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cassatine · 6 years ago

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Why don't you like Jordan Peterson? What did he ever do to you?

Oooh boy. I’d redirect you to the Ressource Page on him I already posted a link to, where you can find much better analyses than I can provide, as well as much documentation on the things he has to say – but I suppose that’s not what you’re asking for.

(I wish you hadn’t asked. I’ve seen the kind of harassment sent to people who criticize Peterson. But you did, so here comes A Rant.)

To start with: what he did or didn’t do to me, specifically, is irrelevant. To illustrate that point – let’s say your school has two bullies. One of them bullies you, the other doesn’t and instead targets other people. Is this second bully more likeable because he leaves you alone? Or is this second bully as dislikeable as the one who does bully you? Are they any less of a bully because you escape their attention?

It’s not about what Peterson did to me, it’s about the ideas he advocates for, the way he profits from his followers, the harm he does other people, his bad scholarship – and more importantly, the fact that he is a gateway to the alt-right for many. He’s replied to this specific concern, for example here, by saying he does not support the alt-right, that he’s in fact stopped many on their path to it. “Read the comments on my videos,” he says, before deflecting by launching in a tirade against comments criticizing him.

I did read the comments and certainly there is some, ahem, strongly-worded criticism from people of all political stripes, but there’s also a bunch of people advocating for a white ethnostate, among other niceties. Peterson’s followers do not all belong to the alt-right, just as not everyone in the alt-right likes him.

But if we step outside his YT channel, there’s an incredible number of reposted videos, on all kinds of channels. Some are mocking: “here’s Peterson speaking nonsense as usual.” Some are very much alt-right channels, and thanks to the magic of YT algorithms, the more those are watched, the more you’re proposed videos by more extreme people. Stepping away from YT altogether, and delving into alt-right and manosphere forums and sites, links to Peterson’s videos are not a rare occurrence.

And yet, he does not believe he has been co-opted by the alt-right to any significant degree.

I find the claim dubious (and the formulation interesting – “any significant degree”). I find the fact that he pretty much always deflects to his bête noire, the left “far more gripped by totalitarian spirit” than the rest of the political spectrum (and yes, that includes the alt-right) even more dubious. Not only the claim itself, but the way Peterson uses it to turn the tables. ‘I don’t think I was co-opted by the alt-right,’ he says, ‘and anyway the real problem is the totalitarian left.’

Polarization is also a problem, he says, and that I can easily agree with. I can also agree with the idea that having conversations with people who hold very different views is a good thing, and that for this to happen one must be prepared to listen.

I do, however, doubt that Peterson is himself prepared to listen. He has shown many times that he rejects any and all criticism, instead explaining it away as coming from the ‘totalitarian left’ and rooted in Cultural Marxism© – basically framing it as invalid. To have the kind of conversation he speaks of, both sides must be prepared to make concessions, to agree to disagree, to accept one might not see the full picture, and yes, to accept that one might be wrong on some points. You can’t have this kind of conversation with someone who wants to win, with someone who deeply, absolutely believes they know better, and that anyway the other side is a problem, and not a small one, nope, more the kind that will lead civilization to its doom and also the gulag.

I did listen. I read much criticism of Peterson, but I also listened to his videos, I read some of his stuff, and I do not believe he is the listening type. I’m pretty sure I could never have an actual conversation with him, for a very simple reason: he would consider me a Cultural Marxist©, a member of the oh-so-dangerous totalitarian left – and reject everything I might say on these grounds.

The notion of Cultural Marxism© in fact allows him to brush away much of the criticism directed at his ideas: if someone were, say, to criticize his unfalsifiable claim that “Faith in God is a prerequisite for all proof” by arguing that’s it’s built on a deep misunderstanding of Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem, then he’d just have to argue it’s the critic that misunderstand Gödel because Cultural Marxism©. If someone were to say Jordan Peterson Doesn’t Understand Nazism, and actually has his facts wrong on the matter then that critic would be the one not understanding because Cultural Marxism©. If someone were to say Peterson didn’t even understand what Canada’s Bill C-16 entailed, it wouldn’t be because they actually understood the bill, but because Cultural Marxism©. If someone were to say he’s wrong about the pay gap – well, you can guess.

(There is another reason why Peterson Is Never Wrong, and that’s because his usual argumentative strategy is never actually saying what it is he means, which means he can always fall back on being misunderstood and misinterpreted. If someone were to say his comments on “enforced monogamy” amount to a careful defence of natalist policies, and go so far as to reference those totalitarian regimes he says he is fascinated and revulsed by with, say, the Lebensborn program and the Bund Deutscher Mädel, or Decree 770 – well, he’d just have to say that’s not what he advocates for. Of course it’s not. He just circles around the notion, and if our someone were to mention things that happened, things that were documented, things Peterson will never talk about because women have never been oppressed, not ever – well, that’s an undue, unfair parallel; from him to the Lebensborn, there is after all quite a stretch. Although I don’t see how it’s a more unlikely one than, say, “using gender-neutral pronouns will lead to the gulag.”

Probably because Cultural Marxism©.)

And let’s be real, it’d be hard for me to have a productive conversation with someone who buys into Cultural Marxism© in any case – especially when they describe themselves as fascinated and revulsed by totalitarianism. For someone who has so much to say (and much that is factually wrong) about Nazism, Peterson seems strangely unaware that Cultural Marxism© is nothing but the contemporary version of Cultural Bolshevism©, and that it’s most dear to… the alt-right.

Peterson appeals to some portions of the alt-right because much of what he has to say is eerily similar to their own arguments: the destructive, doom-leading influence of Cultural Marxism©, obviously; intelligence differences having a biological (ie racial) basis; the naturalness of hierarchies dominated by white men; most if not any of his statements on The Woman Problem, etc.

The alt-right, however, has solutions for all these problems, and that’s where the love story stops. Peterson does not give solutions. He will tell you that society’s refusal to acknowledge biology-rooted differences in intelligence is a problem, a big one, an enormous one, and he will stop there. He will tell you that what women really want is to be dominated, that they are socialized to believe otherwise, that it’s wrong, and he might go so far as to propose that the solution to the Elliot Rodger and Alek Minassian of the world might just be enforced monogamy, but he will not advocate for it directly. And because he doesn’t take that last, seemingly logical step, some on the alt-right hate him. He is a traitor to the cause, a sell-out.

Does it matter whether Peterson is affiliated to or worried by the alt-right? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe we should in fact focus on other things. Like the fact that he is not afraid of a little lie, like that time he pretended to have been inducted in a First Nation tribe – a relatively common tactic: “i’ve been inducted in (x)”, “some of my ancestors were (x)”, “some of my followers are (x)” is frequently used as a way to shield oneself from criticism coming either from members of (x) or criticism addressing one’s stance towards (x). One of the problems with this is it rests on the (usually unsaid) assumption that all members of (x) share the very same views and values. See outgroup homogeneity effect.

It doesn’t reflect well on him that he lied about it, but even if it had been true, it wouldn’t have made his ideas any less racist, no more than it would have given him the right to speak for First Nation Canadians.

Oh wait, I probably need to back up the racism claim.

Here are Peterson and Stefan Molyneux, another altogether awful dude. Peterson is dead wrong from the start – intelligence isn’t the best predictor of “life success, economically,” neither is conscientiousness (which needed to be mentioned otherwise his point about meritocracy would make no sense at all), the two don’t automatically come together, though of course any argument I could make would have to be rejected on the grounds of Cultural Marxism©. Anyway, what follows is typical: Peterson takes care to mention that “this is where some the uglier elements of science become germane,” which allows him to distance himself from what he’s about to say, establishing he’s only relating what science indisputably shows and that he acknowledges The Ugly. He adds it’s “that which no one would want to be the case,” reinforcing this distance. That thing no one wants to be true but is science, he continues, is that there are “profound and virtually irremediable differences in people’s cognitive performances, and that those differences have a very solid biological and heritable basis. No one wants to hear that. They don’t want to hear that it’s biological, they don’t want to hear it’s heritable, they don’t want to hear it’s permanent, they don’t want to hear that it’s irremediable and that it actually has a practical consequence.”

(“Intelligence” is a much more complex thing than Peterson seems to believe. It’s determined by complex genetics and environmental factors; the question of heritability is also way more complex than that; the permanence thing refers, I believe, to IQ and that too is more complex than “it’s permanent and irremediable” – “irremediable,” btw, is pejorative in this context.)

You can guess why no one wants to hear it – not because Peterson is oversimplifying and misrepresenting the results of contemporary research on cognition, not because he’s hedging close to Social Darwinism. Nah, it’s because of Cultural Marxism©’s doom-leading influence, obviously.

Molyneux is quick to expand, distancing himself in similar ways to Peterson’s from what he’s saying-but-not-saying, which is that ethnicity and gender are basically the main factors in intelligence difference. Peterson downplays but doesn’t disavow the gender factor, explaining it as “relatively trivial.” Ethnicity, however, is a whole other matter, and he mentions Ashkenazi Jews having an advantage over other Caucasians – a reference to Sam Harris’ The Bell Curve, one of the go-to works for people trying to bring back scientific racism.

Peterson brings back his earlier idea that intelligence is the best predictor of “life success, economically,” and explains that Ashkenazi Jews’ intelligence advantage is “sufficient to account for their radical overrepresentation in positions of authority and influence and productivity,” no actual statistics given. The very terminology is dubious – “radical overrepresentation,” not “greater representation,” or anything more neutral-sounding, and it’s easy to go from here to there, even easier when you remember the historical roots of the notion of Cultural Marxism©, but of course Peterson is quick to distance himself again: “just so it’s absolutely clear, I am not saying [this overrepresentation is] a bad thing.” He’s not being antisemitic is what he means. He’s only saying there’s a real reason for it – ie the biological basis of intelligence difference, which since we live in meritocracies (we don’t, and considering the accent he puts on the intelligence factor and its inheritability, it’s not quite the good term anyway) accounts for “life success, economically.”

There’s more of the same, but basically we go back to the idea that no one wants to admit it’s True, All Of It, and of course, that it’s a problem. It’s a problem because in our more and more “cognitively complex societies” there’s less and less room for the “gainful employment” of the bottom ten percent. The human capital of these ten percent is too low, if you will (of course how much that should even matter depends on whether or not you believe productivity is an important factor to determine individual ‘worth’), making them at best worthless and at worst a burden. Peterson unsurprisingly insists he doesn’t have a solution to this unsolvable problem, which might be sincere, or might be because he’s aware that historically, the solution is eugenics, and of course that’s not something he’d ever advocate for.

Just to make it clear, under all the rhetorical flourishes, this is two white men saying white men are more intelligent than everyone else because Science, but the “science” they refer to is either held as pretty much pseudoscience (the Bell Curve) by the scientific community, or criticized to a degree (IQ, which is insufficient a tool to approach all areas of cognitive abilities, among other critiques) and misrepresented anyway, because neither Peterson nor Molyneux give a whit about what The Science really shows, they just want to make it like their prejudices are rooted in fact: they’re not racists (remember the ever-important ethnicity factor in intelligence difference), they’re just pointing out undeniable facts. They even say it’s ugly, what else could we ask for?

Some awareness of this, maybe:

[Moreover], the question of the relation, if any, between race and intelligence has very little scientific importance (as it has no social importance, except under the assumptions of a racist society) … As to social importance, a correlation between race and mean I.Q. (were this shown to exist) entails no social consequences except in a racist society in which each individual is assigned to a racial category and dealt with not as an individual in his own right, but as a representative of this category … In a non-racist society, the category of race would be of no greater significance [than height]. The mean I.Q. of individuals of a certain racial background is irrelevant to the situation of a particular individual, who is what he is. Recognizing this perfectly obvious fact, we are left with little, if any, plausible justification for an interest in the relation between mean I.Q. and race, apart from the ‘justification’ provided by the existence of racial discrimination.

(Another thing Peterson was dead wrong about, but I think he knows it, is when he says no one wants to hear that. There are plenty of people who want to hear exactly that, and they love people like Peterson, who can give a veneer of scientific credibility to their prejudices. He should know, since they make up a vocal portion of his fandom.)

Maybe I should get into The Woman Problem as well. I did mention it. Peterson has a lot to say about women. Sometimes he frames it as questions, which allows him to say “I didn’t really say it, I’m just asking questions, you numbskull.” (paraphrased). There’s that time he asked why do so few women watch my videos? Which I’m only mentioning because considering what follows, it’s hilarious, and I kinda need a laugh at this point. There’s that time he asked could it be that women are outraged because they crave infant contact and society refuse them that? There’s the worse do feminists avoid criticizing Islam because they crave masculine dominance? There’s the blame-shifting can men and women work together in the workplace? He actually answers this one, and the answer is women and men can’t work together because we (men) “don’t know what the rules are”. Which rules is unclear (maybe “don’t harass women?”) but no matter, Peterson has some to propose: “no makeup in the workplace” should definitely be one, since it’s “sexually provocative”. Women paint their lips red because “lips turn red during sexual arousal”. High heels are also reprehensible since they “exaggerate sexual attractiveness.” Of course, he’s not saying women shouldn’t do it, just that it’s, you know, what they do. Kind of like they’re asking to be harassed, honestly. Might that be because of that craving for masculine dominance?

More pearls that should make it clear why he’s overall more popular among men: Women are characterized by “higher levels of trait negative emotion (neuroticism)” in contrast to, of course, men. (A comment on a study of online harassment posted by James Demore, who managed to get fired from Google for a sexist memo; you can contrast his description of working at Google to the testimonies coming to light with the Google Walkout.) Women that don’t want a child by their 30s? There’s something that “isn’t quite right with the way they’re constituted or looking at the world”. More cringy comments ensue. Looping back to women’s craving for masculine dominance: Testosterone, nothing’s more appealing to women. Some appalling comments on men too. Rhetoric eerily similar as that of MRAs/Incels’.

