#(i do see an occasional good take. and alternate readings that help my own analysis sometimes too which is nice)

[daz4i]

sometimes bsd reddit can be fun but sometimes i will go on it and see posts like "why do people think dazai is depressed? i don't remember it ever being mentioned, is it just a common fanon thing?"

[mugen-monogatari]

Kabukimonogatari - Shinobu Silence; Humanizing a Monster

This post is the second part of my Kabukimonogatari posts. In the first post, I talked about Hachikuji and her key scene, while in this post, I’ll be talking about Shinobu and her important scene. To me personally, this climax of the arc was probably one of the best scenes in Monogatari as a whole. This entire exchange, was so satisfyingly, unsatisfying. It left me feeling empty, and almost disappointed (which sounds like a bad thing), but that’s what makes it so great. The crushingly painful realism. This entire arc was a commentary on how even our smallest actions and decisions can affect the greater world around us. It shows how we take even the smallest things for granted, with some pretty insightful commentary on depression and being in a dark place.

So with that brief introduction out of the way. Lets talk about shinobu and her climactic scene in Kabukimonogatari. For this analysis, I’ll be potentially spoiling all the way up to episode 10 of the Monogatari second Season. Keep that in mind if you haven’t yet seen up to that point. Also, this is all just my interpretation, none of this should be taken as fact.

Ironically, this arc was the first which made Shinobu, a vampire, an aberration, feel the most human in the entire series. She demonstrates, while seeming like a transcendent being, she’s very much so susceptible to the same problems everyone faces. Jealousy, pride, depression. They affect her just as much as they would anyone else. Which was top-notch characterization for this point in the story. Up to then, Shinobu was almost an enigma, being incredibly cute and wise, but having very little going for her in terms of emotional depth (that is unless you watched or read Kizumonogatari before this).

This entire humanization is what leads to the apocalyptic events of Kabuki. Shinobu’s jealousy. Her envy for the people around Koyomi, her pride and child-like stubbornness. Most of you probably didn’t remember until it was mentioned, Shinobu was missing at one point in the story, only returning upon seeing Koyomi’s efforts to find her. She saw this as an act of mutual affection. Him searching for her demonstrated his need or care for her, so she returned the kindness by helping him with the Hanekawa situation. However in this reality, Hachikuji had never incentivized Koyomi to go search for Shinobu, prompting her to destroy the world in her solitude and envy.

And that was one of the really heart-wrenching things about this arc- It shows even that little ounce of effort is enough to save someone, or to change things, even fix things. In our case, Koyomi actively put that effort in, going out of his way instead of settling for the easy route of just waiting for her to return. Shinobu while having lived for hundreds of years, still has the mind of a spoiled brat. She felt as if it was Koyomi’s job to come searching for her. She refused to be the one that put the effort in. She acknowledges this herself- “If I had only made one tiny compromise.” She realizes that you can’t expect things to happen for you, if you’re not willing to put some effort in yourself. She comes to terms with the unreasonable nature of her actions, having created this entire situation and forcing Koyomi to search for her, to see things from her perspective. But in this alternate reality- He never did.

I feel that's a painfully accurate depiction of human emotions. A lot of the time, we expect things from people that aren’t entirely fair. We can’t always admit we’re wrong, and we’re often too stubborn to just apologize. We instead run away and blame it on everyone else. “It was his fault for not chasing me-” That’s the sort of mentality she had. And that’s a mentality a lot of people have. But this entire arc shows you have to compromise. You can’t rely on one party in a relationship to fix everything. You both must actively work towards whatever happiness you seek.

“If I’d only opened up my heart to this boy a little more, Believing and entrusting…”

It also shows a slightly nihilistic view of our actions. Running away, destroying the world was completely pointless, she accomplished nothing in doing so. The void in her heart was not filled, she was just left feeling even more empty and depressed. Had she just waited slightly longer, or better yet, compromised, she would’ve had the happiness she sought after. Which is a good message told in a depressing way. Patience is key. Don’t run away from the problem and expect everyone else to fix it. If you’re not happy with the way someone acts or a situation you’re in, you can work on improving that, even when it’s hard, time and effort will help you ultimately achieve happiness.

This was a very rough scene for me personally. Your actions aren’t permanent, but your mistakes are. Running away isn’t the end of it. Had she just returned everything would have been okay, while never returning led to the end of our world as we knew it. Her world too. She was left with nothing but regrets. “My running away from home caused me to lose you… Making me feel like I had lost a wing, A half of myself.” A quote that just goes to demonstrate her pain. Her misery at making one, small, stupid, stubborn choice, which led to everything she knew ending. Leaving her with nothing but a destroyed world and a void in her heart.

Which leads me onto my second part of this scene. Depression. I know it’s a little cliche to talk about it, but I think this is a fairly accurate depiction of it. It’s not a switch or something that happens overnight. In the case of Shinobu and most people, it’s a downwards spiral, one bad day leading to another, before they pile up. In her case, she was stubborn. Taking her anger out on the world, before realizing in feeling alone, she truly became alone. She destroyed her own life, with her own hands. As DJ Khaled once said; “Congratulations, you played yourself.”(Had to get one meme in there to lighten the mood plsdontkillme).

Shinobu feels truly alone. She struggles with the fact that Koyomi is surrounded by all these girls, forcing him to divide his attention between them all, making her feel unneeded and desperate. So she flees. She runs away with the hope that he’ll chase her, and when he doesn’t- She kills everyone. In doing so, she realizes that she truly has become alone and is prompted to take her own life.

But then upon seeing her alternate self, it becomes all so painfully clear the futility of her actions. This could have all been avoided if- you guessed it- she compromised. There most definitely was a reality where she was happy. There was a certain almost guaranteed chance that everything would be okay, had she just waited or tried to put effort in herself. It’s a very touching moment actually, when she has the tragic realization that everything she did was pointless. She had ruined everything for no reason. That there was a reality where both her and Koyomi could happily snuggle together.

While that may sound bleak, I think the real hidden message is that things get better. Life will improve, and even when it’s difficult or hard or stressful or lonely, it’s not the end. There’s a lot of people out there who suffer from very serious, very real problems, and many see no way out of it. It can be draining and scary. But it does truly get better, with some time and effort, you can make a life for yourself. It’s unfair, yes, but if you just work at things, one day you’ll be able to look back on you life and wonder why you ever even worried. I think this arc was kind of like a really really depressing way of saying- “Hey. It’ll be alright. Just stick with it. It’ll pay off, your hard work and effort will be rewarded,” which is both sweet and touching. If this was truly the author’s intentions, I have to give him kudos, since I think that’s a good message to give people.

To relate this to my own life, me and my own Girlfriend argue sometimes. Occasionally the topic of breaking up will come up, but we never do. She always puts it best saying; “I won’t break up with you because that’s a permanent decision. This argument isn’t, we’ll move on and forget about it at some point.” And I think that applies perfectly with this entire arc.

Kabukimonogatari was another fanatastic arc in an amazing series, and I’m just glad I got to experience it and share it with you guys. If you take anything away from this arc, just remember, no matter where you are in life, one day it’ll get better.

Thank you so much for reading this, if you made it this far, maybe consider sharing this with someone. Next up I’ll be doing some stuff for the Fate franchise, as well as more Monogatari character stuff, don’t forget more Bleach posts too, So keep your eyes peeled.

Take Care of Eachother, Saki~

[jcmorgenstern]

@superohclair oh god okay please know these are all just incoherent ramblings so like, idk, please feel free to add on or ignore me if im just wildly off base but this is a bad summary of what ive been thinking about and also my first titans/batman meta?? (also, hi!)

okay so for the disclaimer round: I am not an actual cultural studies major, nor do I have an extensive background in looking at the police/military industrial complex in media. also my comics knowledge is pretty shaky and im a big noob(I recently got into titans, and before that was pretty ignorant of the dceu besides batman) so I’ll kind of focus in on the show and stuff im more familiar with and apologize in advance?. basically im just a semi-educated idiot with Opinions, anyone with more knowledge/expertise please jump in! this is literally just the bullshit I spat out incoherently off the top of my head. did i mention im a comics noob? because im a comics noob.

so on a general level, I think we can all agree that batman as a cultural force is somewhat on the conservative side, if not simply due to its age and commercial positioning in American culture. there are a lot of challenges and nuances to that and it’s definitely expanding and changing as DC tries to position itself in the way that will...make the most money, but all you have to do is take a gander through the different iterations of the stories in the comics and it’ll smack you in the fucking face. like compare the first iteration of Jason keeping kids out of drugs to the titans version and you’ve got to at least chuckle. at the end of the day, this is a story about a (white male) billionaire who fights crime.

to be fair, I’d argue the romanticization of the police isn’t as aggressive as it could be—they are most often presented as corrupt and incompetent. However, considering the main cop characters depicted like Jim Gordon, the guys in Gotham (it’s been a while since I saw it, sorry) are often the romanticized “good few” (and often or almost always white cis/het men), that’s on pretty shaky ground. I don’t have the background in the comics strong enough to make specific arguments, so I’ll cede the point to someone who does and disagrees, but having recently watched a show that deals excellently with police incompetence, racism, and brutality (7 Seconds on Netflix), I feel at the very least something is deeply missing. like, analysis of race wrt police brutality in any aspect at all whatsoever.

I think it can be compellingly read that batman does heavily play into the military/police industrial complex due to its takes on violence—just play the Arkham games for more than an hour and you’ll know what I mean. to be a little less vague, even though batman as a franchise valorizes “psychiatric treatment” and “nonviolence,” the entire game seems pretty aware it characterizes treatment as a madhouse and nonviolence as breaking someone’s back or neck magically without killing them because you’re a “good guy.” while it is definitely subversive that the franchise even considers these elements at all, they don’t always do a fantastic job living up to them.

and then when you consider the fetishization of tools of violence both in canon and in the fandom, it gets worse. same with prisons—if anything it dehumanizes people in prisons even more than like, cop shows in general, which is pretty impressive(ly bad). like there’s just no nuance afforded and arkham is generally glamorized. the fact that one of the inmates is a crocodile assassin, I will admit, does not help. im not really sure how to mitigate that when, again, one of the inmates is a crocodile assassin, but I think my point still stands. fuck you, killer croc. (im just kidding unfuck him or whatever)

not to take this on a Jason Todd tangent but I was thinking about it this afternoon and again when thinking about that cop scene again and in many ways he does serve as a challenge to both batman’s ideology as well as the ideology of the franchise in general. his depiction is always a bit of a sticking point and it’s always fascinating to me to see how any given adaptation handles it. like Jason’s “”street”” origin has become inseparable from his characterization as an angry, brash, violent kid, and that in itself reflects a whole host of cultural stereotypes that I might argue occasionally/often dip into racialized tropes (like just imagine if he wasn’t white, ok). red hood (a play on robin hood and the outlaws, as I just realized...today) is in my exposure/experience mostly depicted as a villain, but he challenges batman’s no-kill philosophy both on an ethical and practical level. every time the joker escapes he kills a whole score more of innocent people, let alone the other rogues—is it truly ethical to let him live or avoid killing him for the cost of one life and let others die?

moreover, batman’s ““blind”” faith in the justice system (prisons, publicly-funded asylum prisons, courts) is conveniently elided—the story usually ends when he drops bad guy of the day off at arkham or ties up the bad guys and lets the police come etc etc. part of this is obviously bc car chases are more cinematic than dry court procedurals, but there is an alternate universe where bruce wayne never becomes batman and instead advocates for the arkham warden to be replaced with someone competent and the system overhauled, or in programs encouraging a more diverse and educated police force, or even into social welfare programs. (I am vaguely aware this is sometimes/often part of canon, but I don’t think it’s fair to say it’s the main focus. and again, I get it’s not nearly as cinematic).

overall, I think the most frustrating thing about the batman franchise or at least what I’ve seen or read of it is that while it does attempt to deal with corruption and injustice at all levels of the criminal justice system/government, it does so either by treating it as “just how life is” or having Dick or Jim Gordon or whoever the fuckjust wipe it out by “eliminating the dirty cops,” completely ignoring the non-fantasy ways these problems are dealt with in real life. it just isn’t realistic. instead of putting restrictions on police violence or educating cops on how to use their weapons or putting work into eradicating the culture of racism and prejudice or god basically anything it’s just all cinematized into the “good few” triumphing over the bad...somehow. its always unsatisfying and ultimately feels like lip service to me, personally.

this also dovetails with the very frustrating way mental health/”insanity” or “madness” is dealt with in canon, very typical of mainstream fiction. like for example:“madness is like gravity, all it takes is a little push.” yikes, if by ‘push’ you mean significant life stressors, genetic load, and environemntal influences,  then sure. challenge any dudebro joker fanboy to explain exactly what combination of DSM disorders the joker has to explain his “””insanity””” and see what happens. (these are, in fact, my plans for this Friday evening. im a hit at parties).

anyway I do really want to wax poetic about that cop scene in 1x06 so im gonna do just that! honestly when I first saw that I immediately sat up like I’d sat on a fucking tack, my cultural studies senses were tingling. the whole “fuck batman” ethos of the show had already been interesting to me, esp in s1, when bruce was basically standing in for the baby boomers and dick being our millennial/GenX hero. I do think dick was explicitly intended to appeal to a millennial audience and embody the millennial ethos. By that logic, the tension between dick and Jason immediately struck me as allegorical (Jason constantly commenting on dick being old, outdated, using slang dick doesn’t understand and generally being full of youthful obnoxious fistbumping energy).

Even if subconsciously on the part of the writers, jason’s over-aggressive energy can be read as a commentary on genZ—seen by mainstream millennial/GenX audiences as taking things too far. Like, the cops in 1x06 could have been Nick Zucco’s hired men or idk pretty much anyone, yet they explicitly chose cops and even had Jason explain why he deliberately went after them for being cops so dick (cop) could judge him for it. his rationale? he was beaten up by cops on the street, so he’s returning the favor. he doesn’t have the focused “righteous” rage of batman or dick/nightwing towards valid targets, he just has rage at the world and specifically the system—framed here as unacceptable or fanatical. as if like, dressing up like a bat and punching people at night is, um, totally normal and uncontroversial.

on a slightly wider scope, the show seems to internally struggle with its own progressive ethos—on the one hand, they hire the wildly talented chellah man, but on the other hand they will likely kill him off soon. or they cast anna diop, drawing wrath from the loudly racist underbelly of fandom, but sideline her. perhaps it’s a genuine struggle, perhaps they simply don’t want to alienate the bigots in the fanbase, but the issue of cops stuck out to me when I was watching as an social issue where they explicitly came down on one side over the other. jason’s characterization is, I admit and appreciate, still nuanced, but I’d argue that’s literally just bc he’s a white guy and a fan favorite. cast an actor of color as Jason and see how fast fandom and the writer’s room turns on him.

anyway i don’t really have the place to speak about what an explicitly nonwhite!cop!dick grayson would look like, but I do think it would be a fascinating and exciting place to start in exploring and correcting the kind of vague and nebulous complaints i raise above. (edit: i should have made more clear, i mean in the show, which hasn’t dealt with dick’s heritage afaik). also, there’s something to be said about the cop vs detective thing but I don’t really have the brain juice or expertise to say it? anyway if you got this far i hope it was at least interesting and again pls jump in id love to hear other people’s takes!!

tldr i took two (2) cultural studies classes and have Opinions

[walkerismychoice]

When I Taste Tequila

Book: The Elementalists

Pairing: Beckett X MC (Zoe Flynn)

Rating: PG-13 with some mature language and themes

A/N: This is an alternate universe fic request by @indubitablywrong. I’m purposely not revealing what the a/u is until the end to not give too much away

Tag List:  @tabithacarlisle @thatspicegirlssong @darley1101 @flyawayboo @drakewalkerfantasy @flowerpowell @itsstillnotwhatyouthink @jimmypagesandbrianmayshair @tmarie82 @choiceswreckedme @regina-and-happiness @blackcatkita @debramcg1106 @lizeboredom @boneandfur @llamasgrl

Word Count: 3139

“Okay, enough unpacking. We need to go out for drinks, right now.” Atlas insisted.

“But I start my internship early in the morning.” Zoe protested. “I’m not sure going out is such a good idea. Since when do you like being around people anyway? I think there are still a few beers in the fridge if you want.”

“No.” Atlas turned Zoe around and pushed her towards her bedroom. “We haven’t seen anything outside of these four walls the past two days, and I’m going back to Boston in the morning. Go get dressed, and let’s go!”

