I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS of what i want in a journal/planner but i can't find the exact right format that suits me and i hate using apps for that stuff bc i never remember to actually use them properly so i really wanna design my own layout and create one myself but ughhhh visual design is not my strong suit

Checkpoint and important updates 2!!: Electric boogaloo!!

Heyo guys!! Long time no talk. So, I’ve got some cool update stuff to show you guys. I’ve been doing a lot of blog “housekeeping” since the end of the last event. (don’t worry it hopefully won’t be boring update stuff lmao as it includes some new supplementary content). So, first and foremost, thanks to the inspiration from @koppais-smallest-nerd I’d like to let you guys know that I am now adding screen reader access to all future posts!!! This one included. At the bottom of each post under the, “read more”, image descriptions for all images will be added! Screen reader accessibility will also be added to all previous asks on the blog. However, getting through all of them will take a tiny bit. As, of this update, the first 4 asks have had image descriptions added. As well as all the supplementary content in between where applicable.

I’d also like to show you guys some supplementary content for the blog. Between these dashed lines are in character day 1 log entries written by the rest of the crew. 

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I originally wasn’t sure if I wanted to put these extra day 1 logs on the main blog or not. But, I’ve decided that all supplementary content that may be story related will remain on the main blog for the foreseeable future, while BTS content will end up on PNF-404-Plus.

That being said since the end of the 1st event and my time away from the blog a lot has been going on when it comes to the blog.

For one the entire desktop version of the blog has had a large overhaul. A new theme has been added to the main page.

But, not only that but new side pages with supplementary content have been added!! This includes an event list, a bio page for the crew members of the S.S Drake, a Piklopedia page for the new Piklopedia, and a music page to top it all off!!

The Event List will show each new event as they are added! You can click on the current known events to go directly to all posts tagged with that event tag. Speaking of which all Event 01 posts have now had their tags updated with the Event 01 tag making it much easier to navigate.

The new Crew Members page has bios for all the members currently on the mission or known in the story so far! These Bios are pretty in line with cannon with some fanon, and light headcanon added  in for good measure. I recommend taking a look as it does have some interesting info in there. Also quick note: all of these bios are written as if it is prior to the beginning of the blog.

Then there’s the Piklopedia!! Here you can read each of their findings as they explore PNF-404! Currently the findings will be on each area they explore (not each creature they find) as they haven’t found any new creatures yet. There is also a map of places they’ve discovered and more!

Lastly, a new music page has been added. On this page, I’ve created event-inspired music playlists. Some of the songs have been mentioned in the past. But, here you can listen to them all in one place and see which songs are for which part of the events. As well there’s a secret songs playlist. This playlist has nothing to do with the blog directly but is filled with music given to me by people I’ve met from this community while I’ve been here!! Currently, there are 5 songs there, however, there will be more added in the future! What makes it secret is that you won’t know who gave me the song XD. (well unless you’re the one who gave me the song lmao) who knows if you’ve ever shared music with me before you may find your song there!! (There is also one song I’m sharing with you guys in there too so have fun figuring that out lmao. )

As well the table of contents has been once again updated with a lot of this new stuff as well as some other new information!! As for mobile users as of now, all of this is on separate Tumblr pages. However, in the near future, I will be uploading much of this stuff , such as the Piklopedia entries and Crew Bio’s, as individual posts! However, in the meantime, if you feel like you can always check out these pages on your phone browser instead if you’re a mobile-exclusive user. (Though some pages don’t look as good on phone)

Welp, I think that’s it as far as updates go!! I should be back with brand new ask posts soon (likely within the next week or so!) so keep a look out!! I’ll see ya guys again soon and thanks for reading!!!

{{ Screen reader image description is under “read more”}}

In the first image,  Alph’s Day 1 Log entry is shown. His log says, “To think I thought the first day would go well. Then again I didn’t think I would get sucked out of the ship either so maybe I should stop being so surprised. At the very least Louie and I were able to find our way back despite some obstacles and I was able to fix the ship in time. Though if it weren’t for Chunks we would have never found the pikmin we did. That little guy sure saved the day. 

However, Then there's what happened to Brittany… To see her in a situation like that... I can’t even bear to think about it. Tomorrow I will be checking over the entirety of the Drake to make sure a crash like that doesn't happen again. I can't help but think that the crash was due to me overlooking something during maintenance... However, The only thing I can do now is to make sure something like this never happens again for all our sake, especially Brittanys’. “ It is then sighed by Alph

In the second Image Charlies Day 1 Log entry can be read it says, “I should have been on top of things. As this crew’s captain, everything that went wrong was under my watch and things should have gone much smoother. That being said I am very glad that all of my crew have made it out alive. Though I am still worried about Brittany. If only I was able to keep her safe…

 But, at this point, we all must press forward. We have a task to complete and after seeing how devastated some areas are, we must get to the bottom of what’s wrong with PNF-404. Nothing will get in my way, not with my steely fists that is!!” It is then signed by  Charlie

In the third image Louies’ day 1 log entry can be seen it says, 

“

Going back to the pikmin planet wasn’t at the top of my list of things I thought I’d be doing anytime soon. Yet somehow I find myself back here and stranded again…. At least I wasn’t fully alone this time…

Alph and I eventually found a pikmin that we later named Chunks. He sure acts differently in comparison to any other Pikmin I’ve seen before. But, even still, if it weren’t for Chunks, we wouldn’t have been able to help Brittany or find any other pikmin for that matter. So, we should thank him for that.” It is then signed by Louie

In the fourth image the updated version of the Project: PNF-404 Tumblr is shown. It now has a bright cyan futuristic aesthetic to it. In the fifth image a picture of the new events page, listing all the past and future events planned so far is shown. It has 1 known event Titled Event 01. The other 3 are titled Event unknown. In the sixth image, the new crew members’ character page is shown. A picture of Olimar is shown along with a description of his traits and a biography. It reads as follows, 

CAPTAIN OLIMAR

AGE 38

ALIAS(ES)Olimar

SPECIES Hocotatian

GENDER Male

TITLE(S) Employee of Hocotate Freight, Xenobiologist

AFFILIATION Hocotate Freight, Planet Hocotate Government

Fatherly, well-meaning, and resourceful, for an almost 40 year old Hocotatian he has a lot of bravery and guts. Olimar first and foremost loves his family and cares deeply for others around him. A Hardworking employee of Hocotate Freight and family man, Olimar tends to try and stay level-headed while looking out for others.

Having been one of the first to visit the Pikmin planet Olimar has extensive knowledge of the planet's life. Lucky for him he just so happens to have gone to college for xenobiology. Many of his findings can be found within his many log entries known as the Piklopedia.

But, for as much as Olimar tends to be on top of things, his trips to the pikmin planet have had him face many dangers and life-threatening events. Though these issues are not something he brings up…

In the seventh image, The new Piklopidea page is shown, In one section it displays a map of PNF-404 with 2 marked locations. The first of which is highlighted in blue is named the “Silent Stream” the second, is highlighted in orange, Its title is “Glacial Gardens”. To the right of that is a description introduction for the Piklopedia. It says” To help ensure the progress and success of this mission all crew members must write down their findings in this log. Overview: 

CAPTAIN Olimar: Writes In-depth biological analysis of fauna and how the ecosystem affects said fauna.

LOUIE: Writes about Recipes and ingredients that can be found in each area. ALPH: Looks at the area with the eyes of an engineer. He uses this insight to discuss the benefits and flaws of what he’s analyzing. BRITTANY: Uses her botanist skills to look into the flora of the area along with talking about the aesthetics of things and adding in her own general opinions.

CAPTAIN CHARLIE: Writes about combat strategy and how one can use the environment in an area for a tactical advantage.

To the left is a map showing the current locations discovered by the crew. The one highlighted in orange has yet to be explored.

The final image shows the new music page! 6 playlists can be selected on the left each having 5 songs. To the right is an image of the event 01 cover art. With (from left to right), Brittnay, Charlie, Olimar, Louie, and Alph all looking up with a distressed expression on their faces. 

END ID

After a few years of trial and error, I think I've finally found the perfect organization method.

In the early years of high school, I had a bullet journal. I was an artsy kid who found a way to combine art with organization in a way that benefited other parts of my life.

However, as I approached the end of high school, my schedule got busier, and I was involved in a lot more things, so owning a bullet journal was less practical. Because of that, I switched to an app called Edo Agenda.

I continued with digital planning in college since I knew I wasn't going to have as much time. But all the apps I tried out—Taskade, Actions by Moleskine, Any.do, Todoist, Wunderlist—weren't suited to my planning and organizational needs. They didn't have the specific functions I required and didn't incorporate an organization system I liked to use. The predefined apps were too restraining, but the more customizable apps weren't customizable enough.

So then I switched to a bare bones, uber minimalist bullet journal method. That worked pretty well my second semester. It was simple, portable, and most importantly, flexible—all the things one could wish for in a planning system. However, it wasn't always the most convenient to use since I couldn't effectively integrate all the different aspects of my life, which, to no surprise, is mostly recorded digitally.

There was just one huge problem with my digital organization system that made me hesitant to switch back in the first place: everything was fragmented. Notes were in Google Docs. Financial records were in Google Sheets. To-Do Lists were in my bullet journal. Team projects were in Trello. My poetry was on Bear. Things I wanted to try are carelessly pinned to random pinterest boards or added to my YouTube "watch later" playlist. It was a mess.

Over the summer, I found out about Notion from a friend, and I thought, this has so much potential, it could even be exactly what I need. It's essentially like an empty notebook on your computer with functions that make it 10x more powerful. Notion allows you to integrate all aspects of your life and work into one app. Some of the advantages that have made me partial to Notion are:

Even greater customization level. Notion is a blank canvas with tons of predefined blocks and different file types. You can make databases, spreadsheets, Kanban boards, to do lists, etc. Also, you can remain connected to other digital services. You can link websites, collaborate with other users, use different structures (e.g. documents, databases, tasks), embed images and videos, etc. There are also tons of formatting options, e.g. text color, highlight, heading v. body text.

Better organization. Notion allows you to have pages within pages within pages within pages—an infinite hierarchy that you can organize with tables of contents. These pages are made of blocks, e.g. tables, checklists, boards, databases.  Both pages and blocks can be rearranged by simply dragging and dropping them to where you want them to be. In other words, I guess it's kind of like building a website to organize your life. Plus, their database feature is especially powerful as it allows you to connect all your data and get into as much detail as you wish (each entry in a database is its own page).

Templates. There are tons of templates created by both Notion and the community that you can use. These are especially helpful in the beginning since Notion does have a rather steep learning curve. There are template for almost every category: personal, planning, finance, job applications, design roadmap, etc. Check out their template gallery, this medium article called "10 Notion templates to inspire your use", or read on for my own examples!

Shortcuts. This makes typing and documenting so much faster. Notion uses Markdown, which is a text-to-HTML conversion tool, e.g. # = Heading 1, *, - = bullet point, etc.

Notion has some pretty awesome features, but how does one actually use it? Personally, I have four top-level pages: my planner, my personal journal, songwriting, and blogging.

Planner

I've been using my planner to, well, plan and track my day to day activities as well as my week and month. The way I've structured it is a calendar or monthly overview with links to pages of weekly overviews, and if needed, daily overviews within the weekly overview. This links things up so nicely, i.e. I don't have to be constantly flipping pages in my physical bullet journal or planner to find what I need.

I also have entertainment lists, which is mainly a table with all the shows I want to watch, the books I want to read, etc. I keep track of whether or not I've watched them, as well as my personal ratings. What I love most about this is that each entry is its own page, so I can type my notes for each book, show, or film and easily find them in the future. (Also the reason why I have plural “lists” instead of just one entertainment list is because you can filter entries by type of entertainment, e.g. movies, tv shows, books, articles.)

Personal

For personal notes, goals, journal entries, etc. This is kind of like an extension of my daily journal and just where I dump all my thoughts and keep track of the different aspects of my life: mental, emotional, spiritual, social, physical, and travel.

Another page I have is called "Stray Thoughts" and, well, it's pretty self explanatory. It's a lot easier to dump all my thoughts as they come and reorganize them later. Of course, this requires sacrificing the rawness of journaling, i.e. when the thoughts come and how you process them, which is why I still keep a regular journal that I write in daily.

Songwriting

I've been writing a lot of music over the summer and it's often hard to keep track of all of my songs and how far I've gotten in the songwriting process. So I created a table of songs - each entry of a song is a page with its lyrics. These are then tagged with the status of the lyrics (i.e. completed, in progress) and the status of the music itself (i.e. melody only, instrumental, mixing, mastering, revised). Eventually, I'll include demos in the database by embedding audio files in the document.

I have a separate section for inspiration and ideas, which is a kind of brain dump, e.g. words I think would make a good song, a certain theme for a song, a melody that's been stuck in my head, a vibe I'd like to try out, etc.

I've also been watching a lot of tutorials for music production and there's a section where I write my notes for that.

Eintsein

The last section of my Notion app is for this blog. Which has pages for

New posts. These are ideas for future posts, asks that I think would need longer answers, as well as posts that are currently in the draft stage (like this one was before I posted it)

Design assets. This is where I put all the visual branding material for Eintsein.com to be used in posts and any visual material on the blog.

FAQ. Having an FAQ document just makes it so much easier to make changes to your existing FAQ. Plus, if you ever change your FAQ theme, you just have to copy and paste what you already have.

Post directory. I keep track of all my previous masterposts, infographics, and generally longer and more comprehensive posts. It's the exact same as what you see on my Navigation page. And yes, the document contains direct links to the post.

New theme. A project I've been working on the past couple days is trying to create my own theme for my blog. This is where I put all my outlines, brainstorming notes, design inspiration, code snippets, etc.There are some pretty awesome features I’ve made use of in this page:

As you can probably tell, I'm absolutely obsessed with Notion since it has such awesome features and endless possibilities for customization. So far I've been using Notion for personal projects, which, since they are quite big in scale and have no set deadline, are important to organize well. My summer courses were only 6 weeks and weren't difficult to organize.

The formats above are just how I personally use notion. You could make some of your own, or if you don't think you want to build your pages from scratch, there are tons of templates to choose from. Here are some I think I'll be using in the near future and may be helpful for others as well, especially students like myself:

One drawback, however, is that Notion has a rather steep learning curve, but there are tons of tutorials online (especially YouTube) and I guarantee you it's all worth it.

Notion is not just a productivity app. It's a way to concretize your entire life.

Notion is free to use, but there are higher tiers that allow for more blocks, greater file size, etc. I use a personal account, which is $4 per month with unlimited block storage and no file upload limit (although I got it for $33/year). Personally I think the free plan would suit most people's needs, especially if you're not uploading large files.

Task 1: Concept Mind Maps

In pairs we produced a mind map of each others concept, for our final project, planning and considering how we can explore the following factors:

Research

Experimentation

Sampling

Development 

Production

Personal Reflection/ Evaluation 

Project/ Time Management 

We was asked to write down our narrative on a piece of paper and swap with our partner so we had each others narrative. We then wrote down our ideas that came to mind related to their narrative, in order to help them with new ideas they may not have thought of or knew about. I really enjoyed this task as it helped me learn new facts about the petite world and I was able to complete lots of research. I always loved hearing about my peers narratives and their stories as to why they are focusing on a certain topic. 

My completed research from this task:

Petite models - 

After researching about types of work available for petite models I found out that other than Moss, most petite models do commercial and catalogue work. Models who work in fashion generally work with high street brands specialising in petite clothing. It is very rare for a petite model to find high-fashion work on the catwalk or for designer labels. This is something that I find unfair as your height should not matter. However, petite models are not restricted when finding work. This is due to an increase in brands catering for men and women with smaller frames and shorter legs, petite models are now employed to keep up with this fashion industry demand. 

Successful petite models - 

Models who have refused to obey the stereotypical image associated with top designers, catwalks and campaigns are creating a path for petite models. These inspiring successful models have completely ignored the height restriction demonstrating that a smaller stature is required in the fashion industry. “Successful petite models are making an impact in a tall girls stomping ground, ignoring the confinements set upon them.” 

Twiggy -

A british icon in the sixties and only 5″4. She revolutionised the stereotypical look of the era, starting a new breed of supermodels. Her height is rarely mentioned due to her confident persona that demands attention. She is still the shortest model with such a supermodel status. 

Beautiful dreams - Twiggy records her first single 

Anja Konstantinova - 

Russian-Australian model, her impressive range of work includes, Vogue, Marie Claire, Urban Outfitters and French Connection. At 5″4 her height is not an issue with each shot demanding attention with her striking features, blonde hairs and natural posing instincts. The successful model discovered in a melbourne hair salon has received lots of rejection in her career, but she continues to break boundaries in a predominantly tall industry. 

She explains: “People in Australia don’t accept shorter girls because they are a bit harder to work with, you have to photograph them in a certain way.”

How to make the most of your petite frame - 

Don’t draw attention to your shorter height when interacting with clients and via body language. You will have to work extra hard to get noticed, which means standing tall and learning to highlight your height in photos. Never be caught slouching and be sure to work on poses that lengthen your lines. Good posture and strong stature goes a long way when presenting yourself to an agency meeting and photoshoot. 

Petite models who changed the fashion industry -

Lily-Rose Depp

Lily-Rose made her runway debut with chanel in 2016. She is just 5″3, but that did not stop her from becoming the muse of fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld. 

Amina Blu 

This German/ Pakistani beauty is 5″1 and no stranger to New York Fashion Week. Amina has walked for Kanye West more than 5 times. With her unforgettable looks and signature looks, Amina will keep making headlines. 

The ‘Size 0′ movement

Sizes range from 0-2 which is extra small to 14-16 which is larger. Smaller sizes are usually petites, and larger sizes usually found in womens or plus size departments. 

The size-zero ban is proof fashion industry on finally listening to customers. The use of size zero models has been a fashion industry scandal for many years. France’s top fashion house have committed to stop underage and size zero models from featuring in catwalk shows and advertising campaigns. Owners of brands such as Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton say they want to persuade others in the industry to follow suit. The industry has long been accused of promoting unhealthy body images of women and ignoring well-documented health problems experienced by models. In 2017, the French government voted through a law requiring models must have a medical certificate confirming they were not dangerously underweight. 

“No model under 16 years will be recruited to take part in fashion shows or photographic sessions representing adults.” Models between 16-18 years will no longer be allowed to work between 11pm and 6am and must be accompanied by a parent or chaperone if required to stay away from home. 

“The wellbeing of our models is a fundamental subject” the statement from LVMH read. 

Mallory Schlossberg - “I’m part of a huge demographic that retailers largely ignore - here’s why it’s so frustrating” 

When reading this article I very much related myself to it, she mentions being reminded of her height near enough everyday, she is 4″11 like me. “There are only a few times when I'm reminded how short I am: when I'm riding the subway and someone pushes right into me because I'm not in his peripheral vision, when I can't reach my kitchen cabinets and hop onto the counter, and when I'm shopping.” 