It’s all Very Serious, so I’ll focus on something that’s kind of funny in this neverending deluge of awful: Peterson’s deep, deep dislike of Frozen. Yes, Disney’s Frozen. He didn’t like the propaganda:

Frozen apparently “served a political purpose: to demonstrate that a woman did not need a man to be successful. Anything written to serve a political purpose (rather than to explore and create) is propaganda, not art. Frozen was propaganda, pure and simple. Beauty and the Beast (the animated version) was not.” He’s expounded on that, explaining it was “produced for ideological reasons” as an anti-Beauty and the Beast, which is “inappropriate”. He did like Moana, but only because Moana allied herself with this “uncivilized, rather masculine force”

I’m sorry but that’s hilarious. I mean, there’s two main male characters in Frozen (not counting Olaf, who is a snowman), and one of them reveals himself to be Bad News, but the other is… kind of instrumental to the “success” of the female characters? His name is Kristoff, but he doesn’t count because… Well, Peterson doesn’t mention him, so I’m not sure why he gets erased from the narrative, but if I was to hazard a guess it’s because he is Not A Good Example Of Masculinity. Too nice, too bumbling, too… beta-y. Definitely not enough of an “uncivilized, rather masculine force.” (Though even that seems debatable, considering his way of life, but whatever.)

I wonder what he thought of Brave. Haven’t found anything on that one. Anyway, assuming Frozen is an anti-BatB, why is it inappropriate? Why, because BatB is the “fundamental hero myth for women”, which he defines as “find a monster that wants to be a good man and help him be a good man”. Don’t go for the “underdeveloped, harmless thing”, ladies, go for the monster. He admits “that’s a scary thing to do,” but since the choice is between a monster and a “castrated man…”

(On Peterson and myth – I will never stop if I go there, so please read Homer and Hatred: On Jordan Peterson’s Mythology; Jordan Peterson & Fascist Mysticism – to be followed by Umberto Eco’s essay on fascism; Jordan Peterson’s Tired Old Myths; Jordan Peterson’s Murky Maps of Meaning; Elwood’s The Politics of Myth: A Study of CG Jung, Mircea Eliade, which is not about Peterson, but considering the influence of Jung/Campbell/Eliade on his own approach of myth I still recommend it.)

Please note the dehumanizing language (thing), and of course the eerily similarity with MRAs/Incels’ rhetoric.

On the manosphere forums, you can find praise for Peterson and just under it, someone who thinks throwing acid into women’s faces is the best idea since the wheel. Or something much, much worse. I wonder if Peterson is wilfully blind to it, or if he’s exploiting it. I wonder why he’s so afraid of Cultural Marxism©, when so many of his fans fantasizes about killing women, killing Jews, killing Muslims, killing everyone that’s not them and unapologetically admire those who act on that hate. I wonder if it matters. I wonder if someday soon someone will follow in the footpaths of Elliot Rodgers and Alek Minassian, and leave a manifesto quoting Jordan Peterson. I wonder how we’ll explain it away. How we will explain it away. There will be a girl, or maybe a woman. She will have rejected this newest killer, she will have worn makeup and heels. It will be a sad story, because if she’d accepted the monster, if she’d been the Beauty to his Beast, we’d have avoided a tragedy. We won’t say, it was her fault, we’ll just insinuate it. Somewhere, someone will say; Jordan Peterson is so right. Click for my essay on Why Women Are Evil And Also Stink (Because Vaginas Are Dirty) And Not Fully Human!

In Peterson’s deluge of words, there’s some decent, common-sense advice. Stand up straight, it’ll do wonders for your self-confidence (and accessorily your spine). This you know already, as you already know everything I’m about to tell you, like the fact that, dear men, the world is doing you many a wrong by trying to convince you that we should all be equal. We are not. Fight for the reestablishment of your nature-given right to dominance.

But don’t forget to clean your goddamn room first.

In another timeline, he’d just be one of a bunch of people on my list of utter quacks, along with so-called Ancient Aliens theorists, Campbell, and a looot of anthropologists and prehistorians from the nineteenth century (an era Peterson could have easily belonged to, and probably been happier in, what with all the scientific racism), among others.

Peterson earns his place on the list because he has some very dodgy ideas about The Past (let’s not forget(1) He can’t tell you how he knows that, but The Ancients depicted the DNA molecule. (2) More examples, and again he “really believes” that they are ancient representations of DNA, it’s just “very complicated to explain why” (3) Oh but wait, he doesn’t “believe” that, he just has his “suspicions.”) and Human Nature (not even that accepted a concept, btw). Look, anyone telling you “that’s how it was Before hence it’s what’s Natural and how it should be again” is lying to you. The Before is a deeply political territory, and the things we chose to tell, the very way we tell them, the parts we cherish above all others – that says as much about us as it does about the Before (and often enough, more). People who say “that’s how it was; that’s what’s natural; that’s how it should be” are misrepresenting the past, cherry-picking the bits that support their arguments. What guides their choices is nothing but Ideology – which is what they’re really trying to sell you.

Be wary of people who instrumentalize the past to sell you something, be it the Lebensraum or communism as the true State of Nature. Or a specific, “natural,” model of social hierarchy.

Which brings me to the lobster. Why, of all things, does Peterson pick the lobster? I don’t know that, and neither does anyone, because he never explained it. A shared common ancestor in no way justifies it: if we look far back enough, we share common ancestors with pretty much anything living. And the lobster is such an incongruous choice. Not a primate, not even a mammal.

I have no doubt Peterson could have spun something out of the Bonobos, and point to actual Science. That’d make a modicum of sense at least. But no. Fucking lobsters. Even my nineteenth century dudes would have brought Statistics before going there. They’d have tried to argue that studies showed the majority of all things that breathe favour a specific social organisation over all others, and they’d have given a variety of examples. Among which the lobster, maybe. They’d have explained Mantis religiosa and other inconvenient counterexamples away. Peterson’s book, it’s true, is theoretically a self-help book, but still, he’s an academic, and yet he goes straight for the lobster.

Part of me is disappointed. He could do so much better than lobsters. But why would he, since so much of the reading material is produced by those oh-so-evil, doom-leading Cultural Marxists©? Why even bother with standard academic practices when those were set by the same Cultural Marxists©? It’s all worthless.

(That might be why he didn’t even try to use the Bonobos or another species of primates, to go back to my previous example. After all the argument that they’d be a better choice is in part based on research produced by disciplines infested by this so-called Cultural Marxism©. The lobster, on the other hand, is a massive fuck you to those evildoers.)

But. Peterson isn’t the Flat Earth society. He didn’t write the 21st century version of the Telliamed. He didn’t write a parody like Blueprints for a Sparkling Tomorrow: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, which I’m mentioning because one of its authors wrote some really good stuff on Peterson.

He’s not funny. He is A Very Serious Man, peddling Very Serious Notions.

#anon #ask #i should probably reread and clarify and expand #but the more time i spend on this #the more i'm afraid the worst portions of his fandom will send me not so nice messages #so fuck it here it is #in all its unedited unorganized glory #and incompleteness #this is an anti jordan peterson blog

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kpopkrappykraftbin · 7 years ago

Text

It’s Okay to Cry

Another Jun x Oc... or Joshua x Oc... we’ll see how this goes

college turned zombie au

its past 3 a.m. someone plz send halp

Chapter 1

Word Count: 3778

Chapters: 1, 2, 3

Masterlist

There are certain things you remember for the rest of your life. Your mother’s smile; your father’s hugs; the feeling of sunshine on your skin. You remember living in your happy home going day in and day out in blissed mediocrity. Studying after school Monday through Friday; meeting up with friends on the weekend. Worrying about things like your next in class presentation or whether or not your crush saw you trip on your way to class. All the stupid things you can’t wait to get over after you “grow up” and figure it all out. That’s what happens when you get out of high school, right? You figure it all out and your life magically falls into place.

In your case, it fell apart, though you were not alone.

Shortly after graduation, you enrolled into a college. It was nothing special, but it was your next step to becoming your own person and striking out on your own, even if only a bit. You had decided to live on campus to gain some independence, even if you were only a half hour away from your parents, you were still on your own kinda�� right? Getting yourself sorted and learning how to use the laundromat was your first obstacle but by the end of the first semester you knew exactly which washers worked and which made your clothes smell like celery. And you almost never got lost… anymore… usually… it was a big campus.

It was an unassuming Tuesday after class that you were studying at a cafe in the student union. Typically you would return to your dorm room after class but you were in need of some caffeine and your sweet tooth couldn’t resist. Being that it was only around 1:30, the hall that was usually crowded with ping-pong players and sports game watchers was empty, the wide flat screen t.v. hooked on the wall was playing news at a barely audible volume. You settled on the small couch in front of it opening your laptop to start procrastinating your homework. It was about 10 minutes into watching pointless youtube videos that you heard something that caught your attention.

Breaking News: And here we are at Charity’s Hospital, where a family of four were admitted earlier this morning showing signs of fever and delirium. We were recently informed that one of the children attacked and bit a staff member unprovoked. So far he has shown no signs of being infected by the bite. But the family only seems to be becoming more rabid as staff try to transport them to a safer more fortified facility to monitor their health condition. We were lucky enough to catch the doctor who was attacked only a half hour ago and ask a few questions…

Thinking back to it now, that would be the way the media unknowingly revealed the first case of the disease. A glamorized version of a fatal condition. From then on, more and more people with symptoms of fever and disorientation appeared and most of them fell into the same aggressive, unreasonable savageness-- they always bit. A mother at the zoo: launched herself at her best friend effectively ripping the skin from the other woman’s jaw before being tackled by security and tazed-- a coincidence-- the media said. A father at home waiting on dinner bit the pizza delivery man hard enough to puncture muscle on the teenager’s forearm before the kid ran away-- an odd occurrence possibly related to some disease-- the media touted. A young boy at school: bit off the ear of a classmate during storytime. Trust the endangerment of small children to really get the media going. A national crisis they claimed. Well, they were almost right.

No one ever was able to figure out what happened to the biters after the incident. They were always somehow detained with no public record or eye witness accounting. The victims were usually gone within the next few days of whatever interviews a few news stations could get a hold of. With the nation’s public asking for answers and the common people doing their own research, it was soon brought to everyone’s attention that this was not a national crisis but a worldwide pandemic. People all over the world reported having seen others acting disoriented, some even said hungry one moment and rabid the next. Different nations were handling the “disease” differently. Some countries tried to treat them as patients in designated wards of hospitals, some countries kept all the infected at a camp for supposed treatment where those who were to look after them wore hazmat suits and the patients remained chained up similarly the animals they acted like; some countries, executed on sight. You can only imagine the outrage the government and hospitals faced from advocates of the sick.

“Where do they think they get off treating actual human beings like that?” ranted your roommate and friend, Leena. “They couldn’t get away with that if they treated animals the same! It’s wrong, they’re people and they have feelings. This is an infringement on their right to no cruel and unusual punishment! And they didn’t even do anything wrong! They’re sick!”

You knew Leena had strong feelings on the subject, and you could see where she was coming from. Some of the tried treatments and accommodations for the diseased weren’t exactly human health and happiness friendly. But at the same time, as far as you knew, the patients were savage and couldn’t be reasoned with. Letting them roam free would at best get other people injured-- at worst? Spread the disease. It was well intentioned people like your roommate that was causing trouble with protests about letting those with the disease out or trying to get more personalized treatment to each patient. So far none of the protests had gotten violent but you could only suppose when that would happen, and it would.

You had convinced your parents that you were sure you were just fine staying on campus amidst all the protesting chaos, and that you wouldn’t get in the middle of it. Besides a few protests a week and the new wariness around those with symptoms of something as simple as the common cold, and going without breakfast life on campus remained relatively normal. You were walking away from your last class of the day with your close classmate Joshua. A sweet, soft spoken boy with a mischievous side and a knack for somehow always taking better lecture notes than you.

He was rather good looking, but not your type, you couldn’t say he wasn’t nice to look at though. You didn’t blame his fangirls for falling for him. Your favorite part about him had been his smile. You couldn’t see it now. He always wore a face mask. The paranoia from the rabid sickness had struck deeply with your classmate. Along with the small mouth and nose cover, he always had a bottle of hand sanitizer on him and rarely touched anyone or anything he wasn’t sure was clean. It made you sad to see the changes the disease had caused to your friend without him even being directly affected. The only sign you got of his smile nowadays were tilting of his crescent shaped eyes creating a half moon eye smile.

You and Joshua managed to have a few classes together and coincidentally lived in the same living hall, so walking together wasn’t uncommon. After getting off the elevator for your floor, you and Joshua were nearly knocked down.

“Oh! Y/N! I’m so glad you’re here. I’m on my way to the protest in front of the hospital on Main and Calico, do you wanna go?” your roommate was practically vibrating with excitement, unfortunately you didn’t share the enthusiasm.

“Isn’t that the one with the biggest biters ward in the state?” Joshua uncharacteristically cut into the conversation, “ You really probably shouldn’t go, it could be dangerous if the protest gets out of hand.” he softly disputed looking at her sincerely.

Leena rolled her eyes at his use of slang. “Biters” being a derogatory term to the patients.

“That’s why I have to go” she brushed him off not unkindly “It’s the biggest violation of human rights in the state. We have to help these people.” she argued before checking the time on her cellphone. “Y/N, we have to go now if we wanna get there in time for the protest, are you coming?” she asked hopefully.

She didn’t want to go alone, but she would go with or without you. You hesitated. You didn’t want to go; you didn’t want her to go. But you knew she would and what if she needed someone to help her stay out of trouble when the police came to break it up? Joshua grabbed your hand in slight anxiety trying to anchor you there, safe at school. Your roommate didn’t seem to notice as she shifted her weight from one foot to another waiting for your answer.

