#would post this idea to my writing blog but i’m too lazy to log into it | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fuwushiguro · 2 years ago

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I just looked at a bunch of the responses from @decayish’s survey and I... lmfao.

It’s really brutal. It’s brutal to read some of the hateful things that apply to me and I’m sure a lot of other writers here. It’s also weirdly validating to see that a lot of people are too fucking lazy to reblog and appreciate writers how they deserve, it’s almost confirmation that my writing isn’t shit and no one likes the content I’m putting out. It’s just laziness.

My relationship with Tumblr has gone so downhill since last year. Last summer was probably when I last enjoyed it here. I have taken many hiatus’ and left with no intention of coming back a few times.

The reason I do keep coming back is because Tumblr is very addictive.

I gaslight myself into thinking “it’s not that bad” and then I feel shit again. This hasn’t been as much the case recently because I genuinely have stopped caring. Do I feel shit about lack of interaction and validation on my writing? Sure. It would upset anyone, I think. But I’ve learnt to not care.

I don’t feel like I used to when I used to log into Tumblr. I’d be excited to chat with friends, share my writing, and see what people have to say.

Now, I feel like I’ve turned into something I’m not. A content machine. I write. I post. I move on. I appreciate when I do get sweet asks, reblogs and comments, obviously. But it’s so rare. So few and far between that I’ve come to terms with not expecting it.

I used to be able to churn writing out. I’d write a 15k monster in a day and be proud. Now I struggle to get to 1k. I write, now, because of patreon. Seeing that people care about my writing enough to pay for it is incredible motivation which has helped me to stop caring about interaction.

But even then, I feel under immense pressure to write. I didn’t write for a little while and I lost a bunch of patrons. I was so mentally ill, suicidal etc. and couldn’t bear the thought of writing. Not that I’m blaming anyone for deleting their pledges, but it’s made me feel like I’m not allowed to take a break even if I’m desperate for one.

Seeing how many people will only read a fic if smut is included is very fucked up I won’t lie. There is a horrendous relationship with explicit content and porn here where people won’t even entertain an incredibly well thought out and beautifully written fic if there’s no smut involved. I have so many writing ideas that don’t include smut. I only write smut because I know that’s all most people here care about. It’s sad. Really fucking sad.

There are so many beautiful and talented writers here that are suffering. Suffering with their blogs, personal lives, existence. Tumblr used to be such a cool place. A place where people could post what they want, write what they want, and spread love. It’s just not like that anymore. There is no life on my dashboard. It’s incredibly dead and I miss how it used to be.

The lack of gratitude and appreciation on this site is just outright terrible. Please support us. Reblog our works. Comment on fics. Send asks. Make your favourite writers feel appreciated and seen. Valued. Because so many of us don’t.

I imagined a large problem with this is that there’s so many fic writers you think we are disposable. If one of us leaves you can run to another. But there might come a day where every single one of us quits writing for good. And then you’ll be so sorry that you didn’t give a few minutes of your time to show your gratitude to us writers. We aren’t disposable. Each and every one of us has a unique voice. Unique ideas. A unique way of storytelling and expressing ourselves. Thirty people can get the same prompt and still wind up producing thirty different pieces of writing.

Some of the responses I saw on the server were just truly wretched. People being cruel about people’s writing choices. The way they write. The way they run their blogs and the content they post. These blogs are for fun. For freedom and expression.

Learn to be kind. We are people behind these screens. There is flesh and bone typing on the keys of keyboards to make the works you claim to love so much. But not enough to show us enough love.

Please, if you care about us at all, show us you care before it’s too late.

#tw rant #tw suicide #tw mental health

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the-bjd-community-confess · 5 years ago

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DoA megapost (22 confessions)

Mod: So https://true-bjd-confessions.tumblr.com/post/189300138511/mod-due-to-excessive-offtopic-arguing-in-the

All you guys’ pending DoA confessions presented in no specific order, before we move into the hold, as announced above.

To be clear: I think this is a feature DoA should have yesterday. It’s completely inappropriate to force people to use deadnames and names which are related to traumatic life experiences, or be banned.

However, *weary sigh, gesturing at the multiple 70+ reply confessions on this topic* people told me they were finding the rapidly escalating discussion to be upsetting and offputting, and that’s not my goal for this blog. ❤️

I am exceptionally weary of all the DoA hate over the person who got banned over making a new account after not being allowed to change their user name. DoA isn’t the only doll forum out there. If you don’t like their rules, don’t join. I for one find their rules about on- and off-topic dolls to be unfair and arbitrary as hell, but in the end it comes down to their house, their rules. Move on.

~Anonymous

Us: Sure would be nice to maybe be able to change your name on DOA.

Some of y’all: Are you asking for anarchy?? If we allow this, what’s next?? A reasonable review of outdated rules??? The rules are there for a reason!!1! The reason may be antiqued because technology has updated and changed since then, meaning there are better solutions available, but it’s still a reason so we DEFINITELY should NEVER change!! Change is too scary for me. :( You’re bullies who want to be special :((( Stop that :(

~Anonymous

I love seeing people get so offended at anon saying “bigots”. How do you know it was about you ? Guilty conscience? DOA could allow name changes if they really wanted to. There are other hobbies where they forbid certain people from entering forums while still allowing name changes. It’s not hard if you really care.

~Anonymous

Honestly the way people fall all over themselves to defend DoA against any sort of criticism (regardless of how you personally feel about the validity of said criticism, reader) makes me glad I never got into the community aspect of this hobby. It's just... stressful.

~Anonymous

The transphobia in the comments on this blog in particular are so gross. Being a bigot makes your dolls instantly hideous. And no, I’m not saying everyone who is defending DOAs decision is transphobic. I’m talking about the one who thinks trans people transitioning is wrong and their friends. You’re gross and so are your dolls.

~Anonymous

scammers can & will get around DOA's no name change policy, it's really not that safe. also, DOA isn't the only website which allows the sale of high-value items.

~Anonymous

First it's "if you want name changes coded in DoA, offer to do it yourself!", then it's "why tf would DoA accept some rando to help code their site?" make up your goddamn mind, your argument is falling apart.

Also when did this issue become "DoA vs trans people"? Like, I like DoA yet I also recognize it should be more accessible and updated for the modern userbase. I want it to become as good as it can be because I like the community and would hate to see it die out like so many other forum sites do. Yes, it has flaws- and believe me, the folks who get extremely upset about the idea of admitting that embarrass me- but I liked the format since I was new to the hobby. I just wish it was more inclusive!

~Anonymous

girlisav3rb: "this isn't about exclusion or leaving anyone out". Also girlisav3rb: "I'm just kicking your punk ass off [obvious metaphor for DoA]" yyyyiiiiikkkees

~Anonymous

The DOA username debate is really starting to feel like 4 people's personal beefs against each other. It isn't really about dolls and I wish it wasn't dominating all the confessions here. I don't really care about watching pomoaples, pupkinspce, aigisthewlve and tellmeifthursday make fools of themselves daily.

~Anonymous

10.

Say it louder for the people in the back: IF YOU INSIST ON NAME CHANGES FOR DOA, THEN VOLUNTEER YOUR CODING EXPERTISE. Don't know how to code and are just squawking about something you can't directly contribute towards? Then shut up or offer up money so the mods can hire a computer programmer to make the changes you're DEMANDING from a FREE service.

~Anonymous

11.

God it's so painfully obvious to see how many of the people defending DoA on the grounds that name changes would destroy the integrity of the website have never ever worked on or even been part of a forum or really any website of any kind in their lives. Seriously arguing that "the database" would break if you changed a name like?? No??? Have you ever seen a server backend before? You can automate this shit, you know, keep a log of former names, just... it's not some big huge challenge???

~Anonymous

12.

I don't have a horse in the trans name change race but calling DoA one of the friendlies communities around is abject bullshit lmao. There's not a more elitist, paranoid, abusive community this side of comic books -- but that kind of goes for this hobby as a whole, let's be honest.

~Anonymous

13.

THE RULES ARE IMPORTANT WE CAN't cHANGE THE RULES IT WILL LEAD TO CHAOS IF WE CHANGE ONE RULE WHERE WILL IT END THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!!!!! In my town it used to be THE RULES that POC have to go to separate schools and use separate bathrooms, but sure, the rules are the most important thing, not the people. And before anyone says cOmPaRiNg DoLlS tO rAciSm, 1) shitting on trans people IS a form of prejudice you smoothbrains, and 2) my ass is POC and I call it like I see it. Check yourselves.

~Anonymous

14.

I personally think DOA should just.. go away? It’s been around for years, most people use it as reference rather than a community anymore. Everything is on FaceBook and Instagram now, DOA is pretty much just a glorified Dolly Dictionary at this point. Besides, if they aren’t going to change an Incredibly simple, easy thing to change just to accommodate transitioning people, it’s not the best place to be.

~Anonymous

15.

I mean about the whole rules is rules is rules thing about doa: the thing is, some rules are there for a reason and obviously do need to be respected whether you agree with them or not, like don’t block fire exits, murder is bad, etc. but some rules eventually become outdated and need to be changed to keep up with society, and that doesn’t make the people pointing out that they need to be changed evil or entitled or spoiled. Imagine if we all still had to drive 10 mph everywhere because when someone pointed out that car technology had improved since 1915 and the speed limit should be increased accordingly everyone had just shouted them down with “BUT TEH RUUULLLEESS!!!” You’d be pretty interested in getting some of this “special treatment” yourself so you could get to work on time, huh?

~Anonymous

16.

Honestly the easiest solution would be let people change their names only once and have it trackable.. as a trans dude its NOT that deep.

~Anonymous

17.

I notice that the unrelenting attacks on DoA are now even using the same phraseology along with the name-calling and implications of sinister motives. These are textbook bullying tactics. Next is the boycott, except that most of these people already say they don’t use the forum because they are just too “21st Century” for it.

Luckily this is just a confession board and no matter how many folks you manage to rile up here, it’s not going to affect DoA. Now, this is why I love DoA–you can’t go on their own site and spew this nonsense. They have Rules. They are Strict. They attempt to avoid drama, especially off-topic drama, and they don’t allow meanness, vulgarity or obscenity. If you’re looking for a pleasant, safe space, it’s your best bet.

~Anonymous

18.

Easy to lay bigotry, laziness, stupidity and worse on DoA mods for not just accepting tales of trauma and pasts to erase. But the internet has always been full of lies by people trying to get their own way or escape consequences. Not just pro scammers. People who cry things like illness, trauma, disaster, family or pet problems over and over to get sympathy for demands or as all-purpose excuses. Recast ownership lies. People who never got a no before, and don't like being turned down no-how.

~Anonymous

19.

I just realized that no one understands the people saying DOA can allow name changes are the people who have actually modded forums before, most forums unless they’re running a totally outdated system use user id numbers that are linked to display names, which can be changed, and you can write a simple string of simple-baby-code to show old display names on a profile, to explain it in simple terms.

~Anonymous

20.

Honestly I think that the anti-name change people are mostly just shilling for DoA because they can't believe that their precious forum with its volunteer mods could be anything but flawless. Or something like that, given how indignantly these people have *always* reacted to confessions criticizing DoA, even before the trans controversy was a thing. There have definitely been some obvious transphobes as well though, whose bile is really more suited to conservative FB pages or something. Go away!

~Anonymous

21.

the DOA mods can obviously change people's usernames because it's 2019 and basically every other site in existence can do it. they might have to change the site slightly to accomplish this. maybe there are reasons for them to choose not to do that, but let's stop pretending it's some technological impossibility.

~Anonymous

22.

How about this: Implement a system on DoA that indentifies users by a unique code and allow users to have a changeable display name. Changing the display name could become a paid feature to pay for the technical changes. Think of a system like discord has. It's a win-win situation. Thoughts?

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #TrueBJDConfessionz #BJD Confessions #DoA #Just let people change their damn usernames

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megamikethomson · 4 years ago

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HEALTH & FITNESS TIPS

usage and Eggs May Help You Lose Weight

FILED UNDER DIET AND NUTRITION, LOSE WEIGHT, HEALTHY EATING

Studies have shown that both fat and protein slow the absorption of carbohydrates into your bloodstream.

instant oatmeal - sugar and carbs bagel - all carbs donuts - ditto toast - carbs fruit - sugar juice more sugar See what I’m talking about?