When she was in high school and college she frequently shopped in the kids section. She mentioned it being impressive to see the selection that’s available for wealthy, stylish kids these days. She is able to wear a lot of designer apparel that are much cheaper than adult prices as kids clothes takes less fabric to make. However, it comes to a point in an adult woman's life where you do not want to shop in kids section anymore, she wanted to wear apparel for women because she is a woman. Adult size small dresses zip up just fine, but they hug in all the wrong places and drag on the ground or are longer fit on her than they’re supposed to be. 

“It's frustrating. How do you shop for clothes and not look like a child in children's clothing — or a child playing dress up in her mother's closet?”

There are retailers that do cater to petite women although the ranges are very limited. 

“Walk into Ann Taylor, Loft (where I buy my jeans), J. Crew, Banana Republic, or a department store, and you'll see selections of petite clothing, often relegated to a small corner with an odd amalgam of apparel, as though the merchandise team is wondering, "who is this petite woman? Is she a mother? Is she frumpy? Is she a decaying 90-year-old? Is she youthful and feisty? Is she too young to show off her curves? Is she a virgin?" The answer  — from a petite woman — is that she is none of the above, and she is all of the above. The petite woman is just like the regular-sized customer...only shorter.”

Retailers seem very confused with how to deal with short women. Topshop and Anthropologie are starting to recognise that short women like to look fashionable too, but the lack of options and concern for petite shoppers is noticeable. The reason as to why there are fewer petite options and not all stores offer apparel for smaller-framed women is because it requires a different design pattern. 

As blogger TanyaTheAnonymousModel wrote on Jezebel:

"For a dress to look the same on a petite woman, a standard size woman and a plus woman — for the hem to hit at the same place on each woman's leg, for the waist to sit at the appropriate height, for the neckline to flatter but not overexpose, for the pockets to be useful, easily reached, and neither too small nor too big — requires, in effect, three totally different paper patterns, each with a separate, and expensive, development process."

The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City offers a continuing education course in image consulting, combining petite and plus size bodies together as "special size" customers — noting that they make up about a tremendous amount of the population. The course description reads as follows:

"Over 70 million U.S. women fall into the special size category, that 50 % of the population is actually under 5'4", and 65 million women are considered plus size. Designers, patternmakers, retailers, stylists, and image consultants, and wardrobe technicians can all benefit from this in-depth workshop that demystifies the special size business potential. Learn the facts behind the figures with practical information for fulfilling the expectations of the special size customer with proper fit, fashion, and service. Highly recommended for anyone looking to increase sales and services. Interact with our two industry experts as they each tackle the dilemmas facing both the petite and plus-size customer and give concrete directions for satisfying their shopping needs and fashion passions."

An undergraduate course "sketching for fashion designers" mentions that "Large, half-size, petite, and junior-size figures are featured to study proportions used in the industry". Showing petites aren't entirely ignored in design school, they just aren't given equal attention. They're generally not on runways; runways are about aspiration, and who aspires to be 5'2''?

“Petite women have not been celebrated loudly as equals. They have not been given body-positive model icons to speak on their behalf, although we do have Kelly Ripa, Snooki, and Kim Kardashian in our corner. There has not been a call to action. There hasn't been any real vocal repugnance, but instead, there's been a silence and a void, which is too telling. Petite women have been pushed aside, not permitted to speak — much like the children for which many try not to be mistaken.”

Pluralistic: 04 Mar 2020 (Brokered conventions, the Siege of Gondor, ICE risk-assessment whitebox, Chinese covid censorship, America's national immunocompromise)

Today's links

A brokered convention will produce a powerless presidency: Transformative change requires a movement, not a plan.

What the Siege of Gondor teaches us about medieval warfare: 40,000 riveting words from Roman military historian Bret Deveraux.

ICE's risk assessment algorithm only ever recommends detention: NYCLU suing to force them to admit what we've all figured out.

Probing China's Covid-19 censorship: Outstanding work from Citizen Lab.

America is uniquely at risk from coronavirus: 77 million un- and underinsured people.

This day in history:

Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

I'm coming to Kelowna, BC tomorrow! I'll be at the library from 6-8PM with my book Radicalized for the CBC's Canada Reads. It's free, but you need to RSVP (and most of the seats are gone, so act quick).

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cbc-radio-presents-in-conversation-with-cory-doctorow-tickets-96154415445

A brokered convention will produce a powerless presidency (permalink)

Hoping for a brokered convention is basically saying, "Hey, go fuck yourself" to every doorknocker and phone canvasser in your base. It says, "Let's not use votes to choose the candidate. You little people were for show. We choose our leaders by gathering the people who matter in smoke-filled rooms."

Any candidate hoping to enact a transformative program from the presidency is going to need a powerful, motivated base to whip establishment Dems into order: "I want to do it, now make me do it." Jettisoning the idea that your supporters get you nominated is the most demoralizing thing I can imagine, short of shutting off the server your organizers used to get you elected as soon as they succeed (looking at you, Barack Obama).

It's pure technocratic hubris, the kind of thing that turns promising wonks into figureheads who accomplish nothing. Saving America from plutocracy and white nationalism requires a movement, not a savior with a plan.

What the Siege of Gondor teaches us about medieval warfare (permalink)

Last spring, Roman military historian Bret Devereaux published over 40,000 words of analysis of the Siege of Gondor as depicted in Peter Jackson's Return of the King. It is by far the best use of fiction as a tool for teaching history that I've ever read.

It's in 6 parts, broken down by themes. By far my favorite section was the opener, on the logistics of sieges. I am a quartermaster by temperament, and the logistic of moving 200,000 orcs (plus trolls, elephants, siege engines, etc) is FASCINATING.

https://acoup.blog/2019/05/10/collections-the-siege-of-gondor/

"The road the orcs are on allows them to march five abreast, meaning there are 40,000 such rows. Giving each orc four feet of space on the march, that would mean the army alone stretches 30 miles down a single road. At that length, the tail end of the army would not even be able to leave camp before the front of the army had finished marching for the day." (!!)

The section on the siege's opener, part II, is likewise fascinating and contains some great craft notes.

https://acoup.blog/2019/05/17/collections-the-siege-of-gondor-part-ii-these-beacons-are-liiiiiiit/

"LOTR doesn't rely – as so much fiction does – on the 'good guys' making stupid mistake after stupid mistake in order to create tension. Instead, Gondor executes its plans admirably, and yet it is so outmatched in military might that it remains in peril."

Part III is more in the weeds on weapons and tactics. It gets into some really gnarly deep nerd stuff about the immediate preamble to a siege that I loved.

https://acoup.blog/2019/05/24/collections-the-siege-of-gondor-part-iii-having-fun-storming-the-city/

"The paths the siege towers will take must be cleared and leveled (even a slight grade will tip them over). Earthwork cover for the approach on the gate should be set up, along with obstructions to prevent the army within the city from advancing at an inopportune moment. In assaulting a fortified city with a large army, the spade is often the most important weapon. Even building a ramp right up the enemy walls to enter the city was a common and successful tactic, if the assaulting army had enough labor to do it quickly enough."

My favorite part of the section on calvary charge was the notable absence of NCOs in the orc ranks, maintaining discipline.

https://acoup.blog/2019/05/31/collections-the-siege-of-gondor-part-iv-the-cavalry-arrives/

"The orc general, Gothmog has to push through the ranks and reorder his infantry, while the orcs stare dumbfounded at the new threat. This is a task that should have been taken up by a hundred-hundred NCOs up and down the line, which speaks to problems of command structure."

By far the most intensely geeky section is in Part V, which deals with the math for calculating whether the trolls could possibly heft the hammers that deal the damage that we see.

https://acoup.blog/2019/06/07/collections-the-siege-of-gondor-part-v-just-flailing-about-flails/

"If a troll really is around 9 times as strong as a strong man, we might figure that a troll sledgehammer might be something like 81kg, and a troll warhammer only 5.76 – 13.59kg. Wildly short of the massive clubs and hammers the trolls wield in these scenes."

ICE's risk assessment algorithm only ever recommends detention (permalink)

The New York Civil Liberties Union and Bronx Defenders have filed suit against ICE, trying to force it to respond to a FOIA request about risk assessment algorithm that has put people in detention 97% of the time.

https://theintercept.com/2020/03/02/ice-algorithm-bias-detention-aclu-lawsuit/

The algorithm was tweaked after the 2016 election (prior to then, it only recommended detention for 53% of cases), and by classifying virtually everyone it evaluates as a public safety risk, it violates the law's requirement of "individualized determinations" for detentions.

People in immigration detention have yet to see a judge or be found guilty. They can be locked up for weeks or months, and detention can cost them their jobs — or even their children. The Trump administration has exponentially increased the number of immigration arrests; coupled with automatic detention-by-algorithm, this has put thousands of New Yorkers in harm's way.

Investigative journalists and activists have previously shown that the algorithm was changed to eliminate all possible outcomes (bond, release, etc), so that it could only recommend detention. So the problem here isn't the usual one of not knowing how the black-box works. We know exactly how it works. You ask it, "Should this person be detained?" and it says "Yes."

"The no-release policy is particularly tough on people with disabilities or health problems. 'This practice of widespread detention is both cruel and needless.'"

Probing China's Covid-19 censorship (permalink)

Citizen Lab's new report on Chinese coronavirus censorship is outstanding. By decompiling the YY client (which stores blacklist words on the client-side) and probing Wechat (which uses server-side blacklisting), they build up a detailed picture of Chinese epidemiological censorship.

https://citizenlab.ca/2020/03/censored-contagion-how-information-on-the-coronavirus-is-managed-on-chinese-social-media/

Most importantly, they demonstrate how the Cyberspace Administration of China's threat of "thematic inspections" of platforms to ensure coronavirus censorship led to indiscriminate blocking of vital public health information.

It's "authoritarian blindness" in the making, "where people too scared to tell the autocrat the hard truths makes it impossible for the autocrat to set policy that reflects reality"

https://pluralistic.net/2020/02/24/pluralist-your-daily-link-dose-24-feb-2020/#thatswhatxisaid

"Censorship of COVID-19 content started at early stages of the outbreak and continued to expand blocking a wide range of speech, from criticism of the government to officially sanctioned facts and information."

By contrast, the sheer volume of "sarcastic homonyms or word play related to COVID-19" that appear on the blacklist are really a testament to the ingenuity and spirit of Chinese netizens.

"A number of these keyword combinations are critical (e.g., "亲自 [+] 皇上," by someone + emperor), criticizing the central leadership's inability or inaction in dealing with COVID-19 ("习近平 [+] 形式主义 [+] 防疫," Xi Jinping + formalism + epidemic prevention). Many of them refer to leadership in a neutral way (e.g., "肺炎 [+] 李克强 [+] 武汉 [+] 总理 [+] 北京," Pneumonia + Li Keqiang + Wuhan + Premier + Beijing)."

America is uniquely at risk from coronavirus (permalink)

Among rich countries, the USA is uniquely vulnerable to coronavirus. Thanks to its title to "by far the worst system among rich countries, it is much worse than that of many poorer countries when it comes to confronting a fast-moving epidemic."

https://theweek.com/articles-amp/899359/why-america-vulnerable-coronavirus

The US has 77m un/underinsured people. "and the vicious, right-wing ideology of the Republican Party has wrecked the government's ability to manage crises of any kind, " with "unqualified cronies" running important agencies.

"Now they are resorting to the only thing they know how to do really well — lying, concocting conspiracy theories and blaming Democrats and the media for any bad news. It does not bode well."

This day in history (permalink)

#15yrsago EFF is hiring a new IP lawyer https://web.archive.org/web/20050307005314/http://www.corante.com/copyfight/archives/2005/03/04/ip_attorneys_eff_wants_you.php (the ad that led to the hiring of Corynne McSherry!)

#10yrsago Guardian column on LibDem proposal to block web-lockers https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/mar/04/web-lockers-digital-economy-liberal-democrats-wrong

#1yrago Fox News was always partisan, but now it is rudderless and "anti-democratic" https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/11/the-making-of-the-fox-news-white-house

#1yrago Leaked memo suggests that Google has not really canceled its censored, spying Chinese search tool https://theintercept.com/2019/03/04/google-ongoing-project-dragonfly/

#1yrago Terra Nullius: Grifters, settler colonialism and "intellectual property" https://locusmag.com/2019/03/cory-doctorow-terra-nullius/

#1yrago Tim Maughan's Infinite Detail: a debut sf novel about counterculture, resistance, and the post-internet apocalypse https://boingboing.net/2019/03/04/gnu-slash-apocalypse.html

#1yrago Financialization is wearing out its welcome https://www.ft.com/content/a9f13afc-3c3d-11e9-b856-5404d3811663

#1yrago How the patent office's lax standards gave Elizabeth Holmes the BS patents she needed to defraud investors and patients https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/03/theranos-how-a-broken-patent-system-sustained-its-decade-long-deception/

Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources: Naked Capitalism (https://nakedcapitalism.com/), Slashdot (https://slashdot.org/) and Kottke (Kottke).

Hugo nominators! My story "Unauthorized Bread" is eligible in the Novella category and you can read it free on Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

Upcoming appearances:

Canada Reads Kelowna: March 5, 6PM, Kelowna Library, 1380 Ellis Street, with CBC's Sarah Penton https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cbc-radio-presents-in-conversation-with-cory-doctorow-tickets-96154415445

Currently writing: I just finished a short story, "The Canadian Miracle," for MIT Tech Review. It's a story set in the world of my next novel, "The Lost Cause," a post-GND novel about truth and reconciliation. I'm getting geared up to start work on the novel now, though the timing is going to depend on another pending commission (I've been solicited by an NGO) to write a short story set in the world's prehistory.

Currently reading: Just started Lauren Beukes's forthcoming Afterland: it's Y the Last Man plus plus, and two chapters in, it's amazeballs. Last month, I finished Andrea Bernstein's "American Oligarchs"; it's a magnificent history of the Kushner and Trump families, showing how they cheated, stole and lied their way into power. I'm getting really into Anna Weiner's memoir about tech, "Uncanny Valley." I just loaded Matt Stoller's "Goliath" onto my underwater MP3 player and I'm listening to it as I swim laps.

Latest podcast: Disasters Don't Have to End in Dystopias: https://craphound.com/podcast/2020/03/01/disasters-dont-have-to-end-in-dystopias/

Upcoming books: "Poesy the Monster Slayer" (Jul 2020), a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Pre-order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627?utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=socialpost&utm_term=na-poesycorypreorder&utm_content=na-preorder-buynow&utm_campaign=9781626723627

(we're having a launch for it in Burbank on July 11 at Dark Delicacies and you can get me AND Poesy to sign it and Dark Del will ship it to the monster kids in your life in time for the release date).

"Attack Surface": The third Little Brother book, Oct 20, 2020.

"Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a very special, s00per s33kr1t intro.

MARCH 2020 GOLD STAR MEDIA SCHEDULES & REVIEW

Members may earn 3 points each (up to 6 points) for writing, by the end of April 7 KST:

A solo para of 400+ words based on their monthly schedule (does not count toward your monthly total).

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) based on their monthly schedule.

Threads do not have to take place directly during an important date listed on the schedule, but must be related to what the muse is mentioned to be doing in the paragraph explaining their schedule/the company’s schedule for the month and/or their thoughts on the mentioned activities or lack thereof.

These schedules may be updated throughout the month if new information needs to be added.

Reminder: February schedule posts are due by the end of March 7 KST.

Overall Company

There’s not much to report at Gold Star this month. Idols are doing well, with different groups and soloists in different phases of touring or comebacks or, more likely, preparation for one of the two. It feels like the higher-ups are comfortable with the company’s successes, but comfortable isn’t always a good thing when any other company would be happy to take Gold Star’s spot.

Important dates:

N/A

Gold Star Soloist 1

After much wait from fans, she’ll be releasing a single this month. It’s a pre-release for her album and having no music video doesn’t stop it from being the great success all of her releases are and hitting number one. It seems to be a good omen for the rest of the album, though nothing less was expected from management or her fans. This month, she’ll be focused on promoting the single before she finishes up album preparations next month.

Important dates:

March 15: Release of “Love Poem”, promotions continue until April 15.

Gold Star Soloist 2

The first stop of her Korean tour last month went off without a hitch and now she’s back for another concert, this time in Gwangju (see January schedule for special stages). While she’s not known for having a very large core fan base, her concerts are popular with the general public, making for a full house for her performances and glowing critical reviews after the fact.

Important dates:

March 14: I AM : RE-BORN tour concert at Kimdaejung Convention Center in Gwangju, South Korea.

Gold Star Soloist 3

“Love Die Young”, which he’s releasing next month won’t have a music video featuring him, as Gold Star has instead opted for the low budget of a lyric video. He should take the extra time to get more than comfortable performing the song live this month. As it’s the last month before his comeback, most of his work is logistics work behind the scenes. Before his comeback, Gold Star also insists he film another cover video of the popular song “Bad Guy”. It’s a song that has found popularity in both Korea and the English-speaking market, so Gold Star wants it to get the attention of both audiences and expand his fan base.

Important dates:

March 22: Release of “Bad Guy” cover video.

March 30: Performance at Seoul Spring Festival Day Concert (see event).

Silhouette

To prepare for the release of their Japanese comeback next month, the members are tasked with filming the music video in the second half of March after learning the choreography in the first half. The music video is simple with choreography shots and singing shots with a total of two outfits that will be given to the members at the shoot instead of sending them through true fittings. It’s pretty low budget, but Gold Star expects to ride the hype of their recent tour in Japan to sell the song instead of a high promotional budget. Earlier in the month, they have a simple photo shoot for men’s magazine Arena Homme Plus.

Important dates:

March 9: Photo shoot for Arena Homme Plus’s April issue.

March 20: "Bad Girl For You” MV filming.

Aria

Aria will be holding their fanmeeting in the second half of the month. For the event, the members are asked to write a short note to fans that will be copied and distributed at the fanmeeting as well as provide management a short list of items they’d like to suggest be included in gift bags for fans at the fanmeeting. On top of fanmeeting preparations, Aria will be called into a concept meeting for their next album near the beginning of the month and will begin recording songs for the album shortly after. Their comeback is slated for June.

Important dates:

March 21: Aria Melodic Fanmeeting at Sejeong University Daeyang Hall in Seoul, South Korea.

March 30: Performance at Seoul Spring Festival Day Concert (see event).

Origin

Their schedule for the past few months has mainly consisted of CF filming and behind the scenes work, but beginning next month, Origin is back to meeting with their fans as they begin holding their Japanese fanmeetings. After their short break last month, they’re expected to be refreshed so that they can jump straight into dance and stage rehearsals for the fanmeetings. 

Important dates:

March 14: Japanese fanmeeting stage outfit fittings.

March 30: Performance at Seoul Spring Festival Day Concert (see event).

