Also idk if I can elaborate on this in beautiful enough detail, but I think that the Autobots going through unreasonable amounts of effort to save other people even at great personal cost to themselves is literally something good about them, and if you try to criticize that as a way the Autobots are “bad” then I really don’t get you.

BTS365

[Masterlist] Please tag me in your work if you use my prompts. I want to see your work. Ever your Jester.

Tell me your birthday and I will tag you on your special day!

Announcement: 600+ followers and I’m sorry to how dark some of these got but you know I kind of like when stories don’t always have a happy ending.

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    March 25th - April 1st

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Kim Seokjin: Makeup

Heading into work you had a headache, it was excruciating, the throbbing behind your eye and the tightness around your temples. Your face felt swollen, and you packed on as much makeup as physically possible and you knew it wasn’t a good look. There were no lashes or mascara, no eyeshadow, no lipstick. Just concealer and foundation to the max. 

You stepped into work and the receptionist gave you a weird look, usually; you got compliments when you wore makeup; you were pretty good and knew what worked well on your face. But today you looked strange. Your eye was too swollen to put anything near it and so you just looked like a one tonne alien. 

“Hey babe, what’s going on?” A voice said, “you bailed on our movie night last night and didn’t even text me?” Seokjin was your saviour he made your dull job manageable. He took one look at you and froze he knew this wasn’t right. “What did he do?”

“It’s not that bad it’s just a bump”

He dragged you by the hand to his desk taking his face wipes from the first draw he tried to grab your chin, but you turned away. “Please let me see” he gently wiped away all the makeup he liked when you had a clean face. It was like he was seeing the real you, that isn’t to say he didn’t like when you dressed up, he liked how you could accentuate your eyes and lips. 

But this, this was wrong. He felt sick, the more he removed the more the colours were revealed dark purples and blues stained your smooth skin, there was a small scab on your cheekbone where the skin had split on impact. He shoved the packet of wipes into your arms and turned declaring. “I will kill him”

Min Yoongi: On a stick

“It’s just meat on a stick?” You rolled your eyes at your best friend who was being lured from his apartment from his roommate Jungkook. You had planned to spend the afternoon together where you were going to tell him how you feel about him finally after all these years. Hell, you even stood by him when he dated girls through high school even though it nearly killed you.

“Yeah, why do you make it sound like a bad thing?” Yoongi scoffed grabbing his jacket, “Come along we can get some food and come back and watch the movie”

“Look you don’t have to come, we don’t need haters ruining our dinner” Jungkook sighed grabbing his keys, and you reluctantly slipped on your shoes and coat running after them. You didn’t even order before you snapped.

“Jungkook what is your problem with me, I just wanted to spend the afternoon with my best friend and maybe tell him that I have been in love with him since fifth grade and you’re out here making me feel like absolute trash,” You hissed Yoongi was frozen starring at his menu. He looked like he was deep in thought. Realizing what you said and how he had reacted to your blunt and unexpected confession you left.

“y/n!” Jungkook shouted he caught you quickly “hey, dude I am sorry, I thought you liked me and I was trying to push you away because… Yoongi likes you, said he has liked you since fifth grade and has never wanted to ruin the friendship. I really am sorry, go back inside he is in shock and is silently freaking out that he will never see you again. Lunch is on me, here”

Jung Hoseok: Smoke and Mirrors

Your son wanted to be a magician, and you spent a fair amount of money on all the books and toys and such but as his passion grew so did the hole in your bank account. You bought him front row tickets to see a world-renowned magician live on stage. It was an amazing performance. The magician was very good looking and was so bright and bubbly he danced he made all the sound effects. Your son insisted you see him backstage, and you took him back there. It took a long time but your son refused to leave. The dressing room door opened and there he was, his shirt buttons undone slightly. 

“Why hello, who do we have here?” he smiled at you and your son and you gave him an apologetic smile

“I am so sorry to bother you, my son, he is an aspiring magician and well he wanted to meet you and I really couldn’t say no to at least trying”

“No, don’t apologize,” he looked at his watch and grinned, “I got time, come in and sit and tell me about yourself. What’s your name? Do you know any tricks?” The two talked until your son had fallen asleep on the couch.

“Whatever you did, that’s real magic right there,” The two of you laughed.

“Do you need help to your car, he looks a little heavy, or I can carry your bags if that’s more comfortable for you,” He smiled and the two of you headed to the parking lot. Buckling your son into the passenger seat, you turned to say goodbye, and he swept his hand behind your ear. “It seems my number was behind your ear this whole time”

He placed the paper into your hand and gave you a grin, one hand slipping into his pocket to find his keys and the other waving goodbye.

Kim Namjoon: Walk in the Park

Namjoon was a smart man, he knew everything that happened in the neighbourhood. The street lights along the park path flickered off for twenty seconds every three minutes. The old lady Lady by the store shut her curtains at 6:15 exactly after watching her shows and feeding her cat. The walk through the park took Five minutes exactly, and that there were three security cameras on the path.

People were going missing and were usually found dead days later. He set off on his usual walk at 6:00 heading to the store; he stopped to pat the cat and waved to the old woman. He bought a single bottle of Soju as he did every night. Explaining how he had to get home before his slow cooker was finished, showing the timer on his phone. “It’s got 8 minutes left I should make it home by 6:15” 

Walking he saw you alone, he sped up a little and matched your stride. “Don’t look now but there is a drunk man a little way ahead, and the path lights are switch off for about thirty seconds every three minutes” Just as he finished his sentence the lights switched off. You grew stiff under the moonlight. “I am Namjoon”

He continued walking talking to you about the stars, the old lady was feeding her cat before bed, it was 6:10 she would soon close her curtains. He waved to the old and then to you. Thanking him for the help you both parted ways saying goodnight to the old lady. Namjoon smiled to himself walking out of the camera frame and the lights flickered out. You walked hesitantly in the dark but didn’t get very far before you were knocked out from behind.

Chained to an old metal bed frame when you woke, your eyes needing time to refocus you saw Namjoon standing there in a white coat. “Shh it’s okay, you are okay, you see I am an expert. My alibi and the camera footage, I just picked you up and tipped you over the stonewall of this apartment block and walked home.  As all footage and security cameras show me parting ways with you even the old lady saw you go off on your own, nobody knows. Nobody knows that is is me”

Park Jimin: Burn

You opened a sealed box, and you read the stupid script. You were using it as a chance to practice your reading and speaking Korean. But you had let it out, and it was chasing you. Its eyes blacked out and horns coming out from his hair. He looked eerie and was still recovering strength which gave you time to run hiding in a church. 

Stopping at the door it watched you and you were relieved until it reached in blackened nails gripping the door frame. It stepped inside calling your name sweetly, you could see the embers flaking off its body slowly not enough to kill it but enough to annoy. 

You ran hiding in the confession booth your breathing was shaky. It sang a haunted tune. Its voice layered a low sound that crackled and a high breathy sound like a whine. You held your breath as it passed, calling your name. You thought it was gone, but you didn’t want to take any chances. 

You opened your phone the words you had spoken in the translator the demon's name was Jimin and upon searching the name you found it was a demon of Lust, Deception, Chaos and Misfortune. It resides in the third outermost circle of hell with Preceding Taehyung and following from Namjoon. The strongest demon being Kim Seokjin. 

A hand busted through the wall of the confessional by your head and wrapped around your throat pulling you threw the thin and shattered wall. 

Kim Taehyung: Battery

You forgot to plug your phone in the night before so you charged it while you got ready; it was only at 28% and you sighed heading out to work. You met a client and discussed his hotel remodelling. 

Your phone which you had turned off when you weren’t using it at work was now at 16%. It was early in the afternoon and you were emailing a client important information and rushing across town to meet with a supplier. You crossed the road getting hit with a car laying in the rain you found it hard to breathe all the air seemed to have escaped your body. Dragging your arm across the concrete your phone held tightly in your fist you pressed the numbers for emergency services you hit the call button when your phone powered down. 

A face appeared about you looking horrified he called the ambulance shaking there was a light behind his head. It seemed like a halo and he was your very own angel. 

Jeon Jungkook: Beach  @live-2-fangirl

The beach was quiet; it was overcast and occasionally would sprinkle with rain. You were never deterred, and this weather was better for churning up the sea and creating a few gnarly waves. You laughed at the expression gnarly and swore on your life never to think nor speak it ever again. Getting on your surfboard you swam out to sea it was incredibly exhilarating weaving across the water. 

The water grew unforgiving in what seemed like a second pulling you out and you were dunked by a wave and tossed around. You didn’t panic swimming to the light. Breaking the surface, you blinked the saltwater from your eyes and tried to get it out your nose and throat. It was brighter than you remembered. Maybe there was a break in the clouds. 

“Can we be of aid lad?” A voice called you looked up to see an old wooden shop, the kind that looked like it belonged in a Johnny Depp quintology of films. Leaning over the side of the ship was a young man, his hair shaggy hair falling forward as he looked down at you. Your wetsuit removed any femininity from your figure and your hair was in a very messy bun. You climbed up the rope ladder on the side of the ship as you didn’t see any signs of your beach anywhere. 

It was so sunny with not a cloud in the sky. Did you die? Getting up onto the ship you laid your board down on the deck removing the surf leash from your ankle. 

“Where be your port?” He asked they all looked like they were fresh out of a romance novel with billowing shirts and shaggy hair. 

You ripped the velcro around your neck and pulled the zip down your back.  Peeling the wetsuit of your arms until they were free, letting out your hair shaking it with your fingers hoping it wouldn’t take long to dry. Some of your swimsuit was on display and as you went to take the wetsuit completely off a long waistcoat was draped over your shoulders. 

“My apologies, my lady, we will fetch you some dry clothes,” you shrugged his coat off onto the deck. 

“No, need I will be dry soon” you continued to strip, and he unbuttoned his shirt and fastened it around you buttoning it up. 

“These scallywags cannot be trusted with a beautiful woman like yourself” he smiled “you are as tempestuous as the waters we sail” 

Next Week

Structural Isomers 2

Leo: 2,3-Dimethylheptane. It’s just… my life is so average that I gotta force myself into others’ situations; how else am I gonna get a thrill? Do you feel me, Viz? <The amusement park ride begins to take off, revealing the mildly broad view of the Guatemalan cityscape. The smell of barbeque holds back the tears Oro was ready to shed because ferris wheels strike a particular emotional nerve for him.> «Uh… my advice is that what you’re doing isn’t necessarily a bad thing. To be philosophical, nothing anyone does is bad.» Even murder and like, murdering children? «Yeah, not even that can constitute you as a bad person. And that’s true ‘cause everyone alive now has come here with a purpose, and those purposes can manifest in many ways in our lives.» <The carriage buckles a bit, enough to make noticeable the snot on Oro’s hand> ...You sound like you’re heading into some wacky territory, but I’ll bite. <Viz takes another bite into the corndog that seemingly materialized from his pocket> «So, because of this highly encoded model of fate, that means that even the worst shit that happens to you happens for a reason.» Even cancer and like, terminal cancer? «Redundant, but yes.» Hmm… <Oro takes a small bite of Viz’s corn dog while he’s distracted> I think there’s some moral holes in that, Viz. «It’s funny ‘cause that isn’t real either!» Okay, you’re just fucking with me now; may Jesus find your lost soul. «Sounds like you can’t see past yourself!» <The carriage buckles again but harder, knocking the corn dog out of Viz’s hand and revealing the loogie Oro was hiding.> So you’re saying that it’s commendable for me to put myself where I don’t belong? «Hold on, I never said that, but… actually, you should just be proud for who you are. Take yourself as you are, and you can then begin to do the same to others. Forget about the idea of souls and deeper selves entirely.» Whatever you say, homie.

Taurus: 3,3-Diethylpentane. «Gresham.» <He peeks his head from washing the dishes to divert attention to the voice that called him> What is it, Sanjay? «Hmm, I was gonna ask you questions about how nonsensical this world is, but my mind immediately shifted to asking you how you got to this point.» This point? Like, the quality of life I possess currently? «What else?» I would’ve preferred to point out the ridiculousness of this whole ordeal, but I understand your shift. Shoot! «Do you think the ways you’ve gotten to where you are now were… unethical?» There’s a lot you’re holding in your mouth when you ask a question like that. As a lover of difficult questions, I won’t answer that until the day’s done. «Uh-» No complaining, or I’ll cut your pay by 30%. <Sanjay thinks to himself> That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to him about: He has to be aware, right? There’s no way his skull is that dense, and his jokes are too clever! <Gresham finishes washing the last remaining plate and slides it atop the rack. Afterwards, he walks back to his usual position in the restaurant and waits for any new service.> [...] <Sanjay flicks his used cigarette from his mouth and onto the elaborate ashtray outdoors. In impatience, he goes back inside and demands the accountability he thinks he deserves> «It’s been three hours and nobody has shown up; you want to start removing that answer’s date back?» <Gresham breaks his inhuman concentration to make a firm statement> Clean up your ashtray first. «Are you teaching me an ecological lesson? Is this some lesson of your Tantra?» No, I’m just conscious about any numbers of fires that could emerge from cigarettes. «Fine.» <As Sanjay begins to go back outside, Gresham speaks again> Trust me, I wish I could escape the clutches of this cast we thrive and suffer under. However, no matter where I go, the world still refers back to where I came from. Is there value in not persisting forwards but backwards? <Sanjay looks back with hesitation, thinks briefly “the Manusmriti?” but scoffs at his datedness> Also, If you walk out, I’ll assume you’re doing terrible things, so don’t. «What about the-�� The ashes will know where to go. «Why do you put on this faux mystic attitude? You’re a restaurant owner!»

Aquarius: 2,6-Dimethylheptane. <Aukai finds herself awake in her unsheeted bed, further disorganized beyond possibility. She forcefully motions her lips and breathes words of lucid wisdom through her dry chords.> There’s an anxiety that grips me sometimes, and it’s that every passing second I don’t recognize the artistic potential of something, it gets lost to time. What I fear the most is my head getting cracked wide open, losing consciousness, and awakening to a future that robbed me of beautiful scenes for new pieces. «This anxiety seems… unlike you.» <Aukai is surprised by the fact that her client is awake. Fear would gain control of her if it weren’t for him snoring afterwards, indicating it’s sleep-talking> Men are more beneficially judgmental when they’re asleep, huh? Whelp, I can leave while the night’s still middle-age. <Aukai gets dressed, particularly struggling to get her galoshes back on to weather the incoming rain. Once outside, she dashes through the rain almost oafishly, betraying the expectation of feminine grace. She thinks to herself> Even beyond how ridiculous it sounds, the life of an artist is a religious one: One where we’re conflicting our reality with the one produced on canvas. Well, that’d make the process more like the foundations of a religion than the application of it. The completeness isn’t there yet, but hopefully I can figure it out by the time I’m home. <The moonlight becomes secondary as the artificial lights create new scenes at every corner, torturing Aukai’s poor, traumatized eyes. She simply looks into her hands to avoid all these temptations.> [,] <There’s now tears mixing in with the raindrops, and on the way home, Aukai is stopped by an obstacle she couldn’t see coming. Facedown in the asphalt, she looks up to see a beautiful scene, etching itself into her eyes to haunt her next gig.> G-goddamn you <Aukai pounds her fist into the ground.>

Pisces: 2,2,4,4,-Tetramethylpentane. <Maghazi is walking down the crowded afternoon streets of Dakar, gleefully filling his lungs with the smell of pollution and fried fish. Here, he feels at one with the natural world, leaving no space for false misconceptions of the monism he lives and, well, breathes. Here, there’s people he can both condescend and praise, leaving ample room to leave a web of both shrinkage and growth. His baggy pants are scruffed from the leftover paint of the bricks he vaulted and leapt over for the style of the action: Something to move the body he believes serves no purpose other than preserving the valuable brain.> Hmm, my ears are pointing me somewhere ambiguous: 20 meters away. <It appears he’s detecting something his senses designated as important to him. Despite this, he was never really the opportunistic personality, at least never one that took what was in front of them. Maghazi takes more determined steps, inching closer to the source> If I had to guess, it’s likely a drone chip. They don’t exactly make their existence a secret <He rubs a special knob on his glasses, enabling a process we can’t witness or understand> …Found them. <Maghazi stumbles upon the source, which is a group of teenage boys in an alleyway kicking around a hacky sack, which he believes to be the source of the signal. Wondering how to approach, Maghazi comes to only the most optimal method> Oh, it looks like I’m substituting today. «Man, who are you talking to?» You guys: Who else? ²«Nobody agreed on that.» I never said it was democratic. All I need now is to be in this space and access to that hacky sack. «Get your own.» What if I told you it was an explosive device ready to go off and I was the only one who knew how to disarm it? «We’d die happy then.» <Maghazi is irked as there’s no other plans of approach left. In defeat, he walks away with a hunched demeanor. He thinks to himself how humorous it’d be if the hacky sack blew up like in his absurd hypothetical, but he’s quickly disappointed by the unpoetic reality> Nothing’s gonna happen.

18 Sept- 26 Dec Saturn finally goes direct!!! The new structure of life unveils from now to December in an area of our life where we would are experiencing the biggest restructuring & karmic release of our life time

Saturn has been retrograde since 29 April in the sign it rules Capricorn. Saturn rules the structural elements of our life, earth & administration. It gives us the perseverance to create the very foundations of our existence - our boundaries, our rules, our career, our body, building blocks of our life that let us function effectively & bring our talents our soul to material world.

During the retrograde period Saturn holds up external launch of new structure of our life cause it hits resistance within our inner life which if not removed won’t allow us to live that external reality with full potency & success. So last 4-5 months has been period of internal restructuring, frustration, resentment, arrested growth but at the same time rebuilding of a new rule book, warding out things / attitudes / people which are obstacles to our ability to take on this new responsibility & opportunity of new structure of our life. Saturn in retrograde stage breaks down our ego & sometimes negativity which is accumulated which keeps us away from assimilating our ideal with material. Unknowingly in past few months we have created a new code of conduct, a new unsaid boundary of what we would or would not accept going forward in our life.

That’s the thing with Saturn - a lot is unsaid & understated - yet without its work we wouldn’t accomplish anything in material or spiritual world as it creates a mountain of persistence within us so doing the requisite work for accomplishing what we need becomes part of our DNA.

In Hindu mythology Saturn is represented as Kurma, tortoise - an incarnation of Lord Vishnu (the creator), who lifted the mountain so Gods could churn the ocean to retrieve the usefulness - usefulness is born due to work we do under the influence of Saturn - so past four months have been our own individual process of creating inner strength to lift up our own mountains.

And now with Saturn going direct we have a lift off. It’s time to lift that mountain so usefulness is birthed. As Saturn is in Capricorn no matter where you are lifting your mountain it would have influence of solidifying your professional foundations, your foundations as a leader of whatever domain you might be looking to be the lead on - efficiency is birthed - core strength is born to be the kind of leader of our personal or professional life that knows when to say no and draw healthy boundaries. The leader who knows what to choose, what to Detox, what to move away from as it doesn’t have longevity & to move to what has grounding to survive the next 30 years of our evolution which we are moving towards.

Saturn will retrace the path it traversed since 29 April from now to Christmas - making visible changes in framework of our life to reflect the inner re-engineering it has done in last four months. Imagine last four months as you going through process of rewriting the rules of your life - what profession, life commitment to whom, what to say yes to what not to when it comes to responsibilities, what you need for your material growth & Stability - imagine now that rule book being implemented. The theory merging with action till December. As soon as Saturn is done with this journey we would have a Solar eclipse on 26 Dec’19 prompting us - your new life is ready now to be lived - it becomes our new reality.

Saturn churning turning direct is subtle as is the planet itself but its gifts are real, material, Long lasting - this is about getting what we need & it might come in forms different from what we want. Saturn is like a responsible parent - it knows well to give you time to adjust to what it’s about to unfold as your new path which it was doing in last four months - but it also knows well to also give you what you truly need & what’s right for you. Cause sometimes what we want is not what we need. Hence the delay, hence the need of time, hence the retrograde but that’s why what’s created gives benefits for a life time.

So over next 14 weeks, we will see structure of our life change in ways we didn’t originally plan but over last four months we have been internal restructured to move from what we wanted to what we truly need - some call it reality checks, some call it maturing a dream.

