a 1991 Ford F-150. imageI bought the truck, printed out some flyers at my school’s library, ordered a few hundred horrible business cards, and was officially in business.I had zero validation for the idea other than that big companies were making a killing doing it and I figured I could as well, after all, who doesn’t have some extra items lying around that they’re dying to get rid of? I minimized the risk as much as I possibly could because the truck that I bought was worth a lot more than the thousand dollars I paid for it. I knew that even if I failed, I would be able to resell the truck and make some money. Starting with a beater truck was my way of putting out a minimum viable product.I had zero expertise and am still learning every single day that I work on my business. The only business experience I had before this was flipping items on eBay and running Facebook pages while I was in middle and high school. When I was 14 I built, grew, and sold a network of Facebook pages with over 5 million daily active users that were based on different teenage jokes and issues at the time. The biggest page had over 3 million likes and was called I HATE WHEN MY PARENTS ASK WHO I’M TEXTING, if you were active on Facebook in 2010 and were in high school at the time, I bet you like the page - go check and let me know. My financial situation at this time was a few thousand dollars that I had in my bank account from these previous businesses. Knowing absolutely nothing ended up being an advantage. I failed a ton in the first few summers of running the business but learned more than I ever did in the classroom. Everything takes time and effort, if you put in the effort you will be successful in the long run in whatever business you decide to start.Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.There was no design process when I started out. I put out the most minimal viable product I could. The truck was cheap but luckily it did not have any rust so it had a tiny bit of curb appeal if you appreciate old Ford trucks. My flyers and free craigslist posts were really the reason I started to get business.In my area, saying you are a Penn State student or graduate holds a lot of weight and people love to support a fellow Penn Stater. On these flyers and posts, I really honed in on the fact that I was a current PSU student home for summer vacation, looking for a way to make some extra money. The original flyer had a picture of a roommate of mine holding up a random couch that we found sitting in a field by campus.I did not do anything legally for almost two years after starting this business, as I ran it only in the summer while home from school and on breaks when I could actually find some work. My first summer in business in 2016, we did barely $3,000 in sales. Once I took the business legal 2 years later before my senior year of college, I had about $1,200 in total legal and insurance costs to turn into a legitimate business. Upon graduation and taking the business full-time, the costs of insurance ramped up having employees and a much larger truck.Describe the process of launching the business.When we first started we did not have a website, Facebook page, or Instagram account. We spread the word by taping flyers to mailboxes, free Craigslist posts, and sharing screenshots of our flyers in local Facebook groups which were our biggest source of customers.It took us about a week to get our first customers and we were profitable by the end of month one in which we did about $2,000 in sales. Starting with very humble beginnings in a beat-up old Ford truck and no advertising budget taught me that just getting started and taking action is the most important step. When it comes to service businesses that are already a proven model, I always think about the line from Field of Dreams, “If you build it they will come.” Whether it is junk removal, landscaping, garage door repair, or any other home service business, proven models like that work.I also learned that even having a small web presence like a Wix website or a Facebook page can do wonders. Showing people what you do rather than telling them is key to any business becoming successful.Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?Since launch, the only paid advertising we have done is Facebook ads. We are starting to roll out Google ads this month but Facebook has done wonders for our business thus far. If I were to restart, I wouldn’t put as much faith in Facebook ads as I did though because the costs have nearly doubled in the past year.We typically spend less than $600 a month on ads but really need to up the ad spend to reach our current goals. We do a ton of grassroots marketing. Bandit signs, stickers, signs in customer’s yards, door hangers, giving out t-shirts, etc.image imageOur biggest successes from organic marketing have come from midnight bandit sign drops. Going out in the middle of the night allows us to put out 50-60 signs in high traffic areas in under three hours. We map out where to put them based on incomes in various local zip codes. Zip code incomes can be found through USPS Every Door Direct Mail tool. We’ve also been utilizing the Nextdoor app which is tremendous for home services. If you are recommended on that app, customers treat it like the bible. They will hire you blindly and agree to any price you say.We also post on social 2-4x per day, every single day. It