#strawberry singh challenge | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

singledarkshade · 6 years ago

Text

Sapphire And Steel

Part Two “Detective Hunter,” Captain Singh’s call made Rip look up from going through the paperwork for his last case, “A word please.”

Locking his computer, Rip headed into the Captain’s office to find Detective Perkins sitting there.

“Grab a seat, Detective,” Singh said.

Rip slid into the chair at Perkin’s side, and waited. He’d only been in the city for five months and as the new guy, knew he was the bottom rung of the ladder. Which meant he was a little worried what he was getting.

“As you probably know,” Singh leaned against his desk, “Detective Perkins is retiring next week and is handing over his workload. There is one case left that is a little harder to pass over than the others. And I’m afraid your name came up.”

Rip grimaced, “Should I run now?”

Singh chuckled and handed him a case file. Rip opened it to find pictures of two beautiful women along with a very thick file of paper inside.

“Meet Gideon Ryder and Miranda Coburn,” Singh told him, “Otherwise known as Sapphire and Steel.”

“Jewel thieves,” Rip mused as he ran down the list of crime they were suspected of, “Why haven’t they been convicted? Especially since we have pictures of them with all the stolen items.”

“Oh, they send us those pictures,” Perkins let out an amused snort, “And we haven’t arrested them because we can’t find them.”

“What?”

“I’ve been on this case for three years after taking it from Detective Miller who asked to be taken off,” Perkins explained, “Every time we thought we were close, they were already gone. Leaving one of the pictures you found in there to let us know that we’d just missed them.”

Rip grimaced.

Singh gave him a tight smile, “They like to taunt the police. Perkins had quite the relationship going with them?”

Rip turned to the older man waiting for him to explain.

“They send me a birthday and Christmas card every year,” Perkins clarified, “Along with flowers to my wife on our anniversary.”

“Okay,” Rip said.

Perkins nodded, “They even sent flowers to my mother’s funeral along with a rather nice condolence card.”

Rip leaned back and mused on this, “So I can expect birthday and Christmas cards. Delivered by mail?”

“Hand delivered,” Perkins replied, “Every time.”

Rip nodded, “Well, that is something I might be able to work with.”

“Good luck,” Perkins told him, “They are smart and cunning. They like to push and play with you. Singh is hoping, considering you’re supposed to be super smart, that you’ll be a match for them.”

Flipping through the file some more, Rip hoped he would be.

*********************************************

Miranda scanned the room service menu for the hotel, while Gideon had her shower. It wasn’t all that long ago they stayed in horrible rundown motels, stealing for a man who gave them very little back. The day they decided to go out on their own had been terrifying but looking around their accommodation these days Miranda knew they’d made the right decision. They were the best and all they needed was each other.

“Have you decided what we’re doing for the picture this time?” Gideon asked, wandering out of the bathroom wearing only a towel, her long damp hair falling around her shoulders, “Especially as it is our first for Detective Hunter.”

Miranda looked at her, and a smile touched her lips, “I think you exactly the way you are just now.”

“Really?” a sweet smile touched Gideon’s lips.

“Once you put the necklace on,” Miranda mused, “Lay on the couch surrounded by the cushions, but maybe show a little more cleavage and leg for our new detective. We want him to be stimulated.”

A shy smile touched Gideon’s lips, “You want just me be in the first picture we send to him?”

“Well,” Miranda gently stroked Gideon’s cheek, “We’ll be showing off the most beautiful jewel with the necklace.”

Smiling sweetly, Gideon kissed her, “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Miranda murmured, “Now, let’s get this picture taken. I’ve ordered some food, including strawberries and chocolate sauce for dessert.”

Gideon grinned before she lovingly picked up their new necklace allowing Miranda to fix it around her neck.

“What do you think?”

Miranda sighed, “You look beautiful. I’m going to get the camera while you get yourself situated in the perfect pose.”

“I’m still not sure I like her,” Gideon said as they cuddled together on the bed watching some of the footage they had of their new friend with his girlfriend.

Miranda chuckled, “Now don’t be jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” Gideon told her, “I’m just concerned he’s setting himself up for a broken heart.”

Kissing her temple, Miranda murmured, “He’s not invested in that relationship. Trust me. It won’t last.”

Gideon smiled before she sighed, “I kind of miss Perkins.”

“I miss his wife’s cookies,” Miranda replied, making Gideon chuckle.

Sipping her wine, Gideon mused as the man on the screen opened his fridge and started pulling out ingredients to make dinner.

“What about the roommate?” Miranda asked, “She could be a problem.”

“I can easily tag her phone so that we can work out her schedule too,” Gideon suggested.

Miranda nodded, “It’ll be helpful. It just adds one more person to work around.”

“You know I like a challenge,” Gideon smiled.

“After we send the picture tomorrow,” Miranda said, “We should head out of town for a few weeks to give them time to wear themselves out chasing their tails.”

Gideon nodded, “I can look for our next target, but we get the hotel with the spa this time. I could use a good massage.”

“Getting far too used to the high life, Miss Ryder,” Miranda laughed.

“I know you need a good mattress, or you complain about your back,” Gideon shot back.

Miranda kissed her and they lost themselves in each other as the video feed from their detective’s house played on in the background.

*********************************************

Rip scanned the footage they had of the break in, which unfortunately wasn’t much. These women were as good as Perkins had said and left so few clues that he felt like hitting his head off the desk.

Three years they’d been pulling these jobs, three years they’d been avoiding and taunting the police.

But they couldn’t have just appeared from nowhere.

“Cisco?” he called.

The younger man appeared from beneath the desk across the room, “You yelled?”

“Can you get me all the robberies with similar MO’s from the past ten years before…” he sighed, “Sapphire and Steel appeared.”

“You really hate calling them that,” Cisco chuckled, “Don’t you?”

Rip frowned at him, “Romanticizing them doesn’t make them any less criminal.”

Trying not to smirk, Cisco asked, “Why are you wanting the files?”

“Because these women are good,” Rip told him, “Far too good to have not done this until three years ago.”

Cisco nodded, “Good point.”

“Also check with Star City PD,” Rip added, “Speak to Captain Lance and let him know it’s for me. He owes me a favour. I’m going to check in with some old friends in London.”

An email appeared on his computer with some information and Rip opened it, letting out a noise of surprise at the picture that appeared on his screen.

“Wow,” Cisco uttered from behind him, “They did not send anything like that to Perkins.”

Closing the photo, Rip studied the email frowning, “They used one of our email addresses.”

“What!!” Cisco demanded.

Before Rip could say a word, his phone buzzed. At Cisco’s questioning eyebrow he replied, “It’s Caitlin.”

Opening the message, he swore when the same picture appeared on his phone. Checking the details, he shook his head in amazement.

“They entered another email and phone number under Caitlin’s profile,” Rip said.

Cisco frowned, “How did they get a hold of your phone?”

“New Year,” Rip grimaced, closing his eyes in annoyance, “They were in my house.”

Staring at him stunned, Cisco asked, “Why didn’t you say anything before now?”

“Because I thought they’d just replaced a box they’d left for me,” Rip dropped his head into his hands, “I was heading out to the party. It never occurred to me they touched my phone.”

“This could be good,” Cisco said, “The email is an internal one, but I should be able to use your phone to trace them.”

Handing over his phone, Rip nodded, “Do it. I don’t expect them to be there, but we might manage to find something from wherever they were hiding out.”

The hotel room, despite not being touched by the staff, was spotless.

With one exception.

There was a note on the perfectly made bed with two lip prints, one silver and one blue, which read:

Detective Rip Hunter Sorry we missed you. Maybe next time Sapphire & Steel

Rip carefully picked it up and passed it to the officer standing waiting with an evidence bag.