And here’s the great thing about including fat and protein with your breakfast: It may help you lose weight and trim your waistline!

By slowing down the consumption of carbohydrates into your bloodstream, you will feel full longer and your body will have a steady supply of energy. Most people tend to consume fewer calories when they eat a balancd breakfast. I’ve noticed that I consume fewer calories when I include protein and fat with my breakfast and I think you will too.

I’m a big fan of sausage and eggs so I would have no problem eating that every day but when I’m looking for something a little health life, I have some yogurt.

diet and nutrition free fitness and health life cares tips Are You Making Progress with your Exercise Program?

FILED UNDER FITNESS AND HEALTH TIPS

If you’ve been consistent with your workouts for a few weeks and you’re not seeing the type of progress you’d like to be seeing with your exercise program, I would advise to take a look at the two following things:

The first is your diet. Are you eating well? Do you eating a well-balanced diet and are you eating 4-6 smaller meals versus 2-3 big ones?

It’s very important to eat smaller-portioned meals (4-6) throughout the day as opposed to the 3 (breakfast, lunch and dinner) that most are accustomed to because eating smaller meals ( puts your metabolism into calorie-burning mode. This is especially important for people who can only fit in 2-3 workouts per week but generally speaking, it’s a good diet strategy for anybody to follow. Never eat to get full; only enough to get you through until your next meal.

What you eat is obviously also very important. Try to stay away from fat and greasy foods, processed sugars and pretty much anything fried.

Eat as clean as possible.

The second would be recuperation. Are you sleeping and resting enough? Depending on how old you are and how hard you’re working out, you may need more sleep then the average person who I think sleeps something like 5-7 hours a night.

If you’re not sleeping, if you’re not resting, if you’re not giving your body a chance to recuperate from your workouts, then you’re not giving your body a chance to grow and make progress.

do you eat right and you’re sleeping enough and you’re still not making progress in the gym, it may be time to look at your current exercise program. You would be amazed how quickly your body adapts to the workouts that you throw at it.

Eat well, sleep and continually throw different workouts at your body and I guarantee you will make progress.

free fitness cares and health cares tips Challenge Yourself Daily

FILED UNDER MOTIVATION,

It sounds easy enough enough right?

But after a few weeks you run out of ways to continue challenging yourself.

It’s unevitable unless you:

a.) continue to learn new exercise/ workout routines and techniques.

b.) keep a training log.

The easiest way to satisfy the first is to subscribe to fitness magazines or maybe hire a personal trainer depending on how serious you are.

You can also stay up to date by checking this Blog often as I plan on posting some sample workouts pretty soon and I’ll of course keep you posted on all new excercise programs that hit the scene.

The latter option is actually what I want to focus on today.

By keeping a training or workout log, you can make it 10 x easier to consistently challenge yourself to improve upon previous workouts.

A training log is simply a log that details every exercise you perform (in the gym or at home), number of sets, number of reps and of course the weight.

By logging all of this information, all you have to do to improve on your previous workout is look at your previous workout (in your log) and “pick your spots” as I like to say where you can make some improvements in.

free fitness and health tips weblog lose weight weblog training log Bodybuilding to Burn Fat

FILED UNDER IN THE GYM, FITNESS AND HEALTH TIPS, BURN BODY FAT

Several people don’t realize it but one of the most effective methods for burning fat is bodybuilding (working out with weights/resistance training).

Not only will replacing just some of the fat on your body with muscle convert your body into a calorie burning furnace but minute for minute bodybuilding workouts consume more energy and calories then to cardio workouts which most people do to “burn fat.”

So the next time you want to lose some weight or burn some fat instead of jumping on a treadmill, hit the weights.

bodybuilding free fitness and health tips weblog lose weight weblog Use a Training Partner for Motivation

FILED UNDER IN THE GYM, FITNESS AND HEALTH TIPS,

This post is for my wife who didn’t like the advice I gave out in a recent post titled This is How to Motivate Yourself.

This is for those of you who think it’s a little too risky to give a less-then-flattering picture of yourself in a bathing suit to your friends for fear of having it plastered all over the internet.

Another great way to get and stay motivated and to stick to an exercise program is to find a training partner who has similar goals as you and to train together.

Having a training partner is great because you can pick each other up when one of you isn’t motivated. You can spot each other in the gym. You can push yourselves. And it’s a lot easier to eat healthy when you have “nutrition conscious” friends to hang around with.

So if you’re having trouble motivating yourself, you may want to consider a training partner.

free fitness and health tips

FILED UNDER MOTIVATION,

It’s always a good idea to set goals for yourself whenever you decide to participate in an exercise program.

Like pretty much anything else in life, you have a much better chance of achieving whatever it is you want to accomplish if you have a detailed map or guide that will help guide you on your path.

Setting a goal is very easy. Just ask yourself what you want to get out of all this exercise you’re going to be doing. Maybe you want to lose 10 lbs., drop a couple of dress sizes or add a couple of inches to your arms…whatever the case.

Goals will help get you there quicker.

Here are 3 quick tips I recommend when considering goals:

Make sure they’re realistic. If working out 5 x a week isn’t realistic for you then don’t make it a goal. You want to set yourself up for success here, not failure. Have some short-term goals. Long-term goals (losing 10 lbs.) are great but short-term goals (working out 4 x this week) will keep you focused from day-to-day. Write them down. Writing down your goals just make them more powerful. It makes them real (at least for me). free fitness and health tips weblog lose weight weblog setting goals This is how to Motivate Yourself

FILED UNDER MOTIVATION

Back when I was a personal trainer one of the biggest complaints I would hear from people who wanted to get started (but couldn’t) with a fitness cares program was a lack of motivation.

Lack of motivation?

If you really want to get your lazy butt in the gym, here’s what I think you should do.

Take a picture of your fat butt in a bikini or shorts and send the pictures to 5 of your friends.

Invite your friends out to lunch and let them know about your fitness goals and how you need there help to get started.

Tell them that if they don’t receive 3 pictures a week of you working out (at the gym, at home, wherever it doesn’t matter) that they have your permission to send those pictures to whoeever they want!

Nothing and I mean NOTHING is a bigger motivator then public humiliation.

The point is this. Maybe you don’t have to be this drastic. But you know you better then anyone else does and you know what will motivate you enough to get you in the gym so whatever that thing is… DO IT!

#fitness cares #health cares #health life #health life cares

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theuniversitychallengereview · 5 years ago

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UC 49.28-32, QF Mega-Blog

What better thing to do, when forced to stay at home during the outbreak of a global virus that threatens not only millions of peoples lives but the very fabric of society as we know it, than catch up on watching and writing about the quiz show whose previous four episodes you had missed for various reasons, all of which seem frivolous following the outbreak of a global virus that threatens not only millions of peoples lives but the very fabric of society as we know it. Also, I kept seeing that Twitter meme about Shakespeare having written King Lear during the plague quarantine and fancied getting involved.

Its also the only sport of any kind that can be found on TV for love nor money (apart from the Turkish Superlig, which for some reason thinks itself immune). Maybe the Premier League should try out pre-recording like the Challenge, for precisely this kind of situation. Just get Salah, De Bruyne and all the boys together for a few kick-abouts, film a few goals and slide tackles and all that, and keep the footage for a rainy day. Or send a camera round Serena Williams’ gaff, log a couple of serves and forehands, cut it together - BOOM, there’s your Wimbledon final if Greta decides tennis is too carbon-heavy.

All I’m saying is, you’ve never seen University Challenge postponed due to a global virus that threatens not only millions of peoples lives but the very fabric of society as we know it (although, as I write this I’m realising that the recordings of next years show will probably be delayed. Shit)

Episode 28 - Courtauld vs Imperial

Whenever I’ve not written one of these for a while it takes me a while to figure out what the heck it is I’m doing. Like, what do I usually write about? How have I managed to put out 118 of these? Do you reckon Shakespeare felt the same way when he was between plays - would he sit down with his quill and parchment and wonder aloud, ‘What the fuck is an iambic pentameter and how do I find one?’ (If I 1: knew the answer to that question; and 2: could be bothered, then I would have written that question in iambic pentameter, but you should know by now you’re dealing with one lazy blogger).

Anyway, Imperial had blazed aside all before them in the opening two rounds, thanks in no small part to the efforts of mercurial star Brandon, whose laconic style has drawn unfair criticism as arrogance. Thats how it always goes with the social media juries though - if a contestant displays any level of confidence above the bare minimum then they’re too big for their boots. But then if they grin and seem really happy when they get an answer that’ll probably annoy some people too. Almost as if they can’t win and there’s no point playing this game to appease the kind of people who get annoyed at kids on quiz shows.

The Courtauld side fall into the grinning category. They all four of them seem genuinely delighted to be on the show, and even more delighted that they managed to win two matches and make it to the quarter finals - their second round defeat of Glasgow a particularly impressive performance.

Glasgow were a good side, but Imperial are a different gravy, and Courtauld, after a neg on the opening question, seem like rabbits in the headlights (when they should have been at home, the whole country’s on lockdown, dammit Peter!) as Brandon sycthes down question after question, fearful to fall further below zero in case they can’t make it back up again.

For a while it looked as though that might end up being the case, as Imperial pranced into a hundred point lead within six questions, but Haigh finally stopped the rot, and Courtauld would add some respectability over the rest of the episode. In truth, it was clear from that point onwards that the race had been run, and Brandon seemed to relax from thereon out, and his teammates picked up the slack, though that seems like doing them a disservice, as they all seem very accomplished in their own right.

Final Score: Courtauld 75 - 240 Imperial

Episode 29 - Trinity, Cam vs Corpus Christi, Cam

Right, on to the next, and for Ep 29 we had our first Cam-Cam slugfest of the series. There had already been plenty of Ox-Cam derbies of course, you can’t move for them half the time, but no inter-collegiate battles thus far. Whoever won would become the first side to reach the semi-finals, with Trinity having beaten Manchester and Corpus Wolfson in their respective opening quarter final clashes.

Stewart, who doesn’t look like he would be out of place in the Byzantine Empire, gets Corpus off the mark with ‘Byzantine’ (I have basically no idea what this comparison would actually mean, or if it is in fact a sick burn, but I feel like he has an old-timey medieval look about him and felt like this should not go unaddressed. Like, he wouldn’t look strange wearing a tunic, would he?).

Russell and Wang increased the lead before Hughes got Trinity into the game with what looked like a semi-guess on a maths-y starter. Paxman, who clearly enjoys toying with the Corpus captain, then gets Wang for the second match in a row with a double serving of Boomer sarcasm. When Wang rather dejectedly says, ‘Its not Isaac Asimov, is it? No’, the quizmaster further interrogates him as to whether he was giving a question or an answer, much in the way an irritating geography teacher would parrot ‘Of course you can go to the toilet, the question is whether or not you may’. He’s right though, and Corpus gobble up two more bonuses on sci-fi writers.

Another starter went to Stewart, and a first for Gunasekera. Corpus were starting to look comfortable, but a brief flurry from Trinity around the music round looks like it might bring them into contention. But that’s all it was, the briefest of flurries, like that random day in April or October where someone says ‘is it snowing?, and you all look out of the window, but before you can actually work out if it really was snowing or if it was some sort of white rain, its stopped.

Corpus stretch their legs now, and find themselves beyond two hundred points before Trinity turn themselves back on, which they eventually do, building up to a not-disgraceful 80 before the gong.

Final Score: Trinity 80 - 245 Corpus

Episode 30 - Manchester vs Wolfson, Ox

Because I do this on Tumblr, one of the most annoying things about doing this (and I know its dumb), and something that I think might subconsciously play into me not doing these more regularly, is that when I try and add the pictures of the teams to the post it quite often takes ages and sometimes causes the page to freeze so that I can’t save/post it. This problem is exacerbated when there are multiple episodes to get through, which makes it one of those snowballing problems that only gets worse the longer you leave it - like when you put off repying to an email until it becomes almost a monolithic entitiy in your mind.