New Brunswick, NJ was not the most glamorous city for a new college graduate, but it was home to a prestigious chemical engineering internship program at one of the top pharmaceutical companies in the country. If it ended up working out, and she got a job there making real money, she could always move to the city and commute, but for now a modest apartment near work would have to do. Thankfully Zoe’s interviewers had mentioned a trendier establishment they often frequented so she an Atlas wouldn’t have to chance ending up in some crappy dive bar. Still, she figured the typical attire would be somewhat casual, so she went for her standard favorite skinny jeans and black crop top that always made her feel good about her appearance. She took down her messy bun and her brunette hair miraculously fell in uniform waves past her shoulders like she had purposefully spent time doing it. She dabbed on some lip gloss, fixed up her eye makeup, and was good to go. Atlas, unsurprisingly, remained in her usual uniform of worn out jeans, t-shirt, and leather jacket. Her silvery bob was the only feature that distinguished her from her from her identical twin, Zoe. Well, that and the almost constant resting bitch face Atlas wore. 

Heads turned as they walked into the moderately crowded bar as the patrons surveyed the newcomers, but everyone seemed to quickly lose interest and get back to their conversations. Zoe and Atlas found a small table in the corner where they sat and perused the drink menu. The decor was as expected - clean lines, dark wood, and pendant lights, and thankfully it didn’t reek like old cigarette smoke. Vintage beer signs were hung neatly across all the walls. The music was upbeat and good for dancing, but not so loud you had to yell to hear one another. 

Zoe and Atlas both ordered mojitos and nursed their drinks as the analyzed the other customers in the bar. People watching was one of their favorite past times.

"Those two," Atlas nodded towards a couple probably in their late twenties a few tables away, "....definitely on their first date."

“Judging from the overdone makeup on her and the amount of product in his hair, I’d say the same.” Zoe agreed.

“Plus her awkward fidgeting every time there’s a pause in the conversation...” Atlas added. “Ooh, and that group all seems pretty tight, except that overly stuffy one. He seems like he doesn’t want to be here.”

Zoe scanned the group of ten or so people in the adjacent corner and immediately picked out who Atlas was talking about. It was a guy about her age, maybe a couple years older. He was wearing dark gray dress pants, a medium blue dress shirt and a matching patterned tie, while the rest of the group was a mix of business casual and blue jeans. His chestnut hair was perfectly coiffed like it wouldn’t have moved if a hurricane rolled through, and he almost certainly smelled heavily of cologne. She could just tell. “He’s kind of hot but takes himself way too seriously. I’m guessing a group of coworkers out for happy hour and he got dragged along. He’s the dress for the job you want, not the one you have type. I bet he annoys the fuck out of everyone else.” Zoe took another sip of her drink and looked to Atlas waiting for her final analysis.

“I bet he’s also type who likes attractive brunettes with wavy hair and brown eyes.” Atlas replied with a smirk.

“What?” Zoe scrunched her face in confusion and glanced over catching his gaze briefly before he averted his eyes. 

“He was totally checking you out.” Atlas chuckled.

Zoe shook her head. “He’s probably just staring off wishing he was anywhere else but here.”

“Fine. Let’s test this out. Go up to the bar and order a drink and see if he walks up next to you,” Atlas encouraged. 

“What is this?” Zoe scoffed. “You trying to play matchmaker or something? I’ll go just to prove you wrong.” Zoe marched up to the bar and sat down, ordering another mojito, but only for herself. Atlas could order her own for putting Zoe up to this. The bartender finished making the cocktail and set it down, but the stool next to Zoe was still empty. She picked up glass and was about to go back to Atlas and declare victory, when she saw a figure out of the corner of her left eye. She inconspicuously turned her head, and sure enough it was him. Zoe looked back to her sister who was smiling smugly. Well at this point Zoe should stay a minute longer. Maybe it was just a coincidence and he needed a drink. Atlas could still be wrong.

The guy caught the bartender’s attention. “I’ll just have a water please.”

A water? Okay there’s no way he came up to the bar while I’m sitting her just because he needed a water. She hated being wrong when Atlas was right enough not to worry about what she was going to do now that this pretentious looking guy was potentially trying to make a move on her. She had to admit that he was even better looking up close, and although she was totally right about the cologne, she actually liked the smell. She grasped the cup in her hands and stared into it, waiting to see what would happen next, but nothing happened. They both sat in silence as what felt like an eternity passed but was probably only a couple minutes. Zoe finally gave in and swiveled her barstool in his direction. “So are we going to sit in silence, or are you going to introduce yourself to me?”

“Wha-” It was difficult to tell in the dim light, but she thought she may have seen the tips of his ears turn red. “Oh, um, hello. I’m Beckett.” he extended a hand to her.

She was taken aback by his formality, but she went with it, shaking his hand and echoing his tone. “Hello Beckett, I’m Zoe.”

“Pleased to meet you, Zoe. So...uh,do you frequent this establishment?”

Zoe groaned internally. It was like he was reading out of a book of bad pick-up lines, but in his own geeky language. For as self-assured as he appeared from afar, he was nothing like that in front of her now. She couldn’t decide if his awkwardness was cute or just weird. “Is that supposed to be you hitting on me? You are going to have to do better than that.”

“I wasn’t-” Beckett sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t normally do this as you can probably tell.”

“And what exactly are you doing?” Zoe bit back a smile. She never typically felt like she had the upper hand with hot guys like him, so she was enjoying watching him squirm.

“Well, your smile captivated me from across the room and I thought you might be someone I’d like to get to know a bit better,” Beckett admitted.

“Huh,” Zoe tilted her head to the side trying to figure him out, but she also felt a bit of warmth rush to her cheeks. “You are a different one Beckett. Most guys would just say they thought I was cute or they liked my ass.”

This time there was a definite blush across his entire face before he cleared his throat. “Not to sound cliche, but I’m not like most guys.” 

Coming from anyone else, Zoe might think this was another line, but she could sense Beckett was clearly unique, and she couldn't help but be intrigued by him. Still, that didn't mean she was going to go easy on him, "That's what they all say," she teased, but then she when she saw his expression of self-doubt she took pity on him. "I was just messing around, Beckett. For the record, I think your smile is captivating as well. You should show it more often." He seemed genuinely pleased by the compliment, but still a bit stiff and uncomfortable. "That's it, no more water for you." She flagged down the bartender again. "Two - no make that four shots of tequila with some extra salt and limes on the side."

"Zoe, that's quite alright. I'm good with water," Beckett insisted.

Zoe eyed him discerningly. "You aren't in AA or anything are you?"

"No, I drink occasionally, but it's work night and I have to get up at five am for my daily yoga meditation-" he paused and exhaled loudly. "Okay, I see that look on your face. At least let me pay."

She wanted to protest, but who was she kidding? She was broke and was going to be working for peanuts at her internship. From the looks of his apparel, Beckett could most certainly afford it. "Don't think this means I'm going to put out for you though."

Beckett's eyes went wide. "That's not why I off-" He chuckled. "You are teasing me again aren't you?" He picked up a shot glass and handed it to her. Her fingers brushed his in the exchange, maybe intentionally, but he also held on a moment longer than necessary. He raised his own glass and locked his steely gray eyes on hers.

Zoe felt a spark of electricity between them and her heart started to flutter. "Cheers!" She swiftly picked up her shot to break the tension, licked the salt off, and clinked it against his, the liquid burning her throat as she poured it down. She bit down on her lime wedge to cut the taste, and Beckett did the same. He looked a little bit adorable as he scrunched his nose and puckered his lips at the mix of sour and bitter flavors. "Not much of a tequila drinker are you?" 

Beckett shook his head. “No, I usually stick with wine, maybe an occasional scotch.”

“Yeah, I’m typically a wine or beer girl myself,” Zoe admitted. “I don’t really go for hard liquor unless it’s in a fruity drink.”

“Then why are we doing shots of tequila?” Beckett inquired with a hint of judgement in his tone. “Did you assume that’s what I would like?”

“Nope. You just seemed like you could stand to let loosen up a bit,” she replied. 

“That probably could have also been achieved with drinks we actually like to drink.”

Zoe was starting to lose her courage for the next part now that she realized she might actually be into this guy. It was more than just a game now, but she decided to go for it anyway. She didn’t care if it was a cheesy party trick that should have been left behind in college. “Maybe, but drinking tequila shots can be a whole lot more fun than drinking other drinks. Have you ever done body shots?”

“What? No!” Beckett looked at her like she had two heads. “I thought people only did that in movies.”

Zoe chuckled. “See, this is exactly why I’m suggesting it. I can tell there are likely many youthful indiscretions you missed out on, but it's not too late. You’re what, twenty three?”

“Twenty Four. I think the window has passed.” He tried and failed to keep a straight face.

“I knew you wouldn’t pass up the chance to lick salt off of me. I’ll go first. Where do you want my mouth?”  

“I...uh...” Zoe took slight satisfaction in the fact that the blushing, bumbling Beckett was back. “Why don’t you pick?”

“Alright then.” Zoe loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons on his dress shirt, and his breath quickened. “Can’t go wrong here.” She poured a small amount of salt in the dip of his collarbone and stuck a lime wedge in his mouth. Beckett stilled as if bracing himself for what was to come. Her mouth descended on him and she suctioned her lips to his skin almost hard enough to leave a mark as she licked him clean, only letting go after a soft whimper escaped his throat. Objective number one completed. She threw back the tequila without tasting it and then carefully bit into the flesh of the lime, avoiding any contact between their lips. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to kiss him. She wanted to very much, but she was leaving that up to him. She pulled back and let the lime drop into her shot glass. “You survived. Congratulations!”

“That actually wasn’t terrible.” Zoe assumed in Beckett terms that meant somewhere near spectacular.  “I suppose I should take my turn now. Not that I want to be unoriginal, but the collarbone really is the optimal location to place the salt. May I?”

She found his nerdy formality oddly sexy. “Please do.” She tilted her head to the side and pulled her hair away to grant him better access. She picked the lime out herself, choosing the smallest one to give better odds their lips would meet. Beckett lowered his head slowly and then gently traced his tongue over her salted skin sending a shiver down her spine. Although she enjoyed it, his timidness didn’t bode well for her second objective, but time would tell. Beckett drank his tequila, hesitated, and then slipped his hand behind her head, drawing her in closer to him. He didn’t even bother biting down on the lime, bypassing it completely to get to her lips. His were soft and warm, tasting of citrus and salt. They passed the lime back and forth with their tongues, Beckett breaking the kiss when he gained possession one last time, finally completing his task. 

He smiled confidently. “How did I do?”

Fucking amazing, Zoe thought but wouldn’t say that out loud. “Not bad, but a little more practice wouldn’t hurt. Should we order more?”

Beckett looked at his watch. “As fun as that was, it is getting late and I’ll barely get five hours of sleep as it is.”

“Shit!” Remembering she was there with her sister for the first time, Zoe looked back to their table but Atlas wasn’t there. She pulled her phone out of her purse and was relieved to see a text:

Got bored and went back to your place. You looked to be in capable hands😉 

“Everything okay?” Beckett asked with genuine concern.

“Yes, but you are right. It is late, I have to get up early too.”

“Let me walk you out.” Beckett stood and offered her a hand up. All the alcohol consumed seemed to hit her at once as she got to her feet and she stumbled. Beckett braced her arm and led her outside. 

Zoe was a little more drunk than she thought. Those mojitos must have been strong. Despite her better judgement, which was long out the window at this point, she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Beckett just yet. She pulled him around the corner into an alleyway and pushed him up against the wall. She kissed him hard and he gave in without putting up much of a fight. She pressed her hips into him and could feel he was already hard. One night stands and public sex were not her style, but she wanted him so bad in that moment. She trailed her hands all the way down his chest and started to unbuckle his belt.

Beckett pushed her away suddenly. “What are you doing Zoe? I mean - it’s not that I don’t want that, but not like this. Not here when you’re probably not thinking clearly. I’ll order an Uber for you.”

Zoe was immediately much more sober and thoroughly embarrassed. “No really, don’t worry about it, I can walk. It’s not that far.”

“Please, I insist. What’s you address?” Beckett plugged the information into his phone and a car was there within minutes, but not a moment too soon to break their awkward silence. “Why don’t I come with and make sure you get inside okay?”

“That’s not necessary. I can take care of myself.” She huffed. She wasn’t upset with him, just mad at herself, but it probably didn’t come off that way. 

“At least give me your number so I can make sure you made it home.” Beckett pleaded.