is a great way to gain customers organically and get a lot of exposure for the company. Videos work great for home services because as I’ve said before, people want to see who they’re hiring to come into their homes, especially women hiring men. They want to be able to trust a brand and social media is a great way to build that trust for free.https://www.instagram.com/p/B4prmVJHDvC/How are you doing today and what does the future look like?Today, we are growing every single month. We are doing about a 75% profit margin on each job but expect that to go down over time as we hire more employees and acquire more trucks. We are going to start investing a lot more heavily in PPC ads and SEO to gain more exposure in our area. Right now we have about 1,200 facebook likes and a little over 700 Instagram followers. We typically have about 400 people visiting our site each month. Short term we want to reach 100 jobs completed in one month and hit $30,000 in monthly revenue. We believe we can do that with the one dump truck we currently have as long as we up our ad spend.Long term, we want to franchise the business. Junk removal is growing at an extremely fast pace as we live in a society that thrives on convenience and wants to show off to their peers, so people are buying more items than ever before. Studies have shown that less than 2% of people know how to get rid of unneeded items so the industry is really just getting started.We’re confident that through the culture we are building we can get our employees on board to start their own locations. We will give them the choice of where they want to start because we believe the model we’re perfecting will work in any location. Junk removal is an extremely fun business because no two days are the same, you meet very interesting people, and you never ever know what you are going to find.Employees love it because they can keep some of the stuff they find too which makes it all that much more enjoyable. It really is the perfect, simple business model that anyone who is willing to hustle can start and succeed in.Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?Since I’ve started this business I have really learned to appreciate services. The home services industry in particular is only going to grow in the next 5-10 years. We’re moving away from the times of people wanting to do everything on their own. Our society is starting to value time over money and that means paying people to do the things they do not want to do, like removing the broken freezer from their basement.I was very lucky to start my business during college when I really could not fail. Being able to work on it for three summers and research it not stop during the school year set me up to succeed post-graduation. I didn’t have to jump in blindly and hope it would work, I had already proven the model and created a solid base of customers that were constantly referring me business.One of the best decisions I made was joining a junk removal mastermind group. It taught me more in 3 months than I learned in 4 years of college studying business. I highly recommend that people try to find Facebook groups or subreddits where they can share ideas with other owners in their industries and if there aren’t any, start one.What platform/tools do you use for your business?Platforms I use are: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube for learning, Housecall Pro, Quickbooks Online, Nicejob.What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?Books:The Power of BrokeEverything by Malcolm Gladwell to challenge how I thinkEverything by Dale Carnegieto challenge how I interact with otherLiving With a SealThe Last LecturePodcasts:How I built this with Guy RazThe Home Service ExpertHumans 2.0Business WarsApps:Alarmy- I used to hit the snooze button multiple times, every single morning. This app allows you to find a barcode in your home or elsewhere and scan it, you then have to scan the barcode to shut off your alarm. There’s no other way to get it to stop other than to scan that barcode. It’s a blessing and a curse, trust me.Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?Start. Just start. If everyone waited for the right time to start, we wouldn’t have any entrepreneurs. Don’t think you need to know everything, no one knows everything. Take a ton of risks, every successful person ever credits their risk-taking ability with them becoming successful. Don’t try to build the next Facebook or Instagram, you do not need to reinvent the wheel. I bought a thousand-dollar pick-up truck and got started.If you over-think things it just makes it harder for you. Put out a minimum viable product and hustle, the results will come if you do not stop.Most people think they’ll make a ton of money and their business will boom from the beginning. Rarely is that ever the case. Give it time, lots of it, and do everything in your power to grow your business. Everything takes time and effort, if you put in the effort you will be successful in the long run in whatever business you decide to start.Where can we go to learn more?WebsiteFacebookInstagramLinkedinIf you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!Liked this text interview? Check out the full interview with photos, tools, books, and other data.For more interviews, check out r/starter_story - I post new stories there daily.Interested in sharing your own story? Send me a PM