It only takes a few minutes to fix this - you copy and paste the text and then add the images in a different window (though there is another annoying thing where the hashtags don’t save anyway, so you have to retype the hashtags - and for some reason I always add loads of hashtags, including #JeremyPaxman - which also feels like it takes an epoch) - but its one of those few minute periods that feel like fifteen minutes. So basically, what I’m saying is that I can’t be assed adding the pictures to the post at this point. I might add them later, but for now you’re just getting words, so, so many rambling words.

Manchester are back in the last eight for the first time in donkeys, but they stand on the precipice following a trouncing by Trinity in their QF-opener (I’ve already mentioned this in the last review, which normally wouldn’t matter, but since its directly above this one then it might seem a bit repetitive, but I don’t know if I can rely on your having remembered). Wolfson were likewise (likewise were? Are both okay) baeten by Corpus Christi (which is also referenced above, sorry) so this one was an ELIMINATOR!

Neither side seemed to realise this from the off though (I say though too much don’t I? If I had more time I’d probably edit a few down. But I’m doing a 5-episode mega-post so I don’t, though. Shit. Actually, that one was on purpose winky face) and sort of stumble through the first few questions with some atrocious work on the bonuses.

Green thought he’d pulled a great answer out of the bag to kick start the match, but Fanny Burney Fanny Burnett is not, and Paxo decries the crowd for being amused at how close Green had come (they having let out a collective ‘oooh’, much in the same way their footballing equivalent may have done at a smashed crossbar).

Even Jones, so electric in her previous appearances, was a bit slow off the mark tonight. On one occasion she even overruled her teammates conferred and agreed upon answer at the last moment, giving her own guess which they had dismissed, but fortunately for her they had both been wrong, so she did not look a fool.

Manchester were ahead, but couldn’t get far ahead. Wolfson were within touching distance, but couldn’t touch. Not until the very end that is. Caple took the final starter to draw them level and the gong sounded before th first bonus could be asked. DEADLOCK.

A #DEADLOCKELIMINATOR no less.

Paxman explains that a Neg on this question would hand victory to the other team without them lifting a buzzer-finger. He starts reading, no one buzzes. He continues to read. Everyone continues to not buzz. He carries on r- BUZZ.

Manchester Rogers. Three words left on Paxo’s lips. He better be right. Kaiser Wilhelm. He isn’t. Otto Von Bismarck. An easy mistake to make, says Paxo.

I reckon Wolfson would have picked up the drop anyway, but you can’t be sure.

My fellow UC blog, jacksonlinewritings, says that its the first time a neg has lost a tiebreak since 2002/03.

Final Score: Manchester 125 - 130 Wolfson.

Episode 31 - Durham vs Imperial.

I don’t know if this is the first time I’ve written about the same team twice in one post before, but it may well be. Either way, you can (and probably already have) read everything I had to say about Imperial Brandon, my favourite contestant this series, further up this very page, so I don’t need to reiterate.

Durham’s Tams beats him to what I thought was a relatively easy starter on the Magna Carta (just spent a few minutes trying to come up with another word to rhyme with carta, thought it would be easy, but it was a bit harda). He gets the next one though (though) and his Captain Rich the third to give them the lead. Their opponents proved a tougher nut to crack than Courtauld though (though, and I’m not doing this on purpose. I’m just not removing them when I probably should be. They’re all coming up naturally. This is just how much I apparently use the word. If there are any others then please let me know) and cling on whenever Brandon threatens to zoom away.

Please forgive me for going on about Brandon, by the way. He’s just (I think ‘just’ is probably one, and probably ‘probably’ too) so captivating to watch. There were several times in this episode when I stopped watching the whole screen during a starter and focussed on him, expecting him to buzz in, which he duly did. Especially on the starters which are that bit more important, when Durham were (I need to do something about my tenses too, they’re all over the shop) threatening to make a comeback, you could feel certain that he was going to get it.

When the game has been won, he relaxes, so his personal scores haven’t been as high as those of others in past series, but he hasn’t needed to get more than he has done, so why would he bother? I expect if a team were to push Imperial close over a whole match then he’d easily post double figures.

Imperial join Corpus Christi in the semis. Durham live to fight another day.

Final Score: Durham 115 - 185 Imperial

Episode 32 - Jesus, Ox vs Courtauld

Phew! I’ve never written four in a night before. That was quite something. Wait, whats that, I have another one to go? Okay, lets do this - an advance warning, this one will probably (probably! Why do I feel the need to never be absolute about anything. I know for certain that this will be very short, so why must I try and placate some imaginary reader who might scold me for its being so?) be very short.

So, another ELIMINATOR. Courtauld were my favourite team of the series, but I harboured little hope for them, after such a crushing defeat by Imperial last time out, and Jesus were quick to crush what little I had left. Lucy Clarke, who absolutely relishes a buzz on the opening starter of a match, came in with an early buzz, as is her wont, and fortunately for the Oxonians she was right this time. She got the next one too, and Jesus were 45 up.

Three in a row for Courtauld captain Prance, who looks shocked every time he gets a starter correct, despite the fact that when he got the third of this hat-trick, he had quite clearly proved to himself that he knows how to answer starter questions by the fact that (the fact that Ducks, Newburyport) he had got the previous two. They were ahead now. Dare I dream?

No, I daren’t. Jesus quickly stole it back, and did not let it go. Courtauld stayed fairly close, but could never again broach the gap, struggling on the bonus questions whenever they got in. Perhaps on another night they might have stood a better chance (with a bonus set on collage art, which Paxman reckoned they would have knocked out of the park, going to Jesus), but tonight (its not tonight at all is it, not for me and not for you) was not their night.

And breathe...

Final Score: Jesus, Ox 135 - 90 Courtauld

If you’ve stuck with me through all of this, I’m frankly amazed. Thank you, and if you need something to do during self-isolation, there are like 6 whole series of the Challenge on YouTube. I haven’t reviewed them all, but thats probably for the best though.

#university challenge #bbc2 #manchester #jesus #oxford #wolfson #cambridge #corpus christi #durham #imperial #london #trinity #Courtauld #Jeremy Paxman

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kristinebowman-blog · 6 years ago

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You’ve already experienced it… https:google.com SEO is becoming harder and harder.

As time goes on, it takes longer to rank and you have to spend more money to get the results you want.

But the reality is, you can’t wait forever to get results. And you have no choice but to leverage SEO as a tactic because everyone else is doing it.

So, what should you do?

Well, the first thing you need to do is adjust how you think about SEO. SEO isn’t only about rankings. To be honest, I don’t even track them for my own site. It’s about getting the right kind of traffic.

You know, the visitors who are ready to buy.

So, instead of teaching you how to rank for competitive head terms, which is going to be even more difficult in 2019, I’m going to break down a formula that will give you much faster results and sales in this ultra-competitive environment.

And best of all, I am going to break it down into 4 steps as I know you don’t have the time to do everything.

Here’s the 4-step SEO strategy you should follow in 2019:

Step #1: Attract customers before they are ready to buy

The most expensive keywords to go after are buyer intent keywords. You know, the ones where someone types in a keyword and is ready to spend money right then and there.

And that will always be the case. Not just from an SEO standpoint, but even a pay per click standpoint.

So, what should you do… not go after these lucrative keywords?

Of course not. More so, you have to go after them no matter how long it takes to rank. You just have to be patient.

But in the short run, there are other keywords that have similar search patterns and they aren’t as lucrative and they are more so informational related. In which people are doing some research before they buy.

So how do you find the keywords that aren’t as competitive that have a similar search pattern?

You use Google Correlate.

Here’s how it works…

Let’s say you are selling beard oil but you know the term is competitive and will take you a lot longer to rank for than you have.

What should you do?

With Google Correlate, it will show you all of the terms people search for on Google that has a similar search pattern to the term “beard oil.”

In other words, think of it as Google Trends in reverse. With Google Trends, you type in a query and it shows you how well the term performed over time. With Google Correlate, you get a list of queries that have a similar trend pattern to the main keyword you want to rank for.

In other words, if you know the term “beard oil” will cause a sale, Google Correlate will show you other terms that match the same pattern (some keywords will be relevant while others will not).

Type in “beard oil” or the term you want to rank for in Google Correlate. Then, shift series to -1 week or -2 weeks (which means it is negatively correlated), which means you will be given a list of terms.

Here’s what I got…

As you can see from the image above, people type in terms like beard products, best beard oil, beard balm, what is beard oil, and how to make beard oil.

If you write blog content that is super in depth about those phrases, you’ll appeal to a similar audience. Some of those keywords may not cause a sale right away, but what we’ve found over and over again is that if you write content related to your main subject, a lot of your blog readers will come back within a few weeks and purchase.

That’s how most people generate their sales from content marketing.

And you don’t even have to write blog content, you can just create new landing pages targeting those new keywords.

And similar to how you put in -2 weeks as the shift series, you can turn it into a positive number and see what people search that is positively correlated:

You’ll notice that searches for oils related to coughs have a similar search pattern to beard oil.

Most people who sell beard oil probably don’t think about offering oils for coughs, but if the oils are similar you can expand your offering fairly quickly without spending much money and generate extra income by creating a new line of products.

Step #2: Land and expand

Everyone focuses on ranking for new terms. But there is an issue, it’s hard to rank for new terms.

Even though SEO has a huge ROI, it’s a strategy that requires patience.

But here is the thing, you can get results faster if you use the land and expand strategy.

Here’s how it works. Log into Google Search Console. Next, click on “performance” and you will see a list of terms that you currently rank for:

Then I want you to click on one of the most popular terms you already rank for and then click on pages. You should see a report that shows you the URL that ranks for the term on Google. You need this URL because you will be modifying this page.

Now I want you to take that term and put it into Ubersuggest. Once the report loads, click on “Keyword Ideas” in the navigation. You’ll see a report that will look something like this:

You’ll see a laundry list of long tail phrases… I want you to take the ones that are buyer intent related and add them to the page that already ranks for the head term.

When adding the long tail phrases, make sure you adjust your content to be relevant to those keywords. And pick the ones that are highly related to your product or service. Just stuffing them into your page without adjusting the content is spammy and won’t provide a good user experience to searchers.

What you will find is that because you are already ranking for the head term, typically you will shoot to page one within 30 to 60 days for the long-tail variation by adjusting your content. It’s a quick win!

But the key to this strategy is to pick the right longtail keywords. Don’t just look at traffic numbers, focus on terms that you know will cause a sale or a lead.

Step #3: Build a brand

Google has been placing more emphasis on brands. In other words, if you have a strong brand, you’ll rank faster.

When I really started focusing on brand building, my traffic went from 240,839 in June 2016:

To 454,382 in August 2016:

As the Ex-CEO of Google said:

Brands are the solution, not the problem. Brands are how you sort out the cesspool.

In other words, if you want to succeed on Google in the long run, you have to build a brand. As your brand grows, your search traffic will as well.

The way to monitor your brand growth is Google Trends. Type in your brand name into Google Trends as well as a few of your competitors to see how you are stacking up.

Sadly, there isn’t a quick hack to skyrocket your brand. There is, however, a formula that works for both personal and corporate brands.

So, what is the formula?

You do something that is bold!

Sure people can tell you to blog, speak at conferences, run ads… but none of that helps you build a brand that has a loyal following because everyone else is already doing the same things (or trying at least).

But what your competition isn’t doing is being bold. If you want a brand like Tony Robbins or Apple, bold is the way to go.

So how do you do something that is bold?

Well, lets first start with a personal brand (although I recommend that you build a corporate one instead).

Do the opposite

When it comes to building a personal brand, you’ll have to take the opposite approach of most people in your space. Whatever is working for them won’t work for you.

No one cares for the copycat, especially when they are satisfied with the original solution.

In other words, if you do exactly what your competitor is doing no one will care to follow you.

Let me give you examples of how to do the opposite of your competition:

Genuinely help people – a lot of people blog and participate on the social web, but how many people take the time to respond to their community? As far as I can tell, less than 1%. Just look at me. For years, I’ve responded to comments on my blog, Facebook, and even YouTube. I am so engaged with my community on LinkedIn that they honored me as one of their Top Voices of 2018! Most people are too lazy to do this… doing the opposite has helped me build a connection with you. And if you are wondering why I do this it’s because when I started out I had no money and people helped me. I’m just trying to do the same.