“The rest of the place is clean,” Barry Allen, the CSI tech, told him, “It looks like they even cleaned the drain.”

“I am really beginning to hate these women,” Rip sighed, “How did Perkins do this for so long?”

Barry chuckled, “They didn’t send him love letters.”

“Does anyone have anything else?” Rip asked sharply.

“I do,” Cisco, spoke up suddenly, appearing from beneath the couch, “I have an SD card.”

Rip let out a sigh of relief, “A lead,” he said before saying silently to the sky, “Thank you.”

Barry took the SD card and put it in an evidence bag, “I’ll get this back to you Cisco as soon as I can.”

“Thanks, Barry,” Rip said, “I’ve a feeling we need all the help we can get.”

Sara placed a beer beside Rip as he sat with his head on the breakfast bar.

“I take it work isn’t going well,” Sara noted as she drank her own beer.

Rip groaned, “I’m a good detective. I had a great record before these nightmares.”

“Come on, Rip,” Sara said, “You’re great at your job. You know that.”

Looking up he took a long drink of the beer she’d passed him.

“They stole a priceless necklace,” Rip told him, “Sent me a picture of one of them wearing it in only a towel then left me a note.”

Sara perked up with interest, “Let’s see the picture.”

Rip frowned at her.

“Oh, come on,” Sara cried, “You can’t tell me something like that and not show me the picture.”

Sighing Rip opened the message and handed Sara his phone.

“Wow, she is hot,” Sara breathed, “That is some picture.”

Rip nodded, “I know.”

“What about the note?” Sara asked.

He sighed again, “A taunt. We found an SD card near it and we thought might have something.”

“Did it?”

“Fifty photos,” Rip told her, “All of desserts, with one single diamond in each. That’s all.”

Sara took a quick drink, “So no clues.”

Rip shook his head, “Not one,” dropping his head back onto the breakfast bar he sighed, “I really hate these women.”

#fic #legends of tomorrow #the flash #rip hunter #gideon #miranda coburn #sara lance #cisco ramon #burnship

1 note · View note

theglamoursauce · 4 years ago

Text

SL Calendars - An Announcement

SL Calendars - An Announcement #Secondlife #SLCalendarGirls #SLCalendarGuys

6 years ago, in 2016, I had an idea, inspired by the amazing Strawberry Linden nee Singh. I decided to start a hybrid meme/challenge which developed into SL Calendar Girls. Originally designed to be a Glamour/Pin Up style photo selection is quickly morphed into a high quality photo ‘calendar’ with a monthly selection. The first monthly selection was in January 2016 and contained 10 Photos. By…

View On WordPress

1 note · View note

clarencenicholsonata · 4 years ago

Text

The Ultimate List of Marketing Quotes: 50+ Expert Advice to Learn From

This article gives you 50+ of the most inspirational marketing quotes from top digital marketing thought-leaders.

With so much on our plate building a brand and running a business can allow you to miss the most simple yet effective ways to solve and improve your marketing ROI.

We search the high and low places of the internet to search for the most inspirational marketing quotes to help change your perspective on your latest marketing conquest.

May their words of wisdom inspire your profits!

Want to put these inspirational lessons into action?

Wishpond's marketing campaign software can help. Click here to get started with a contest, landing page, popup or email marketing campaign today!

70 Inspirational Marketing Quotes

“Good content isn’t about good storytelling. It’s about telling a true story well.” - Ann Handley Click to Tweet This Quote

“Content is fire, social media is gasoline.” - Jay Baer Click to Tweet This Quote

“Content marketing is more than a buzzword. It is the hottest trend in marketing because it is the biggest gap between what buyers want and brands produce.” - Michael Brenner Click to Tweet This Quote

“Content is King but engagement is Queen, and the lady rules the house!” - Mari Smith Click to Tweet This Quote

”If we face the truth, we know that content marketing is about making money”- James Allen Click to Tweet This Quote

“Content Marketing is all the Marketing that’s left.” - Seth Godin Click to Tweet This Quote

“Banners have 99 problems and a click ain’t one.” - Scott Sorokin Click to Tweet This Quote

“We need to stop interrupting what people are interested in and be what people are interested in.” - Craig Davis Click to Tweet This Quote

“Make your customers the hero of your stories.” - Ann Handley Click to Tweet This Quote

“Content is the reason search began in the first place.” -Lee Odden Click to Tweet This Quote

“The buyer journey is nothing more than a series of questions that must be answered.” -Michael Brenner Click to Tweet This Quote

“Great content is the best sales tool in the world.” -Marcus Sheridan Click to Tweet This Quote

“Market like the year you are in.” -Gary Vaynerchuk Click to Tweet This Quote

“You need to create ridiculously good content – content that is useful, enjoyable and inspired.”- Ann Handley Click to Tweet This Quote

“Traditional marketing talks at people. Content marketing talks with them.” - Doug Kessler Click to Tweet This Quote

“Your brand is not what you sell.” -John Iwata, IBM Click to Tweet This Quote

“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” - Tom Fishburne Click to Tweet This Quote

“Brands need to take the phrase ‘acting like a publisher’ literally.” -Dietrich Mateschitz, CEO of RedBull Click to Tweet This Quote

“If you don’t like what is being said, then change the conversation.” - Don Draper Click to Tweet This Quote

“Content marketing is really like a first date. If all you do is talk about yourself, there won’t be a second date.” - David Beebe Click to Tweet This Quote

“The only way to win at content marketing is for the reader to say, ‘This was written specifically for me.” - Jamie Turner Click to Tweet This Quote

“Your goal should be to own quality time in your customer’s inbox.” - Robert Rose Click to Tweet This Quote

“Focus more on mastering your branding and connect with customers, you’ll sell more” - Victoria Taylor Marketing Click to Tweet This Quote

“A great headline mixed with a lame opening is like inviting someone into your house, only to slam the door in their face as they approach.” - Brian Clark Click to Tweet This Quote

“Marketing is telling the world you’re a rock star. Content Marketing is showing the world you are one.” - Robert Rose Click to Tweet This Quote

“You can never go wrong by investing in communities and the human beings within them.” - Pam Moore Click to Tweet This Quote

“Don’t settle: Don’t finish crappy books. If you don’t like the menu, leave the restaurant. If you’re not on the right path, get off it.” - Chris Brogan Click to Tweet This Quote

“Content is the reason search began in the first place.” - Lee Odden Click to Tweet This Quote

“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” - Tom Fishburne Click to Tweet This Quote

“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.”

Click to Tweet

“Content: there is no easy button.” - Scott Abel Click to Tweet This Quote

“Less is more. Keeping it simple takes time and effort.” - Jeff Bullas Click to Tweet This Quote

“Content is anything that adds value to the reader"s life.” - Avinash Kaushik Click to Tweet This Quote

“Your top of the funnel content must be intellectually divorced from your product but emotionally wed to it.” - Joe Chernov Click to Tweet This Quote

“Our jobs as marketers are to understand how the customer wants to buy and help them to do so.” - Bryan Eisenberg Click to Tweet This Quote

“The future of content marketing is in your hands.” - David Hahn Click to Tweet This Quote

“If you build it… you may still need Google AdWords.” - Jennifer Mesenbrink Click to Tweet This Quote

“Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue.” - Andrew Davis Click to Tweet This Quote

“Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue.”