#/r/entrepreneur #reddit

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spanlish-blog · 8 years ago

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What More Do Trump's Critics Want Republicans to Do?

It is August 2017, and you are a principled Republican member of Congress. You are appalled by the president’s character; disturbed by his erratic behavior in office; upset by his defenestration of democratic norms; and increasingly worried about the apparent abuses of power in his administration. While you have voted overwhelmingly to confirm his nominees and advance the conservative legislation he supports, you have also made a point of periodically voicing your concerns in media interviews and measured op-eds. You’ve expressed disapproval of the president’s Twitter feed, and parted with him on the issue of Russia sanctions.

Are you doing enough?

This is one of the most polarizing political questions of the moment. To Donald Trump’s opponents, the answer is laughably obvious: Of course congressional Republicans aren’t doing enough to hold the president accountable, they argue. Most GOP lawmakers are bending over backwards to excuse and ignore Trump’s bad behavior, while those few who do routinely speak out are still voting with him 93.5 percent of the time. They are all talk and no action: corrupt partisans posing as leaders.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the divide, a popular genre of GOP apologia has emerged to contend that Republicans are being held to an unrealistic standard; that in fact they’ve already done plenty to stand up to Trump. Sure, they’ve voted for conservative bills, the reasoning goes—they are conservatives, after all! But that doesn’t mean their public criticism of a Republican president can be dismissed. As the conservative columnist Ramesh Ponnuru recently put it: “They’re falling pitifully short only if the baseline expectation is that they do whatever liberal journalists think it’s their duty to do.”

It’s an exhausting debate, and one that suffers greatly from a lack of specifics. For all the energy devoted to attacking and defending the integrity of GOP lawmakers, relatively little time has been spent delineating and debating the specific demands Trump’s critics have for Republicans on Capitol Hill. What does it actually mean to “stand up to Trump”? Aside from derailing their entire legislative agenda to punish the president—an unrealistic expectation for any party in power—what exactly do the critics want congressional Republicans to do to hold Trump accountable?

To answer this question, I surveyed a wide range of the president’s detractors—including partisan Democrats, liberal commentators, NeverTrump conservatives, and libertarians. What follows is not a comprehensive catalog of action items for the GOP (much less an endorsement of them). Their responses varied widely, and in some cases contradicted each other. But taken together, they offer to move the debate from the abstract to the concrete, pointing to a gap between what critics would actually like to see done, and what Congress is presently doing.

Protect the Mueller investigation at all costs

Virtually everyone I talked to agreed that the single most important thing congressional Republicans can do right now is to stop the president from shutting down Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Trump’s critics contend that any effort by the White House to meddle with the probe would represent a brazen affront to the rule of law.

The prospect of a “Saturday Night Massacre” redux isn’t far-fetched. In recent weeks, Trump has publicly weighed firing Mueller, and press reports have suggested the White House is looking for ways to attack and discredit him. Meanwhile, Trump has all but declared open war on his own attorney general—a bizarre and unprecedented spectacle that many fear portends a Justice Department shakeup aimed at shuttering the Mueller probe.

If Trump is indeed planning an assault on Mueller and his team, Capitol Hill Republicans are uniquely positioned to make the president back down. And yet, so far, the reaction from most GOP lawmakers has been somewhat muted and muffled.

“They should declare that firing the special counsel would cross a red line that would draw the full weight of Congress’s powers to check the executive,” said Austin Evers, executive director of legal watchdog group American Oversight.

What exactly could the “full weight of Congress” look like in this context?

Brian Fallon, a former Hillary Clinton spokesman and senior adviser at Democratic super PAC Priorities USA, suggested a few options for Republicans: Pledge to restore an independent counsel statute if Muller is fired; preemptively declare that removing Mueller would amount to obstruction of justice; and threaten to refuse to confirm a successor to Sessions if Trump fires him.

Senator Lindsey Graham—one of the most noisily Trump-averse Republicans in Congress—presented his colleagues with another option last week when he announced he was co-sponsoring a bill that would prevent Trump from firing Mueller without judicial review. Essentially, the legislation would bind the executive branch with one more layer of accountability. On Thursday, North Carolina’s Thom Tillis teamed up with Democratic Senator Chris Coons to introduce a similar bill, allowing Mueller to appeal a removal to a three-judge panel.

Support rigorous Congressional investigations

Washington Democrats have generally given passing grades to the Senate Intelligence Committee for its responsible, bipartisan approach to the ongoing Trump-Russia saga. But most of the other relevant congressional committees, they argue, are utterly failing in their duty to police the president—especially in the House of Representatives.

Last month, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Republicans should demand that the Trump administration release “all documents, legal memoranda, and communications” pertaining to alleged abuses of power. Her office then provided a detailed breakdown of which issues the various GOP-chaired committees should be looking into. Pelosi would like to see the Ways and Means Committee working to obtain Trump’s tax returns. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee could be investigating possible conflicts of interest around the Trump Hotel’s government lease agreement. The Judiciary Committee could dig into Sessions’s failure to disclose foreign contacts, and whether he’s violated his recusal from the Russia investigation.