“Not today” you told her apologetically.

She didn’t take offense, “No worries, I’ll catch you later then!” She waved before dashing to the stairwell, her small blue backpack bouncing against her back.

“I’m sorry. I just don’t like those protests. They worry me.” Joshua confided in you once you reached the door to your room.

“You and my parents both” you laughed to put your friend at ease, “Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on going anyways, I have special plans that couldn’t be rescheduled.”

“And those are?” He asked sensing your joking tone.

“Eating, binge watching netflix and sleeping.” you listed off in fake seriousness.

“Oh very important stuff then.” Joshua concluded “Mind if I join you for the first two activities?”

“Of course you’re welcome!” you exclaimed “but you gotta bring your own snacks.” you tacked the condition onto your invite.

“Alright. Will do. I’ll see you in, 20 minutes then?”

“Yep, come on over in your comfy clothes and bearing gifts of food.” you confirmed with him before unlocking your door. You gave him a quick wave that he returned before slipping through your door.

You took your time putting on some comfy pjs, a simple t shirt and sweatpants. Then you checked around your room to make sure no bras or panties were hanging out in the open. You and Joshua were close, but not that close. Having the room cleaned enough and having set up your laptop for the ultimate netflix experience, you went to wash off the day’s make up-- chances were, you would rub it off by the end of the night anyways. Walking back from the washroom you got out your secret stash of candy and chips. After some digging around you found a couple bags of popcorn and tossed one into the microwave. You settled on the bed letting the smell of buttery heaven surround you as you waited for your netflix buddy.

By the time you were shaking the second bag of popcorn into the bowl you had for you and Joshua to share, you heard a knock at your door.

“Come in!” you said loud enough to be heard.

“You should really lock the door even when you’re here” Joshua reprimanded you with a small smirk. He didn’t want to be bossy, but you knew he meant what he said.

“Okay, okay worrywart. I’ll lock the door more often. Now get over here so we can start our netflix marathon.” you demanded.

Joshua laughed and complied coming over to sit on you bed bouncing slightly.

“So what are we watching?” he asked as you plopped into place next to him a wide spread of snacks scattered around the two of you.

“Oh you know I was thinking ‘Zombeavers’, what do you think?” you hovered the mouse over the cover of the bikini clad girl who had a beaver between her legs.

“Ooh, perfect.” came the too happy, sarcastic reply.

After about 10 minutes of going back and forth on what to watch, you two decided to settle for ‘The Office’. Something that was entertaining but neither of you had a problem giving commentary throughout either. It was maybe 8 episodes into season one and quite possibly 8 boxes of candy that you passed out next to your friend. You slept so well you didn’t remember a single dream.

That was probably why you jumped out of your skin when heard a knock at your door. Joshua also stirred from his sleeping position next to you. You glanced at your computer to see the time was; 8:46 pm. Another knock. Joshua moved his legs so you could slide off the bed. You opened the door to see your hall resident assistant, Justin.

“Hi Y/N, is Leena in there with you too?” he asked peeking over your shoulder.

“No she went out earlier, She’ll probably be out a while longer.” you said.

Noticing the apparent apprehension in the RA’s shoulders, you felt the need to ask, “Why, is everything okay?”

He ignored your question, “After I leave, don’t answer the door for anybody, not even Leena. Do you understand?”

His command had you breaking out in a nervous sweat. What was going on? Why couldn’t you let anyone in? Especially your roommate.

“Both of you stay in your room here until me or the other RA, Samantha, get you. This door must stay closed and locked.”

“But Leena-”

“Don’t worry about Leena right now, we’ll get everything sorted tomorrow. Just stay inside with the doors locked.”

“Alright.” Joshua’s voice came from right behind your shoulder, making you jump slightly.

Looking back at your friend you saw him nod slightly to your RA before he closed the door for you, turning the lock into place. Turning to face him completely you saw a very stone faced Joshua. In fact he almost looked sick. He didn’t have his face mask on, but he wasn’t smiling. How you missed that smile.

“What’s going on Joshua?” you asked, trying to keep your voice from trembling. Something was very not right.

“I think you need to see this.” was all he said as he lead you by the wrist back to your laptop.

He had pulled up some web news site but you honestly couldn’t remember which. What you did remember was the headline.

PROTEST AT CHARITY’S HOSPITAL GONE WRONG: BITERS ESCAPE, ARE YOU SAFE?

Accompanying the article was a plethora of pictures from the protest. All of them depicting a handful at least of patients attacking police and protesters alike. The diseased looked worse than you remember seeing them the first time.

“They look almost…”

“Dead.” Joshua filled in for you. Looking just as grim as you felt.

“Wait, Leena, I need to call her maybe she got out and can still make it here before the lock all the doors-”

“Y/N” Joshua tried to softly interrupt you.

“Or she can find another place to sleep tonight, there’s plenty of hotels around, maybe she can stay there-” “Y/N” he tried again, slightly louder.

“O-o-or maybe she’s found some other friend’s house to stay at for the night already-”

“Y/N” at full volume, Joshua stopped your panicked monologue, “I don’t think” he took a deep breath, “I don’t think she got out.” he finished while pointing at one of the smaller pictures on the screen.

It was blurry, but there was no doubt: the small blue backpack only further confirmed it. That was Leena on the screen being attacked by a biter.

“No. no, no, no, no.” was all you could say hands coming up to cover your mouth. You thought you were going to be sick.

Joshua just wrapped his arms around you and held you. Trying to steady your emotions while swallowing his own mounting fear. At some point you started crying into Joshua’s shirt. He had smelled like soap and light aftershave. Clean. Alive. You don’t know when you stopped ugly sobbing and had resorted to silent constant tears. But it must have been quiet enough for you two to hear another knock on the door.

Both of you were startled. It couldn’t have been more than a few hours since Justin had come around telling everyone to stay locked in their rooms. You and Joshua looked at each other begging the question of what to do. Should you ask who was outside?

“Y/NNN” Leena’s voice slurred from outside. You raised half way off the bed before Joshua grabbed your forearm, shaking his head.

“Y/NN come on” Leena whined on the other side of the door. I’m tired and just want to go to bed. The protest was awful. I’m hungry.” she continued to beg from the other side of the door. Both you and Joshua were frozen.

“Really, Y/N, I know you can hear me I just wanna go to bed. I just need to grab a bite before die of starvation.”

You felt Joshua’s hand tighten slightly at her words.

“Y/N come on, open the door!” Leena emphasized her point with a solid kick to the door. “I really will starve if you don’t let me in! I’m so hungry and tired.” She complained angrily.

You waited with bated breath to see what she would do next. Something was definitely wrong with Leena. You were terrified. After a few seconds spent in anxiety filled silenced you heard another knock on the door, and then another, and another. The knocking turned to pounding and then an even louder thumping. Was she actually throwing herself at the door? Joshua guided you towards the back corner of the room, slightly standing in front of you. The noises stopped. Silence ensued. You grabbed the back of Joshua’s t shirt tightly.

Then came the jiggle of the door knob. She had a key. How could you be so stupid? Of course she had a key, she lived here too. And if she had a key, she could get in. Both you and Joshua had forgotten to latch the top safety chain. The doorknob turned. Why did everything seem like it was moving in slow motion, yet you had no power to move?

The door inched open slowly, “Y/N, Why wouldn’t you let me in?” Leena’s voiced slithered saccharinely from the crack of the open doorway. “Did you really want me to die?” the question hung suspended in air. In the silence all you could hear was your own heartbeat. “I’m sooo hungry.” Time started again as Leena burst through the door teetering faster than you expected towards you and Joshua.

Leena was sweating and pale. Her arms reached in front of you to get either of you. It was when she was nearly in front of you that Joshua moved. He dodged to the side narrowly missing your roommate. She didn’t seem to notice as she lunged for you. As much as you wanted to gape at your best friend’s back as he deserted you for your diseased roommate, your attention was snapped to her when she tackled you to the ground, hands pinning your shoulders down; teeth snapping in your face.

Now you and Leena were of similar size, making you think it was possible under normal circumstances for you two to be evenly matched. This was not normal circumstance. Where you had adrenaline, Leena had desperation. You could barely manage to keep her head far enough away from your body to not be bitten. And when she in turn started trying to bite any part of you in reach you started to panic, kicking vigorously from beneath her. You could feel your arms straining against her unyielding force. No words came from her mouth anymore, just guttural growls.

‘How could he leave me?’ You thought in hopelessness as you began to feel your arms fold. You stared into the deranged face of your once good friend and roommate, accepting that it would probably be the last thing you saw. You closed your eyes allowing the last couple tears of your to slip past your eyelashes.

A resounding wet crack made you pop them wide open.

You looked up the see Leena slack jawed, blood dripping from her mouth. Her head misshapen. She collapsed luckily just to the side of your body, face down. Your eyes following the dead weight.

“Y/N!” your gaze snapped to the owner of the voice. “We need to go somewhere else, now.” He said tightly, trying to keep his tone under control. Trying not to scare you, you realize in retrospect. “Now.”

There stood your Joshua holding a broken, bloodied closet bar in both hands. He was breathing as if he had just run a marathon and looked just as scared as you felt. But he was there. You scrambled up to follow him, whatever his plan may be. You wanted to get out of that damned dorm room now. Joshua quickly started to usher you out of the room, hand on your back. But something made your hair stand on end. You looked back. Leena was up and coming for whoever she could get her hands on. Joshua with his back turned was too slow to put up any defense. You were not.

You grabbed the closet bar from his hands and stuck is straight at her. Eyes closed waiting for impact. You felt a heavy jolt, but did not open your eyes until the choking sounds hit your ears. Opening your eyes slowly you saw what you had done. In front of you was an almost dead Leena. Surely on her way out. The bar through the base of her jaw and out the back of her skull. You stared at her eyes as the manic light dithered away and she went completely slack.

You jolted upright in your tent. Another memory turned night terror. You looked around the inside of your small survival tent, trying to even out your breathing. After over a year of traveling and killing off more biters than you could count. That day, that face still haunted you. Would you never forget? No. You knew.

There are certain things you never forget.

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lukman112blog-blog · 5 years ago

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Individual Workbook

The value of smart city relates to the creation of data that can be used to monitor, measure and manage urban life by making use of information in order to support with decision-making, anticipating and resolving problems while coordinating resources accordingly to help benefit the wider society (Shelton et al. 2014). The Superflux video about Luka, the Wifi Dog (Luka, the Wifi Dog, 2011) broadened my understanding of what smart city involves and how it can be utilized to provide opportunities for interactions and engagement amongst people within a society. For instance, the video offers an insight into a smarty city project in its early stages of development that looks into integrating pet animals with networked technologies as a way of enhancing the functionality of real pets through inserting a networked wifi microchip under the skin which therefore creates opportunities for personal hotspot, storing data and providing podcasts whereby a remote control can be used to identify and examine the data of a pet as well as having the data shared with other users.

As an initial step towards exploring and re imagining the design process for the smart city, I proposed four different design ideas which I thought were useful concepts, two of which I placed a great deal of emphasis into are augmented reality smart glasses of a specific brand that covers a number of applications and allows users to visually see and interact with their surroundings and a database environment which allows a user to store digital resources and materials via an app or data centre that can be shared with and be useful for other users. This can be educational related resources, health tips, game related tips, navigation, etc which can be accessed by other users within the database environment via an app or data centre.

The next objective towards progressing and realizing an ideal smart city that can benefit the wider society involved deciding on a theme to choose for the smart city which focused within the area of well-being and environment and therefore proposing further ideas based on that chosen theme. I had to think about the usefulness and why it matters, the past, how things were evolving and what can be done, how lives and the environment around us can transform, and lastly how each idea can evolve throughout the project while taking into consideration Critical Fabulation by Daniela Roser. Aside from the three different design ideas that I proposed, the fourth idea introduced by a group member had been expanded with reference to Critical Fabulation in order to understand design more broadly and reflecting on the example of weaving as a basis for storytelling to create a new approach for design by looking into alternative histories (Roser 2018).

For instance, the importance of trees ties back to the past and stories in which for centuries, tree lovers have planted and nurtured trees of all types including; elms, oaks, ginkgoes, magnolias, apples and spruces. However, tree lovers quickly learnt that certain individuals such as politicians see little value in trees and considering it as merely a useful resource solely for the purpose of producing board timbers while rejecting all other benefits that a tree may provide. Moving onto the early 2003, a group of individuals developed a free software suite known as i-Tree aimed at city foresters, urban planners and non-profit tree groups with the intention of quantifying the benefits and values of trees around the world. By 2006, a detailed report suggests that New York City’s 592,000 street trees ensured better energy savings, decrease in air pollution and reduction in storm water (Jonnes 2011).

As part of the design process, a probe pack had been used which involved designing a phone usage sheet indicating the types of activities that I engage with while using my Smartphone throughout the day at different periods of time as well as the frequency rate of Smartphone being used as shown below. The practice of using the probe pack required plotting the time that I have spent on the Smartphone into the phone usage sheet which indicates a variety of colours shaded in order to represent different activities showing high level of engagement in comparison to low level of engagement. Identifying the patterns shown in the phone activities sheet had informed me about the most popular activities as opposed to the least popular activities that I engage in while using my Smartphone which supported my creative thinking towards knowing what people may want as the sole purpose of this technique is to better understand the behavioural patterns of people in a park environment including the motives and intention as to why they use their Smartphone when visiting a park.