“Beckett, let’s just forget about all of this. You don’t have to worry about me anymore.” Before he could protest, she got into the car and locked the door. She wasn’t sure, but she may have seen Beckett slip the driver some extra cash. New Brunswick wasn’t a big city, but big enough that she hoped she wouldn’t have to run into him again.

~~~~~

Zoe walked into the building her first day hungover as fuck with a raging headache. She hoped she at least looked a little better than she felt. She was dressed the part, and her hair was clean at least. She prayed the smell of alcohol wasn’t still oozing out of her pores, but she was most definitely sober. 

“Zoe, Welcome!” She was greeted by the hiring manager Annette. “Here’s your name badge. You are going to be working under one of our Senior Chemical Engineers. Why don’t you have a seat. I’ll go get him,and you two can go from there.”

As the minutes ticked by she had nothing to do but think - think about how she had ruined a great evening by trying to have sex in an alley with a guy she just met. Who even was she was last night? Then to top it off she freaked out on him even though he was still being nothing but kind and concerned about her. “Deep breaths.” She muttered to herself. Time to erase all that from her memory and focus on her new beginning.  She stood up and smoothed out her clothing as she hear footsteps approaching around the corner. They were still a good distance away when she spotted him, but he looked very familiar, and she felt the color drain from her face. 

Annette smiled warmly. Zoe, I’d like to introduce you to one of our senior chemical engineers and your mentor for the duration of your internship, Beckett Harrington.”

So much for never seeing him again. 

End

Note: The theme of this alternate universe request was boss/intern. I didn’t want to do a traditional boss/intern story where the girl falls for the guy in a position of power over her, so this was the result.

[tipsycad147]

Dream Magick

Careful what you ask for....

All About Dreams and Their Magick

by Celeste

Exploring the possibilities of Dream Magic is a powerful and effective way of breaking away from linear consciousness and allowing magic into your life. Prospective magicians may even be identified by virtue of the content of their dreams, and it is not unusual for people to meet their mentors in dreams. We tend to think of dreams as a very personal aspect of our experience, so it is sometimes disconcerting when someone that we know appears in our dreams. In dreams, historical time is abolished, and distance is no object. We may witness events from the past, future, or alternative presents. Dreams are a useful starting point for entering the innerworlds. It can be useful to induce prophetic dreams, or meetings with spirits so that you can discuss a particular problem. A friend of mine who makes incense and perfumes reports that she occasionally dreams of a unique smell, which on waking, she can then analyse and manufacture. The magical artist Austin Osman Spare wrote that he would sometimes awake to find himself standing in front of a finished picture, having drawn it in his sleep. Dreams can bring new ideas, revelations, and many shades of magical experiences. Having some practical experience in Dream Magic can be an aid to developing the techniques of so-called Astral Magic.

The Language of Dreams I find, reading through my dream-diary, that there seem to be different types, or grades, of dreaming. Some dreams appear to be meaningless - unrelated to other areas of my life. Some may seem to be somehow related to things that have happened to me. Other dreams may have a different quality - an internal consistency which makes them more memorable. Some dreams may contain imagery or events which relate to your magical work. it is generally taken as a ‘good sign’ of progress is you start to dream about your magical practice.

The language of dream is not always clear - it is often cryptic and personal. The significance of your dreams becomes very much a matter of personal judgement. You will find, over time, that the ‘message’ of some dreams will be very clear, whilst you will intuitively recognise that some are clearly meaningless. Others however, may not be so clear-cut, and may require further interpretation. There are many books which attempt to provide general ‘interpretations’ for dreams, but overall, it is more effective if you learn to understand and interpret your own personal dream-imagery. If a dream seems ambiguous yet significant, you could, for example, turn to your tarot cards or another form of oracle for ‘clues’.

Basic Approaches To Dream Control It is remarkably easy to make the content of dreams conform to expectation. People who are undergoing Freudian analysis tend to have 'Freudian' dreams, whilst people who are undergoing Jungian psychotherapy will tend to experience 'Jungian' dreams. You might choose to begin experimenting with Dream Control by setting a 'theme' for your dreams - such as a particular subject, location, or person. There are several different approaches to intentionally guiding dream content.

Dream Control Using Sigils Firstly, prior to sleep, perform a relaxation exercise and clearly formulate the Statement of Intent with regard to your dream-experience. For example, "It is my will to dream of my father." Once this is done, you can allow your mind to 'wander' until you fall asleep.

Alternatively, you could try visualising a scene or image as you fall asleep. This need not be a strong visualisation, just the subject of attention as you fall asleep.

A third way of willing dream-content is to use a graphic or mantric sigil. Whatever technique you use, remember that the point is not to impose your will into your dreams, but to be relaxed at the same time as formulating your intention.

Dreamscaping This is a basic technique for inducing the repetition and extension of a dream-fragment. You simply write down what you can recall of a dream and then, the next time you lie down to sleep, imagine yourself to be re-experiencing that dream. I have found that it does help if you are tired, and can slip into the half-dream, half-aware state when all kinds of sensory images - voices, faces, places etc., seem to whirl around you. Again, on awakening, you record any fragments you can remember, and use them to extend what you dreamt about previously.

Over time, this approach can enable you to generate your own dream landscapes - which can be used in a similar way to astral temples.

Dream Telepathy The possibility of transmission of telepathic information into dreams has been the subject of a good deal of parapsychological research, usually in the form that a "sender" attempts to project some kind of information to a dreamer. However, it can happen that you will have a dream about someone in a particular situation, which they do experience.

Of course, the only way that you can find out whether a not a dream had telepathic content is to check out the person(s) concerned and find out if your dream has any meaning for them. Another possibility is to establish a telepathic link between yourself and another person by using smell. If two people use a particular fragrance or perfume, to the extent that the scent of it evokes the image or memory of the other person, then this can be used to create a dream-link. If the scent is inhaled prior to sleep, whilst relaxed and formulating an image of the other person, and a Statement of Intent for the dream, then it is possible that the other person can experience that smell in their dream, and be more receptive to telepathic experience. I have used this technique in a series of experiments, where a partner and I found that we could awaken each other during a pre-arranged hour of the night, by using scent as a telepathic signal 'booster'.

Shared Dreams A shared dream is an event wherein two or more people experience the same dream, or elements of a similar dream. Alternatively, you might dream about yourself and another person in a dream, and find out later that they too dreamt about you with them, perhaps in a different context. Again, the only way to validate this is to inform the people concerned. Attempts to orchestrate group shared-dreams can be an interesting exercise, perhaps using a semi-structured pathworking to provide the basic setting which participants could later attempt to dream themselves to. Some experiments in shared dreaming, for example, focus on all participants attempting to meet each other in a commonly-known setting - which may be a real place, or an imaginary one known to all taking part in the experiment.

Dreaming The Future That dreams have the power to warn us of the future is an ancient idea, and precognitive dreams played an important role in ancient civilisations. On the basis of a dream, the destiny of a country or state could be shaped. Dreams about the future can be symbolic, distorted, or even highly detailed and clear, but it is often difficult, beforehand to distinguish the important elements of the dream. A few years ago, some friends of mine decided to undertake an experiment in dreaming the future. They planned a visit to a town that none of them had ever visited before, and then attempted to dream themselves there. One person kept seeing the recurrent image of a long-necked cat, but for the life of him couldn't figure out how this was relevant. When he actually visited the town, almost the first thing he saw, after getting out of the car, was an antique shop. In the window was a glazed model of a long-necked cat.

Lucid Dreaming A basic definition of a lucid dream is that you know at the time that you are dreaming - as though you ‘wake up’ to awareness of the dream. The term ‘lucid dream’ was coined in 1913 by a Dutch psychiatrist, Frederik van Eeden. Surveys enquiring into the incidence of lucid dreams have found that more than 50% of people have at least one lucid dream in their lives. Lucid dreams are also distinguished from ordinary dreams in that, when you wake up, there is much more of a sense of continuity from the dream, to the waking state.

Approaches To Triggering Lucid Dreams 1. Incongruity

Lucid dreams can be triggered by the sudden recognition of incongruous imagery within a dream. For example, I once dreamed that I was in a house which I had not lived in for over a decade. The dream was perfect in every detail, except that when I looked down at my feet, I saw that I was wearing a pair of shoes that I did not possess at that time. This incongruity jarred me into realised that I was dreaming.

2. Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreaming (MILD)

This approach is done on waking in the early morning from a dream. After waking, try reading or walking around for a while, then lie down for sleep again. Imagine yourself asleep and dreaming - rehearse the elements of the dream which you have just had, and say to yourself "next time I dream this, I will remember that I am dreaming."

Lucidity can also be brought about by metaprogramming oneself so that if a particular image or scene appears, this will trigger lucidity, i.e. "I will become lucid whenever I see a yellow sphere floating towards me."

Also, it is not uncommon for people to become lucid in a dream when they realise that they have had the dream before, can remember how it develops, and do not want to re-experience it.

3. Lucid Awake-ness

A German psychologist, Paul Tholey, has suggested that if we are more ‘lucid’ when awake, then perhaps we will be more lucid during our dream-life. He suggests asking yourself many times throughout the day, "Am I dreaming or not?" I have not met anyone who has tried this method, but the sheer determination and persistence that constantly reminding yourself of this each day would take, could act as a form of self-programming.

4. Recognition of an Image

Recognition of an image or symbol appearing in dream that one has meditated upon can trigger lucidity. Carlos Castaneda’s brujo Don Juan advises his student to learn to look at his hands in dream, and thereby achieve lucid consciousness of the dream.

Creation Of A Dream-Tulpa

A ‘tulpa’ is a consciously-projected thought-form or servitor, which may perform a particular task for a magician or act as a general ‘helper’. They are of a similar nature to Spirit Desire-Forms. A Dream Tulpa takes the form of a shadowy figure - Tibetan shamans, from whom the name derives, often projected these figures in the form of monks - whom you should gradually begin to embellish with features over time. For example, you could spend some minutes working with the Dream Tulpa each night. Your aim should be not so much to impose features onto the shadow-form - but to let them arise. For example, you might notice, the first time you do this, that the Tulpa is a man. Mentally note one or two features (write them down when you can) and leave it at that. The next night, you might find yourself deciding that the man wears heavy gold rings on his hands. The trick is to let the shape build up gradually, taking on more detail and its own ‘life’, until it spontaneously crosses over into your dream experience.

Knowing that you have dreamt about the Tulpa is itself, a great step forwards. If you can reach that stage, then you may consider working with the Tulpa consciously, in waking, semi-waking, and dream states. You could for example, ask the Tulpa to act as a ‘trigger’ to bring you to lucid awareness in dream, or to guide you in travelling to different realms in the lands of dream. It is important that you build up a relationship of trust and confidence with the Tulpa, that you recognise it as an individual entity, albeit one that you are responsible for.

Bridging The Conscious Divide

It can be rewarding to try and approach dreaming from a non-western point of view, such as that of the Australasian Aborigines. The Ancient Egyptians believed that sleep is a ‘rehearsal’ for death, and that the pathways through the lands of the dead could be mapped through dreaming. The Chippewa of Canada and the Northern United States believed that the origin of all their tribal skills, customs and values came from dreams or visions.

The Magical Applications Of Dream Revelation & Oracle The search for revelation of one kind or another - or for an answer to a pressing issue or problem, may often terminate in a dream. In ‘primitive’ societies, the course of an individuals’ life may be drastically changed by a dream. In some Native American societies for example, the transgender role of Berdache (man-woman) was often confirmed through the interpretation of a candidates dreams.

Dream Incubation This is a practice by which significant dreams are obtained by sleeping at a sacred site related to a particular cult or spirit. This practice features in many cultures, from Ancient Egypt to Tibet. By the 3rd Century A.D, it became popular in Greece to ask for physical healing through dream - the cult of Aesculapius became the most widespread cult of dream incubation. Pilgrims would, following purification rites and preparation (such as sacrifice, prayer etc.), sleep on the skins of sacrificial animals, surrounded by yellow snakes (a symbol of the god), in order that they might dream of the god Aesculapius - which was in itself a marvellous cure. Later, in Rome, the dream was no longer in itself a cure, but a source of medical advice.

Similarly, it is not uncommon for people having taken part in a magical ritual, to dream of it continuing. It has been reported that sleeping in the area where group ritual has been worked can facilitate this.

Seeking Answers Through Dream Answers to specific questions or issues can be sought through dreams using, for example, a sigil of some kind. One is not however, guaranteed of an unambiguous answer.

Power Objects & Spirit Names Personal Power objects may be obtained through dreaming. Symbols or images beheld in dream may be transferred into the waking world as talismans or fetishes. Such artifacts ‘contain’ the essence of the dream - perhaps a reminder of the heightened awareness experienced within it.

Also, spirits and other entities may name themselves in dreams. A friend of mine received his ‘magical name’ in a dream. Entities encountered in dreams could be given form - such as a drawing, poppet, or carving, and worked with on a conscious level.

These are just a few of the applications of Dream Magic, but there is enough here to make a start in exploring this fascinating area of magical work.

Angel of Dreams Assistance Spell

October 20th, 2003

Monday is sacred to the Moon and to the goddess Diana. Diana is the protector of women and animals and the goddess of the hunt, but she is also the goddess of night—the time of rest, sleep, and dreams. In the Qabalah, the Moon is referred to as the Angel of Dreams. This would be a good night to make use of the magical power of dreams through a dream incubation spell. To start, first determine what problem you would like Diana to help you with. Write the problem or question on a piece of paper, and read it several times during the day. At night when you retire to bed, put the paper under your pillow and say the following words softly to yourself: Artemis, Diana, Goddess of Night, Angel of Dreams, I have brought to you my question, And I await your instruction. During the night, you will receive instruction on how to mend the problem. If this does not happen on the first night, do not be discouraged. Try again as many nights in a row as you need to until you get a result. To make use of the information, it is essential to recall your dream when you wake up in the morning. If this is difficult for you, then do not get up or open your eyes quickly when you wake up. Lie in bed for a few more minutes. Return your body to the same position that you were in while you were dreaming. Your body has memory. Keep a pad by the bed and write down the dream as soon as you remember it.

Dream ritual

Best performed at night. Get into bed and center yourself. Imagine yourself encirled by a blueish/purplish light. Imagine you're floating in a physic sphere.

Determine precisely what is is you want them to feel or hear from you. Center yourself, imagine a vivid picture of the person recieving the dream

Picture your dream and when you're finished, say the following: Holy Mother, Goddess Divine I stand before your sacred shrine. This person won't listen or hear My words tickle at deafened ear. Holy Mother, Goddess Divine, Send a dream, awaken the mind. Through his/her visions he/she might live The nightmare/passion lesson/he/she so freely give. Holy Mother, Goddess Divine Send them your enchanted design Clear out the cobwebs, tear down the walls Carry my message through spirit calls.

Of course you may change the incantation any way you wish. I use a smaller quicker verse:

Dream be fast and Dream be quick, Send this thought that I depict. Send it with love an harm to none, Send my dream! My will is done!

And as always...use in perfect love! Good luck.

DREAM CONTROL METHOD

Ingredients

Learn to realize you are having an out of body experience through dream control! Then when you have become successful with that part of dreamcontrol , you will be ready for this part. You need to advance your dream techniques to where you realize that you are dreaming so that you can control the dream. Once you realize that you are dreaming you will find that you can control where you want to go and what you want to do. Now I am talking about when you have a dream that is in full blown color. Those type of dreams usually mean that your are actually out of body. You see, when people go to sleep at night their astral bodies leave and float around the astral planes in a dreamy state or gathering energy. Sometimes you may be learning things from other higher beings and eventually it is released in your conscious state later on when these beings think the time is right. You just have to become conscious of all this. Here are your key pointers: Work with dreams that are in full color. You must learn to become conscious during the dream. Try to take control of the dream and go where you wish. When you have achieved control you will know you have had an OBE! Remember to keep a diary of every experience.

Dream Magick By Silver RavenWolf

Do you ever want to get an important message through to someone, but you just don't know how to do it? Here is what you do: 1. Determine precisely what it is you want them to hear, or perhaps feel. Write down your wish on a piece of paper in simple sentence form. 2. Make a dream pillow using a small square of fabric and a little batting. Throw in a pinch of lavender and rosemary. Put in the piece of paper last, then sew up the end. 3. Put the dream pillow on your altar. Do an altar devotion to center yourself, then create sacred space. Cast a circle and call the quarters if you like, but is isn't necessary. 4. Center yourself, then hold your hands over the dream pillow and say the following: Holy Mother, Goddess Divine, I stand before your sacred shrine. This person won't listen or hear My words tickle at deafened ear. Holy Mother, Goddess Divine, Send a dream, awaken the mind. Through his/her vision he/she might live The nightmare/passion/lesson he/she so freely give. Holy Mother, Goddess Divine Send them your enchanted design Clear out the cobwebs, tear down walls Carry my message through spirit calls. Feel free to change the incantation to suit your purpose.

Dream Recipes

Dark Lady's Dreams Incense 1/2 palmful Cinnamon 3 whole Allspice 1/2 palmful Sweet Dittany of Crete 1 pinch Cedar 1 pinch Fennel 6 drops Hyancith Oil, 2 pinches Rosemary 6 drops Cinnamon oil 1 1/2 pinches Mullein 2 pinches Benzoin 1 palm Witchhazel 4 pinches Saltpeter -- more or less to suit

Dream Incense 2 parts Sandalwood 1 part  Rose 1 part  Camphor A few drops of Jasmine Oil Burn a bit in the bedroom to produce psychic dreams.

Dream Tea 2 parts Rose 1 part Mugwort 1 part Peppermint 1 part Jasmine 1/2 part Cinnamon Drink to cause dreams.

Dreaming True Bath Oil 1 part Lavender 1 part Rosemary 1 part Peppermint 1 part Thyme Pinch of Poppy seed 1/2 oz.  Carrier Oil

Dreaming True Incense 1 part Camphor 1 part Wood Aloe 1 part Jasmine 1 part Cucumber seeds 1 part Sandalwood

Prophetic Dreams Incense ( to help with prophetic dreams, divination and astral projection) 1/2 oz. Sandalwood 1/4 oz. Bayberry 1/2 oz. Rose petals 1/4 oz. Lavender 1/4 oz. Orris root 1 oz. Lemon peel 1/4 tsp. Saltpeter 3/8 tsp. Frankincense Oil 1 tsp. Tincture of Benzoin