To drive home their point, House Democrats recently used an obscure parliamentary procedure to force votes on investigating a number of these issues. Republicans dismissed the gambit (not entirely without reason) as a stunt meant only to generate fodder for attack ads.

But it isn’t just elected partisans calling on Republican committee chairs to take their oversight responsibilities more seriously. Evers told me that Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should expand the budgets for the Intelligence, Judiciary, and Oversight committees so that they can staff up and get to work. And a number of commentators have argued that Representative Devin Nunes—“an embarrassing suck-up to the president,” the columnist Josh Barro has charged—should be removed from his perch on the Intelligence Committee, and replaced with a more serious and less compromised chairman.

Given the committees’ spotty investigative track record so far this year, some are advocating for the formation of a bipartisan independent commission—akin to the 9/11 Commission—to investigate Russia’s interference with the election. Others, meanwhile, believe the Russia probe should be tasked to a “Select Committee” made up of lawmakers hand-picked by congressional leadership. Those two plans aren’t mutually exclusive—but for either to become a reality, it would require substantial Republican support.

Evan McMullin, a prominent NeverTrump conservative, told me Republicans on Capitol Hill still need to grapple with the magnitude of the Russia threat as they consider how to proceed. “This is serious enough and complicated enough that there should be a special select committee … and it should be properly resourced,” he said. “It should have its own staff, it should have its own funding. The Benghazi committee had a staff of 40 people and a budget of millions of dollars. This is at least as important as that.”

Publicly draw a line in the sand

In a column earlier this week, my colleague Conor Friedersdorf suggested that all of Arizona Senator Jeff Flake’s sharp criticism of Trump has left an important question unanswered:

Trump is a legitimate president, despite garnering so many fewer votes than his opponent, because the Electoral College is a legitimate part of the American constitutional system. So is impeachment. In what circumstances would Flake vote to convict?

Most of the Washington Democrats I’ve talked to were skittish about using the “I” word at this stage. While they leave open the possibility of impeachment hearings at some point in the future, they generally want to see what comes of the Mueller investigation before they start in with the talk about high crimes and misdemeanors.

But some of Trump’s detractors have argued for a strategic use of impeachment threats. Congressional Republicans should draw a line in the sand, they argue, and make clear that if Trump crosses it, his presidency could be in peril. “If you try to shut down the special counsel, we can’t rule out impeachment...”; “If you start issuing pardons to yourself and your family members, we may have no choice...” The best-case scenario envisioned by such critics, as Jamelle Bouie notes, is that the Republicans’ threats will cause the president to back down:

Donald Trump often floats ideas before takes action, testing boundaries before he crosses lines. We don’t know if his recent statements and inquiries about the Russian investigation are part of that pattern, but we also know he may back off if shown the backlash he would face. If Republicans want to preclude a major showdown with the president, they can reaffirm those boundaries as they exist … Already, Republican lawmakers have worked with Democrats to put Russian sanctions into law, a directly oppositional move toward Trump. They can also make selective threats about impeachment to make clear there is behavior they will not tolerate.

But impeachment threats wouldn’t necessarily just be about getting tough on Trump—they could also be a way for congressional Republicans to hold themselves accountable. After all, it’s easy to rationalize keeping your head down and staying quiet while a scandal engulfs the White House. It becomes harder to let yourself off the hook if you’re publicly on the record saying that this particular scandal would be an impeachable offense—and legislators can justify tough votes to angry constituents by saying that they’re bound by their public commitments.

For conflict-averse politicians, that might sound like an argument against the line-in-the-sand approach. But for Republicans looking to set limits on this president, it may possess a certain appeal.

Source: What More Do Trump's Critics Want Republicans to Do? Source: What More Do Trump's Critics Want Republicans to Do?

#theatlantic

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viralhottopics · 8 years ago

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Passion is overrated 7 habits that you need instead

Image: Shutterstock / ChingChing

Its common wisdom. Near gospel really, and not just among young people and founders. Across generational lines, sentiments like those from Steve Jobs 2005 commencement at Stanford have been engraved into our collective consciousness:

The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.

In other words, follow your passion. Theres just one problem: Follow your passion is dangerous advice.