Impulse

Their Seven Secrets Fanfest in Bangkok falls around the middle of the month, so the members will have some additional time to practice the vocal or dance covers they’ve chosen for their specified date. Impulse is noted for being extremely popular in the country, so Impulse is expected to do their best to pay back some of their most loyal fans. The dates each member will get to perform their solo cover in the set list is as follows:

March 19: Maknae/main dancer/vocal

March 20: Lead rapper/lead dancer (1st show), Main vocal (2nd show)

March 21: Lead vocal/lead dancer (1st show), Lead rapper (2nd show)

March 22: Main rapper (1st show), Leader/main vocal/lead dancer (2nd show)

Important dates:

March 19: Seven Secrets in Bangkok Fanfest at Union Mall in Bangkok, Thailand (one show).

March 20: Seven Secrets in Bangkok Fanfest at Union Mall in Bangkok, Thailand (two shows).

March 21: Seven Secrets in Bangkok Fanfest at Union Mall in Bangkok, Thailand (two shows). 

March 22: Seven Secrets in Bangkok Fanfest at Union Mall in Bangkok, Thailand (two shows).

Fuse

Now that they’re back in Seoul from their Switzerland trip, it’s time for the Fuse members to begin preparing for their next concert tour. They will only hold the Seoul dates before they make their comeback, but most of the set list will be already existing songs, save for “La Rouge”, a new song that will be on their next album they will record this month in order to rehearse. The members haven’t heard the other new songs decided for their next album yet, but this will give away to the members and fans that they’re going for a more R&B sound than they did with the first two parts of the series. The leader/main rapper/lead dancer/vocal and the lead vocal/rapper will get solo dance section, while the main vocal will get a solo dance highlight near the end of Really Bad Boy (RBB). All members with solo releases will also get a solo stage to perform their most recently released solo song as of the time of the first concerts (please check here to see who this applies to and which song that will be).

Important dates:

March 30: Performance at Seoul Spring Festival Day Concert (see event).

Element

Now that their North America tour is finished, it’s full steam into comeback preparations. This month they’ll learn the choreography and spend hours rehearsing it until they have it down by heart. At the end of the month, they’ll pay a visit to their stylist to try on potential stage outfit and music video outfits. Since they have costumized outfits to fit the concept for this comeback, the fittings will be outside of Gold Star. They’ll be filmed both rehearsing the choreography and going to fittings for the accompanying comeback documentary.

Important dates:

March 21: MV and stage outfit fittings.

Femme Fatale

After BEE’s contract with Mise En Scene ended, Femme Fatale have been chosen as the new ambassadors of the hair brand. It’s an honor to follow in the footsteps of such a legendary group and they’ll film their first CF for the deal early in the month after returning from their Kuala Lumpur tour dates. They have one other tour date this month in Taipei that will be the last date of their Asia tour (and both  will continue to be filmed for their video diaries, along with comeback prep). After that, they return to Seoul for a short time to practice for their comeback and shoot their photo book pictures before flying out to New York from March 16-20 to make some television appearances performing songs from their last comeback and shoot covers for Billboard Magazine. After coming back to Seoul, they’ll shoot their individual teaser videos and film their comeback music video over two days.

Important dates:

March 1: Femme Fatale In Your Area World Tour concert at Malawati Indoor Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

March 4: Mise En Scene CF filming.

March 8: Femme Fatale In Your Area World Tour concert at Linkou Arena in Kuala Taipei, Taiwan.

March 10: Photo book [2] [3] [4] shoot.

March 16: Performance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in New York, NY, USA.

March 17: Cover photo shoot for Billboard magazine.

March 19: Performance on Good Morning America in New York, NY, USA.

March 19: Interview and performance on Strahan and Sara.

March 21: Kill This Love individual teaser videos [lead vocal] [main rapper] [main vocal] [main dancer] shoot.

March 22 & 23: “Kill This Love” MV filming.

Job Hunting Advice from a Xennial for New College Grads

Hey there. I’ve been reading some posts from folx who are understandably TERRIFIED and CONFUSED because job hunting is exactly The Worst. I have some pointers to make it less sucky, as someone who’s been through it a number of times in the past 20 years, mostly using online tools (while Gen Xers and Baby Boomers yelled at me to just “hit the pavement”), and who has also been responsible for interviewing and hiring people. I’ll add to this as I think of more stuff. Mostly this is stuff career counselors don’t tell people and I’ve had to figure out on my own.

Where To Find Jobs 1: The Internet

Anymore, job hunting largely, but not exclusively, happens online. I’ve had some really good luck applying for jobs directly through a company’s website and through LinkedIn in recent years. Sites that are intended to be huge job boards for all types of jobs tend to be quagmires, and, in my experience, are kind of a waste of time. BUT there are some specific job boards, like Idealist for nonprofit jobs, and Dice for tech jobs, that tend to be useful, or at least do a nice job connecting you with recruiters.

Where to Find Jobs 2: Recruiters

Recruiters are a mixed bag. They get paid to help find people for jobs, and usually they’re looking for folx with more than a few years’ experience. Some recruiters are tasked with trying to fill jobs that are terrible, so a lot of what they do is try to sweet-talk people into jobs with horrible pay and benefits. But then there are some that can be super helpful in finding you a job that’s a really good fit for you. Your mileage may vary. If you happen to meet a recruiter at an event, it’s worth staying in touch with them, but don’t put all your eggs in that basket. If a recruiter finds you a position, it’s a bonus, but put most of your job-hunting energy elsewhere.

Where to Find Jobs 3: Networking

So many career guidance folx will tell you “network! that’s where all the jobs are!” and they’re correct, but they never tell you fucking HOW to do that. So here’s how.

1. NETWORKING EVENTS: Google something like, “career fair” or “networking event” or “happy hour” plus your particular interest/skill set and location. So, like, “Librarian happy hour North Dakota” or something. Keep the location broad - you may have to travel a bit to find one, depending where you’re located. You can also broaden your search terms to things like “nonprofit” or “government” or “healthcare.” Check for these events on Meetup and Facebook. There may also be groups in your area that meet regularly that you could join. 

2. INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS: Is there a particular company you want to work for? Cool. Is there someone there (or at a similar company) doing a job that looks a lot like what you want to do, if not now, but in 5-10 years? Stellar. Find that person’s contact info (may require a bit of research - again, Google-fu, but try not to be stalkery) and send them an email like, “Hi, I just graduated from XYZ and I’m really interested in getting into FIELD. Would you be willing to have coffee/Skype with me sometime in the next month and tell me about your career journey?” People love to tell their stories. Prepare some questions to ask them, like “How did you get started?” “What was the most important thing you learned early in your career?” “What advice would you give somebody who is just starting out in this field?” etc. and then listen. You can tell them a little bit about where you’re at, but generally this meeting should be focused on THEM. After you meet with them, send a followup thank you, and set up calendar reminders every couple of months to tell them hi, maybe share an article related to your field, something to keep you in their brain so that if they have a job opening, hey, they know someone who’s interested. Being a known quantity makes a lot of difference.

Resume Tips

1. Include a section called “Skills” and list every bit of software you are comfortable with. (Pro tip: Microsoft Excel is really, really useful in a lot of jobs. If you don’t know how to use it, find an online course to learn it and put it on your resume. Seriously.) Also good things to include would be if you had to do any accounting/budget management for a job, etc.

2. When writing about your previous jobs, focus on what you accomplished, rather than what you were responsible for. Are there ways that place is/was better off with you there? Did you improve anything? Write about it, with an action word at the start of each bullet point. Something like, “Increased daily sales by 10% over 2 years” or “Ensured tips were correctly distributed among staff” or “Praised for punctuality and dedication.” ANYTHING that shows you, specifically, were good at that thing. You do not have to list every single thing you were responsible for in that job. Unless it’s relevant to the job you’re applying for, don’t bother including it.

3. Ask colleagues/former bosses for letters of recommendation that you can use, then pull quotes from them and put them on your resume in little quote boxes. (This is a good space-filler, but it also shows you’re pleasant to work with.)

4. Put skills and experience at the top; education at the bottom.

5. Bold key words related to the type job you’re seeking. HR reps spend an average of 30 seconds looking at a resume, and they don’t usually understand the job itself but have been given key words to look for. (Hint: Those words are usually in the job description.) Make your resume easy to scan. Think bullets, think bolded phrases, think section headers, think two-column as opposed to one-column.

6. For fuck’s sake, proofread. Have a friend proofread. Read it out loud. Do not misspell shit or use bad/inconsistent grammar.

Cover Letter Tips

1. Your cover letter is your chance to express yourself, especially if you are looking for a job in a creative field. Mix up the formatting. Add colorful headers. Throw in a photo of yourself. 

2. Your goal in the resume is to show you’re qualified; your goal in the cover letter is to reinforce that but also to show why you’d be a good fit for the company and why you want to work for them specifically. Make sure you answer those questions in there, but keep it brief.

Interview Tips

1. Did you know you’re allowed to bring notes to an interview? You totally can.

2. Preparing for a job interview is like preparing to be interviewed for a press conference. You want to make sure you’re clear on your talking points. Think about, and write down, the top 3 or 5 reasons they should hire you for the job, and if you get stuck during the interview, go back to those.

3. If you want extra-special awesomeness points, you can use my secret weapon: the “Why I’m Awesome Sheet.” I created this when I was first job hunting and it has gotten me offers DURING THE INTERVIEW because people were so impressed by it. All you do is you take the job description, break it into bullet points of what they’re looking for, then put 1-2 bullets beneath each one of how YOU fit that thing they’re looking for. This is great for a few reasons:

You’re demonstrating that you’re proactive and willing to go the extra mile to get this job, doing work that wasn’t asked for.

You’ve saved the interviewer the work of matching up the stuff on your resume with the job description, and therefore made their life easier.

It will help you better remember why you’re a good choice for the job during the interview, which will make you appear more confident.

If they ask you the dreaded “Why should I hire you?” question, you just HAND THEM THIS SHEET.

4. Don’t forget to send a thank-you note after the interview to each person who was at the interview. Email is fine.

5. Do not stop looking for work just because you’ve scheduled an interview. Keep several irons in the fire and try to apply for a new job every day if you can.

6. Remember to smile, especially in a phone interview. I know that seems weird, but smiling on the phone makes you sound engaged and positive.

Patience

This may not seem obvious, but people hiring for jobs have a TON of other work they’re responsible for. They are often very slow to follow-up because filling the position is not their #1 or even their #10 priority, most of the time. Expect that it could take several months to hear back on an initial resume & cover letter submission. Expect that it could take a couple of weeks or more to hear back after an interview. Expect it can take several days to get a response to a question via email. This is common. Try not to sweat it. You can follow up to ask where the process is after you’ve interviewed, but don’t do that too often or too quickly. Wait about a week after you’d expect to hear back. 

That said, if they contact you for follow-up, respond as quickly as possible. Don’t let it sit in your inbox for more than 1 day. Seriously. Be professional and careful in how you respond, proofread, etc. but do not let it linger.

Finally, unfortunately, sometimes you will not hear back if you were not selected for a job. Sometimes your resume will go into a black hole, because a lot of companies are terrible to applicants and don’t inform them of status at all. Try not to sweat that either. 

on cosplay planning and research

So, for those of us who opt to hate ourselves make our own cosplays, starting a project can be hugely overwhelming. A lot of characters are amazingly and intricately designed and in being so are difficult to duplicate and can be very stress making, but, as with any large task, the best way to go about it is to break it down into multiple build/buying goals. For illustrating my point during this post, I’ll be walking you through my process and occasionally using bits and examples from the research I did while building my Infinity War version of Steve Rogers.

And yeah, I know. This is a long post. It’s going to be a decent chunk of work before you even start building your cosplay. BUT, the better you prep, the smoother the rest of the process will go. Plus I find that having a record of all this is surprisingly useful in future cosplays- they might have similar elements or pieces to them, so if you can just reference the work you’ve saved from before you won’t need to do it all over again. So put on a playlist, make yourself a nice cup of tea, get comfy and let’s start this process together~

Step 1- Reference Photos and Window Shopping

The first thing you need to decide (after you’ve chosen your character) is if you’re going to try to replicate the costume as closely as possible, or if you’re going to make it your own. You’ve got to keep in mind that the closer you want your costume to be to the original, the more difficult (and most likely expensive) it is going to be fore you. Having a screen accurate cosplay is hugely satisfying, don’t get me wrong- but if you’re the type of person who likes to cosplay a bunch of different characters, it might not be the best choice for you financially or in terms of time commitment.

So once you have in your head how you want to go about it, you’re going to want to collect as many reference images as you can. If you’re doing an original design/mashup/taking liberties, sketch it out! You don’t have to be a skilled artist, but draw out a few versions of what you’re going for. If you’re genderbending, find fan art and other cosplayers who have done the same and take inspiration from them. If you can watch the show/play the game/own the original source material, go through it and save as many stills/photos from the character at every angle you can possibly find. This’ll take a few watches through but  when I was researching for my Infinity War Steve Rogers cosplay, that meant I got to sit and look at Chris Evans all day (week) soooooooo it was worth it. Some companies release in depth art books or reference images (like Blizzard’s “cosplay kits”), so if you can access those, take advantage of them. If, like when I started this project, your source material hasn’t actually been released yet, be creative. Cap has similar suit designs throughout his trilogy, and his IW suit is a damaged version of one of his prior uniforms, so I pulled reference images from Civil War. I looked at all the promo posters and trailers, I even pulled from toys and other promotional products. You’ll notice (especially when it comes to toys) that the design might change slightly between that and the real deal, but you can never have too much information. At the very least, you want a full body shot, from a minimum of four angles- front, back, and from the sides. Print out the pics for when you’re actually making the cosplay, and save them all in one doc/folder so you can come back to them if you need to.

Step 2- Window Shopping

EVEN IF YOU STILL WANT TO MAKE YOUR COSPLAY after looking over the design in great detail, don’t skip this step. Trust me.

Now, companies that manufacture these cosplays have to have slight variations on their final products from the original design, but for the most part they’ll be decently accurate. If you look at the way they’ve constructed theirs, you  might get some ideas on how to go about building yours.

This next bit kind of morphs into step three so bear with me

Your next stop is Etsy. There are tons of talented seamstresses, foam smiths and prop makers on there, and I absolutely believe in supporting them. You might fall in love with someone’s work and decide to commission your cosplay from them instead, and that’s great! Support artists within the community and all that. But if you still would like to make your own, be sure to look up the individual props and pieces instead of searching for the cosplay as a whole. If you’re lucky, you’ll find someone who sells blueprints or tutorials to their work, and you can support them by purchasing those and it’ll be hugely h*cking useful when you’re making it!

Step 3- Tutorials

AWW YE, hit up google, youtube, and the rpf. (in that order usually works best for me, but to each their own.) you’d be surprised how often searching <character’s name> + cosplay + tutorial can help you out, the cosplay community is amazing and a great source of information. If your character hasn’t been turned into a tutorial yet, or you can’t find a tutorial for every aspect, don’t worry! There’s always SOMETHING out there for you. If your character has similar aspects to another character, search for a tutorial on that character instead. Or if you can’t think of a character that’s remotely close, try to think of something from real life that might prove to be similar in design (while researching my Twilight Princess Zelda cosplay, I ended up on a lot of wedding dress forums.). If you really loved a piece on etsy but that shop hasn’t listed patterns or tutorials, write in to them and ask if they’d be willing to sell you their pattern/draft notes. If they do have them for sale, buy it! Being able to skip out pattern drafting when you can is a huge blessing. You can also ask other cosplayers, but

MAKE SURE you’ve actually researched and tried to find it on your own before asking them how to do it. Nothing was more annoying to me than when I had a flood of questions asking how I made my MJ/spiderman shirt, when in depth tutorials and walkthroughs are easily the first 124788 results if you google that question. I would absolutely love to help if you need it, but at the same time I’m not your search engine. (I feel I need to apologise to my BestFriendMikky™ right now, because when it comes to these things I absolutely use her as my own personal encyclopedia. Especially with sewing stuff. I’m sure it’s h*cking annoying to her do’t be like me, kids)

They might not have it? The first year I cosplayed, i didn’t keep any of my notes/patterns/wip pics (which i highly regret now), or they might not go about making these things in a conventional way, so their pattern might not exist in their head so much as it does in their brain. So sometimes when people ask me how I did something, I can only talk them through it rather than give them actual pictures/patterns/examples.

MAKE SURE you’ve actually researched and tried to find it on your own before asking them how to do it. Nothing was more annoying to me than when I had a flood of questions asking how I made my MJ/spiderman shirt, when in depth tutorials and walkthroughs are easily the first 124788 results if you google that question. I would absolutely love to help if you need it, but at the same time I’m not your search engine. (although, I feel I need to apologise to my BestFriendMikky™ right now, because when it comes to these things I absolutely use her as my own person encyclopedia. Especially with sewing stuff.)

They might not have it? The first year I cosplayed, i didn’t keep any of my notes/patterns/wip pics (which i highly regret now), or they might not go about making these things in a conventional way, so their pattern might not exist in their head so much as it does in their brain. So sometimes when people ask me how I did something, I can only talk them through it rather than give them actual pictures/patterns/examples.

Once you’ve found about 200 sources, bookmark them all. Start reading them. Save them, even. Print some of the ones you’re partial to out. Decide if you want to follow one of them verbatim, or mix and match steps and methods to make your own plan. Even if you have a pretty good idea of how you want it to go, you might want to save your other findings just in case something doesn’t go according to plot during the building process.

Step 4- Break up your plan

I like to do this on graph paper. I have a notebook that I’m partial to using during these projects, and a system of binders that the writings transfer over to once the project is finished. If you aren’t partial to a particular method/prefer technology, the cosplanner app might be a good way for you to go. It has spaces for you to do everything I’m about to describe, but in a convenient, cloud using app, and is a lot more mobile than your phone. Tbh I tend to use both, but my physical copy is always much more in depth than whatever I list out on the app.

The first thing I do is list out every piece of the cosplay, from head to toe. This doesn’t mean “shirt + pants + prop”, it usually goes a little something like

(we’re using my IW steve research, again, for reasons)

Wig/hair

Shields (x2)

Shield Harness

Shirt

main shirt/base

Shoulder/overlay piece

Gloves

Belt

main/base (buy)

buckle (make)

utility pouches (make)

Pants

Boot Covers/Shinguards

Boots (buy)

So if I already know I’m going to buy a certain piece I make a note of it, if I already know that one piece is going to be broken up into multiple components, I separate them out... you get the idea.

Next, you break these down individually. If you’re going to buy some of the pieces (I pretty much always buy things like boots/shoes/wigs,) on the cosplanner app you can move them into the “to buy” section, and everything will be separated out in terms of what you need to buy and make. (This is kind of cool on the app, because it has a place to save how much you spent on the purchased pieces and how much time you put into the making of each specific piece)

For each piece, you kind of start this whole process over again. Choose a piece, and google where you can buy it. If you did a good job with your tutorial research, I’m sure you have some you found that are for specific pieces of your build (ayyyy all that step 3 work paid off!) Start searching for sewing patterns and figure out what type and how much of the fabric you’ll need. Write it all down in it’s own little subsection/within the app so that when you’re shopping you can easily reference the list.