Writing 10x content – when I got into blogging, everyone was doing it. So I had to find a way to separate myself. I did this by writing in-depth guides… not those 5,000-word blog posts, I am talking about 30,000-word guides. On top of that, I spent money on the design so they would look beautiful.

Creating video content – when I got into the digital marketing community, there were already large conferences that had thousands of attendees. I thought speaking at all of them would help my brand… and they did to some extent, but I was just another speaker. But very few people in my space were creating video content… so now instead of giving speeches at conferences, I give them on YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I’m able to reach more people without having to travel and the content lives on forever (and is available for free to everyone!).

That’s how I stood out from my competition and built a personal brand. And then I did it for years as brands aren’t built overnight.

If you aren’t sure on how to do the opposite of your competition when it comes to your personal brand leave a comment and I’ll try and give you some ideas.

Now let’s go into building a brand for your company… It all comes down to one thing…

Be bold

No matter what you are selling online you have competition. It doesn’t matter if you are a B2B or a B2C business… you have competition, which means it is going to be hard for your brand to stand out.

So, how do you differentiate yourself?

You do so by being bold.

Let me give you an example. In the United States, there are tons of options when it comes to cell phone carriers. So how do you stand out when everyone offers the same phone and competitive pricing?

Well, T-Mobile separated themselves by offering free Netflix, unlimited data, and free roaming.

And you don’t have to be a big company to do something bold. When Zappos started selling shoes they decided to do a few things different. First, they offered a refund policy that lasted 1 year. Just think about that… if you return a shoe to them 12 months later, the chances are it’s out of style and they won’t be able to resell it.

Then they decided to randomly upgrade their shipping. So instead of ground shipping, they would randomly upgrade you to 2-day or next-day air.

And Amazon crushed their competition the moment they rolled out their Prime program. When it first came out, you would get free 2-day shipping on all Prime products for just $99 a year. What a ridiculously amazing offer.

Now that’s being bold!

Being bold doesn’t have to break your bank account. You don’t have to do something like Amazon and T-Mobile… it can be as simple as providing amazing customer service when you are in an industry that’s known for terrible support.

If you are unsure of how you can be bold with your business, leave a comment and I will try and give you some ideas. Make sure you provide an overview of your business so I can give you halfway decent ideas. 😉

And of course, being bold won’t build your brand overnight (it takes years) but you should see growth each quarter. If you aren’t, that means you aren’t being bold enough.

Step #4: Build a better mousetrap

A mousetrap? Why would you want to build a mousetrap?

Link building is still important. Sure, Google is looking at many other factors now, but link building still helps with rankings.

But it is harder to build links than it used to be back in the day. Everyone is blogging… heck, there are over 440 million blogs and over a billion if you count Tumblr, Medium, and WordPress.com.

Yes, that means there are more sites to hit up and ask for a link but everyone is doing that.

So how do you build links when everyone is getting those spammy emails asking for a link, such as the one below?

You have to build a better mousetrap. Something so amazing that everyone wants to link to it without you asking for a link.

It used to be detailed guides but seeing 10,000-word guides that have fancy designs are more common these days than when I started creating them.

They still work, especially when it comes to brand building, but they just aren’t as effective when it comes to link building.

Same with infographics, they used to get tons of social shares and links (they still do to some extent), but they aren’t as effective as they used to be.

So what kind of mousetrap do you need to build? You could start off with something that people are used to paying for.

For example, the consulting firm Price Intelligently released a free analytics software called ProfitWell.

With very little marketing, they were able to generate 943 backlinks from 187 domains.

I also did this with Ubersuggest.

I put in more effort into marketing, so I was able to generate 10,667 unique backlinks.

A great example in the consumer space (this would do wonders for e-commerce sites as well) is animated infographics. Everyone has seen infographics, so Aminagraffs decided to make their infographics animated, which caused them to go viral.

Here’s part of their infographic that breaks down how a car motor works.

Best of all, the Amimagraphs founder didn’t do any marketing… the graphic just spread. Even with no marketing, it generated 751 backlinks from 136 domains and over 200,000 visitors.

If you want to use old-school link building tactics, you can, they just won’t help you as much in 2019. So, get creative and build a better mousetrap.

When you build a good mousetrap, you may be worried about cost. But there is a different way to think about it…

How much would you be spending on marketing to get the same results?

People make fun of me for what I am doing with Ubersuggest and think it is silly that I can “lose” $150,000 or so a month. But if I had to buy the traffic that I get because of Ubersuggest it would cost me much more than $150,000. Even though my mousetrap is expensive, it is still cheaper than paid ads.

And you don’t have to go as far as me. Doing what Animagraffs is affordable. I paid them $750 to create an animated infographic for me. I’m not sure what they charge these days, but I bet you can find someone on the web who will do it for a few hundred bucks.

Conclusion

Instead of thinking of SEO in the traditional sense, I want you to shift your strategy.

SEO is only going to get harder, Google is going to continually change their algorithm in ways you may not like, but the one thing that is certain is the old way of doing SEO will get you results, just not in the timeframe you want.

So, follow the 4 steps above. They are unconventional, but the industry is so competitive and saturated that you have no choice but to think outside of the box.

So what other unique strategies are you going to leverage in 2019?

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frogsukehanamura · 6 years ago

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spottedcharms replied to your post “Wrong blog for this, but I’m too lazy to log over. Teddie talk ahoy!...”

I STILL don’t regret that day where I scared the living crap out of you by being an hyperactive child in your PMs

Younger me had no idea what was going on. Here you are, showing up to my not set up blog, wanting to know more...

YOU WERE LIKE “I went through your personal, somehow managed to find all the drabbles you’ve written for this AU, and I need more content.”

I was so spooked? No one was supposed to know about me other than Tara. I hadn’t realized how good the RP community was at sniffing out anyone’s blogs. All I was supposed to do was RP with them to build up their confidence and go on my merry way. That skype chat heard all my ramblings on the AU. Did anyone else really need to? Apparently so...

The worst part is that, in hindsight, Abnormalities is an awful AU to bring to RP format. It was really meant for writing. It’s all supposed to revolve around the emotional weight of everything, IT relationships with each other and Inaba, and self reflection. You guys never get to see the inner workings of the team. Souji kind of being a bad leader... Rise keeping tons of things together and trying to mediate EVERYTHING. Yosuke and Teddie talking late at night about how bad things have gotten and wondering how much longer he can put up with this. Yosuke admitting none of it was worth it. He saved no one. He’s no hero. Fuck his promise. But Teddie’s there, telling him...

“You saved me.” <- Teddie to Yosuke

It goes even further than that, of course. Chie being afraid of losing all of her friends. Bad taste jokes between Yosuke and Kanji. Naoto being too hardcore about Persona usage and everything. ...Yukiko’s pranks.

What I’m saying is... you helped me dig my grave here. Thank you, but I hate you.

Uh, that ramble went on longer than I thought it would. For those of you still reading, here’s some archaic commissions I got for the AU under cut? Some of these show their age (AKA, being the early designs of the characters), but... hey! Might as well look at the rest of its history.

(Both of these were done by Tara)

(This one was done by Chocotaur.)

#spottedcharms #The Mun Speaks #AU History I Guess?#Long Post

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stupidpianist · 6 years ago

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12 november 2018

13:22: Sitting in music library right now, trying to “brainstorm,” trying to “keep things fresh,” or something. Nearing 50,000 words on this project, and feeling like I need to do something with it in order to keep it from “going stale,” not on the level of y’all the readers, but even for, like, myself, doing this, I think. Not that I’m having a bad time doing this, or that I’m starting to get bored with it, or anything, the only reason I didn’t update the liveblog for the past three days were personal matters that kept me occupied for most of each day, so, like, it was practicality, not lack of interest that “kept me at bay.” At the same time I never like just continuing to do something the same way just because it’s what you used to do, and I’m having, like, an itching feeling about the liveblog, like, “gotta do something new with it, gotta ‘switch it up’ a bit.” It’s naturally evolved, I know, in terms of the structure and the tone and the prose since first starting, which is good, I like the natural progression of it, but I want to play with it a bit, like, push the form “to its limits,” or something. I feel silly writing that, hahahah.

Really dislike days when I “don’t update” the liveblog, even if it’s for valid reasons, still feels like I need to have some kind of “plan of action” in case that happens. Consistency seems like a prerequisite, or else liveblogging as a form loses meaning/power/effectiveness?? Crap now I’m going off on a liveblog theory tangent, theorizing, I’m theorizing, folks, like a big giant moron. Let me try to parse this out, let me try to, uh, “illustrate in text” where I think I can start bending the form:

-Have been doing timestamps to-the-minute as a way of structuring the blog, with, sometimes, “mega updates” that are more cohesive paragraphs, foregoing timestamps, when I’ve been lazy/unable to jot time down on phone note, or when unable to get to a computer to update blog for long periods

-Enjoy this notion of the timestamp, gives the whole thing a “real” feeling to it, knowing, exactly, what the person is doing, and when, but need to find a way to make it more precise??

-Maybe make a private Twitter or Mastodon account and post what I’m doing, that way Twitter/Mastodon can automatically log the timestamp and I don’t have to keep adding it into my phone’s note document, and I can, “with ease,” log things with a more exact level of detail?

-This doesn’t really change the form, or anything, of what I’m doing, though, want to incorporate something “new and exciting” so I’m not just going off of what I’ve grown comfortable with, need to keep “pushing myself”

-Okay think, George, think, what would be challenging, now that you’re used to logging each minute of being awake, what would make it harder, like, leveling up, the next stage in the game, the next boss hehe

Oh wait I think I know, think I have something for you, let me “serve you up” with this, let me “butter your bread,” guys. Boy George has got something, you remember MySpace, when you could do things like “listening to” and put music?? Okay so here’s my idea, I think it’ll be mutually fun to read and to write, I’m gonna write a paragraph or so about the music album/song/thing that I’m most listening to during each day, since this usually changes by day, and also because I’m listening to music for most of the time that I’m conscious. Actually, wait, wait, let’s calculate, let’s do some calculations:

-awake for, like, 16 hours each day? -subtract ~2 hours lectures per day -subtract ~4-5 hours piano practice per day ~subtract any time i’m with people i like, unsure what this metric is, heavily depends on day

Okay for like 9/16 of the hours that I’m conscious I’m going to be listening to music, and I have, like, a LOT to say about music, like obnoxiously so. So this is good, I can include an insertion about the day’s “soundtrack,” OH OH THAT’S GREAT okay that’s what I’m going to call it, I’m going to call this section “Soundtrack of the Day” hahaha, okay, nice, nice. Will do this section later today, needs to be “late enough in the day” where I really know what the soundtrack that fits my mood of the day is. That way the Soundtrack of the Day can give insight into how I’m doing, and it can also just be fun to write about music in itself. Also going to do that timestamp thing with a private Mastodon/Twitter account that only I can access so that it’s a lot easier to quickly input what I’m doing and have it automatically timestamped, been thinking about doing this for weeks now but never “implemented” it.

Okay, okay, there’s the Liveblog 2.0 update, we are now on phase two of liveblog, folks, here are the “patch notes”:

-fixed timestamp logging system, switching from google keep to mastodon

-added “soundtrack of the day” section, should provide further insight into each day’s liveblog, should also be fun to read from a musically critical perspective

-additional resources added towards maintaining liveblog, even minimally, on days when time constraints make longer updating practically impossible; new timestamp logging system should aid in this, as i can just mirror all the tweets/toots onto liveblog without elaboration, but at least they’ll be there

Sick it’s 13:44 now, I’m going to head up to the practice rooms and “see what I can do” for a bit. Oh crap, I almost forgot, hahaahah, here’s what I did today: -woke at 11h right before needing to run out of door for piano pedagogy class -hurriedly brushed, didn’t do hair, threw on clothes, ran out door -stopped for organic low-sugar energy drink, 100mg caffeine, en route to campus -went to class -went to tim hortons, got jelly donut, large coffee with one milk -brought tim hortons to music library

Fairly straightforward day so far, I’m still not sure, exactly, where my mood is, but I’m feeling well re: liveblog 2.0 changes. Don’t know if there are enough changes to constitute marking this as, like, a completely new version, instead of just a point release, but whatever I’m not about to fricken start labeling liveblog updates/“patches,” like, 1.2 or 1.02, just sticking with whole numbers lmao.