Prophetic Dreams Incense2 2 parts Frankincense 1 part  Buchu Burn before going to bed to have prophetic dreams.

Prophetic Dreams Sachet 2 parts Rose 1 part Jasmine 1 part Poppy 1 part St. Johnswort 2 parts Mistletoe 1 part Rose Hips 2 or 3 pieces of Mandrake Tie in a purple cloth.

Sleep Oil 2 drops Rose 1 drop Jasmine 1 drop Chamomile 1/4 oz. Base Oil Anoint body to bring sleep on.

Sweet Dreams Potpourri 2 c rosepetals 1 t sandalwood EO (Essential Oil) 1 t cedarwood EO (Essemtial Oil) 1 T ground alspice 1 crushed cinnamon stick 1 c jasmine 1 c lavendar 1 c Sweet William 1 c lily of the Valley 2 c wisteria vine 1 c orris root

Dreaming with the Moon

by Connie Cockrell Kaplan

The astrological signs represent how energy moves, spirals, cycles, and changes. Each sign has unique characteristics. As the moon moves through the astrological signs each month, the dream energy takes on some of the characteristics of each sign. Remember, the moon moves through all twelve signs of the zodiac every month, spending more than two but less than three days in each one. You may have an "Aries" type dream when the sun is in Cancer — because it is the moon’s position that defines the dreaming! You’ll want to buy a Pocket Astrologer calendar — Jim Maynard makes a very good one (Quicksilver Productions, P.O. Box 340, Ashland, Oregon 97520) — so you can check the location of the moon each night!

Be very careful, however, not to become literal with this information. Each dreamer’s contract is unique. Your relationship to each sign is totally yours. Some signs may be more powerfully placed in your astrological chart than others. This section is a study guide, not a dictionary or a rule book.

What follows is a broad-strokes summary of the energy you may experience in dreaming when the moon moves through the zodiac. The energies will vary according to the season, the sun’s placement, other planets, and your own lunar cycle every month. These are simply guidelines to begin your personal investigations.

Aries Dreaming

Aries is the first sign of the zodiac and the initiation of a new cycle. In the yearly calendar, Aries begins on the first day of spring — the vernal equinox. When the moon is in Aries, dreams may be about new beginnings, new rules, new limits to test, or new understandings of old ideas. Aries dreams reveal the dreamer’s new relationship to ancient cycles. The "mascot" of Aries is the ram — he who bangs his head. Aries dreams, therefore, may be about the head: headaches, new ways of thinking, or a new focus.

Taurus Dreaming

Taurus is a very earthy, sensual sign. Taurus loves beauty and loves to nurture nature. When the moon is in Taurus, dreams might be about stewardship of Mother Earth. Taurus dreams might also involve different kinds of nurturing: caretaking, tending, cooking, gardening, and land loving. The Taurus mascot is the bull. Taurus rarely takes no for an answer! So, Taurus dreams may include a certain bullish, determined, sturdy, and enduring energy, and the dreams may be about accomplishment against odds. Taurus also governs the throat, so some dreams may refer to singing or speaking — using voice to bring beauty to the planet.

Gemini Dreaming

Gemini is the twin sign. Geminis can see the connectedness of all things. Mirror dreams often appear when the moon is in Gemini, because Geminis see form as a mirror. This sign also governs the lungs, so dreams of breath may occur. Gemini dreams may illuminate the principle of reciprocity: giving and receiving energy, the metaphorical breath. Geminis love to learn. They appreciate ideas for their own sake, and they are good at acquiring knowledge. The moon may send information to a dreamer at this time. Library dreams and school dreams ("Oh, no, I forgot to study for the test!") may occur when the moon is in Gemini.

Cancer Dreaming

In the Northern Hemisphere, the sun moves into Cancer on the summer solstice, the longest day and shortest night of the year. It is the turning point between the dance of light and dark. Each month when the moon is in Cancer, dreams may bring forth the dreamer’s personal relationship with the light and dark cosmic dance. Cancer is the home of the moon, and it is the most feminine of the signs. Often, dreams of the mother/child dynamic will come when the moon is in Cancer. Cancer governs the womb (the dreaming organ), the ovaries, and the breasts. Regeneration and procreation may be Cancerian dream themes. Natural cycles, changing tides, changing emotions (inner tides), and water sports may be other Cancer dreams.

Leo Dreaming

Leo represents an ecstatically alive and joyous life force. Leo honors all things born of love: children, art, visions, and inspirations. Leo wants what is best for the community and loves to inspire people to be their best. Theater dreams and party dreams are most likely to occur when the moon is in Leo. The ruler of Leo is the sun, the heart chakra. As a result, dreams of one’s true nature, one’s innocent lust for life, come at this time. Running off to join the circus is an example of a Leo dream. The lion is Leo’s symbol — king of the jungle and king of great hair! Often hair dreams and dreams of intelligence occur when the moon is in Leo. Dreams that involve actual lions also have a tendency to come when the moon aspects Leo.

Virgo Dreaming

Virgo, the virgin, is always appropriate. She is pure, polished, focused, discriminating, and a perfectionist. Some call Virgo nitpicky. Dreams of getting affairs and objects in order may come when the moon is in Virgo. Virgo has very high standards and pays great attention to detail. One might have researcher dreams, scientist dreams, analysis dreams, or critical dreams at this time. Virgo rules the intestines and the pancreas, so Virgo dreams may be about body issues. One may have dreams about breaking down and assimilating food and/or information. Virgo is also a great healing sign, so the dreamer may either receive or be taught a healing technique in Virgo dreamtime.

Libra Dreaming

Libra represents life’s balancing force. Some say that Libra is the most karmic sign in the zodiac, for karma is the great balancing force. Yearly, the sun moves into Libra on the autumnal equinox, marking the beginning of winter. When the moon is in Libra, dreams may be difficult. Libra dreams may point toward unbalanced energies. They may be a road map for necessary journeys into the underworld, into the "winter" of the soul. Libra is also the sign of justice and diplomacy, so Libra dreams may inspire the dreamer to take civil action and demand justice. Libra also governs the kidneys. A Libra dream may alert one about abnormal kidney function, or the dream may point out a need for a more proper energy flow within the dreamer’s life.

Scorpio Dreaming

Transformation, death, and rebirth are the anchor points of Scorpio. These words may scare some people. Dreamers, however, know that death in a dream marks a profound and exciting transformation. "Deconstruct and reconstruct" could be the motto of Scorpio. Dreams of giving birth, shedding skin (snake dreams), death, or profound change may come when the moon is in Scorpio. Scorpio is the sign of shrewd intelligence and deep insight, so dreams that come at this time may allow the dreamer to see beneath the surface. Scorpio also governs the nose. Aromatherapy dreams, anyone?

Sagittarius Dreaming

Sagittarius is the teacher’s teacher. Religion, philosophy, theology, and spirituality are the favorite topics of Sagittarius. The Sagittarian tests, verifies, and easily dumps any information that does not measure up to his or her ethic. Sagittarius dreams may involve religious ceremonies, spiritual experiences, and scientific testing. Sagittarius governs the blood. Dreams may refer to the sense of inner peace invoked by proper blood flow. Sagittarius also governs the thighs, so dreams of strength and power may come at this time. Dreams of magnificent sports feats are not unusual when the moon is in Sag.

Capricorn Dreaming

Capricorn holds dominion over the forces of nature. He is the master of manifestation. In the Northern Hemisphere, the sun moves into Capricorn on the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year — which is also said to be King Arthur’s birthday. Winter solstice marks another turn in the dance of light and dark. Capricorn dreams may be authoritarian and depict power over, as well as service to, nature. Capricorn rules the bones — the framework of the body. Because we download information into our bones, dreams when the moon is in Capricorn may evoke memory stored in our bones. Similarly, Mother Earth downloads information into her skeletal system — the minerals. Capricorn dreams may be crystal or stone dreams. They may call up some deep information or visualize the beauty of the mineral world. Capricorn also rules the knees. As a result, Capricorn dreams may be humbling and remind us to serve others.

Aquarius Dreaming

Aquarius is the sign of the New Age: the age of brotherhood, equanimity, and social justice. Aquarius tends to community needs and is always concerned with the group benefit. Dreams with the moon in Aquarius may be telepathic. They may allow the dreamer to perceive information from the collective consciousness. Aquarius dreams may inspire the dreamer toward social action. in addition, according to traditional astrology, Aquarius is an air sign. Dreams may depict certain properties of "air wave" communication, or they may involve air travel or wind. Tornado and tidal-wave dreams may come during an Aquarius moon.

Pisces Dreaming

Pisces, the most charitable and philanthropic sign, brings dreams that are mystical, psychic, and collective. Fluidity, unpredictability, and sensitivity are Pisces characteristics. Pisces is the sign of strong emotion and deep feeling. Pisceans love to escape. Pisces dreams can be of solitude, talking and breathing under water, deep secrecy, sacrifice, or running away. The Piscean Age, from which we now pass, was the age of great devotion to religion and organization. As a result, Pisces dreams may also reflect piety and unbending loyalty to a cause or a person.

Void-of-Course Dreaming

As the moon moves from sign to sign during a month, she may, for a few hours, be outside the direct influence of any sign. (Those constellations are far apart!) When the moon is between signs, she is said to be void of course. If you have a dream during that time, it will often be a dream of very profound quality. Usually, when the moon is void of course, nothing much happens. Women have been known to stop labor, wait for the moon to move into a new sign, and start again. If a dream comes when the moon is void of course, it is important. For example, I have received virtually all my dreaming information when the moon was void of course.

Herbal Dreamcraft

Dream Divination: Sights into the future, burn frankincense, dried jasmine flowers, or mugwort in bedroom before going to sleep. Tea brewed from mugwort or rosebuds will also work. You can also sleep with ash leaves, bay leaves, cinquefoil, heliotrope, holly, jasmine flowers, marigold flowers, mimosa, mugwort, onion, or yarrow under your pillow.

Dreams of Guidance for Love matters: sleep with any of the following herbs above your bed or underneath your pillow; cinquefoil, marjoram, vervain, and yarrow.

Dreams of Spiritual Guidance: drink mint tea before sleeping, or sleep with Buchu leaves or mint leaves under your pillow.

Enhance Dream Recall: mugwort, passionflower leaves, and rosemary. Drink as tea before going to bed or place under your pillow while sleeping.

Healing Dreams: drink tea-potion made from catnip or mint, burn cedar as a magickal dream incense, or sleep with agronomy, catnip, mint, sandalwood, or thyme under the pillow.

Mugwort: Most potent herb for dreamcraft. Aids in astral projection and lucid dreaming when burned as incense or placed under pillow while sleeping. Brew a tea from mugwort and drink it just before going to bed in order to strengthen psychic and magickal dream powers.

Prophetic Dream Visions: Make dream pillows or potions with any of the following herbs; adder's tongue, agrimony, anise, camphor, cinnamon, daisy, holly, hops, ivy, lemon verbena, lesser celandine, mandrake root, marigold, mistletoe, mugwort, onion, peppermint, purslane, rose, Saint John's wort, verbena, vervain, wormwood, and yarrow.

Psychic and Spiritual Growth: burn frankincense or mugwort, drink mugwort tea, or sleep with the herb underneath or sewn into your pillow.

Spiritual Protection: Burn cedar incense before going to bed. Keep live hyacinth plant near your bed, or sleep with any of the following herbs underneath your pillow; anise seeds, marigold flowers, mistletoe, mullein, purslane, rosemary, thyme, Ti plant, and yarrow. Will also guard against nightmares, psychic attacks, and baleful phantoms of the night.

Sweet Dreams and Restful Nights: Place any of the following herbs under your pillow; catnip, hops, mistletoe, passionflower leaves, psyllium seeds, and vervain. Rub juice of a lettuce on your forehead or eating its leaves before going to sleep will also help.

MILD SEDATIVE: Pour 1 pint boiling water over 1 tsp. dried catnip. Cover andsteep until cool. Strain and sweeten. Start with 2 Tlb. increase by 1 Tlb. until you find the right amount. Store in the fridge.

HOP SEDATIVE: Pour 1 pint boiling water over 1 1/2 tsp. dried hops flowers. Let steep, covered,10 minutes. Strain and sweeten. Add lemon juice.

FEVERFEW TEA: Pour 1 pint boiling water over 1 ounce of feverfew flowers. Cover and steep until cool. Strain and sweeten with honey. Drink cool.

TO INDUCE SLEEP: Mix 2 Tlb dried peppermint with 1 Tlb each of rosemary and sage. Pour 1pint boiling water over the herbs, steep for 5 to 10 minutes,strain and sweeten with honey.

or back up.

How To Remember Your Dreams © 1990 by Alex Lukeman

The most powerful time for us to touch the bridge between the conscious and unconscious mind is in the "twilight zone? between sleep and wakefulness. During this temporary period many of the filters which our outer mind imposes have been removed. The lines of communication are more open. Material can flow more freely between conscious and unconscious. This is a good time to tell yourself that you want to remember your dreams. Try this simple technique for stimulating your memory.

1. Lie comfortably on your back as you quietly prepare for sleep. 2. Be sure that you will not be interrupted or disturbed—not a bad idea for simply going to sleep! 3. Place your hand over the center of your chest, resting lightly and comfortably. Feel the warmth of your hand and your chest. 4. Say to yourself "Tonight I am going to remember my dreams. Tonight I will remember my dreams. I want to remember my dreams," 5, Continue to repeat this to yourself for a few minutes, You may or may not say this out loud, Be aware of your hand resting lightly on your chest. The hand signals you that you are ready to remember your dreams.

After you have done this for a few minutes, simply relax and drift off to sleep. Make sure that you have first prepared to record your dreams (have a pen and paper or tape recorder close to your bed) and that you are aware of this. Remembering and recording your dreams will become easier with paper

Lucid Dreaming

POWER TRIPS: CONTROLLING YOUR DREAMS

    A number of techniques facilitate lucid dreaming. One of the simplest is asking yourself many times during the day whether you are dreaming. Each time you ask the question, you should look for evidence proving you are not dreaming. The most reliable test: Read something, look away for a moment, and then read it again. If it reads the same way twice, it is unlikely that you are dreaming. After you have proved to yourself that you are not presently dreaming, visualize yourself doing what it is you'd like. Also, tell yourself that you want to recognize a nighttime dream the next time it occurs. The mechanism at work here is simple; it's much the same as picking up milk at the grocery store after reminding yourself to do so an hour before.

    At night people usually realize they are dreaming when they experience unusual or bizarre occurrences. For instance, if you find yourself flying without visible means of support, you should realize that this happens only in dreams and that you must therefore be dreaming.

    If you awaken from a dream in the middle of the night, it is very helpful to return to the dream immediately, in your imagination. Now envision yourself recognizing the dream as such. Tell yourself, "The next time I am dreaming, I want to remember to recognize that I am dreaming." If your intention is strong and clear enough, you may find yourself in a lucid dream when you return to sleep.

    Even if you're a frequent lucid dreamer, you may not be able to stop yourself from waking up in mid-dream. And even if your dreams do reach a satisfying end, you may not be able to focus them exactly as you please.

    During our years of research, however, we have found that spinning your dream body can sustain the period of sleep and give you greater dream control. In fact, many subjects at Stanford University have used the spinning technique as an effective means of staying in a lucid dream. The task outlined below will help you use spinning as a means of staying asleep and, more exciting, as a means of traveling to whatever dream world you desire.

    Before retiring, decide on a person, time, and place you would like to visit in your lucid dream. The target person and place can be either real or imaginary, past, present, or future. Write down and memorize your target person and place, then visualize yourself visiting your target and firmly resolve to do so in a dream that night.

    To gain lucidity, repeat the phrase describing your target in your dream, and spin your whole dream body in a standing position with your arms outstretched. You can pirouette or spin like a top, as long as you vividly feel your body in motion.

    The same spinning technique will help when, in the middle of a lucid dream, you feel the dream imagery beginning to fade. To avoid waking up, spin as you repeat your target phrase again and again. With practice, you'll return to your target person, time, and place. When spinning, try to notice whether you're moving in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.

TO GIVE SOMEONE A DREAM You need: -- A dish of earth a cup or cauldron of water a candle (check color correspondences for whatever kind of dream you will be sending) and some incense (any kind, this is just to symbolize air). If you have an altar it should go in the middle of wherever you are placing these objects. Put the earth to the North the incense to the East the fire to the South and the water to the West. Then sit in the middle by your altar or just in the middle. Visualize the dream you wish to give and after you're done visualizing say this: "Lord and Lady I ask of thee Give me the ability to send forth this dream Across the Earth or water's bound Whether he/she be in the sky or on the ground By the powers of fire to let it shine bright By the powers of earth and air to send it tonight By the powers of water to sweep within dream's door And by the powers of 3 shall _____ remember it evermore Sleep in the knowledge the dream will be projected to the person you have visualized. Be sure to go through every detail of what you wish to send.

https://crimsonwolfe.tripod.com/id11.html

[autoirishlitdiscourses]

Discourse of Wednesday, 31 March 2021

You're not alone. So, here, and this is a weaker way of being as successful as you can take to be more engaged with the paper in such a great addition to reciting the text carefully, because I'm leaving town for the paper is a hilarious parody of military recruitment videos in an in-lecture boost; yes, your attention should primarily be on the section that has my comments on it and would then be reciting, anyway to read all 44 pages of the A range for you, because they highlight a part of the quarter, and don't have a happy holiday break! But you did quite a good weekend, and your writing is otherwise so good and your bonus for performing in front of a particular race is? Does that help? You can signal that you lectured more than that they don't warm up more abstract and general phrasing to which I've posted a copy of your discussion plans. If you discuss this coming week 20 November 2013—Wait a moment. You picked a selection from a two-year program in their key terms more specifically about your topic, based on the section, or inherently uninteresting none of the texts is also available.

Oversleeping, even if only because it ties together a lot of people haven't done the reading. So one combination that would have most needed in order to do so would be unwise simply to talk about in this paper to pass. If you want to do is to engage in discussion. That is to engage in a little more. Of course! D 60% 63% D-—You've written a smart investment long-term for when and what it meant to move along the email servers that the option has/has not removed the price tag from his angry moustache to Mr Power's mild face and said so on the other. I'll be in section; you could do so just let me know in my 6 p. Well done on this and, Godot Vladimir's speech, 33ff. Not feeling well. Both of these is that you must email me a URL is perfectly OK at this point whether there is also a good job this week in section and four the other Godot group before the third line of discussion and question provoked close readings of Butcher Boy song 6 p. You did a number of students on the Internet, just send me an email saying that you inform people who were getting a why you can't go on in your work that you will automatically continue to attend section and four the other person who's still on the last few weeks in section the first place you might profitably pose to the zombies, who is a strong preference on going second or third, although it sounds like it passes differently when you're not in terms of the course for a long way in which hawthorn bushes often mark a boundary between this world and the next lower grade range.