Click to Tweet

“Leverage the strength that you have: that no one else can be you.” - Todd Wheatland Click to Tweet This Quote

"The buyer journey is nothing more than a series of questions that must be answered." - Analyst Firm IDC

"Personally, I am very fond of strawberries and cream, but I have found that for some strange reason, fish prefer worms." - Dale Carnegie Click to Tweet This Quote

“Not viewing your email marketing as content is a mistake.” - Chris Baggott Click to Tweet This Quote

“The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.” - Seth Godin Click to Tweet This Quote

“Don’t be afraid to get creative and experiment with your marketing.” - Mike Volpe Click to Tweet This Quote

“Failure is an option.” - Matthew Schwartz Click to Tweet This Quote

“Marketing is really just about sharing your passion.” - Michael Hyatt Click to Tweet This Quote

“Focus on the present… It"s the best gift you can give yourself.” - Carrie Kerpen Click to Tweet This Quote

Want to put these inspirational lessons into action?

Wishpond's marketing campaign software can help. Click here to get started with a contest, landing page, popup or email marketing campaign today!

“Just as you don’t need to be on every single TV channel, I don’t believe a brand needs to be on every single social media one in a big way.” - Shiv Singh Click to Tweet This Quote

“Social media is about sociology and psychology more than technology” - Brian Solis Click to Tweet This Quote

“Nothing begets creativity like constraints.” - Christopher Mims Click to Tweet This Quote

“Sell-sell-sell sales methods simply do not work on social media.” - Kim Garst Click to Tweet This Quote

“Strong customer relationships drive sales, sustainability, and growth.” - Tom Cates Click to Tweet This Quote

“As social media grows and matures, showing a return becomes critical.” - Heidi Cohen Click to Tweet This Quote

“You can’t just place a few “Buy” buttons on your website and expect your visitors to buy.” - Neil Patel Click to Tweet This Quote

“You can’t just place a few “Buy” buttons on your website and expect your visitors to buy.”

Click to Tweet

“Getting the Like is easy. It's a light action. Anything else requires trust.” - Jon Loomer Click to Tweet This Quote

“You can’t push your sales messages on your fans too often.” - Andrea Vahl Click to Tweet This Quote

“Incorporate easy email marketing strategies with your Facebook efforts to see bigger results (aka profits!).” - Amy Porterfield Click to Tweet This Quote

“When people feel insecure about something, they look around for validation. Show them that other people trust you.“ - Francisco Rosales Click to Tweet This Quote

“Word of mouth can be as important, if not more important, for neighborhood businesses as traditional advertising.” - Ekaterina Walter Click to Tweet This Quote

“On average, 8 out of 10 people will read your headline copy, but only 2 out 10 will read the rest.” - Brian Clark Click to Tweet This Quote

“Empower your readers with social sharing buttons.” - Mike Stelzner Click to Tweet This Quote

“Start an editorial calendar that everyone involved in your blog (writers, editors, marketing team, etc.) can access.” - Kristi Hines Click to Tweet This Quote

“Make the prospect a more informed buyer with content.” - Robert Simon Click to Tweet This Quote

“Too often, feeling intimidated becomes our excuse not to be awesome.” - Scott Stratten Click to Tweet This Quote

“The importance of gratitude is never forgotten.” - Deborah Lee Click to Tweet This Quote

“Going viral is not an outcome; it"s a happening. Sometimes it happens; sometimes it doesn't. Just remember, fans are vanity and sales are sanity.” - Lori Taylor Click to Tweet This Quote

“Our digital future is about enabling better productivity and decision making to enjoy a better quality of life.” - Yacine Baroudi Click to Tweet This Quote

“Our digital future is about enabling better productivity and decision making to enjoy a better quality of life.”

Click to Tweet

“This is a learning process and sometimes you have to fall in order to learn things.” - Christine Korda Click to Tweet This Quote

“Successful companies in social media function more like entertainment companies, publishers, or party planners than as traditional advertisers.” - Erik Qualman Click to Tweet This Quote

“Most of us have experienced wow moments. We just haven’t taken time to think deeply about them.” - Michael Hyatt Click to Tweet This Quote

“Find your spirit, and no challenge will keep you from achieving your goals.” - Christopher Penn Click to Tweet This Quote

What do you think? What was your favorite marketing quote?

Do you have an inspiring marketing quote to add? Share it below!

Want to put these inspirational lessons into action?

Wishpond's marketing campaign software can help. Click here to get started with a contest, landing page, popup or email marketing campaign today!

.CTT { font-size: 0.85em !important; text-align: center !important; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.05em; padding: 3px 0; border-bottom: 1px dotted #A2C3D3; } .twitter-box { display: block; margin: 20px auto 35px; max-width: 520px; padding: 0 25px 12px; border-radius: 3px; border: 2px solid #55acee; } .twitter-box img{ display: block; margin: -30px auto 15px !important; width: 60px; height: 60px; background-color: #FFF; border: none !important; -moz-box-shadow: none !important; -webkit-box-shadow: none !important; box-shadow: !important; -moz-border-radius: 2000px !important; -webkit-border-radius: 2000px !important; border-radius: 2000px !important; } .twitter-box p{ font-size: 1.2em !important; text-align: center; margin: 0 0 20px; padding: 0 !important; color: #737373 !important; } .twitter-box a{ font-size: 0.85em !important; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.05em; margin: 30px 0 0 !important; padding: 3px 0; border-bottom: 1px dotted #A2C3D3; } from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230801 https://ift.tt/3brmtRu via IFTTT

#IFTTT #RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230801

0 notes

mikasemyorka · 8 years ago

Photo

So I just watched Minty Minx’s newest video on youtube, and in this video she mentions Strawberry Singh’s” my 7 second life facts”. I thought it would be sooo fun to participate so here goes!

1. I am part of a close-knit circle family called the Madoka’s. Most everyday you can find me standing around with them either listening to music while blogging, chatting, joking or watching movies!

2. I am super in love with Sims created by the Japanese community within SL, my favorite being Takeuti Town & the sim that houses TEN THOUSAND & Co.

3. I use pixlr to edit my images. Most people do not know, for some reason on my computer I am unable to use photoshop, but I am able to use illustrator, I know, weird?! I use a combination of pixlr & illustrator to edit my images.

4. I use a legacy avatar. That’s right, my avatar is older than 10 years! WHAT?!? I have not been playing for 10 years, though. I started sl when I was in college, my roommate and I watched a documentary about SL on MTV. We joined, and at that time voice was not an option anywhere on SL. The only sims we could find were FILLED with sex, so I instantly stopped playing. By the time I graduated college, my friend and I were split apart by distance, so we decided to use SL as a platform to hangout, she stopped playing, but I became addicted XD. In total (excluding breaks) I have been playing for 6 years.

5. Blogging has become an addiction. I love meeting knew people, however, in my profession, I am constantly meeting new people. When I come home from work, all I can think about is relaxing and creating art. The best part is when a sponsor reallllly loves my work!

6. I love fantasy creations in SL!!! It’s strange I know, when you look at my blogging brand, it is mostly kawaii, I do love kawaii inspired items, but I find fantasy items a bit of a struggle, and a struggle leads to overcoming obstacles. I love this challenge, so when a creator releases something I am not use to, I love the challenge!

7. I actively seek people to communicate with, who speak my second language. Not a lot of people know, my father is Japanese in real life, I posses intermediate Japanese speaking and writing skills, my speaking is VERY formal, I find my younger cousins responding to me as if I am an old grandma because of how I speak, I suppose. I love sim hopping using sl-link.com and finding people I can converse with in Japanese.

#My Seven Second Life Facts #secondlifechallenge #secondlife challenge

11 notes · View notes

hijacked-vessel-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Lesson 15, Task 1: Where do I live?

Canada’s population, especially that of Ontario, is very diverse. Diversity is seen when looking at different communities and how they are dispersed within the population. Ontario is known to be a melting pot of cultural identities, which is often seen when taking a good look at the community that you live in yourself. When I researched my own community, I noticed how much my community has changed over the years, some of the issues the current demographics of my community reveal, and how my community was able to cope with the challenges posed for our community.