A special note for my fellow Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) - this adjustment has been nothing short of a struggle in last few months & we might have resisted this change with all our might only to realise now that this feeling of entrapment, anger, frustration, banging against the wall - was all but a cocoon phase getting us ready & building our strength for a more responsible & prosperous tomorrow. This is our light at the end of the tunnel so take heart. All of us will feel this in one of or other area of our life.

Degrees & Dates

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Saturn is turning at 13°55” which is a degree of unearthing what has permanent value & releasing what’s non essential - the very Essence of Saturn. Outdated positions & establishments will be seen demolished & unearthed as a result in administrations, organisational structures, country structures & borders.

This is the degree of Isaac Newton, J. R. R. Tolkien, Louis Braille - us finding a new language to give words to our identity - which we have realised as our intrinsic truth - us finding our voice & now creating real material things out of it.

It comes in conjunction with Star Wega - which was linked to Ma’at, the great Egyptian goddess of justice, truth & balance, who helped souls move from one life to another as it would be helping us transition forward. Measuring our heart/ soul & the weight of it as did Ma’at to see if we have released what’s required to move forward - a karmic justice of sorts & settlement of it in fair terms.

Upcoming Libra season will test all of us on it, that’s why right off the door Mercury and Venus will make a hard aspect of test with Saturn on 22 & 25 Sept - keep your strength - remember the lessons of past months - where in the past we said yes when we should have said no. Bring your new boundaries, foundations, strength, power , rule book for a test drive in coming days.

We are all work in progress but how far we have come will come to display around 7th & 14th October when we are put in a position to use our strength in disagreements or partnerships or relationships with people who form integral part of our personal & professional life. We are tested on our ability to move out of our comfort first zone. October is a Cardinal month - definitive directional crisp actions.

Karmic Trigger Dates

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Turning of Saturn always sets the stage for a karmic release as fantasy meets reality - non productive relationships, structures, projects, associations are released & new structure is set. The trigger dates of that are in my view between 28 Oct to 2 Nov when we will see karmic event occur to mark this new start under the influence of the new moon in Scorpio - with truth & strength.

We will experience this very strongly in global events as I mentioned in my July eclipse videos - We will see activation of two Solar eclipses of this year between 28 Oct to 2 Nov - I expect major world events to occur in this period related to government, restructuring, aggressive redefining actions leading to new order we expect to begin in Jan 2020.

Which area of life are you moving mountains ?

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I spoke in detail about Saturn’s influence for each sign in your Sept monthly video but briefly - below is area of life where you might be experiencing the biggest restructuring & setting up solid foundations to reap material rewards for long term.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv3tUTLu8-MTbf4G38ErxOlmA1ghAPtrk

Do note Saturn in Capricorn always brings influence to our public life - our external talk & in turn our leadership style irrespective of where it’s acting per your rising / sun / moon sign - it helps us define our usefulness - our service to the world so in day to day in one way or another we would see this shift bring clarity in our careers or what we call our “service”.

Naturally a lot of effort is going in this area but more importantly a new structure is about to emerge here which you would be living in 2020.

Perseverance, patience, willingness to serve, dissolving ego to release what’s not ours, releasing thoughts causing inefficiency of our mind, depending on our inner strength instead of external applause, drawing on your inner strength when external events seem to beat us down, paying dues before the rewards are key asks of lord of karma Saturn.

You can bookmark this article here - http://emailabuddy.com/blog/?p=800

So let’s settle a few karmic scores as the tide turns💫

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♈️ #Aries - Career, public life, leadership style, authority

Saturn is prompting restructuring of your career, organisational structure of your company or organisation or structure you are integral part of & redefining your place in the works & your contribution, leadership style, your way of servicing & contributing, your official title & reputation or public image. Our identity physically & emotionally is redefined which in term influences our family life & home. Relationship with Father or fathers life goes through shifts as well. This is a new chapter in who you are known as & what you are creating as a leader for long term to contribute meaningfully to society in long run. Your place in the work, your personal brand of leadership, your public image is being relaunched & redefined for long run. Physical health needs discipline and bones / structure of body should be built on.

~14° or 21° Aries will feel this the most in coming days; that’s around 3/10 Apr born for Aries Sun though all of you will experience this shift as it’s one of most important transit of next 30 years for you. Good luck 💫

♉️ #Taurus - Education, publication, travel, belief system, life purpose, visa, Father

Saturn is restructuring your higher mind, your knowledge, your belief system - prompting you to learn more, teach more, publish more, gain more knowledge through life experiences so you can become an effective guru, teacher, spiritual influence, established authority who can guide people across cultures & geographies. But to be a good teacher & influencer we first need to be a good student of life. Saturn turning direct shows you 1) the path forward, your higher purpose, your meaningful path 2) grants expansion of mind through higher education & achievement in the same, foreign influences / business travel, on job training, a mentor, legalisation or visa to foreign land and more importantly 3) gives you pathway to share your higher mind & teachings through publications of meaning, intellectual technical work which is shared with diverse set of people. Your life purpose & belief system - the spiritual code you live by is forever changed to adjust to a higher growth path you are now on. Your service & life purpose involves changing other people’s mind & belief system by being a mentor, a teacher who leads by example.

~14° or 21° Taurus can benefit the most in coming days; that’s around 4/11 May born for Taurus Sun though all will experience a shift in this area of life.

♊️ #Gemini - Rebirth, baptism by fire, healing, power, joint resources

Saturn is restructuring how you establish authority & power in joint situations to get fair share of proceeds of partnerships - personal or professional so money & intimacy, equipping you to be independent, healing you from within detoxing your past & karmic attachments or addictions that hold your power & emotional-physical health back. This is baptism by fire, rebirth & rise of Phoenix you name it - it’s powerful to say the least - more importantly it’s redefining your joint resources - partners finances & your joint destiny, your ability to manage other people’s money, it’s restructuring how you merge with others - how you retain your individuality, power, potential - it’s making you powerful, impactful in your dealings with others. Saturn has been chipping away at every fiber of karmic weakness that existed in your way of being by possibly exposing you to situations where fear & past losses had no place to exist anymore. It has taken you deep to places you normally don’t like to access & brought you back up stronger & surer. Having redefined your core, now is the time to bring this show to the road - bring this independence, sense of self, power, healing to transform financially, powerfully, physically, sexually. Your contribution or service to the world could possibly involve you digging deep , doing deep research on matters related to finance or medicine or occult, managing other people’s money, being part of power structure by being a force of transformation who brings out the new in a place that’s getting old or outdated. This isn’t an easy process but it’s one that introduces you to another dimension of you that you have not seen before.

~14° or 21° Gemini will feel this the most in coming days; that’s around 4/11 Jun born for Gemini Sun though all of you will experience this shift

♋️ #Cancer - Partnership, clients, one on one relationships, critics, contracts

Saturn is restructuring your one on one relationships, partnerships, how you deal with your interest versus that of people in your life & your duty or obligations towards them, it’s redefining your rulebook of way of responding to your critics, it’s rewriting your commitments - kind of contracts you engage in or how you engage your clients. People close to you or in close relationships with you might have been in a process of churn, change, restructuring as who you commit to is being redefined. Also who is your influencer is redefined as we find ourself in presence of powerful people - who become our influencers, our Teachers, they refine who we are by our association with them. We find our self identity redefined through our relationships & our decisions taken with our business & personal partners. Long term Long lasting associations are made & old associations are released as our contracts go through complete restructure & redefinition. Verdicts are passed decisions are made for Long term - from your Real Estate agent, your doctor, your best friends to your business partner or life partner - all your close associations have been topic of reconsideration, restructure cause Saturn is asking you write a new rule book that allows you to give your best in commitments & when we aren’t allowed to be who we truly are we can’t give our best. So many of these old associations which have outlived their time, karma might be released as new Long term contracts are drawn & new life commitments are made. Our physical & emotional health & endurance is tested but we are given tools & discipline to rebuild strong foundations if any weakness is found. Now is the time to build this new life with your new rules & life commitments on strong footing.

~14° or 21° Cancer will feel this the most in coming days; that’s around 5/11 July born for Cancer Sun though all of you will experience this shift as it’s one of most important transit of next 30 years for you - as is for like United States of America & it’s close allies or foes.

♌️ #Leo - work environment, health routines, work hierarchy

Saturn is restructuring your work environment, work hierarchy, job, obligations, your duties to elders - your parents, your rule book & boundaries used in dealing with coworkers, kind of projects you taken on, how to manage your team or your relationship with your environment, how much of your work life seeps into your physical & mental health and well being. Getting efficient in terms of kind of projects or responsibilities we takeon, having clear boundaries, detoxing immediate work environment, getting right kind of support structure at work, making sure we say no where a no is overdue in terms of obligations which compromise you & your health, paying our dues to our elders, cutting ties with the duties & obligations where karma is done and it’s time to move forward to be able to contribute what we came here to do, are all themes, objectives of Saturn and it’s turning direct allows you to manifest this. It allows you to create a structure of health & diet improvement that your body deserves & needs or reap benefits of work already done in this area. Work promotions, team restructuring, change in work hierarchy, renting an office space, changing work place or improving it, end of a karmic duty to family, effectively dealing with hereditary health issues, successful & more stable way to perform your duties, having right coworker support or team under you to support you are ways in which the karmic settlement of Saturn can turn out. Net result is a better Long term way of dealing with your obligations to make an impact of the order you desire. This is not an easy placement but letting this mold us can strength our mind body connection - our ability to change our perceived work environment by our thoughts our mind - as well as disciple to set right boundaries & support at job or in our obligations to give space to better health. Your contribution is improved by prioritising your wellbeing.

~14° or 21° Leo will feel this the most in coming days; that’s around 6/13 Aug born for Leo Sun though all of you will experience this shift

♍️ #Virgo - giving birth to your legacy - a business venture, a child, love, investment risk

Saturn is restructuring your ability to take risks in your personal & professional life - taking you to heights of pleasure through a path of pain & hardwork - this is toil of blood & sweat done to create what we would like to call our legacy. A business venture you are passionate about, a child you find as an extension of you, a love commitment you would like to keep life Long, a Creative work that’s your dream, an investment risk you are taking which feels just right or a new framework of taking investment risk that you are creating - they are all part of gifts of Saturn here which are crowning in this last push of labor after nine months of non stop efforts. Framework has been in process, restructuring has been in process - what’s coming now is rolling out what you have planned - setting the plan into action. Last stages of major Creative or business venture work, next stage in child’s development or education or in your responsibility as a parent, solidifying your love commitments, powerful friends, taking on an investment risk beyond your past capacity after long consideration, are ways in which your legacy might be in process of being born.

So far we have been conservative, detailed, may be even inhibited in our confidence of things working out but Saturn turning direct gives us a solid footing - a knowing that something long lasting is being created. Later in December when Jupiter comes to this area too we will go bolder & bigger - for now we will tick all the boxes & be exacting, be meticulous to make sure we are filtering out any unwanted investment & personal risk as we start seeing concrete progress on work done in last nine months.

~14° or 21° Virgo can benefit the most in coming days; that’s around 6/13 Sept born for Virgo Sun though all will experience a shift in this area of life.

♎️ #Libra -Home, Family, real estate, inner foundations - your core, support system

Saturn is restructuring your emotional foundations cause you gotto strengthen the base when your opposite house of career is being expanded so you have the requisite support system to take on more visible public life & career path. So we have been mending, repairing, paying our dues to our family duties, to our place of living - enhancing, fencing, repairing, strengthening it. It’s our survival instincts - what do we do when no one’s watching - how do we feel secure, what & who do we draw on, what gives us comfort, what’s the strong core we fall back on when external life puts us in spotlight. You are creating a life time of strong emotional foundations, family structure, support system, physical home of solid footing to support your public aspirations. In the process of it all you are meeting you as you complete this last stage of maturation of your inner world. Leaks in our home or emotional life have been highlighted & worked on - nows the time to build upon this solid foundation - like when property development begins on a land that’s been thoroughly raked & levelled post demolition all ready to resurrect a solid high rise on. We are ready for new structure of our public life as we see support from our inner foundations at soul level, having detoxed the elements & patterns that wouldn’t work in your expanded career or public life or whatever new title of worldly responsibility you are about to take on.

~14° or 21° Libra will feel this the most in coming days; that’s around 7/14 Oct born for Libra Sun though all of you will experience this shift as it’s one of most important transit of next 30 years for you. Good luck 💫

♏️ #Scorpio - Commercial & Communication skills, our mind, courage

Saturn is restructuring refining our mind & talk - internal & external - creating efficiency in the way we talk, think, connect, communicate, express our ideas, our thoughts; how we influence & connect with our immediate environment. Life long skills that yield value for our lifetime are created, refined, aced under this influence. More importantly any inefficient & weakness of our mind, our courage is worked on to create a new foundation of how we think, talk, write, express our commercial & intellectual skills. We study, write, self educate, take online courses, edit refine define our work, our marketing strategy, our voice, our messaging; more importantly we Detox old thinking patterns that keep us stuck or don’t let us connect positively with our immediate environment. Things that test our courage, strength of our mind come up. Saturn turning direct opens the path to now bring this stronger, firmer mindset; the skills we have honed, polished, improved upon; the contracts, communication or commercial projects we have drafted envisioned reviewed; our views thoughts ideas that we have been mulling over - now to the world - launching the new framework of sharing your views with the world. Publish, write, speak, travel, take short trips, gain license to practice your new skills, read, gain gather collate publish important information, get contracts written agreements through, influence through your mind & speech - its a new mindset which unveils a different material reality for you as our thoughts create our reality. This rebirth of your mind & courage. In few cases new structure of siblings career can also unfold.

~14° or 21° Scorpio can benefit the most in coming days; that’s around 6/13 Nov born for Scorpio Sun though all will experience a shift in this area of life.

♐️ #Sagittarius - Material resources, self worth & networth, assets, diet

Saturn is restructuring your value system, your ability to generate long term abundance through giving you the persistence to develop skill sets that will reap you material benefit & increase your self worth over long period of time. At the same time, it has been prompting you to Detox your expenses, assets, get more involved in financial planning for future, make sure you have sound foundations of material resources to support you. Saturn cuts through the unnecessary, the inefficiencies in how we use our resources - physical & mental - so your energy, your time, your skills, your mindshare is being focused on specific projects or jobs or sources of income - releasing making space for what’s important relevant lucrative & Long term for you when it comes to sources of income. Having gone through a tedious process of setting this rule book, now is the time to get the show on the road - launch this new framework, this new revenue source, new skill set & create value from it. Serve the world with your skills, your organisational capabilities, your ability to turn around financial situations & creating value out of situations. Key skill that’s created with this is ability to spot opportunities that can generate stable revenue. Key value system that this builds within you is of confidence that you can turn any situation around - most importantly that your self worth isn’t attached to any specific asset or bank balance or a number. As much as you are launching the framework of building that bank balance but you are launching a new worth - you are whose value has been enhanced - you are the valuable asset in this & it’s been all about enhancing your value both as a skilled person as well as a person of strong value system. So Saturn turning direct now brings this sense of self, this product of this whole ordeal - you - now to the outer world & they see the the new framework of you that you have created as you create both material & spiritual abundance in coming days. Your physical body is a resource too, so diet, enhancing your physical strength is very much an integral part of this value adding exercise you have embarked upon - make ful, use of the discipline of Saturn to set a long term health & diet program.

Launch this new framework of value creation till December when your ruler Jupiter also comes in this area of your chart - expanding the work you have done so far, adding scale, prosperity to it further.

♑️ #Capricorn - All of you - your career, body, how you show up to the world

Capricorn your ruler in your sign first time in 30 years is nothing short of getting a new life - it’s a complete reset & it might have felt like pulling teeth while it was retrograde in past few months as it’s been having us work on our inner world, our emotions, strengthening us from within to make our core strong to take on more responsibilities as well as achievements that lay ahead of you to be had. Saturn helps us become the best version of ourself, shedding negative habits, attitudes & yes it shows us the weakness in our ways of handling things but also gives us the tools to strength every inch of weakness that existed in our physical, mental, moral fiber to be more, to be all we can be. Having dealt with the lesson of patience & old limitations, this is where the tide turns as it’s time to start launching the new framework of you both in your professional & personal life - your new rule book that’s based on realisation of what truly matters to you, what’s for you, who is for you & how to effectively be the authority of your life no matter what sphere of your life. Our ego has been dissolved for it was required for the higher powers to mold us in the direction in the way we needed to go - usefulness & strength is given birth to. It’s not an easy rebirth but your sign wasn’t built with such huge endurance for easier things. As they say uneasy lies the head that wears a crown - but nows the time to wear the crown - take your new responsibility, leadership, higher position on & next few months you will see yourself stepping into that role as unknowingly or knowingly the rules of your life & what you want out of it has changed. Since you aren’t the same person internally now your external reality has to reflect who you have become. That’s the process of next few months till December & you will find support to get there. As one key lesson of past few months has been also to ask for support & knowing who to ask & how to ask. Past months also created clear awareness of what has Long ended in our life & now we get the framework, strength & impetus to release it for food, for when you have decided to be more you cannot be less - you simply cannot go back. There is peace, ease, strength, more importantly there is truth in our path ahead which makes us feel comfortable to be in our own skin as our new life unveils in front of us & damn you have worked for it!

Health is key focus - make sure what you have learned about your body in past few months you make that discipline of your lifetime, right now you have the strength & impetus to do it, set it in stone. Personal achievements, status, shift in your position in hierarchy of an organisation, moving forward in a family obligation or progress in your journey as a parent, progress in career or your public reputation, progress in a key life decision or resolution of a verdict - are various ways Saturn can unlock things which were held up structurally.

~14° or 21° Capricorn will feel this the most in coming days; that’s around 5/12 Jan born for Capricorn Sun though all of you will experience this shift as it’s one of most important transit of next 30 years for you. Good luck 💫

♒️ #Aquarius - Release, Faith, fears, hidden strength & talents, Devine timing or intervention

Saturn your ruler, is restructuring all that’s below the surface hidden even from us - our fears, phobias, inhibitions. It’s refining our strengths we didn’t see before - our hidden talents, our unknown beneficiaries, our angels, our own core strength, our faith & bringing all of that in play as we are setting the stage for our ruler Saturn to enter your sign in Mar 2020 which is nothing short of living a new life . This is the cadent period, the period of preparing, paying our dues, our karmic obligations to higher powers, to our parents, to our vocation, we are diligently serving our responsibilities behind the scene for we know this period of solitude - “The Silent years” as Bible described it - is when your whole environment within you is shifting which shifts your external existence for long run. This is your reservoir - the place we draw from unknowingly whenever we need to do what has to be done - you are strengthening that reservoir - dealing with your own demons within & outside one set for all so they don’t come in the path you are carving for yourself. Spiritual practices are set, faith is strengthened, healing is achieved, involuntarily we pay any dues as we deal with every shaky pebble in our career path & our physiological life without much noise & ado. Having been through the inner journey which was deep over last few months - now we bring those hidden talents, that strength, that faith into play to visible world. It’s when responsibilities are effectively dealt with ease, our psychological / spiritual /healing discipline starts showing external results in how you deal with your work, your relationships, your coworkers, your projects, your enemies / critics / adversaries, any government or authority dealings. You are on a Mission, others may not know it but you know what it is - it becomes easier to work on that Mission - your “service” to the world.