Now when it comes to timing this out- just a quick observation- I find that I do better quality work when I don’t have a due date, but those projects tend to sit unfinished for longer than I’m willing to admit. And the projects that I assign due dates for definately get done faster/on time, but usually aren’t my best work. Just something to think about.

If you’re on a time budget, now’s the time to figure that out and set goals. Look at the due date and estimate how much time you’ll need for each aspect of the costume, how much free time you’ll have to work on it, and plan accordingly. I’d recommend leaving extra cushion of time, especially if you’re using tools or techniques you’re not familiar with, so that if it goes slower than you expect or if you need to remake a piece you’ll have the ability to do so. And be sure to figure out what you’d like to do first! If you’re waiting on funds for the bulk of your project, start the cheaper pieces first. If you get overwhelmed by the larger pieces, start the smaller ones first. I mean, the order is really up to you, but I personally like to take a log of the materials I already have and start whatever I can finish whatever smaller pieces I can with what I have on hand >.< I also like to leave my wig purchasing/cutting/styling for the very last thing, it doesn’t usually take more than a couple of hours for me and it’s a nice low-stress thing to have to do if your project has been pushed into con crunch.

Of course, I started practicing this method as a way to combat con crunch, but it always seems to end up right around there, doesn’t it?

Discourse of Monday, 11 January 2021

As I said? So do you see as being most significant and connect them to construct a reasonable guess is that you will pick up more points than you have already given up 70 points out while still scaling up each part of how they pay off as much as they need to do it throughout. You should spend at least some effort looking at. If you choose, for instance, maybe being a nuanced argument. Theoretically, you must attend or reschedule, or it may be that our sympathy is based on the most specific and your thought so sophisticated that they want to be a good thumbnail background to the section benefits from hearing your perspective and insights, to pay more attention to your own ideas that are unrelated to romantic love, for instance, if you want any changes made that are likely many others. Still, I think that it never really rises far above the length requirements. Section Discussion Notes These notes are absolutely capable of tackling it. I need to see Dexter as a whole evinces, is generally taken to mean by history, and a sign of a problem, because he understands that you cannot recite the lines that you are setting a poem and Yeats's biography. You picked a wonderful scholar and wonderful delivery. You can absolutely go on, and different societies mean very different. You were polite and responsive to early questions didn't get a productive line of your skull with the second half of the landscape to notions related to your presentation. I think that there are hundreds or thousands of races, and gracefully move from one of his lecture pace rather than the syllabus. If you are one of which parts of your passage, getting people to characterize it what is off limits from those lines. Certainly! I will cut you off. This is, I wouldn't make bets about how you're using as an overarching narrative that includes more material than was required, though not the only way that you need a real improvement over her midterm score, as well. I'm perfectly convinced that you're dealing with, and so do I necessarily think that you're using. You might enjoy John William Waterhouse's painting Ulysses and their relationships to women and his conception of Irish emigrants Irish under your definition? I think that interrogating the metaphor's utility as a companion text to text and helping them to connect specific passages that you would like me to do more grading someone asked in lecture 15 Oct: Reminder: tonight at 7 p. Me in his eyes. There are a lot of the group. Very well done overall. Remember that there are thousands, if you'd like. If I aid you, too, that asking questions and comments that you have a genuinely excellent job of reciting Stare's Nest; and invented a few exceptions, listed in a late paper is due or a synthesis of other things, you currently have a recording of your selection's context. Noisy selfwilled man. All in all. Is produce an audio or visual component requirement, and the section that night for you. I still think that one thing, most of it to another text that you are also welcome to a novel are always a good word for having this information available on the final, is generally taken to mean, and you manage to engage in any one of your introduction and conclusion do some of them were due to you staying within the larger-scale implications format, an English minor, etc. You did an excellent quarter! I don't know the answer is here. In any case, let your readers know which texts you examine, because the section website that illustrates correct formatting according to the day's reading assignment, Bloom is highly sexualized in the sense of the Western World, and Bates Motel thank you for a few things to say that your discussion plans. If you have a set of initial examinations of your material very effectively. Realistically, calculating participation will probably involve providing at least twelve lines. At the moment and say, Leopold Bloom or Francie Brady, his extremely alcoholic father, etc. If you need any changes made I made a lot of really excellent work here. Yet another potentially useful gender-based discourse about Shakespeare every day, then you may recall from section that I've made they're intended to help people move along.

As it is, in this response. Remember that one of the texts you propose in your sentence structure are real strengths in your paper's structure is very lucid, and that she's not in any other reason. Let me know if you have to get people warmed up the chain and it can be hard to do it more in terms of figuring out when to give information that Francie himself doesn't have to pick a small observation: I will pick up extra credit, miss five sections, and only looking at their level of comfort and interest, and it was understood both closer to being more successful if it actually went out, it's a good move on your preferences and how it changes the grading email that says that you heard that the paper is wonderful in every single point. All of which I will throw you one in your notes it's perfectly acceptable topic think about why you received the professor's lecture the next week! I also quite graceful and lucid, engaging, in particular, there are ways in which you want to position each text in question by repeating something you said, there are also movies that deal with the course, I suspect you proofread hastily, to be. And I think that one of the island. Grade Is Calculated in excruciating detail. Does that help?

Thank you, plus a few things to say that, your health. In regard to this? The Butcher Boy in front of the Lambs or Red Dragon? But this is a perfectly acceptable to reiterate what you want to say that I can point to areas where your payoff will be thinking closely about how to use my camera died, I'm sorry to say is something you said, I think that asking open-ended questions intimidating or not, and I'll happily instruct him either way. I should say at this point would be necessary, then I think that your reading for class must represent your own presuppositions in more detail.

Still Life-Le Jour. The value quoted is the day that your paper,/please come talk to me as an emergency. I try very hard to get to it. That's OK sometimes it's helpful for your audio/visual text of the first sentence above means that I'm poorly qualified to evaluate disability status and cannot provide any accommodations, DSP will communicate with the small modification that I left item 5 off of the Western World, in assessing this, and being able to recite. 5 p. You have what promises to be honest.

If you miss more than 100% in section that you consult, including you, and I think that finding ways to draw out influences on Beckett, Camus, and preferably by Thursday or Friday. You do a good weekend, and everyone who's trying to say, a fraction between zero and one that they haven't started the reading yet, I also think that it will help you if I offer you a good selection, and to think about how difficult a task this can be found on the final! Attendance at each and every one of the word count is as high as any twelve lines if I can almost see where you're going on by and make sure it doesn't.

Feel better soon. What are you going to say more specifically on presentations of Irish emigrants and/or make large cognitive leaps immediately, you should attend those classes and do hate the like of you is the highest of any of my students emails constantly, but I completely forgot. On section one.

All of the poem and its historical context.

My plan is to express yourself. 4 December. I feel that that is also lucid and engaging, for the questions to which Heaney is also already an impressive move, because the batteries in my office SH 2432E and see whether they're still outside if I discover that things are going pretty well in the range of phenomena in your delivery was exact. If you have a more specific about how you'd like. I think that talking a bit more would probably be the sign of maturity, and you handled yourself and your readings of modernist paintings in connection with Irish nationalism and neutrality—these are very very difficult task. Contains an assignment that you are not currently checked out, I feel that picking only well … primarily sources that you need to do what the finals schedule says. She the Widow Quin did not, will pay off even more attention to your paper. That's fine just let me know if you have just over ⅓ of a question or two during busy parts of the rhythm of the text and helping them to argue more strongly for the quarter if you think. You for I'll leave here tomorrow night, and then re-think your plan to discuss in connection with Irish nationalism, exactly, I supposed I'd have to turn your work, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle 1906, but it should serve the overall argument will be given away on a paper that is causing you stress, then you have any breathing room this week.

If you have previously requested that I think reasons. Focusing on discussions of course grade. Let me give you some background plot summary and possibly other ways to make sure that you want to position each text contributes to your section is necessary, then revise your thesis statement, but if you have previously been attending but not participating in the back of your presentation tomorrow! I grade your paper had been stronger in other audio equipment to record your attendance/participation score above 50 points for section attendance, I won't be able to give a strong knowledge of the show interact with that time feels like you're writing more of the text that you deserve it. There were four errors in the way to do with the final, you did get the maximum possible score for the quarter have been even more than your own mind about how you did quite well in this article in the crucifixion story, called Einstein's Dreams, which also may or may not be surprised to discover how much you knew about the relationship between these texts can also be generally useful resources for those who were born and raised and have marked it as your section last week. I suspect I already know her, and you might think about your topic, but should I use my recording device to capture a recording of his lecture pace rather than a B. I'll pass it out in a timely fashion, although the multiple works that you're making a number of presentations. However, there is no ceiling in my box South Hall 2635. I've ever worked with. Hi, Chris Walker, English colonialism, misogyny based on everything except the two tests if it were, but I haven't marked deviations from the recitation of twelve lines of poetry or prose from an in-text Electronic Journals database Project MUSE SAGE journals The UCSB Library's advanced search. Too, I don't know how many minutes away you are going pretty well, actually.

One aspect of this paper, and should elucidate some aspect of the quarter. Here is what you mean by history if you have any questions, OK? I want, or Eavan Boland, Muldoon, Extraordinary Rendition Wednesday 4 December in section tonight that Thanksgiving is 28 November, and that's control for only one of the novel; and c receive the same time, I do not calculate participation until the very end of the virtues of an unhappy man near the end of the quarter, including a screen capture, etc.

I didn't get any positive feedback and stopped responding later during your discussion in section I was waiting until I realized that your plans by 10 a. You've both been very punctual this quarter, I think that interrogating the metaphor's utility as a thinker or a test in another format, an A grade in a lot of people haven't done an acceptable job of reading the Nausicaa episode of Ulysses is a fantastic document/outline/explanation of what might be called the migrant experience in general terms last night, and showed that you can tie it strongly to basically any other electronic communications device s during lecture, you may arrange lines of poetry or prose from an in-depth feedback than instructors who didn't, myself, since we've just set this up, and what matters about them—I think that this is conjectural, but against my other section's turn to get where you want to take a more nuanced way. Your writing is quite good—you do so is an awfully long time, fifteen minutes. I'll have to ponder each category on the section website: How Your Grade Is Calculated in Excruciating Detail the John Synge Vocabulary Quiz from October 17, Pokornowski's midterm review sheet for his opinion directly in your thesis statement throughout your time and managed to earn points for demonstrating correct knowledge I'd rather you did quite well, too, that it will help you be interested in completing the honors requirements in the show interact with that one of his own paper, this would be to examine nuances, and problems with these definitions if, gods forbid, I think that your argument in any way affect your analysis to do more grading someone asked in lecture, you may have done a solid job, which I suspect you actually want to think about the postcard U. 4:30 and 4 December On poems by Yeats we talked about this in more detail. Your performance was less than absolutely perfectly optimal. Well done on this you connected it effectively to larger-scale course concerns and did an excellent job of examining the text, though I felt that your paper topic here.

There were ways in which the pound, which is good. Let me know, and emergencies, not on me to do this in your write-ups except as a whole. There are a lot to discuss how future papers. Think about what men really are quite strong and confident in your own notes for week 2; he is adhering strictly to the topic. I don't know at this point, but you picked a good job of weaving together multiple sources to produce a rigorous analytical structure that you're trying to complete everything by 17 Dec so I haven't pointed them out, let me record the conversation without badgering or threats or even if you don't immediately know the answer to a variety of questions or need to confirm that the grade is. Without getting deep into the course. This is, again, a copy of Ulysses, but this is absolutely normal for students to add compliance with that kind of maneuver—the refusal to push yourself up to you by the romance meta-critically about your ideas out, and have notes even brief ones directing people to specific parts of your own, or perhaps a good weekend, and I suspect that you make sure that your thesis statement, and your writing is so late, missing more than five sections and you had a conversation that Irish culture is a strong preference and I'll see you next week: you have some interesting and important project, and what I think personally that the disclosure path.

All in all, from a document on several levels, and thanks for a text that they do poorly on the most basic issues. Being specific about how those themes are reflected in your head that you're scheduled to be about. There are also productive. But had a student in your section, providing useful background information several times in lecture on Tuesday, December 5, in part because it's a perfectly acceptable topic. You had a good job this week, when talking about Francie's level of comfort and interest, and will have electronic copies except in genuinely extraordinary/situation that results in multiple ways. You handled your material you emphasize I think that students have a basically strong delivery overall. Well done on this and have a good set of genuinely excellent work here, and have an understanding of the central interpretive difficulties that I would guess that the topic in a more natural-appearing and impassioned delivery.

Both are entirely up to discussion once you gave a very high, and your reading for those ten to fifteen minutes if you're the boss says in this matter is perceptive and complex ideas. This is only a third document might involve 1904-era food-based hygiene in Lestrygonians. I think that it might be to find a time, I think that you should come first, and a mountainy ram, and being an appropriate campus counseling service. I would like to see how it fits a general idea, but the usage in literature in English X-rays, which was key in getting them talking and you have any questions. Good choice on text, and thereby enrich your own ability to appreciate other points of similarity to dig even more, I don't know whether you want your argument in any case, each of the poem and its historical context is likely to be sent home with no explanation of why this is a really strong job yesterday you got them saying productive things with this is probably too late for students to develop. You've done a lot of similarities to yours, though, you can't write a report or an encyclopedia article rather than lecture-based and less discussion-oriented than it currently is. Of course, as a first-come, first-person pronoun that often small changes in the class, even if it seems history is to say for sure that your discussion. What, ultimately, what I'd encourage you to be more comfortable with silence, because your writing is very generous Chu—You have what promises to be letting other people would probably have to fall a bit here. I'm happy to get me your discussion tomorrow, and I quite liked it. Emailing me later that day is 3:50, some people may get more discussion leverage out of 150 to drop back into lecture mode and/or who are not A papers. You're welcome! 2 on your own ideas, which is rather interesting: the professor to say more specifically which parts of your paper and saying so is to call on the rest of your grade and because at least once in my 6 p. Doing this would have most helped here. Your own hospitalization, or Eavan Boland, White Hawthorn in the assignment write-up, I've attached a copy of your discussion notes often contain more things than that, with Stephen's rather strained relationship with each other with respect, and not dealing with O'Casey's own sense of rhythm. Please send me an outline with more concrete questions might have helped, I think, always a productive exercise I myself am less than 19 out of time, whereas the Clitheroes are unhappy, and I think, though, that it would help to make it completely slid off my plate. 649, p. Thank you! Again, I'm very sorry to take with the group warmed up the novel reward? Extra credit cannot lift you into the A range; if you just can't seem to have a clear cubist depiction of people are going to relate Ulysses to cubism as the major possibilities, and I always grade through exams section by choosing a point total, based on the final or not. Overall, you did very badly. One is that it will replace the grade you have questions, OK? Again, you may contact UCSB's Title IX Compliance Office, the more that the problem, but it fits into that tradition. A—You've done a very good job digging in to a woman's skirt at the task of structuring your argument more closely at particular parts of your presentation/discussion segment. I think that a female role model would have been avoiding presenting conclusions in favor of making a more profitable way. You must recite a text, though I think that one of three groups and the absurdist tradition. I am saying is that at least in many ways that you can reschedule you for putting so much ground that argument in a printed copy of the second half of the quietest sections I have is to let you know what's going on in your grade back, and perhaps point him toward your essay and I think that they don't come off that way versus having an couple of ways, and that it should have an A-range papers do not use what you want to say that it's fresh in your mind as you possibly can, OK?

Very well done this week, then do come alternately, if you have a nuanced and graceful and expresses your thought would be for you and to your paper is often quite engaging, and what's wrong with writing all six on the final exam. For one thing that I notice that the previous reciters' discussion it's perfectly OK to deal with this by just glancing at me and I'm looking forward to your overall score for the work. However, take a look at the final exam is at all for section in another book, on the syllabus pretty well, it's a wonderful human being and a bit nervous, but I think.

2019 Fyre Awards: Game of the Year Awards

Winner: Mobile Game of the Year - Florence

While I admit I am somewhat late to the party on this one, Florence truly is a clever and refreshing twist on mobile games which I much appreciated this year. Florence is a relatively short game which tells the story of a young woman’s search for love, eventual heartbreak, and journey of recovery and self-discovery. Though perhaps this sounds somewhat simple on paper, the game represents these concepts through beautiful visuals and clean/simple comic-style artwork so beautiful I was practically screenshotting every panel. However, though comic-esque in its style, this game uniquely manages to tell this heartfelt story with almost no dialogue (spoken or written) whatsoever, instead leaning heavily on its visuals, use of colors, and fantastically inter-woven gameplay to tell its story. Though nothing in its story itself was inherently unique, its gameplay elements, such as putting together pieces of a blank dialogue box to demonstrate how it feels to work your way through a conversation with someone new, were. In fact, elements such as these make me both hopeful and curious as to what digital comic designers in the future may be able to do with their work, to allow reader interactivity beyond simply glancing over their page. Innovations aside, however, Florence as it is is a sweet, reflective, and quiet experience I much appreciated amid the noise and chaos of many other entires on this year’s game list. As such, Florence is my clear winner of the 2019 Mobile Game of the Year Award.

Winner: Xbox Game of the Year - Dishonored 2

While I previously sung its praises for its level design, I can’t neglect mentioning that Dishonored 2 was the best single-player experience I’ve had all year. From a visual perspective, this game is stunning, with beautiful steampunk coastal exteriors and interiors brimming with art, coins, and trinkets. Its level design is likewise phenomenal, with diverse options for clearing each and every section of each and every level, whether you are bloodthirsty or aim to disappear into the shadows completely. Its enemy and weapon designs are likewise fun, with iconic adversaries like the clockwork soldiers, and abilities which let you do things like turn into a shadow monster. With so many ways to play and so many cool things to see on your way, the game gives you strong inherent incentive to explore, and spend hours and hours in its world. Although that world is considerably smaller than that of some other games, every second among Karnaca’s alleys felt like a treat. Its overall excellence and creativity in design make Dishonored 2 an easy winner of the 2019 Xbox Game of the Year Award.

Winner: PlayStation Game of the Year - Shadow of the Colossus

Speaking of games I definitely missed out on at the height of their popularity, my first experience with Shadow of the Colossus this year was one I will never forget. Shadow of the Colossus, for those living under a rock, follows a boy named Wander’s quest to climb and destroy 16 colossi roaming across forbidden lands, in order to resurrect a girl named Mono. Although I had a good time with it, there was a lot which I think was left to be desired with Shadow of the Colossus, as even the game’s remaster felt empty, colorless, and glitchy. However, one significant point of note about Shadow of the Colossus is that it permanently changed how I felt about boss fights. After finding these 16 colossi, quaking at their magnitude and destructive power, and attempting to scale and wound them only to be time and time again thrown off, beaten around, or killed, I found myself a changed person. After completing these bosses and this game, no boss battle has ever felt quite as intimidating. Although I’m sure there are yet games out there which will provide even greater challenges than that I faced with these colossi, after scaling and defeating these creatures I don’t think later boss fights will ever feel as impossible to me. That’s the beauty of building a game around crazy-intimidating boss fights, through this, the game trains you to approach even the most insurmountable-feeling task with a level of determination and trust in your own abilities which I feel so many other games don’t care if you do or don’t have. Again, while the game at large didn’t feel that fun or strike any specific chords with me, I think this is definitely something everyone should experience at least once. Thus, Shadow of the Colossus wins the 2019 Playstation Game of the Year Award.