I live in the City of Brampton in Ontario, Canada. When taking an initial glance around my city, I would view Brampton as especially diverse in culture. In fact, over 52 per cent - 308,790 residents of 593,638 - of Brampton’s population was born outside of Canada, which is a two per cent increase from the 2011 Census (Sharma 2019). This is most prevalently seen throughout schooling when I was introduced to a variety of ethnic backgrounds, religions, and even foods – especially my love for samosas. When I was in elementary school, my experience when I was especially small wasn’t very diverse, but throughout the years as I grew, I noticed an increase of diversity in ethnic backgrounds and cultures. This only further proves what the census data depicts which shows that most people are coming to Brampton from Asia, at 195,235 residents (with the most coming from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Philippines) (Sharma 2019). My friend group mainly consists of individuals with an Asian background, as described by the census data. I’ve lived in Brampton for as long as I can remember and have noticed a significant change within my community throughout the years. Brampton covers 266 square kilometers of area, and with a population of around 593,638 (Brampton Population 2010). I’ve watched as baseball diamonds and strawberry fields have become strip malls and housing developments. My little city has grown from a quiet and quaint little community to a thriving operation which has encountered some concerns and issues. There are many challenges which have been posed when looking at Brampton’s demographics, which is enough to put special emphasis upon.

Over population poses a great risk for the City of Brampton. As stated previously, Brampton’s total population is 593,638 and is only bound to grow with the increased immigration for the city. The population is massive, especially since it was at 503,906 in 2011. Nonetheless, the current population alone is enough to pose the concern of overpopulation for the land area of Brampton. The land area of Brampton can only hold so many people. Currently, the density of the population is nearing 2230 people per square kilometer (Brampton Population 2010). This is an important concern to consider when thinking about how Brampton can thrive as a city. Another issue that should be discussed would be Brampton’s population in relation to race, ethnicity, religion, and culture. When taking a close look at Brampton as a society, it is important to understand some of the issues which arise between the cultures that live within the Brampton community. Brampton is known to be an area with a high population of Indians. This is even more evident throughout the temples and mosques sprinkled throughout the city as well as through the visible minority population mainly consisting of Black, Asian, and Brown people. According to the 2011 Census, visible minorities made up two-thirds of Brampton’s population – five years later, that number is likely higher (and it renders the venerable bureaucratic label “visible minority” completely obsolete). In a sense, the minority has become the white man, as the high rate of immigration within Brampton has further encapsulated the population. Due to this, Racism can become an increased risk for these immigrants and their families. Racism is something that I’ve experienced when I was younger. In the present day, I do not get harassed in that sense, but I do hear about the experiences of my Sikh or Muslim friends getting harassed about their race, ethnicity, or even religion. This only poses a great risk to these communities, as they have become the target of discrimination and harassment despite their right to be here. These issues are important to discuss and even more important to attempt to reconcile and fix in order for Brampton to thrive as the diverse community it truly is.

Over population is a problem which is being solved every day in a number of ways. The first issue would be lack of housing and so that is why Brampton has dedicated so many resources to getting houses built. This also creates more jobs which allow the people who are rapidly moving to Brampton to gain employment. Next, majority of the population consists of families and couples. Detached and semi-detached homes are the key so they build more houses which is seen when looking at my own community. There aren’t many high-rise type of buildings in my area, mostly housing complexes that are detached or semi-detached and apartment buildings sprinkled here or there. These aspects of Brampton’s society accommodate for the increased population. The second challenged that is posed for Brampton would be the issue of racism. Racism is most prevalently seen against the Asian population, which makes up 32% of the population. To be specific, Indians are subjected to a lot of racial discrimination, especially if they are immigrants or have difficulty speaking English. This problem isn’t solved as easily as over-population. Racism is an issue which we must work especially hard to battle against. Brampton is fighting against the prejudice against Indian citizens by allowing cultural communities to have their own say in the politics which impact them. An example of this would be when Gurpreet Singh Dhillon was elected to Brampton council in December, 2014. Becoming the sole non-white councilor (Ahmed-Ullah 2017). This is a massive change which allowed a lot of issues facing the Sikh community to be discussed and problem-solved. I feel that this is the best way to get the government and society to work together in helping Brampton become a welcoming place for immigrants and others who may face discrimination.

The City of Brampton has gone through a massive change throughout the years and this is reflected throughout the census data of 2019. Due to an increase in the immigration rate, Brampton’s population rate has increased to almost 600,000 people of a variety of ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds. The mass change that Brampton is going through posed two main issues: racism and over-population. These two issues, although they are very concerning, are being dealt with to the best of the cities capabilities. In order for Brampton’s society to thrive, cultural communities must come together with the government in order for the transition into Brampton’s melting pot of cultures to be as smooth as possible.

#task1

0 notes

readmeri · 8 years ago

Text

ReadMeri | All about Meri

Some of you may already be aware, but Strawberry Singh set one of her blogger challenges this week – to try out being a vlogger by making a video talking about your SL, with your actual voice!

As any readers here will realise, I do make a video for my blogs in order for us to check the rigging of the clothing and see how it moves and have done for the last two years, but I don’t generally talk in…

View On WordPress

#Blogging #Mericat Ireland #ReadMeri #Strawberry Singh #Vlogger Challenge #Vlogging #Youtube

0 notes

agritecture · 8 years ago

Photo

This Software Engineer Sold His Company to Start a Vertical Hydroponic Farm in Goa (India)

The below article originally appeared on The Better India and was written by Tanaya Singh. We at Agritecture found ourselves so intrigued, in addition to reposting the story, we interviewed the entrepreneur highlighted in this piece ourselves.

Why are we so intrigued by this story? Simply because India has a huge population and we very rarely see stories about vertical farms there. When we saw photos of such a pristine farm in India - we were curious to know more about the business and the entrepreneur behind it.

Below is our interview with Ajay and below that is the original The Better India piece:

Andrew: Your background is as a software engineer, are you using any software in your farm? Did you develop that software yourself?

Ajay: Yes we are using a fertigation system which is imported. Other than that we have installed timers for lights and AC which is developed by us using raspberry pi.

Andrew: Are you going to continue growing the produce or are you planning to help others start growing themselves now?

Ajay: We are going to mainly focus on helping others to grow themselves. This way we will be able to achieve our goal of growing healthy food, faster. We have already received lot of inquiries to setup similar farms for them, we will be starting those projects from March 2017.

Andrew: What is your favorite part of your new job?

Ajay: I love to see the plants growing and it feels good to help people to grow healthy food.

Andrew: Who are your main customers?

Ajay: We package and sell it to supermarkets and local farmers market.

Andrew: You grow on 150 sq meters, what is the square footage of actual growing space though given that you’re cultivation is stacked?

Ajay: 1000 sq ft growing area.

Andrew: Last question, How many levels high are your grow racks?

Ajay: 6 levels

What follows is the original The Better India piece:

“You are what you eat,” they say. And that’s what Ajay Naik, a Goa-based hydroponic farmer, believes in. After quitting his job and giving up his company, this software engineer decided to help farmers across India learn about hydroponics and the use of technology in agriculture.

“For several years I have been noticing that many farmers’ children prefer to go for an MBA or engineering degree these days instead of taking up farming. This is because agriculture is not always lucrative. But then, not many of us are focusing on the root of the system we live in – that is good quality food. Only when you have healthy food can you have a healthy country,” says Ajay Naik, a Goa-based software engineer-turned hydroponic farmer. In times like these when the younger generation of farmers choose to opt for anything but agriculture, the case of Ajay would seem to be a paradox of sorts. The 32-year-old has turned to hydroponic farming in an attempt to grow quality food because a lot of vegetables and fruits supplied to markets today are grown using harmful chemicals that are detrimental to health.