The health practices & spiritual practices you have developed in this phase are your support for life time as is the faith & psychological strength you have developed. We feel a bit lighter cause this is the house of karmic burdens & a weight is being lifted off as we finally make progress in our path. I call this phase as “phase of God’s timing” or whatever higher powers you believe in cause it’s a very destined or karmic time when the more you release control from the situation - the more the situation moves in the direction you want - I learned my biggest life lessons in this phase - not to try to control my destiny too much. We aren’t the best story tellers so why be intent on it -allow your life to flow- it will take you places your own imagination never travelled to. Work will always be there - it’s your default mode you always put in the work - it’s more about our ego which makes us want it to result in an exact output. Saturn here is more intent in changing our insides - our ego, our undoing versus external life - it’s been at it for past few months now you see the benefit of releasing that control as life takes you to places you didn’t originally plan to go. Where is the magic in knowing everything 👼

♓️ #Pisces - Vision, hopes, dreams, friends, social network

Saturn is restructuring what your life’s vision is - what you need to create in this life time that would outlast you - your dream, your vision, its concrete, it’s substantial, it has element of service which benefits groups of people or collective. At the same time it’s restructuring who will go on this journey with you - who are your friends, Long term supporters, fam base, the platform that builds you, launches you at wider scale - your social presence & business network and influence is being redefined & refined. Past few months might have been time of arrested growth in external growth cause we were restructuring our inner self to adjust to what we are about to embark upon. Before we can influence others, benefit others, we need to be sure of our own messaging, our own vision, we need to be sure of what platform we would use, which groups we would be part of or influence. Having been through months of this restructuring - now with Saturn direct we have lift off & launch of our vision in coming months. Support from authorities, network, influential business partners, wealthy friends, platform launches, breaking through influential group, taking a group along on a Mission & achieving socially, launching your talents at wider scale -are ways in which Saturn going direct can benefit in coming weeks to you. Restructuring your passions to make them useful for masses or relaunching your creative work in a modified format or with a modified appeal or on a modified platform or to a different set of society or group could be ways to make wider impact. We pay our dues to society here by using our instrinsic skills or talents and make them available to your supporters, society, groups at events, or through online means, or through influential friends or business partners. You are here to make an impact on wider scale - this is the phase when tools required to make it happen come through & this could be in creative field or in a corporate hierarchy. Powerful people & influences that reshape our life path usually meet us changing our view of our life & talent - this might have already happened & now we launch with new life with diligence & perseverance.

~14° or 21° Pisces can benefit the most in coming days; that’s around 4/11 Mar born for Pisces Sun though all will experience a shift in this area of life.

#SaturnDirect #Saturn #dailyhoroscope #weeklyhoroscope #monthlyhoroscope #horoscopes #horoscopeposts #astrologyposts #astrologypost #horoscopepost

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

The battle against COVID-19 has laid bare the limitations of modern technology in the face of a pandemic. We can’t accurately track the disease’s toll in real time, nor can we accurately predict where it’s headed. We are told that developing a vaccine will take 18 months — which seems excruciatingly slow — and that the only truly effective weapon we have for now is widespread social distancing, which, of course, has its own painful economic side effects. We always believed our modern tools would protect us from catastrophe, but they have proven startlingly inadequate against this invisible enemy.

In some ways at least, technology has been able to tell us more about how and where the virus is spreading. Mostly, this has involved creatively harnessing the power of big data — using temperature readings from smart thermometers to detect COVID-19 hot spots, or aggregating cellphone location data to point to the areas of the country where people are staying home. But against a backdrop of debate between civil liberties and public health, we also need to be asking where the line is digitally: How much surveillance is acceptable in the service of the greater good?

To be clear, the types of data being tracked now are usually anonymized, aggregated in large groups according to, say, geography. They are also collected with the consent of users. But long before the new coronavirus emerged, critics of big tech companies were already pointing out that users typically give such consent through labyrinthine terms-of-service agreements, often not knowing what their data would ultimately be used for. In today’s world, data is an extremely valuable commodity that rewards its collectors in many ways. Even as individual data profiles that provide search suggestions, traffic directions and health guidance help improve daily life, that goes hand in hand with more nefarious motives companies might have for recording user activities.

Again, those were the worries being raised prior to the pandemic. Now, COVID-19 has revealed much starker trade-offs between personal privacy and the collective benefits of technology. In South Korea, for example, the ability to retrace an infected person’s steps using credit card transactions and cellphone tracking data is part of the country’s (largely successful) response to the virus. Other countries are also ramping up digital surveillance at an individual level in the name of public health. Although such measures may seem less likely to be used in the U.S., one recent Harris poll showed that a sizable, bipartisan majority of Americans would favor a public coronavirus registry and be willing to share phone location data to get alerts about infected people being nearby.1

These efforts might seem appealing because they represent an effective use of technology against a threat we’re struggling to otherwise control. If less aggressive tracking — such as the aforementioned smart-thermometer data — has been useful in measuring the effects of social-distancing policies, even stronger versions have the potential to assist in contact tracing and ultimately help contain the virus for good. If we can bring the power of our growing data-collection apparatus to bear in the fight against COVID-19, shouldn’t we?

“This is a genuine emergency, and that justifies a lot of things that would not normally be justified,” Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, told Bloomberg. “But we have to make sure that these temporary powers do not become permanent in a way that hurts everybody else.”

During the coronavirus pandemic, this tension between safety and freedom is playing out across more than just the technology space. Because a patchwork of policies are being implemented largely at the state level, the rules around actions like quarantines — and their constitutional enforceability — are somewhat open-ended. “Right now, between states, there are different protocols in terms of how to handle something that might be a health crisis such as this,” said University of California, Irvine School of Law professor Michele Goodwin on a recent episode of Slate’s “Amicus” podcast. “There isn’t necessarily coherence in terms of states’ laws. There isn’t any coherence vis-a-vis state and federal law in this domain.”

But Goodwin stressed the need to maintain individual protections even in the face of an extraordinary crisis. “Our civil liberties don’t just simply go away because there is a virus that is afoot that might affect many people,” she said. “You don’t lose your civil liberties simply because there is something in the air. You don’t lose your civil liberties simply because you become sick. It’s important to understand the primacy of due process.”

So what does a policy that balances data privacy and the public good look like? “We ask three questions about proposals to use data about people in new ways in response to COVID-19,” Adam Schwartz, a senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told me over email. “Would it be effective? Would it excessively intrude on our liberties? Are there sufficient safeguards?”

“Some proposals would not be effective — e.g., use of cell-site location information for contact tracing, because it is not sufficiently granular to place two people close enough together to transmit the disease,” Schwartz wrote. “Some proposals would excessively intrude on our liberties — e.g., China’s compulsion that every resident download a tracking app. [But] some forms of aggregated data might be a tolerable way to inform decision-making about the outbreak, provided [there are] sufficient safeguards to protect privacy.”

Because the coronavirus has been so difficult to stop, it’s tempting to fight it by whatever means are available — and there’s a case to be made for that, at least temporarily. (After all, the whole concept of flattening the curve is about giving up freedom of movement and activity in order to save lives.) But it’s important to also remember that individual rights ceded during a crisis rarely return, even when that crisis subsides.

“We are very troubled by the historical precedent that new powers given to government in times of crisis tend to stay in place,” Schwartz told me. “Two decades after the 9/11 attacks, the NSA [National Security Agency] is still engaged in dragnet internet surveillance. So before we support new forms of high-tech surveillance of personal data about location and health, we must think hard about whether the surveillance would actually be effective at solving the problem at hand. And even when the answer is yes, sometimes the impact on our liberties is intolerable.”

And as tech companies were already under fire for collecting too much data before COVID-19 — and officials were already interested in using that information — that means being wary of what kind of information they’re able to gather, even if it offers creative ways to help combat the pandemic right now.

+ “Great leaders, in contrast, are able to inspire people to act. Those who are able to inspire give people a sense of purpose or belonging that has little to do with any external incentive or benefit to be gained. Those who truly lead are able to create a following of people who act not because they were swayed, but because they were inspired.” ~ Simon Sinek | Author – Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

Game Changers | Series One Reflection

In March this year I launched an educational podcast series titled Game Changers, with fellow host Associate Professor of Education & Enterprise Dr Phil Cummins. Game Changers is a podcast for those who want to change the game of school. We started Series One with the provocation “What is the purpose of schooling for today?”

When Phil and I started to record this series the coronavirus pandemic had not taken hold. Before I launch into a reflection of Series One I feel it is important to acknowledge and state that during this unimaginable time we find ourselves in, we in education have to be super conscious of our parents and families, who are balancing work, finances, a house and home learning, our remarkable teachers who have demonstrated amazing agility and adaptability like I’ve never witnessed before in my educational career and finally to our students. Who now find themselves without the huge benefit of the physical, on campus community and relationship connectedness that had brought them much psychological safety, certainty and comfort.  

Since then we have seen a new learning paradigm – learning remotely, online, distance, home campus – whatever you wish to call it, actually I prefer continuous learning, because the pandemic has amplified the notion that learning can happen anywhere and anytime. So, we live in interesting times. Coping with the complex changes of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) – but what do we do with this insight? For mine, this podcast has become a sign of our times. This series has confirmed that emotional competency and our inherent humanness is the new knowledge base, in a world that is increasingly automated, with artificial intelligence a more and more prevailing construct. And it has taken a virus for educators across the global to put a spotlight on educational models, amplifying the gulf between a model of schooling that has passed its use by date and a move toward a dynamic learning ecosystem for a new world environment.

It has been a real privilege to be in dialogue with this diverse group of educators and entrepreneurs. I am better for my encounter with their body of work, their passion, their thinking, their unwavering commitment to young people and above all, their humanity. When I think about all eight individuals I am remined of this quote from Parker Palmer’s landmark book, The Courage to Teach, he writes, “The connections made by good teachers are held not in their methods but in their hearts – meaning heart in its ancient sense, the place where intellect and emotion and spirit and will converge in the human self.”

Episode One | Stephanie McConnell

We then started Series One with foundation Principal of the Lindfield Learning Village in Sydney NSW, Stephanie McConnell.

Key learnings – We have to reimagine schooling to best prepare all young people to learn, live, lead and work for their future. And to this end Stephanie spoke about equipping young people with the mindset to thrive. That learning needs to be more around the contexts of young people, therefore relevance a prevailing construct. And that a thriving learning community or village is about true collaboration - learning with and from the local and global community. And that the individual learning pathway is central to the future of schooling.

Episode Two | Yong Zhao

Key learnings – We need to abandon the prescribed factory model. That we currently manufacture scarcity with our industrial model of schooling – life is not about fighting for a few spots. And that adaptive challenges however are less precise, intangible and are usually resolved through a more organic process of trial and error, as we have been witnessing many adaptive teachers during this pandemic. I particularly love that Zhao is strong advocate for students to become drivers of their own future, trusting in each young person to take ownership and agency. Believing each can create their story, for their own future.

Episode Three | Valerie Hannon

Nobel Prize-winning scientist Paul Crutzen first suggested, back in January 2011 in Yale Environment 360 online magazine, that we were living in the Anthropocene, describing the value of this new framing for our current Earth history. He stated “Students in school are still taught that we are living in the Holocene, an era that began roughly 12,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age. But teaching students that we are living in the Anthropocene, the Age of Men [Humans], could be of great help. Rather than representing yet another sign of human hubris, this name change would stress the enormity of humanity’s responsibility as stewards of the Earth. It would highlight the immense power of our intellect and our creativity, and the opportunities they offer for shaping the future.”

Key learnings – For mine, our conversation with Valerie Hannon was brilliant in highlighting that we are in exactly that, The Age of Human. And that we have a responsibility to craft learning communities that understand and embrace this stewardship of earth, where we see ourselves as part of nature, understanding how to live within and with the planet as a whole. It is less about a selfless approach to living and more about place and the other. And that educators and schools have a fundamental role to prepare future generations for this world that awaits.

Episode Four  | Henry Musoma

Key learnings – For mine, this conversation was the reason why I do what I do, teach. Henry reminded us all that authentic learning is a social exchange of the heart and of the mind. He reminded me of two key things:

Self-actualisation - When we do the work and invest in improving ourselves, we evolve all aspects of our being. Then, we take what we’ve learned and share that light and love with the other. This feeling of self-actualisation is worth actively working toward for true personal fulfilment.

For All -  Effective educators leave a legacy, and a tremendous influence on the life of the other. This is a privilege and gift. “Never regard study as a duty but as an enviable opportunity to learn to know the liberating influence of beauty in the realm of the spirit for your own personal joy and to the profit of the community to which your later works belong.” – Albert Einstein. This is the human act of giving. Therefore generosity, love and kindness are not impulsive reactions. They require a profound consciousness and concern for the other.

Episode Five | Catherine Misson

Key learnings – Today’s educational sector calls for adaptive leadership. It is a collaborative change movement that emerges in a non-linear manner from interactive exchanges. School leaders and educational sectors need to wake to the fact that control, order and certainty are fallacies and that agile and adaptive leaders read the patterns of life effectively, moulding themselves to the needs of the moment, the sign of our times. Catherine is one of those leaders who isn’t afraid to agitate for doing schooling differently, always with the wellbeing and dignity of all the centre of her decision making.

Episode Six | Peter Hutton

Key learnings – School leaders need to re-examine the purpose of education for today’s world and ensure that it is based on the facts and emerging predictions about the impact of the exponential change we are currently witnessing. It is our collective responsibility to expose young people to new experiences and possibilities, but if we want them to take charge of their learning, these experiences have to be worthwhile and applicable in the students’ lives… really applicable, not because traditional dogma says they have to know it.

Episode Seven | Madeleine Grummet

Key learnings – Real opportunities exist with private enterprise to partner with schools and educational sectors to codifying curiosity and connect young people to industry-based people. What a dynamic way to accelerate the work of careers practitioners in schools and scale up with entrepreneurs that are focused on empowering young women, across industries that smash gender stereotypes. I always love having a dialogue with wonderful entrepreneurs like Madeleine - because they are forever curious about learning, living, leading and working. So, ask yourself, how do you quench your thirst for curiosity?

Episode Eight | Mark Hutchinson

Key learnings – The heart of the matter is what matters most to Mark and his commitment to the formation of pre-service teachers. He spoke about the importance of congruence and a readiness of pre-services teachers having a greater sense of fit with the ethos of the schools they are joining. Ensuring that the preparation of future teachers to be re-situated in the learning ecologies of their particular practice.

The American marketing guru Seth Godin once said, “The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.” It is time. We can’t do nothing. We must act in creating a schooling model that has an explicit emphasis on the fostering of confidence, competence and character. Having said that, above all, this series has confirmed for me why remaining forever curious, highly adaptive and that when we make a commitment to our own self-efficacy and that of the other, these are all fundamental to thriving in this new world environment.

When we go back to school everything will be different – and it must be different. It is time to focus education on the flow of humanity and the importance of relational connection. And if that’s the construct of the new normal, the new mainstream in schools. A holistic education nurtures a student’s unique talents and shapes their awareness of the broader common good. We need teachers and school leaders who challenge the status quo, embrace diversity of opinion, acknowledge limitations in expertise, seek input, and most importantly who are not only able to as John Dewey as previously stated “learn from experience, but rather learn from reflecting on experience”.

Thank you to Stephanie, Yong, Valerie, Henry, Catherine, Peter, Madeleine and Mark for sharing your story and passion. And thank for reminding us all that each person in our learning communities is home to a life. It is as simple and complex as that. Born from the construct of love – of self, for place and the other.

Listen to our Series One: Epilogue via streaming platforms - SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Play.

How Do We Get Back (9/16) - schitt’s creek ff

Summary: In a literal alternate universe where the Roses escaped financial ruin, David and Patrick struggle with loneliness and a sense that something isn’t right. A chance meeting in New York and a terrible tragedy drive them to question whether the timeline they are on is the right one.

Rated explicit. This chapter 4k words.  (ao3)

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8

This chapter is a sad one, but hang in there... (putting everything below the cut due to spoilers in the first few lines)

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Chapter 9

The sun was shining the first morning David woke up into a world without his sister in it.

He might’ve expected it to hit him afresh as he surfaced from fitful sleep, the fact that his sister was dead. But it had suffused his sleep, invaded his dreams — there was no escaping the knowledge even in his subconscious. As he awoke, he mostly just felt numb and hungover from crying.

David had rehearsed this kind of thing in his head a hundred times. All the times that Alexis had come back from a long trip abroad with a story about fleeing the Yakuza or being held captive by a sultan, David had played out in his mind a vivid scenario in which Alexis didn’t escape and one of them got a middle-of-the-night phone call with terrible news. He told himself that these morbid fantasies were his way of preparing for the worst. That allowing himself to imagine all of it — how he would behave, what his parents would do, what kind of details would need to be arranged — was a mental insurance policy against the thing actually happening.

None of that was true. It hadn’t prepared him in the slightest.

David emerged from his bedroom and wandered downstairs, keeping his eyes averted from the family portrait in the great hall. He found his father in the kitchen, staring out the window as his assistant, Mallory, sat implacably at the kitchen island and ticked items off of a checklist. He marveled that his father’s ever-capable assistant had come prepared with a checklist of funeral preparations.

“Do you want to go with me to select the casket?” Mallory asked gently.

Johnny stirred himself, looking over at her as if he was trying to parse her question. David suspected he hadn’t slept at all. “You can pick it. It doesn’t really matter what her casket looks like.”

“Mom might care what it looks like,” David said, his voice raspy.

“Your mother isn’t in any state to go casket shopping,” Johnny said.

David threw his hands up. “What, are you just letting her overdose on sleeping pills? Are we going to have two funerals this week?”

“No, I’m not letting her…” Johnny shouted, but quickly ran out of steam. “I don’t think she’ll be ready to leave the house today, that’s all.”

“I’ll go with you to pick out the casket,” David said to Mallory before he went back upstairs to check on his mother.

He expected to find her in bed but Moira was up, sitting at her dressing table and staring at herself in the mirror. David lurked in the doorway for a moment, unsure if he should go in. She had on no makeup, and she didn’t like people to see her with no makeup, even her son. His mother looked old, David thought for the first time in his life.

“Hi, Mom.”

Moira didn’t turn. “Oh, David. John said you were here.” Her voice was low and quiet, lacking its usual expressiveness.

David walked into the room and sat down on the chest at the foot of his parents’ bed. He’d sat here so many times as a child, watching his mother modeling a new piece of couture or trying out a new wig. In a relatively lonely childhood, those were among his fondest memories.

“We’ll need to pick something to dress her in,” Moira said. “I was thinking about that Stella McCartney gown that she wore last Christmas.”

David imagined Alexis’ dead body being bent and stretched like an oversized Barbie to get it into that dress, and suddenly he tasted bile in the back of his throat.

“Sure,” he said.

“I mean, is that what Alexis would have wanted, do you think?”

“Pretty sure what Alexis would have wanted is to not be dead,” David shot back, almost with the hope that it would get a negative reaction from his mother. Tears. Screaming. Something.

Moira didn’t even blink.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that. Alexis loved that dress; it’s a good choice.”

“I can’t remember the last time I told her I loved her. My own daughter,” Moira said, her voice finally breaking on the last word.

“I’m sure she knew,” he said, although he was sure of nothing of the sort. “We aren’t really a family who says that to each other.”

“And we should have taken better care of her. Not let her jet off to anywhere and everywhere like we did.”

“She was a grown woman; I’m not sure what you could have done to stop her.” For that matter, before she was a grown woman, when she was twelve and ended up in Hong Kong, for example, he wasn’t sure anyone could have ever stopped Alexis from going where she wanted to go when she wanted to go there.

Maybe if she’d been raised in a warm and loving home, and not in a place where the nursery was in a separate wing of the house, maybe then she’d have stayed home more. Maybe then she’d still be alive. Then he closed the door on those thoughts. There would be time later to blame his parents for this. Right now, he needed to be supportive.

“Mallory wants someone to go with her to pick the casket. Are you all right with me doing it?” he asked his mother.

Moira nodded. “I’m sure you’ll pick something tasteful.” She picked up a bottle of foundation and shook it, then set it back down, staring into space.

“I’ll check in on you when I get back, okay?” David said. Moira didn’t respond.

David wasn’t prepared for how heavy the grief would be, how it would weigh him down like a yoke on his shoulders, how stupid and yet somehow crucial all the things about planning the funeral would feel. How he would cry so hard sometimes that he made himself throw up, and other times he’d be so numb that he wasn’t sure he’d ever feel true feelings again. His parents were like strangers to him, like shells of their former selves ghosting around the house, and it made him want to smash things and scream and make them acknowledge that all of this was real. Make them take care of him, instead of the other way around.

The night before the funeral, David went to bed early, a part of him hoping he could just sleep through all of it. Sleep until the grief was a little bit lighter and easier to carry around. When his phone started to ring, it took all of his energy to pick it up and see who was calling.

Patrick.

“Hello?”

“David, it’s Patrick.” After a brief pause, he continued, “From—”

“I haven’t forgotten you,” David blurted out.

“Listen, I saw the news online. I’m so sorry about Alexis.”

Fresh tears filled David’s eyes, and he closed them. “Thanks.”

“I know I don’t have any right to… call you or whatever, but I wanted you to know that if there’s anything at all I can do…”

David wiped at one cheek. “I appreciate that. There’s nothing.”

“Is there a service? If you’d be willing, I’d like to come to the service. But only if—”

“You don’t have to do that.” Patrick was just a hookup, David told himself, there was no reason for him to offer to do something like come to his sister’s funeral.