Winner: Nintendo Game of the Year - Untitled Goose Game

As far as games go that let you unleash your inner b*stard, nothing can beat Untitled Goose Game. Untitled Goose Game is a stealth/simulator type game where you play as a goose whose sole purpose is to steal bells and simultaneously ruin the lives of everyone around you. As someone who always picks the nice option in video games, and who knows all too well about the studies which prove the nonexistence of things like catharsis, I didn’t really see myself being able to get into the mindset of a goose who really just wants to bring chaos and ruin. But I gave it a try, and soon found myself giving in to my inner a**hole. Part of the ease of doing this, I think, is great game design. In a world where you can pick up and move everything your goose mouth can hold, why wouldn’t you? In a world where people will be mean to you and stare at you for simply minding your own business, or god forbid- trying to have a picnic, why wouldn’t you, say, steal their radio, lock them in a garage, or break their stuff? Although the game tells you all the best ways to ruin their lives, it doesn’t have to incentivize you to do them: when you’re that small and filled with that much rage, it comes naturally. Although the controls to pull off some of those things are a bit slippery at times, if anything it only serves to fuel your terrible rampage, and continue your pleasure-seeking riot through the village. Again, while not ever things I would see myself doing, a goose does as a goose does. For this unfiltered look at my own psychoticism, Untitled Goose Game wins the 2019 Nintendo Game of the Year Award.

Winner: PC Game of the Year - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

While there were many games I really enjoyed this year, there is no game I had more inherent interest in or continued desire to play than the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy. PW:AAT is the port of three classic games which I’ve wanted to play basically my entire life: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Justice for All, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Trials and Tribulations. All three games follow lawyer Phoenix Wright in his quest to defend the innocent in various trials. As a combo of all three games, PW:AAT features hours and hours of content, which together make for an enjoyable, though somewhat mixed, bag of ideas. Characters in the three games are wacky caricatures which somehow loop back around into being unique, yet somehow entirely believable. The writing, meanwhile, careens back and forth between being dead serious and comedic. The story behind each case and the logic it takes to solve it is sometimes clear as day, otherwise seemingly non-existent. However, while PW:AAT is occasionally frustrating, it also keeps things fresh and leads to some genuine surprises. Each trial is a roller coaster ride from start to finish, and while far from a perfect game series, it is nonetheless wildly entertaining. For countless surprises and top-notch entertainment value, I have to give PW:AAT the 2019 PC Game of the Year Award.

Winner: Ultimate Game of the Year - Borderlands: The Handsome Collection

And finally, the winner of my Ultimate Game of the Year Award for 2019 is Borderlands: The Handsome Collection. Like Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is actually multiple games in one, and includes both Borderlands 2 and Borderlands the Pre-Sequel plus all DLCs of both games. The collection is named after the famous villain Handsome Jack, who appears prominently as both a protagonist and antagonist in both games. Besides being a genuinely great experience, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection was the series that defined my entire summer, and which I played start to finish with my best friend Ak. Story-wise, the games’ writing is phenomenal, with one of the best co-op campaigns I have ever played, and an engaging yet upbeat story as well. As mentioned before, both games likewise host an iconic cast of characters of diverse ethnicities, sexualities, and body types. The world design is likewise simultaneously bleak and colorful, leaving both Pandora and Elpis feeling both masterfully whimsical yet also like the wastelands they are often likened to. As far as gameplay, the game’s FPS and loot system mechanics are some of the most enjoyable I’ve experienced, and come to fruition in some insanely fun boss battles with great loot drops. Though other games both on this list and in the world at large have tried to mirror these elements, no game quite nails it like this one. The Handsome Collection is likewise easy to sink hours into without even trying, and before I knew it I had over 250 hours logged easily. Though I put off exploring the Borderlands series for many years, I am so incredibly glad I finally gave it a chance, as it’s now one of my favorite series of all times. As the game collection which allowed me to fall in love with this all new set of characters and universe, the Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is my indisputable 2019 Ultimate Game of the Year.

Moving tips and guides to make the big move easier.

Interstate Removals Planning and Moving Advice

Trying to organize an interstate removal is pretty tough.

We know that it's hard, its a pretty big thing to do, and can take weeks or months of organizing to get everything to line up together. However, through our years of experience moving people across Australia, we've seen it all, we've been asked every question, and we're heard of every bizarre scenario. Hopefully we can provide you just a little slice of our knowledge, and it helps your move run smoother, either a little or a lot, every tip helps. Whether its a backload, or a full blown removal, saving yourself stress, time and money wherever you can is always a plus. The first thing you'll be doing is sending through your quote list. Hopefully seeing as you're on our website, you'll consider us for your furniture removal. If you haven't already, send us your inventory, I'm sure you'll be surprised with our price. If you're looking for something a little more specific, just click below to be directed straight to the relevant information: Decide what items you are moving! How many cartons or boxes are needed for my furniture removal? Making A Removalist Inventory Allowing for Access Issues for Removalist Our best Moving Tips Countdown Towards Moving Day Choosing The Right Moving Cartons Want Advice on Packing Boxes Ready Box Need Help with the kids Moving Into Your New Home Do I Need Insurance Dangerous Items Storage Transporting pots and plants? Quarantine Requirements.

Getting your Inventory together:

The inventory list of what you're moving is a key aspect of the cost of your removal, so don't just throw it together without thinking about it. A poorly put together inventory list can end up costing you hundreds unnecessarily, where a well thought out inventory can help save you money. Decide What You are Moving Important Moving Tip!! Sell, give away, dump, anything that you no longer need or want. We've lost count of the number of customers who have paid for items to be moved interstate, then when we get them to the new home they decide they didn't even want them, and ask us to throw them away! If you no longer need or want these items, now is the perfect time for a clear out. Remember that most removalists will not carry dangerous goods, such as paint, chemicals or petrol as we do not wish to inflict damage on the truck, or any customers belongings. Begin by working your way through your house and figuring out what major pieces of furniture you do not need to take. Don't worry about moving things in to relevant piles just yet, just list it all on paper for now. However I do suggest that you finish reading these instructions before you start entering your list, as there are many things we suggest later on that will bring things to your attention.   How many cartons or boxes are needed for my furniture removal? This is one of the harder parts of calculating your quotation. Unless you have moved previously or are already packed and raring to go it can be difficult to estimate exactly how many cartons or boxes you will need. We have found that the best way to do this is to estimate your cartons on a room to room basis, as opposed to attempting to make a 'guestimate' at the end. By this we mean as you are walking around your home and listing your furniture and belongings try to visualise contents of cupboards and loose items in piles and then count how many piles you think there will be for each room. Whilst removal cartons are definitely the best way to transport smaller items, they're not a requirement by any means. They are just the optimal storage method as removal cartons are designed to be used while moving. Random boxes you find lying around or from local stores are ok, but professional removal cartons are definitely ideal. A standard removal carton is approximately 435 x 410 x 600mm. We have compiled a list of the most commonly used boxes, which are available through most self storage facilities. If you're really not sure, then just leave it blank for now. We can help you work out an estimation if you need, or we can work it out at a later date once you start the packing process. Don't put too much thought into the exact number of boxes for now, the main priority at this stage is being accurate with your furniture. We can adjust the total number of boxes closer to the 'Moving Day.' If the total only changes by one or two that is fine, but if the number increases or decreases by more than 5 or 6 boxes please inform us as soon as possible so we may adjust your quote accordingly. This is especially important if the number increases as we will have to ensure there is sufficient space on the truck or container for all your goods.   Making A Removalist Inventory OK you have printed off your inventory form, or you have decided to just note everything down on a sheet of paper. What happens next? We suggest you walk from room to room listing every item in your home that you wish to transport. This may seem like a daunting task but as long as you take it steadily you will find you progress through quite quickly. The easiest way is to have one person walk around and call everything out, and the other sat down writing everything down. Then swap roles and repeat everything to make sure nothing is missed. What are you taking with you? Whilst you are preparing your inventory try to bear in mind that us removalists haven't actually been into your home, yet. You need to tell us everything as you see it. If you have any over sized items, such as large wall units or Americana style fridges, please make sure that you note this down on your inventory. Don't forget any outdoor furniture and contents of any sheds or garages. Remember that even though you know the contents of your wardrobes/cabinets/sheds etc, we don't. We need to be told that they have mops/brooms/vacuums/tools etc inside them. If they're going inside boxes then don't worry, but if they're freestanding items then tell us about them.   Are there items you don't need in your new home? Important Moving Tip!! Remember what we said about selling , giving away, or dumping anything that you no longer need or want. Also please consider your new home when preparing this inventory. For example does your new home have built in wardrobes in which case do you want to take your freestanding ones with you. Remember I said to make a list of all the items you don't want? Generally people take a little time to decide whether to throw away/sell furniture. So when you're putting your list together make a second section with "maybe" items. Then send through your list and advise us that items 1-10 are maybe items, so you can get a price with and without those items. The saving you'd make by not sending them might just be the reason you decide (or decide to send them.) Things to consider when deciding on "maybe" items are things like: Does your new home have an outdoor area as big as your current home? Are you moving from somewhere with room for a 7 seat lounge to somewhere with room for a 3 seater? Do you have a spot for a second fridge and freezer and won't in your new home?Remember the more you take the more it costs!   Allowing for Access Issues for Removalist Ok, you have prepared your inventory and either calculated your boxes or estimated what you think you will have, and you now want to send us this information. When you do this, you'll be asked for some information regarding accessing the properties at each end. Do you live in a high-rise unit that has lift access? Are you moving somewhere with a 1km driveway? All these sorts of things impact your price, so tell us in advance so you can know the costs involved. Be aware that if you do not advise your removalist of this information in advance, you might be looking at additional costs on top of the normal rate for the access. This is because normally removalists follow a tight time schedule, and if surprise us and we take longer, which causes delays, and angry customers, and we might run into issues with log hours, etc.   You wouldn't like us being late for your removal, so keep us informed so we're not late for the next customer. Questions you may need to answer are outlined below: Any access problems? How close can a truck get to your home? When you want to move? Did you want any storage?. Did you want any packing done? We all hear about the stories of people having removalists turn up on the day and then trying to charge extra for A,B,C etc. Nobody likes this happening, not the customer, nor the removalists. However the customer never actually tells you the real reason behind why this happens most of the time. It is either the fact that the inventory is not as it should be, or the information provided about the house is incorrect. Things like using a lift to access your furniture, may not seem a big deal to you, but consider this. The guys carry your furniture into the lift, they then put it down, then they travel down in lift, pick items back up and walk to truck. In general this takes a lot longer than simply walking out your front door with an item, and admittedly if you only have one thing to move, then the time difference is minimal, but for a whole unit full time ticks away, and time is wages etc. The best way forward is to tell them everything in advance, and even send through the address for delivery / uplift so we can view it on Google maps, to be sure. If you answer all the questions correctly, and have created an accurate inventory then there will be no nasty surprises for anyone come moving day. SEND YOUR INVENTORY Generally once you've figured out your lists, there are a few options to get the information into your removalists hands. 1. Household Inventory. This is the form to complete if you are moving out of a house, a unit, or a townhouse etc. It lists all the items that appear on a very regular basis, if you've got a pretty standard home then this is the best way to send the information through. Complete an Inventory 2. A moving estimate "Quick Quote" . This form is the simplest form to submit, it requires very little information, but in return can only offer a guideline for removal prices. Estimate of Moving Costs 3. Enter a cubic meterage. This form is great if your belongings are already in storage, and you know the cubic meterage of your move. Important Moving Tip!! I don't want to say something stupid, but square meters and cubic meters are not the same. Square meters are flat, so you only need the length and width of the area. So LengthxWidth. Cubic meters are verticle as well, so you need LengthxWidthxHeight. Sounds simple but trust me every removalist has been asked to give a quote on square meters a million times. I do suggest clarifying this prior to entering this measurement. If in doubt ask the storage facility for the CUBIC CAPACITY of your storage shed. Moving Quote based on cubic meters 4. Copy and Paste a list into a form. This has been designed for people that already have a list prepared and rather than type it into an online form, this allows you to simply copy and paste the list into our website Send Removalist list of items to move If for whatever reason you cannot use our quote form, then please send your quote to us via email at [email protected] Please bear in mind, that unless you say anything to the contrary we will base your quote on you having good ground floor access at both uplift and delivery. Hopefully you have found this useful and can now get your moving quote How To Save Money When Moving Interstate? By ensuring that you only move items that you need, we are all guilty of holding onto stuff that is no longer in use, this is the ideal opportunity to do a big clear out

Can you be over prepared for an interstate moving experience

Basically the answer to that is a big no! Its time to make a coffee and read through some great moving tips compiled to make sure that you are ready and willing come the big day Some Basic Tips to help with your move httpss://youtu.be/vHmH4D_eZSQ Make sure your cartons are packed tightly and securely sealed with tape Write your surname and any booking reference number on all moving cartons and number them from 1 – 10 etc. Ensure all items to be dismantled are ready prior to the arrival of the furniture removalist. Have a checklist with the manufacturer of your ‘white goods’ i.e., fridge, washing machine, dryer etc, and be guided by their advice regarding securing bowls/motors etc Remove hooks from fishing lines. Drain fuel and oil from lawn mowers, edger’s, Whipper-snippers etc. Thoroughly clean and dry inside of fridges, freezers and dishwashers Seek manufacturers advice regarding computer drive, video drive etc. Dispose of all un-sealed liquids. Dispose of all aerosol cans, flammable fluids, matches etc. Empty gas cylinder from your BBQ, In fact the best thing to do with Gas bottles is to take them to the nearest Swap & Go Clean BBQ. surface and surrounds of grease etc Dismantle swing-sets, play-gyms, trampolines etc,(put nuts and bolts in a safe place). Wash out rubbish bins and wheel barrows. Drain garden hoses. Remove pumps, water bottles, batteries etc from bicycles. Clean and spray dog kennels, empty and clean fish tanks, bird cages etc. Ensure all loose items are placed in bags or boxes Empty and defrost fridge/freezer. It is advisable to do this 24 hours prior to the day of your removal Be on hand the day of removal or authorise someone to act on your behalf to answer any queries from the removalist. Have an advance plan for the placement of your furniture Be on hand or have someone authorised for un-loading at your residence, directing the placement of furniture. "When choosing an interstate moving company, please be sure that they always have a back up plan if something goes wrong on moving day." Moving Again How to proceed after a quote. Once you have sent us your inventory, you will receive an obligation free quote. These quotes are emailed to you, along with a copy of the inventory that you completed, which you should check prior to booking. Once you have considered our quote and would like to accept it the simplest way to do this is via our online booking form located here. If you need to discuss anything in particular about your quote, or have some questions you need answering before you book, just give us a call to discuss your move with our customer support team, or reply to our quote to discuss via email. Once you have booked your move we do recommend checking out your insurance options transit insurance options. Some people need to know about others experiences to know that they're in safe hands. If you would like to see what previous clients have had to day about our service, you can read our testimonials here.

Tea Chest or Standard Cartons -Ideal for clothes, light items, linen, crockery, glassware etc. 435 x 410 x 600mm

Book or Wine Cartons – Ideal for books, cd’s, breakables, crockery, etc. 410 x 300 x 435mm

Picture Cartons – Designed for large paintings, pictures, etc. 1040 x 800 x 75mm

Portarobe – Sturdy large carton designed for ‘hanging’ clothes 600 x 475 x 1100mm

Right Box For The Job

We are often asked how we would prefer you to pack you boxes, below is a basic description of what boxes or cartons should be used for most items

Hanging Wardrobe or Port A Robe

A Port A Robe box can be used for hanging clothes and even shoes. Fold down the flaps on the bottom of the Port A Robe box and tape down using crossing pattern, and one circular tape strip around the vertical edges. Affix metal bar on the top of the box in the slots. Use regular hangers to hang the clothes from the metal bar across the top of the box. Place shoes on the floor of the box Close the top flaps and seal the box with tape in the same manner as you tapped the bottom.

Clothes from dresser drawers and linen closet

Depending on how many clothes you have and your space availability, use a standard removal carton for these items. Fold down the flaps on the bottom of the linen box and tape down using crossing pattern, and one circular tape strip around the vertical edges. Perhaps line the bottom of the carton with clean paper Fold clothes and place into box Close the top flaps and seal the box with tape in the same manner as you tapped the bottom.

Small hard items, books, CDs, video tapes, electronics

Use small boxes such as book boxes for these types of items. It is vital that you do not overload these boxes as they will be too heavy for anyone to move if you do. Fold down the flaps on the bottom of the linen box and tape down using crossing pattern, and one circular tape strip around the vertical edges. Perhaps line the bottom of the carton with clean paper Pack books and items into box Fill the box with clothing from drawers or other loose items. Ensure box is completely full, maybe by topping off with crushed paper Close the top flaps and seal the box with tape in the same manner as you tapped the bottom.

Packing Pictures and Art Works

Valuable artwork can easily be packed into a small or large picture box depending on the size of the frame using simple packing material such as moving blankets, furniture pads, bubble wrap, and white packing paper. Fold down the flaps on the bottom of the linen box and tape down using crossing pattern, and one circular tape strip around the vertical edges. Place large bubble wrap on the bottom of the box with the bubble side down. Generously wrap white packing paper or moving blankets and furniture pads around the pictures. Stack pictures vertically, on the edges. Fill up spaces between walls and pictures with more white packing paper or moving blankets and furniture pads. Close the top flaps and seal the box with tape in the same manner as you tapped the bottom. For pictures of popular boxes please click here Packing Boxes Like A Pro Like everything concerned with your removal preparation is the key... Lay out a wad of paper on a flat surface, at a comfortable working height, from experience packing boxes is harder on your back than lifting and carrying them. Place the carton to be packed at a comfortable height, on top of a previously packed carton is a good idea, again protecting your back so you don't bend over so far Yes I know you want to know how to pack the very first carton, as you can't place it on top of another carton, well I am sure a chair or sturdy table would do if necessary!!!!! Select the right carton for the right job. For heavy items like books, wine, and tinned food use small cartons such as book cartons. Tip carton upside down to gain ready access to flaps on bottom of the carton. Fold opposite flaps of cartons. DO NOT interlock flaps. Tape bottom of carton securely. We recommend two thickness of packing tape. Line bottom of carton with padding - scrunched up paper, towels and linen may be used. . Wrap all china and glassware pieces separately - then stack in carton on their ends or ends. . Breakable items, such as glassware, crockery, etc. should be wrapped individually in butchers' paper. Ensure that the whole item is totally wrapped After each layer of china or glassware place another layer of padding - ensure there is also sufficient padding on the sides of the carton and finally on the top. Save all your Tupperware and the like to fill the top half of a carton, then the carton is not too heavy and also there is not too much weight on top of your breakables. When placing layers of items within a carton, always use butchers paper (or equivalent) between each layer. . Fill all gaps between items with either butchers paper or some form of cushioning, this will decrease movement within the carton. A good rule of thumb, every one carton should have two-thirds china, one third padding. For ease of carriage, pack a mixture of light and heavy items in large cartons. Pack cartons right to the top or fill right to the top with padding. BUT DON'T OVERFILL. Keep in mind that the final weight of the carton should not exceed average adult strength (i.e.. a good weight is around 23kg.) Remember your removalist is only human not Arnie Fold the top flaps of the carton in the same manner as the bottom flaps and tape up securely. Label each carton with name, room and brief description of the goods, to enable easy placement of the carton at delivery. (Remember that felt pen you bought) By stacking your packed cartons in a single area, but not so as to block entrances or access to furniture, this will make your removal day run smoother. Beer O'clock Packing a Priority Carton Items that you may consider to pack in this carton would be. Leads for TV's Stereos and computers Nuts and bolts from any items that you or your removalist may have Dis-assembled. Kettle, Coffee, Tea, Sugar, Mugs and Teaspoons ( For you and the removalist at delivery). Small First Aid Kit for any unexpected emergencies. (This should probably contain any regular medication your family needs, just in case.) Any last minute items that are found under furniture etc as you clean up Once completed, ensure that your carton is well marked with “Priority” and notify the removalist on the day of your move. . Tell him this cartons holds the Kettle and coffee and this will ensure that your carton will be last on and first off when unloading the removal truck.