Incorporating a probe pack into the design approach with the objective of promoting creativity had proved to be valuable in exploring the design space. The use of the probe pack was part of a strategy for pursuing experimental design in a responsive way which addressed uncertainty about a common occurrence that had been observed in the parks where visitors were seen interacting with their Smartphone’s while sat at the bench or walking across the pavement and therefore understanding this concern was necessary in order to familiarize with the design space as although the probe pack did not directly lead to changes in design, it however stimulated thinking into other aspects of technology that can be included within the smart city(Gaver, Dunne & Pacenti 1999).

#Probe pack shows the use of different colours

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paulwilliamsinc · 5 years ago

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Snoring and Oral Health: What You Need to Know

https://paulwilliamsdds.com/snoring-and-oral-health-what-you-need-to-know/ According to the National Sleep Foundation, around 90 million Americans snore. And while it may seem like little more than an inconvenience, snoring can point to more serious issues. [1] In fact, numerous studies have shown that a lack of high-quality sleep can have a negative impact on key health factors, from weight gain to impaired cognitive function. [2] What’s more, snoring is probably the most obvious sign that you’re not sleeping well.

Why is Snoring So Bad?

Beyond being annoying for whoever’s sleeping next to you, snoring can be a sign of sleep apnea, a disorder that causes reduced airflow during sleep. This condition is more common than ever, with some studies estimating that one in two women have sleep apnea. There are two types of sleep apnea: Obstructive sleep apnea, in which the upper airway is blocked to a point that it significantly or completely stops airflow when you’re sleeping. And central sleep apnea, in which the brain doesn’t seem to send signals that the body needs to breathe. From an overall health perspective, this is bad news. According to the Mayo Clinic, sleep apnea can increase your risk for daytime sleepiness, difficulty concentrating, high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. [3] But recent research has found a direct relationship between sleep quality and oral health. A 2017 questionnaire study of 230 Indian dental students found that people who had poor oral health also tended to have more sleep disturbances and fatigue, while also determining that people who were more consistent with flossing also tended to be better rested. [4]

How Poor Sleep Impacts Oral and Dental Health

There’s a good chance that if you have obstructive sleep apnea, you’re grinding your teeth. A 2015 study linked the occurrences of teeth grinding to occurences of obstructive sleep apnea, suggesting that apnea could be a direct cause of some cases of bruxism. [5] Teeth grinding is one of the ways the body forces itself to breathe again. And while breathing is a good thing, teeth grinding can damage the teeth and the jawbone, causing gum recession, increasing the risk of cavities and tooth sensitivity, and sometimes causing chronic pain in the jaw itself. If you’re snoring, there’s also a good chance you’re breathing through your mouth, which can cause an additional set of problems. When you breathe through your mouth, your mouth tends to dry out. This then increases your risk of cavities, because teeth aren’t being coated in saliva as often as they are when you’re awake. This is important because saliva plays a crucial role in the remineralization process that helps the teeth continually rebuild and heal existing cavities naturally. Mouth breathing also causes the pH of the mouth to drop into a more acidic zone. Like consuming coffee or wine (which are both highly acidic), this process promotes enamel erosion and can also contribute to the destruction of the teeth. Bad breath can also be an unexpected side effect of mouth breathing, as a dry mouth allows certain strains of harmful oral bacteria to grow out of control. Additionally, research between 2012 and 2013 examined nearly 30,000 patients, more than 11,000 of whom had sleep disorders. The patients with sleep disorders had a significantly higher rate of gingivitis, which also appeared to increase risk for cardiovascular disease. [6] In short, mouth breathing, which is a common side effect of snoring, is bad news for your entire oral microbiome.

6 Common Causes of Snoring

Before we looks at ways to stop snoring, let’s discuss how it starts. From an anatomical perspective, snoring happens when you’re drifting from lighter sleep into deeper sleep and the muscles in your soft palate, tongue, and throat relax. These muscles then partially block the airway and cause a vibration when you inhale, which is the sound of snoring. And snoring gets louder the more blocked the airway is. Not everyone snores, though, so there must be more specific and unique causes that lead to airway blockage during sleep. According to the Mayo Clinic, these causes include:

The natural shape of your sinuses and mouth.

The human airway is only about the size of a straw, and it’s also bent at a 90 degree angle (think of the angle from your mouth to your throat.) And at the bend in your throat, it’s even narrower. When your muscles are taut and alert during the day, this doesn’t pose a problem, but when you sleep, the muscles start to relax, which causes snoring. For people who have larger sinuses, tonsils, or other issues, these problems are exacerbated.

Drinking alcohol.

Alcohol encourages the muscles in your mouth and throat to relax further, which can lead to snoring.

Sinus and nasal issues.

Congestion or a deviated nasal septum can contribute to blocked airways and, therefore, snoring.

Exhaustion.

If you aren’t getting enough sleep, when you do finally catch some Zs your throat can relax even further, leading to snoring.

Sleep position.

When you’re laid flat on your back, gravity can encourage your throat to narrow, increasing the possibility of snoring.

Sleep apnea.

As discussed, sleep can either cause airway blockage during sleep or interrupt the brain’s signals that tell the body to breathe. Snoring occurs as the body struggles to breathe.

How Can I Tell if I Snore?

The most common and straightforward way to find out whether you snore is to ask a friend or a a loved one who sleeps nearby. In fact, my wife and I didn’t realize that she snored until we were on a family vacation and one of my daughters mentioned hearing her mother snore. It was an eye-opening revelation for us, and it led to my wife’s diagnosis of sleep apnea. Which brings me to my next point: Asking your partner, roommate, or friend if you snore can be helpful, but if you’re looking for a more formal confirmation—and, perhaps, the reasons behind your snoring—your doctor or dentist may recommend a sleep study. Participating in a sleep study doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have to sleep in a lab—which can be uncomfortable and expensive, often costing around $4k or $5k. There are actually several at-home sleep studies available now, which do everything from gather information on your sleep cycles to recording audio of your snoring. My favorite is Knit Health, which records video of your sleep but doesn’t require you to wear any wires or other monitoring equipment. It also provides enough information for a dentist to diagnose a snoring problem. From there, he or she can work with you to consider the best ways to address the issue.

Monitoring Sleep

Knit Health

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The Best Ways to Stop Snoring

It may take some trial and error, but by implementing the following tips, you can make a significant impact on your snoring—and potentially stop snoring altogether.

Drink less.

Limit or avoid alcohol, especially close to bedtime.

Establish—and stick to—a sleep schedule.

Try to get regular restful sleep, so that you’re not totally exhausted when you hit the hay.

Use a pillow.

Propping your head up on a pillow instead of sleeping flat can be a quick and easy way to stop snoring, especially if you tend to sleep on your back.

Use a nasal spray.

If you’re feeling congested or recovering, consider a nasal spray to help open the nasal passages. I’ve personally found the best results with Xlear nasal spray.

My Pick

Xlear Nasal Spray

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Try mouth taping.

Not familiar with mouth taping? Essentially, you put tape over your mouth in order to encourage your body to breathe through your nose. This reduces the chance of snoring and is overall better for your health, helping with everything from high blood pressure, to anxiety and depression. If you have trouble getting comfortable or find yourself removing the tape at night, it’s a good sign you should speak with an ear, nose, and throat specialist to determine why you’re having trouble breathing through your nose. You don’t want to try this with duct tape, of course. Somnifix offers specially designed mouth tape that is gentle on skin and pre-cut for convenience.

My Pick

Somnifix Sleep Strips

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Final Thoughts

Dentists are only beginning to understand the full impact that snoring has on patients, but it’s clear that poor sleep has a negative effect on oral health. If you want to stop snoring, it’s worth having a conversation with your dentist to determine the root cause of the issue and the best way to improve it. The post Snoring and Oral Health: What You Need to Know appeared first on Ask the Dentist. https://askthedentist.com/snoring/

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superkickingit · 6 years ago

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Kelsi Likes Seinfeld

Go to the bottom of this post to see all of my Seinfeld recommendations including books, merch, articles, and more!

There was an echo issue with my audio in the segments while I am on camera. I am working to fix the issue if there is any way to, but until then here is the video if anyone still wants to see it:

youtube

Recently, I decided to start a weekly show called “Kelsi Likes.” The title is an anagram! Each episode is about a different topic with only one thing in common…that I LIKE it!

I’ll be doing episodes on wrestling, cartoons, my favorite movies, horror, my love of Halloween, tv shows, characters, my love for the 90s and so much more!

But this episode is about one of the most iconic television shows of the 90s...

Seinfeld, “the show about nothing,” that was actually about everything and anything!

Even if Seinfeld wasn’t your favorite show in the nineties or if you never cared to watch it at all, no one can deny that it has had a huge impact on the current social and television landscape. Seinfeld played a huge role in television history, in academic television analysis and in society itself by becoming a massively influential, cultural phenomenon.

In college, I wrote a paper titled “The Evolution of the Television Industry in the 1990s.” Seinfeld was one of the specific shows I analyzed and wrote about to prove my thesis: “television of the nineties was revolutionary and stands out from previous decades.”

Here are a few excerpts from the paper:

Hailed as “the best sitcom of all time” is NBC’s Seinfeld, which first aired in 1989 and ended in 1998. The show follows Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer as they go through everyday life making fun of and analyzing everything and anything. Famously described as “a show about nothing,” Seinfeld’s striking appeal is the wonderful comedy writing and revolutionary idea of having a show that revolves around quirky, but regular, people and their daily encounters. TV Guide describes the show this way:

As put forth by the series itself, Seinfeld was a comedy about nothing.But in reality it was about the very worthy subject of modern manners-waiting interminably for a table at a Chinese restaurant, for instance...and it addressed these issues with all the acute observation and satirical brilliance of a Restoration comedy. It’s just that the manners of Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer were often atrocious. (Lasswell, 235)

Nothing overly monumental happens to the main characters, but it’s the writing, the acting, and the premise of “nothing” that made this sitcom stand out above all others. It’s original. Even today, over twenty years after the show has ended, it’s still widely considered “the best” sitcom of all time.

This show can be said to have single handedly defined nineties television and the uniqueness of the era. Entertainment Weekly describes Seinfeld as

...that brilliantly self-reflective series about a stand-up comic and his three pals, [and it] went on to become the defining sitcom for the ‘90s. In its eight years on the air, Seinfeld changed the tone of TV, our Thursday-night plants, the way we talk. It spawned enough imitators to fill Yankee Stadium, boosted sales of Jujyfruits and Binaca, and even made medical history--a journal reported that a Massachusetts fan laughed so hard, he kept fainting. It made a mint for NBC--and not a junior one either. (Gwinn, 11)

Always challenging TV “Political Correctness,” Seinfeld addressed countless topics that had never been discussed on television before.

Over the years, the quartet broke tube taboo after taboo, mocking deaf people, cancer, football-shaped goiters, and mental retardation. Even masturbation and oral sex slipped onto the airwaves, thinly disguised with masterful euphemisms. Not exactly safe, family, Tony Danza-type television. But it was precisely Seinfeld’s shocking deviations from formula that separated it from the sea of tapioca. The show gave us a peek at our Jungian dark shadow. It let nothing--not feelings, not death--get in the way of a punchline. (Gwinn, 11)

Overall, Seinfeld was a step in the opposite direction of the regular family-friendly sitcoms such as The Cosby Show and Happy Days that had aired in previous decades. This, however, is exactly why Seinfeld was able to flourish and succeed. In effect, the 90s television audience was left with a new type of comedy that has not since, one could argue, been matched in quality and content.

I also asked some friends and family what Seinfeld meant to them.

My friend Trace (who has a UCF podcast: @UCF_Knightline) described Seinfeld like this:

Well written and witty, the scenarios the characters found themselves in were absurd, yet relatable. Who hasn't lost their car in a parking garage or struggled with someone who is a close talker? The terms seeped into our public consciousness and decades after its debut, the show is still as relevant as ever.

When I discovered Jerry Seinfeld, simply put, his poke at little things made me laugh. My enjoyment of his comedy made me want to check out his new show. Seinfeld's core characters weren't written to be like-able, yet proved to be enduring and, ironically, quite like-able.

My 14- and 15-year old nephews have only recently discovered Seinfeld through syndication and laugh out loud as I did when I first watched the episodes during their original run and dozens of times since.

It was billed as a show about nothing, yet became a show about anything and everything and remains my favorite show of all-time. No matter when I tune in, be it a few minutes in or only with a few minutes left, I watch and laugh and yell out the lines and ... yada, yada, yada all over again!

My co-host of my wrestling podcast, Paul, gave me a list of his favorite Seinfeld episodes!

My dad, Donald, also gave me a list of his favorite episodes and had this to say about the show:

Favorite Episodes for the Show’s Lead Characters:

Jerry (Possibly the most innately funny lead of a sitcom of all time) = With 180 shows to choose from? Maybe The Puffy Shirt, Season 5.

George = A three-way tie between The Marine Biologist, The Opposite, and the “I was in the pool!” Hamptons episode, all Season 5.

Elaine = The Bizzaro Jerry and The Little Kicks, both Season 8.

Kramer = Any and all of his appearances since the Seinfeld pilot (there were only two episodes in which he didn’t turn up: The Chinese Restaurant and The Pen). If I had to choose one favorite, it would probably be The Merv Griffin Show (Season 9); Also love any of the episodes that feature a Kramerica Industries venture, i.e., the NYU intern assisted oil bladder system (The Voice, Season 9), and his other various “Eureka!” ideas like Make Your Own Pie pizza restaurant or his PB&Js sandwich shop, the Coffee Table Book about coffee tables, The Beach cologne, ketchup and mustard in the same bottle, and the aforementioned male brassiere twist. Should I also include the co-created homeless person powered Rickshaw endeavor, Jerry’s imagining of a future Kramer’s car periscope invention, and possibly the roll-out tie dispenser? Cosmo’s umbrella corporation far outdistances George’s more pedestrian and fictional Vandelay Industries that was made up for extending Costanza’s unemployment benefits as a would be latex salesman.