“I know I don’t have to, but…” He sighed. “Listen, if me being there would only burden you, then I’ll stay away. But if you think it would help even the tiniest bit, then I’ll be on the next plane.”

David allowed himself to imagine it. Patrick; solid Patrick who could be relied on to make tea in a time of crisis, being here. Standing with him at the service. Holding his hand, maybe. Suddenly David wanted that fiercely.

“It would help,” he managed to choke out.

“Then I’m going to book a flight.”

“No, you must have work or something—”

“Let me worry about that. When and where is the service?” Patrick asked.

David gave him the information, and at the end of the recitation couldn’t help asking, “Are you sure?”

“I’m buying the plane ticket as we speak,” Patrick said. “I’ll basically need to leave for the airport in…” he paused, “three hours and drive through the night so that I can get the 6:30 a.m. flight out of Toronto, but I can do that.”

“Patrick… thank you.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, David.”

~*~

The church was surrounded by paparazzi, and Patrick was late, and there was a security guard manning the door. But when Patrick gave his name to the guard, he was allowed in and told to take a seat in the back. He shook his head, thinking there was something appropriate about the fact that Alexis Rose’s funeral had an exclusive guest list. Craning his neck, he could just make out David’s black hair at the front of the church.

A priest who even Patrick could tell had never met Alexis was speaking, expressing vague platitudes that probably came out of the manual on funerals for people who die tragically before their time. After that, some women stood up and sang a song that seemed inappropriate as a memorial to a dead person. An aunt got up and told a sepia-toned story about Alexis as a little girl. Then David stood up and approached the lectern. Patrick drank in the sight of him, looking pale and exhausted, clutching a journal against his chest. He hadn’t expected David to be delivering a eulogy. Perhaps his parents didn’t have the strength to do it, and it had fallen to David as the only other close family member.

David cleared his throat and opened his journal and began to speak. “When I first started planning what I was going to say today, I thought about how I would describe Alexis. That she always knew exactly who she was. That she was fearless. That she was unfailingly optimistic about everything. That she had an unquenchable lust for life. But I don’t know if any of that is true.

“The truth is that Alexis could be shallow and self-involved. She forgot to pay attention to the feelings of the people around her. She made bad decisions. She also could be child-like, and enthusiastic, and she knew how to cut right through my bullshit. She was a complicated person who I didn’t always like very much, but who I did… who I did love.

“The truth is also that Alexis was lonely. The truth is she had to grow up way too fast. The truth is that Alexis was always jetting all over the world because she was chasing something that I don’t think she ever found in life: actual joy.

“I had a dream last night that Alexis and I were sharing a tiny little bedroom. Which is pretty funny, because Alexis and I never shared a room in our lives. We would have despised sharing a room, because she was such a slob…” He seemed to choke up at this, and paused for a few seconds to collect himself before continuing. “But the thing is, in this dream she was happy in a way I never really saw her in life. She was content. I hope that wherever my sister is, she’s found that contentment.”

David walked away from the podium and retook his seat, and Patrick could feel the stunned hush of a crowd who hadn’t expected anyone to say anything like that. Nothing that raw and honest. The priest also seemed surprised as he stood up and welcomed the next speaker, one of Alexis’ friends who seemed more interested in visibly crying in front of a crowd than in saying anything meaningful about Alexis. Patrick understood why David had said his sister was lonely if this was what her friends were like.

When the service was over, Patrick went outside to sit on a bench and wait. He wasn’t sure what to do now — he wanted to go to David and be near him to provide any support he could, but he also recognized that as a selfish impulse. David had his parents to worry about, he didn’t need the guy he’d gone to bed with two months ago hanging around. Suddenly, the fact that Patrick had shelled out hundreds of dollars for a last-minute plane ticket and a rental car struck him as insanity.

“You came.”

Patrick looked up from the paving stones he’d been staring at to see David, sunlight haloing his hair. Standing up, Patrick tried to offer a supportive smile. “I said I would.”

David shrugged. “People don’t necessarily do what they say they’ll do.”

“I do.” Patrick couldn’t take his eyes off of David. After two months, seeing him felt like seeing a mirage.

“So, I have to go to the gravesite now for the burial, which is just family,” David said, indicating a waiting limousine.

“Oh. Right, of course.”

“But people will be coming to the house afterwards. Can you come there? I think I sent you the address before.”

Patrick nodded, relieved. “I’ll be there. David, I’m so, so sorry.”

The corner of David’s mouth turned down, and he shrugged one shoulder. “I’ll see you later.”

Uncertain what to do, Patrick got in his rental car and drove to a nearby McDonald’s. The past twelve hours of travel had screwed up the rhythms of mealtimes, and other than a bagel at the airport and a meager bag of pretzels, he hadn’t eaten anything all day. Sitting down with his tray, he stared at his unappetizing burger and wondered why he’d ordered it. He ate a fry, eyes trained on the acrylic tabletop.

When he figured that enough time had gone by, Patrick got back in the car and drove to David’s parents’ house. The gate was imposing enough (where again he had to give his name to be admitted), but the mansion that was revealed as he drove up the long driveway was even more so. He turned his car key over to a valet, wondering what it had been like, growing up in a place like this. Another piece of the David Rose puzzle slotted into place.

The house was filled with mourners, drinks and small plates of food in hand, talking in hushed tones. Patrick stood in the middle of it and stared up at the family portrait that dominated the great hall, trying to see the man he cared about in the haughty version of David Rose in the painting.

After some wandering, Patrick finally found David in the kitchen, giving instructions to the caterers.

“Hey.”

“Hi,” David said, his eyes still flitting around the room, his focus on oversight of the food.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“No. I’m glad you’re here.”

An older woman came into the kitchen and picked up one of the trays of finger sandwiches to carry back out to the guests.

“Adelina, you don’t work here anymore; you don’t have to do that.”

“I have to do something,” she said. “And you don’t get to tell me what to do, mijo.”

David rolled his eyes. “Fine. Just don’t stay on your feet too long, please.”

Adelina muttered something in Spanish and left the room with her tray.

“She practically raised us,” David explained. “Can we go somewhere and talk?”

“Of course,” Patrick replied, following David through a back door of the kitchen up some utility stairs to the upper floor of the house. David led them into a tastefully-decorated bedroom that was about half the size of the house Patrick had grown up in.

“Is this your childhood bedroom?” he asked.

“Yeah,” David said, sitting on the bed. “Listen, I’m sorry for the way I behaved when you left New York—”

“Please don’t worry about that now.” Patrick sat at David’s side. “I don’t want you to have to think about that now.”

“No, I was an asshole,” David said. “We hadn’t made any plans or promises, it’s not like you were—”

“Believe me, David, I wanted to stay.” Patrick laughed uncomfortably and looked down at his hands. “Two nights with you and I was…” He stopped, unable to admit the way he’d been feeling. The way he was still feeling. “I’ve thought about you a lot, the last two months.”

David cleared his throat. “I can’t help but notice you aren’t wearing your wedding ring.”

“I told Rachel everything the day I got back. We’re separated.”

“Oh. Well, that must be very hard.”

“It is, but it’s also…” Patrick clutched his hands together, worrying the webbing of skin between his thumb and forefinger. “I’ve also never felt more free. I came out to my parents and the world didn’t end. So even if I never saw you again, I would have been forever grateful to you for being the instrument of this change in my life. And then I saw what happened to Alexis, and I just… I had to call, even if you wanted nothing to do with me.”

David looked up at the ceiling like he was trying not to cry. “I’ve thought about you a lot these last two months, too,” he whispered, and then David was leaning in and his mouth was on Patrick’s, insistent and everything Patrick had been dreaming about.

Except David had just lost his sister, and as soon as Patrick gained some control of himself, he pulled away. “David, is now really the right—”

“I just need to… not think about being sad for a while, okay? Can I… can I just have a few minutes where I’m not thinking about what happened?”

Patrick put his hand on David’s cheek and nodded his head. “Of course. Of course you can have that.”

Their mouths met in a frantic press, teeth clacking together as they both tried to deepen the kiss. David’s hand was already unbuttoning the buttons of Patrick’s shirt, trembling, and Patrick did his best to shrug out of his suit jacket while their mouths were still fused together.

When he brought his hands up to resume caressing David’s face, Patrick’s fingers came away wet, and he broke the kiss again. “David—”

“It’s fine, I’m fine,” David said, but he clearly wasn’t. His hands were shaking and the tears were starting to flow more freely now, so Patrick pulled the other man into his arms. That made the dam break, and the sound of pure grief that tore from David’s throat in that moment shattered Patrick’s heart.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you. I’ve got you,” Patrick murmured, holding David as he sobbed into Patrick’s shoulder.

He wasn’t sure how long they stayed that way, David’s tears soaking into Patrick’s shirt as Patrick rocked him gently and murmured quiet words into David’s hair. He wasn’t even sure what he said. Patrick supposed this was why he had come, although he couldn’t have expected David would be willing to rely on him as a shoulder to cry on. And yet somehow Patrick felt like he had known he was needed here, even as all reason and logic had said that it was a mistake to come.

When David’s tears dried up, when he finally let go of his death grip around Patrick’s torso, Patrick reached out to run his thumbs under David’s eyes. “Do you need to go back to the people downstairs?”

David shook his head. “I’m not going back out there.”

“Do you want to try to get some sleep? Or do you want me to go get you some food?”

“Sleep,” David said. “If you’ll… stay?”

“Of course I will.”

~*~

Patrick woke up to the sound of water running in the bathroom, and then David emerged, walking over and getting back into bed.

“What time is it?” Patrick asked.

“1:15.”

Patrick rubbed his face, trying to orient himself in space and time. Between his complete lack of sleep the night before and falling asleep in the early evening with David, he felt hazy and disoriented. “Are you okay?” Patrick asked.

“Just a nightmare about Alexis. I’m getting used to them.”

Patrick reached out and touched David’s back, feeling the way sweat had soaked through his t-shirt. “It might feel better to change your shirt.”

He could just make out David nodding in the dim light before he got up and went over to a large armoire, pulling off his shirt. Patrick watched as David took everything off and put on a fresh shirt and underwear before coming back to bed.

“I keep seeing her drowning in my dreams,” David sighed, getting back under the covers. Patrick put an arm around him and David put his head down on Patrick’s chest, his arm draped across Patrick’s midsection and their legs tangling together. It was nice. It was scary, how nice it was. How well they seemed to fit together, like they’d been sharing a bed for ages.

“And I don’t know what to do now that the funeral is over,” David continued. “It was easier when I had a list of things to take care of. Now it just seems like an endless amount of time stretching out in front of me with nothing in it but grief.”

“Maybe focusing on your gallery will help?”

David shook his head, his hair brushing against Patrick’s nose. “I’m going to close the gallery.”

“Why?”

“Because according to my father’s business manager it’s hemorrhaging money, and the family can’t really afford to keep it open any more.”

“David, I’m sorry.” He tightened his grip on David’s shoulder. “Maybe I can help? I can look at the books?”

“That’s a very kind offer, but even I can understand that if I don’t sell any art, it doesn’t make financial sense to keep the gallery.”

“You don’t sell any art?”

“Not lately. And to be honest, since Alexis died I don’t know if I even care anymore. For that matter, I don’t care if I even stay in New York. Maybe I’ll sell the apartment too and make a fresh start somewhere else.”

Patrick pressed a kiss against the top of David’s head. “Okay, David, I don’t want to second guess you here, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to make these kinds of huge decisions when you’re grieving the loss of someone close to you.”

David’s breath hitched, and Patrick feared he might have triggered another crying jag, but when David spoke, his voice was even. “Okay, maybe I’ll hold off on selling the apartment. But… I need a change of scenery. I need to get away from everything that brings back memories of my sister, at least for a little while.”

“Come home with me,” Patrick said, and then his mouth dropped open with shock that those words had come out of his mouth.

David raised his head from Patrick’s shoulder and looked at him. “Come home with you?”

“No, I mean… if you’re looking for a change of scenery you could… I just got a new apartment and you’re welcome to stay with me for a few days if you need to.” He chuckled nervously, wishing David’s leg wasn’t pinning him down because he felt a sudden need to put some space between them. “There’s nowhere less like New York than my hometown.”

David moved his head around for a second before saying, “Okay.”

“You actually want to come stay at my place? Because I should probably warn you, the restaurants where I live leave a lot to be desired.”

Meeting his eyes, David said, “I wouldn’t be going with you for the night life.”

Patrick kissed him then, just a gentle peck on the lips, but it felt significant. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Chapter 10

Update:

Friends, I’m back real quick to update those of you who would like to know about my life and what’s happenings the last few months to last year. Just kidding I lied, it’s not gonna be quick, grab a pillow and a blanket and warm up some hot cocoa because it’s gonna be longgggg. What can I say? I like to talk (in this case, type).

I’ve officially left Alaska Airlines (well, terminated would be the correct terminology). It feels good to be free of something that I just couldn’t do anymore though. Wait what?! It feels good to be fired? No, not really but it feels good to be freed of something that wasn’t contributing to my happiness. So, for most, being a Flight Attendant and traveling the world is all good. It’s fantastic really. It’s super easy in all honesty and if any flight attendant tells you it’s hard work, they don’t know what actual hard work is. I used to literally do it in my sleep 😂. Plus the pay was pretty nice. I did have a fun time meeting all sorts of new people as well. My classmates of course and Class #2 because that’s all I ever got assigned to fly with 😂, kidding aside.

I haven’t worked since January. So when you don’t go to work for 4 months, this kind of thing happens. I’ll get to that later on, but first some background. I’ve suffered from depression and social anxiety for as long as I can remember. When I first came to Portland I was doing pretty well thanks to therapy. Joining the Ultimate frisbee club was the best part about it. Met a lot of amazing people. But then I met my ex, and let’s just say, in hindsight, she was the craziest, nastiest, most anxious, bitch I’ve ever met. She dragged me down to her level through all sorts of means. She planted the seeds of doubt, worthlessness, ugliness, and all sorts of negative feelings in my head. Now, my depression was already telling me that. So now to have it validated with another person saying it? And somebody who I thought I loved, saying those things? Too much. But after she left, I just buried it. Ignored it and just existed. Wasn’t really living. Wasn’t really super happy. Was just there. Went to work, did my thing and that’s it. I was able to be a Flight Attendant, a Customer Service Agent, and a Student Building Supervisor despite these thoughts. I didn’t let them show. I hated myself but couldn’t bear the thought of anyone else knowing that I felt this way. So I just smiled. And did what came naturally and that was to be kind and nice to everyone even though I was always in such emotional pain.

So, after not dealing with my personal problems for 3 years, part of my motivation to get out of Portland and to stop being a CSA was to address this deep underlying problem I had. I thought being a FA would solve all my issues. I was super excited. Training was amazing. My classmates who are now my friends and many if not all an extension of my family made it amazing. I felt wanted, needed, etc. I enjoyed having that foundation of stability. Then Training ends and life hits fast. I’m working as a reserve FA. Being a reserve under the Virgin Work Rules blew. Awful. Not recommended. But it wasn’t bad enough to make me want to quit or anything like that. Just really exasperating. But one thing I didn’t account for with reserve life and commuting was how much I was going to be alone. When I was in my crashpad, most of the time, by myself. When I was commuting back and forth, by myself. On layovers in the hotel room, by myself. Even when I was back home, all my friends and family worked so I was by myself. And then if the other FAs I were working with weren’t social, even during a flight I felt like I was all by myself. This isn’t inherently a bad thing on its own. It’s just a bad thing for me with the way I was. It allowed too much time to be alone with my thoughts. And the part of me that well, hated me. It grew and grew thanks to experiences and interactions I had throughout the beginning of my reserve life.

In July, I had what was the worst panic attack of my life on a layover in Seattle. I mean it was so bad I had to write it down in my phone because my brain was rushing so hard I couldn’t think straight. But basically, I wanted to die. I wanted to run away from the painful thoughts and get away forever. I contemplated breaking the windows and jumping out of the hotel. I wanted to cry but couldn’t. I was infuriated. I was stressed. I couldn’t breathe. I was sweating and then getting chills. It was bizarre. It was essentially this tipping point for my thoughts and emotions to finally align. And it all came crashing down with this realization that I was THE WORST. That I was annoying. Nobody liked me. Everybody hated me. All of it bombarded me at once after just ignoring it for so long. So, from that point on, I had no joy in my life anymore, or at least I couldn’t see it. Work was now meaningless. Making someone’s day was now meaningless. Making friends was meaningless. Keeping up with friends was meaningless. Life itself seemed meaningless because I was viewed myself as meaningless.

And so, from July-October I was bombarded by these same thoughts and feelings every day and almost every waking minute. When I sat on the Jumpseat, all I could think about was opening the doors during take off and landing (humans can’t open the exits during cruise due to pressure). All I wanted to do was get sucked out and die. But I didn’t want to hurt anyone else. Only I deserved death. Every time I got behind the wheel of a car, I could only think about speeding up as fast as I could and colliding head first with a pole or tree so I would die without hurting others. I thought about jumping out of my hotel room on every single overnight layover. I couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t motivated to do anything.

I found a therapist in October who made me promise her I wouldn’t kill myself while I was in her care. That accountability helped a little. But come November, I got stuck in Newark and ended up getting home a day late and missed an appointment. This missed meeting was like the end of the world to me. My brain convinced me that I fucked up. And I couldn’t go back, I messed up by missing an appointment. So from November - January I just worked. But after not improving my mental health in anyway, despite having January off for vacation, I decided to go back. I wanted to kill my self again and so I knew I needed help. The thing is, I had hit rock bottom and was ready to dig beyond that. So I knew I had to get help quickly because it was going to be sooner rather than later for when I took my life. At the same time, I physically and mentally couldn’t even bring myself to get to work anymore. I would get to the employee lot in Kona, and just start panicking. I couldn’t get out of the car. I would just dread going back to work, because my brain had switched and caused me to believe I was truly worthless and nobody would like or accept me anymore.

So after my attendance supervisor reached out, I plainly told her the truth. She was supportive. Of course my absence extended into April and so now her boss, the head of Inflight Performance in Seattle reached out to me. She too was actually really supportive. I was pretty stunned at how supportive Alaska Inflight was. But, I had to apply for FMLA if i didn’t want my absence accrual to impact my job status. So I did. Now applying for leave retroactively is always a little bit more of a pain than planning it ahead. But I got in touch with Matrix (the service Alaska uses) and we started working on it. I did all of my paperwork and what not. Unfortunately, the week my Therapist’s authorization paperwork was due, she had a family emergency and was unable to complete it on time. Matrix denied my claim and Alaska went off of my points and terminated me (I will admit I was not always the easiest to get in contact with). So, a little under a week later I found out I was terminated when the Union contacted me and said they would like to file a Grievance on my behalf. I was like, “cool, I didn’t even know I got fired.” 😂

But getting terminated doesn’t feel that bad to me, because I chose not to go back to work, in order to work on my mental health. I had to work on my brain. It had turned on me. Our inherent biological tendency should be to do whatever we can to survive and live and yet my brain was literally trying to convince me to kill my self every single day, every single minute. If I hadn’t taken this time off, I wouldn’t be making this message right now. I would be dead. Quite literally dead in the ground. No joke. I was very confident I was gonna die by the end of February. So losing a job at the cost of saving my life? I’ve already taken sides in that battle. I guess what doesn’t kill me right? I appreciate my privilege in being able to step away from work, having a family that supports me, and even working for Alaska and providing me with the benefits I needed to get better.

Anyhow, my experience is super atypical. Most people dream of becoming a flight attendant. And don’t get me wrong, I could totally do it now. I’m in a healthy enough space to do it. I just don’t want to. I don’t gain satisfaction in my life from ‘making someone’s day’, I want to help others on a deeper level. I want to feel like I’m making a difference in my community or in someone’s life. Customer service is not my calling, although I’m really good at it, it doesn’t make me happy. It’s totally fine it it’s what others like to do, it just took me 4 years to say, enough was enough. So it’s time to switch things up and pursue the values in my life I have rediscovered and chosen to go after. I appreciate everyone in my life and for those who have reached out to me while I’ve been gone, I truly appreciate your friendship with me because it took me a really long to figure out that I’m a pretty cool person and maybe, just maybe, people like me for being me 😎

Second Part of Modern AU where Lan WangJi collects all his queer brothers to help him run a daycare. I’m thinking of calling it “Handsome Brothers Daycare”, not sure, if you have opinions on it let me know. 