Also don’t have too much of a plan today, my obligations today are “scarce,” there are not many of them, no, not many at all, nope. Will practice and “see where my heart leads me,” I think, yeah. Feeling very “neutral” today, feeling like a murky, amorphous, grey sac.

#liveblog #blog #writing

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festiveferret · 7 years ago

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Ask Game

I was tagged by @sabrecmc Thanks!

Tag you’re it- @ashes0909 @sirsapling @chronicallyowlish @en-ki-duu @juuls @enoliel @notebookishtype

name- Ferret

nickname- Hey, you

gender- Female

star sign- Leo

height- 5′7″

time- 11:14 am

bday- 8/8/88

fav bands- I like a lot of different kinds of music so it’s hard to pit favs against each other. I listen to a lot of pop while I write though.

fav solo artist(s)- ^^

song stuck in my head- NOPE NONE DON’T MAKE MAKE ME THINK ABOUT IT

last movie i watched- Uhhhhh... ? Oh god, I think it was Dragonball Evolution. My husband was like, you have to see how bad this is, we’ll only watch the first like five minutes so you can get a taste. And we ended up staying up til 3am to watch the whole thing. It’s like a seventy train pileup. You’re horrified, but you can’t look away because you didn’t know something like that was even possible. My throat was sore from screeching “WHAT??”

last show i watched- Dirk Gently

when did i create my blog- Um, I think two christmases ago. I crocheted a Rainy toy for @enoliel‘s story Raindrops and Puddles and when she posted it, I wanted to be able to like it. It turned out I already had an account but I’d never posted anything or followed anyone before that.

last thing i googled- I have no idea... probably something incriminating about polycythemia, @firelightmystic >.<

do i have another blog- maaaybe

do i get asks- Sometimes! It’s very nice when I do :D

why i chose my url- I’m a ferret who is festive, can I be any more obvious?

following- I think about 200. I’m picky.

followers- Also about 200. Hi friends!

avg hours of sleep- I’m happiest with 8 and I try really hard to get that but it’s mostly 6 or 7. Under 6 and I struggle to function. I used to have terrible insomnia and I was better at getting by with no sleep back then.

lucky number(s)- 8 (duh)

instruments- I can play flute and piano badly. I’ve dabbled in guitar and bass. I sing a bit.

what am i wearing- I’m taking a lazy day so I’m currently wearing nothing but my bathrobe, ooer.

dream job- I own a small business right now and I enjoy that. Writing would be nice. But I also feel like getting paid for anything takes a lot of the fun out of it. So my dream job would be being independantly wealthy so I can do everyting I like to do for free.

dream trip- anywhere with sun, sand, water, and everyone leaving me tf alone

fav food- HMMM. Anything that can be used as a vehicle for sour cream

nationality- Canadian (though I have a US citizenship as well)

fav song right now- I’m kind of inbetween songs right now. Send me good ones.

sexuality- Steve breaking the log in half, while Tony gets armoured up, and Gal Godot flips her skirt up to reveal thigh holsters. A surefire way to distract me is to send me one of those three gifs.

hogwarts house- Slytherin

fav animals- All of them... seriously, I can’t choose. I’ve owned and fostered over 80 pets of at least 7 different species, and through my current job and my old job as a vet nurse, I’ve cared for hundreds more of tons of different types.I just love animals, okay.

dog or cat person- Again, love them both. I think if I could only have one pet, it would be a dog though. I walk a lot and I need company. But that’s silly. I have 8 pets right now, I can’t imagine having only one.

blankets you sleep with- I love blankets, but my husband is a furnace. I sleep with a sheet and comforter, but it usually gets too hot and I shove him out of bed kick off the blanket. When I’m alone, I sleep with like eighty blankets, tucked in real tight.

why you got a blog- I started out on the r/ff discord and I wanted to find spaces that were stony specific as well as a way to promote my stories. Also see Hermit and Rainy story above.

top (3) fav characters- Of all time?? I can’t even decide my favs for MCU alone. Shut up, go away.

no. of posts- 658

pokemon team- Instinct

fav color- Blue

relationship status- Married af

lip- or chapstick- Chapstick. I’ve never been able to pull off lipstick.

last song i listened to- I had my youtube playing completely random stuff last night, just letting it follow its heart, so I’m not sure, but it had ended up in Whitney Houston, I think... sometimes you have to belt out an 80s ballad.

top (3) shows- Of all time? Again? Geeze. Buffy, West Wing, and... Doctor Who. Or Supernatural.

top (3) ships- Stony, Spuffy, Destiel, Ten/Rose. Yes, that’s three. <.<

books i’m reading- I always have some Agatha Christie books on the go, plus I’m working my way through some lovely Sonya Hartnett books that @deejaymil leant me. I read way more fanfic than books lthese days.

#ask game #meme #tagged meme #ferret life

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uta-no-knb · 7 years ago

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Blog/Life Updates

Whats up fam! It’s Orca (or Jupie, whichever you prefer). So this is just a post with several announcements (no hiatus I promise you). Just some updates…like what I do in my spare time in addition to running this blog and yes gifs included XD ( loooooove gifs!)

This will include repeats of my previous long post...so bare with me

Please read the whole post through :)

LETS BEGIN!!

1. Scenarios/Headcanons/Requests

First off, I apologize for the amount of time its taking to get the requests done! In my ask box I currently have 14. I’ve had some real life situations that I had to take care of-and some are still being dealt with. BUT REST ASSURED I am working on them. Plot bunnies are really slow with coming up with ideas for the scenarios ( with the exception of the sequels…they have ideas already. I just have to make a story outline for them.)

2. Notes in Regards to NSFW Requests

Like I mentioned in my last long-ass note, I realize that Aomine is one of the most popular characters (which I cannot figure out for the life of me as to why he is) requested for NSFW.

There are only so many different ways authors can write NSFW requests without them being repetitive. IM STILL DOING NSFW REQUESTS. You can still send in Aomine NSFW requests, just know that most of the time they won’t be full-on NSFW or if it sounds generic, I won’t do them.

I apologize for this-don’t hate me.

3. Rules

I realize that its been sometime since I started this blog, and as it continues to grow, I’ve realized that the rules are outdated. So I will be updating the rules...when I’m not being lazy...

4. New Stories?

So, again like I mentioned in the last a/n I have been toying with the idea of starting a Kasamatsu x OC story; it will be a crossover with another sports anime (here’s a hint: it involves teams represented by a crow, cat, and an owl).

The second story idea is an Uta Pri story featuring the rocker from “Quartet Night”, Kurosaki Ranmaru.

Tell me what you think.

5. Possible New Fandom??

So I’ve also been toying with the idea of, in addition to this being a KnB scenario blog...if I should add the “Uta no Prince-sama” fandom as well...maybe? I’m not sure.

6. Music/Covers

If you have been following my blog from the start, I answered some asks in regards to making a parody of “Mama Mia” with “Hanamiya” (Rest assured, this will happen, I just don’t know when yet.)

In addition, I am working on translating several character songs from Kuroko no Basuke and other series and making covers for them. The songs include:

“Locker Room Shout for Tomorrow” - Kasamatsu Character Song (gotta include Bae)

“Bring it On Now” ~ Kuroko Character song, feat. Takao

“Steal Your Breath” - Hanamiya Character Song

“Watakushi wa chūjitsuna inu desu (I am a Faithful Dog)” - Roen Character Song (Dance with Devils)

“Clear Blue Departure” - Free! Iwatobi Swim Club (remake)

“Poision Kiss” ~ Quartet Night (Uta no Prince-Sama)

“We are Starish” ~ Starish (Uta no Prince-Sama)

“Only One” ~ Kurosaki Ranmaru (Uta no Prince-Sama)

“Bright Road” ~ Kurosaki Ranmaru (Uta no Prince-sama) [ NEW ADDITION TO THE LIST!]

If you want to see an example of my covers, here’s my version of “Clear Blue Departure”. This is my AMV/anime covers channel NOT my personal channel.

7. Social Media

So as you may or may not know, this is not my main blog; this is one of my side blogs. I have an additional sideblog called “Unofficial Anime Quotes” (<-Click to go there). I just created a new side blog called “FortunateHarmoniousOwl” (<- Click to go there) which is my anime sideblog.

I also will be making an Ao3 account (I have one, just have to remember my log-in and stuff)

8. Tags

I will be going through the entire blog and tagging the posts with their correct tags-as well as updating the tag page on the desktop version of the site (eventually....maybe.....there are a lot of posts....)

9. Chit-Chat

I love talking to you guys. Don’t be afraid to send me asks about anything. If you need to vent-send me a private message and I’ll listen. If you want advice, send me an ask on anon and I’ll listen and offer advice. Hell, even normal conversations are nice too :-)

So dont be afraid-I’m a friendly person I swear

10. Commissions?

I’ve been considering doing commissions but...and this is insecure me coming into play-I’m not sure if my writing is good enough for commissions....I don’t know. Do you guys think I should (not being pity I swear. It’s curiosity)?

AND FINALLY...

11. Followers

I’m shook....I honestly can’t believe that there are 847 of you guys following me and my silly blog.

Thank you all so much!! I know my writing isn’t as great as other writers, ( @ourneverendingpossibilities @boku-no-knb @darkanddirtyknb just to name a few) but I sincerely, and honestly value and appreciate every one of you for sticking around and for your patience. I love writing, so the fact that you like my writing (which is mostly dialogue writing)….it shocks me...Like it seriously does.

So, I figured, I would do a little reward thing for milestones.

When this blog reaches 1,000 followers, I will do a Q & A video, recording me playing the sims (I will be starting a new game when this milestone happens); no face, just my voice. When we reach 1,500+ followers, I will do a full face reveal.

^ Finally, I know right? XD

Okay, I believe that’s it for announcements; I’m sorry its so long XD.

I would appreciate it (if you wanted) to leave me some feedback on some of my suggestions-like the new fandom, stories, and so on)

ANYWAY

I really, really, REALLY appreciate every single one of you who are here with me. You guys are just plain awesome and-if I could, I would give each and every one of you a hug!

Anyway, Until next time!

~Orca/Jupie

#orca speak #long ass authors note #very long #gifs #knb #scenarios #updates

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sandralmuller · 4 years ago

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What the FAQ?

Why FAQs provide a poor user experience

If your client thinks they need a Frequently Asked Questions page on their website, there’s most likely a problem with their website structure or their content.

FAQs are like the bandaid on a slashed carotid artery. They’re trying to patch a deeper issue but offer no help at all to the gushing wound.

Users should be able to achieve their goal on a website without having to resort to an FAQ page to get the information they need.

It’s unlikely a user is on your client’s website for fun. They’re there because they have to do something (a task-based visit) or find something out (an information-based visit).

By better understanding what your client’s user needs are, you’ll have a clearer idea of how to best serve them and eliminate the need for an FAQ page.

The UK’s Government Digital Service agrees. They don’t recommend FAQs, no longer use them. They advocate for others to ditch them as well.

Why companies love FAQs

Organisations love creating FAQs because they are easy to write in their simple question-answer formula.

FAQs become a lazy catch-all for odd bits of information.

Not sure where this bit of info goes? Let’s put in an FAQ.

Thought of a question one user out of 10,000 might ask one day? Put it in the FAQs.

Had one enquiry about a topic via email that’s specific only to that one person? We took the time to answer them, so let’s add our answer to the FAQ page. Just in case.

Some organisations have trained their users to find their content via the FAQ section. It will be more challenging to convince these organisations to let go of their FAQ pages.

Examples of why FAQs provide a poor user experience

A quick poke around the web and it’s not hard to find examples of FAQs providing a poor user experience.

FAQs that are not even questions

Some organisations write sentences instead of questions, expecting the user to infer what the question is.

Immigration South Australia has a large FAQ section. This is just one part of it. They mix questions and sentences in their FAQ lists.