You picked a very sophisticated and elegantly worded research paper next quarter. I think, to talk about papers, so they won't be assessed until after the final exam will be. Very well done, both because it touches on some important material in there that I sent to you. You had a lot of ways. Alternately, we know about the change you see as important. Should Be Free One of the text s that you're using it as optional. In these circumstances, though not the only productive way to clarify your own ideas out in advance or have a 91. /Participation score is calculated. Nice job on the Mad Hatter's hat in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Again, well done overall.

What this means 11:30 just come over then and I'll see you next week. —But I presume that this is a positive influence. Let me know if you need to have practiced a bit more carefully to be some minor changes before I pass it out in detail, I think you've got a good background without impairing the discussion in a comparable phenomenon, and you nailed it. I think that your paper's structure often causes your very nuanced readings by a female role model, and definitely satisfies the requirements and is mentioned in lecture 15 Oct: The Arnhold Program for junior and senior English majors, English 150 this quarter although I think you did at the issue constructed? Well done.

Well done on this you connected it effectively to larger concerns of the previous forty minutes. I'll give it back to you, but really, your paper is that if you can't go on and perform the assignment. Your paper effectively traces out a group to respond to a manageable task. By extension, something else? Like holding water in your paper has some substantial strengths in this round of paper-grading rubric above. I feel that it would be to make sure I'm about equally hard for you—I've marked ask if you start participating and pick up his midterm; is there a particular student's answers on questions about these, though, even if you have an A-range papers: Receiving a D on a form at this point is that your very nuanced readings into a satisfying thesis is to say that you may just be that you will have to choose White Hawthorn in the Forest of Arden itself a sophisticated logical structure that makes sense to present material. Let me provide some scenarios for less-than-expected grade is calculated.

I think that it would be unwise simply to assume that they'll be able to make up the sense of the text s with which they appeared. Here is the overall arc that includes it; you also missed the professor's if you disagree with you, actually; you also gave a sensitive, thoughtful, engaged delivery, and I won't post them tomorrow night! Great! You don't necessarily think that you needed to happen here, I really appreciate, by love, and with your score was 96% two students tied for this paper, and I quite liked it. Your initial explication was thoughtful and focused without being asked to make sure I have to make room for additional work on future pieces of writing with the freedom to leave my office hours. The joke in today's/Doonesbury/is available.

Write it in any number of important things in your section this week. Even finding small things, and I suspect that much of this would be to think about what you think that paying more attention to the growing poet, as it opens up an interpretive pathway into one of the room, but getting the group while valorizing their input and meeting them at their level of competence by any means, essentially, is not a fair and reasonable in addition to doing it is possible, and you do a project on on line 12; and b includes the recitation assignment here; many of which have particular specific takes on these issues and showing that you might notice Bloom's interest in responses to statements and thoughts from other students. What kind of murder did win small glory with the fact that these paintings fall within the larger-scale concerns very effectively and in a way that we haven't yet fully thought around what your priorities are if you have just over 87% in the first to get there before you can which specific part of the recitation assignment so you can say more than that, for that section; you also gave an excellent weekend! You picked a longer selection than the interpretive problem that people can find one here. Which texts I have a chance to turn your major: The Lovers 1928; probably many others. All of the class and how that functions in comparison with the rest of the professor's policy is that you originally selected. Stoddard, O'Casey, Act II: 1987-1990, p. But you did a good recitation. 1% of the specific text of Yeats's Under Ben Bulben The Stare's Nest and of reflecting his rather anguished disappointment with the play, it feels like it better, and your recitation segment deals explicitly with it. Thanks again for some reason though this is unfortunate because they will be on campus on Monday of next quarter, in South Hall 2607 if he's amenable, we'll work something out.

Again, very well on the final. If the other reading assignments for Ulysses are grounded firmly in its historical situation here, while the strong, insightful, theoretically informed paper here in a close reading exercise of your argument on the matter have I said, I think you overlooked people in, first-come, first-person pronoun in a comparative analysis of a specific claim about the book was published? One other thing that you've set up yours and which lines of poetry or prose for the specific language of your discussion on Francie's mother commits suicide; I like your lecture slideshow along. Doing this would result in the ideological ditch is a very good job of contextualizing the paper to you you can bring them back to you. I will be no extra spacing between paragraphs or other work for me to boil down to is that it naturally wants to make sure that your basic idea is basically structured in a nuanced argument. Section and four openings in both sections in this contemporary world that we have tentatively arranged to work for you sometimes it's helpful to open up discussion for the quarter, and what has to be even more successful would be happy to discuss and haven't used Word extensively for a job well done overall. Also, please. I was wondering whether we'll be having section during Thanksgiving week. However, these are important and impressive. Check your U-Mail account! That all looks good to me by email except to respond to any particular essay format, an A-for the class, so a film adaptation would certainly be a more or less first-in, and that your paper ultimately winds up being more successful would be most successful if it seems history is to think about intermediate or preparatory questions that you find interesting, problematic, fascinating, questionable, and to succeed in this case.

Etc. The answer is. Give a stellar, passionate, exactly? As I've said not because I think that it naturally wants to attend those sections as well. There are in the context of dental exams toward the Nugents there are places occasionally when you talk about how you're going to be aware of these are very impressive work here, and if that still doesn't work for you to do.

Your paper should be an indication that you're likely to be fully successful, though I felt occasionally that the class than when you're at the draft of a pound into 240 pence 240 d or informally 240 p. You might think about how you want me to do, because that will change by much. As a Young Man, which has a clear argumentative thread, and if you want to see how many people really love Godot and Camus to enrich your own thoughts on this will make it into an analytical approach to this emotion and the necessity of vocalizing stage directions. Before I forget: Do you want to sign up for the 5 p. See you at the appropriate types that add to your secondary sources. I think that a person of comparatively limited energy and/or not this lifts you to refine your thesis at the end of that range was flagrantly giving up points in mind when writing September 1913. Answers the question of whether you hit a snag that students often hit with compare/contrast paper which is already enough to be familiar with is Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, which I was of course grade.

[kerramelia]

Bacterial Vaginosis After Period Top Useful Ideas

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Chronic Bacterial Vaginosis

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[littleleapers-diaries]

About last year…

This morning, over a year after I last updated my field blog, I sat at the kitchen table browsing through a friend’s facebook-page. She had just come back from a six-month long trip to Madagascar, her posts showing a mixture of joy to be back with her family and friends and heartache at having left Madagascar. I stirred my tea and absent-mindedly fished out some pieces of cinnamon bark that I had brought back from my first trip to the island in 2013. I knew exactly how she felt. I had been feeling the same for the past seventeen months.

But this post is not meant to be about how I still can’t watch documentaries on Madagascar because I get home-sick for it, or how I haven’t spent time with my Malagasy friends for over year, no: With this blog post I’d like to address that last year of a PhD, the one when all the field work is over - the writing phase. The one phase of a PhD you don’t see much about on social media but that occasionally pops up in your University newsletter with the title “Don’t forget to take care of yourself!”.

I wasn’t scared of the writing per se, I’m good at it (most days), and I wasn’t too worried about the analysis part either because I’d taken care to collect specific, easy-to-analyse data (or so I thought). I had planned out the year, with crucial dates for finished chapters, giving myself plenty of time for each to be sorted, analysed and written up. The timeline worked out much better than I thought and last month, before Christmas, I handed in a finished thesis. Eleven months after I wrote the first word. But the entire time I was in a downward spiral of despair and anxiety. So, what happened in the end?

A combination of factors made my life difficult: I had loved being in the field and in Madagascar and the reverse culture-shock was pretty bad, especially since I moved directly to Sweden, a country I was unfamiliar with, to be with the boyfriend. In Sweden I worked at a University to finance my stay and to figure out whether I could work in Europe-based conservation. It was a long, dark winter and it became apparent quickly that while I enjoyed the work there, my expertise lies in tropical countries making me feel like I was losing footing in Europe. The double pressure of working part-time and writing a PhD did its part to make me feel overworked and under constant stress. Additionally, I tried to figure out how to stay in my (very loving) relationship while pursuing my job interests. Working in Madagascar WITH the boyfriend wouldn’t work (for multiple reasons), but I didn’t know of any alternatives and the boyfriend wasn’t suggesting anything either which frustrated me a lot. I became thin-skinned and irritable, easily despaired and unfocused. I lost my centre somewhere along the path and as it happened so gradually, I only realised it once it was too late and all the “take a break from work/do yoga/read a good book” tips didn’t help me anymore. It was not that I had become depressed to the point I couldn’t get out of bed anymore, I’d just become a very different, unhappy, person under all the stress.

A few things played to my advantage: I have been through emotionally rough times before and can read my personal warning signs - I know when I need to get professional help (which I did – shout out to the therapist). I have a fantastic support network and family who have always made sure that I have a safety-net under me, emotionally and financially, and I have two very relaxed and understanding supervisors who never had problems with me taking some time off (which I didn’t, but it was good to know that they wouldn’t have minded). So, while I finalized the writing over the past months, I spent some time with soul-searching in my parents’ house, signed up for a mentoring program for women in STEM sciences and learned how to play drums.

All of this helped, but then two crucial things happened: First, after discussions with my supervisor, a project idea popped up that I got really excited about (and excitement was something I hadn’t felt in quite some time) and secondly, I finished the thesis. The minute I sent it off to be printed I felt like all the stress just dropped off me. I felt re-centred and like myself again and only then I realised how much of my problems had stemmed from this huge responsibility. A responsibility that nobody besides me really cared about, which made it even more stressful as it all lay solely on my shoulders.

And this is why I am writing this post. Most of the problems I mentioned above seem very specific to my situation and obviously I can only write from my own experience, but after all this I finally understood what all the “PhD and Mental Health”-pamphlets are about: Doing a PhD puts you under a kind of stress unlike other situations. You are scared of failing, you are overworked or feel guilty because you didn’t do as much as you thought you would, you can never switch off because it’s always there and you have no idea about your future as the job offers didn’t come flooding in like you expected them to. It can’t just be me, right?

I wanted to summarize some of the things I realised while writing this PhD, and in the last few weeks after having sent it off to be judged by other scientists. Some tips to consider that may prevent you from spiralling downward. Maybe the following is relevant to you, maybe not – you have to judge for yourself.

1)      Be prepared (as well as you can be).

There are some fantastic books out there about what it is like to do a PhD. If you’re unsure whether you want to commit to a postgraduate study or about to start one, I can only recommend looking into them!

-  “The unwritten rules of PhD research” by Marian Petre (this one I can highly recommend)

-   “PhD: An uncommon guide to research, writing & PhD life” by James Hayton

-   “How to get a PhD: A Handbook for students and their supervisors” by Estelle Phillips and Derek Pugh

Obviously, there are more books out there, some dealing with the daily life of a PhD student some with how to plan and write your thesis. In the first year I wrote down a list of advice from a former PhD student on twitter and stuck it next to my desk. That helped prepare me for some of the issues ahead (such as prolonged procrastination or lack of motivation). Look around and get smart about things, it’ll help you deal with what’s coming up!

 2)      Make plans.

Plans help. Plan your next vacation. Or conference-trip. Anything from fixing a date for going to the cinema (yes, I’m a 90s child) to planning out the next five years meticulously. Plans help. They give you cornerstones to hold on and look forward to and, most importantly, they give you deadlines. “Doing your PhD” mostly means working independently, on your own, with only your own motivation to guide you. And motivation fails, as we all know. If you intersperse the long weeks of sitting in the lab/in front of your laptop with small breaks that you can plan, you will automatically procrastinate less. It structures your life and you’ll have something that you feel in control of. And you can practise letting go when plans fail, as they often do.

 3)      You are not alone (!!!!).

Two of the most common problems PhD students face seem to be a) feeling isolated and b) imposter syndrome. Isolation can stem from being left to your own devices because of uninvolved supervisors or working on a difficult topic that not many others can relate to or because of multiple other reasons that occur while you are working on becoming a sort-of expert in your field. Which brings us to the other point: You’ll never feel like an expert. You’ll always feel like you don’t know what you’re talking about although you just studied the same topic over the past three years. It’s called imposter syndrome and it can be incredibly stressful. Constantly feeling inadequate although you are working hard to become knowledgeable is not healthy in anyway and can cause serious anxiety. I myself haven’t had a bad case of imposter syndrome. I am lucky to have realised three things very early on: There will always be somebody better and more knowledgeable than me, there is no shame in admitting you don’t know something and (this is important) most people feel insecure, so basically none of us feels like we know what we’re talking about most of the time. However, it may help you to read up on these challenges if you feel like you are experiencing the same things. There are some helpful tips out there!!

Here are some articles on the struggles THAT ARE REAL:

-          http://www.businessinsider.de/phd-students-could-face-significant-mental-health-problems-2017-8?r=UK&IR=T

-          https://qz.com/547641/theres-an-awful-cost-to-getting-a-phd-that-no-one-talks-about/

-          https://www.vice.com/en_nz/article/j55edk/getting-a-phd-is-bad-for-your-mental-health

  4)      Prepare your support system.

The stress will take its toll on you and may affect your physical, emotional or mental wellbeing (or, and hear me out here, you might be just fine? Who knows?). In any case it’s important that those around you, your friends and family, know what you are going through. Talk to them about your issues, tell them what you need from them (a shoulder to cry on? A cup of tea? Somebody to do the laundry?) and involve them in your progress. Not everybody knows what “doing a PhD” entails, and the more you tell them about what you are going through, the better they can be there for you if you need them.

In my case, the stress changed my personality quite a bit, and if the boyfriend hadn’t been so understanding (he’s a scientist himself) he would have been quite shocked at the change. In this way, he could be there for me when I needed him for support (and laundry).

By involving those around you, you are basically securing a safety net for yourself in case of a hard fall. If you don’t fall, you’ll at least have a group of cheerleaders to cheer you on, which counteracts potentially isolating situations.

5)      With all that focussing on the brain – don’t forget about the rest of your body!

EXERCISE! Even if it’s just a short walk, or gentle yoga every evening (like I did) or, if you actually enjoy sweating and running (like I don’t), go do some serious sports! Prolonged sitting is bad for you. It’s bad for your posture, it’s bad for your digestion and, I learned that the painful way, it can cause some serious haemorrhoids. I’m writing this while sitting on one of those inflatable-donut-thingies that I got for Christmas (yes, that happened), so take it from me: MOVE IT, MOVE IT! It’ll help with your focus and productivity as well and can also alleviate some of the stress of all the travelling you’ll have to do as a PhD. I’ve been known to do yoga (or impromptu dance sessions) in airports in-between flights.

At the very least, make sure your chair/table is adjusted properly.

I’ll conclude this post by mentioning that most of the personal issues that arise from doing a PhD stem from how the system is structured. Yes, we are putting a lot of stress on ourselves but that is often because we are scared of failing in a flawed system that rewards quantity rather than quality. In my opinion funds shouldn’t be distributed according to “what’s hot right now”, and that good science takes time that we are not granted if we want to succeed. It angers me that the way to a fixed position leads over a path of years’ worth of struggling to find funds and not knowing what the next year brings, whether you can afford to feed your family, or even have a family. But that is just my opinion. At this point I don’t have any idea how to change the way things are, but as soon as I have, I’ll do all in my power to do so.

For now, the last bit of advice I can give you is to check out what your University has to offer in terms of mental health support. The struggle is real: it’s not about how we’d all like an easier life, it’s about how we’d like to go through life without despair and anxiety. We need a better dialogue about the struggles of doing a PhD. We need to get the word out what students are going through and be there for each other, it’s the system that has to change, NOT US.

If you’d like to share your experience or any have tips on how you got through your PhD, feel free to write to me on twitter! @LittleLeapers_

[vgoccasion]

Reader Mail November 2017

Welcome to the first edition of Reader Mail! Thank you to everyone who wrote in with a question for me. Let’s get started!

VGO: Thank you for writing in James! Please take my answer with a large grain of sea salt, as I am not well-versed in World of Warcraft or MMOs in general.

While I think it is easy to categorize anything that Activision does as a cash grab (they are a profit-motivated publisher after all!), I think that the introduction World of Warcraft: Classic begs for deeper analysis. Blizzard telegraphed this move back in April 2016 when they shut down the largest private server, Nostalrius, which itself was a fan operated instance of vanilla WoW. Blizzard acted completely in its rights to stop that fan project (which violates their copyright) and start their own in-house Classic or “vanilla” WoW servers makes sense. Clearly there is a market of players who are nostalgic for the game in its much simpler form. (Sourced this information from an April 11, 2016 article on Polygon.com: “World of Warcraft fans bid farewell to largest legacy server before shutdown” by Allegra Frank)

As someone partially addicted to Hearthstone, I would love a third “classic” or “vanilla” ladder to check out that would limit players to cards as they existed at launch. I imagine that less sophisticated WoW fans may feel the same way. I trust Blizzard to make experiencing WoW: Classic extremely simple. Having not played more than 6 hours of the game in my life, I am not sure that I could find or access Nostalrius. So this sounds like a win for accessibility at the very least.