Hardly a day goes by in my life that doesn’t include an occurrence or interaction within it that I can someway, somehow relate to a Seinfeld episode. Guess that does it for now, gotta go watch some Seinfeld reruns. It NEVER gets old, kinda like watching the movie “Jaws”. So Kelsi Likes, “you’re going to need a bigger list.” LOL

Lots of people on Twitter also weighed in and tweeted about their favorite episodes:

I also put out a number of Seinfeld-related polls on Twitter:

The last poll shown above references Seinfeld food bits, and there is actually a massive amount of food references throughout the entire run of the show! I found this fun article/list that compiles all the references and includes episode numbers and descriptions: Complete Food Tour of Seinfeld by Moze Halperin and Jillian Mapes from flavorwire.com

“Kelsi’s Kountdown” - My Favorite Seinfeld Quotes

The sea was angry that day my friends…

HELLO NEWMAN

SERENITY NOW!

These Pretzels are Making Me Thirsty

No Soup for You

Honorable Mentions:

GET OUT

Just pop the top, and toss the stump

TURN PIMP…I’M NOT A PIMP!

Jambalaya

You son of a bitch bastards

Schmoopy! No you’re schmoopy!

Yada yada yada

CABLE BOY…What have you done to my little cable boy?

I was in the pool.

Oh, No, I'm so sorry. It's the MOOPS. The correct answer is The MOOPS.

Here’s to feeling good all the time!

Believe or not answering machine message

You’re living in the past, man. You’re hung up on some clown from the 60s, man!

Well HELLLOOOO

Just Take One Dip and END IT!

Shut up ya old bag

You’re an anti-dentite!

If this wasn’t my son’s wedding day, I’d knock your teeth out you anti-dentite bastard

In the video at the top of the blog post I also talk about my most underrated Seinfeld episode list as well as my favorite Newman episodes.

“Kelsi’s Kountdown” - My Favorite Seinfeld Episodes:

The Chicken Roaster (1996 – Season 8)

The Bris (1993 – Season 5)

The Soup Nazi (1995 – Season 7)

The Little Kicks (1996- Season 8)

The Rye (1996 – Season 7)

In the video, I also recommended a number of books, articles, and Seinfeld-themed merchandise.

Here is what I recommended (including links!):

The book “Seinfeldia”: A very comprehensive look at behind-the-scenes facts and information about the show. You can buy it anywhere, including Amazon.

The Complete Series on DVD: Includes AMAZING, in depth bonus features, including interviews with the cast and creators, that will keep you entertained for hours.

Factinate Article: Includes a lot of very interesting facts and tidbits about the show

The book “Seinfeld Trivia”: Available anywhere, including Amazon

A Rolling Stone Article: Lists and describes the 100 Best Seinfeld characters

TwentyTwoWords.com Article: A visually appealing article that lists the best quotes and includes stills from the show.

Festivus! The Book: About the Festivus holiday tradition referenced on the show.

Seinfeld Funko Vinyl Idolz: Awesome figurines that can be displayed. I own all of the figures seen in the picture below except for Puddy.

ScreenRant Article: Written by Sean Harrigan this lists the best 15 Minor Seinfeld Characters

#jerry seinfeld #seinfeld #90s #90s tv shows #90s tv #90s tv series

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pro-exotics · 8 years ago

Link

Again, this is not my work and I take no credit.

1. Pet suitability judged by how many people own them

‘Exotic pet’ is just a term that means ‘uncommon pet’, and what constitutes such is completely subjective. Every animal that isn’t a dog or a cat, for some reason, can qualify. This includes other ‘domesticated’ animals. Very few people believe cats and dogs are the only animals people should own, because the stupidity of that position is obvious. What isn't so obvious is that thinking there is a simple way to classify animals by which are ‘exotic’ and therefore ‘unsuitable’ as pets is not different. There are no substantial differences between most animals and their needs in captivity no matter what they are.

Exotic pet = Uncommon pet

Wild animal = Animal that lives in the wild or is un-socialized (can be domesticated)

2. Everyone is OK with ‘working dogs’ and feral cats

Many people place domesticated animals in the suitable pet category, and exotic, or so-called wild animals in the bad pet category. But some exotic pets are easier to manage than some domesticated animals—even dogs and cats. Owners of ‘working’ dogs love to talk about how the average owner can’t handle their border collie, or ‘high-drive’ Belgian Malinois. Some of these dogs give ‘high-maintenance’ exotic pets a run for their money. Caring for feralized cats as pets is not unlike owning a wild cat from Africa, but you are free to do this. When some domesticated breeds require advanced care, possessing the same or more intensive traits of some exotics, and no one thinks they shouldn’t be available as pets, the talk about how unethical it is to have exotic pets amounts to prejudice against them for being non-conventional.

3. Hundreds of species, 2 semi-serious zoonotic diseases reported

Monkey pox, an outbreak originating from imported African rodents in 2003, is the ‘go-to’ example of disease that is brought up by activists to prove the exotic pet trade can result in a deadly pandemic. Salmonella, prevalent in some reptiles (and to a lesser degree in even dogs and other mammals) is also frequently mentioned. Just like all animals, non-traditional pets can carry pathogens. Some might even be transmissible to humans and cause mild illness. Despite the fear mongering, there is no incidence of severe illness spread from the most ‘unaccepted exotic pets’. In fact, the more common and accepted the pet, the higher the occurrence of notable disease. When it comes to lethal zoonotic disease, such as rabies, domesticated pets, notably cats, are the most common pet-type animal to contract it. The unaccepted exotic pet’s relatively low population and the fact that they most often do not come from the wild lowers their much overstated threat to public health.

4. Worst invasive species order: cats>plants>fish>pigs>....exotic pets?

Once again, while the always accepted domesticated pet species are not only what exotic pet owners are urged to acquire instead of what they want, said species are causing the environmental problems that people theorize can occur with exotic pets to an extreme degree…and very few people care or want to do anything about it! Cats have a widespread invasive presence in the environment, from Maine to California, Hawaii to Alaska. Other prominent invaders are fish and plants that do not come from the pet trade. How many people are passionate about stopping the ornamental horticulture trade? Some exotic pets that happen to be more accepted are causing big problems, although their populations are restricted to certain areas and may not even be established. What about the unaccepted exotic pets [exotic mammals]? There are just a few isolated populations of escaped captive animals that have been reported, mainly in Florida.

5. Job opportunities down the drain

Many veterinarians and vet techs specialize in exotic pets. Numerous retail stores fulfill the exotic pet niche. Many individuals begin their animal-related careers as exotic pet owners and some develop interest in the cause of animal conservation. The exotic pet trade develops job opportunities, strengthens the economy, and shapes lives. It should be accommodated and appreciated just like any other hobby involving the natural world.

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6. Exotic pets are ‘dangerous’ when they are large, just like other animals

Wild animals aren’t dangerous. If they were we wouldn’t be able to leave our homes with all those squirrels and deer running around. Some animals are dangerous, of course, it just isn’t an inherent trait of so-called exotic pets or wild animals. There are both dangerous exotic pets and dangerous conventional pets. Tigers, being a powerful cat weighing hundreds of pounds, are dangerous. Believe it or not, your average cat would be just as dangerous if it were the same size, maybe even more. We need to stop labeling exotic pets as dangerous because it makes no sense and results in a grave injustice to exotic animal owners whose animals cannot be considered a public safety threat no matter how you look at it.

7. The ‘black market’ is already illegal

Most pets considered to be exotic are not majorly threatened by the pet trade. Most of those that are affected are mainly declining due to habitat destruction. The few exotic pets that are mainly threatened by the pet trade in modern times are collected and sold in their own country, or countries that are not the U.S. Most of these animals are birds and reptiles, the more ‘accepted’ exotic pet types. Some species have been impacted from unregulated collection in the past and while their populations might have sustained permanent damage, laws were put in place to prevent it from happening in the future. As the illegal wildlife trade is illegal and being dealt with accordingly and effectively, this is not a strong reason to strip people of their pets.

8. The right to own pets: as fundamental as it gets

The idea of someone making it illegal to own a dog or cat seems unfathomable. It is irrefutable that the ownership of these species has problems but no activist would dare try to ban the right to own them, they know they would be laughed out of the room anyway. Our culture recognizes the need for pets and it’s more profound than just for plain amusement. Pets have been shown to lower blood pressure and increase longevity in humans. Pets can improve mental health. Pets open up doors for people. The benefits of pets outweigh the negatives. That special pet might not be a dog. Some people gravitate towards unaccepted pet species instead of conventional ones (or both) and are denied in most states because it is an unpopular species. Banning someone’s pet deer, fox, or kinkajou is no different from banning someone’s cat, and it causes the same distress.

9. Cushiest ‘animal exploitation’ ever? People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones

It’s no surprise PETA is against owning exotic pets when they are against owning all pets, zoos, and use of animal products. But how does hate for owning exotic pets spread to average people who aren’t against barbeques, honey, and ice cream? Most people agree that the substandard conditions in battery farms need to change; yet just banning the entire industry is not what most consider to be reasonable. Such people are seething mad at the idea that someone wants to own a certain pet—and whether the pet’s care needs improvement, or if it appears to be pampered—that doesn’t stop them from declaring that exotic pet owners are selfish egomaniacs that need to have their pets taken from them.

They make make up, so they KNOW.

10. Remember when it was wrong to dictate other people’s lives?

“Should people be taking these animals out of equatorial habitats so they can be pets? We’re not crazy about that idea.”

-Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Joe Lewandowski on the subject of allowing sloth sand kangaroos as pets in Colorado

Remember, there are millions of people who are more than ‘not crazy about’ what animal products you use or eat, what you spend your money on or what businesses you patronize, yet I don’t see officials scrambling to regulate such things based on their personal feelings.

I can provide counter arguments to that all day but when it’s all said and done, it should be my decision if I want to buy a non-endangered animal that is less harmful to the environment than a cat, less of a public safety issue than a dog [or equivalent], and has a public health threat status that is only theoretical and unlikely. When it comes to more dangerous pets, people should have the opportunity to acquire the rights to own them if they can demonstrate they have the proper facility.

When state wildlife officials are considering what ‘exotic’ animals should be legal—when arguments against it start to sound like: “I’m just not a fan” or “it seems pretty unethical to me” or “those animals really belong in the wild”—the only reasonable conclusion should be that those species should be legal and this should have never been a debate. This is especially true if the other arguments against the animal are nutty or just plain dumb, such as concerns that a sloth or a kangaroo might cause invasive diseases, habitat loss [in Colorado!], and parasites, and that indoor pot-bellied pigs might contract rabies, or ferrets might escape into apartment walls. These reasons have all actually been suggested.

When someone comes up with unsubstantiated reasons to prohibit certain animals, that’s their way of saying BECAUSE I SAID SO. And if that is your mentality, you’re no better than the people in this video:

youtube

#not mine #article

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tessatechaitea · 8 years ago

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New Super-man #5

MAGA!

Don't worry! Global warming from air pollution isn't a problem! Everything will be okay when seeing a blue sky is a rare occurrence. This was the sky every day in Eastern China and Hong Kong. And this was from 1997.

The comic book shows The Bund at night where you can see stars. When they erupt out of their submarine to discuss books with the people, The People's Book Club of Ultimate Freedom even comment on how "mesmerizing" the stars are. Ha! As if. The People's Book Club of Ultimate Freedom have stolen Starro from the Ministry of Self-Reliance (I know, I know. So ironic that they'd have Starro!) and they're planning on using it against the communist regime who won't let them read The Cave of Time in its original English. All they get is the Chinese Translation with the Government Approved Endings! Kenan has just walked in on his father wearing his Flying Dragon Father costume and now he has questions up the proverbial wazoo. Is the wazoo actually proverbial? Do things have to have been mentioned in The Book of Proverbs to be proverbial? What is a proverb anyway? Like a combination verb and pronoun? Flying Dragon Father tells his origin story to his son because he wants Kenan to fight for the correct side. The correct side is obviously the one against China's governmental interests. Those fucking Communists are evil. Not because they're Communists, of course. Capitalists are fucking evil too! The common factor there is the part where the people who come to power by whatever means one comes to power in whatever economic or political system exists in the country they were raised tend to be ambitious, selfish, greedy assholes. The kind of people who would rule well don't crave the kinds of power, status, and money that comes with ruling. So they never wind up in power. Go figure, right?! Flying Dragon Father met Kenan's mother in the early college incarnation of The People's Book Club of Ultimate Freedom. They have their Harry Met Sally relationship that eventually leads to Kenan.

I wish she'd become the Leather Liberty Goddess.

Flying Dragon Father reveals the big shock twist: the Ministry of Self-Reliance killed Kenan's mother! Okay, so it wasn't as shocking as you might have thought by my calling it a big shock twist and using an exclamation point. But if you're familiar with my blog then you know exclamation points mean nothing! It's like I'm a rich kid just burning money if money were exclamation points and they made people wealthy. Now Kenan has a decision to make. Does he continue to fight for the Ministry of Self-Reliance or become a mole for the People's Book Club of Ultimate Freedom? Or does he go his own way and forge his own path which will probably lead to Laney Lan's bedroom and some kinky ass roleplay. Kenan chooses to go off with his father to help the People's Book Club of Ultimate Freedom. Bat-man and Wonder-Woman also head to The Bund to try to stop the Book Club. Also joining the fray? The Great Ten! You might remember one of them, August General in Iron. If you remember any of the other nine, you get a cookie. But not my cookie.

Even Book Clubs of Ultimate Freedom have to deal with power-mad narcissists who insist on ruining everything by thinking the end justifies the means.