The not-so-FAQ FAQ

My most-hated FAQ is the FAQ that poses as a thinly veiled vehicle for self-promotion. You know the ones that read something like ‘How can I tell all my friends about your exceptional product?’

I’ll tell you exactly how many people asked that question. Zero.

If your client has these kinds of FAQs, get rid of them.

Here’s an example of a not-so-FAQ FAQ from Urban Home.

The problem with FAQs

One of the reasons why FAQs provide a poor user experience is that they quickly grow from a manageable handful to 15 to 30 to 63.

Before you know it, the dumping ground is a disorganised mess where a user must sift through dozens of FAQs that are of no relevance to their question.

Or the questions are so specific that your user can’t identify their problem among the FAQs.

This, apparently, is a frequently asked question. It’s on the ATO website.

This is an example of when FAQs become so trivial and specific to a single person they don’t cover important information relevant to most site visitors.

Heading length and FAQs

Another problem with FAQs is that FAQ headings are often longer than standard headings.

For example:

How do I get the stun feature on my Zombie Zapper 2.0 to work?

When users scan your page, they look at the first few words of headings.

So, if you have ‘How do I get the …’ as your first few words, your users are missing the key words about the stun feature on their Zombie Zapper 2.0 when they scan your content.

Instead, a heading like this works better:

Using the stun feature on your Zombie Zapper 2.0

Here’s another example of a dog’s breakfast of FAQs, courtesy of our federal government’s FAQs on the Australian Parliament House website.

FAQs on mobile phone screens

These headings are not optimised for scanning. Some of their FAQs are far too long and wrap across 2 or more lines on a mobile phone.

This is what the same FAQ list looks like a mobile phone screen.

It’s not a pleasant user experience.

Action-oriented headings

Starting headings with a verb makes them action-oriented and more engaging. Users are more likely to see their key words as they scan your page.

Short headings also work better on mobiles.

If this wasn’t an FAQ page, the headings would be more like:

Contact your local member

Learn what work the House does

Get your petition before the House

House sitting times

Standing and sessional orders

FAQ alternatives

If FAQs are so bad, what can we do instead of creating an FAQ page?

We can make sure the website’s information architecture (IA), is giving users the right cues to help them find the information they need. (A website’s IA is the labels we assign to menu topics.)

You can move FAQs onto the relevant web pages.

To make sure you’re only moving relevant and appropriate content, start this process with an FAQ audit.

Audit the FAQs

Gather a list of all the FAQs. My preference is to do this in a spreadsheet and identify:

the user need

the topic it most relates to

location of where the info belongs on the website

if it’s duplicated or already answered in the content

if it’s a true frequently asked question or if you can cull it

Move FAQ content into the relevant web pages

Map the FAQ content you’ll keep to the relevant page on the website.

Check if the page already addresses that question. If it does, there’s no need to add the FAQ content.

The only reason to include an FAQ format on this page is to address the SEO benefits through keyword targeting. We’ll cover this in more detail further on.

Test the IA

When a client’s site is undergoing a redevelopment, it’s the perfect time to assess the need for their existing FAQ page.

The new IA should capture the most likely place for the FAQs.

I use Treejack by Optimal Workshop to test IAs. Upload your menu headings, set user tasks, recruit users to complete those tasks. You’ll soon figure what’s working and what’s not working well with your menu design.

I’ve over-simplified IA testing, but that’s a whole new topic in itself.

*Adds IA testing to list of blog posts to write*

Set strict rules around the creation of new FAQs

Just because someone asked a question once back in 2017, it doesn’t build a business case for the website to include it.

So, what does?

Call centre staff, especially if they log call data, are a brilliant source of data. Sales staff also know the main objections and questions potential customers have about a product or service.

There are no definitive criteria for FAQ governance, you can set the criteria with your client. Consider if frequently asked questions:

are true FAQs

have evidence to back up that they are an FAQ

are not self-promotion

have already been answered in the page content

highlight a flaw in the site’s IA

need further user testing

are keywords that need to be included for SEO purposes

When FAQs work well

In most situations, if you or your client thinks you need an FAQ page, the content or menu structure isn’t doing its job well.

I hate blanket rules — that’s why I say ‘most’ situations.

There are a few situations where FAQs can work well. For example, they can work well:

When you have a transaction-based eCommerce site and need to cover shipping and returns information.

For an event or conference that has a lot of details about the logistics of the event.

For a sales page where you can use the FAQ format to counter objections. You also want to keep the user on the sales page, rather than sending them elsewhere to find the information. You might lose their attention during the sales process if you send them elsewhere to find the information they need.

But for everything else, let’s ditch the FAQ page and incorporate the information into the relevant place on the website.

FAQs and their impact on SEO

With the rise of voice search and the valuable real estate of search engine results pages up for grabs with rich snippets, questions and their answers have become an important component to include in your web content.

I’m not saying no to FAQs full stop. I’m saying no to FAQ pages and FAQs as a main menu heading (unless you’re ultra-specific – like the ‘Shipping FAQs’ for an eCommerce store).

But ditch the standalone FAQ page.

One of the last major Google algorithm updates was about relevance.

An FAQ page with loads of questions and answers across a broad range of topics will most likely not satisfy Google’s thirst for relevance.

You’re better off building the credibility, authority and relevance of a single page. Add the FAQ keyword to the core, pillar page. Don’t add the keyword to an FAQ page where you’ll be sending mixed signals and cues to search engines and diluting the value of the keyword for your site.

And when was the last time you remember stumbling across an FAQ page via a search engine?

The FAQ challenge

Is there an FAQ page or *gulp* an entire FAQ section on your client’s website you could disassemble and disseminate the information to specific pages in the right context?

What the FAQ? was originally published on Sandra Muller

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pikadotnet · 7 years ago

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Passion Is The Power

At First When You Don't Succeed...

17年09月02日 - 5:19 PM EST | So...when we last left off there was a promise of trying to be more "timely" and "proactive" on posting and round-about just getting stuffs done. Well...*hides under a rock*...in my um...*looks around shyly*...ummm, in my defense...(if I even have one?)...I have been proactive but just in ways that you all can't actually see. ﾟ. :｡(*´ｪ`*)ﾟ. :｡ So, let me explain a bit if I may? Shortly after we left off last, I had a TERRIBLE ear ache that knocked me down and out. Being down and out stinks for anyone, but it really, REALLY offset my whole balance. So...I started to think really hard about HOW exactly I would accomplish the tasks I set out to accomplish; like making sure I was able to post on a more consistent basis, right...remember that? Wellllll...that's when I started making a list at work of things that were keeping me from being able to accomplish this task. Here's what I came up with:

Catching up and completing assignments at work

Finding time (while still awake) to sit down at my computer

Focusing on the task of writing a post

My wonderful furry and spiky family members (2 Dogs / 1 Cat / 1 Hedgehog)

Finding media to complement my post ideas

Realization that Instagram / Facebook / Twitter would all suffer if I spent my time just writing

Spending time and catching up with loved ones like friends and family

Monthly bills and stretching money to last (currently achieving PRO level BOOYAH!!! lol)

Desire to just be a little lazy-log-loaf

A little game called Pokémon GO

So, of course I realized that some of these things just can't be helped. Things like work, taking care of my furry and spiky family members, friends, family, and stretching money to pay bills and do life-stuff (something I like to commonly refer to as adulting) just cannot be ignored. Can I just say...and for the record...ADULTING TOTALLY SUCKS!!! (๐•̆ ·̭ •̆๐)

But out of all this list making and chronic complaining (sometimes I whine ok...sometimes I can be a TOTAL PAIN LOL just ask any of my friends) something really, REALLY good came out of it! ✧◝( ◠‿◠ )◜✧˖° I found that I was living in total chaos while mundane tasks in life were truly dragging me down and wearing on me in ways I hadn't really fully comprehended or maybe didn't want to accept? Well...that all ended as soon as my ear ache cleared up! By the way, THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH for all your wishes to feel better soon! That really made me smile and helped me to feel better, so...THANK YOU!!! *GIANT HUGS WHILE SQUEEZING TIGHTLY* Sooooooo, after getting all better and catching up somewhat at work I decided that I could either give up, or fight! I gave my mommy-chu a call (something I commonly do because my mommy and I are super close *waves happily* I LOVE YOU MOM!!!!) and she told me, "Pika...I've known you a long time sweetie...and I know that not only do you have this...you'll find a way to fight and achieve even MORE than you originally hoped." I asked her, "You really think so?" Even though she lives thousands of miles away, I could feel that smile and it warmed my heart. NOTHING is better than when you FEEL the love from your family, and my mother means THE WORLD to me! Then, my brother, who means more to me than he'll prolly ever know (YES YOU!!! *sticks tongue out and makes a face*) commented that, "if you just find a balance, I know you'll be fine. Don't worry so much! Your problem Pika is that you overthink everything and make it more complicated than it needs to be." I thought about that and realized, as much as I didn't want to, he was right. Can I stop for a second and just say how much it BOTHERS me that he is like, ALWAYS right!!! -_-# UGH!! I love him to pieces and there isn't anything I wouldn't do for him, but it wears on me when I hear him say something, and as much as I may deny it...he's...always...(annoyingly) right... Well...I decided something needed to be done. I didn't want to walk away from everything I had started, and push away everything that I fought so hard for. I want so desperately to find a balance between life / work / social / blog / and storefront (soon to be revisited and opened). My brother was right, somehow I just needed to heed the infamous Nike slogan and "Just Do It" but in a way that wouldn't topple me over and make those things I want so badly feel like a chore instead of a pleasure. Why am I sharing all this with you, you ask? Well, I do care about you internet-readers out there that actually take the time and read my posts. I LOVE YOU ALL MORE THAN YOU KNOW!!!! I figured that if anyone out there ever has struggled or may currently be struggling with the same things I am right now that possibly sharing my approach with you all could help someone out there? Well, after reflecting on what my mother and brother told me, thats when I think I found a solution (maybe?) !

Passion Drives Everything

The heading says it all doesn't it? LOL My secret weapon? Passion. Some may say structure is key, others have told me scheduling, or planning. All of those things are nice, but without a drive, a reason, a cause, or simply put...passion...they're kinda...worthless? ^_^;; So, my best advice to anyone in this situation is to evaluate, or re-evaluate in my case, your passion. Sometimes your original goal changes and morphs into something else! Sometimes its bigger! Sometimes, sadly passion just fades, and thats okay too, ya know? Well...in my particular case, my passion hasn't faded but its kinda taken a backseat to life at the moment. The "backseat-ing" of my passion has become kinda apparent sadly, but I think this was the best thing to happen to me. The stopgap of time has allowed me to reflect a lot and truly realize how important this endeavor of love (this website and social media outlets) is to me and how starved it has become by letting it sit like it has for far too long.

One of the analogies I like to draw upon when considering whether or not I am giving enough attention to a passion of mine is this: Is my passion my acquaintance, my friend or my child? If my passion is my "acquaintance" than I suppose like an actual acquaintance I would give my time briefly and be polite, but the truth really is that an acquaintance doesn't get terribly too much attention, right? (・'v`・)？？ What about a friend? Some might argue that people give more attention to friends than their own children but in this case, lets say that that's NOT the case, ok? XD In the same fashion as a comparable to an acquaintance, a friend would get more attention and dedication, and one might even say some tender love and care. Children are different though. Children would require nurturing and compassion, and when those very rare moments occur (or at least we aim for rare) when children fail or are lost without direction, they turn to their parents, right? So, in this analogy, if you were the parent of your passion; the one...true...dedicated...controller of this little one's fate...don't you owe it to your passion to plant seeds towards its success? Maybe thats the answer then? If you truly own your passion and make it yours, can anything really stop you? Would anything stop you as a parent if something were to happen to your child? In this new light, it gave great perspective to my situation. A perspective I can honestly say allowed me to see the flaws of my "parenting" and a call to ensure my "child" receives the attention it truly deserves. I can start by committing real definable goals to my "child" and seeing where that takes me. In order to do this, I'm gonna have to consider how to fit everything in and find ways to make things easier while still keeping my promises to my "child".

A Solution At Long Last (Maybe?)