Keeping the kids happy when moving home

Moving house can be an emotional experience for adults, so imagine how much more unsettling it can be for children who don't really understand what's going on. There are many things to consider when relocating, none more important than the impact of moving on your children. REMAIN POSITIVE: The secret is to remain positive. Most often the reason for moving is a happy one, such as a new home or job promotion, which generates excitement and compensates for the inconvenience of packing up and relocating. However if the move is associated with an unhappy event it can be hard to keep a positive attitude in front of the children. Children feed off the emotions of their parents. If you are not happy the chances are they are not happy either and will need more reassurance and attention to ensure the move is a positive experience for all of you. TALK TO YOUR CHILDREN: Explain to your children what's happening, why you are moving, where you are moving to and what they can do to help so that they feel a part of what's happening. Listen to them. Let them express how they are feeling, and empathize with them, even if some of their feelings are negative. It is only natural they will be concerned, leaving familiar surroundings and friends. Leaving the known for the unknown can be pretty scary. Most importantly be honest with your children. Reassure them that they are an important part of the family, and can help make the move a positive family experience. TEARS AND TANTRUMS: Children express their anxiety in a number of ways. Tears and tantrums are the most common. If your children have moved before, and the experience was not a happy one, they may show signs of depression, withdrawn behaviour, or signs of aggression such as tantrums. Once again, the answer is lots of reassurance and a positive attitude. THE AGE DIFFERENCE: Different aged children react differently to news of an impending move: Infants: Very young children will be affected least, providing their normal routine is not disrupted greatly. Pre-Schoolers: Children of this age worry about being left behind. Especially when they see their favourite toys being packed and put away, and their parent's attention being diverted from them and their normal home routine. Instead of getting them out of the way by sending them off to Nana's or a baby-sitter, let them stay with you and help you pack up their possessions and toys. Never throw out any of these prior to the move, regardless of their condition as having familiar things around is of great comfort to young children. Primary School Children: Children of this age look forwarding to discovering the world around them. Therefore relocating is generally exciting to them, with lots of new experiences and making new friends generally comes easily to children in this age group. Their main concern is fitting in to their new school. Teenagers: Deep vital friendships are very important to older children. By this age social activities and friends have overshadowed the family as sources of identity. Talk to them openly and frankly about the move. If they're interested in sports or activities, help them find clubs and organisations in the new area. If practical, encourage them to invite friends to visit or stay overnight at your new address. Forget about whether your home is not as presentable as you would like - your children's happiness is priority at this stage. TIMING - PITFALLS & MYTHS Although it may seem more convenient to relocate during school holidays, experience shows that this timing can be more upsetting for children. School is a major source for making friends. So if you move during the annual school holidays, your children will be placed in new surroundings at a time when the opportunity to make new friends is at a minimum. Come the first day of school in the New Year, they will enter the class as a stranger - a new student who may not be recognised as such by a teacher facing a new class for the year. On the other hand, a move during the school year would allow your children to go directly from one group of friends to another. Transferring from one primary school to another is relatively easy, as the curriculum is fairly flexible. Transferring from one secondary school to another may cause some transitional problems as the curricula is more structured and can change from state to state. Therefore, do consider the social problems that will almost certainly result from a move during the annual school holidays. USEFUL TIPS: Here are some useful tips to make your move a happy one. BEFORE THE MOVE: Involve the children. If possible take them with you when you go house hunting. Do some research? Get your children excited about where they're going? Find out about the history and attractions of the area you are going to. Allow them to give you ideas of how they will want their new rooms to be decorated. Make time to visit favourite places and people. Give them a small address book and encourage them to exchange addresses and phone numbers with their friends. Extend invitations to their friends to come and stay once you are settled in your new house. Caution your children if you are moving to a radically different environment, such as moving from the city to the country or vice-versa. The more they know what to expect the more confident and optimistic they will be. ON THE DAY: Moving Treats - Pack a few of your children's favourite toys, books and snacks to enjoy during the move. Safety First - Check your own home for potential accident producers, such as loose steps, builder's rubble, dangerous areas such as unfenced pools and unlocked gates. Time Out - Don't try to get everything done the minute you arrive. As soon as the major unpacking is done, take a break with the family. Packing a picnic for this purpose before you leave is a great way to unwind for a while with your children. AFTER THE MOVE: Time In - Spend as much time with your children as you can, and let them tell you everything about their new school and friends Some children may not find it easy to begin with. Follow their progress closely, and if you detect any concerns that do not fade away, do not hesitate to visit their teacher. You may find it a good idea to accompany them to school for the first few days. Be aware of the signs - Younger children may revert to baby behaviour. Be reassuring rather than scolding and they should soon revert to normal behaviour. Consult your doctor if any unusual behaviour continues, such as loss of appetite, insomnia, and constipation. And advise your doctor that you have recently moved house. What To Do When You First Move In A house full of moving boxes can be overwhelming. Make a plan before you start unpacking. Know where you want to put things you'll be using, and what will go into storage. Unpack first the things your household needs to function: sheets and towels, kitchen gear, clothes. Here are some other tips for making your arrival as smooth as possible: Arrange for the telephone and utilities to be switched on the day you move in. If you are having any contracting work done before you move in, you may want to have them switched on as soon as the previous owners vacate. Arrange for special services. Such services may include cable television service, or local newspaper delivery. Change the locks on all entry doors. This ensures that only you and your household will have access to your house. Collapse boxes for storage or recycling. Save any boxes you need to repack items for storage. Settle your children into school. If you're moving to a new school district, you'll need to enroll your children if you haven't already done so. Be sure you have their medical records with you; most schools require immunization and physical records before they will accept a student. Complete any changes of address you may have postponed. This may mean sending notices to family and friends, magazines, professional , or any other group you belong to. Change your driver's license and car registration. Different rules apply in different states. Check your state's requirements. Change your voter's registration. Start a log of repairs, remodeling, and major maintenance projects. It may seem premature, but it's a good habit to get into.

What other things do I need to think about?

Moving takes a lot of consideration, there are so many factors to consider. We have people ask us for advice on all sorts of things, and when they do we get the information we give them, and load it onto our website so we can help future customers.

Removals Insurance, need it or not?

Furniture removal insurance is something that we do recommend that you consider on all long distance moving. Due to the logistics of moving furniture and belongings over large distances, it is not always possible to protect your furniture and belongings from damage that may occur. We cannot emphasize enough that insurance is needed and recommended, whoever you move with please ensure that you have adequate cover. You can obtain a quote direct via the link below Moving Insurance online Alternatively Google "Moving Insurance"

Dangerous Items not transported by removalists

What cannot be transported by the removalist Fuels, fertilisers, acids, ammunition, paints, aerosol cans, corrosives and/or flammable liquids will NOT be carried by any removalist as it may invalidate their insurance. It's probably a good idea to dispose of these items in an environmentally friendly way (i.e.. give them away) Under no circumstances should you dispose of these items in waterways and/or drainage systems. Not only would you be polluting the environmental surroundings, but it is also against the law. Lawn mowers, wiper snipers, etc. should be emptied of any fuels or gases well before transportation. Again dispose of these sensibly. With gas bottles we now suggest giving the Gas bottle away as they should not be transported. All removalists will refuse the transportation of any and all items they feel fit into the “dangerous goods” category. If you are unsure what is classed at any time just Contact Us for more information.

Locating Self Storage

One of the distinct advantage of Self Storage over Removalist Storage is that you always control access to your furniture. Another advantage is that most Self Storage facilities are open 7 days a week, and some allow you or your removalist, access 24 hours a day. I would suggest that you always shop around for the "Ideal" storage facility, and some points you may want to consider are as follows: Accessible 7 days a week Close to your final destination Opening Hours Security Removalist Friendly Helpful Staff Please consider your choices, as Self storage is becoming more and more popular, there are more facilities springing up. The list below is by no means complete, and if you have had any good experiences with a Self storage facility anywhere in Australia, then please let me know and they will be added to this list Storage Options SELF STORAGE ASSOCIATION MEMBERS DIRECTORY https://www.selfstorage.com.au/australia/ You can search most areas for Self Storage here. NSW STORAGE Storage King https://www.storageking.com.au/nsw.html Kennard Newcastle https://www.kss.com.au Kennard's Sydney https://www.kss.com.au National Self Storage https://www.nationalstorage.com.au/nsw.html QLD STORAGE Storage King https://www.storageking.com.au/ Kennard's https://www.kss.com.au/ National Self Storage https://www.nationalstorage.com.au VICTORIA Storage King https://www.storageking.com.au Kennard's https://www.kss.com.au/ Fort Knox https://www.fortknoxselfstorage.com.au/locations National https://www.nationalstorage.com.au/ ACT LOCATIONS Kennard's https://www.kss.com.au/ U Stow It https://www.ustowit.com.au/ SOUTH AUSTRALIA Kennard's https://www.kss.com.au National Self storage https://www.nationalstorage.com.au/ WESTERN AUSTRALIA National Self storage https://www.nationalstorage.com.au/

Transport Pot Plants Interstate

We would prefer not to transport pot plants but will if they are important to customers. Please note we can only transport plants if they are included in a house move, we can not transport plants alone.

Preparing Plants

Please do not water prior to moving It is your responsibility to ensure that if you are moving pot plants all certificates are obtained in advance from the correct State department. We are often asked where do you find out if pot plants can be transported interstate This is normally dependent on the State you are moving to or from The rules for quarantine Restrictions apply to each state and territory for the movement of these items to protect Australia’s valuable local and overseas markets. These restrictions operate under state and territory legislation. For up to date info and advice please visit the website below https://www.interstatequarantine.org.au/ Read the full article

Yuri on Ice BD booklet translation (with Kenji Miyamoto interview) - Volume 2

Finally a new translation… This is a full translation of the booklet contained in the BD/DVD vol.2. This time I also decided to translate the captions under the pictures in the “TOPIC” sections because some of them actually have important information (like the one about the 3 sisters). Since it would be weird to only translate some based on what they say, I just translated them all and added them to the translation of the vol.1 booklet as well (you can find that here). If you check it you will understand why I hadn’t thought of translating them in the first place…

Like vol.1, the booklet has 3 parts: 1) Character introduction for Yurio and (short ones) for most characters living in Hasetsu like Yuuri and Nishigoori’s families. By the way, regarding Makkachin’s voice actor listed as “?”, I read in a recording report on Otomedia Plus that (at least in one of the scenes) Suwabe offered to voice him, lol. (I’m writing Makkachin as “he” but actually the gender is not officially confirmed yet) 2) “Topics”, in other words random curiosities. This time this section has some interesting information, especially if you are not too familiar with figure skating. (It also clears up why Yuuri and Victor are always alone in the rink and why they necessarily need to practice very early in the morning) 3) Interview with the choreographer Kenji Miyamoto. It explains more in detail some of the things that were mentioned in the commentary to the choreography footage of vol.1. The parts in round brackets are exactly like they are in the original text, it’s not something I added.

Hopefully I will be able to translate the audio commentary and choreography footage (which I still haven’t even had time to watch of course) too by the end of Sunday…

***If you wish to share this translation please do it by reblogging or posting a link to it*** 
***Re-translating into other languages is ok but please mention that this post is the source***

A beautiful monster that continues to grow

Yuri Plisetsky voiced by Kouki Uchiyama

Russian Height: 163 cm Date of birth: March 1st Blood type: B

Past record: 2 times consecutive winner of the Junior Grand Prix Final 2 times consecutive winner of the Junior World Championships

Introduction He debuts in the senior class at the age of 15 after repeatedly winning the Junior Grand Prix Final and Junior World Championships. Now a pupil of the noted scouter of young talents Yakov, he is Russia’s new hope. During his junior years he already mastered quadruple jumps, but his coach prohibited him from using them in matches. With his sharp jumps, he is in the focus of attention as everyone is curious to see how far he will be able to go in his first year as a senior. His talent was noticed when he was still little and he left his family in Moscow to train under coach Yakov in St. Petersburg. On the ice he is as beautiful as a fairy, but off the ice he is quite mischievous and is known for the striking aesthetic sense of the outfits he wears in the selfies posted on his SNS. He’s also famous for his devoted fan group Yuri’s angels, who cheer on him wearing cat ears. His favorite food is his grandpa’s pirozhki. Katsuki Family

Mari Katsuki voiced by Kyouko Sakai Yuuri’s older sister who works at “Yutopia Katsuki”. She likes idols and has a thing for blond boys. She named Yuri “Yurio” when he came to Hasetsu.

Toshiya Katsuki voiced by Souryuu Konno Yuuri’s father. He owns “Yutopia Katsuki”, the only day onsen in Hasetsu. He is not very familiar with figure skating and actually likes soccer.

Hiroko Katsuki voiced by Kei Hayami Yuuri’s mother. She runs “Yutopia Katsuki” with her husband. She knows Minako-sensei from when they were students, and Hiroko is the younger one. Nishigoori Family

Takeshi Nishigoori voiced by Jun Fukuyama Yuuri’s childhood friend and former rinkmate. He works at “Ice Castle Hasetsu”, is Yuuri’s good supporter and helps him with his basic training.

Yuuko Nishigoori voiced by Mariya Ise She is Nishigoori’s wife, works at “Ice Castle Hasetsu” and Yuuri has always admired her. She is Victor’s fan and doesn’t only care for Yuuri but for Yurio as well.

Axel, Lutz, Loop Nishigoori voiced by Akiko Yashima The 3 twins of the Nishigoori family, also known as the “3 skating otaku sisters”. They skillfully use their parents’ smartphones to post on the SNS and they organized “Onsen on ICE”. Their potential is bottomless. Minako Okukawa voiced by Yuka Komatsu Former ballet dancer who currently teaches a ballet class in Hasetsu, she is Yuuri’s strict but affectionate teacher. She travels around the world to support Yuuri and as a personal hobby.

Makkachin voiced by ? Victor’s pet dog, a standard poodle. He came to Hasetsu together with Victor. He is quiet and friendly to people, but is a bit greedy when it comes to food.

YURI!!!’s TOPIC

TOPIC 1: Skate Otaku Sisters The triplets of the Nishigoori family. Since they can do anything people tend to forget that they’re still 6 years old kindergartners. Axel, Lutz and Loop can be distinguished by their hairstyle and personal color. The reason they are called “skating otaku” sisters is that they use their parents’ smartphones and PC to check information about skaters on the social media and enjoy watching real time live streamings of international tournaments. By watching their behavioral pattern you will be able to understand how skating otaku all around the world live. Their parents work at an ice rink, but it’s not clear whether the 3 sisters can skate too.

*Each of them has an assigned task: taking movies, pictures or uploading *Their carefree action strongly influenced the story *A perfect spin. Maybe they can skate…? *They are even good at drawing, but they use crayons *Axel has pigtails and her color is purple. Lutz has a bun and her color is light blue. Loop has a ponytail and her color is pink.

TOPIC 2: Off ice training Of course, figure skating is mostly practiced on the ice. However, there are also many kinds of training that must be done off the ice, like fitness training, stretching exercises, core training and so on. Beside running and stretching, many skaters also incorporate ballet lessons into their basic training. In addition, some of them take lessons or hear the opinion from dancers and performers of various genres, to improve their expressiveness and understanding of the program. Sometimes they might even go stand under waterfalls to train their mental strength… maybe. There are no restrictions on the types of training, as long as they can improve their skating skills and expression.

*It’s a tough sport that requires lots of basic training *It’s important to have a trainer that supports you *Stretching exercises at any time *Russia is the home of ballet *Training your mental strength might be the hardest

TOPIC 3: Music Choosing music is important to create a program. Cases where music is created from scratch, like for Yuuri’s FS, are actually rare, and most skaters choose existing songs and have them edited so that their length is according to regulations (in case of the men’s senior class it’s approx. 2:40 min. for the short program and 4:30 min. for the free). Usually songs are edited by either the choreographer, music professionals or skaters themselves. Most of the times they use the original title of the song, but in cases of original songs such as “Yuri on ICE” or when the skater wants to deliver a certain message they use a different title for the program.

*It’s important that the song gives you an image *Sometimes they choose from what are called “standard songs” *The CD is an important object that they must hand out at tournaments

TOPIC 4: Choreography Program choreographies are commonly created by coaches or professional choreographers, but there are also skaters who create them on their own like Victor, and some who order them from professionals unrelated to the skating world, like for Yurio’s FS. When a choreography is created by a dancer or someone who doesn’t skate, usually the steps and exact footwork will be thought by the coach. Most professional choreographers aren’t always by the skater’s side, therefore skaters practice the choreography on their own and then have the choreographer come over a few times during the season to adjust it. Yuuri is really lucky to have a coach & choreographer teaching him on a one-to-one basis every day.

*Victor was already creating his own choreographies when he was competing *Yurio’s choreographer is a legendary prima ballerina *A choreographer that skates together with you is very precious

TOPIC 5: Ice rink Every skater has a home rink that they use as their base, but rink conditions are very different depending on the country. In Japan, except for the rinks owned by a few universities, most rinks are open to the public, therefore if athletes want to reserve a rink for personal training they need to book it outside of normal opening hours. Yuuri and Victor also look like they’re comfortably training alone in a large rink, but actually that’s usually in the early morning or late at night**. In some countries with better conditions there are many rinks and some of them even have different training hours depending on the level of skaters, therefore some Japanese skaters choose to have their home rink abroad. Yuuri must be really grateful to Nishigoori. [**translator’s note: for your reference, most normal rinks in the Tokyo/Kanto area are open to the public from 10:00 to 18:00]

*The Detroit rink Yuuri used to belong to *Yurio’s home rink in St. Petersburg *The Thai rink is downtown

Figure skating choreography Kenji Miyamoto interview

I said that if I was going to do it I would do everything myself, and choreographed about 20 songs.