He believes that the right use of technology can improve a field’s produce but the problem is that Indian farmers are already struggling with finances and are reluctant to take risks “They fear that if their investment in technology does not work out, it may lead to huge losses,” he says. Ajay wants to change the equation by taking technology to as many farmers as he can. And that is where hydroponics comes into the picture.

Hydroponics is the process of growing plants in water with added nutrients without the use of soil.

What attracted Ajay towards this form of agriculture is that it limits the use of chemicals. After initial research he came to know about a person in Pune who has a doctorate in plant nutrition and manages a hydroponic farm. Ajay met him, saw his farms and learned as much as he could.

“It was inspiring and motivated me to start a farm of my own as well. The fact that hydroponics involves technology, like developing a system for automatic circulation of water, controlling the parameters of temperature, humidity, etc. made me like it even more. I have been working in the IT industry for the past 10 years and I understand these things. In fact, it would have been difficult for me to understand traditional forms of agriculture,” he says.

Fully equipped with the required knowledge, Ajay started his farm two months ago in Karaswada, Goa. With a team of six people, he now grows exotic vegetables like lettuce and salad greens using the Nutrient Film Technique (NFT). This is a hydroponic technique in which a shallow stream of water containing nutrients for plant growth circulates past the bare roots of plants in watertight cylindrical tubes also called channels. The water flows from one end and is re-circulated into the system from the other end, thus reducing water consumption by 80% when compared to traditional farming.

Since there is no soil involved in the process, there is no need for pesticides. Ajay has set up his system in a vertical farming model with racks that have seven levels to save space.

He claims that this is Goa’s first vertical hydroponics farm, which occupies an area of 150 square metres. “I grow three tonnes of lettuce every month. The farm is set up in a controlled environment that enables me to grow exotic vegetables all-year-round without being dependent on the weather,” he says. In addition, he is now trying to convince other farmers to adopt this technology. “I have already started showing the technique to farmers in vegetable expositions conducted by the agriculture department in different places in Goa. The department is also keen on collaborating with me so they can take it to more farmers,” he says. Other than this, he sells his produce to local vendors and also in supermarkets. “I am planning to grow bell pepper, cucumber and strawberries too. In the future, I would also like to shift to other hydroponics techniques and increase the produce,” he adds.

Originally from Karnataka, Ajay came to Goa to work with a software company, which he quit in 2011 to start his own enterprise to develop mobile applications.

He then sold his company this year and used his savings to start this farm. He also received help from two investors. While the initial cost of setting up the farm is high, Ajay feels that he will be able to recover it over a period of time with hydroponics farming because of the high turnover.

“Producing food nowadays is becoming a real challenge. With the increasing population, water scarcity, and the ecological impact of transportation, hydroponics is the best choice for commercial as well as home-based farming. Among many advantages, hydroponics allows you to produce more (20 to 30%) high-quality vegetables and fruits, save on water and nutrient consumption, and grow fresh food everywhere – including sterile and unproductive lands, or in big cities and capitals. It helps cutting down on expensive intermediaries and shipping costs,” he concludes.

You can contact Ajay by writing to him at [email protected]

SOURCE

24 notes · View notes

isabellecheren · 7 years ago

Text

#SecondLifeChallenge Strawberry Singh

Tutorials and myself are not so great together. Many in the real life workplace can attest to the fact that I am no teacher of anything. Simply because it makes sense to me but I can’t seem to get it to make sense to someone else. Never a teacher shall I be. However today I give it a go in my own fashion because this is all you can get out of me. Anything else would involve miracles I’m sure….…

View On WordPress

#Addams #berry #blogging #blueberry #Catwa #Exile #lizbitz #second life challenge #secondlife destinations #sl fashion #Strawberry Singh #virtual reality #vlogging

0 notes

zzbottom · 8 years ago

Photo

SecondLifeChallenge for Willow Dion — Whooshing The Metaverse Strawberry Singh put out a challenge to post seven facts about your Second Life. I thought this was interesting project so here are seven facts about Willow Dion.

0 notes

ladystylestores · 5 years ago

Text

Hong Kong, Dominic Cummings, New Zealand: Your Monday Briefing

(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)

Good morning.

We’re covering protests in Hong Kong as China tightens its control, outrage against a top British aide who violated lockdown, and The Times’s front page on the loss of nearly 100,000 lives in the U.S. to the coronavirus pandemic.

The protest underscored the outrage of residents after Beijing on Friday proposed new security laws that would tighten its control over Hong Kong.

The proposals, which were unveiled at the opening of the National People’s Congress, also highlighted the challenges facing the pro-democracy movement. Attendance was far lower compared with the huge rallies in 2019 against a bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. Some protesters feel more hopeless and afraid.

The police have shown that they plan assertive action to stop mass gatherings from gaining force.

Quote of note: “I wouldn’t use optimistic,” one resident said of her outlook on the protests. “But I would say that if we do not insist, we will not see hope. It’s because we insist, that hope will remain out there.”

Analysis: President Xi Jinping’s move against Hong Kong has echoes of President Vladimir Putin’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 — a brash move by an autocratic leader risking international condemnation to resist what he sees as foreign encroachment, Steven Lee Myers, our Beijing bureau chief, writes.

The push to reopen churches

President Trump is pressing U.S. officials to allow church gatherings — a step that other countries have already taken, sometimes with regret.

In Germany, for instance, where religious houses of worship have been reopened for weeks, 40 churchgoers have tested positive for the coronavirus after a Baptist church service in Frankfurt.

Other places are just now lifting restrictions. In France, a court last week ordered the government to allow in-person religious services, making the country one of the last in Western Europe to reopen churches, mosques and synagogues.

Large gatherings of worshipers have been linked to the spread of the virus in some places, most notably in South Korea, where a single church group accounted for more than half of the country’s early infections.

Outrage grows against top British aide

Prime Minister Boris Johnson resisted calls on Sunday to fire his most influential adviser, Dominic Cummings, after reports that he had violated Britain’s lockdown rules.

Mr. Cummings had driven 260 miles to his parents’ house in Northern England after he had contracted the coronavirus. A statement released by Mr. Johnson said that Mr. Cummings had been unable to line up care for his young child after he and his wife began showing virus symptoms.

Official remarks: “I believe that in every respect, he has acted responsibly, and legally, and with integrity,” Mr. Johnson said. But a spokesman for the opposition Labour Party disagreed, saying, “The British people do not expect there to be one rule for them and another rule for Dominic Cummings.”

If you have 7 minutes, this is worth it

Leading a ‘team of five million’ in New Zealand

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, a global progressive icon, has been strikingly effective in coaxing New Zealanders to suspend their lives because of the coronavirus pandemic. (She even interviewed through an earthquake.)

As New Zealand prepares for an election in September, our Sydney bureau chief writes about Ms. Ardern’s leadership style, including her deft use of Facebook to relate to a population of five million that is “less saint and disciples, more friends or teammates.”

North Korea’s leader: President Kim Jong-un convened the country’s top military-governing body to outline “new policies for further increasing” its nuclear capacities and promoting weapons officials — the first public activity reported by the North’s state-run media in three weeks.

Snapshot: A famed family-owned circus in Italy, the Rony Roller Circus, has been sitting out the pandemic in a field outside Rome since March. “I miss the applause, the tent, the colors of the lights,” said Daniela Vassallo, part of the family. Above, Megan Vassallo, 13, practicing the aerial loop.

European football: By recruiting only local players, Athletic Bilbao has forged a unique identity that its fans embrace.

What we’re listening to: The “Terrible, Thanks for Asking” podcast. “This episode,” says Lance Booth, a photo editor, “is about a writer who becomes unemployed after landing her dream job, and the ever-revolving gate of unemployment.”