If you haven’t read Part 1 you can read it here!

Part 2

Lan WangJi’s Uncle, Lan QiRen had installed in him two things when raising him. Punctuality was one of them, be it a sleep schedule or arriving on time to meetings. The other was a strict moral sense of business ethics. Both he quickly learned meant nothing to his fellow associates in the business world if it didn’t make them a buck, and even less if it costed them one.

He’d tried to put up with it, to let the underhandedness and corner cutting roll over him like his elder brother and uncle were able to do. To be as fair as he could where he could. But when it came to letting the Wen Co. get away with whatever they wanted, he’d had enough.

His uncle had raged when Lan WangJi had informed him of his plan to sell his shares, to leave. He even did the most disrespectful thing he’d ever done to his uncle in his life and tune out his angry rant about failing his family. Instead he turned to his brother Lan XiChen.

No matter what was happening at the time the Eldest Lan son was always calm, understanding and kind. Currently his thin shapely brows were knit with concern as he returned his younger brother’s gaze. Lan XiChen had known for some time his little brother was unhappy, things had not been what he had been raised to believe.

That had been partly the fault of those in charge of raising him and partly his own deep sense of righteousness. Lan WangJi was intelligent and driven, the family and company expected great things from him. He’d been willing to meet those expectations, but not if it meant standing on the backs for those already broken.

Knowing this XiChen softly smile at WangJi. “What do you plan to do when you leave?”

Lan WangJi’s heart which had been quivering with worry that his brother wouldn’t support him, calmed at those words. “I have not decided yet. I just know I would rather help those who need it then those who do not.”

Lan XiChen clapped a calming hand on their uncle’s shoulder who had finally run out of words and been quietly fuming. “When you decide, let this brother know so he can support you.” Then gently lead their uncle out.

***

A few weeks later after selling his shares Lan WangJi was out for a run in the lower part of the city. Between running past crowed, ill kept apartment buildings, an open stall market, and factories, he thought about what he wanted to do.

He still hadn’t made a decision, or more for once in his life he had no real clue how to move forward from here. Lan WangJi was a builder, a problem solver. If you wanted a riverside restaurant he would have it all figured out down to the best spot on the river, to who the best people to have build the foundation and how best to waterproof it so it didn’t flood in the spring. But this time the end goal was too ambiguous to set any real plans in motion. He need something more concrete then just “help those less fortunate” and something more productive then just tossing money at charity events. Which, while still important, more often felt like they existed for the alleviation of guilt for those of his ilk still with a beating heart, then to make any real genuine change.

Lan WangJi paused at a corner just before a park with a crooked swing set to catch his breath. Everything around him was run down and falling apart. The businessman part of his brain started picking apart the area into what could be renovated, what should be torn down and rebuilt, best location for high end condos, shopping malls etc etc. Until it was derailed remembering that doing so would displace everyone living there. Building or renovating here would increase the property value, increasing the rent on every run down store and apartment. Those already struggling to live would have to leave.

With a sigh he started to turn around to start heading back to his condo in the heights, when a mother and her small daughter walk passed him. The woman was clearly exhausted, the little girl probably 4, was upset.

“I DON’T WANTA GO TO AUNTIES! SHE NEVER TAKES ME TO THE PARK! YOU PROMISED!”

“I know, I know,” noticing his stare the woman dipped her head in an embarrassed apology, “Mommy got called into work though and no one else can watch you. I’ll take you another day.” Under her breath Lan WangJi just heard her lament about the closing of a daycare a few years past.

Instead of placating the girl it just made her start to cry. She stared forlornly at the park as they crossed the street. Then excitedly exclaim “Look Mommy! It’s that silly man again!”

Sure enough when Lan WangJi looked there was indeed a man. He was performing before a crowd of small children with what looked like a gymnasts ribbon. As he watched the man began to pull objects from his wide sleeves.

The first was a bright red ball, slightly larger then a softball, which he rolled up his arm to his shoulder. He rolled it back an forth across them while weaving the white ribbon in mesmerizing patterns in the air. Next he pulled forth a plate and a thin straight stick. One handed he managed to balance the plate on the stick and set it spinning.

He continued like this for a long while walking about the children, the ribbon dancing, the ball rolling, the plate spinning. The children were obviously very pleased with this. Then for an agonizing second it looked like the man had tripped and was to say good morning to the ground. As a collective the children gasped but the man shifted his weight to one leg, lifting the other behind him, while the red ball rolled down his back to his pointed toe where came to rest perfectly balanced.

The man’s face broken into a happy grin as the children all excitedly clapped. Then very slowly he brought the stick with the spinning plate to his upturned face and began to place the end of the stick on the tip of his nose. The kids and Lan WangJi held their breath in anticipation. Cautiously the man removed his hand finger by finger as the plate continued to spin, balanced atop the stick on his nose. With his hand now free he reach back into the sleeve of the ribbon hand and pulled out three brightly colored balls which he then began to juggle. The children cheered!

Lan WangJi had to admit that it was impressive if not some what comical. He was vaguely reminded of seeing a seal do something similar at a circus his mother had brought him and his brother to when they were still quite young.

He thought the man done but as he continued to watch he lightly tossed the ball from his foot to the spinning plate. The plate wobbled dangerously then righted itself, continuing to spin with the new addition. With the foot free the man was able to stand up straight again. Then one by one he tossed one of the brightly colored balls to join the red one on the plate. With all the balls on the plate he swiftly reeled in the white ribbon that had not stopped its dancing till now and was stored away into a sleeve.

Then with the slow caution from earlier when he’d placed the stick on his nose he removed it. With a slight flick he sent it spinning fast to where the balls became colored blurs. Then he flipped the plate. The balls shot high into the air. With a slight bow the man caught the plate on his head before opening a wide sleeve to catch each ball on its return journey. Then tipping the plate like one would tip their hat to another in greeting he gave a stage bowed to the ecstatic children.

The kids went wilded and swarmed the smiling man’s legs nearly knocking him over, tugging at his sleeves, asking if he’d teach them. The man chuckled and patted their heads asking them to calm down and he would.

From the corner of Lan WangJi’s eye he noticed a man detach himself from the shadows of the near by playground equipment. Keeping behind the smiling man surrounded by children he cautiously approached a young boy standing a slight distance back from everyone. The man did not seem to notice that Lan WangJi was also present as he grabbed at the small boy. Having ascertained what the man intentions were most likely, Lan WangJi had began to jog across the street pulling his phone from his pocket to call emergency services if need be.

As the strange man hand clamped down on the boy’s arm, the boy tried to turn to see who was grabbing at him. The man then clamped his other hand about the front of the boy’s face muffling any noise he might make as the man began to pick him up. Lan WangJi was only a few feet away when a white ribbon suddenly wrapped itself around the man’s neck.

The smiling man had turned around, he still smiled but it had a sharp edge to it as he gripped his gymnast ribbon. The other children having picked up on the sudden tension all tried to hide behind the man.

“Excuse me Uncle, do you know this boy?”  The smiling man asked lightly. The other man had let go of the boys face to claw at the ribbon about his neck. Mouth freed the boy began to cry.

“Let go!” The man snarled.

“If you don’t know the boy I suggest you let him go as his parents would surely miss him.”

At this point Lan WangJi had crossed the last few feet to the man. He was almost a good head teller then the kidnapper. So when Lan WangJi grab the back of the man’s jacket he had to look up to see who else was interfering with him. The kidnapper’s face which had been a deep red now paled when he got a look at Lan WangJi’s stone cold face.

Lan WangJi face has always been intimidating, even when he didn’t want it to be. But it came in handy when dealing with stupid people in boardroom meetings and situations like this.

“Let go.” Lan WangJi rumbled.

Trembling the man released the boy who scampered away to the smiling man, hugging his legs. Relieved the man gently patted the boy’s head, telling him that he was safe and that he’d been very brave and not to worry. He then gently untangled the boy from his legs and passed him to one of the older children. Freed, the man walked over to Lan WangJi and the kidnapper keeping the ribbon taunt.

“Younger brother” he addressed Lan WangJi, “would you mind contacting the authority while this older brother makes sure this uncle doesn’t get away?” Digging into a sleeve he produced a thin but strong looking rope which he then used to bind the kidnapper’s hands.

Lan WangJi found it strange that someone so young looking would call him younger brother, but nodded as he dialed the police, still keeping a good grip on the back of the Kidnapper’s jacket. It took them a good twenty minutes to send someone. In the time the man only attempted to escape once. Lan WangJi easily caught him again. The smiling man just pulled out another thin rope from the depths of his sleeve to bind the man’s legs.

When the police finally showed up they took statements from both Lan WangJi and the smiling man whose name turned out to be Xie Lian. The name Xie seem familiar to Lan WangJi but he was unsure why. They then interviewed the oldest of the children and were able to acquired the contact information for the parents of the boy who had almost been kidnapped. His parents it turned out were both working and had left him in the care of his older brother for the day. The brother in question had not wanted to watch his little brother. So he had left his little brother at the park with the other kids, saying he’d be back later to get him before heading off to his friend’s house.

The mother showed up first awhile later in tears. She cried even harder when she caught sight of her little boy. Snatching him up and kissing his face. She thanked the police who then pointed to the two handsome big brothers who’d done all the work. She grateful thanked them for saving her son, she even offered to cooked them dinner as thanks. Both men hastily reassured her that was not necessary, that they were just happy the boy was safe.

Drying her tears she asked the police if it was alright if she took her son home now. Her husband would be stuck at work for quite some time and she’d rather wait for him there. The police said it was alright and that they would contact them in the next couple of days about how they would like to proceed with the investigation. Bowing she began to leave then caught sight of her other son returning to pick up his brother. He was shocked still from the scene in front of him.

“Mom?! What happened! Why are there police! Why are you not at work? What’s going on? Were you crying!?”

Angry tears in her eyes, the mother grab her eldest by the ear and began dragging him home. Her curses of “Stupid boy!” punctuated her berating of him for leaving his baby brother to be kidnapped and how he was never to leave the house again until the day he died.

Xie Lian chuckle sadly next to Lan WangJi. “Hopefully the boys don’t come to resent each other to much.” he said quietly to himself. Lan WangJi “mmh” quietly in agreement looking down at the other man. Up close Xie Lian turned out to be quite short. “Also thanks for coming to help younger brother. Having two people made things much easier to handle then if it had just been me.”

Curious, Lan Wangji asked “How am I the younger one?”

“Ahah, I assumed you must be at least in your late 20s?” Xie Lian said bashfully rubbing at the back of his neck.

The taller man nodded. “I turned 27 just before the new year.”

“Mmh,” Xie Lian hummed, “ I turned 35 in the spring.”

Shocked Lan WangJi froze. The man barely looked twenty. How was he 35?!

“Ahahaha,” the other man laughed awkwardly, “everyone always reacts the same.” Then seeing the other children wandering about the park he asked “Will you help this silly brother make sure the other kids get home safe?”

Lan WangJi nodded.

It was late afternoon when they had finished making sure all the children were somewhere safe, if not at home with parents, then with people they knew. They then found themselves back at the park where everything began. Xie Lian looked sadly about at the crooked swing set and rusty play equipment.

“It’ll probably be best if I don’t come back here.” Xie Lian said quietly.

“Why is that?”

“Hmm, the children were here because I was here.”

“Would not the children come here anyway? Blaming yourself does not make what happened unhappen. At least you were here to stop it.”

Xie Lian shock his head. “The children in this neighborhood know it’s unsafe to be here alone. I had been here several time before while the most of the kids had been here to playing with their parents. So they knew me, which is why they’d come out to watch.”

He sighed rubbing at his neck, which Lan WangJi just notice there were faint crosshatching scar lines peeking above the collar of his buttoned down dress shirt. Xie Lian then walked over to a bush and began to rummage about in it until he pulled out an old knapsack that was so patched up you could not tell what was a patch and what was the original bag. Taking a closer look at this older brother Lan WangJi notice that while he was dressed in nice looking clothes they were practically threadbare; fraying at the edges, the seams re-sewn with thread not quite the right color.

“ . . . had still been there, maybe it would still be safe.”

“What?” Lan WangJi realized that Brother Xie had said something, but had been too distracted by the sad state of him to catch all of it.

“Oh, I had just been saying that maybe if the daycare across the way had still been open maybe it would still be safe for the children to play here.” He gestured to somewhere behind Lan WangJi.

Turning he saw a wide two story building. The sign on the front had been mostly defaced but by the few characters still left he was able to make out that it had once said Garden Daycare. The front of the building should have been all windows but was now boarded up with large sheets of plywood. The wall below the window had at one time been painted as a cheery garden scene with flowers, butterflies and cartoonish bunnies. Now it was grimy and covered in graffiti. From this angle Lan WangJi was just able to see a fenced in backyard.

The wheels in the businessman side of his brain started turning. If he was careful about how he renovated it hopefully wouldn’t effect the property value of the neighboring buildings too much. Though first he’d have to make sure it was still structurally sound. He’d rather not have to tear it down and rebuild. With the money from selling his shares he should have more then enough to be able to buy it out right. The second floor looked like it was meant to be an apartment. It would probably be a good idea to sell his condo since he would be spending most of his time in this area. No point in keeping something he had no use for. The money from selling it could go towards updating whatever equipment was inside. He would just have to make sure it wasn’t anything too fancy. As the plan came together in his mind, he thought, maybe, just maybe he could do something to help here.

“Welp, I think this is goodbye then Brother Lan.” Xie Lian’s voice cut through Lan WangJi’s thoughts. With a start he turned to the other man. He had a soft smile as he held out a hand for a goodbye handshake. Lan WangJi instead gently gripped his wrist.

“Elder Brother Xie.” The smaller man blinked at being addressed so. Lan WangJi’s heart was quivering again just like when he’d waited to see if his brother XiChen would reject his plans to leave weeks earlier. “Would you help me run a daycare?”

Notes:

I don’t have a solid outline yet, mostly cause I haven’t finished reading all three novels since I’m reading the english translations, which aren’t complete. So a lot of my characterization and backstory is based off what I’ve read so far, but I’m also thinking about how these characters might fit into a more modern world. If it comes off as OOC I apologize.  

English notes for class 12 Sindh Board Chapter 6

English notes for class 12 Sindh Board Chapter 6 (The World As I See It) Second Year Karachi and Sindh board Question Answers English 12th class Notes, Composition, Exercise, Summary, Mcqs, Online Test, Guess Papers, and Past Papers. English notes for class 12 Sindh Board Chapter 6 (The World As I See It) What is his belief concerning the immortality of the soul?With respect to the concept of the immortality of the soul, the great scientist and mathematician of our time firmly believe in the existence of God. He says that the experience of mystery is the base of true art, true science and true religion. He further illuminates the idea that whatever progress science has made so far is just due to the curious nature of mankind to unleash the secret and mysteries of the world. For Einstein, the true religious attitude is the knowledge of something that is beyond our understanding. Although he owns Jewish beliefs and attitudes, he truly believes in the mystery of the eternity of life.What does he appear to regard as the most precious element in human experience?According to the viewpoint of Einstein, the most precious element in human experience is the curious and inquisitive nature of mankind. Human beings must be crowned for making extensive discoveries and explorations in order to know this world well. It is this basic emotion that motivates and assists man to know the facts about the unknown world to them. This thirst of knowledge has given vigor to humans to go and explore far off planets and moon too. He further says that without the existence of this basic emotion man is as good as dead and it is just equivalent to a snuffed-out candle.What forces does he blame for the persistence of war?The forces which are blamed by Einstein for the persistence of war depends on the sound sense of the nations not been systematically corrupted by commercial and political interest acting through the schools and the Press.What is his attitude to war?Albert Einstein is that person who opposes war at length. He considers war a mean, contemptible thing. He is always against the concept of war and condemns it to such an extent that he gives preference to the act of chopping his whole body into pieces rather than taking part in the war and being a witness of blood, destruction, tears, and fears of the masses all around.What example does he give of service by the State to the individual?Being a democratic personality, Einstein always supports democratic system in the society. He gives an excellent example of service by the State to the individual that let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized. He further put emphasis on the system of United States of America that it is a system that is providing security and provisions to each and every citizen of its land. He is in the favor of such a government where extensive works have been done for providing complete security to the people along with the true sense of relief to the individuals in case of any emergency, misfortune or need.On what grounds does Einstein put the individual before the State?Einstein gives more weightage to the power of individuals as compared to the State. He believes it is the strength and vigor of the creative, genius minds of the individuals that alone has the ability to build noble nationals and thus inspirational nations. On the other hand, he is of the opinion that the herd as such remains dull both in thought feeling. No one can ever expect any great success and genuine creations from them.What, in brief, is Einstein's attitude to leadership?Einstein is a staunch supporter of political freedom to each and every individual of the society. He is of the opinion that everyone should be free enough to select their leaders according to their own will and choice. He himself is a Democrat and thus democracy in every field of life including leadership. According to him, leadership should not be imposed on the masses because force only attracts people having low mentality and morality as well.What are the insecure foundations referred to at the end of the last sentence of the fourth paragraph?Mutual understanding and sympathy are the insecure foundations referred to at the end of the last sentence of the fourth paragraph by Einstein. He is of the opinion that a person who is largely independent of the opinions, habits, and judgments of his fellows and avoids the temptation to take his stand on such insecure foundations. This is because he believes that such a person might lose something on his way of hospitability and cheerfulness.What is his attitude to properly, outward success and luxury?Albert Einstein shows extreme hatred towards the materialistic commodities of modern life including property, outward success, and luxury. In his point of view, these all things have nothing to do with the inner satisfaction and real happiness of mankind. His ideals of living a comfortable, successful life depend on Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. These things are of worth and value in the eyes of the great mathematician. He always has a sense of disgrace to property, outward success, and luxury. Rather than he is of the opinion that plain living is a true source for the recreation of body and freshness of mind.What leads Einstein to feel a strong sense of duty towards his fellow-men?Einstein feels a strong sense of duty towards his fellow-men as he believes that his inner and outer life depends on the labor and hard work of other men that’s why he wants to serve them in the same equivalent way as they have served him. Furthermore, he mentions that we all depend on others for our survival or well-being and thus it is our duty and responsibility to give respect to one other.

Composition

Write an essay of between 350 and 400 words on one of the following subjects.