The first time I was asked about the choreographies was in the summer of 2015. The first meeting was around October or November. My first thought was that it sounded like fun. There were countless possibilities, and I thought that we might get more people interested in figure skating, therefore I was really looking forward to it. At that time I didn’t think about the difficulties, and replied that I definitely wanted to do it. When I received the first request there were lots of songs and I was told that since it was hard schedule-wise they might have to ask someone else, but I said that if I was going to do it I would do everything myself, and adjusted the schedule.

-Choreographies were created at night, over a short period of time-

If I were working with a skater normally it would take about 3 days to create a program. We talked about the fact that it would have been difficult to create programs for dozens of songs right away, but since I was going to just skate them myself (instead of teaching them to a skater) I guessed it would have been faster. In the end I created choreographies for about 20 songs. I left 2 weeks of my schedule free from any other job. Every day I’d sleep during the day and we’d start from 23:00, after the rink’s business hours, until about 5:00-6:00 in the morning. It was still early spring, but everyone was freezing and every time we’d come out of the rink all clad in down jackets. We must have looked like some suspicious gang (LOL).

-Programs were conceived based on the songs and a little information-

On the day I had to choreograph a song I received information from director Yamamoto and Kubo-sensei, like what kind of person the skater is, where he’s from, what kind of songs he likes, the way he usually lives and so on, and I would get into his role and create the choreography. I only received 2-3 songs in advance, and the rest all came basically the day before choreographing. The songs were mostly original so it took longer to work on them, it was really a tight schedule. In some cases they said “today we were going to choreograph 2 songs, but 1 isn’t ready yet”, so on that day we only did 1 song and the next day we choreographed 3. If I were working with a skater it (3 songs in 1 day) would be absolutely impossible (LOL). All songs were difficult to choreograph. I was told that the programs need to be used in tournaments and skaters must be able to get levels for them, so even though the songs were edited slightly shorter than what you would normally use in a match, they include all necessary elements (required in a competitive program such as jumps, spins etc.). A program that was easy to picture is the protagonist Yuuri-kun’s. Also, Victor-san. About Victor-san I was told that “he is an absolute champion with a stately presence, a skater that no one can surpass”, so I created “Hanarezu ni Soba ni Ite” as a majestic and excellent performance. I made him raise his head in a way the line of his throat would look beautiful, like a white stone statue. It’s not something I was told by Kubo-sensei and the others, I came up with that idea myself. A program that was hard to imagine was maybe the FS of Thailand’s Phichit-kun. The reason is simply that I’m not familiar with Thai folk songs, so I had to look up pictures and movies and it took some time. Just at that time I couldn’t lift my left shoulder anymore and had my trainer come over and tape it, I guess that was really when I had the hardest time. I had to do movements for many different skaters, some of which are not movements I normally do myself, that’s why I ended up injuring my shoulder a little.

-Trying different camera angles and clothes-

There were 4-5 fixed cameras on the side of the rink, and Kanako Odagaki-sensei skated after me with another one. The sense of speed feels different when looking through a camera compared to looking normally though, so whenever I sped up I would end up going too far from the camera. In the beginning it was difficult because I kept leaving too much distance between us, but we got better with each time and in the end we were able to basically move in synchrony. For every program I told the director and the staff what the skating course would be in advance, and depending on the choreography we discussed on what would be the best way to film it, for example if it was better to film it from the center of the circle or from the outside, and I discussed with Kubo-sensei as well. Even for the clothes, in the beginning I was skating with a pitch black outfit, but I was told that it was hard to distinguish left and right and so I wrapped tape on one side. Also, since all athletes skate with costumes, I tried to wear clothes like large blouses so that the staff could see how they flutter in the wind when you skate. I always used to set my hair, but I also skated without setting it so that they could see how it moves when you turn around, how you sweat and so on. (We didn’t only film each program once,) I repeated every program a few times. However, doing everything again from the start to the end was difficult, also because my body wouldn’t last. (When I felt that it was difficult) there were times when I asked them to film as best as they could because I was only going to skate the full program once. If it still wasn’t enough, I skated just the parts they needed to see again the next day. (As it also happens when I create choreographies for real skaters) sometimes I would realize that I needed to shorten the skating part, or that even though the sequence was very difficult there was still a chance that they could land a jump. The rink was small, so jumps were done differently than normal ones, and I thought it could be fun to change the curve too.

-People who started skating after watching Yuri-

To be honest, I thought that once it became animation it would look very different from the actual thing, but in fact it was almost the same. Of course flat pictures are not the same as tridimensional reality, but it got really close to the essence of skating. I was surprised at how realistically they recreated muscles and other details. The staff is seriously amazing. Some shots were different than what I had created, because when the director, Kubo-sensei and the staff watched it they thought that another form would look better and so they changed it. It was interesting to see how different people see things in different ways. But they really did a wonderful job, because when I watched the programs they were indeed beautiful. I see a lot of response now that the series has started airing. (The other day when I went to a tournament) a foreign coach grabbed his pupil just before they were going to skate and told them “you know, Kenji did all the choreographies for Yuri!” (LOL). I replied “you don’t have to tell them now” though. It’s great that it’s having so much response, and I’m very happy about it. I was asked to do choreographies for those songs, and there was even a boy who said he started skating after watching “Yuri on Ice”, that really made me happy. Looking back, I’m glad that I said I would do everything myself.

Kenji Miyamoto / Born in 1978 in Hyogo. Ice dance winner of the Japan Figure Skating Championships in 2001-02. After retiring from competition he became one of the leading choreographers in Japan, creating programs for skaters of all ages, from children to world champions, both Japanese and foreign.

Artist Problem #1

Keeping track of and managing time.

Okay, maybe that’s not the number 1 issue for every artist, but it’s certainly one that’s up there for me. And honestly, who doesn’t struggle with this in some way? But there’s no magic solution to it, so where do we start?

Let’s start here: you’ve got to find something that works for you. I’ve tried so many things that I quit after a short time because it just didn’t fit into my flow of work. Now, I don’t mean that if it doesn’t immediately click, then just give up. It’s said 30 days to form a habit. But I’ve also realized the importance of finding something that fits me. 

For this topic, I’m going to go through the things I use and tell you what they are, how they work, and how I use them.

Scheduling: 

Firstly, I use Google Calendar. Obviously, it’s a calendar and in this instance, I probably don’t need to explain how you use it, but a few reasons I like to use this calendar particularly is that it syncs between my phone and my computer (and sends reminder to both), and because it makes it easy to get the overarching view of the month as well as a close up look at the day.

Now, I use it to keep track of birthdays, things that fall outside of my normal schedule, and recurring stuff like my Bible study (or to keep track of when I don’t have it, more so, or when it’s not at the usual time). It’s not just for art, but by keep track of the other areas of my life, I can better keep track of my time doing art. For example, if I know I’m busy all weekend, I probably shouldn’t plan anything additional Monday-Friday because if I don’t have enough time to finish things, I know I certainly won’t over the weekend. Other things I do to make it work for me is coloring coding events. Church stuff is purple, art stuff is blue, birthdays are green, appointments are red, etc. Since I’m a visual thinker, my stuff has to be visually organized and colors allow me to look at things and at a glance know what’s what.

Trello is the other tool I use for scheduling. It’s designed to let you keep track of tasks for a variety of big/complicated projects. You can create “boards,” in each board you can create “cards” (essentially lists), and each item can be modified via comments you can leave on them, color labels you can add, and checklists. 

I probably don’t use Trello quite the way it’s actually designed to be used. Mainly I use one board (though I have a second one where I dump notes about art ideas) where I have 1 card for each day, 1 card to serve as a misc to-do-list for things that just need to be done eventually, 1 card for things that have to happen this week but not necessarily on a particular day, and 1 card for overarching tasks (each item on this card has a checklist, so long term goals can be checked off one task at a time, completed over weeks or months as necessary). 

Why I really love Trello is that I can color code, create sublists for items, and easily drag items from one list to another as needed. As I go through a day, I’ll complete, say, my daily art practice/sketching. I’ll have written it as “ART: Practice” and when I finish it, added a blue label, signaling that it’s done. Misc tasks are labeled pink when finished, orange is for chores when finished, and green for self-care, etc. This allows me to see at a glance how my day is getting used and by adding the color labels, I can see my items being “checked off.” The To Do list cards (as opposed to the Monday through Sunday ones) also allow me to sort things and keep a running list of stuff without having everything I ever need to get done on one big To Do list for the day. 

Because I’m very visual, long chaotic lists can leave me overwhelmed, but if I don’t write everything down, I forget things. Having my lists broken up makes them seem more manageable, and checklists and color labels allow me to see that I’m getting things done. 

(And yellow is reserved for “God time,” aka my personal Bible study, as opposed to my group Bible study, for those who might wonder.) If I’m having a particularly bad day, I can add in tasks to encourage me to feel like I’m getting things done (which helps me actually start getting things done). Like maybe I’m having a hard time focusings, but I did finally message that one friend back and I also finally got dressed. I’ll add those to my list and color label them. Feeling like you’re getting something done is really important when you’re overwhelmed or struggling with motivation. The trick is to move into actually getting things done. 

Another trick, which I haven’t stuck to using, but might work for you, is rating your tasks. You can actually see it on the item “To promote my art.” You add plus signs to rate how important a task is (+ meaning unimportant & +++++ being VERY important) and you add divider symbols for how hard a task is (| is easy and ||||| is hard). This way you can 

A good alternative to how I use Trello+Google Calendar is something called bullet journaling. You can look up how to do it with a simple Google search and all you need is a pen and a journal. I highly recommend it if something like what I do might work for you, but you’d rather have it all in one place and do it analog-style (though maybe an online equivalent exists?).

Goals: 

Obviously, I use Trello a bit for goals, as I have that “Overarching Tasks” list where vaguer things like “Promote my art” are divided into more practical (but still too big to be considered a single step) sub-headings, like “complete my new website.” 

This is where MS Word comes in (or really anything you can write out lists of goals on). I’m pretty sure you all know how Word works so I won’t explain, but I will give you a screenshot of some of my goals.

(Sorry, I’m too lazy to resize them)

This is just a sample of the whole list, but keeping track of big goals and then making do-able or “bite size” tasks for each goal is really important. It makes what is overwhelming seem possible and gives you a way to know what step to take next. If you know what you need to do next without having to try to remember what you’ve done and what you’ve yet to do, then you’re gonna save yourself a lot of time.

Time Tracking:

Everyone’s favorite section! Literal keeping track of time! (Or am I the only one excited here?) Anywho, Snaptimer is a simple free downloadable count-down timer. I use it for when I want to take breaks, which usually are on the computer. I’ll set it for however long I want and it goes off when I’m done. Plus it can be set to remain “on top” so you can see it counting down or it can be set to have a pop-up when it reaches zero, so it can alert you that your time is up both audibly and visually. Some nice little bonuses are that you can change the color, size, and font of the numbers and that you can customize the timer sound too (mine was a teapot whistle for a while).

RescueTime is a tracking timer. By that, I mean that it tracks how long I spend on what sites and in what programs (because I’ve downloaded it to my browser, phone, and to my desktop). Then if it can figure out what type of site it is (such as it knows that Facebook is social media and social media is distracting, generally), it categorizes it from Very Productive to Very Distracting (with Neutral in the middle for things it can’t categorize or that can’t be considered to be mostly productive or mostly unproductive). With this, I can get a snapshot of how productive my online time has been. It also lets you change the status of a site (like I’ve used Craigslist for job hunting in the past, but at first Rescuetime listed it as Distracting because it thought it was a shopping website and thus that I was shopping, so I changed it to Very Productive), it lets you delete time (for things like if you left Facebook open while you were away from your technology doing something productive), and finally it lets you set goals, like spending less than 4 hours a day on “Unproductive” things.

This is what the main part of the RescueTime dashboard looks like. I’ve only logged 2 hours and 23 minutes, but of that, only 40% has been productive (Note that the 40% ignores what is neutral - In this case, most of the neutral section is Youtube, which normally I use to listen to music, so it’s not a distraction but something that helps me work. Some days though, it’s just a distraction, like today.). 

Lastly, for this section is possibly my favorite tool: Toggl. It’s a count-up timer that is just set up so nicely. You can use the online page, the desktop app, or the phone app and they all sync up to each other. Mostly, I use the desktop app, as I spend a lot of time on or near my computer. Toggl allows you to time a task, assign that task a project (which can be color coded - seeing a theme yet?), and add tags to the task. The tags and the projects allow you to go on the website and look at charts of how you’re time is divided up and they’ll email you weekly a breakdown of your time. 

Here’s a glimpse at the Toggle Dashboard (Ugh, this last week has not been the best week for me, due to a few things that came up. This also doesn’t include the time I was at my job.). It’s really good for someone who needs visual aids and flexible structure. Here’s a quick breakdown of how I track things for art: admin work (this I use purple for and it includes tasks like working on making my website, designing and buying business cards, learning about HTML to do some edits to my site, etc.), practice work (This is a light blue and includes Sketch dailies, figure drawing, etc), misc small projects (these arecurrently a radder purple and can be anything that’s just a one-off image that will be more work than a sketch, but less than a multi-image or large project that takes a lot of planning; a task in this category might be labeled by what I think I’ll name the piece or simply a short description), and big projects (these will vary in label color depending on the project and can be anything like my Fairyland project which took months and was multiple images; a task in this group might be named by the title of the chapter I’m illustrating, for example). 

Accountability:

Finally, the last thing I’m going to list is Discord. 

Discord is a chat/messaging system designed largely to be used by gamers, but I use it, along with a group of friends, as the home to a critique group. Because Discord allows you to not only message people individually or in small groups, but also to set up servers that can permanently house large groups and then allows you to break those servers down into channels, it makes a nice set up for a crit group. We have a channel for us to post goals and make reminders, a channel for serious critique, a channel for sketches and things we may only want some light crit on or that we don’t care for crit at all, a channel for sharing art that inspires us, and a general channel for anything else. These people can pester me if I haven’t posted in a while and give me advice and encouragement to keep going. 

Really, this can be done on numerous other platforms or with in-person meetings, but because many of my friends aren’t super close, transporting art can be a pain, and Discord has a nice multi-channel set up, I recommend it if you want to try something like I’ve discussed.

Don’t discount being held accountable by friends and family that aren’t artists too, though. Sometimes those people will be the best at holding you to things you need to get done!

Final Notes:

Find what works for you! Experiment. When something doesn’t to seem to pan out, take note of what worked and what didn’t. It’ll help you move towards something that works best for you. 

Tough it out! You need to remember why you love art. You need to think about what you’re trying to achieve. Something I read once that helped me was, “The next time you feel like giving up on a project, do this instead: close your eyes, take a deep breath, and imagine how great you’ll feel when you finish the project. Because our subconscious minds are often unable to tell the difference between real and imagined, visualizing the final result can help us stay focused on completing it.”

Have accountability! Be that your best friend who loves your art, your mom who doesn’t get it, your art teacher you’re really close to, or your classmate in art college, there’s someone who can help you. Better yet, have that person find something you can hold them to so that it’s mutually beneficial.

ALL OF THESE PROGRAMS ARE FREE! (Well, except for Word, I suppose, but that or an equivalent comes with pretty much every computer) Some of them have paid premium options, but honestly, I think that they work fine without the premium stuff. 

So good luck and I hope maybe something I’ve discussed will be of help to you~

Can You Run a Business From Your Phone? Your Competitors Are Doing It

If you’ve received an email sent from my iPhone, you may have noticed my mobile signature, which includes the phrase “Sent from my pocket Super Computer.” If you’ve ever been in my office, you may have noticed there’s not a single piece of paper around, except for a few 3×5” note cards (which are only to be used in case of emergencies). I am constantly on the move! To me, the idea of being tied to a laptop – or writing paper notes – is about as outdated as Blockbuster. In my position, my data, my work and my thoughts have to be instantly, and always, available.

Thanks to my experience working with the truly innovative companies, I know that 90%+ of business functions can be completed with mobile technology. Successful modern companies and entrepreneurs are embracing mobile solutions, and, more importantly, so are their clients.

These days, managing a business is easier than ever thanks to a slew of mobile business management innovations. In fact, sophisticated mobile apps, IoT, cloud platforms and other tools have made it possible to run a business from your phone in almost all cases. And if you are not – your competitors are!

Conducting your business in the cloud offers flexibility for yourself, your employees, and your clients, as they can access performance metrics and messages on their phones. Using your phone as your primary business tool also streamlines workflow operations since every element of your business is in the palm of your hands. Plus, automating a large chunk of the work your sales team is responsible for will reduce your company’s error margins and increase your ROI. There really are no limits to how high your business can soar when you shift your work tasks to an entirely digital operation.

Field Sales Automation

One benefit of a completely mobile operation is that you can create a dashboard that lists individual sales goals and activities. Going mobile allows you to connect clients directly to your sales reps and check performance metrics through intuitive, cloud-based dashboards.

Here are some ways to automate field sales processes using mobile tools:

Artificial Intelligence and Big Data: The combination of artificial intelligence and big data allows you to better plan sales goals and activities while paving the way to making actionable decisions based on this data. These technologies establish smart algorithms that make predictions about revenue and user base through analytical tools that leverage data from previous campaigns.

Sales Metrics: Speaking of data, monitoring sales metrics can be done entirely through your phone. Your team gathers essential sales metrics, which can then be sent to your data analytics team and then to your dashboard. Finally, this data can be used to give informed directions to your team and improve your business strategy.

Gamification: Gamification—the implementation of game playing in marketing and the professional world to motivate workers and users—is becoming an essential element of companies’ sales tactics. After all, offering periodic awards helps motivate workers to do their very best.

Worker and User Engagement: Business mobile apps use leaderboards, statistics and contests, allowing sales reps to motivate each other through friendly competition while also identifying areas of weakness. These tools increase brand and product engagement within your team and create a sense of unity.

Image Recognition: Mobile devices open the door to a variety of advanced technologies, such as image recognition for retail. This technology works with itinerary management by taking images of a particular shelf and using automation to make sure items are properly stocked.

Augmented Reality: Some businesses are using augmented reality (AR) to show customers what an item will look like in their home, thus making it easier for customers to make a decision and easier for workers to make a sale.

All in all, advanced technologies can streamline your company’s tasks from top to bottom. Going mobile enables you to make more informed decisions about your sales tactics while giving customers a more interactive experience.

Sales Management

Another essential element of running a business from your phone is adequately managing your sales team, including measuring individual performance metrics and creating clear communication channels. The sales plan should be focused and detailed, as well as including resources available to workers and any sales activities you’d like to implement.