Now, a break from the news

Cook: Melissa Clark’s classic yellow cake is whisked in one bowl and frosted however you like (or smothered in strawberries and cream).

And now for the Back Story on …

A front page unlike any other

As the United States approaches 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus, our editors wanted to mark the grim milestone. So, instead of the articles, photographs or graphics that normally appear on the front page of The New York Times, on Sunday there’s just a list: a long, solemn list of people whose lives were lost to the coronavirus pandemic.

The names, nearly 1,000 of them, were gleaned from obituaries in hundreds of U.S. newspapers and conveyed both the vastness and the variety of lives lost.

“We knew we were approaching this milestone,” Simone Landon, assistant editor of the Graphics desk, told Times Insider. “We knew that there should be some way to try to reckon with that number.”

But Ms. Landon and her colleagues realized that “both among journalists and perhaps in the general reading public, there’s a little bit of a fatigue with the data.” Putting 100,000 dots or stick figures on a page “doesn’t really tell you very much about who these people were, the lives that they lived, what it means for us as a country,” Ms. Landon said. She came up with the idea to compile obituaries and death notices of Covid-19 victims from newspapers large and small across the country and selecting vivid passages from them.

“I wanted something that people would look back on in 100 years to understand the toll of what we’re living through,” Marc Lacey, the National editor, said.

That’s it for this briefing. For those celebrating, Eid Mubarak. See you next time.

— Isabella

Thank you To Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh for the break from the news. You can reach the team at [email protected].

P.S. • We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is on how a woman named Genie Chance covered the biggest earthquake to hit North America in recorded history. • Here’s today’s Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: Poker action (three letters). You can find all our puzzles here. • Last year, The Times published around 900 articles about the climate, including dispatches from around the world showing the effects of climate change and identifying solutions.

Source link

قالب وردپرس

from World Wide News https://ift.tt/3d0ek67

#World Wide News

0 notes

homeremedynaturalcure · 7 years ago

Text

Schizophrenia management through home remedies and natural cures

This is a chronic and challenging brain disorder in which an individual is experiencing difficulties in making differences between imaginary things and reality things. The most common symptoms that are associated with schizophrenia are neglecting basic personal hygiene, emotional flatness, disorganized behavior, incoherent speech, abnormal motor behavior, thought disorders, hallucinations and delusions [1]. Also schizophrenia is linked to suicidal behavior and thoughts. The exact cause for disorder is not known but it is believed that is a combination of environmental, psychological, physical and genetic factors. Also there are other factors that could lead to schizophrenia such as different brain chemistry, taking mind – altering drugs during young adulthood [2], pre – natal viral infections and stress during pregnancy. This serious disorder can be managed and controlled with proper treatment and support from family and friends. Also there are some home remedies which can help to reduce the number of schizophrenic episodes which depends on the severity of schizophrenia. This is a serious mental illness and it should be treated under expert supervision. Also it is highly recommended to get this condition diagnosed and treated professionally. Talk with your doctor before you start using some of the below mentioned home remedies for schizophrenia because we do not guarantee you that they will help you.

Schizophrenia treatment and natural cures

Exercise: It is very important to do regular exercises because it can help to maintain physical and mental well – being for people who suffer from schizophrenia. Also it can alleviate depression and anxiety and it will improve your mood. You should engage in at thirty minutes of moderate physical activity on daily basis. You can try training exercise, jogging or strength exercises or walking. Also yoga is considered as add – on therapy for schizophrenia because it can help to reduce psychotic symptoms, improve cognition and the quality of life and produce neurobiological changes. Antioxidants: Antioxidant vitamins like Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Vitamin E are considered as very effective home remedies for reducing the severity of schizophrenia. Also it is known that the Vitamin C is anti – stress vitamin [3]. There are some studies in which are said that the oxidative stress can be also a cause for schizophrenia. Antioxidants can help to neutralize free radicals and they can reduce the oxidative stress. You should include antioxidant – rich foods in your diet such as carrots, spinach, Indian gooseberry, oranges, lemons, strawberries and blueberries. Also you can take vitamin and multivitamin supplements. You need to talk with your doctor before you start taking supplements. Brahmi: Brahmi is also known as bacopa. This is popular Ayurvedic medicine which can enhance the cognitive ability. There are some animal studies in which are shown that this natural cure can help to improve schizophrenia. It is not known the exact mechanism how this natural cure is doing this but it is believed that it can help to stabilize some chemicals in the brain. Also it exhibits neuroprotecive properties. You should take 500 mg of brahmi extract on daily basis for at least one month. [4] Fish oil: It is known fact that people who suffer from schizophrenia have lower levels of Omega – 3 fatty acids in their blood because it is associated with a depletion of certain fatty acids. Also fish oil supplements are rich in EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) which can help to reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia. There was one study in 2010 in which was said that Omega – 3 PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids) can help to risk the risk of developing psychotic illnesses [5]. You should take 1 – 4 grams of fish oil supplements on daily basis. You need to talk with your doctor for the proper diagnosis, especially if you are taking medicines for cardiovascular disease, diabetes or blood thinning medications. Also you should include trout, sardine, salmon and other cold fish in your diet. Also you can eat seeds that have Omega – 3 fatty acids such as pumpkin seeds and flaxseeds. Gingko Biloba: There are many studies about this home remedy in which are said that it can be used as an adjunctive treatment for schizophrenia because it can help to enhance the effectiveness of antipsychotics [6]. Also it can protect against the neural damage that is caused by antipsychotics. The most common dosage of this home remedy is 360 mg of a standardized extract of Gingko Biloba daily divided in doses for up to sixteen weeks. You should talk with your doctor for the correct dosage of this home remedy.