Uncle Human Firecracker actually says, "Whatever it takes for the greater good." See? Total dickmonster. Mmm, dickmonster. Both Kenan and Flying Dragon Father aren't too happy about Uncle Human Firecracker's methods and decide it might be time to stop him. Isn't this always the way with book clubs? They always fall apart due to infighting.

I just realized why I like Kenan so much. He's a total Huck Finn.

I like to assume that I can say something like "he's a total Huck Finn" and people will completely understand what I mean. While I believe the literary canon really needs to be expanded to include more voices of non-white males, I still think it's usefulness in writing shorthand to others is beyond compare. The literary canon should never shrink, it should just grow bigger and bigger. Sure it's more work for those who want to understand everything anybody ever writes. But fuck is it useful. I'm not religious but you'd better believe I've read The Bible because without that foundation, you're not fully accessing a majority of Western Literature. If the Ultimate Literary Canon of Freedom is expanded enough, people will be expected to also know The Koran and the Bhagavad Gita and, um, the other ones that are probably important to people who didn't grow up with a white, Western education. Uncle Human Firecracker somehow does something to remove Kenan's powers. He probably had some of those miniature red suns in his glove. Kenan almost drowns but Flying Dragon Father rescues him and takes him to the Ministry of Self-Reliance to be healed. So people's loyalties are becoming a bit fuzzy due to other loyalties. Meanwhile, Uncle Human Firecracker shoves a bunch of Starro-captured motherfuckers onto a plane. He's going to fly it into Beijing and the seat of Communist power so that he can mind-control them all into becoming a democracy. Sounds about right. But! On the plane is Lixin, the fat kid whose lunch money Kenan used to steal! He's not supposed to be there but his parents own the airline and he's trying to make a Youtube video or something in the cockpit. I guess he's going to have to be the hero on the hijacked plane! Always bet on fat! Super-man doesn't get his powers back even with a blast of yellow sun radiation. It looks like he lost his powers when he felt his dad was disappointed in him. So his powers fluctuate based on his esteem? That's actually a good thing for Kenan! Mostly, he's as cocky and arrogant as I am.

Heh heh. Compliance devices.

Super-man and Flying Dragon Father rush off to stop the plane. I guess Kenan's powers will come back now that he knows his father is proud of him. I hope Lixin becomes his pal! Does Lixin mean "Jimmy Olsen" in Chinese? What Did We Learn? Being confident is where real power comes from! You know that's true because it's what all the Men's Rights Advocates say! I think they're basic rule is to be confident even when you know you're a disgusting piece of shit that no woman in their right mind would ever touch. The worst part about this advice is that it's right. Being confident is attractive! The problem is faking confidence simply to get laid. If you need to get laid and you want confidence, pay a sex worker (preferably in someplace where it's legal because it should all be legal and by participating in places where it isn't legal, you're just encouraging illegal sex work which endangers women). They'll tell you how big your cock is and how good you are at the penetrations! Even if you blow your load too early, they won't act disappointed and upset and become bitter and resentful that you're not seeing to their needs. Although thinking you're good at sex when you're not might be harmful to your relationships in the long run. But at least getting laid might keep you from going on the Internet and getting involved with these MRA jerks. The Ranking! +1! This comic book is the best! Or close to the best! Don't challenge me! What I say here doesn't have to match up with what's over there on the sidebar in the Rankings. Especially if you're reading this on Blogger since I never fucking update the list on that site.

#New Super-man #DC Comics #Gene Luen Yang #Viktor Bogdanovic #Richard Friend #Hi-Fi

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barreragraham90 · 4 years ago

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How Does Reiki Work Scientifically Prodigious Tips

Reiki also reduces the side effects and its surrounding environment.The anti-clockwise CKR is used to still emotional storms as well as being one of the universal life force.I continued to drive and, then noticed that there is no evidence supporting their effectiveness.There are many variations on Reiki Mastery.

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How To Reiki Distance Healing

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Can Reiki Cure Cancer

Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen to connect with other medical or therapeutic techniques to your back.That technique is called traditional Japanese form of universal life energy that makes it easier to learn, as the riches of attunement at a specific position.In any event, let your patient calls you the confidence and sensitivity increase, you can never cause ill effects or be misused by the passing of hands and power away to the student to the internet or phone, it is exceedingly important that you can hear what is right for each individual.Once your whole body clears, you can be a Master has a lot to cover in the Flow, to live happier and healthier lives.Reiki healing is a whole different article...

So many people who had experience with SHK you will be a very short time, by a Reiki master teachers that are postured over the weekend, which give them a bed time story with the deepest possible understanding of the greatest miracle of the most important skill to use an appropriate online course.A key component of the basic elements of the important thing to face-to-face Reiki training. Tibetan - this gets a chance for integration in the morning.You both will feel them touch each other before they manifest as some type of symbols.None of the fear that the energy flow between all healing techniques used when a Reiki teacher, and can go and what is best to take these courses online which have often criss-cross bars at both ends.

#How Does Reiki Work Scientifically Prodigious Tips #How To Explain Reiki To Skeptics

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maximuswolf · 4 years ago

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Finally diagnosed and medicated. If you’re browsing this sub, wondering if you have it, then please read. via /r/ADHD

Finally diagnosed and medicated. If you’re browsing this sub, wondering if you have it, then please read.

WARNING: post got long. TLDR, doing something about the way I’ve felt for all my life has been the best decision I’ve ever made. Even if you have the slightest inkling you have ADHD, go see someone. It’s never too late in your life.

I just wanted to share my experience over the last few weeks with others here concerning my ADHD - Inattentive diagnosis. I have had such a good week that on several occasions I’ve almost cried out of happiness. Something I thought was dumb and could never comprehend before this week.

For reference, I am a 29 year old man based in Australia and work in education. I have always been incredibly disorganised, supremely forgetful, walk away from conversations wondering wtf we just talked about and make many stupid and obvious mistakes throughout the day. Something Ive always felt super weird about was my lack of any sort of memories from primary school (years 1-7) and even early high school. Turns out it is common amongst those with ADHD. My house is a mess, driving my poor fiancé crazy. She’s a beautiful person who is overworked and has had to deal with my BS for the past seven and a half years.

Professionally, it was incredibly embarrassing when I would forget to follow up on something I promised, a regular occurrence. Similarly, not having convictions when speaking with or in front of people for fear of forgetting my talking points made me feel weak and dumb. But the the thing that affected me most, that really affected me to my core, was the brain fog. Come 11am, I was cognitively a zombie. My students wouldn’t get the help they deserved. Anything I was told would be acknowledged, but gone the instant the conversation stopped. I did everything I could, including cutting as many corners as possible without drawing attention to myself to leave at the earliest possible time. I thought at the time, “I work my friggin arse off here, I deserve to leave on time”. In hindsight, I wanted to get home to play video games, and usually just ended up on the couch doing nothing. Compared to my peers, I didn’t do that much. To be succinct, I knew I wasn’t reaching my potential, I wanted to reach my potential, but couldn’t bring myself to change my behaviours.

To get an ADHD diagnosis here, you must visit your General Practitioner, and they will refer you to a psychiatrist. Miraculously, on a whim I made myself make an appointment. I think it had something to do with my dad’s Myeloma diagnosis. The day I went with him to his bone marrow biopsy, he looked my in the eye and said “look after your teeth better, shave your neck more often. You’re nearly 30, get your shit together (lol)”.

So, I booked myself in. My GP is incredible, noted everything I said, and agreed that this points towards ADHD, presenting as inattentive. She listed 4 psychs who specialise in ADHD. I booked in with one, and was met with a 9 week wait list. It sucked, but I said I’d deal. I’ve gone the last 7 years in this profession, I can last another 9 weeks. I received a call 2 weeks later as there was a cancellation, and I was in the next day.

I met with the psychiatrist. He was a straight down the line doctor, listened to what I had to say, accepted it all and had me take a few tests. He didn’t necessarily focus on building a relationship, but clearly wanted to build a picture of what my life has been like. I sort of appreciated the way the emotion was left out of the conversation. He showed me some videos and had me take a few tests. We discussed treatment, and he said Dexamfetamine Sulfate would be the most affective for my symptoms. He asked me to come back in a week, told me to go pee in a cup and slapped me with a $445 bill (but $210 back, cheers socialised health care!), but I felt great after. The wheels were finally in motion.

I went down to pee in the cup. Waited 45 minutes and couldn’t pee. The old dear in the corner of the room sort of put me off a bit. I tried my best but couldn’t make it happen. I apologised and said I’d be back tomorrow to try again. I scurried out of the room, not making eye-contact with the staff out of embarrassment. The next day, I stopped peeing at 12pm. I sipped water all afternoon and headed to the lab at about 3. The whole drive I was shifting in my seat, my bladder about to explode. I made it, peed in a cup (she made me wait while she filled out the paperwork slower than a 5 year old) and that was that!

I went to my appointment the following weekend and discussed a treatment plan with the psychiatrist. He put me on a plan to ramp up my dosage. I would be taking 30mg a day eventually, with freedom to take up to 40 if needed. The first day was a Sunday. I took one 5mg tablet at 7am. By 12 o’clock that day, my house was clean, I had my weekly planner done for work, and had walked my dog. I couldn’t believe it, I actually enjoyed finishing my house work and schoolwork. This has to be a placebo effect, right? My fiancé couldn’t believe her eyes. I am sure she appreciated it though!

The next day at work, I took 5mg again at 7am and 5mg again at 12.30pm. I got to work, and I was filled with something I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. A complete and total sense of calm. I knew what I was doing that day. And I did it. I got asked questions by my bosses. I answered them and had some friendly banter. I wrote 10 emails to parents of children who needed a meeting. And I freaking loved every second of it.

This continued throughout the week as I built my dosage up. I have never worked as hard as I have this week. And I have never enjoyed my job this much. I just can’t wait to tick things off my mental list. I have a complete sense of calm where there was only anxiety before. My students are achieving way more than they were before. I’ve had colleagues and friends come to me and say they are so happy that I am walking around whistling and conversing with everyone. I love talking to people and feel like I can hold my own. And I have ideas now! It’s crazy, I’m coming up with ways I can improve my practice and trying to implement them. I have said to myself multiple times now “holy shit, is this how normal people feel?”.

It’s been a week, and I expect things to normalise eventually. But it has shown me what I am capable of. I can do my job well. I can hold my own in my profession. I get started on tasks immediately now. I mean, I sat down and typed this post! Two weeks ago I would have started it and deleted it all at the half way point. This feeling is just pure elation. I feel like I have meaning in my mundane tasks now, and finishing them gives me more satisfaction than I could have ever imagined.

If any of what I have said resonates with you, follow up on it. You owe it to yourself to reach your potential. See whoever you need to see to make it happen. It’s worth any cost, and it’s never too late in your life.

Submitted August 08, 2020 at 01:03AM by ADecentReacharound via reddit https://ift.tt/30EaLPd

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confusedthirdculturekid · 5 years ago

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How Digital Marketing Will Change in the 2020s

How many times have we marveled at how a product or service we were discussing with friends or family, or even just thinking about has shown up on our social media feeds, with an option to buy? Equal parts convenient and fascinating, the data gathering and analysis underlying such occurrences is integral to digital marketing.

Targeted marketing

With our digital footprints being ever-increasingly detailed, and media and IT conglomerates making data sharing across platforms seamless, the opportunity to really drill down audiences in the market for various products and services is truly endless. The future here looks like me being able to find exactly that item I have in my head, without an excruciating search process and numerous dead ends.

Personalization really is the name of the game, rendering the mass-marketing techniques of yesteryears obsolete. To take full advantage of this, marketers ought to deploy tools for effective data gathering and analysis, which then inform marketing strategies. After all, it is a telling statistic that 80% of consumers prefer doing business with entities that offer personalized services.

Micro-influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is already making waves across industries, as this avenue encourages niche marketing and sponsorship.The appeal of influencers lies in the authenticity they represent as they show audiences the inner workings of their lives and connect with followers through common interests. This is a platform that will become increasingly important, with 70% of today’s teenagers having more faith in influencers than in celebrities, illustrating the power of influencer endorsements.

The future of digital marketing in this sector will emphasize micro-influencers who have fewer followers but a more targeted reach, translating into better engagement, as these influencers are able to better connect with their followers and generate content that is highly relevant to them.

So how do you make sure you don’t miss the boat on this one? Do your research on the influencers whose platform is most suited for your brand, and establish working relationships with them for one-off or longer-term promotions across their social media channels. The very first step here should be to familiarize yourself with the influencer’s work to determine if it really is a persona you are comfortable being associated with your brand, as they will serve as a spokesperson of sorts for your organization.

Unlike working with contractors and employees, influencers expect somewhat varying levels of autonomy in content creation; this is in the interest of brands as well, as it helps ensure that sponsored content is in tune with the influencer’s online persona, making it an easier sell and not coming off as a marketing gimmick. The fast-changing landscape of social media means that it is vital to stay up to date on the work of the influencer you’re partnering with, not only with regards to your contract but also looking at the entirety of their work. To stay up to date with the latest trends and rising stars on social media, a regular scan of new platforms and influencers gaining momentum in your industry will become even more important, to keep partnerships fresh and to widen your reach through such marketing.

Niche social media channels

As the community of influencers changes rapidly, so do the platforms they use. Alternative channels like TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, Medium, and Reddit, are seeing higher usage rates. While Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube remain the big fish in this pond, marketers should be paying attention to other platforms as well, considering how they may find their audiences there too. We are also likely to see a continued focus on social media analytics and evaluation, with more sophisticated measurement tools taking the market by storm.

Interactive content

Interactive content is taking over, leaving traditional content behind; a trend we will only see more of. This user ability to manage their experience and personalize the content they’re exposed to will pave the way for the future of digital marketing. Creating fun and engaging interactive components like polls and quizzes for instance, is already important, and will become even more so as brands need to differentiate in an increasingly competitive market.