Thats a troubling claim, but it comes straight from Cal Newports investigation into the details of how passionate people like Steve Jobs really got started as well as what scientists say predicts happiness and fuels great accomplishment.

Newports not alone. In recent years, a host of leaders, academics, and entrepreneurs have all come to the same startling conclusion: nearly everything youve been told about following your passion is wrong.

Here are seven habits you need instead.

1. Not passion, purpose

Ryan Holiday, author of Ego Is the Enemy:

Your passion may be the very thing holding you back from power or influence or accomplishment. Because just as often, we fail with no, because of passion. [P]urpose deemphasizes the I. Purpose is about pursuing something outside yourself as opposed to pleasuring yourself.

Until about a century ago, passion was a dirty word. Classical philosopher like Socrates and Marcus Aurelius saw passion as a liability not an asset: an insatiable and destructive force. Why?

Chiefly because passion is dangerously self-centered. In fact, our own modern descriptions of passion betray this inward bend: I want to [blank]. I need to [blank]. I have to [blank]. In most cases, whatever word finishes those sentences regardless of how well meaning it might be is overshadowed by the first.

Purpose, on the other hand, is about them, not me. It reorients our focus onto the people and causes were trying to reach, serve, help, and love. In The Happiness Hypothesis, psychologist Jonathan Haidt describes this pursuit as a striving to get the right relationships between yourself and others, between yourself and your work, and between yourself and something larger than yourself. If you get these relationships right, a sense of purpose and meaning will emerge.

Passion makes us bigger. Purpose connects us to something bigger and in doing so makes us right sized.

2. Not passion, picking

Shaa Wasmund, author of Stop Talking, Start Doing:

No is a far more powerful word than Yes. Every Yes said out of obligation or fear takes time away from the things and people we love. When an opportunity appears connected with your passion, its even trickier. Instead of snatching up everything that might get your closer to the life you want, give yourself the space to pick carefully.

Good is the enemy of great. Thats how Jim Collins put it anyway. Learning to say No is easily one of the most vital skills we can cultivate. And yet, even if youve mastered No to the obvious stuff, passion rears its head.

The blinding effect of passion leads us unthinkingly into projects and meetings that, in truth, are dead ends. Worse, they sap time and energy that would otherwise move us forward. When Tim Ferriss asked journalist Kara Swisher what message shed put on a billboard for millions to see, her answer was a single word, Stop.

And thats what picking is all about: slow down, pause, evaluate, weigh, and only then make a clear-headed choice. Picking involves, first, putting a time buffer on our decisions, particularly decisions that appear connected with your passion. Second, running our choices by an objective third party: a friend or colleague who can call out our blind spots.

Sleep on it. Reach out. The sun will rise tomorrow. And be ruthless with your Nos.

3. Not passion, practice

Angela Duckworth, author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance:

After youve discovered and developed interest in a particular area, you must devote yourself to the sort of focused, full-hearted, challenge-exceeding-skill practice that leads to mastery. You must zero in on your weaknesses, and you must do so over and over again, for hours a day, week after month after year.

We all love shortcuts. The allure of getting more by doing less is seductive. But are there times when doing more equals more? Absolutely.

The classic illustration comes from David Bayles and Ted Orlands Art and Fear where a ceramics teacher divided his class into two groups. The first was told theyd be graded on quality. The other, quantity. To get an A, the quantity group was required to produce fifty pounds of clay pots. Not exactly an artistically inspired assignment. And yet, when grading time came, a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity.

What accounted for this reversal of expectations?

Easy: while the quality group held back laboring under perfectionism the quantity group got busy. They practiced. And thats good news. If greatness came down to passion or worse, talent then itd be reserved for only a select few. Practice means greatness is doable one tiny step after another.

4. Not passion, planning

Liran Kotzer, CEO of Woo.io:

Passion is indeed very important, but what most people don’t know is whats needed to achieve their true potential. Whether its to acquire new skills, get a promotion, or achieve what they want, it all starts with having a plan based on real data and real-world options.

The only word less sexy than practice is planning. And yet planning is a golden thread woven through the lives of artists, leaders, and entrepreneurs alike. The trick here is that plans need not be grandiose. Rather, they shouldnt be.