- A Muslim's reactions to Einstein's statements of his personal beliefs. - 'Plain living is good for everybody, mentally and physically'. - The personality of Einstein as revealed in The World as I see It. A Muslim's Reactions to Einstein's Statements of his Personal Beliefs Every one of us is free to hold opinions and beliefs about different people, events, happenings, religions, culture etc. Sometimes others react to our opinions and beliefs either pessimistically or optimistically. The statements that were put forward by Einstein in his book “The world as I see it” regarding his personal beliefs are vital in generating reactions from both the Muslim and Western worlds. Although Einstein belonged to a Jewish family and owe Jewish beliefs and attitudes but still his beliefs are more in accordance with the Islamic teachings and principles. Due to this, the Muslim community reacts positively towards Einstein’s statements of personal beliefs.  The first and the foremost personal belief of Einstein with respect to social justice and responsibility are in complete accordance to Islamic principle of equality, brotherhood (Masawa’at) and justice. Next, he believed in the ever-green system of man dependency on another man for better social survival. According to him, no one can survive alone and every individual has to give something good or bad to any other individual.  He was against the concept of war as it is also forbidden in Islam. It showed his extreme contempt towards a war that’s why he said that he would prefer to be chopped off rather than being a part of any kind of war. At one point in his book, he reflected his belief with respect to worldly success and materialistic approach of people towards that by saying “The ordinary objects of human endeavor – property, outward success, luxury – have always seemed to me contemptible.” Again this belief of Einstein is appreciated by Muslims as this concept is truly given by Islam so to lead a simple life without the lust for power, money or luxury. Democracy was advocated by Einstein being a true democratic scientist of the twentieth century. He believed that every individual should have the right of freedom and that it must be given by the state and enjoyed by the citizens in all forms. It’s the same attitude that was promoted by the Prophet of Arabia (P.B.U.H) some 1, 400 years before. In a nutshell, it must be concluded that even having strong Jewish beliefs at one time in his life, Einstein holds a firm belief in the teachings of Islam which are reflected in the statements given by Einstein in his book.  'Plain Living is Good for Everybody, Mentally and Physically'. The lifestyle of a person not only depends on his financial status but sometimes rests on his religious beliefs and family background. Plain living doesn’t mean a living without comfort or ease. It simply means a life without mental stress and physical complaint. The plainer a life is lead, the less we have to be answerable in front of Allah at the Day of Judgment for the misuse of nature’s blessings and worldly things.  Being a Muslim, the best example of a plain living is of Hazrat Mohammad (P.B.U.H). He led his life in a very simple way without any comfort or even sufficient necessities of life. Although he belongs to one of the influential families of Arab still He (P.B.U.H) had no big palace, no bed, not much food, and no luxuries of life. Still, he performed his duties and responsibilities not only well but beyond expectations of a layman. If an individual is having a plain living, it means he is free from any lust or greed for worldly things. This means that he is safe from the germs of jealousy and avarice and this attitude of him would surely help in being safe from the punishment by Allah in the life hereafter, when a person has a materialistic approach to life then he has a desire to get money and grab all the luxuries of life by hook or crook. In order to satisfy this hunger, sometimes people get themselves involved in such activities that are illegal and a sort of crime like theft, robbery, bribery. Coming towards the advantages of plain living for physical strength, it means that you have to spend less on the food you eat. According to the teachings of Islam and our Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) the less you eat, the more you can enjoy good health. Definitely, if you are living a plain life then you are not an easy catch for various diseases of the present times to attack that is the outcome of excessive eating like obesity, stress, diabetes, cholesterol etc. If you are healthy, it means you are mentally sound and physically strong to cope up with all the hardships and stresses of life. In a nutshell, it can be concluded that plain living is an asset of life. The one who understands and adopts it gets the benefits here and in the life hereafter as well.                  3. The Personality of Einstein as Revealed in The World as I see it. Albert Einstein, a great personality of the twentieth century stands out in the world of science and mathematics as a physicist, scientist, and mathematician. He wrote a book that was published in 1949 with the title of “The World as I see it.” It is a composition of articles, addresses, letters, interviews, and pronouncements. This book is a great asset in understanding the hidden personality traits of Albert Einstein. It throws extensive light on the opinions of the great physicist about the meaning of life, ethics, science, society, religion, and politics. The first and the foremost trait that is the true reflection of Einstein is the value given by him to mankind. He believes that each and every individual is dependent on one another and is linked through an unseen thread of humanity. He was of the opinion that freedom is the right of each and every individual of the society. He had a desire to see a nation where freedom, provisions, health, and education should be available for all without any discrimination. Albert Einstein was a man who openly rejected and degraded the ideals of possessions, outward success and luxury. This represents his personality as of a man who always had a desire to live a plain, simple kind of life without any comforts, luxury or materialistic desires to run after. He entitled himself as a ‘lone traveler’ meaning by that he loves solitude and never tied himself with the strong bonds of family, home, country, friends or community. Einstein was a true supporter of social justice and social responsibility. He was totally against the concept or need of war. This shows him a ‘peace-lover’ individual. He considered war ‘a mean and contemptible thing.’ The seeds of democracy were there in the blood and soul of Albert Einstein. He was of the opinion that every individual of a community must be respected and honored equally without any kind of prejudice. This quality of him presented Einstein as a true advocate of equality of mankind. Although he was a Jew owing Jewish religious beliefs but he still strongly believed in the concept of ‘eternity of life’. That’s not all; his personality can truly be judged by focusing on just the use of three beautiful words uttered by Einstein i.e. Truth, Beauty, and Kindness. These words represented Einstein as a person of calm nerves, gentle nature, exquisite sense of beauty and optimism. Summarize the following passage in not more than 75 words: There is a public library in every town in Great Britain. There are branch libraries in most villages. Anyone may become a member and it costs nothing to borrow books. Three books may be borrowed at a time, but only two may be novels. If there are four persons in the family, they can, between them, take home twelve books. These books can be kept for a fortnight, so there is no difficulty in providing the family with all the reading that is needed. If, at the end of the fortnight, you have not finished reading a hook you may renew it for another fortnight. If the book you want is out, you may ask for it to be kept for you. and if you pay the cost of a postcard, the librarian will let you know when the book has been returned and is ready for you. Most public libraries also have a reading room and a reference library. In the reading room, there are tables and desks at which you can sit and read the daily papers and all the other important periodicals (the weeklies, monthlies and quarterlies). In the reference library there are encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases and numerous other books. These may not be taken away. Answer: Both towns and villages of Great Britain have public libraries. One can borrow three books at a time without any membership cost. A family of four persons can get twelve books for a fortnight. If any of the books is not finished till fortnight, it can be renewed. If the book is not available, you can ask someone there to keep it for you. Reading room and reference library are available at most public libraries.  Translate the following sentences into Urdu or Sindhi: - The college has extensive playing fields. - We were sorry to leave Lahore because we had many friends there. - When will you have lunch? - I think the children ought to have a sleep this afternoon. - I was having a cup of lea when he knocked on the door. - Have you had any letters by this morning's post? - He had a pain in his back. - We have just had a great disappointment. - The librarian is going to have all these book-cases replaced. - The students had an essay to write. - I shall have to get up early tomorrow morning. - Did you have to take a taxi when you came here? - He has had to buy a new set of tyres for his car. - He would like to have a job in the same office as his brother. - I had no chance to meet him when he made his brief visit to our college. - Will you have time to pay us a visit next week? - What reasons have you for distrusting him? - He had a peculiar feeling that he was being watched. - These mountain people have great powers of endurance. - He was so ill that he scarcely had enough strength to walk across the room.

List of Notes for Sindh and Karachi all boards - Sindh & Karachi Class 9th Notes 2021 Chapter 1 to Chapter 8 - Sindh & Karachi Class 10th Notes 2021 Chapter 1 to Chapter 18 - Sindh & Karachi Class 11th Notes 2021 Chapter 1 to 14 - Sindh & Karachi Class 9th Notes 2021 Chapter 1 to Chapter 10 Read the full article

December 22, 2020: 3:37 pm:

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Thunderbird’s Episode 6: Day of Disaster

============================================

This one is an extension of the previous plan devised to take over the Capitol Records Building from previous episode “Edge of Impact” explained here on this account yesterday.

The plan is portrayed at the beginning and throughout with coded ideas about use of a restroom, some coffee, a swallowed microphone transmitter, some water, some blockage, things that float, could make a mess, might get some on your hands... all presented with a rocket that breaks a bridge and a rescue effort, which in the real world, these small details in code were used as a means to take over Hollywood, at Capitol Records.

The plan includes that there is diversion/distraction, presented by Penelope and Parker blowing up a abandon research center, in reality could have been a traffic jam accident on the 405 Freeway, and/or other such places where Los Angeles area emergency and police (many of them were operatives at the time) would be busy nearby the Capitol Records Building at the time of the attack there. Those places where the distraction emergencies were done, then, became a sort of mobile command and resource center for use by those who actually went into the Capital Records Building. Terror operative police and equipment all would have been nearby, for use as nitrous gas fogging of the area, and for use as backup for the actual attack party, and for use as clean-up/OxCart services for hauling victims away.

The attack seems to consist of focus on top-floor executives, who were poisoned with something that will cause them to need to use a restroom fast. That was done by Brains, who is portraying a salesman who is at Capitol Records to sell some high tech recording equipment to them at Capitol, and has some new products from the manufacturer he works for, is the plan.

Brains, the salesman, has to only be there, sound as if he knows what he talking about, make some timing happen by putting some poison into the coffee of the executives, while selling whiz-bang tech, the result is another whiz-bang in the restroom. That’s all he needs to do.

The poison thins out the people at the top floor, they get spread out into various restrooms all suffering from a belly ache, as Brains is dealing with the purchasing agent at Capitol Records, and has the attention from the top executives because the tech he says he has is awesome tech. That is the timing component he needs to do. Once the executives are isolated, they can be taken by special operatives from the emergency staged nearby on the Freeway. Meanwhile, there is some hint of the introduction of some women to come to to Capitol Records Building to do nitrous gas fogging while also serving as powerful distractive measures at the attack zone.

The goal is the top of the Capitol Records Building.

Basically, that’s the plan.

Some women, and some poison to make the executives need to use a restroom, as small sales team goes there for a planned meeting for discussion about new, high tech recording gear to sell to Capitol Records. With support outside at a fake car wreck on the freeway, nearby, to assist in whatever way is necessary, and also to divert traffic away from the Capitol Records Building attack zone. Some girls show up, maybe a British Rock Band members are there to do recording work, and all of the people at Capitol Records would have been fully distracted, each in their own special way, while the executives are hauled away and replaced with impostors, or some other way to proceed after the executives were removed.

At the end of the Thunderbird’s rescue, the mission is a success, as the Capsule with the astronauts is hoisted away. Those are executives at Capitol Records Building being hauled away in a Oxcart.

Maybe next episode we find out what the plan is for proceeding after the executives at Capitol Records, are taken.

=================================

===========================================

Meanwhile, at Thunderbird Volcano Island Command Global Field Offices, operatives are struggling to make sure that Lyndon B. Johnson is re-elected for a second time, which would have given a 10 year term of office had that part worked. That would have provided maximum power duration at the place of maximum global power.

========================

Abstract thought:

Think of US Democracy. The nation is like a game sort of, there are no opponents, but there are many challenges that must be overcome as time progresses.

Think of The White House, as the place where the Democracy Challenges is dealt with as they present themselves, Congress is part of the White House for this thought, so the President is the player of the Democracy Game against Challenges.

now, think of a Chess Board. The White Team is the White House. The Black Team is the Challenges, not an opponent. Most of the pieces are on the board, the game has been progressing for awhile, all pieces are very strategically located, neither team has advantage at that moment on the Democracy Chess Board. Delicate Balance exists there.

With all of the parts in their places, some asshole playing Risk shows up. He has some Chess parts from broken games in his game closet, and paints a new King.., the asshole had a green vs blue weird chess set, so, he paints the green on White. He sneaks over to the Democracy game, steals the real White King, puts the painted green one turned white on the board where the real one was at.

now, the Democracy Game still looks exactly the same way it did when the delicate balance between Democracy and Challenges existed.

The asshole is not interested in Democracy. He plays Risk.

The whole object of maintaining balance changes instantly, the Challenges are not met, they are helped to advance towards the White House Green King Painted White. Everything in between is wiped off of the Democracy Chess Board of Balance.

They have a new name, new packaging, new playing board, new object, new rules, all new... by Ron Popeil... as seen on TV.

no more Hasbro.

no more Milton Bradley

no more Mattel

no more Aurora Slot Cars....

now, all of the individual black & white tile squares become evident that they always have been far more important than we previously had thought about. We realize that the Knight, Bishop, Rook, King, Queen, and all of the Pawns all needed a place to stand on in order to play the game in the first place. We only have been thinking about the moving parts, not the foundation on which they stand.

only new Green/White Chess is available after that.

=======================================

5:27 pm:

Some connection to the Thunderbird’s Day of Disaster:

See that when Grandma comes in to Father’s office, looking for something, it’s easy to see “Granny” from Beverly Hillbillies, which first aired in 1962, the year before Jacqueline Onassis shot John Kennedy on a live parade, which is why LBJ became US President, which is why Jacquie shot John.... (this keeps going for ever with another shooter that shot the shooter that John, who Jacquie shot, and onward into the Russian Mother of all Hoaxes)

The Beverly Hillbillies will be shown to be the executives of Movie Studios and Television Studios of Hollywood, who were somehow roped in to present TV programs and movie screenplays that actually contain the very instructions of how those people who decided to produce and air such productions, will be hijacked, killed, replaced, later on, at some point after the Christian terror army watches TV and goes to the movie theater to see what their instructions are to take out the Beverly Hillbillies.

Clampet = C Lamp Pet = Holy See Lamp Pets = Holy See TV Pets = Christian terror family cells watching TV and Movies to get marching orders.

So, the targets expressed in Thunderbird’s episodes, are Whales of Hollywood, executive producers of entertainment... I think the White House and US Government is thought of by British Leadership and Royals, as Producers of Entertainment, so, the congressional members and virtually all of the US Elected Officials are seen as Entertainers, because of the way democracy is done by Popular Vote, which makes the elected officials, technically, famous celebrities, same as TV and Movie stars, and are popular that way. That idea seems to be a globally applied idea, where there has always been very little differentiating qualities between entertainers, and politicians, in the eyes of the British.

(do you agree that the term “Star” is a bit over the top, pompous, self indulging to use a job title?)

“Thunderbird’s Grandma” is “Granny from Beverly Hillbillies”,at least in Day of Disaster episode. There could be more to see in that idea if you look there.

==================================

This next connecting dot is more difficult to explain:

There is continuous theme presented in Thunderbird’s episodes, one that includes Chinese Artwork (ancient Chinese Secret... is not from China).

Look at the Psychiatrist Office Background information, there is a lot to see there, one thing is “Enormous Chinese Statue Man” there. “Big Statutory Power” is expressed with “Enormous Chinese Statue Man” at the psychiatrist office.

That is because he is not a psychiatrist, that is the Police Station, Rampart Division, the District Attorney’s Office perhaps. There, Brains (the salesman of Whiz-Bang Hi Tech [Hi-Fidelity Stereo]) is a witness to what went down at Capitol Records Building, is questioned by investigative persons associated with Rampart Division (the makers of the “fake Freeway crash distraction emergency road closure detour and Oxcart service” at the 405 San Diego Fwy out front of Capitol Records Building). The inclusion of “Ancient Chinese Secret” in the episodes seems to show associated Russian Mother Hoax of Lies Membership and is a place where “Airplane Vodka” (see explanation from last week here on this account, information about Airplane Vodka is difficult to obtain, so, learning is still in development about that)  is available to club members (I think Airplane Vodka is almost the same as “Olive the Above”, is a snack at the bottom of the Queen‘s Martini, is a “Workable Bullshit Story”. So, “Airplane Vodka” from a place that serves “Ancient Chinese Secret” is also another lie that gets recorded into the “Master Russian Mother Hoax Library” [Google] for reference to it later on, so that the ongoing Bullshit can all be kept in a line that is easy to follow, with ingredients that are agreed upon by all “Russian Mother Hoax Club Members” [House of Lords].)

Ok, so Brains at the psychiatrist is really a witness, who is really an accomplice is at the District Attorney or equivalent, to help to come up with, or be advised of, the agreed upon “Bullshit Story” (refer to Twitter Verified Accounts for examples of “Bullshit Story”) so that everyone involved will have similar “Bullshit Story” that all matches, is the approved story after that, is mainstream.

The places in Thunderbird’s Episodes where “Enormous Chinese Statue Man“ can be seen, will show, after decode, where the “Fake Law Operatives of Global Terror” are at.

I am convinced that “Ancient Chinese Secret” has a large size representation at “Amp Guru”, and “Amp Guru” is the Music Industry as a whole.

now, back to Father’s Office. It’s determined after much argument that Father is the one who swallowed Grandma’s Microphone Transmitter. That’s when Female Variety Tin-Tin Kyrono comes in with “remedy” (Pepto-Bismal). Father says: “Ok... I’ll go quietly”. That part, is a place where you need a “Fast-Forward Button“ to push, in order to get from there, to Brains at the Psych Doctor. Father becomes Brains. That is part of “Ancient Chinese Secret”, characters are able to reincarnate in many mysterious ways because of “Ancient Chinese Secret Sauce” that exists in a “Fast Forward Button“ at “Amp Guru”.

Tin-Tin is some time Kyrano, and Kyrano is sometimes Tin-Tin, both are Chinese, used to work at Chinese Laundry, but were hijacked years ago, were tortured, are Unisex now, and they were forced to tell about “Ancient Chinese Secret” when the “One Hour Martinizing Crew” attacked them at Chinese Laundry.... it’s “One Hour Martinizing” now.

I think “One Hour Martinizing” is the same as Amp Guru, except is Movie Entertainment and TV Broadcast Network Version. So, that makes Kyrano the Movie Industry, and Tin-Tin is that hot chick at the Record Studio.

End complicated connectivity report: 6:42 pm.

===================================

One more thing: 6:45 pm:

All of this explanation is because of 1964 British Invasion with Meet the Beatles.

Is more than a Rock Show.

=====================

7:01 pm:

I have some speculation that fouls up much of my previous conclusions about Donald Trump, speculation based only on this Thunderbird’s Day of Disaster episode, and too much thinking about stuff I have no control over anyway, so, here you go:

Previous notion before ten minutes ago:

Donald Trump was pre-planned to work two terms, was found to be in secret alignment with German parts of Vatican, Pope Benedict remnants there, and in secret opposition with The Bergoglio, Pope Francis, and has been undermining the efforts of The Bergoglio (Google) Vatican.

now, maybe, it could be that he is #45 for a specific reason, a “One-Hit Wonder”, a “Hit Single”, there to do “Wolf Blitzer style Color Announcer at the Baseball Game, as the wire guided missal is directed into the window of the Baby Milk Factory by High Power Jet Airplane”. A “Surgical Strike, looks sloppy, is effective, comes with a B-Side, one that is not as popular as the Hit Single on the A side.

I have no further information to support that newly spotted possibility.

I am still at “Trump was spotted as a Benedict at the Vatican doing undermining work and was cut short of his second term”

However, there are some indicators of such a back up kind of plan idea present in the Day of Impact Thunderbird’s Episode, so, I wrote it down so I won’t forget.

This is a good place for a reminder that all of the Democrat Presidential Debates we saw presented in 2020 and 2019 were all presented in their exact same form in around 2008 on Beta Twitter. Same candidates, same videos, exactly the same with exception of the original air date having been 12 years earlier.

Time Warp Terror is almost impossible to see, when we all trust the date we are presented with, and discount our own memories of events.

It makes a person second guess what they already know is true, and I just second guessed what I already determined about Donald Trump’s second term that did not happen. All of what we are seeing is a slippery slope of strategically placed British oil.

Olive Oil: Virgin < Extra Virgin < Extra, Extra Virgin... Olive Oil.

By the time the Olives become Virgin, there is no oil left to squeeze from them.

Crewed Oil.

There is a Trump Card somewhere in this idea about the Olive Oil and Crewed Oil.

Like I said, it fouls up what I was thinking about to begin with about Donald Trump, so, tread lightly there.

====

Maybe there is a difference between Thunderbird’s episodes presented on YouTube by bobbj77 and VintageTV accounts. The two accounts are presenting the same episodes, with the titles written the same identical way, as if it’s the same persons playing two hands.... maybe they have some Special Ethel edited in there, when I want some 106 Octane Airplane Fuel.

Have to start over....

================

Google is like the “Big Fog Horn in the Sky”, it can hone in on any one particular IP Address, and make customized directional suggestions when you do a search at any of the Google Products, and the one at Twitter does not work at all...only brings up non-verified accounts for search of mainstream news headlines.

When I do YouTube search for Thunderbird’s episodes, it mostly directs me to bobbj77, only few VintageTV and there are some random results also, but those two seem to have posted many, maybe all of the series, have to have a closer look at the source of what I am decoding here.

I really don‘t see advantage to choosing VintageTV over bobbj77 or vice-verse, seems the same result to me judging by the name.

Also, the results for search are out of numeric order, I find that a little odd because of Google is sooooooo very advanced in their algorithms they would seem to know how to count by now, considering that when you write a email with Google G-Mail, the thing can almost write what you want to say all by itself, can conjugate a verb on the fly, and make contextual suggestions, but Google can‘t count on YouTube Search, how come? Why does Google YouTube Search direct me to bobbj77 way more than to VintageTV as a source for Thunderbird’s episodes?

Google does Custom Tailored Fog Horn Service on the High See’s for directing traffic at the Port.

===============

8:08 pm:

I suggest to persons who may want to research some of these ideas about Amp Guru and One Hour Martinizing to make a list of “What can be said about (each one)” in real life.

I am not going to do that here.

I’ll get you started:

One Hour Martinizing is out front, somewhere you can see it.

Amp Guru is in a industrial complex, or back room at music store.

You bring clothes to the Martinizer, who has some way of cleaning them without water.

You bring your electronic music gear to Amp Guru, he can do magic for Bias Adjustment, knows everything there is to know about electronic power circuits.

That is a start.

===========

8:39 pm:

Local Update:

Walk to the mailbox adventure. Is about 800 feet walk each way, depending on route I take.