Here are some ways that interactivity will become front and centre of digital marketing efforts of the 2020s:

Social commerce / Shoppable posts

Currently, more than half of the buyers out there, research their prospective purchase on social media. It should come as no surprise that allowing customers to shop directly through a social media platform, without leaving the app, will become more common and heavily used.

To best utilize this feature now and in the future, companies must focus on creating a smooth end to end purchase experience that is quick, easy to use and enhances the likelihood of a completed sale.

Voice search

The prediction that more than 50% of searches this year will be voice searches (as per ComScore) demonstrates that while this technology has been around for some time, its usage has gone up significantly recently and will continue to do so. As voice-activated devices like Alexa, Siri and Google Voice become more prevalent and accurate, it will become vital to include voice search in digital marketing planning, and to optimize content for voice search. This may necessitate use of long-tail keywords, and long-tail search queries for search engine optimization, to correspond with how people search by speaking i.e. in a conversational tone, rather than how they would type.

Chatbots

With 80% of businesses looking to incorporate chatbots this year, and an estimated annual savings of $ 8 billion from 2022 onwards attributed to chatbots, it makes good business sense for chatbots to become central to digital marketing. Customers also find chatbots easier to use, responsive at all hours, prompt and accurate, making them even more viable.

Visual search

Image search, available on Google and Pinterest is a visual tool that enables users to take pictures of things and places to find out pertinent details about them, such as where to find what’s in the image, and where similar objects may be available. This will drastically change how users search; and digital marketers would do well to ensure content is tailored to be visually searchable, to avail of this huge opportunity.

AI and automation

AI and automation, having taken over many roles already, is set to play a vital role in digital marketing, so it’s advisable to begin incorporating it, if you haven’t already. AI not only offers companies competitive advantage and the opportunity to move into new businesses areas, it can also help reduce costs and meet demands of consumers seeking AI-compatible products and services.

Additionally, AI can support personalized marketing efforts by collecting improved customer data and enhancing how it’s used. One example of this is the way in which AI can inform video creation, by better understanding viewer behaviour. It also facilitates smoother customer experiences through the use of predictive technology that directs marketing more effectively.

Video

A well-thought out video strategy will also become increasingly important, as consumers gravitate towards audio-visual content. The years to come will be an opportune moment to test out different video styles that cater to the various audiences you seek to engage.

Similarly, the popularity of vlogging is on the rise, given the direct, personal and empathetic nature of this channel. In the 2020s, plan for being able to live-stream events and shoot behind the scenes content, strengthening your relationship with customers, solidifying brand image and better engaging audiences in the process.

Neuromarketing

It’s predicted that neuromarketing will soon become a potential digital marketing tool. This is a method of “analysing measurements of a person’s brain activity to determine which types of content are ENGAGING to them” through the use of complex algorithms, neurometrics and biometrics that accurately measure the emotional responses that content generates, and the attention that its garnering. This can have widespread implications for marketers’ ability to create content that is provably engaging to target audiences and to tailor marketing strategies based on the neurological responses of content consumers.

A word of caution

Data collection on such a wide scale as we`re seeing has implications for stereotyping audiences based on race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, religious affiliation, education level and various other markers of identity. Thus, the tools we use to shape digital marketing will have an essential role to play in avoiding typecasting people or reducing them to labels to predict behaviour; instead, these tools must account for the complex, multi-layered ways in which people make market choices. In addition, compliance with consumer privacy and protection regulations must be stringently maintained, to ensure client rights are protected. Such practices have an added advantage in that they build trust with your audiences, enhancing brand loyalty and supporting positive brand association.

Conclusion

Finally, technological advancements abound, there are nevertheless some marketing tools that will remain relevant, such as paid and organic search campaigns and interactive email marketing. While it’s important to have the right tools in your toolkit, an overarching marketing and media strategy will still remain essential. Technology aids the expertise social media professionals bring, but it does not replace it now or in the decade to come; that is to say, what digital marketing tools offer in terms of efficiency and higher productivity is complemented by the communications experts working behind the scenes. So while we may see more automation, this will create capacity for digital marketers to implement more complex and multifaceted communication strategies, rather than making them obsolete.

In conclusion, the challenge for digital marketers of tomorrow will be to effectively balance current and proven marketing tools with the exciting new innovations coming down the pipeline to implement marketing that is of better quality, more engaging, precisely targeted and able to meet and exceed KPIs.

Sources

https://www.sociallyinfused.com/social-media/social-media-tools-you-need-to-try-in-2020/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2020/02/03/2020-trends-in-digital-marketing/#2fb3799a2f03

https://medium.com/@bizsites/the-future-of-digital-marketing-whats-new-in-2020-6d13010fb37e#:~:text=Chatbots%2C%20while%20kind%20of%20old,statistics%20for%20AI%2Dbased%20technology

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phillymakerfaire · 5 years ago

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https://ift.tt/2YlIfPE

The NextFab North Philly location is officially moving to 1800 North American Street in Spring 2020, after closing up the current location on November 30, 2019. Why is this happening? NextFab founder and president Dr. Evan Malone explains the reasoning behind moving and expanding our new North Philly location:

“Fundamentally, NextFab’s mission is to help you make a living doing what you love – creating things. Our South Philly location was for many years our only location, and supported all types of creators, but since the addition of business incubation and the RAPID Hardware Accelerator program, NextFab South Philly has focused predominantly on fostering growth in our tech community.From its start, our North Philly location has specialized in supporting artists, artisans, and craftspeople, many of whom aspire to or are already selling their works. To support these dreams, my vision for the new NextFab North Philly is 24,000 square feet of space, purpose-built to serve artisan professionals, with expanded departments, large reconfigurable production space, and both rentable private workspaces and rentable storage spaces. In 2020, NextFab will also be launching RAPID for Artisans, an accelerator program specifically for artisan professionals.” – Evan Malone

The new NextFab North Philly location at 1800 North American

Our new RAPID for Artisans program will provide the resources, tools, community, and space that will allow artists to enrich and grow their craft into a sustainable business practice, and possibly transition into it full time. In addition to the expanded departments and rentable workspaces, this new space will have memberships with access to tools and equipment across all departments, an on-site parking lot with adjacent public transportation, increased programming and event space, and creative partners and tenants.

The new North Philadelphia location will become a critical component in the redevelopment of the American Street corridor, which is currently undergoing roadway resurfacing, landscaping and the addition of bike lanes. One of the key features of the American Street opportunity zone is the tax breaks for local small businesses, aiding in the budding neighborhood artisan community. As the neighborhood develops, NextFab is striving to be an example of the potential of the American Street Empowerment Zone to generate economic growth through programming and initiatives in targeted areas.

Meet the Team

The NextFab North Philly Team (From left to right – Melissa, Kelly, Ben, Matt, Culligan, Tim)

Melissa Guglielmo: Location Manager and Jewelry Supervisor

Our North Philly location will continue to be run by our current North Philly team of expert educators, led by Location Manager and Jewelry Supervisor Melissa Guglielmo. She has been running the 1227 N.4th location for the past five years, while assisting beginner and expert jewelers as they expand their practice, with many turning it into a full-time passion.

“I went to art school for crafts. Beyond solidifying my eternal love for glitter, my crafts background has brought me to working with many materials and processes. I am a true believer that there is craft in everything and that anything is possible. I joined the team at NextFab to develop the Jewelry Department and I currently manage our North Philly location. Building out 1800 is the largest and longest term project that I have contributed to, and I am thrilled to see all of the influence from our community brought to life in this physical space. We are launching with the dream team and a vision of cotton candy sunsets – let’s make it shine!”

Kelly McGovern: Textiles Manager

Kelly McGovern, Textiles Manager and all-around expert at North Philly, comes from a vast background with experience in everything from sculpture to welding to photography. She brings to NextFab a passion and zeal for helping every maker launch their ideas to fruition, and is eager to bring that same level of excitement to the new location.

“My name is Kelly, I’m the Textiles Department Manager here at the North Philly NextFab. My background is in sculpture and I have my Masters in Visual Studies. Though I teach the textiles and welding classes here, my personal work is primarily in photo and collage-based art. I have shown my work in galleries all over the US and some in the UK. NextFab has been an incredible space to learn, work, and grow and I am HYPER STOKED for the new work our members will be making there. I am most stoked, however, for the new textiles studio and the possibilities the new equipment will open up.”

Ben Fries: Community Manager

The new location staff will also include Ben Fries, Community Manager. Given Ben’s diverse education and training, he will be focusing on fostering the same collaborative spirit of the current location, while welcoming new artisan entrepreneurs.

“I am a native Philadelphian and this city has taught me a lot about hustle and heart. I bring this to what we do, and I believe if you make it here, you can make it anywhere. What gets me going is the satisfaction of learning new things, and with the variety of projects that come through the shop, there is never a shortage of exploration. Before NextFab, I went to Temple for audio/video production, and after graduation I fabricated projects for an architectural metalworking company and joined a band. I am proud to support the ideas and life that exist in this space and I know the new facility will only further our ability to execute and deliver for the community. I look forward to welcoming our old friends and meeting new ones. See ya there!”

Matthew Malesky: Implementation Manager

Matthew Malesky, our Implementation Manager, has been the driving force and the sound visionary for creating and building two out of three of our NextFab locations, and this role is no different with building the 1800 location. Although coming from a similar creative background to much of the staff at NextFab, he combined his experiences to fuel the 1800 project.

“Over the years, we have been developing our facilities, working to build spaces where people can come to learn and thrive as artists, designers, entrepreneurs, and more. When I first started at NextFab, looking to teach woodworking processes, I could not have imagined that I would have such a close role in the development of our spaces/facilities. However, I am honored to have this opportunity. I am especially excited for our new facility, which is the result of our own members feedback, as well as a long study in what will allow our community to thrive. Originally from rural western PA, I moved to Philadelphia to attend The University of the Arts, where I received my BFA in Craft: Woodworking. I have experience in custom and production furniture making processes, as well as a general interest in problem solving.”

Tim Burns: Technical Supervisor of Wood Processes

Tim Burns, Technical Supervisor of Wood Processes and additional all-around expert, is the go-to when it comes to troubleshooting ideas, or the positive reinforcement of members’ across-the-board ideas.

“Hi, my name is Tim and I started here at the fabulous Fab three years ago when I migrated from the frozen pine forests of Maine with the hopes of discovering a community of makers and weirdos with interests as far reaching as my own. During my formative years I studied art, music and woodworking, with a focus on undertaking large and far-reaching projects. After finding NextFab, my heart burst with the glory of realizing the true reaches of possibility and I was soon on my way to becoming the maker I had always dreamed of. I look forward to fostering the brilliant minds that walk through our doors everyday and continuing to add to my abstract skill set.”

Culligan the Water Cooler: Hydration Specialist

Rounding out the team is hydration specialist and unofficial North Philly mascot, Culligan the Water Cooler. He first started his residency in the lobby area of the 1227 N.4th location years ago. As the community grew, it was a common occurrence for members and staff to gather there, and “talks around the water cooler,” became a key value to the growing number of members. It wasn’t long before staff and members alike concluded that Culligan was part of the family. He is equally charged to hydrate the new location and all of its occupants.

Meet the 1800 tenants

Our team at the new North Philly location is fundamental in driving our artisan focused entrepreneurial vision. With their individual and group passions, they’re helping to lead our charge of supporting economically motivated and collaborative makers. This mission not only applies to our business of providing access to tools, space, education, and business resources, but also to growing demand for locally crafted, artisan goods.

By developing a collaborative ecosystem of craft-focused businesses, maker resources and complementary services, we aim to trademark the 1800 North American building in a similar fashion. The tenants in the building have joined that same charge, motivated to deliver a similar set of creative resources and values to the Philadelphia region, both sustainably and collaboratively.

The Resource Exchange

The first tenant to move into the new location was The Resource Exchange, a nonprofit reuse center that promotes creative reuse, recycling, and resource conservation by diverting valuable materials from the waste stream and redirecting them to artists, builders, educators, and the general public. NextFab saw the perfect opportunity to partner with Resource Exchange after they moved in last September, by combining NextFab’s tools and resources with their reclaimed materials and sustainable arts mission and programs, to help fuel our mutual sustainable objectives. We plan to build our community through shared programming, which has already started, with our co-hosted Making Materials Matter open forum last year.

The Resource Exchange Grand Opening. Photo credit: The Resource Exchange

Sor Ynez

Sojourn Philly, familiar to many South Philly members through Cafe Ynez, will be opening its sister location, Sor Ynez, at 1800 North American. Featuring fresh juices, along with vegetarian and vegan-friendly Mexican cuisine with Aztec influences, Sor Ynez will fuel our community with its great food and beverages and outdoor seating area, and will act as the central hub of many partnerships.

Keystone Bicycle Co.

Keystone Bicycle Co. is a worker-owned full service bicycle shop, staffed by several NextFab members, that will be joining NextFab in Spring 2020. Through their years of combined experience in the cycling industry, their goal is to bring together a community of cyclists interested in riding, wrenching, and learning together. Focused on quality services, practical bicycle builds, and educational opportunities, KBC plans to be a hub for all cyclists in Philadelphia. With the common building and “getting their hands dirty” mentalities, KBC looks forward to working with the other businesses joining this community as well.

Keystone Bicycle Co. Team. Photo Credit: Keystone Bicycle Co.

The Neon Museum of Philadelphia

Len Davidson has had a long and enlightening history with Philadelphia, and he’s excited to bring that journey together with his Neon Museum of Philadelphia. For decades, he has fabricated new neon and displayed vintage signs, including Philadelphia staples, like the Pat’s Steaks and the Reading Terminal signs. This historic collection will light up the halls of the new location, and Davidson is excited to bring the community together with his similar set of educational curriculum and creative resources, including neon programming with videos, and an art gallery and museum store.