So the challenge seems SO much clearer now: How do I commit to my passion while making it feel less like a chore but still giving it the dedication it deserves and needs? The answer is less clear but at least now with the challenge defined it allows what others have suggested to start falling into place. Once you make the choice and can commit fully to your passion, the rest seems to be semantics and details. To try and aide me on this journey I decided to take a leap of faith and gave in and bought a shiny new iPad Pro(hibitor) to hopefully help make the issue of pulling out my computer a tad easier? The thought was that if I could write posts with the Apple iOS device, maybe it would help at least provide a way for posts to get written at a faster and more steady rate than relying on when I pull out my computer. Honestly, I think the only reason that pulling out my computer currently causes "Lazy-Loaf Syndrome" (LOL) is because my work, personal email and website data is also stored across this system? Also, I think that having an interface where I don't have to work with media and can just write might actually be a HUGE benefit and help with one of those other issues...focus. UGH! Me and my ADHD can get pretty bad, but as the first post written entirely on the iPad Pro (before being edited on my Apple MacBook Pro) I have to say that the only thing I personally feel that I have to work on now is my ability to write quicker! LOL XD Honestly though, I think this might actually be a big part of the solution that I needed. LETS HOPE SO!!! *Fingers crossed*

Signed with love, compassion, and sincere desire for change,

ピカさん

#Personal #Goals #//LIFE #reflection

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lilyevane · 8 years ago

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hey can you give us some tips on how to get followers on a blog??? i mean if you like are a new tumblr and you want to make your blog look aesthetic or somethin thank u

alright so idk if this is to do with the sleepover sunday thing but i will do it anyway so-

you need to first have:-

A GOOD URL

it is really important that you have a url to do with your fandom !! i mean, your url is the first thing people see, and if your url has nothing to do with absolutely anything, then people might get put off !! try to make it do with any of the main fandoms that you are in, and avoid using numbers, dashes or making it really long. stick to short, concise urls, and try to be creative by adding/replacing letters to a name/object/smth in your fandom to get a url that isn’t taken !!!

A GOOD MOBILE THEME

next up, your mobile theme is the NEXT thing people see. it’s important that you make it clean, pretty and just aesthetic in general. the way you’d probably do this is getting a pretty header (you can find nice pictures off pinterest) and then change the colour of your background to a colour that is quite prominent in your header (if ygm) so if you would have a look at my mobile theme, the background is the same colour as the header, which is black !! use a nice title, for eg. you can use a short quote from any of your fandoms, or you can search up latin words or short phrases/quotes which inspire you !! for your description, put something short about yourself, for eg. ‘liyah / uk / jily aficionado’ or anything else you want to put !! just try to stick to a short/average length — try not to make it so long that you have to click on the little extendable arrow to see the full thing — it’s nice to just see everything all at once (sorry if you don’t get me i literally don’t know how to explain) also, try to get a nice icon !! there are so many different icons you can choose — to make your icon look aesthetic on your mobile theme, try and make the background of that icon the same as your header, or a contrasting colour to it !! also, you can choose an icon of something from your fandom (which is the simplest option) or a misc one !! hmu if you need help in looking for good icons, though !!

A GOOD DESKTOP THEME

ok i CANNOT stress this enough — you need to have a nice desktop theme !! people tend to go for minimalistic versions a lot these days — check out theme-hunter, which is a website hosting many different themes and pages !! try to look for a theme which looks spacious, simple and not very cluttered. also, it’s important you keep an about page (for your followers to get to know you more) for your askbox to be open (your followers can’t send you messages if it isn’t — open the anon feature too — it’s always fun getting anonymous messages!!) to have a navigation page (tag all of your posts with specific things, and then keep a page which has a log of all your tags — this keeps your blog nice and organised + also do not look at mine for this as i have been lazy and not made a navigation page for MONTHS sorry) and keep a tag for your original content (people can see what you create easily) and this is optional, but a blogroll would be a rad idea (just so you can showcase which blogs you follow and all) — keep your background WHITE (hex code would be #ffffff). do NOT keep it something colourful or something really vivid and neon that repeats itself across the page because it makes your theme look cluttered and overall just ruins the neatness !! (you can find all of these pages etc. and resources on theme-hunter !!)

GOOD POSTS

if you say you are multifandom, be varied in what you post (choosing from different fandoms). if you say that you are 100% harry potter, post mostly harry potter !! if people see you’re not doing what you said you would on the tin, then it’s most likely they wouldn’t be interested !! tip: reblog aesthetic things !! find some photography and aesthetics on tumblr and reblog it — it just makes your blog really nice, in my opinion !! also, have a neat tagging system, so that it matches to your navigation page nicely. :)

MAKE ORIGINAL CONTENT

make something original !! if you’ve never tried it before, try it !! it doesn’t matter if you think it won’t look nice — practice makes perfect !! i will NEVER admit my editing skills are good, but i WILL admit that i have improved a lot since i started tumblr !! try different things and see what applies to you most — it could be writing, editing, drawing or anything else !! it is more likely people will follow you if they see you post your own stuff !!

BE FRIENDLY

i think this should be my last tip but PLEASE BE FRIENDLY. be an approachable person, make a post and tag all of your favourite blogs and get to know them !! send asks to them asking about how their day was and participate in networks, competitions etc. try and SOCIALISE — that’s the only way you will get to know people !! ask your fave blogs to shoutout you or smth — you can ALWAYS ask me and i will give you a shoutout !! also, try and enter blogrates that other blogs do, which is where they rate your blog !! trust me, once you’ve made friends on tumblr, your time here will be WAY better compared to when you didn’t talk to anyone !!

AND THAT’S it ( i think)

you have a potential to do anything and i’m sure your tumblr will be GREAT !! feel free tohmu if you have any questions + also this has got into a really long essay i am SORRY i just really want to help people who think their blog isn’t good enough or smth xxx feel free for anyone really to hmu if they want to know more i find giving these kinds of tutorials really fun hehe

it’s sleepover saturday sunday

#answered #liyah helps #sleepover sunday #anonymous #i literally had to add a cut lmao

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yujachachacha · 8 years ago

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another ask meme thing

Tagged by @hazardtomyhealth, @symphonyalpha, and @jerrykongg, wow! Hopefully, I’m not missing anyone; also, I’m so sorry about how late this is... OTL

Rules: Tag 20 people you’d like to get to know better I don’t even know if I’ve talked to 20 people on Tumblr, lol.

Anyways, let’s see how many of these I can avoid answering directly by inserting stuff I’ve previously posted on my blog :3c

Name/Nickname: Oh look, it’s the first question on my About page.

Gender: Wow, my About page sure is helpful~

Star Sign: Libra, just barely! That’s why I share my sign with Eli, even though she’s born in October and I was born in September, haha.

Height: Shorter than Nico_(:3 」∠)_ (1) (2)

Hogwarts House: I feel like I’ve mentioned this on my blog, but I can’t remember when, so...I’m a Hufflepuff by ~choice~. I was actually Hatstalled on Pottermore! That means that the Hat couldn’t choose between two Houses for me, and literally gave me the option to choose. The other House I could’ve chosen was actually Slytherin, lol. I have no idea how I got Hatstalled between those two, though it makes for an amusing story.

Favorite Color: Can’t remember if I said this on Tumblr or Discord, but it’s actually red. Chuunibyou me used to call it “blood-red” or “crimson-red”. But in terms of clothing, I tend to pick black, gray, or dark blue! (because they’re easier to wash than white clothes :3c)

Favorite Animal: If it has fur and eyes, I’ll probably think it’s cute by default. Furless animals like reptiles and birds are fine as well! But as for my favorite...it’s actually the snow monkey! The sole reason is the fact that they look like cute mini-grandpas when they’re chilling in hot springs:

Average hours of sleep: I have the ability to sleep like 18 hours thanks to the wacky sleep schedule I cultivated during university. But now that I think about it, it’s more like 6-8 hours on average. Huh. Surprisingly normal.

Cat or dog person: Please refer to the screenshot in the next question~ I’m a dog in the Chinese zodiac (y’all probably can figure out my DOB from the stuff I’m writing in this post, though it’s honestly not a secret since I’ve said things like “I’m Suwawa’s age” like a bajillion times lol), and my dream is to own a dog once I get my own place! I love cats as well though - I spent a lot of time petting cats in Korea and the Netherlands.

Favorite Fictional Characters: Everyone in µ’s and Aqours is precious!!! But it’s kinda obvious who my favorites are from my blog description, haha. Here’s what I’ve said before:

Nagato Yuki was actually my all-time favorite character when I was in high school. I pretty much died when I saw her alternate universe version in the movie, even though I knew what was coming since I read the light novels. :’)))

Number of blankets I sleep with: Usually one, but sometimes I use two in the winter (comforter + thin blanket). I dislike having cold feet/hands - the major plus to being smol is having warm hands, actually! It’s from sleeves being always too long for me, resulting in me being able to keep my hands insulated as a result.

Favorite Singer/Band: I don’t really have any particular favorite artist - I usually just happen to like whatever genre I’m into at the time - jazz, rock, classical, pop, slow ballads, and so on. Aside from LL music, I guess I mostly listen to random Korean and Japanese songs. Soundtracks from movies, games, and shows in general are pretty great!

Dream Trip: Airbnb in Europe! I’ve been to the Netherlands and Belgium, but I didn’t have too much time to explore since I was only there briefly (I literally spent a single day in Belgium) for a study abroad program. I’d really like to visit London in particular so I can geek out over Harry Potter stuff.

Dream Job: Defense attorney. Been a childhood dream of mine since 6th grade-ish?

When was this blog created: May 13, 2016! I stalked a bunch of LL blogs anonymously months before that though. :3c

Looking back...my first post (reblog) was so self-centered, omg. My first (original) post is pretty lame too, haha.

I actually joined Tumblr in 2012, but I only used my account for a year to reblog assorted memes and anime gifs. There wasn’t really any theme to it (unlike my current blog, which is firmly in the LL fandom), which is probably why I quickly lost interest. I wonder if I even remember the password to my old account...not that I really want to log on, since reading my old tags and reblogs is embarrassing (even the URL is just...OTL).

But now that I think about it, I don’t think much has changed:

2016 first “yujachat” post

2012 first ever Tumblr post

*cringes and prays that no one ever finds my first blog*

Current number of followers: Uh...*checks*...497?!?!?! When did this happen??? How many of you are bots? Even so, omg this is a lot. Holy shit. Uh. Wow. I might hit 500 soon...I should probably work harder on my TL projects in light of this. ;w;

When did your blog reach its peak?: I suspect it was that “Is there anything that You CAN’T do???” post I made towards the beginning of the LLS anime that started getting my blog attention. I do know that out of my top five posts, at least three of them are shitposts (specifically, from my Love Live SINshine series)...possibly four lmao, I haven’t looked too closely. I did get some attention for my analyses and translations, but not as much. TBH, I’m not surprised that memes rather than rambling won people over! :3c

What made you decide to make a Tumblr?: Yeah, about that...

Birthday: The day that LLS Episode 13 aired.

Relationship status: Single, and will probably stay that way until I rectify the fact that I’ve literally fallen asleep at a nightclub, and then ditched my friends there to go eat dumplings at 2am, because for me, apparently hunger > “thirst”.

Siblings: one younger brother (who probably thinks I’m a loser for still reading manga and stuff)

Wake up time: Generally, I’ll wake up naturally sometime between 9 and 10am. If I’m feeling lazy, or if I stayed up really late the night before, I’ll sleep in until like 1 or 2pm. In college, I’ve woken up at like 7pm before because my sleep schedule during university was, well...

In Korea, I’ve been waking up at about 7 or 8am though, so that I can eat breakfast with my relatives before they go to work!

Lemonade or sweet tea: Does yujacha count as sweet tea? :’D If not, then lemonade.

Day or night: I’m a night owl. I also prefer sunsets and the night sky over sunrise.

Coke or pepsi: I actually dislike pretty much all carbonated beverages now that I’m not the sugar fiend I used to be when I was little, but younger me preferred Coke.

Calls or texts: I call family members if it’s been a while since I’ve talked to them, and I also use phone calls when I have to explain something that I’m either (1) too lazy to do through texts since the explanation is long, or (2) lowkey unable to do since I’m much better at speaking than writing in Korean. Otherwise, I pretty much communicate through messages/texts.