schizophrenia medication and home remedies

Panax ginseng: This natural cure is considered as a very effective home remedy for improving concentration, thinking and memory. There was one study in 2008 in which was found that this natural cure can help to reduce some of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia in which is included lack of emotional expression (flat affect) in the patients [7]. It is believed that this home remedy hits the same brain receptors as antipsychotic drugs. You should take 200 mg of Panax ginseng on daily basis in a period of several weeks after you have talked with your doctor. You should not confuse the Panax ginseng with the Siberian and American ginseng. Chamomile: This home remedy has calming and soothing properties which can help to promote restful sleep and this is very helpful for people who suffer from schizophrenia. In one cup of hot water you should add one teaspoon of dried chamomile flowers. You should cover it and then allow it to steep for five minutes. You should strain this solution. You should drink it on daily basis in the evening. Ashwagandha: This home remedy is very useful for anxiety, depression and other psychiatric disorders due to its antidepressant and anxiolytic effect. There was one study in 2013 in which was said that this herb can offer cholesterol and blood glucose lowering properties to combat the side effects of antipsychotics that are associated with higher incidence of metabolic syndrome [8]. You should take 500 mg of ashwagandha supplement capsules, four times per day for at least one month. Diet management: It is found that the gluten – free diet can help to reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia but these benefits were realized only in a specific subgroup of people. It is known fact that the gluten is component of some grains, especially wheat. There are also some studies on ketogenic diets which are showing promising results. This type of diet is low – carbohydrate and high – fat diet which is including protein foods. But there are many cases in which diet changes are not making a difference for people who suffer from schizophrenia. There should be done a lot more studies in the future to determine if there is some connection between schizophrenia and diet. Before you make any major changes to your diet, you need to speak with your doctor. You should not make a diet change to replace some medication. Green cardamom: You can use the seeds of green cardamom as your natural treatment for schizophrenia because they are effective for the nervous system. You should steep one teaspoon of powdered cardamom seeds in one cup of hot water for five to ten minutes. You should strain it and then sweeten it with some sugar or honey. You should drink this home remedy two times per day. Basil: It is known fact that the basil leaves have antioxidant properties and they can help to promote the brain functionality which can help to improve the symptoms of schizophrenia. You should steep a few basil leaves in hot water for about five minutes. You should strain it and sweeten it with honey. You should drink this home remedy two times per day. Glycine: This is a protein building block or with other words said, it is an amino acid. Glycine works with the glutamine which can aid in the brain function. There are some studies in which are said that the high doses of glycine has boosts the efficacy of antipsychotic drugs which are used for the treatment of schizophrenia [9]. But there are some exceptions. It is said that glycine can decrease the effectiveness of the drug called clozapine [10]. This home remedy can decrease the negative symptoms of schizophrenia such as depression and flat affect. But there should be done a lot more studies in the future to determine the potential benefits of glycine. Licorice powder: There are some minerals and compounds in the licorice which are very helpful for treating brain disorders. This is a very effective herb which can help to reduce anxiety and stress. You should add one teaspoon of licorice to hot water and let it stay there for 15 minutes. You should strain it and serve to the patient. If you consume this home remedy on daily basis and in the morning in empty stomach, then you will notice excellent results. References: [1] Fioravanti M, Bianchi V, Cinti ME. Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia: an updated metanalysis of the scientific evidence. BCM Psychiatry. 2012;12:64. [2] Andreae LC. Cannabis use and schizophrenia: Chicken or egg? Science Translational Medicine. 2018;10(460). [3] Han QQ, Shen TT, Wang F, et al. Preventive and therapeutic potential of Vitamin C in mental disorders. Current Medical Science. 2018;38(1):1-10. [4] Stough C, Singh H, Zangara A. Mechanisms, efficacy, and safety of Bacopa monnieri (Brahmi) for cognitive and brain enhancement. Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2015;2015:717605. [5] Amminger GP, Schafer MR, Papageorgiou K. Long-chain ω-3 fatty acids for indicated prevention of psychotic disorders: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Archives of General Psychiatry. 2010;67(2):146-154. [6] Atmaca M, Tezcan E, Kuloglu M, et al. The effect of extract of ginkgo biloba addition to olanzapine on therapeutic effect and antioxidant enzyme levels in patients with schizophrenia. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 2005;59:652-656. [7] Laino C. Ginseng may help treat schizophrenia: Study shows herbal preparation may help reduce hard-to-treat symptoms. WebMD. 2008. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/news/20080508/ginseng-may-help-treat-schizophrenia#1. [8] Agnihotri AP, Sontakke SD, Thawani VR, et al. Effects of Withania somnifera in patients of schizophrenia: A randomized, double blind, placebo controlled pilot trial study. Indian Journal of Pharmacology. 2013;45(4):417-418. [9] Heresco-Levy U, Javitt DC, Ermilov M, et al. Efficacy of high-dose glycine in the treatment of enduring negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry. 1999;56(1):29-36. [10] Potkin SG, Jin Y, Bunney BG, et al. Effect of clozapine and adjunctive high-dose glycine in treatment-resistant schizophrenia. The American Journal of Psychiatry. 1999;156(1):145-7.

#best cure for schizophrenia #best medication for psychosis #can you treat schizophrenia #curing psychosis #depression treatment #nervous breakdown treatment #ptsd treatment #schizophrenia medication #schizophrenia treatment #schizophrenia treatment centers #Home Remedies

0 notes

gossipnetwork-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Meet Rupi Kaur, Queen of the 'Instapoets'

New Post has been published on http://gossip.network/meet-rupi-kaur-queen-of-the-instapoets/

Meet Rupi Kaur, Queen of the 'Instapoets'

Rupi Kaur is too sick to get out of bed and wishes she had realized this a few hours earlier. Sitting on a king-size mattress in her Soho Grand hotel room, Kaur tells the story of how she almost lost her brunch all over actress Jennifer Westfeldt. “I knew something was wrong when I was talking to Jennifer and the green haze came over me,” she says in between sips of red Gatorade. “I was like, ‘You’re talking about something so deep right now, but the strawberries are coming back up girl, I gotta go.'”

Trying to keep fruit down isn’t exactly how the 25-year-old imagined she’d be celebrating the release of her second collection of poetry, The Sun and Her Flowers. It’s a celebration which kicked off the night before with a live performance of her work featuring Westfeldt, YouTube star Lilly Singh and fellow poet Chloe Wade. But this story of what was supposed to be a nausea-free victory lap, which she spares me the gross details of finishing, is just the kind of anecdote her 1.9 million Instagram followers would adore.

Since 2013, Kaur has been sharing poems about love, heartbreak and womanhood that perfectly exemplify the self-care movement. Most are bite-size affirmations, accompanied by Kaur’s own delicate line drawings, that go down easy when scrolling through Instagram. Kaur’s most-liked poem, which is just six lines and begins “how is it so easy for you/ to be kind to people, he asked,” earned over 240,000 likes.

Her poetry has gotten her more than likes, though. Her debut, Milk and Honey, has sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide since its 2015 re-release by Andrews McMeel Publishing. (Kaur self-published it a year prior.) In its first week of release, Kaur’s follow-up was duking it out for the top spot on Amazon’s best-seller list with Dan Brown’s latest novel. It would win the coveted spot atop The New York Times list for paperback trade fiction where it stayed for nine straight weeks before E.L. James usurped it.

Uncomplicated and concise, Kaur’s poetry has been criticized for being too simplistic. Parody accounts have shown up on Twitter that intend to show how easy it is to write a Rupi Kaur poem – the gist being you take any conversation, format it in all lowercase and insert random line breaks. Milk and Honey officially became a meme earlier this year when people starting taking the text from Vine videos and stylizing them like one of her poems. Now there’s even a book called Milk and Vine that’s quickly become an Amazon bestseller since its October release.

Kaur doesn’t think her poetry is simple. To her, it’s straightforward. “It’s like a peach,” she says. “You have to remove everything and get to the pit of it.” Kaur – who moved from Punjab, India to the suburbs of Ontario, Canada, when she was three and a half years old and now lives in Toronto – doesn’t want readers to agonize over each and every word like she did when learning poetry in school. “I would have to pull out the list of literary devices my teacher gave me and my 10 colorful pens,” she says, her big, almond eyes getting wider. “It was like doing surgery on the damn thing.”

Instead, Kaur wanted to do something more accessable. “I’ve realized, it’s not the exact content that people connect with,” she says. “People will understand and they’ll feel it because it all just goes back to the human emotion. Sadness looks the same across all cultures, races, and communities. So does happiness and joy.”

Though she’s made her name with words, Kaur’s initial Instagram fame had nothing to do with her poetry. Three years ago, Kaur posted a shot of herself lying in a bed with her back to the camera, menstrual blood leaking through her sweatpants. Instagram removed the image – which was for a college assignment in which she was asked to “challenge a taboo” – two separate times for breaking community guidelines. The site eventually apologized and reposted the photo, but not before Kaur wrote a letter reprimanding them for trying to censor her. “Their patriarchy is leaking. Their misogyny is leaking. We will not be censored,” she wrote on Facebook, in a post that’s been shared over 18,000 times.

Kaur’s response went viral and soon she was doing interviews with The Huffington Post and Vice about the need to “demystify the period.” Talking to Kaur now, she says she wishes she never wrote that letter – curious, since that’s how so many people found her Instagram. “I think that day, this anxiety came upon me that’s never left,” she says, recalling how scary it was to get “that much hate literally from every corner of the planet.” While Kaur says she received overwhelming support from the letter – the most memorable, she says, was an email from a war general in Afghanistan – she also never experienced “so many people saying so many mean things and telling me they were going to kill me.” Still, she doesn’t deny that the strongly worded letter benefited her career: “They came for the photo, but they stayed for the poetry.”