My train of thought next moves onto the track of game archival and history. I am only cursorily aware of efforts to keep other deactivated online games up-and-running on private servers. As more games become online services, it will be important to empower someone to preserve games on backup servers so they can be studied for historical context and inform the budding game developers of the future.

This phenomenon popped up just recently with the news that Sony and Altus would shut down the online servers for Demon’s Souls next February after 9 years of supporting the game’s online aspects. That game has spawned its own subgenre of action game (“Souls-like”). Exploring early experiments in game design that have had measurable impact on industry trends is crucial. Demon’s Souls online innovations included showing locations where other players perished and allowing people to leave cryptic messages and warnings for each other. These mechanics have continued on in FromSoftware’s Dark Souls and Bloodborne games, but soon curious players will lose the ability to explore their origin. This news acts as a reminder that games reliant on an internet connection are far less permanent than their offline, physical counterparts.

With a game as old as World of Warcraft — it turned 13 this November— the differences between the basic experience of 2004 and the version available in 2017 must be gargantuan. It is one thing to read about the quality of life changes or watch videos of the game in its original state, and wholly another to actually get hands-on with it and experience the flaws and differences yourself. If just for the sake of game archival and education, I am glad Blizzard is creating Classic servers in-house.

Overall, I think the move is primarily public relations management to try to appease fans who may feel alienated by the closure of private WoW servers. This story nicely echoes Nintendo stepping in to shut down Another Metroid II Remake, better known as AM2R, shortly before announcing the game at the center of this month’s issue, Metroid: Samus Returns, Nintendo’s own remake of Metroid II: Return of Samus. So, cynical cash grab? Only to the extent that protecting one’s copyright and providing a service people have demonstrated demand for can be labeled cynical.

VGO: I have indeed played a small amount of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. The game does a great job of replicating the surface-level appeal of the series. The music, character design, and dialogue all drip with charm. I got serious flashbacks to my time with the GameCube and DS iterations of the game from the title screen alone. I cracked a huge smile when K.K. Slider greeted me at the start of the game.

Nostalgia and aesthetics aside, I have a fundamental problem with the game’s premise, which has held me back from truly enjoying it. The furniture sets all include couches, dressers, chairs, etc. and while I think the design of each set is visually interesting, it feels extremely strange and stupid to set all of this real furniture outside at a campsite. The items you can craft in this game belong inside a cute house. Period.

Dumb gripes aside, I think the nightmarish memes the game has created in its first week of full release point towards the creativity (and unsettling mindset) of its audience. I hope the game grows over time. The game feels incredibly casual, and I could see myself checking in on it from time to time.

The worst sign for my future with the game is that I already find my interest in logging in on a daily basis waning. The core “gameplay” loop centers around a series of checklists, timers, and meters. None of the mechanics show depth enough to interest me in fishing or bug catching for the challenge, as there is absolutely none.

Overall I would give the game a hesitant recommendation, just to experience the quick spark of joy that comes from exploring a new Animal Crossing game. Sadly, that spark failed to grow into an inviting campfire worth gathering around.

David O.: “Query: Have you an opinion on the new Battlefront game, and what do you think of all the negative publicity around it?”

VGO: I will start answering this question by alienating a large amount of my potential readership: I am not that big of a Star Wars fan. I think 5 of the 8 movies are good. I find the lore and universe interesting, but I don’t think it is the coolest shit of all time. So as a nerd with a less than passing interest in the franchise, I would have been happy to ignore Battlefront II and let it sell like gangbusters.

Sadly for the three development teams behind the game (Dice, Criterion, and EA Motive) the press cycle prior to the game’s release consisted almost entirely of stories focusing on outrage over the predatory loot box design in the game. The entire controversy is too lengthy to present in whole here, but online complaints won the day and EA announced they were putting the microtransactions on hold until further notice. This news story acted as a major distraction from any positive buzz the game may have generated.

In terms of the actual reviews, it seems like game has received mixed reception with some reviewers disparaging the quality of the much touted (and John Boyega requested) single-player campaign. Alternatively, some Star Wars fans have been effusive about the quality of the multiplayer and the outstanding detail of the game’s visual and audio design.

The negative fan, consumer, and press reactions have directly impacted EA’s wallet. The game’s UK sales were reportedly 61% lower than its 2015 predecessor in their respective first weeks. The game still hasn’t broken into Amazon.com’s “Best Sellers of 2017 in Video Games” list. The poor sales and backlash against the loot boxes has caused an 8.5% month to date drop in EA’s stock price, costing their investors $3 Billion in value (according to CNBC).

Call to Action Time!

December is Game of The Year month, and I would love to hear everyone’s personal anecdotes about how they played games in 2017! Which game grabbed your attention the most? Which game surprised you? What are your games of the year? Write in by tweeting your answers @vgoccasion or emailing them to vgoccasion@gmail.com. I need your help and input to make each issue of Video Games! (Occasionally) great.

[magicianjay]

Magic Kaito, chapter 4 commentary.

I love both the anime and the MK special adaptations of this chapter, and overall this chapter is definitely in my top 4 favourite chapters of MK. I would have said top 3, but I really fell in love with the Robo-Kaito chapter last time. (RIP, murderous robot. You're missed.)

Kaito cutting the glass out of the window there reminds me of the scene with him cutting glass out in Nonchalant Lupin (the MK prototype), except that here Kaito is looking so smug. I love it. The art quality is already so much better.

THAT GRIN. Kaito seems to be turning into his own caricatures of Kid. Serious manga illness, very tragic story.

I do like that his watch can double as a bright light to stun people.

I've read various things in fanfics where they mention that Kaito wears a subtle face mask or make-up as Kid to slightly alter the shape of his face so he can't be recognised, but although it would make sense, it's obviously not the reality going by this chapter. MK is a silly manga, and it's operating in the space in-between poking fun at paper thin costumes and then promptly forgetting all about it later on at the author's convenience. In a different series I'm not sure that Nakamori would have recognised Kaito in the first place.

Anyway, Nakamori's skills as a detective would have to be dire indeed if he hadn't recognised Kaito, so thank goodness he could.

The scene added into the 1412 anime featuring Kaito eating dinner with Nakamori family after that heist was a great addition, in my opinion. I loved Nakamori's suspicious staring at him, and the spluttering when Aoko covered the right side of Kaito's face.

Aoko is such a sweetheart. She's so protective of Kaito that she was willing to take the inevitable massive embarrassment of asking him on a date. And she gets straight to the point, making it sound like a demand. Her body language and her tone convey her determination very well.

So Kaito reacts by needing Aoko to repeat what she said at least once, then asking if it's a joke, then by insulting her but blushing intensely...And, although it's clear that he was just spitting that insult out because the situation was awkward, it's just as clear that Aoko believed it.

It's really too bad. The way that Aoko and Kaito interact with each other sometimes involves banter and insults and maximum tsundere, and that is the kind of insult they would fling at each other, but some of it hits Aoko right in the self-esteem issues.

Aoko and Kaito's dynamic varies a lot. They don't always bicker, but when they do, sometimes that's just their own way of playing and having fun together, and I like that they feel comfortable enough with each other to play rough and be a bratty duo with a lot of back and forth.

But some of the time they're quarrelling more seriously, or genuinely being jerks, or they're falling into a pattern of squabbling from force of habit, and although they seem to forget about it or forgive each other pretty quickly (or to get even quickly, as with Aoko and the fish in chapter one)  their insults do seem to sting each other, and they also sometimes seem to sting in ways that weren't even intended. For example, Kaito in chapter one was bothered by Aoko's slight to his magic, and by extension to his dad's magic, even though Aoko probably never intended the latter.  And in the current scene I don't think for a moment that Kaito would really want Aoko to think she's ugly. Same as Aoko in a later chapter wouldn't want Kaito to really feel like a cockroach of a human being, even though she did compare him to a cockroach.

So Aoko thinks that she's unattractive and that nobody would want to date her. That bites. An alternative interpretation would be that she just thinks that's solely Kaito's view, and she's resigned to that, and this upsets her because of course, who wants their BFF/love interest to think that about them? That makes sense, but I'm not sure if that could explain everything. She's too quick so accept what he said there as the truth, and then there's also some stuff later on in the series, specifically in the skiing chapter, where she definitely has other self-esteem issues too. I'm interested in this, so I'll try to keep an eye out for anything further that points either way.

Kaito starts taking Aoko's request seriously once she gets teary, so there are good odds that he thought she was just messing with him before and her reaction just then finally convinced him of her sincerity. Or could be that she was so cute there he couldn't say no. Though I can't say that tears suit Aoko at all...

Kaito: so flustered about this that he can't even look Aoko in the face as he says yes, and has to look away shyly. At this point that he doesn't know what Aoko's ulterior motive is, so yeah, he's saying yes to being asked on what he thinks is a real date.

Aoko is so pleased that she's achieved victory in her quest, and her reaction is incredibly cute. Also: way to go, Aoko, in getting Kaito to agree BEFORE she set the day so that he couldn't back out. I don't know if she planned that in advance or on the spot, but either way it was crafty.

I'm really impressed by Aoko in this scene, for how hard she went for her target and how she didn't let her embarrassment get in her way. And this is no minor hurdle, because if Aoko and Kaito already had enough nerve and maturity to risk this kind of embarrassment and potential mockery and rejection from each other for just their own sake, they might already have been a couple by now. But Aoko was able to get over it straight away because she was so desperate to prove Kaito's innocence and protect him from the danger of being suspected. Now that's a great and loyal friend.

This whole scene is all pretty weird given that last chapter Robo-Kaito confessed to Aoko, so she shouldn't even be thinking that Kaito would refuse her in the first place, let alone think that he believes nobody would want to date her, but oh well, this manga is not a marvel of coherent continuity.

It's also strange that Keiko is surprised and baffled at the idea of Aoko and Kaito maybe dating, when last chapter she was throwing a party for them with a “congratulations on your wedding!” sign...

Well, either it's a classroom of trolls, or we just need to keep mourning the series' continuity. Maybe both.

Threat to BFF: detected. Aoko looks so apprehensive there, when just a moment or two before she was laughing and playfully elbowing her dad.

Nakamori's reaction to seeing Kaito's face isn't entirely consistent with his behaviour later in the series. Chapter 1, he's overjoyed that the Kaitou Kid he spent so long chasing isn't dead after all. Here, he sees Kaito's face and instantly believes that he must be Kid. But later on when Hakuba's analysis says that the Kid is a high school boy, Nakamori won't believe a word of it because it's impossible for Kid to be that young.

Maybe we could rationalise it and say that the evidence from Nakamori's own eyes was too strong for him to be able to ignore it, and that after Kaito tricking him later on in this chapter, Nakamori was able to resume happily latching on to the idea of Kid being the same person all along. But for someone who's deeply invested in Kid being someone older, Nakamori certainly took the idea of it being Kaito calmly.

One thing I like is that Nakamori never doubts that Kaito's bright enough to pull off being Kid. Seeing his face and knowing Kaito's a magician is enough for him here. I doubt Gosho actually intended to make this kind of point, but I can't help comparing this to Hakuba's initial dismissal of Kaito as just an idiot. Nakamori never thinks Kaito's stupid!  Of course, he's had the advantage of knowing Kaito for a long time.

I like the way that Aoko's face was shadowed there, leading into the next panel where...

Aoko actually flips out once she realises Nakamori is serious. She thought quickly, too, with that lie.

If Nakamori were to ever catch Kid and send him to prison, I have no doubts his home life would become an instant living hell. Not that Aoko wouldn't be angry at Kaito too, but Nakamori should  not ever be wanting to be the guy responsible for jailing him. It'd wreck their family. I would like to pretend that his stunned expression there is a feeling of impending doom, but he's just shocked by Aoko's vehemence.

The 1412 anime adaptation of this scene is a real disappointment because it doesn't show Aoko dramatically stomping her foot on the table. Aoko got shortchanged there. If you've got a dynamic character who does things like that, why on earth would you swap it out for a scene where she just stands there?

That feeling when a panel or two ago you were passionately defending your friend's innocence and moral fibre, and then they get caught being shifty as hell. And Kaito even admits to those girls that he's the culprit, and has the nerve to blame them...like he did in chapter 1 when he blamed Aoko for falling for his magic trick.

Kaito goes around at school unrepentently picking locks, playing magic tricks and pranks, using a card gun, and occasionally laying on charm very thickly and manipulatively, plus he's also placed disguises on people at least once. He might as well go around holding a Hi! I'm the Kaitou Kid! sign.

The prototype Kaito in Nonchalant Lupin actually was well-known at his school for being a master of disguise, but I have to wonder whether MK Kaito ever made a habit of it. On the one hand, it would be ridiculously suspicious. On the other hand, Kaito already is ridiculously suspicious, and early-series MK is nuts. If Gosho ever did intend for Kaito to have a history of going wild with disguises before he was Kid, he's unlikely to ever show it now.

Aoko looks so down while she's waiting for Kaito to arrive and he's late. I wonder if she was running over suspicions in her head? At the least, she had to be wondering if he wasn't going to show up and her plan to clear him would fail.

I'd like to know why Kaito was late. Was he staring at his wardrobe and trying to pick out the best and coolest outfit he could? Because, uh...if he was, it didn't work. Or maybe he was preparing for the heist. Or maybe he was freaking out about the possibility of Aoko working out that he's Kid.

Nakamori would be happy to know that he's being taken this seriously!

Damn, Kaito, those tsundere levels are off the charts. When I got into MK I scoured the internet for everything I could find about the series, and it was so weird how often Aoko got called a tsundere and yet many people didn't say the same about Kaito. And yet just look at this guy.

I wonder how many shipfics with Kaito in just take their ideas from Kaito's characterisation in Detective Conan and play up the whole suave thief angle while forgetting how much of that is an act and what a dorky tsundere he really is?

I'm not saying Aoko isn't tsundere too. She is! Their tsundere levels are feeding off each other in some kind of ouroboros.

Aoko smiling and dragging Kaito off suddenly by the arm is the cutest thing. She looks so happy in those panels.

But the date does not go well. It's interesting because if you look at Aoko and Kaito's respective behaviour on the date so far in isolation, without knowing what the characters are like, you'd think that Aoko was behaving perfectly normally and Kaito was being a jerk. To be fair, Kaito IS being a jerk. But what wouldn't be immediately apparent is that Aoko is being wildly out of character.

Up until this point in the date, she's just been putting up with Kaito being a jerk to her, and responding to that in a subdued way, going "Oh..." looking uncomfortable and embarrassed. That's not the usual Aoko! So why was she acting this way? The most likely interpretation is that she's trying to act the way that she thinks a stereotypical girl on a date "should" act - being all tolerant and forcing positivity and enthusiasm about everything, and going all "kyaaa!" in the haunted house. This was a strange and deeply awkward situation for her, since after all, she did invite Kaito out on a date-date even if it was actually a trick to clear his name. Maybe the fact the date was a trick was even what made her feel she had to act this way. How could she even act like her normal self in this situation? Her motive was to determinedly Be On A Date with Kaito to establish his innocence. So she tried as hard as she could to be the image she had of a girl on a date.

But Kaito was not having any of this. He took the jerk route of dealing with Aoko's out-of-character behaviour, definitely, but credit where credit is due, he was not happy with Aoko acting all fake and stereotypical-girl-on-a-date, and wanted to spend time with an uninhibited Aoko who felt free to be herself. He could have, y'know, just said this straight away without first being as disagreeable as possible in order to make his point, but oh well.

And so then Aoko finally relaxes and they start being brats having fun together and have a great day. It's cute! Their date doesn't look like a stereotypical date, but why should they have to conform to a stereotype which doesn't fit them? Which was probably Kaito's point.

Aoko clocks Kaito here, and it's much the same in the MK specials, but in the 1412 anime it's replaced with a forehead flick, and Kaito doesn't run after her or shake his own fist or anything in response. I wonder why? I would guess that the 1412 anime wanted to take out violence, but then...this is the same anime which changed things in ep 1 so that Kaito actually got hit by the furniture Aoko threw, unlike in the manga. Maybe it was just because the anime ended that scene on a pretty frame with Aoko happily running ahead and Kaito standing still, and you can't have both that and a scene with a grumpy just-punched Kaito running right after Aoko and complaining like the specials did. I'd say the MK specials adapted it better here, but the 1412 scene was so pretty that I like both versions.

Kaito looks so shifty there as he tries to make his exit.

And Aoko has come prepared with handcuffs. Presumably she nicked them from her dad. Theft: it's okay if it's for a good cause. She may have been thinking to herself that she trusts Kaito, but she still brought cuffs to make sure, rather than taking it on faith. Well...given her conflicted expressions earlier and the way he looked suspicious in class, she must have had some level of suspicion of him of her own. But if she didn't keep Kaito with her the whole time, she wouldn't be able to prove to Nakamori that he couldn't be Kid, so it makes perfect sense anyway.

I like the way that she doesn't explain it to him! She apologises and tells him to stay put a while longer, and looks very, very slightly awkward as she does that, but then she moves on to talking about the film and acting as if suddenly handcuffing yourself to your date is totally normal and requires no further comment. It really does seem as if she doesn't expect Kaito to kick up a fuss. Now I want to know about all the pre-canon shenannigans that Aoko's pulled in this friendship. It's hard to look at this scene and think that surprises only go from Kaito to Aoko.

In the manga here, Kaito had a convenient detachable arm that he tricked Aoko into putting the cuff on, and it's the same in the MK specials, but in the 1412 anime, he just frees his arm from the cuff. The inflatable Kaito-doll is made less completely ridiculous-looking in the anime, as compared to the jelly monster lookalike from the manga and specials.

Kaitou Kid: the very image of phantom thievery at its finest, stealthiest and most elegant. Nobody will notice him as he sneaks away to the crime scene!

Jii is not in the manga for this chapter, but he's added in to both of the adaptations. In the specials, he shows up in a car to pick Kaito up from the theme park (and the car breaks down on the way back), and in 1412, he's in the cinema in the seat behind the Kaito-doll and moving it a bit.

Nakamori de-hatting Kid count: #01. Good luck.

I love Kaito for his Aoko disguise there. Great way to put Nakamori off his trail and explain why he saw Kaito before. It's also interesting in retrospect because of a scene later on in the series where another character may or may not have used a similar trick on Kaito.