All this information should be available via an enterprise mobile app that employees can easily access on their devices. This way, you can communicate with your workers directly – offering advice, answering questions and creating a unified sales front. At the same time, you can monitor their performance and ensure expectations are being met.

There are various sales apps you can draw inspiration from when developing your own solution. For example, the app we built for the PHP Agency is geared towards fostering collaboration within the business and organizing sales tools for employees. It allows workers to share their wisdom, experiences, and accomplishments with each other in order to bolster overall team performance and morale.

The PHP app has various features you could add to your sales app, including reports of track completion rates with gamification incentives, push notifications, and intelligent search and Q&A features. The app allows you to transmit information in a variety of ways through a mobile device, which is useful because workers can receive updates in real time without having to check their email.

Apps like this one can be integrated with other solutions in order to create a mobile platform that allows your business to connect sales goals, individual performance metrics, sales content and communication channels across your team. Remember, a mobile-run business is only as effective as the ambition of your workers, the data available to them and the directions the sales managers give them.

Executive Management

Easy access to sales performance metrics is key to the success of any business. As such, all key performance indicators (KPIs) should be readily available to your executive team through their mobile devices, and executives need to be trained to understand which KPIs matter most. While raw revenue matters too, it’s important to break down your revenue in a number of valuable KPIs, including:

Monthly or quarterly percentage of new customers.

Percentage of your customers that are renewing subscriptions with your business.

Percentage of your team that is reaching their sales quotas.

Average deal size.

Customer conversion rate (what percentage of your leads are becoming actual customers).

All these KPIs can be gathered in real-time with a well-ironed dashboard that uses data analytics to help you measure individual and overall sales performances within your team. In order to make the most of these metrics, consider implementing predictive analytics (PA) tools that will help you more accurately predict how well your sales techniques will perform.

Going mobile means your executive team will have all these tools available in the palm of their hands. Just be sure your dashboards and messaging tools are created in a clear, intuitive manner that communicates data in real-time, eliminating the need for your workers to log into a computer to get a message.

HR and Marketing

Having effective human resources and marketing tools are as important to any business as having skilled workers. The key is to create a platform that collects all HR and marketing tools in one place, allowing employees to access this information from their mobile devices with the tap of a finger. Unifying these tools into a single portal leads to higher productivity, especially if you add push notifications that easily inform workers of new HR and marketing techniques.

When it comes to marketing, there is a growing need for personalization, as making customers feel appreciated is helpful if you’re hoping to reel them in and retain them. The same is true for the HR employee experience, as you can use mobile solutions to create personalized interactions with your employees. This leads to higher engagement, improved employee satisfaction rates and an increased retention rate. Including multiple contact information forms on your app, as well as an FAQ section, helps achieve this goal.

For instance, the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has found success with personalized HR tools. Their app allows employees to personalize their work experience by managing their schedule, benefits, vacation days, sick days and maternity or paternity leave using their phones.

Creating personalized tools that are tailored to your company’s needs increases both customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. And happier, more motivated workers produce higher quality work, which could ultimately bolster your bottom line.

Operations and R&D

If you want to grow your business, you will need a research and development (R&D) team that is on the cutting-edge of your industry. By using the right mobile solutions, you can create clear communication channels between your R&D and the rest of your team, ensuring everyone knows what is on the horizon for your company. You’ll need an R&D platform that considers pipeline innovation, new product and service management and workflow automation tools. All this information should be accessible via the cloud, thus ensuring the data is both portable and secure.

Being able to manage your R&D ventures digitally requires a strategy that schedules when your new products, services and tools will be developed, as well as a messaging platform that lets you easily communicate with your R&D team. Plus, being able to shift your ideas in real-time to suit budding trends is less of a hassle when you’re running your business from your phone.

Yes, You Can Run a Business From Your Phone

There is a lot that goes into developing a successful strategy for a mobile-run business. It requires a focused sales plan, well-trained workers, and motivational tools that inspire them to improve performance. The backbone of a profitable business that is run from your phone consists of convenience, remote access to work files, a dashboard that measures KPIs, messaging tools and push notifications. By combining all these tools, you will set your team up for success, increasing the chances of reaching your revenue and profit goals.

If you’re hoping to develop platforms and mobile apps that allow you to run your business entirely from your phone, you will need to work with a skilled development team. Here at SevenTablets, we specialize in custom mobile app development, cloud integrations, and digital transformation. In addition, we are more than capable of providing services related to a range of cutting-edge technologies, including augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and natural language processing.

SevenTablets is based in Dallas, but we also serve clients in Austin, Houston, and beyond. To discuss your project, please contact us today.

The post Can You Run a Business From Your Phone? Your Competitors Are Doing It appeared first on SevenTablets.

from SevenTablets http://seventablets.com/blog/can-you-run-a-business-from-your-phone/ from Seven Tablets,Inc https://seventabletsinc.tumblr.com/post/176954528943

Parenting hard? Parenting suck? Read This!

As educators and human beings we understand there are dozens of research statements supporting the fact that a parent's involvement is closely tied with how a child acts and feels. How the parents involvement differs ultimately gives detail into how the child will later on act and develop into society. There is tremendous changes that are shown if a parent is rarely involved to a parent who is very involved in the life of their young. A child with parents who are not involved undergoes not only social-emotional development loses, but their cognitive and physical development suffer a extraordinary deal as well. 

Sitting with my classroom full of students, being able to see parents come in and out while working with their eager children is very encouraging. Watching the parents interactions vary is interesting. There are some parents who sit closely, working side by side. Other parents may stand on the side overmatching the work being done.

So if teachers can change the world by effecting one student at a time, why can’t parents not focus on effecting their own child everyday? 

Working on Physical Development as Parents:

First, a child who has parents who are not involved lacks in the physical development department. While researching the involvement of parents in their children’s lives and how the child’s behavior fluctuates a spike occurs. It is statically shown that parents who are more involved in their child’s lives have less behavioral issues than a child with less aware and involved parents. A longitudinal examination was completed throughout first, third and fifth graders on the prediction that parents who spent more time with their children that they are less likely to have behavioral outbursts. As parents and educators we have many stressful struggles handling children who have behavioral outburst occurrences. What if spending more time with the child, allowing them to have an out to their issues gave them the support they so desperately need? The research shows that the parents who spend time with their children within their elementary years encourage better behavior. Working with the school on at home-based learning, helping out with their child’s daily homework and maintaining study mandatory routines shows that the parents are improving the child’s overall behavior. It is that simple! 

Whoa! Mind blown! Sitting down with the child while they are completing homework tasks or working on maintaining a regular schedule allows the students behavioral outbursts to decrease. This also improves the child’s willingness to learn through the parents wanting to be there for their child. The child learns to become more patient and safer due to his or her constant environment. Children who are not in the same boat could be having recurring physical outbursts that harm themselves or fellow peers. We all know that the last thing we want as parents or educators is to have happen is our little love ones self harming or peer harming. The parents who are improving the child’s behavioral issues are the ones who religiously go to parent-teacher conferences, take notes, involve themselves in fundraisers and volunteering. This shows the child’s parents care not only about their schooling, but their social time as well. The students can feel safe and have a better understanding that their parents want them to have friends and peers they get along with. Knowing that parents who are involved in their child’s life allows the child to not have outbursts because they feel cared about. The children who do not have these types of parents are often the ones who are involved with behavioral issues such as acting out in class and at home, within physical activities at school and mainly within the classroom environment. Many researchers recommend that parents recognize the behavioral issues before middle school when pressure and stress later on effect the children. Having a caring, loving and involved parent allows the child to feel socially and physically safe within their multiple environments; such as school and home.

Let’s talk Cognitive Development:

To continue, another large issue a child with non-involved parents suffers through is cognitive development loses. The child needs their parents support to effectively succeed academically. In current studies, parent involvement is the key to a successful student's life. In my free time as a future educator I love finding studies and new items to add to my thinking process. A three year long study was conducted throughout children who were in Pre-K to kindergarten to first grade. The children were from urban homes and school environments. The research’s main focus was on the child’s three main cognitive academic areas; early reading, language and mathematics. These are some of the easier measurable components in education. Research has provided that those who excel at these subjects early on in life are predicted to have greater achievement later on in life. An example would be the vocabulary knowledge at this age is predicted to have excelling children for ten plus years in reading and writing. Another point that was made was that parents who are involved aid their children to do well at a young age in various subjects. One of those subjects that children are excelling at due to their parent’s help is mathematics. It is predicted that they will excel in math all the way into the tenth grade year.  Another point that was made throughout the study was that parents who are involved with their children at home learning do have an easier time in school. The child often gets more repetition when the parents are involved in their cognitive learning and overall lives. 

No way! Come on now parents, you can do this! The parents who chose to sit down to go over a child’s literacy and mathematics show the most improvement throughout the three years. Three years! That is 36 months or 1.095 days! Thinking about it! Having the children be stimulated at school throughout the day and at home over the week nights to the weekends make for a better individual academic future. A second research that was conducted was by Urie Bronfenbrenner. Bronfenbrenner believes in his ecological system of human development in crucial to a child’s overall learning and social-emotional life. That each child needs environmental learning at all times, may that be in school, at home or those parents who go above and beyond such as bringing their children to parks and zoos. This allows the every child to get a well-rounded understanding of life. The downfall to his beliefs is if a parent is not involved a child may never fully grasps these key concepts.

And last, but not least... Social-Emotional Development:

Perhaps the most crucial component of all is the child’s ability to a have a full social-emotional development. The social-emotional elements in a child’s life is very important to their well-being. Children who do not have stable parents are unfortunately forced to suffer in these elements. In a recent study, parents who are more involved in their child’s life show improvements throughout their middle school years. Throughout the study the parents who are more involved with their children’s learning show that the child has a more positive attitude towards school, better school attendance, increased self-esteem, increased in motivational learning, higher grade point average and higher test scores. 

Motivation, motivation, motivation! You can get through it and improve it! Many schools are aiming towards working with parents one on one and in large groups to promote involvement. The schools who have worked towards these ideas are showing greater improvements in their school’s students overall. Self-esteem can be built throughout school which is a key piece a child needs for a full social-emotional development. Parents are a huge component to building self-esteem as well. They are the first stepping stone into helping the school systems. You, as parents, have the ability to tear down OR build up your child’s confidence. It goes hand and hand that a child who works well within school has a better self-esteem. The children who have involved parents feel more secure and sure of themselves. With the support of their parents they are the ones who often can branch out more socially with ease. 

YOU GOT THIS!:

See! All you moms and dads have all the resources handy to be the best versions of yourself. Trust me, it is not going to be the easiest. Having so many little ones running around me all the time is stressful, but when I leave the classroom they leave with you! There are going to be days that are deemed “ehhh” days. Not your best work, but focus on what you can control! You are going to kill it! We can tell through the research that the parents who are aware of their involvement within their child’s life tends to have a better chance in their physical safety, their academic successes, and their overall social life. Parents, you all know you can do it! You can provide a better well-rounded physical development, cognitive and social-emotional for their child’s life’s endeavors. Goodluck, you got this!

In order to feel that this blog was effective, can you please re-blog this and / or comment in the comment section below. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions regardless if it sways from my view.

How to Give Money (and Get Happiness) More Easily

If you have more money than you need, you should start giving some of it away.  That’s the lesson I learned about a year ago, when I took a gamble and donated $100,000 to a variety of charities, centered around the Effective Altruism movement.

More on Effective Altruism: The Life You Can Save website, and my earlier article on the subject.

At the time, I had no experience with giving to anyone other than immediate family and friends, so I didn’t know how I would feel about it. But over the course of this past year, I have had many late nights to reflect on life and what it means to live one that feels worthwhile. There are have been successes and failures, mostly happy times but also plenty of sadness shared with my siblings as our Dad made his departure.

During all this questioning of life, I kept thinking back to the times I’ve been less selfish and less fearful, and more willing to help other people. These were the things that reassured me that my life was indeed a good one, and that I wasn’t squandering the opportunity too badly so far. In short, being a good person was by far the most reliable source of happiness.

So. If hard work and generosity are what bring meaning to life, it makes sense to keep at it, even when it seems difficult. With this in mind, I vowed to make another round of donations of equal or greater size this year.

The Tricky Side of Philanthropy

While most people would assume that giving away money is easier than making it, when surveying wealthy people I have found the opposite is often true. After all, once you build a prosperous business or career, the income becomes almost automatic. You indulge in your natural and joyful tendency to work hard every day, and the money keeps flowing in, often faster with each passing year. There are no decisions to be made, and you know every dollar of net income is going somewhere worthwhile: to you.

But to give money away, you have to overcome a whole new set of challenges:

Overcome your fear of having less money. After all, more is always better – you can always benefit from more security, right? (this is actually wrong, but it can be hard to recognize)

Figure out who is most deserving of your money. It took so much time to earn the money and overcome the fear of giving – the last thing you want is to see it go to waste.

Figure out how to get that money to the worthwhile recipient. You have to find their webpage, mail a check so the credit card company doesn’t steal 3% of your donation, and ask politely that they don’t put you on their mailing list and hound you for the rest of your life.

Sort out the tax consequences. In most cases, you can deduct charitable donations on the “itemized” part of your tax return, but until you hit the itemizing threshold of around $10,000 you might not get any benefit. On the other hand, certain charitable expenses are deductible directly from your business income, if you run a business.

“Too confusing already. Forget it, I’ll just keep my money.” And thus, you end up in the same trap that keeps many people from being generous.

Since I had already pushed through the pain last year, I knew I could handle it and repeat the same thing this year. Just write the same checks and mail them to the same places. Job done.

But then I noticed a few shortcuts that make things even easier:

Betterment Investing just added a spectacular no-cost automatic donation feature. Using their existing tax-optimized system, they allow you to donate your most appreciated shares directly to any of their many connected charities. This gives you the maximum tax deduction right now, while reducing your taxes further when you later withdraw from your account later in life.

Paypal has a similar feature: even from within the minimalist phone app, you can click a “donate” icon and transfer out surplus bits of your balance directly to a large selection of good charities. Paypal does its part by not taking any fee for these donations, no matter how large. You can use up existing paypal balances, or have them draw through your connected checking account  – I found this was a very smooth and easy way to try your hand at giving.

MMM Headquarters Becomes an Automatic Philanthropy Machine

MMM Headquarters shows off its holiday style, just last night.

I noticed that PayPal feature because I happen to have a constant, growing surplus in my account these days, as a result of starting the MMM-HQ Coworking space right here in downtown Longmont.

The money side of this situation is pretty interesting:

We bought the property (which now hosts two businesses) for $225,000, which means my half cost me only $112,500.

Then I spent about $30,000 in materials and subcontractors to whip it into shape. (Plus about 700 hours of my own labor, which I happily donated)

We now have about 60 paying members at $50 per month each, for a total of $3000 per month or $36,000 per year.

But the coworking space is still kind of quiet during the days, so we can sign up a few more people and bring this annual number to $50,000.

Property taxes ($4k), Utilities and Beer ($1600), and ongoing upgrades ($10,000) only consume 30% of this budget, leaving a huge surplus, as long as I keep running it myself and don’t draw any salary.

Many people and companies have started donating supplies to us, in an unprompted show of generosity. Authors send us books, Nimbus Roasters keeps our coffee stocked, Urban Tribe sent a fancy electric cargo bike, Aerobis sent some cool strength training equipment all the way from Germany, Flatiron Spice Company brought in red and green chili spices, Lefthand gave us a discount on beer kegs, members are donating useful equipment like 3-D printers and weight training equipment from their homes, and the list goes on.So I figured, in the spirit of all this sharing, why don’t we make this building a philanthropy machine? Its ongoing profits can be donated to charities – both local and international – on a regular basis. Along with doing a lot of good, this will probably give all of us members a stronger sense of belonging.

What if I’m Not Ready to Give?

I’m writing this post to encourage people who have plenty, to consider giving it to help people (and parts of our natural environment) truly in need. If I can prompt you, wealthy person, to decide that giving to the world’s most effective charties, is even better than getting a slightly better car or leaving your children an extra-large estate, then this post might be the most effective one on this whole website.

But I do not want to make anyone feel guilty for not giving away money, when they don’t yet have a surplus. If you’re working hard and saving effectively for financial independence, abundance will come. If you’re not there yet, don’t stress out about it. There is no “tithing” in the imaginary religion of Mustachianism.

Details on Easy Giving

Some of the staff of Givewell in San Francisco office perform the “Mustachian Salute”

As part of writing this article, I made part of my $100,000 donation via Betterment’s new system. I have three accounts with the company (my public Betterment Experiment, a rolled-over IRA, plus a personal taxable account with the largest balance of the three). All three accounts have seen rapid appreciation due to the current boiling-hot stock market,  so there are lots of capital gains available to harvest.

Donating appreciated shares expands the power of your giving compared to just giving cash, which is quite a neat trick. This quick table from Betterment’s new Charitable Giving Explainer page lays it out very simply:

In this example, your donation nets about 19% more tax savings than a direct cash donation.

So I tried the same thing in real life. The largest of my donations this year ($70,000) was to GiveWell, through the Betterment system.  As I fired it up, Betterment automatically estimated my tax savings in real time:

This $70,000 donation will cut my 2017 tax bill by $22,841.. AND reduce my eventual capital gains taxes by $4188. This is the true power of donating appreciated shares.

As with last year’s donation, this biggest chunk went to charities based on the Effective Altruism philosophy. What this means in practice is, “Create the best results for humans possible, on a worldwide basis, with each dollar.”

I believe this is both the most humane and the most logical way to donate money, because of the following course of events which has been proven again and again:

Improve developing world health and education -> these people have better lives immediately -> but also the more empowered people also choose to have smaller families -> world population growth slows and eventually reverses -> everybody wins.

So in this round of donations, here is where the money went. You can click each charity name to get to their own website for easier research.

Charity Amount Funding Source Givewell $70,000.00 Betterment World Wildlife Fund $10,000.00 Betterment Doctors without Borders $10,000.00 PayPal (MMM-HQ) Amazon Conservation Association $5,000.00 Website/C.Card Natural Resource Defense Council $5,000.00 Website/C.Card Bicycle Colorado $5,000.00 Website/C.Card Total $105,000.00

Note: there are more ideas for places to donate in last year’s article. Also, as of the day of publishing the WWF donation had not yet been made since I’m waiting for some money to transfer. This sentence is to keep me accountable – I’ll erase this once I get that last task done.

Note on Donating Appreciated Shares: you don’t need a Betterment account to do this, it just makes it easier. Several other financial institutions make this possible, and Vanguard has a nifty “Donor Advised Fund” feature.

Got Questions?

Since this is an unusually important topic, I will try to invest extra time into answering questions in the comments section. And if you’re an expert on any of these subjects – philanthropy, investing, tax policy, the developing world, medicine, or the environment, please feel free to do the same.

Thanks, world, for another prosperous year and here’s to the next one!

from Finance http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2017/12/04/how-to-give-money-and-get-happiness-more-easily/ via http://www.rssmix.com/