Optimism is wonderful when it comes to our dreams. However, when it comes to whats next the nitty-gritty actions thatll get us there optimism kills. Infected with passion, our plans lose touch with reality. We overestimate strengths and underestimate challenges. Beyond the real data and real-world options, we build castles in the sky. Thats one of the reasons platform like Woo, which lets you get feedback from companies and headhunters anonymously, are so valuable.

Where passion disconnects us from reality, planning especially planning of the SMART goal and number-crunching variety drives home the true state of affairs.

That true state rescues us from false expectations, show stoppers, and resentment. As a good friend of mine likes to say, The question when youre trying to bring a dream into reality shouldnt be, What going to go right? It should be, Whats going to go wrong?

5. Not passion, positioning

Jason Stone, founder of Millionaire Mentor Inc.:

Passion can only take you so far. After that, if you don’t have the skills, the tools, the resources, the knowledge, and the track-record to move forward, take risks, and expand. Otherwise, you wont be able to position yourself as an authority. Positioning is key to make sure you are ready when opportunity strikes!

Humans are associative creatures. We think and act not in isolation but by comparing and contrasting.

The basic approach of positioning, wrote Al Ries and Jack Trout in Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, is not to create something new and different, but to manipulate whats already up there in the mind, to retie the connections that already exist. This is especially true when it comes to how other people see us.

Passionate people often come off as self-inflated. Theyre legends in their own minds. Positioning means leveraging who you are and what youve done as a springboard to whats next. It embraces the associate nature of other people and while it still leaves room for confidence acknowledges that how others perceive us is more real, at least to them, than how we see ourselves.

6. Not passion, peripheral

Troy Osinoff, author of My Bad Parent: Do As I Say, Not as I Did:

People that think they completely understand their world are the most susceptible to overlook new opportunities. Peripheral is about establishing an unwavering curiosity to use your existing knowledge in uncovering new patterns and trends both for the sake of your personal development as well as the success of your business or career.

Passion makes us myopic. We become so focused on the desire inside us, we lose sight of whats around us. Objectivity the ability to see the world as it truly is atrophies in the blinding light of passion.

Adopting a peripheral perspective forces us to examine the margins. It widens our view. Rather than rush headlong into disaster, were able to spot not just the pitfalls but the opportunities we would have otherwise missed.

How? By cultivating curiosity. Questions like, What am I missing? What am I ignoring? Who could give me a fresh take? are vital in every area of life. Likewise, so is putting ourselves in new situations, reading books outside our passions, and intentionally pursuing people who have nothing to do with what it is we think we want.

7. Not passion, perseverance

Brian D. Evans, founder of Influencive and Inc. 500 Entrepreneur:

The person who calls themselves a student is more a master than those who try to wear the title. Get up when you get knocked down. Come back stronger, faster, and (above all) smarter. The constant desire to learn and overcome has helped me achieve everything. You must persevere.

Although it might sound odd, perseverance is as much about putting in effort as it is battling ego. Drunk on passion, masters are doomed to repeat failures in the name of pushing through. In contrast, students do more than hone their craft; they learn from their mistakes.

Asked if the Patriots historic comeback in Super Bowl LI was his greatest game ever, Tom Brady replied: [W]hen I think of an interception return for a touchdown, some other missed opportunities in the first 37, 38 minutes of the game, I dont really consider playing a good quarter-and-a-half, plus overtime as one of the best games ever but it was certainly one of the most thrilling.

Certainly Brandy persevered, and itd be nice if that guaranteed success. But sometimes you wont come back to win it. At least, not in the moment. Jobs will be lost. Pitches turned down. Relationships ended. And reviews harsh.

Failure, however, isnt just an inevitable stepping stone toward success. Rejection is part of success itself. As Louis CK put it to a budding comedian, The only road to good shows is bad ones. Just go start having a bad time and, if you dont give up, you will get better.

Is passion a bad thing?

Understood rightly, no. But as the be-all-and-end-all? Yes.

Cal Newports prescription was skill: passion is the result of excellence, not its source.

Far from a magic bullet, passion can mislead us, blind us, and even turn us in on ourselves. Newport was right: Follow your passion might just be terrible advice. Thankfully, these seven habits put passion in its place so that the fire Jobs spoke of doesnt burn out but endures.

Aaron Orendorff is the founder of iconiContent and a regular contributor at Entrepreneur, Lifehacker, Fast Company, Business Insider and more. Connect with him about content marketing (and bunnies) on Facebook or Twitter.