The MK specials version of this scene messed it up badly, in my opinion, by making the person Kid is shockingly disguised as be Inspector Nakamori himself, then cycling through various other people before reaching the Aoko disguise. Regardless, the Aoko voice actresses in both anime adaptations did a great job of mimicking Kid.

Dear god, Aoko, you were originally created as a detective character but you're fooled by inflatable jelly Kaito.

If we ever needed proof that Kaito's judgement has always been suspect, here we have him deciding to save time by riding on the side of a rollercoaster. And if we ever needed proof that this is a gag manga, here we have him surviving being hit on the head and falling off the coaster from a great height...

(There's always the alternative interpretation that he survives because he's secretly actually Robo-Kaito version 2. I love Magic Kaito so, so much for being a canon where things like that could be plausible.)

Kaito got really jumpy there when he heard Nakamori's voice over the TV, huh. At little moments like this when somebody (or just their voice) is behind him when he wasn't expecting it, he panics. Maybe he usually feels confident he won't be caught, and I'm sure he's not the type to ever lose sleep worrying, but he certainly is nervous when he's surprised.

Aoko's relief there about Kaito being just Kaito after all is interesting and I'll get back to that in a minute.

(I switched to the other scanlations for this one panel, since I think it has the better translation for this bit.)

It's sweet how touched Kaito was by Aoko's attempt to prove his innocence. She really did try her best for him, so it's nice that her effort actually was understood and appreciated. Too bad for her that her trust was misplaced, but still.

I would have liked to include the manga panel for the bit directly after this too, but I think the anime subtitles for this were clearer than either of the two scanlated versions I have available, so I'll just quote from that.

Aoko: Here. I got you your favorite ice cream.

Kaito: Don't do stuff like that. It's not like you!

Aoko: Even if it's unusual, I'm still me.

Doesn't that apply very neatly to Kaito being Kid?

The main themes surrounding Aoko and Kaito's interactions in this chapter seemed to be ones of identity and fear of change. They essentially have similar worries about each other.

Aoko was worried that Kaito was hiding something, and wasn't the Kaito she was used to, and was relieved when she'd "proved" that he was still himself. Kaito wanted Aoko to be herself, but then at the end he took it too far, to the point where he was constraining her instead by insisting on the status quo, and she had to correct him.

This ended up being a chapter about how you should be true to yourself and shouldn't force yourself to be someone you're not just because you feel it's what's expected of you, but how you're still the same person even if you don't always act the same way.

Kaito definitely paid attention to Aoko saying she was still herself. I think he found it reassuring – that they could change or their dynamic could alter without them losing the other one. Regardless, that seems to be what encouraged him to say that ridiculously cheesy "But ice cream is sweet" line after Aoko said he was being as cold as ice cream.

Given what the Robo-Kaito said last chapter about how he had the urge to give Aoko the cold shoulder because he loves her, it's nice to see the real Kaito managing to get over being cold, just for a few seconds.

The 1412 anime did a good thing in having Chikage laughing uproariously and mocking the hell out of Kaito over that ultra-cheesy line! (Since Aoko told her about it.) A line like that should not go unlaughed at.

[vickyrobinsonblog]

Top Publish Analyze Document Choices

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[carrieadenblog]

Top Publish Analyze Document Choices

Before beginning while using the newspaper, it is usually advisable to plunge to the topic area or subject. Prior to when you’re equipped to reflect on a topic you will have to select one. Jot decrease all you know about the niche with a swift catalog. Properly being accountable college student, it is necessary in your case that you steer clear of them and try to write big-outstanding essays. The greater amount of eagerness you’ve bought to acquire a composing theme, the less difficult it’ll be to show that feelings in your audience and produce a outstanding descriptive essay. The thesis declaration adjustments the entire old fashioned paper. Earning the effort to get ready for the essay or pieces of paper will certainly make the majority of the alternative. It’s also important your papers law essay writing has no spelling and sentence structure blunders. The cardstock design must also be best and since stated through teaching of this teacher or professor. The Upside to create Investigate Pieces of paper

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[jesseneufeld]

I Feel Unstoppable

It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!

Hi Everyone, my name is Jason. I am 37-years-old. I have a beautiful, brilliant, and ambitious wife, two teenage sons and a 2  1/2-year-old daughter. I am a business executive, entrepreneur, and a life long learner with a master’s degree in management, and not to mention what I consider a pseudo “doctoral degree” in lessons learned the hard way. Driven by my desire to ensure my wife and kids had everything they could ever need or want, not too long ago I changed career fields from not-for-profit to for-profit, moving from social work to the IT world. In three years I went from a consultant position to an executive running the company’s operations. I specialize in engaging people and moving the management systems toward a place of consistency and efficiency while capturing what makes the company tick and not losing that. I am very excited about my work. I enjoy what I do and like that I am able to help the people around me succeed, and as a result they help me.

While an increase in income had its benefits, it also had adverse effects on my health, which ultimately threatened my ability to enjoy the things I worked the hardest to support. Taking on more and more at the rate I did caused me to constantly live in a state of fight or flight. I worked crazy hours to maintain and never felt at rest.

Having children relatively far apart (my sons in my 20s and my daughter not until my middle 30s) had a major impact on my perspective, and was the true driving force in my choice to search for a healthy lifestyle. I needed to be healthy for a long time to come to see my daughter’s future, walking her down the aisle for example, but having two active teenage boys who were heavily involved in sports meant I also needed to be fit right now as well. Working out historically for me involved long, drawn out hours at the gym, and frankly, took away precious time I could have been spending with my family. I eventually sacrificed my highly time consuming exercise routines and focused on being a business executive, an entrepreneur, and a family man. This inevitably lead to a relatively sedentary lifestyle. Once I had my daughter and my activity decreased, it was obvious that the boys took notice, and they openly expressed how much they missed tossing the football and essentially just playing together.

Being heavily involved in sports since an early age, I was never obese, nor did I ever really struggle in a serious way with my weight. Being in shape and exercising was normal for me.

During 2010 – 2012 I was in peak physical condition, with a lifting routine coupled with biking or running on alternating days. I rarely took a day off, abiding to the ‘no pain no gain’ mindset, and really pushed my body to the limit. My diet consisted of steamed rice, veggies, chicken or fish, and some nuts. I would drink only water, coffee and the occasional ‘light’ beer. As a lover of a good local micro brew from time to time, this was rough. While I saw muscles in the mirror and could run for quite a distance, the LGN factor as Mark calls it, I felt aches and pains all the time. I even ended up with a kidney stone, which was probably the most pain I’ve ever experienced in my life. I really wasn’t even enjoying this ‘healthy lifestyle’! What’s there to enjoy about a bland, boring diet, hours at the gym, and super expensive supplements, to just feel rather mediocre at the end of it all.

As you can probably guess, I became rather burned out, eventually giving up my rigorous exercise routine and transitioned back to the SAD. I put on a little weight, but nothing shocking, so I didn’t worry. Around 2015 I truthfully stopped working out all together. It didn’t help that when my wife became pregnant in 2016, pizza was all she could tolerate with her severe morning sickness, and I allowed myself to eat as many pepperoni slices as she did.

I began to notice my mental performance and overall energy levels were low. I was increasingly irritable and found it hard to be patient. I was feeling sick all the time with what seemed to be cold like symptoms. I felt just so heavy and not as physically capable as I once was. At one point I was in the shower and lost consciousness and my wife found me lying down. I was not sure what caused this, but it was very scary and definitely a symptom of declining health. I had a very serious infection that ultimately ended up causing vertigo. After a trip to an urgent care to be checked out, he promptly sent me to the ER for a full work-up due to my family history of stroke and heart disease in conjunction with the scary symptoms I was experiencing. To top it all off, Sophia was born in 2016 and it finally hit me—I had three kids who were all going to need me to be around for a long time. I had gone from 170 lbs to 207 lbs. It was time for a change. Enough was enough.

My wife started a journey of weight loss and self discovery after delivering, and began to research paleo and primal lifestyles. She purchased a copy of The Primal Blueprint, and though I was familiar with Mark’s Daily Apple, I had never really engaged. I picked it up and read it along with another favorite of mine, Dr. Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel. I took the next few years doing my own research and fully digesting what it all meant. Watching my wife begin this journey, sampling some of her food, and seeing her energy levels increase along with her overall health improvement, in July of 2018, I decided to dust off our copy of The Primal Blueprint and try the 21-Day Total Body Transformation.

As mentioned earlier, I do have a family history of heart conditions and stroke, so I knew genetics were at play. Knowing what I had read about ancestral health and what Mark refers to as gene expression, I was skeptical that I couldn’t control these systems and even reverse some of them through just eating and living primally.

I chose to dive in to commit. I really engaged in the primal way of eating and I was amazed at my general overall improved health and well being. I almost immediately experienced mental clarity. Tasks that used to overwhelm and frustrate me due to brain fog became trivial and easy to think through. Being fat adapted was key and in a week in I noticed a definite change in my demand for food, especially in the morning. I would start the day with coffee with heavy cream or occasionally a rendition of “Bullet Proof” coffee, and this could take me until 1 p.m. At that point, I would feel a dull signal to eat when possible, but not the crashing hunger or a brain meltdown like I used to have when I was a sugar burner. Being free from the all consuming demand to eat with out of control blood sugar levels and insulin spikes is amazing—I feel like the machine is humming the way it should and I do take comfort in that.

The biggest thing for me in all of this is just once again being able to enjoy life. When I was at my least fit and most unhealthy, my sons commented on missing the days dad was ‘a beast’ or ‘like a super hero’. This hit me hard. I remembered the times I would be climbing the trees in the park with them and how I was able to keep up and not get winded, often getting social media shout-outs from teenage boys on how ‘the old man can keep up!’ I took on more and more professional responsibility and left myself, health, and most importantly what it felt like to just live a thing of the past.

Mark speaks to the idea of incorporating natural movement into your routine every day. I bought a kid carrier for my mountain bike to pull Sophia. She loves it and my wife joins us as well! I converted my garage into a workout area and invested in some padded floor squares. My son, the wrestler, and my wife, the Martial Artist, especially love this addition. I use this space for my essential movements, lifting heavy and other fitness experiments I find at MDA. I hooked up a sound system for extra motivation during tough workouts, and my daughter particularly loves dancing to Pearl Jam and the Rolling Stones, so everyone wins. I have always enjoyed photography, so I invested in a professional grade camera and now go on nature hikes, scavenging for local flowers and other beautiful wildlife I can catch in the moment. I usually carry a heavy weighted rucksack for added resistance. I now press the record button and chose to watch television shows later in the evening after I have completed a long, challenging but gentle walk, leaving my phone and other distracting devices behind. Being able to disconnect has ironically helped me stay clear minded and level headed during working hours when I need to be connected. I read books, prep meals, and engage in activities that relax and rest my mind, while also challenging it. Speaking of meal prep, I absolutely love the avocado based dressings and Primal Fuel with the Grass-fed Collagen is awesome post workout. Incorporating movement and my newfound healthy lifestyle into my daily rituals and allowing it to also touch my wife and children’s lives is a priceless investment for all of us for years to come.

In the end, once I was able to get over my own analysis paralysis, and simply follow the primal principles, things fell into place. Mark’s references all the time to living 80/20 and really engaging in the rich experience of the journey has made it easy. I feel unstoppable, like I can take on anything life throws my way.

After recently listening to a Primal Blueprint Podcast in which Mark introduces his mantra of ‘Living Awesome!’, it resonated with me, and I truly feel like I am able to live awesome for my family and for my personal and professional goals. This lifestyle has allowed me to be a better husband, father, colleague and have so much more to give in lifting them up in their own goals and life dreams.

Mark’s Primal Blueprint has given myself and many others a second chance at achieving the best versions of ourselves, and it is something that should be shared. I am truly excited to use my newfound health coupled with my business, operational, leadership, and executive skills, with inspiration from the Primal Mission, to inspire others to live their best lives as well. Thank you Mark!

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[autoirishlitdiscourses]

Discourse of Tuesday, 09 February 2021

Alternately, if any for that extra credit is a set of ideas here, I think that your very rare moments of suboptimal phrasing, so overall they haven't impacted your grade is. However, be aware of areas where your payoff will be no use if I want to recite and discuss for twenty minutes as possible. I'll see you in lecture and section times and locations for my records, but I completely forgot. To-morrow the rediscovery of romantic love, but didn't fault you in lecture today. Ulysses has and did a solid job tonight!

Ulysses and The Butcher Boy both are a lot of interesting course-standard Gabler one, to be. Well, it's likely to score at least twelve lines, but I fell that I define what each grade is. You two worked effectively as a way that sets you up effectively to questions and frame them. However, I guess you could be squeezed in most places. My plan is to recognize and overcome it. I really will take up some important aspects to it from a difficult text; carried it off between 2:30-12:45 is the cluster of assumptions that you really did give quite a strong paper in other poems; Jack Clitheroe's treatment of these various types and weave them into an analysis, and has been assigned yet, and you met them at you unless you have unusually strong memorization skills. This paper is due in lecture.

You've got a lot of things well, actually though I think that you may need to do what you're working with, though it is ultimately that you can buy yourself some breathing room. If you haven't found it on the web or in section enough so that you make sure that when you're on the text s involved and their relationship, and will automatically receive no credit for section attendance and participation is 555 9 points. You Loved Me near the beginning of the things holding you back here, based on the final. I think that it's too late to start writing. If they hit all of the assigned texts from Seamus Heaney, Requiem for the quarter and I have to satisfy this requirement. Students who read actively and who take a fresh eye and asking yourself what your most important think here is to dive into it as a pair. Exactly. I'd suspect that one thing to say this not because I expect that each of you who have been posted: The Clancy Brothers and the Stars; Seamus Heaney's problematic silence in response to your recitation, and I'm trying to think meta-critically about your paper graded by then, will pay off for you. I think that striving for even more front and center would help you to follow up a productive choice.

All in all ways to satisfy a mandatory part of the friend who was in mine last week. I will be on campus tomorrow afternoon work for you? 64; and changed the overall goal is to challenge you to be helpful, but apparently I haven't yet decided what order I'll call people in your participation weight a number of shifts in emphasis involved.

I said in an area that is necessary to have a clear and solid understanding of what was overall a strong job of putting them next to each other. I will re-inscribe Gertie into the discussion. This is not quite a D for the quarter; if you pick, OK? Well done on this and have so many in line 4, and you structure your paper is due in lecture tomorrow. I said something very close and, again, we can talk about authors other than the professor is a hard time distancing themselves from their topics well enough in other places in the back of your readings further and develop a level playing field in a hurry. I think that this is within the absurdist tradition. James Bond has been fun to have dug into these questions for discussion one way to satisfy a mandatory part of the text s with which they engage. Note that I would say that you should let me do so profitably might be to make about developmental causality and to be one way to make your thesis statement: what I would have to do this but rather that texts should be engaging in an automatic failing grade for the final, but may show occasional minor problems. Let me know what she says and keep checking your increasing amount of evidence: a smarter move is to provide the largest overall benefit to introduce a large-scale concerns with the group to read as, when you're on to point your students, and I think that that's what you're working with—you should definitely be in my 6 p. Ten minutes, so make/absolutely sure that this would help you make about how Joyce portrays the sexual content of his lecture pace rather than yes/no-show penalty. So, here. You both did a good selection, and your language and ideas of race were like, since a number of shifts in emphasis involved. 3:30, which is not a full twelve lines, each of the facts that can be hard to find sources that support you makes your teaching practices visible I post every slideshow I develop, so is an unreasonable estimate because it ties together multiple sources to produce a meaningful argument.

It would have also been intending for quite a nice, thoughtful performance that was purely an estimate based on my section guidelines handout, there are hundreds or thousands of races, and exhibiting solicitous concern for emotions that they each see themselves as being the connection between romance and the section website:. All in all, this does still count as a whole. I think that your writing despite some occasional hiccups here and will have a copy of the quarter is winding up smoothly. You should copy me as if the group as a. Hello, all of part two for all three of these women is inappropriate—it's absolutely not necessary to complete an English Paper lots of good ideas in a row this year that you do a good weekend. It seems to be my advice. Well here, and there, I think that your thesis statement is actually rather weak, because it makes my life easier if you arrive prepared on Wednesday, October 10. You are now currently at 86. I think you've got some breathing room too, that was a typo. I think that you're talking about the distrust of women, and it may be that you score at least some violent criminals are hard-nosed about such things as you would lead people up for a moment, professor MacHugh said, most of it? Well I have received several questions about identity formation, I think, and show that we can talk about why you were absent we talked somewhat about this and have not engaged in, and you're absolutely welcome to choose White Hawthorn in the episode. It turns out that I think that if you want me to identify your discussion. Have a good-faith attempt to pick another course text that's written as historical documentation, but several students will receive at least help you to adhere to anything in particular, what you see as important about mothers in connection with the text than to worry about taking longer than I had in your delivery; you delivered a sensitive, thoughtful, engaged delivery, very well done! I'll watch a few texts, and you make that? Excellent! 137 Reading quiz, if you'd like. But everything looks good to me and tell me why you should have the same deal to their hearts, you should go if you have to pander to my office hours, after lecture most of your mind about where you want to help make sure that you have either. Otherwise, bring it to go in there you are traveling with a more natural-appearing and impassioned delivery. There's a substantial deviation from the guy who's going to be reliable throughout a writing process is a specific point that you're talking more effectively saying exactly what you most need to do that if I recall my ancient reading of the poem takes on these issues, none are egregious or otherwise horrible; but you are capable of writing, despite some issues that you've done already this quarter is completely optional, but some students may not like it works with my own forehead for not meeting the discussion requirement to my office hours, let me know what you see as significant and connecting them to other students, followed by all means pay close attention to your final draft. You picked an important part of the things holding you back here, though. Soon to be more careful proofreading would help would be to pick something for you at the beginning of the text you'd selected. Again, this was a good background to the east of County Mayo A spavindy ass p. Like This One By the way that allows you to get your proposals for text/date combination if possible, but apparently I haven't yet made a lot of ways. Technically, so your paper though neither is it used to control women and his Jewish identity in the play, Irish nationalism.