I spoiled assassination attempt at the mailbox. There was bait there in the form of my mailbox was open a little, part way, nothing in there, and I closed it tight last night when I encountered assassin there last night, one I have not mentioned yet, could have been Clyde Baum of 333 Jackpine.

I spoiled the hit because tonight I brought wiz-bang high tech flashlight, is very bright, so, on approach to the mail box, I used that, and some noises in the woods could be heard there by the mailbox. I assume the terror bastard just was ducking for some cover is the sound I heard.

It’s very cold out there, thermometer says 27 degrees, feels colder.

There was the sound of Distant Emergency Vehicle Siren to the south, lasted two minutes, very faint and distant sound of siren on the move. “Trouble on Pleasant Valley Road” is the way that is interpreted.

Some other very brief use of flashlights happened on Russell road on my return walk, those are there at Sunflower terror cell to fool someone else, who will read this and think that was me over there on Russell.

I only used my flashight for one quick look around then put it away, to keep my hands free for fighting. I almost never use a flashlight, is very dangerous to use unless you are a terror soldier with a lot of terror cell members nearby. If you use the flashlight, they know exactly where you are at, and your hands are not available for fighting back when they come out of the shadows.

I stay in the middle of the country gravel roadway and driveway mostly. I don‘t want to, but I have to so that the local authority set-up won’t work when the say I was the one in the shadows.

There is still no visible activity or signs of life at Bell terror cell at 445 Jackpine.

Monroe Offensive Surveillance Travel Trailer is still the same condition as last night with a bright light inside and drapes open at the window above the trailer hitch, other lights are all off.

The Monroe’s are showing different habits, their usual things they do with a variety of special lights inside of chicken coups they have there is not happening as it has for that past year or so. There is big chicken coup, roosters and hens in there, the coup has many different kinds of lights on, switched off, changed as I walk by, various color, light intensity, many lights inside of a chicken coup, where they are used at night to light up chicken activities.... but are for some other thing that I don‘t know, it’s weird.

Other smaller chicken coup there is where the electronic surveillance equipment and recording devices can be seen in use by the Monroe’s and others from time to time when they huddle around there to listen to recordings of attack that took place at my house a few moments before I see them there gathered around the chicken coup. So, those things with the coups are not happening since the day I encountered the people putting a net at the end of my driveway, and had that sword fight there, last week some time.

That’s it, I did not pay attention to communication lights at Chartrand’s, was concerned about flashlights on Russell road instead.

===

9:29 pm:

Another quick look outside shows Chartrand’s conditions are the same as they were last night, some red Christmas lights on the front house, and two porch lights on the rear house are on as was last night.

I was wrong about the Russell Road flashlights, they were at Strong’s SAG House at 3747 Russell Road, there is vehicle activity there now, doing maneuver in the yard there as they do most times I go outside at night, some vehicle begins to drive around in the yard, then a shark comes down Jackpine is the way it usually is done, the Strong car is there to do back-up for the Shark car, which usually comes from where they wait out front of 315 Jackpine to run me over.

There is a newly installed yard light on a pole over on Russell road somewhere, looks to be just north of 3747 Russell Road, maybe it’s not new, but is not used often.

All of these small details are communication from one terror cell to another over a distance, been going on for twenty years.

==

9:42 pm:

Freeberg lighting communication is different tonight from last night.

Christmas lights that go around and on the ridge, and edges of the building make nice looking outline of the house at night, and that was sort of the vibe at Freeberg’s last night, Tonight, those kinds of perimeter lights are still there and are on, but has strange look, as if there are holes in the outline, parts of the perimeter outline are not there as they were last night, Considering that Freeberg is terror AirForce General, that is always some important communication no matter how they say it. One big helicopter did a low fly over today above my house at about 3:00 pm, and there were at least three other low and slow fly overs by fixed wing aircraft starting at about 2:30 pm. Freeberg’s are looking for the assassin that was at the mailbox last night. That one is dead. Might have been Clyde Baum, that would be good news if so.

==

10:05 pm:

Janice “Jay-Bob” Feeberg uses a special costume for terror attack, same as all of the local terror soldiers have special terror costume identity, each one is somehow unique, most use animal persona traits, Clyde Baum uses a Owl persona, and is also a Grizzly bear persona.

Janice Freeberg uses Grim Reaper persona costume, is the “Grim Freeberg” when she goes on terror attack in residential areas along with others such as Clyde in a Bear suit. They also have those Pixel Suits for more advanced attacking.

She looks just like that in her Grm Freeberg attack outfit. The only difference is that her sickle is home made with use of modified carpenters hand saw blade cut to shape and sharpened, attached to stick handle. Typically the attack she does is that she stands in the path where someone wants to walk, she slams the handle of the sickle into the ground while saying “Thou shall not pass”... hundred times at least she has done that to me on my driveway, on the road, in my woods, is there to say “Thou shall not pass” then swings that sickle. It’s sharper than you might think it is.

So, for  reports of person wearing a robe with a long stick and has a triangle shaped thing on it (looks just like a baseball pennant shape), then, that is Janice “Jay-Bob” Freeberg. She does not work alone, if she is there, so are others in attack costume, and, she always has air support with airplanes and helicopters.

Real terror is not reported on the news. That is real terror. Been going on for twenty years here like that.

That is the only photo I have been able to get of Janice “Jay-Bob” Freeberg, terror Airforce General. Those are the mailboxes I talk about so often.

===============================

11:49 pm:

Take a ride in the Russian Mother of all Hoaxes for a minute, I have my Cracker Jack’s Decoder Ring, Way-Back Machine Attachment, and a Fractal Viewer here, not busy, it’s quiet... so... throw a dart into a history book, and viola! Starting place for Russian Hoax Maneuvers.

I am stuck at “ ... another shooter, that shot the shooter, that shot John, who was shot by Jacquie...”

So, from there...

There is a grassy knoll, a parade is going on, it’s all live on TV, there is a warehouse, and that is where I want to go... into that warehouse to see where that goes. It’s a book warehouse. There are books and a shooter there, parade is outside... now what...

Lots of people, the President is there, it’s America... on TV, and watching TV...

Amazon shows up on Decoder Ring Radar... they started out as a bookstore.

Amazon is also a jungle, a River, lots of diversity is there...

They have piranhas there. Pyramids shows up on Decoder Ring RADAR.

Stay with Amazon... they said they were going to buy 100,000 Renault delivery vans. That’s a lot of vans, never heard of so many vans being ordered before, is new.... Renew-zit shows up on Decoder Ring RADAR. So. that is already what I was thinking they were for anyway, to refill gas warrior gas tanks. I also have advantage here because I know that Clyde Baum has Renew-zit air fresheners at his house, are filled with nitrous gas, and are motion sensor operated from Renew-zit factory, sprays nitrous oxide at someone who walks by at Clyde Baum’s house.

Amazon, Renault, Renew-zit.... nitrous... parade (walk by is parade w/gas motion sensor activation)

Maybe the Amazon Renault Renew-zit vans are dual purpose, can be used for refill of gas warriors at nbc Universal Demonstration for Twitter news event terror taking, and, if just parked somewhere could release gas as people parade by, like at Clyde Baum’s house.

Jack-in-the-Box shows up on Decoder Ring RADAR.

British Canadian Terror ninja’s come out of the parked van that releases gas as people are walking by... parade. The shooter that shot the shooter has a sword now... takes the victims into the parked Amazon Van Mobile Renew-zit weapon.

It’s a COVID Test....

This is not going in a direction that is suitable to pursue further online.

I was expecting to arrive at the Queen‘s television, a black & white old one, with contrast knob cranked over to full contrast from the book warehouse, that did not happen... that other thing happened, and I don’t want to go there, so. that’s it for this adventure in Russian Mother of all Hoaxes.

==============

There has to be some reason that Amazon needs so many vans. and that the story about what the manufacturer of choice was had changed from Renault to some other unknown maker of Vans. Google it.

Amazon could be Russian Fractal Iteration of the Book Warehouse. If so, there will be other connecting dots in the Mother Hoax.

Don’t forget: Amazon was made into what it became by virtue of it’s connections to Google, when people searched Google for the products that wanted to buy, Amazon was there, in the search results, to say they offer the same thing you want for $5 less than any other retailer was selling the items. Then, when you ordered from Amazon, the product was sent from a competing retailer, but the billing was done by Amazon, who collected all of the money, and left out the retailer that sent the items.

I remember ordering from Amazon, and then getting phone call from the retailer who sent the items, to see what I had to say about the delivery, ask if I did receive what I ordered, and explained that they did not get paid for the items purchased, which when you really think about being in such a position on that phone call from the retailers perspective, that is not a productive approach, because essentially, they are sort of implying that the customer did not pay for what they were delivered, when all they really wanted was some information, anything that would help them figure out why the orders were going out, while all of the customers were insisting that they made the purchase from Amazon, and paid Amazon. I remember that happened, when the phone call came, and I knew that the shipping information indicated that the persons on the call had shipped the products, but the billing had already been done online, paid to Amazon, who provided the online ordering.

Confusion City is there in that Amazon billing, w/other competing retailer shipping, for takeover of US and other global retailers, by virtue of Google Magic Hokus Pokus.

“The shooter that shot the shooter that shot John”, is in that situation, except US retailers are John F. Kennedy on parade, and Amazon is the invisible shooter that shot him, while the magic bullet, is Google. That makes Jacquie Onassis, the Russian Hoax Hijack, the foundation on which the parade is riding, in that part of the Russian Mother of all Hoaxes Fractal View, it all does another iteration of that parade, sort of, with some adjustments made to the Russian Fractal Equation.

Can anyone else see what I see?

Google is the best of the best there could be for making such Fractal Iteration math work. They must have kidnapped all of the Rocket Scientists that were at nasa, rocketdyne, Kennedy Space Center... places where math is life or death math.

Google has to be taken offline, but we can‘t live without it.... “Too Big To Fail” shows up on Decoder Ring RADAR...

Have to start over...

================

12-23-2020: 1:07 am:

Back to Thunderbird’s Day of Disaster:

There is a place in the episode where Virgil carries a bunch of wreckage from the depths beneath the Holland Bridge, which collapsed from the concentrated weight of a great big rocket that was driving over it, slow.

There at that spot where the dumping happened, is a field with some rocks and grassy knolls.

I told you about Hope Town yesterday, I need to add the the place where Hope Town is at, is called “Simi Knolls” (Google Map might show it still, hurry before Mandela shows up). I think there might be other clues in Day of Disaster to make connection to Hope Town, and/or Simi Knolls. There was a store there called Village Market at the bottom of Santa Suzanna Pass, and a place where I used to get some ice cream was there right at the entrance to Hope Town, which was a motorcycle race track at the time. The Ice Cream store was also a hamburger stand, very small place, had a pointy roof, A-Frame cabin sort of building, blue & white stripes on it, so, those kinds of details might be in Day of Disaster, or other episodes.

A kids TV program from 1960′s called “Winchell Mahony Time” featured a barn, with puppets, the barn the show was modeled from was at the top of Kuener Drive, a real barn there about one mile and a half from Hope Town, and the Winchell’s Donuts I think is based in that part of Russian Hoax Fractal, and I already explained what is important to know about Winchell’s Donuts, designed as a place where Los Angeles Police could go, use a restroom, and the girls there were so friendly, Canadian Pope style. I watched the 118 Freeway as it  was built from my front porch, the barn was there before, and after the freeway went in. There could be reference to “Tarantula Hill” in the Thunderbird’s episodes, that was right there too.

So, now, imagine that all of that junk Virgil put there (could have just moved it over and dumped it closer by, save time) in that field with grassy knolls and rocks (reminds me of Hope Town area) is all construction materials put there, for use at some other time in the future, to build something later (is symbolic building materials), means: “we looked at the real-estate, we like this place here, Simi Knolls, has a nice ring to it, JFK style ring” as orders to obtain the property that was Hope Town, “close to Rocketdyne, not too far from Hollywood, we can build a Freeway through there later on, call it the 118 Ronald Reagan Freeway, just add one more minute, and it’s 119 Freeway, all going in reverse direction”

(one more minute = one more generation)

(seconds = tiny revolution)

(minutes = small size revolution)

(hours = medium size revolution)

(days = normal, customary regular size crusade revolution)

Pirates say Aarrggghhh, so, R + Evolution = Pirate Evolution

(one more minute = one more generation)

(118 Freeway + one more generation = Freedom in emergency reverse = 119)

Terror math is not rocket science. It’s terror math.

I think that place is Hope Town. Hope is what remains when everything else is gone.

Trust me, you don‘t want any hope. They will give it to you for free... a bad trade. There are people who line up to by Hope.... fools.

To bob, is to cut off.

Bob Hope, is what happens when you are all loaded up with truckloads... boatloads of nothing but Hope... then, they cut you off, take the hope from you, that is what Bob Hope is for.

Been Around

I’ve been working on an iteration of this tumble for a while.

My last one? Well. It was kinda. Sad? 

Like, basically, oh hey I’m on the edge of ruin guess we’ll see what happens!

Obvs some time has passed since then. And like, I dunno, maybe people are wondering how things turned out?

So I’m here to talk about that. Oh, and yeah, talk about what I’ve been playing watching and listening to.

Question Corner time!!!

Um did you get fired or what?

Shockingly, no! I kept my job. In fact, kinda got a clean slate- new manager, a new schedule, the works.

What the fuck? How?

Right? 

Basically, I kept my mouth shut when I needed to and stuck to one un-sophisticated but outrageously stupid lie about why my “work” wasn’t showing up in the reports.

And the person in charge of calling me on that bullshit just...didn’t.

I don’t know if it was kindness, or laziness, or what, but they basically let me off with a firm warning to not let my abject neglect of my job be so obvious next time around. Around the same time as all this was going down, there was also a big shakeup in management, and I got shifted to a new guy. Along with that, I also got approved to reduce my work week. 

So my best guess is amidst all the change they decided to just give me a free pass, cuz firing a union employee in the time of covid would be...a lot of work.

Wow. Sick. So. New schedule?

Yup. My job is having a bit of a budget emergency so they have offered to let us take unpaid time off while retaining our benefits. I’m now working 30 hours a week until the end of the year. I’ll miss the money, but honestly? I’m fucking stoked. I straight up need to be at work less, and while it’s some shit that I have to take a paycut just to stay sane, you better believe I was ON THAT the minute I learned it was an option.

You didn’t get fired. You got a new sup, a new supervisor...so...are you gonna try in the future, to, like, not get in that position again?

Yeah. I’m very okay with not putting myself through any of this ever again. 

I’m actually putting in a full day’s honest work. Logging in on time. Staying awake the entire shift. Doing actual work. It’s wild. And exhausting. And repetitive. So...so...so...repetitive.

Actually working my job the way it’s written out on paper is awful and draining. My work is deeply uninteresting and utterly without consequence. I don’t have any actual metrics to work towards because of how the pandemic has impacted things. You’d think that would be good! But actually, it sucks real bad cuz my bosses basically just say “you have no metrics, but you should also be demonstrably productive” which basically means BUSY AS FUCK. So every day is an exercise in how I can convincingly spin my tires for 10 hours a day.

The tradeoff for making a clean go at this whole gainful employment thing is that, presumably, I can forgo the stress of like, you know, having my entire life and sense of financial security implode at a moments notice. I guess it’s a fair trade. 

Still, I’m so very, very tired.

So...how are you feeling about things?

Honestly...pretty okay? 

Look, you gotta understand that for the past month I was unraveling at the seams. Barely sleeping, drinking way too much, gaining weight back and making zero progress on my creative hobbies. So any improvement at all? In 2020? Feels like a fucking windfall to end all windfalls, even if the job is still shit and the paycut is a bit of a kick in the ass.

Cool cool. You uh...still doin...?

Therapy? I mean you can just say therapy.

Yeah, I’m doing it. Results seem...limited?

I found out my therapist is a anti-vax covid truther so...that’s been an experience. But when she isn’t going on about how big pharma is just mining us for cash money (not totally untrue), she’s...aight?

I dunno. I have to talk a lot. I don’t usually do that, ya know? And sometimes I finish my sentences and I’m like lol that’s literally all I got and then have to wait for a response. And the response is usually something weird like “WELL THAT’S GREAT”.

I guess I was expecting to hear some high concept shit about my brain? And instead...it’s mostly just been affirmations of just how damn functional I am! I’m so functional! Look at me, being functional like I’m all sorts of hot shit.

I thought you were gonna fire her-

Yeah, uh, look. I’m...very bad at confrontation. I’ll fire the truther therapist next week, I promise.

Whatever, so...what are you gonna do now that you only work 3 days a work?

Hopefully more of this! I miss writing for an audience. I miss sharing what excites me with other people! I’ve missed having an online presence. I live my life on the internet these days. Like, yesterday, I had this distinct feeling that I was SO ONLINE that I was like, basically, on the verge of full Matrix.  Like, between Spriteclub and Twitter and Youtube and my online games, just stick a fuckin’ needle in the back of my head and get it over with. I’m like fuckin’ Neuromancer over here, 3 monitors at once all day every day.

So...when do we talk about what you’ve been up to?

RIGHT NOW ASSHOLE! That’s right folks, let’s talk about what I’ve been gettin’ into during my free time. 

WRITING-

Alice and the Pale Horse

I’m on page 123. Working on some edits. Seriously looking at how I can release my first few pages in an episodic format.

My dream is to someday have an animator for this story. A guy can hope, yeah?

Crash’s Corner

I’m gearing up for another anime post. I’m hoping it’ll be a bit shorter and more focused. Major show candidates include Kaguya-Sama: Love is War, Gleipnir, and Deca-Dence.

Film Journal

I’ve been guest writing for Ryan Sanderson’s year-long film journal the past few weeks. The last entry was about the Alien franchise. Give it a look!

ANIME-

God of High School

Man, this show is so damn lukewarm until it hits these wild action sequences that make your soul just fucking sing. The story feels like total nonsense, even for a shonen, but then you hit moments like this and it just doesn’t matter. It’s so imaginative it just absolutely soars. 

Gleipnir

OH MY GOD GLEIPNIR. Look, I can’t recommend this show to you. It’s that batshit off the walls wild. But...if you can handle the absolute of anime bullshit- and if you’re an anime fan, you know what I mean- then you might be able to handle this. I just finished the first season this week and it grabbed me by the neck and didn’t let go. If it doesn’t get renewed, I’ll absolutely find the manga. But just. Like. Holy shit. Yeah. (I said Holy Shit probably at least 2 or 3 times per ep, so be warned).

Fire Force

Honestly, season 2 has been a bit of a gas for me. It’s just lacked a certain juice that the first season had. Season 1 had so much wild worldbuilding going on, while season 2 seems to be all about tossing in as many tertiary characters as possible. Curious if the manga handles that better. As it stands, Fire Force still makes it onto my weekly rotation of anime I hit up while biking.

Deca-Dence

I heard hype for this on Twitter, and based on the stills and the trailer, I was kinda so-so. But I jumped in and gave it a couple ep’s and honestly? It kept my attention. It even surprised me several times. It’s deeply imaginative in its own right, and presents a couple of animation styles that play directly into the lore of its world presentation. I’m not resonating with it on an emotional level in the same way as I am with say, Gleipnir, but this is still a really damn good show that I’d have no reservations about recommending to anyone.

A Certain Scientific Railgun T

This one has me deeply conflicted. On the one hand, it is a gif generator, and I have a whole library of reaction gifs to show for it. The action is thrilling, the world gorgeous, the characters endearing and appropriately silly. But, like, also, it is the height of fan-service and there’s not much of a defense for it. So much so that I’ve only watched the first few episodes. I don’t know if I’ll keep on since the story hasn’t got its hooks in me yet. Reminds me a lot of Pandora in the Crimson Urn- deeply imaginative and funny but also full of yikes.

My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU

I’m only a few ep’s into season 1 but I’m intrigued. It’s a rom-com/slice of life type anime, but it plays like a more straight-faced Kaguya-Sama: Love is War, but with the voice of the show centered around a deeply unlikable incel-type character surrounded by a terrifically enjoyable cast of fellow students who each bring their own quirks to the table. I’m interested to see how the plot continues to develop, as I’ve seen fans raving about the most recent season. However, this show has fallen to the wayside as I keep getting distracted by other anime. Kinda reminds me of Food Wars in the sense that I find its premise and characters compelling but also lose my focus on the story quickly.