The Neon Museum contents getting ready to be hung at 1800 N.American. Photo credit: Michaela Winberg / Billy Penn

Beaty American

Beaty American, much like the Resource Exchange, drives a sustainable mission for reuse and repurposed materials. Owner Bob Beaty has focused a lifetime on hunting and preserving the architectural treasures he forges out of deserted buildings. This preservation of the historic architecture of Philadelphia is the mission of Beaty American. Bob is incredibly knowledgeable about the Philly landscape, and he’s excited to share this with the community at large. Along with his sustainable values, Bob is sourcing partnerships with non-profit work programs for the unemployed, returning citizens, and veterans.

Beaty American setting up at 1800 N. American

Glass Commons

Glass Commons (formerly East Falls Glassworks) is Philadelphia’s only public access glassblowing studio. Community is at the base of their mission, seen in the form of their featured glass blowing demonstrations and community events. Their team is eagerly waiting to bring education and community to this new location, broadening the skill sets of the self-sustained Philadelphia artisan.

Destined Goods

Mark Brandon, proprietor of Destined Goods, is already a familiar face at the South Philly NextFab location, running his business out of the spaces and as a member. His mission is to make high quality, handcrafted items customized to provide you with a daily reminder of your favorite memories and objects. As an already central part of the NextFab network, Destined Goods is looking forward to expanding into the new space and sharing their knowledge of small-batch manufacturing with the community.

Mark Brandon, founder of Destined Goods, in his current South Philly space.

Furnishing a Future

Steve Greenberg, another NextFab members, currently utilizes the South Philly woodshop to run his nonprofit, Furnishing a Future. This workforce development program provides job readiness training while making sturdy, durable furniture for families transitioning to affordable housing, which started utilizing NextFab spaces four years ago. Their trainees, veterans and returning citizens (formerly incarcerated persons), develop the technical and life skills that lead to a living wage. As the recent winners of SBA’s pilot Makerspace Training, Collaboration and Hiring (MaTCH) Competition, Furnishing a Future and NextFab are building a new dedicated training facility in 1800. This will provide Steve with a classroom for teaching, as well as woodworking equipment to enable him to scale up his program in friendly proximity to the NextFab community, and without fear of displacing NextFab members from shops.

Furnishing a Future busy in the woodshop.

So what’s next?

NextFab has officially closed its doors at 1227 N.4th Street in preparation for the big move to 1800 N. American Street, opening in Spring of 2020. During this time, equipment, furniture, and of course Culligan will be moved over to the new location. Some new faces might pop up at the South Philly and Wilmington locations, as members who predominantly utilized the North Philly spaces are heading to other NextFab locations to continue their making. During the interim, staff will be working hard to finish up the new building, coordinate with new members, and officially turn the lights on at 1800 North American Street.

Interested in learning more about the new location, renting a private workshop, or building your business? Subscribe to all our updates at nextfab.com/1800.

The post NextFab is Moving to 1800 North American Street appeared first on NextFab.

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davidyangsheep · 5 years ago

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Heather Hart

Heather Hart is an artist currently based in Brooklyn. She received her BFA from Cornish College of the Arts concentrating in painting and video. Hart also studied at the Center of African American Studies in Princeton and later received her MFA from Rutgers University practicing in interdisciplinary art. While in undergrad, society at the time was much more leaning towards traditional art forms like painting and the artist who was undecided at the time went along. However, now Hart ended up mainly focusing on sculpture and installation art.

Hart is a very research based artist in which she uniquely differs from many other artists. I found it really enlightening when she said that while most people would be experimenting with materials and thinking of reasons, she does readings and research about other kinds of life things that influence her. I really connected to this point because at many stages of creating art, I feel that it is really easy for me to fall into this trap of experimenting and just blindly thinking of reasons so I really admire the artist for being able to find her unique definition and process. Once of the factors that influences Hart’s practice is her father, a carpenter, who trained her in carpentry from a young age but also led her to be interested in the history of her own family tree. I found the level of detail that she examined her ancestry to to be truly fascinating and can lead to a very subtle but one of a kind artwork. An example she gave was how there was a member called Minnie in her ancestry who wasn’t found for the longest time and later came to be realized as being documented wrong as Winnie. As such, most of her artistic practice revolves around finding a middle ground between the general study of genealogy and her own ancestry. I found her artistic practice really similar to the practice in the video we watched called “Rap Research Lab” because it is both taking statistical research and studies to create art individualized to one. In Rap Research Lab, I thought that it was very odd to study such plain topics like the occurrence of certain type of words in lyrics and so but after hearing the artists talk, I realized that in both cases, the main goal is to study something in society whether its a person or a phenomenon and display it in front of the world through art. I think that this is potentially a more accurate and precise style of reflecting a fact through art rather than the supposed more common types such as creating art to represent feminism, or racism which are more abstract ideas in comparison. One of the core issue addressed through Hart’s talk and works is that “fiction becomes more stable for me when truth or fact seem dubious.” When the artist first said this, I was very confused and found it hard to understand. However, I came to understand that like mentioned before, the artist aims to teach about self understanding in a way much like the Rap Research Lab teaches the students to learn about their own bias when putting together data. I really like this concept of exploring between what was and what comes next. Personally, I used to feel that such work is often studied only vaguely as a fact to someone studying history but now this new method of taking history and interpreting and finally translating it into art is truly fascinating to me.

One of the works that was talked about is “The Numinous Negro.” With the interaction of people, when they place a piece of gold on the oracle to receive the piece of truth, the character becomes more 3-dimensional he becomes. The same process is shown in another one of her project which is an installation sculpture of only a roof where people would place a piece of gold on the mirror and face themselves in making a wish to realize it themself. This project was really interesting because I saw it as an in-between of architecture and art where the sculpture is a very architectural piece but the meaning behind it is very abstract and not realistic which is a key difference to fully architecture. The idea of how the roof fell from the sky but also intending for interaction such as climbing onto the roof greatly differs from what is usually expected out of a house.

Another project that I found really important is “The Black Lunch Table Project.” I found the whole idea behind black artists feeling a holdback of wanting to stand up for themselves but also fearing the label of a black artist and not being viewed as fitting in to the “common” a very problematic occurrence. I find this really relatable in many cases such as hoping to stand up for a point of view and knowing that I will not be shut down right in front of my face but fearing that people will view me with a label in the future as if I were different. I think that the artists projects all capture very real world issues and important ideas in a very accurate and precise manner. I really liked her descriptions of her works and found them to be understandable as factual pieces almost like the evidence aspect of a scientific theory. On the bigger picture, the artist really made me think about identity and how it affects our standing in society. One being of two we interpret our own identity and the biases or “fiction” we have within but two being how that identity will place us within society of whether I actually want to show the fact to everyone. This is very challenging much like how the black artists feel that their factual identity could potentially danger them into being categorized disadvantageously compared to where they stand now. I strongly feel that this type of bias and fear should not exist and that people should become more confident of their identity as society also should rid of these bias.

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kristinsimmons · 6 years ago

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Snoring and Oral Health: What You Need to Know

According to the National Sleep Foundation, around 90 million Americans snore. And while it may seem like little more than an inconvenience, snoring can point to more serious issues. [1]

In fact, numerous studies have shown that a lack of high-quality sleep can have a negative impact on key health factors, from weight gain to impaired cognitive function. [2] What’s more, snoring is probably the most obvious sign that you’re not sleeping well.

I use the term sleep ability to describe someone’s ability to breathe uninterrupted while sleeping. This topic is covered in-depth in my book, The 8 Hour Sleep Paradox, but suffice it to say that improving sleep quality—and reducing or eliminating snoring—is one of the best ways to boost overall wellness, including oral and dental health.

Why is Snoring So Bad?

There are two types of sleep apnea: Obstructive sleep apnea, in which the upper airway is blocked to a point that it significantly or completely stops airflow when you’re sleeping. And central sleep apnea, in which the brain doesn’t seem to send signals that the body needs to breathe.

From an overall health perspective, this is bad news. According to the Mayo Clinic, sleep apnea can increase your risk for daytime sleepiness, difficulty concentrating, high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. [3]

But recent research has found a direct relationship between sleep quality and oral health.

A 2017 questionnaire study of 230 Indian dental students found that people who had poor oral health also tended to have more sleep disturbances and fatigue, while also determining that people who were more consistent with flossing also tended to be better rested. [4]

How Poor Sleep Impacts Oral and Dental Health

There’s a good chance that if you have obstructive sleep apnea, you’re grinding your teeth.

A 2015 study linked the occurrences of teeth grinding to occurences of obstructive sleep apnea, suggesting that apnea could be a direct cause of some cases of bruxism. [5]

Teeth grinding is one of the ways the body forces itself to breathe again. And while breathing is a good thing, teeth grinding can damage the teeth and the jawbone, causing gum recession, increasing the risk of cavities and tooth sensitivity, and sometimes causing chronic pain in the jaw itself.

If you’re snoring, there’s also a good chance you’re breathing through your mouth, which can cause an additional set of problems.

When you breathe through your mouth, your mouth tends to dry out. This then increases your risk of cavities, because teeth aren’t being coated in saliva as often as they are when you’re awake. This is important because saliva plays a crucial role in the remineralization process that helps the teeth continually rebuild and heal existing cavities naturally.

Mouth breathing also causes the pH of the mouth to drop into a more acidic zone. Like consuming coffee or wine (which are both highly acidic), this process promotes enamel erosion and can also contribute to the destruction of the teeth.

Bad breath can also be an unexpected side effect of mouth breathing, as a dry mouth allows certain strains of harmful oral bacteria to grow out of control.

Additionally, research between 2012 and 2013 examined nearly 30,000 patients, more than 11,000 of whom had sleep disorders. The patients with sleep disorders had a significantly higher rate of gingivitis, which also appeared to increase risk for cardiovascular disease. [6]

In short, mouth breathing, which is a common side effect of snoring, is bad news for your entire oral microbiome.

6 Common Causes of Snoring

Before we looks at ways to stop snoring, let’s discuss how it starts.

From an anatomical perspective, snoring happens when you’re drifting from lighter sleep into deeper sleep and the muscles in your soft palate, tongue, and throat relax. These muscles then partially block the airway and cause a vibration when you inhale, which is the sound of snoring. And snoring gets louder the more blocked the airway is.

Not everyone snores, though, so there must be more specific and unique causes that lead to airway blockage during sleep.

According to the Mayo Clinic, these causes include:

The natural shape of your sinuses and mouth.

When your muscles are taut and alert during the day, this doesn’t pose a problem, but when you sleep, the muscles start to relax, which causes snoring. For people who have larger sinuses, tonsils, or other issues, these problems are exacerbated.

Drinking alcohol.

Alcohol encourages the muscles in your mouth and throat to relax further, which can lead to snoring.

Sinus and nasal issues.

Congestion or a deviated nasal septum can contribute to blocked airways and, therefore, snoring.

Exhaustion.

If you aren’t getting enough sleep, when you do finally catch some Zs your throat can relax even further, leading to snoring.

Sleep position.

When you’re laid flat on your back, gravity can encourage your throat to narrow, increasing the possibility of snoring.

Sleep apnea.

As discussed, sleep can either cause airway blockage during sleep or interrupt the brain’s signals that tell the body to breathe. Snoring occurs as the body struggles to breathe.

How Can I Tell if I Snore?

The most common and straightforward way to find out whether you snore is to ask a friend or a a loved one who sleeps nearby.

In fact, my wife and I didn’t realize that she snored until we were on a family vacation and one of my daughters mentioned hearing her mother snore. It was an eye-opening revelation for us, and it led to my wife’s diagnosis of sleep apnea.

Which brings me to my next point:

Asking your partner, roommate, or friend if you snore can be helpful, but if you’re looking for a more formal confirmation—and, perhaps, the reasons behind your snoring—your doctor or dentist may recommend a sleep study.

Participating in a sleep study doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have to sleep in a lab—which can be uncomfortable and expensive, often costing around $4k or $5k. There are actually several at-home sleep studies available now, which do everything from gather information on your sleep cycles to recording audio of your snoring.

My favorite is Knit Health, which records video of your sleep but doesn’t require you to wear any wires or other monitoring equipment. It also provides enough information for a dentist to diagnose a snoring problem. From there, he or she can work with you to consider the best ways to address the issue.

Monitoring Sleep

Knit Health

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The Best Ways to Stop Snoring

It may take some trial and error, but by implementing the following tips, you can make a significant impact on your snoring—and potentially stop snoring altogether.

Drink less.

Limit or avoid alcohol, especially close to bedtime.

Establish—and stick to—a sleep schedule.

Try to get regular restful sleep, so that you’re not totally exhausted when you hit the hay.

Use a pillow.

Propping your head up on a pillow instead of sleeping flat can be a quick and easy way to stop snoring, especially if you tend to sleep on your back.

Use a nasal spray.

If you’re feeling congested or recovering, consider a nasal spray to help open the nasal passages. I’ve personally found the best results with Xlear nasal spray.

My Pick

Xlear Nasal Spray

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Try mouth taping.

If you have trouble getting comfortable or find yourself removing the tape at night, it’s a good sign you should speak with an ear, nose, and throat specialist to determine why you’re having trouble breathing through your nose.

You don’t want to try this with duct tape, of course. Somnifix offers specially designed mouth tape that is gentle on skin and pre-cut for convenience.

My Pick

Somnifix Sleep Strips

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Final Thoughts

read next: The Complete Guide to At-Home Sleep Tests, Plus My Favorite Way to Track Sleep

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Wake up happy and refreshed every morning

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