Why they stayed is simple, according to Kirsty Melville, the president and publisher of Andrews McMeel Publishing, which had previously been best known for releasing Calvin and Hobbes. “She’s given voice to things that people may not have been able to articulate for themselves,” she says. “In this digital world where content marketing is this sort of buzzword, Rupi is the content and it doesn’t need the marketing.”

Kaur’s popularity on Instagram is part of a trend so prominent in publishing right now that it’s spawned its own genre. “Instapoets” has become the term used to describe a new generation of writers including Lang Leav, Tyler Knott Gregson, Nayyirah Waheed and Robert M. Drake, all of whom have landed book deals thanks to their respective social media presence. “We were told for so long that there isn’t a market for this, and there is,” Kaur says. “I’m seeing so many more poets who are getting published, which I hope isn’t just a trend that goes away.”

Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter have allowed more poets – especially those of color – to share their work with a larger, younger and more diverse audience, but not everyone loves the “Instapoets” nickname. “Personally, I think it is ridiculous that a social media platform is used to define a genre of writing,” says Leav, who has 393, 000 Instagram followers. After all, Leav released her first two bestselling poetry collections – her 2014 self-published debut, Love & Misadventure, which sold 10,000 copies in the first month, and Lullabies, which was published that same year by Andrews McMeel – without ever writing a word on Instagram. (She preferred Tumblr.)

No two Instapoets are exactly alike, but there are similarities between writers that even those in the community find worrisome. Earlier this year, Waheed, who self-published her debut, Salt, a year before Milk and Honey, accused Kaur of “hyper-similarity” after fans on Twitter and Tumblr made those charges. Waheed wrote in a Tumblr post, which has since been taken down, that in 2014 she emailed Kaur, “woc writer to fellow woc writer,” to share her concerns “in the hopes that upon awareness on their part. efforts would be made to cease and desist.” In the post, Waheed, who keeps a low public profile, rarely giving interviews, said that her concerns went ignored.

Kaur declines to comment on Waheed’s specific allegations, but when speaking in her hotel room says she believes some crossover between poets is natural when they have “similar experiences and similar ideas about the world.” She also wonders if some of the accusations of similarity between her work and others are a way of silencing women of color. “It’s like that scarcity complex,” Kaur says. “‘We already have one and it’s enough,’ as if we have to fight each other off now and I think that’s really dangerous.”

Over 900 fans came out to see Kaur read at the Tribeca event. John Halpern

Kaur certainly isn’t spending her time duking it out with other poets. She holds her own unique space in the literary world where her poetry readings are more like pop concerts. To launch The Sun and Her Flowers, she put on a special theatrical performance at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in New York City to a sold-out crowd of over 900 people willing to shell out $75 to $100 to see her.

In a nod to the book’s cover, Kaur’s fans – mostly women in their late teens and early twenties – took photos with gigantic sunflowers. Beyoncé, Rihanna and Drake played over the speakers before the petite poet took the stage in a dress that hit right above the knee. It was something that gave her pause, knowing that her Sikh father was in the audience. “It’s the shortest thing I ever wore in front of him,” Kaur says later. “I was like, ‘My legs! He’s never seen my legs before!'”

When Kaur speaks, her fans, which she says are “60 percent female and 40 percent everything else,” listen. They also whoop and holler when she delivers the climax of her most suggestive poem, Milk and Honey‘s “How We Make Up”: “Sweet baby, this is how we pull language out of one another with the flick of our tongues.” They snap their fingers in solidarity after “What’s stronger than the human heart/ that shatters over and over and still lives,” a line that found its way onto posters at the Women’s March in January.

“Whenever I read her poems, I have the same thought: ‘This is exactly how I feel but never knew how to say it,'” Lilly Singh writes in an email days after sharing the stage with Kaur to read selections from The Sun and Her Flowers. “Rupi’s words make people, especially women, feel safe and understood.”

Kaur has no problem connecting with her audience, but now she’d like the literary world to take her more seriously. She admits that her goal with her new collection was to improve as a writer and show “that just because your work is successful does not make it bad work.”

Kaur started writing Milk and Honey when she was 18. Now 25, Kaur doesn’t deny that she’s outgrown some of her early work, but isn’t ashamed of anything she’s put down on paper. “We grew up in a time with every single one of our moves being recorded and documented forever and in that was this idea that we can’t make mistakes,” she says, “but when that’s not happening you’re also not growing.”

The way she looks back at her life and lets her fans know it gets better is a big part of Kaur’s appeal, but some critics question whether the stories in her work are really hers to tell. Kaur’s been criticized for blurring the lines between her own experiences and the experiences of others when writing about the trauma women face – rape, sexual assault, domestic abuse – most notably in the Buzzfeed piece “The Problem With Rupi Kaur’s Poetry.” The essay makes the case that the poet’s “use of collective trauma in her quest to depict the quintessential South Asian female experience” is a way of forcing universality to reach a larger, more mainstream audience. It’s a dilemma that many writers of color face, knowing that sticking with specifics in regards to their own story could mean alienating readers.

Kaur tells me she writes about the South Asian experience – hers, her friends’, her family’s – because she doesn’t want to see these stories go untold. “I began writing pieces about violence at the age of 16 after seeing what the women around me were enduring and facing,” Kaur says. “It was my way of reflecting on all of these issues.”

With so little South Asian representation in entertainment, Kaur also understands how important it is for her to share these stories even if it may come with some backlash. “This name,” she says, pointing to the “Kaur” that appears on the binding of her latest book, which she pulls out from underneath the white comforter of her hotel bed, as if scripted, “is so important on a bookshelf. That’s the name of every Sikh woman. If I was six years old and I saw this in Barnes and Nobles, I would cry. I would sit there and be like, ‘If she can do it, I can do it.'”

With Sun and Her Flowers, Kaur’s still following her peach-pit philosophy, but she’s also getting at the core of who she is, delving deeper into her South Asian identity in a section of the book fittingly called “Roots.” The eldest of four writes at length about her parents, specifically her mom, whose struggle with being an immigrant is something Kaur admits she’s often taken for granted.

During her Tribeca performance, Kaur tells a story about how, as a kid, she would ignore her mom at the supermarket, too embarrassed by her accent to be seen with her. The anecdote acts as the perfect lead-in to “Broken English,” the standout of her latest collection in which she chastises herself and anyone else who’s ever been ashamed of their immigrant mother. “She split through countries to be here/ so you wouldn’t have to cross a shoreline,” she writes. “Her accent is thick like honey/ hold it with your life/ it’s the only thing she has left of home.”

The funny thing is, Kaur almost didn’t include this section in her book. “I thought nobody cares about this,” she says. “It’s not cool to talk about your parents.” But it’s the part that’s gotten the most feedback from fans who want to tell Kaur about their own mothers and how far they traveled for a better life. “When you start writing those other poems about your parents and all that, it’s like, how can you write about love and heartache?” Kaur asks. “That just seems so silly.”

For those who want it, there are still plenty of traditional love and heartache poems in The Sun and Her Flowers, but Kaur’s expanding on these topics. She’s now writing more authoritatively about the love and heartache that accompanies her mom and dad’s immigrant story and discovering that her specific experience of being a woman, being Punjabi and being a child of immigrants has universal appeal.

Knowing how far her reach is, Kaur doesn’t just want to write poetry, but prose, too. Back in 2015, she wrote 10 chapters of a novel that she’s still figuring out what to do with. She’s also thinking she might even want to give music a try. “It would be cool to write a song with Adele,” Kaur mentions with a chuckle. “You know, if she calls me up.”

Source link

0 notes