Samurai Champloo

Finally finished it! Loved it, for the most part. As a guy who has watched his fair share of classic sword films, I deeply appreciated how much reverence the animators and writers had for the genre, while also infusing their own modern sensibilities. It’s not hard to see what this sword story is so well loved, even if its overwrought ending doesn’t come close to touching the charm of its early charm and wanderlust. 

Kaguya-Sama: Love is War

The best damn rom-com slice of life anime I’ve ever seen. Season 2 blew me away. I laughed. I cried. I enjoyed the new tertiary characters and was gratefully surprised by how easily the story was able to sustain the pace, brevity and sneaky depth of season 1. This show is special.

Dragon Ball

I want to enjoy this, if only ‘cuz I want to understand the story that is considered so foundational to many other fans. And I LOVE the trademark animation, of course. But...also..there’s a whole lot of moments in this that are just uh...they require explaining in 2020. Maybe I just need to get over my scruples and power through, idk.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

My current shonen project. I’ve been stalled out on the timeskip arc for about...a year now? But I’m not willing to call it quits yet! I need to see this bonkers time-traveling mafia war through to its conclusion. 

Gintama

I fucking adore Gintama. I love how it doesn’t give a fuck about skewering anime as a medium until it flips a switch and slaps you upside the head with some weirdly emotional and hopeful message. Every character is both hilarious and yet has this deeply emotional connection to the audience. It is perfect satire.

MANGA

Note: People often ask me where I get my manga. My answer can vary from title to title, but my usual go-to is Epilogue Books, owned and run by my dear friend and writing partner of many years. I have a semi-regular shipment of titles I receive from them depending on how quick I get through a given shipment. If you’re looking for these, or any other manga, give their site a gander or contact them directly. They’ll hook you up, and you’ll have the satisfaction of supporting literally anyone but Amazon.

One Piece

I’m on volume 33 of the Skypiea arc, which has been so-so compared to the previous arcs with Crocodile and the adventures in the Deep Blue. I do find the Kami to be a curious and compelling villain, but none of the Straw Hats have done much in the way of growth beyond “get separated, fight jobber bosses, come back together and let Luffy finish the fight”. I’m toward the end of the arc, however, so we’ll see how it rolls.

Berserk

Holy shit Berserk. A bunch of folks told me to read this when I asked for suggestions on twitter. I saw the cover art and was like “ok guy with big sword in a dark fantasy world, neat”. Wasn’t sure if it said more about the people who suggested it, or more about me that they thought I’d like it. I was also deeply nervous about dark fantasy after my fiasco with Goblin Slayer. But I went with it and gave the first volume a read and HOLY SMOKES. What a damn read. Not only does the story have me hooked, but also, it is GORGEOUS. It is dark. It is moody. It is occasionally humorous. But its STYLE just grabs me in a way that is reminiscent of the old Spawn comics from my youth. I immediately ordered more and I can’t wait.

Fairy Tail

Just finished the lullaby arc and now we are deep into the Deliora arc with the Cold Emperor. It’s really been fun to see how the manga differs from the anime. The anime was my first true shonen experience and a story that I credit with having saved my life, so I had high expectations coming into this. I’m happy to say that thus far, the manga of Fairy Tail is worth every bit of attention that the anime received. Can’t wait to keep going.

Fruits Basket

Fruits Basket is fucking precious and if you come at these characters I swear to god I will come back at you. *deep breath* Okay. Settle. This is a positively lovely story, centered in positivity, kindness, and found family. Each character is working through trauma in their own imperfect way, and I adore their journeys. You can tell the story was penned by a deeply vulnerable human and I can’t thank them enough for having the courage to share it. Read this manga- and then go see the equally gorgeous anime.

Eden’s Zero

Written and drawn by the same crew who did Fairy Tail, it wouldn’t be inaccurate to call it Fairy Tail In Space. That said, volume 1 gave me just enough to get curious again about where Mashima is heading with his latest creative opus- and whether it will cross over with his wildly successful Fairy Tail universe. And yes, in case the above panel wasn’t enough of a cue- Mashima and co. can still play my heart for tears like no one’s business and it’s damn rude. 

 Sailor Moon

I love the Sailor Moon anime. I think it’s an adorable show with deeply relatable characters that approaches the monster of the week format with an effectiveness that would make even Buffy the Vampire Slayer jealous. The manga is just as wonderful- not to mention beautifully drawn. Volume 1 also works much, much faster than the show does, and I dare say it is better for it.

VIDYA GAMES

Warzone

I’m just seven levels out from completing my third battlepass straight. I’m going to try the Black Ops alpha this week. I’ve played Warzone a whole lot less lately, dedicating my evenings to reading manga, napping, or watching wrestling with pals instead, but it still remains my favorite shooter at this time.

Cities: Skylines

I started a new city last week. It’s a shithole industrial city on a desert map. I had to set my sewer drainage in a manmade lake outside of town that quickly overflowed. At one point the sewage flood disabled my powerplants which in turn caused my entire town of 8k to flee. I went into 3 million in debt while waiting for the town to rebound. I came out of it eventually, repopulating the town to the tune of well over 11k, and restoring my budget surplus, but it was a huge fucking ordeal. I love this game.

Yakuza 0

After chapter 1 of Yakuza 0 I was ready to write this game off. The camera angles pissed me off. The fight commands felt simplistic. The story was boring. But as I thought back to my experience of chapter 1, I realized that it more closely resembled some of my favorite action film sequences than I had initially realized. Did the button mashing make my wrists beg for mercy? Absolutely. Was it satisfying to overcome an absurd amount of enemies using little more than my x button and my wits? Also yes. And did those fights build on each other to create a sense of violent urgency as I propelled myself toward the “boss”? Definitely yes. And then you leave chapter 1 and get your run of a map that includes karaoke bars, Sega arcades and ramen shops- and yes, you better believe that I spent way too much time playing Sega’s Outrun. While jogging between shops and minigames random mobs of enemies pop up and try to start shit with you- much as they might in a JRPG. In fact, the game itself has a lot of RPG elements in it- stat boosts and inventory management and even a relationship meter. The more time I put in, the more the game opens up. I’m going to keep giving Yakuza 0 a shot for as long as that continues to be the case. Also, it is a perfect option to play as a streamed game on my phone.

Mario 64

Can you believe I’ve never played Mario 64? Seems embarrassing to admit now. So here I am, many, many years late to the party. I’ll let y’all know how I like it. So far...I’m already lost on the first course, so...hopefully things pick up.

Sky

Sky has been a bizarre experience. It’s the latest game from That Game Company, their previous work including Journey and Flower. Sky has that same aimless charm, but I also just can’t get into it to save my life. It’s free-to-play, but abstractly so- I’m not sure what the paid content even really does. I have a few friends on Sky- they typically have to drag me to the places they want to go. There’s nothing at stake in the world of sky- there are spirits you can free and content you can unlock, and occasionally you do encounter foes who pose a danger to you, but for the most part it’s basically a fetch quest with social elements added in. I appreciate those social experiences, and the community seems very chill, but it’s also a bit of a stress to log in and have everyone flock to you demanding your attention and time.  Also, this game is only playable on my mobile phone, which I am not used to gaming on, so...focus is limited. I mostly just vibe on the starter island and talk to acquaintances. 

Music

Powfu

DJ Blyatman

fawlin x Naits

Josh A

Tekken 7 OST

gothurted

Beast in Black

Battle Beast

Legos

Hey! I’m doing legos! That seems like a totally normal hobby to have at my age...yeah. Totally.

Anyway, I’m working on the Pirates of Barracuda Bay set. It’s about 3k pieces. It’s been a fun build so far! Here’s my progress...

WRASTLIN

Yes, I’m still watching wrestling. I usually get an episode or two in every week with my pals on discord. It’s not as many as I’d like to watch, but it’s for the best. If my viewing wasn’t forcibly tempered I’d have likely lost the past few months entirely to wrestling. And as you might have guessed from above, I’m someone who is happiest when their hobbies are varied and numerous. 

I’m in June of 1999 of the WWF storyline. Undertaker is the heavyweight champ, the Acolytes hold the tag belts, Jeff Jarrett has the intercontinental title belt and Owen Hart just died. King of the Ring is less than a week away. My friends and I have filled out brackets. I’m very excited to see who, if any of us, ends up being right about the winner. 

SPORTS???

I gave baseball the old college try. I ended up giving up. It just isn’t the escape I need. Something about those empty stadiums and players half-wearing masks and the shortened games just throws me off. I don’t feel at ease watching baseball in 2020. When I first got into baseball back in 2014 or so, it was because I was sick and baseball promised an illusion of normalcy- I could watch the rest of the world function in relative stability and hope that someday I too could join them. Now it’s the rest of the world that’s sick, and I’m relatively well, and all baseball can do for me in 2020 is remind me that I’m damn lucky I’m as well as I am, and that if I’m careless (or just plain unlucky) that I’ll be pretty sick to.

So where did I turn for competitive entertainment?

Well, there was wrestling, to be sure, but the real joy I’ve found is at SpriteClub.

The quick pitch- people just like you or me create fighters in M.U.G.E.N., a 2-D fighting game engine. These fighters, or sprites, are guided by AI, also designed by people like you and I. Think of it like a gundam and its pilot. They’re tossed into a pool with a whole bunch of other community creations and left to duke it out while the viewers bet fake money on the winners.

You would think that the idea might only appeal to gambling junkies and fighting game addicts, but the truth is this eclectic channel has a much wider appeal than one might initially give it credit for. 

For one, its catalogue of fighters includes everything from pop culture superheroes to obscure anime characters to widely shared memes. It is almost impossible to not find a character you’ll have some sense of loyalty to.

Beyond that, the crowd that populates the chat is courteous, kind, and downright educational- a remarkable mix for anywhere gamers populate. It’s a relatively small community, so the channel takes the feeling of an intimate corner bar. If you enter the chat respecting the chill and willing to listen, you will learn a great deal not just about the fighters, but about how the genre of 2D fighter works as a whole.

Perhaps the most enjoyable part of SpriteClub is the exhibitions feature, which allows you to request custom matches with your favorite characters, which play out on the Twitch stream for others to view and bet on.  Although often chaotic, the exhibition mode is home to a number of long-running series set up my stream regulars. These series take on a life and lore of their own that is frankly fascinating. Think of it like a more frenetic video game karaoke. Yes, picking good fighters is a goal, but so is finding a good angle for the match- the right level of humor, the right pairing of unlikely characters, and set-up for matches that are competitive, as opposed to predictable stomps. 

I’ve never jumped into a Twitch channel as a regular before. I’ve never subbed to anything on Twitch before. The gamer community as a whole has always been one that’s left a bad taste in my mouth, rightfully so. But SpriteClub has been a lovely brightspot and proof that kind and informative gaming communities can and do continue to exist. I foresee myself being a regular viewer for some time to come.

And that’s it!

That’s pretty much everything I can think of sharing at this time! I hope y’all enjoyed it. As you can tell, I’ve done my best to keep busy. Hopefully I’ll have even more to share with you all in the immediate future. Until then, thanks for reading, and keep well!

Global Uncertainty: The Economic Fallout From Coronavirus

A Classic 'Black Swan'?

— Knowledge@Wharton, the online research and business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania | The Economic Forum | February 28, 2020

Coronavirus is already impacting global markets, with economic impacts felt beyond China and other effected countries.

There's a lot still to learn about the virus - and therefore how extensive its impact on the global economy could become.

On Monday, February 24, stock indices tumbled, spooked by reports that the coronavirus outbreak that emerged in China is spreading to countries including Italy, Iran and South Korea. A day later, trading in stocks across world markets remained choppy, reflecting hope that the economic fallout might be manageable — just as damage from the SARS epidemic was some two decades ago — but also fear that the economic impact could be significant and linger longer.

The markets’ movements mirror the uncertainty that prevails and persists not just in the U.S. but all over the world. Several weeks into the coronavirus outbreak that has brought the world’s second-largest economy to its knees, some of the most basic aspects of the virus remain unknown. It’s not yet clear how widely beyond China COVID-19 will spread; this week, numbers of infected individuals have surged outside China. Still, exactly how it is transmitted, how easily, and how lethal it might be are aspects of this coronavirus that remain to be uncovered, according to University of Pennsylvania scientists.

As the human toll mounts, so does the economic damage. The business realm, of course, tends to shudder in the face of uncertainty, and right now, with reports on the seriousness of the coronavirus evolving each day if not each hour, the eyes of commerce are on epidemiology.

“This has many economic implications,” says Wharton management professor Mauro Guillen. “It has implications not just for China but for the entire world. The world depends on Chinese growth,” he says, citing both the country’s supply-chain role and consumer buying power. Still, he notes: “It is unclear how much impact in the end this is going to have.” But what is clear is that if politics and trade wars emerged as uncertainties in recent years, now a third leg in the stool holding up global confidence has suddenly gone wobbly. Some observers describe it as a classic “black swan” — a random event that is completely unpredictable. (An interview with Nassim Taleb, author of the book from which the expression is derived, can be heard here.)

A police officer wearing a protective face mask, following an outbreak of the coronavirus, stands with his bike in front of a screen showing the Nikkei index outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan February 26, 2020.

“The long-term repercussion quite apart from whatever happens now is that we’ve got a source of risk we hadn’t thought about,” says Marshall W. Meyer, a Wharton management professor emeritus who consults in China. “My view is there is going to be a big adjustment of global trade patterns unless we are really lucky and [the virus] goes away very quickly. This became apparent after SARS, but SARS went away. And this may or may not go away. The real problem is people’s confidence, and in China how much political damage there will be and whether it will be contained. And there is no way to know.”

An Economic Earthquake

The damage has already been severe and has reached into a surprising array of sectors. As noted above, this week the markets responded negatively to the sharp uptick in cases outside of China, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 1,000 points on Monday — its third-biggest one-day decline. (The selloff continued on Tuesday as the Dow fell another 879 points.) Major American orchestras have canceled tours in China. The cruise industry has seen the public-relations nightmare of more than 1,200 passengers quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess in Yokohama. With moneyed Chinese travelers forced to stay home, European tourism has taken a hit. “It’s seen as on par with an earthquake, a situation of emergency,” Mattia Morandi, spokesman for Italy’s ministry of culture and tourism, told The New York Times.

Supply chains in the retail sector and others have been disrupted, factories in China have gone quiet, and passenger air travel has been curtailed. Apple recently announced that it now expects to miss its next quarterly revenue forecast as a result of shuttered factories and closed retail shops in China.

“This is going to be a slow-rolling, highly consequential event,” says Meyer. “I would say stock up on aspirin and Ibuprofen now, because the base ingredients come from China. Antibiotics come from China. Hong Kong wholly depends on China for its food supply, for its water.”

Economic disruption related to the coronavirus is expected to rob the world economy of growth for the first time since 2009, according to London-based research firm Capital Economics. “We assume the virus will be contained soon, and that lost output is made up in subsequent quarters, so that world GDP reaches the level it would have done had there been no outbreak by the middle of 2021,” the firm said in a statement.

What’s the potential outcome if the virus isn’t contained? According to a report by CNBC, Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi noted on Tuesday that if the virus becomes a pandemic in Europe and the U.S., “that is the prescription for a global and U.S. recession.” Meanwhile, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell suggested that there will “very likely be some effects on [the economy of] the United States” from the current outbreak, but, in recent testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, said it’s too early to say how much.

The philanthropic sector is beginning to divert resources to the crisis. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed up to $100 million toward efforts to help strengthen detection, isolation and treatment efforts, to protect at-risk populations, and to develop vaccines, treatments and diagnostics. Hong Kong investor and philanthropist Li Ka Shing has donated $13 million to assist Wuhan, where the outbreak has been concentrated. Alibaba founder Jack Ma has committed $14.4 million, including $5.8 million to fund research into a vaccine.

‘Still Learning’

Of course, how much philanthropy eventually gets moved to combating COVID-19 depends on the eventual scale of the epidemic, and at any given point, no one has been able to say whether it has peaked.

But so far, this new coronavirus appears to be less lethal than SARS, says Susan R. Weiss, a faculty member in the department of microbiology at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine. Its sudden, dramatic appearance may have been a function of some special circumstances.

“It started in Wuhan, a really dense city at the crossroads of many different means of transportation, and this happened at New Year’s, when a lot of people were traveling, so this was a perfect storm,” says Weiss. “SARS started in the Guangdong Province, which is much less dense and was more easily controlled.”

On the other hand, she says, SARS spiked up over about eight months, and then disappeared, and it’s not yet known whether COVID-19 will behave the same way. “We don’t know whether it will burn out, like SARS, or come back seasonally like the flu,” she said.

This is going to be a slow-rolling, highly consequential event.

— Marshall W. Meyer

What is known at this point is the coronavirus’s nucleic acid sequence, “and that gives scientists a lot of information,” says Penn professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist Harvey Rubin. This helps in developing diagnostic tests and informs the approach to coming up with a vaccine. “What that doesn’t tell you is how transmissible it is. It doesn’t tell you whether the disease can be spread when it’s asymptomatic. We don’t yet know how transmissible it is person to person,” he says. “Right now, 99% of cases are still in China, but a small but important number are out of China, so the trajectory of this problem is still a time-dependent process…. We are still learning, and numbers are still coming in.”

Trade, Disease and the Moral High Ground

Experts have been vocal about what China has done wrong, debating whether the country recognized the epidemic soon enough and if the government’s ideological aversion to transparency delayed action and cost lives.

But what about the U.S. reaction? Is there something the U.S. can and should be doing beyond the $100 million that the U.S. government says it is prepared to spend to help China and other countries where the epidemic has spread?

“It’s already daunting for China to be coping with this, but we have a trade war going on, and it would actually be in the best interest of the U.S. to stop the trade war,” says Guillen. “It would create a lot of goodwill and would give us a good relationship as opposed to a confrontational one.”

In the meantime, he says: negotiate. “The U.S. can seek an agreement, but from a high moral ground — as in, ‘we know you are in trouble, let’s see what we can do about it.’ And if they don’t want to do what the Trump administration wants to do, the U.S. can re-impose tariffs.”

Getting to a trade solution now is also a recognition that our fates are intertwined. After the big 2011 tsunami in Japan, Guillen points out, “within weeks, many factories in the U.S. had to stop producing because they were getting components outsourced from Japan. This is a global economy. We have businesses and operations and connections with China, and if the second largest economy in the world is brought to a halt, it has the potential to disrupt things all over the world.”

Will the coronavirus crisis cause companies to look at China differently in the future?

“They are very likely to do so,” says Howard Kunreuther, co-director of Wharton’s Risk Management and Decision Processes Center and professor emeritus in the operations, information and decisions department. In research with Wharton professor Michael Useem for their recent book Mastering Catastrophic Risk: How Companies Cope with Disruption, the authors contacted chief risk officers and leading executives at more than 100 S&P 500 firms on the most adverse risks they had faced in recent years.

If there is some message here, it’s that this is totally predictable.

—Harvey Rubin

“Every one of them said we are now paying much closer attention to the potential consequences of catastrophic risks than in previous years because they are happening more frequently: the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the 2011 Japan trifecta (earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident) and more intense natural disasters. Firms are now engaging in enterprise risk management to reduce the likelihood and consequences of future adverse events that will affect their operations and are asking questions, such as how safe is it for us to operate here?”

Part of the rationale for these firms considering taking steps now is the high visibility of the coronavirus. “I don’t think they would be paying attention if it weren’t in the news every day,” says Kunreuther. Still, that doesn’t mean businesses should not consider taking action now given the potential for a pandemic. “The question is, what will they do? Will they undertake an assessment of the risk and ask what kind of risk-management strategies they can follow by examining the potential costs and benefits of undertaking these steps?”

“Many of us have been saying for years that it’s only a matter of time,” says Rubin, referring to the arrival of a serious epidemic or pandemic. “If we are lucky and this starts to abate and the mortality is relatively low, it’s unfortunate for the people who are sick and died, but next year or the year after something else could happen. The world needs to have not only medicine and healthcare infrastructure but also economic and information infrastructure. If there is some message here, it’s that this is totally predictable.”

A lot of attention gets paid to infectious disease outbreaks in the moment, and there is a lot of talk about vulnerabilities, preparedness and response.

“We talked about it after Zika, Ebola, during the measles outbreak, and then nobody talked about it anymore,” says Rubin. “For some reason this captures attention while it’s there, but then it goes away. People forget.”