Ever met a celebrity?: Do judges and international officials from the UN count? I got to meet a few when I was studying abroad in the Netherlands. I also met with Hannah Song (President and CEO of Liberty in North Korea) when I was a summer intern for a leadership program in Koreatown, Los Angeles.

Ah, but to actually answer the question in terms of pop culture people, the majority of the celebs I’ve met in recent memory are from university events/performances/shows, and include:

David So, a YouTube comedian. He gives pretty good hugs btw~

Dumbfoundead, Korean-American rapper.

Jay Pharoah, SNL comedian.

Judah Friedlander, actor who’s probably best known for 30 Rock; I took like five pictures with him in various poses lol.

JuNCurryAhn, an amazing YouTube violinist. He’s adorable in person.

Mike Song, founding member of Kinjaz and former member of Kaba Modern (the dance crew that stole my heart on ABDC).

Shin Lim, a world-champion magician. Seriously, check out his Penn and Teller episode he’s legit a wizard; also watching him live was fucking insane!!!

There are a few more celebs (mostly Asian-American artists lol, since I was hugely involved in the Asian culture clubs in university), but I can’t remember them all, since “meeting” them mostly consisted of taking pictures and small talk. Though for a few of the people on this list (especially the ones close to college age), I hung out with them during the post-event party and stuff. Pretty entertaining to see a magician renowned for slight-of-hand play beer pong. :3c

Also, I just realized that everyone on this list is male, lmao...I did meet several Asian female rappers/singers from college events, but for the life of me I can’t remember their names. :’)))

Ah, to rectify that - when I was in junior high, I saw Jennette McCurdy at the Anaheim East West Ice Palace. My brother and I spent a solid five minutes elbowing each other and muttering “Isn’t that Sam from iCarly?” / “No way!” / “Isn’t she supposed to be an ice skating pro?” / “Why would she come here?” / “Dude, she lives in the SoCal area and this place is home to the legendary Michelle Kwan, why wouldn’t she come here?” / “Wait, I don’t even like iCarly, so why are we talking about this?”. Then the poor girl started getting swarmed by a crowd of preteens asking for her autograph, so my brother and I decided to just let her be and skated off peacefully.

As a final note to this long list, when I was in elementary school, I think I might have seen Tim Allen in an Apple Store? I wasn’t sure because the guy was wearing shades, so I just walked past him without doing anything.

Smiles or eyes: EYE SMILES. tbh one of the reasons I love Shukashuu is her great eye smiles!!!

Country or city?: City. I’ve spent time in both while in Korea, and hands-down I’ve gotta pick city for (1) internet, (2) heating/air conditioning, (3) well-connected public transit, and (4) showering instead of having to go the old-fashioned route of drawing the bath.

Last song I listened to: Does the preview for Aqours’ “Thrilling One Way” count?

Tag some users you want to get to know better: I guess I’ll tag some of my followers? I really only know like a handful of people on Tumblr (and am still amazed that they talk to me omg), so don��t feel shy about saying hi! IDK if y’all have already done this thing, so feel free to ignore this if that’s the case, or if you just don’t wanna do it. @lmlm7 @lalalacies @mystwatch @xswordeyesx @queen-of-hearts92

Also, anyone who reads this who hasn’t done it yet, feel free to try it out! Tag me in your post so that I can get to know you as well~

#yujachat #chain post #wow this post got fucking long because of the screenshots and pics #and because of the text wall at the celeb list lol #on a vaguely related note about captain america #my friend in university bought a set of avengers cups #each cup had a character on it and of course we rushed to match a character to a friend #i ended up with iron man......what does that say about me lol

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gobigorgohome2016 · 8 years ago

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Staying Injury Free

A few days ago one of Dave’s former college teammates stayed with us. He and I talked shop, and he was especially curious about my high mileage and durability, given that he had been plagued with mileage-related injuries for most of his running career. He made the comment that I must be very biomechanically sound, and I laughed. While I have worked hard to fix a lot of my inefficiencies, 15 of the past 17 years of running I had pretty bad form.

On a shakeout the other day, Dave and I were talking about possible reasons why I have been fortunate to be relatively injury-free, drawing upon my 7-years of being injury-free in middle school and high school, my 5 years of being mostly injured in college, and then the previous 6 years where I have had two injuries: a calf strain that was directly related to rolling out of bed, hungover, and going immediately for a dehydrated run in high heat and humidity after 4 hours of sleep, and an “up the chain” injury that resulted from poor dorsii flexion in my ankle, causing compensations in my knee/hip. I consider both of those to be somewhat freak injuries, different than if I were to have sustained a stress fracture or tendonitis.

Anyway, I noticed that a lot of people have posted on social media that one of their new year’s resolutions is to be injury free in 2017. Listed here are some of the factors that I think have helped me be pretty durable throughout my running career.

I Have Good Genes First and foremost, I’m sure genetics play a huge role. If you know my family, you’re probably like, umm, really, good genes? Isn’t everyone in your family sick? While the answer is yes, my dad has regenerative super healing powers that have made him last much longer than he probably should have. For instance, 5 years ago he had congestive heart failure. This past year, cardiologists at mayo clinic announced the heart failure to be a fluke [this is not normal]. His primary mayo clinic doctor has also marveled numerous times that he seems to have super healing abilities when it comes to surgeries and other procedures. I am convinced that I have some of his recovery abilities. My mom is also pretty hardy, which shouldn’t be surprising considering she claims she was a pioneer in her past life and will be a farrier (horse shoer) in her next life. (note: my mom is afraid of horses). If you don’t have good genes, it helps to figure out your deficiencies. Do all of your family members suffer from low bone density? Calcium supplements and strength training may be a good way to mitigate these issues.

I Run on Soft Surfaces In middle school and high school I only ever ran on soft surfaces, thanks to the nearby Indiana Dunes and a coach who was willing to drive us out there every day. My only injury-free year of college also consisted primarily of soft-surface running. I do think that one reason for my injuries the rest of the time in Milwaukee was due to running on A LOT of concrete. Post-college, I returned to trails and crushed limestone, and it was a great transition for my legs. Now, 75%+ of my running is on trails or crushed gravel.

I’m Lazy I have said it before and I will say it again: I don’t love running for the sake of running. For me, training is a necessary evil so that I can do what I truly enjoy, which is race. Therefore, my brain is always looking for a way out. If I have the slightest niggle, sniffle, or prolonged muscle soreness, I take a day off or cut my run short. The focus is on being able to race for me, not painfully powering through a run just so that I can write it down in my running log.

Good Coaching The more that I talk to others, the more I am realizing how much a coach shapes the early stages of a runner’s development. I was very fortunate that my high school coach (who is also my current coach) preached the importance of getting to the starting line healthy. I have always understood that health > hitting all of your workouts. I distinctly remember my junior year of high school going over my running log with my coach and being proud of the fact that I had run 100 days in a row. I told him about how I almost didn’t make it because I had a week where my calves were absolutely destroyed and I didn’t really want to do my Sunday run, but didn’t want to give up my streak. In my 16 year old dumb head I thought I was being smart and awesome, but instead he told me I should have called him that day and he would have told me to rest. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my junior track season was relatively my worst out of all of high school.

Sponsorship One thing that has surprised me is that I’m more cautious with my training now that I have sponsorship and am on elite ambassador teams. I truthfully would have thought it would be the other way around. But, while no sponsor or ambassador program has said this to me, I know that I am worth more as an athlete to be running high level races than to not be running at all. If that means taking a day off here or there to rehab an injury, then I am more likely to do so than I was 5 year ago. I also realize that getting invited to run big events sometimes depends on whether I have raced recently, and staying healthy & racing often is as much a business decision as it is something I enjoy.

I Ignore Pace I, like 99.9% of runners, don’t need to be told to speed up. I will run the pace that’s right for me and my body on any given day. So, unless I’m running a long run or a workout, I don’t wear my GPS. I simply map a route for the mileage and run. I see it way too often where people don’t like the pace they see on their watch (even though it’s the right pace for the day) so they speed up and stress their bodies unnecessarily. If I am wearing watch, I tend to run “Badger Miles,” where I just assume I’m running 8 minute pace. Most times I’m running faster, but sometimes I’m running slower, too. Since I run primarily on trails, it’s silly to keep a GPS going anyway.

I’m Flexible Case in point: over the weekend, I raced a 5k, lifted afterwards, and then ran a 20 miler in the mud the next day, which usually doesn’t bother me but left me very, very sore come Sunday night. Instead of doing my planned 20 x 200 m on Tuesday, I am heading out in an hour to run the workout, feeling way better now than I did yesterday. While there are times you should run on tired legs, I’m not at that part in my training cycle. Being flexible in terms of when I train, and allowing myself ample recovery, is a huge part of staying injury-free. This is also why I purposely don’t train with others. If there were set workout days, I would have a difficult time putting the needs of my body over my ego.

I Sleep I 1000% get that not everyone has the luxury to sleep as much as I do. But, a lot of people could stand to cut back on mileage in order to increase sleep, and this wouldn’t hurt their fitness (it would do the opposite). A rule of thumb that I love: add 10 minutes of sleep for every 10 miles of weekly running. Therefore, if you run 50 miles per week, add 50 minutes of sleep each night to your base level. For me, even when I’m not running, I need 7 - 8 hours of sleep. That means I need 8.5 - 9.5 hours of sleep per night, which is pretty accurate considering I tend to average 9 hours of sleep when I don’t set an alarm. Figure out the best balance of sleep and mileage for your routine.

I Eat More and more I realize how lucky I am that my mother never restricted her diet, never restricted my diet, and planned our meals based on the dessert she wanted to serve that night. Growing up, I subsisted on a midwestern diet based on the strict GI needs of my father (who no longer has a colon and can only eat easy-to-digest foods). We ate a lot of simple foods: meat, potatoes, fish, cooked veggies, and gravies, as well as apple crisps, pies, and shortcakes. Baking powder biscuits, of which the primary ingredient is crisco, was a staple in our household. 2% milk was served with every meal. I grew up strong and well-fueled, with a healthy attitude towards meal time.

I Get the Science A big aggravating factor I see in athletes when it comes to injury is not wanting to take a day or two off due to fear of losing fitness or gaining weight. Both of these points are moot, and there is plenty of science to back them up. For one, if you take 7 days off and do absolutely nothing, you will only lose a negligible percentage of your VO2 max, which won’t matter unless you are an elite athlete at the very peak of your training cycle. Two, you are more likely to lose “weight”, in the form of decreased inflammation, if you take a short period of time off and rehab your body.

I Make the Right Investments Self care is important, whether that means going to yoga, foam rolling, doing stretching/strengthening activities at home, going to PT regularly (and keeping up with the exercises), or massage therapy. For me, all of these are important in keeping myself injury free. While paying for all of these can be difficult at times, it is definitely worth it to me to take care of my body.

I Have Poor Pain Tolerance To go along with making the right investments, I have to pay for those things because my pain tolerance for every day training isn’t very good (races are another story). I get legit depressed if I’m in pain while I run, so I just take a few days off so that I can only run pain free.

I Had a Long Build Up If you follow my blog, you only know part of the story. I was NOT always a high mileage runner. In fact, I never hit a 70 mile week in my life until 2011, and I didn’t hit a 100 mile week until late 2015. In college I never got above 60 mpw. Unpopular opinion: I take issue with the year-end “I ran x number of miles this year” posts because, IMO, they cause more harm than good. If you didn’t run your highest mileage ever, you’re going to be down on yourself. It also perpetuates the idea that more is more, when more is not more. I ran 600 fewer miles in 2016 than 2015 and was arguably more fit. Mileage doesn’t tell the whole story, and starting the new year hell-bent to beat a previous mileage high is a great way to get injured.

I Strength Train I will be the first to admit that I have never appreciated the art of strength training until recently. I stopped doing any form of strength completely between 2010 and 2016, and I will be the first to admit that I was VERY lucky not to have more serious problems than some hamstring tendonopathy. Now that I’m back to regular strength and core work, I can say with absolute certainty that it has helped me overcome some biomechanic issues that have contributed to aches and pains in the past.

#injuryfree2017

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