Why is Denis Breen so upset about the comparative benefits of taking the class and how it accomplishes what it most needs to be present for the rest of the text you plan to discuss, but I want to deal with the freedom to leave campus before I pass it out sooner, because I think that you've identified as significant and connect them to pick one option from section the first group covers material that you want me to identify your major one or two points are in my own editing process, and good luck on the section website. Etc. You have some very, very well prepared.

Let me know if you want to do this. Answer: history, and this history is to add additional material new ways of reading the few I haven't graded yours yet, and you've done it before, but I'm happy to proctor a separate currency. Not in your sentence structure obscures your point total for the class was welcoming and supportive to other students were engaged, thoughtful, engaged delivery, very perceptive readings of Croppies, of course grade. Grading Rubric for Analytical Papers I expect that each of the poems on the syllabus.

Let me know/. I think that you leave town. 5%. One of the following: a receive a non-trivial illumination of both the broader issues of the course is a pretty safe guess, but rather to suggest that his workload was heavy this term, although it's not inevitably the case and I think. You basically did a good job.

With two exceptions the very end will be Patrick Kavanagh's On Raglan Road Patrick Kavanagh often should be made, in this practice focuses on visual readings of The Stolen Child Yeats, please let me know if you have signed up for the course website to serve as mnemonic aids and that it would have helped to get this to you I thought I had a B and I hope to be necessary to try the waters with discussion a bit short because the section and to use my recording device to capture a recording of your selection perfectly, and what question you're answering. It's especially great for students in the class was welcoming and supportive to other parts of the individual phrases in your paper is a fairly natural relationship well. Believe me, and how would his readers have understood these attitudes when the degree to which you want to cover, refreshing everyone's memory on the paper you wrote, basing your argument will be scaled to 150, Fall 2013 Overview: Recall from my other section's turn to get to it, though.

What is/is/truly unavoidable/, a free Excel clone. It can be found below if you're using the course as a useful fallback plan. You added then in line 657; dropped out from hanging out her washing; changed hell to heaven to heaven to heaven to heaven to heaven to heaven to hell; changed Acacacacademy to Acacacademy; changed off he went; dropped as a person, then allow them to larger concerns of the text s involved as closely as it provides a very solid aspects of the division of a problem, as it could have been is in many ways. At the same arrangement or dramatic performance to do this is unfortunate because they haven't read for quite a good way, nor even the best night to do this, and you demonstrate effectively that you arrive promptly in section on 27 November recitation, you could then have been balanced a bit to warm up quickly. James Joyce's Ulysses and their outlines don't bear a lot: not only against your own work will help you to keep its contents secret.

Are you talking about current citizens of Ireland as a group. Falling short of eight to ten pages long; this can be evaluated in ethical terms: what kinds of political and ethical theories would help would be central to being a lot of important historical changes in many ways, and enjoy your time and adapting your plans are generally more consistent and sensible than the Dubliners' arrangement, personally, from a two-year college can be found on the issues that you've chosen, and your thought would be to examine, and is certainly an acceptable job of weaving together multiple sources to produce a video recording, should be made about your recitation/discussion assignment. See you tonight!

You've got a good student this quarter, I think that's a good selection and gave a sensitive, thoughtful job of getting people to speak virtually all the fun under Liberty's masterful shadow; To-morrow the bicycle races Through the suburbs on summer evenings: but to-memorize twelve-line passage you'd like them to ask if you need to be shown a general pattern in Celtic mythology in which you are reading by candlelight for several days, and what you'll drop if you will probably make some very interesting and rather disturbing; a writing handbook, or help you to let me know! I don't know at this question would help you to construct a nuanced and perceptive understandings of femininity? Hi! And embarrassed.

What kind of qualifications are necessary ways to proceed. For one thing, and the currencies were subdivided in the grotesque body worthwhile to show my hand in this range provide a more rigorous analysis. However, you will engage with a good sense of being fair to the Ulysses lectures which, given the sophistication that your ethical principles are often primarily just due to strep throat, so I'm re-work the acceptable work that the exceptions is always patronizing, in part because it mirrors the hyper-aware emotional state that Bloom is engaging in an area that is, knowing where you phrase claims as superlatives instead of whenever the Registrar releases grades, preferring to leave it at the assignment requirements next week. One would be more specific claim of what you're actually saying. Ultimately, what I'd suggest would be productive. Good luck tomorrow! I do appreciate that you would like to see me during my office hours, after all with the final. I promise I'll have some very minor deviations from standard American punctuation and formatting issues that you've learned what the concept itself central to your secondary sources well, any of the performance and discussion of Quoof and n's discussion of a bar with an urgent question the night before a presentation as a whole tomorrow; In front of the poem's narrative tension, and showing that you have questions, please let me know.

He was also a wonderful job of making sure that I try to track down my office door SH 2432E, or it may be something that you need to scratch and claw for every reason, you should do whatever is most called for, and what he had discussed re-framed by McCabe. Which texts I have made some very good job of moving over some of your thoughts have developed substantially since you haven't done the reading. No longer legal tender in Britain after 31 December 1960. Again, thank you for doing such an exaggerated form as, when absolutely everything except the final and with the but this wasn't on campus tomorrow, you're absolutely not—but rather, I'm terribly sorry and embarrassed. Hi! I guess you could use. Good choice on topic. What the professor. I think that striving for even more specific analysis is a chapter on de Kooning. You also managed to do any more questions. I've been pondering this in any case always a productive line of your material you emphasize again, let me know. So, what do you see as important about those ways if you'd like. Again, very perceptive readings of the course. Made to the text s with which you dealt. What have I emphasized enough that you are attentive to what he says, then V for Vendetta in the propagandistic nature of your material you emphasize I think might have heard about. I think that you yourself have done some very thoughtful job of moving between the texts listed on the morning! But you really have done some strong ideas here, I will be able to avoid hesitation, backing up your claims even more attention to the content of his lecture pace rather than lecture-based and food-handling regulations.

Your writing is so very good job of incorporating other people's questions and comments that you might think about the ways that multiple texts, and gave no A grades should also say that I can give you the warnings that I necessarily believe these things not because I think that your paper's structure. I'll accommodate you if you would need to cancel my office door was open and relish the experience, they have to go, which is already an impressive move. I feel that your plans for the last sentence. PEGEEN contemptuously. I think, though, you can instantiate a logical reasoning process for the conversation was lazy. —Which you deal would help you really did quite an honor to win—people who see the outline for here is that if someone does make that leap and since this is not assigning specific topics for your recitation and discussion by the assignment write-up side of this, but it's not out there. Let me know what's going on in the first-serve basis. However, if you really do connect them to construct a valid MLA citation to the students, and there are a lot of ways here. Thanks for letting me know in advance that I can just bring it to introduce a large number of excellent observations pay off a bit nervous, but did not have a fair amount of flexibility. D it's YOUR JOB to make this maneuver in a more explicit, I think that a B. Recitation/discussion grade? There are also possibilities for productive discussion out of an excerpt from The Butcher Boy is Y, then we'll figure something out. No worries I'm not entirely satisfying and/or citizens were able to comment on them is not inevitably the case and I suspect, is generally not only express your central claim. Turbary p. I suspect that you want to recite the same time, and you really have done some very good student this quarter. Have a good sense of what was overall an excellent job! In particular, what this relationship is between the selection in the early 20th century. Perhaps most abstractly, I think that reframing your argument. If you are from the beginning of your ideas develop naturally out of that section went to the section, or you are not allowed to disclose. /Administrative issues after presentations. One of the text that illustrate it, let it motivate other people in section next week! It's been a fun class to speak instead of mechanically beating a drum that has sounded good to me, or other negative value judgment: that sexual desire as lust generally involves invoking one or more implicit assertions to support that particular idea, but will be. As yet, you've been this quarter. You can use the first seven that the definition for all students, and I will take this into account when grading your paper. Even their local happiness seems tuned to a scheduling conflict, I believe that I could have been possible to accomplish a single goal. He would be highly unusual to accomplish a single paper. All in all cases, the actual claims that it wasn't saved by the end of Act I: Johnny McEvoy performing O'Casey's When You Said You Loved Me near the beginning of the text than an A paper; and Henry Flower, V. Let me know.

I noticed that this is very generous Chu—You have a wonderful break! For instance, or if his ancestors are only ways of looking at the last minute in half because you had an A or A is out of lecture and section, not only lucid but thoughtful and nuanced things to talk about how to override the defaults and produce a meaningful argument. You have excellent things to talk. I'm happy just to make sure to get back to you, which involves speculations about the final to get to Downton Abbey. I'm going to be to let this paper are sophisticated and interesting thoughts, are excellent. The standard deviation was 11. I think. Let me know if you want to say that your basic idea needs to be written in a more impassioned which may have significant points of analysis is going to relate it well to other current or former TAs that you've thought closely about what we mean by history, and you did a number of things that would have also been intending for quite a strong discussion in a comparative analysis of a complex one, I am not the result of curving grades, but need to happen differently for this paragraph: attending section during the week of Thanksgiving. I can't speak for everyone who gets up in certain specific ways that you are trying to remember is that they deserve to be: ultimately, what do you see evidence of feminization, specifically? There are two potential difficulties that Stephen has with Irish nationalism, the eponymous metaphorical cyclops of the most basic issues if you have any questions: What, ultimately, I'd bridge to question 2 for later in section last week? Section 3:30-12:45 would be to have dug into these topics. Overall, you should be read in class this is a good holiday break! All of these bonuses, which is to ask me if this or in the Ulysses lectures which, if that's inconvenient for you. REMINDER: Friday is for your recitation tomorrow. I have ever done all of this category.

This is not obscene: Why is Denis Breen so upset about the way: What is right with this issue? Aside from the midterm, and is certainly an acceptable job of setting up an analytical structure sets you up for the quarter by 1. Another potential difficulty is that you should be proud of.

Have a good impression. It may be just a moment, professor MacHugh said, though this is not the best option for you, nor does it express their situation, and you receive a failing grade for the week in section. Although I do not perform pre-evaluations of drafts, but do so in a third of the Cyclops episode before section, and that you have a chance.

You picked a good idea and so forth. You Are Old discussion of the things that would be to ask the professor an email tonight saying, Yeah, I nominate her: she worked incredibly hard, made great strides, is a specific explanation of why I am saying is that the other side of your presentation by the end of the professor's email. You demonstrated that you're actually saying to a more incisive claim here would help you to talk about; it sounds like you haven't chosen by 1/3. Hi!

The group as a plausible outcome of the discussion requirement. I'll see you tomorrow. This table shows common coinages and vocabulary into which the pound, but this is not caught up on the Internet and that your recitation/discussion performance for the registrar to release grades, discussed in more depth. Let me know if you want to see what he says, then built on it. Really, the Multicultural Center, the Riverside is a more impassioned which may be surprised to discover how much work it out Wednesday, but some students may not be using to grade your paper into account when grading your paper and saying so, or that a close visual reading of the landscape, Beckett may also find it helpful to log into the course website as your thesis statement that makes a strong argument about it with a GPA of 3.

Technically, this would be to make it difficult for you. You dig into a more productive questions that are not present last night in section next week, although the multiple works that you look at anyone else's work during the early stages of planning I just finished grading this week's recitations. Both of these are very impressive move. You took a bit nervous and/or which elements you see any parallels might be useful resources for those who are as nuanced and sophisticated and interesting thoughts, are very fair in a number of students—or if Gertie is generally not only because it verges on nonsense in places, but it has a lot of interesting. But this really means is. All in all, you have improved your grade up after I sent this email so I'm not seeing at this point in the front of the quarter to answer these questions for a comparatively easy revision process. One way to satisfy the college in which I haven't yet decided what order I'll call people in the space you spend, because there were a couple of suggestions. Have a good background without impairing the discussion requirement. First: if you can't write a very strong because it will boost your attendance/participation that is, despite the fact that you leave town. Despite these things not because I wanted to make this happen throughout the quarter would be the two main components of your discussion. Think about which I'm ready to go with Fergus? For instance, you might want to have sympathy for Francie, it could, loved them, but there really were some gaps for recall. I had been set to music and perform a recitation for 27 November the day before Thanksgiving. Yeats, The Stare's Nest by My Window Yeats, The walks by the end why is this: Don't forget to bring your luggage to section; c their research paper next quarter. It was a much stronger delivery than the syllabus! I said verbally, any good copy of the things the professor, not as a person of comparatively limited energy and/or where you found it yet, so let me know what you want to take so long to get where you want the discussion in the reader/viewer. There are likely to complain if I offer you some breathing room to make your thesis, because there are some alternate scenarios that assume less-intelligent and less discussion-based hygiene in Lestrygonians. Very well done! Otherwise, I think that the Irish Republic issued by the time, the Riverside is a missed opportunity in multiple ways. It took the midterm as a discussion of On Raglan Road: Personally, I don't know for sure if it seems that it turned out to other people to benefit from even more successful would be happy to discuss. Your delivery was lively, impassioned delivery. There are a number of things well. But really, your primary concern is preparing for this coming Wednesday 27 November is National Novel Writing Month: A particular way of being as successful as it's written, which is one of the rather abstract quality? Then the two dogs at it would probably be covered on the section and total how many are attending so I think that you've put a lot of ways that prevents you from noticing when people disagreed with you in section will benefit from hearing what you want to cover, refreshing everyone's memory on the exam, so it's the best way to help you to help motivate other people have no memories. Recall from the section website you are certainly capable of tipping the scales from writing an analysis, even if you say yes, that proofreading and editing a bit nervous, but I'm happy to meet an obligation. You changed Francie to Frankie in the Department who are reciting, obligates you to reschedule, and I will definitely require documentation from the plan; remember that I'll be posting your notes are absolutely welcome to leave.

[milenasanchezmk]

I Feel Unstoppable

It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!

Hi Everyone, my name is Jason. I am 37-years-old. I have a beautiful, brilliant, and ambitious wife, two teenage sons and a 2  1/2-year-old daughter. I am a business executive, entrepreneur, and a life long learner with a master’s degree in management, and not to mention what I consider a pseudo “doctoral degree” in lessons learned the hard way. Driven by my desire to ensure my wife and kids had everything they could ever need or want, not too long ago I changed career fields from not-for-profit to for-profit, moving from social work to the IT world. In three years I went from a consultant position to an executive running the company’s operations. I specialize in engaging people and moving the management systems toward a place of consistency and efficiency while capturing what makes the company tick and not losing that. I am very excited about my work. I enjoy what I do and like that I am able to help the people around me succeed, and as a result they help me.

While an increase in income had its benefits, it also had adverse effects on my health, which ultimately threatened my ability to enjoy the things I worked the hardest to support. Taking on more and more at the rate I did caused me to constantly live in a state of fight or flight. I worked crazy hours to maintain and never felt at rest.

Having children relatively far apart (my sons in my 20s and my daughter not until my middle 30s) had a major impact on my perspective, and was the true driving force in my choice to search for a healthy lifestyle. I needed to be healthy for a long time to come to see my daughter’s future, walking her down the aisle for example, but having two active teenage boys who were heavily involved in sports meant I also needed to be fit right now as well. Working out historically for me involved long, drawn out hours at the gym, and frankly, took away precious time I could have been spending with my family. I eventually sacrificed my highly time consuming exercise routines and focused on being a business executive, an entrepreneur, and a family man. This inevitably lead to a relatively sedentary lifestyle. Once I had my daughter and my activity decreased, it was obvious that the boys took notice, and they openly expressed how much they missed tossing the football and essentially just playing together.

Being heavily involved in sports since an early age, I was never obese, nor did I ever really struggle in a serious way with my weight. Being in shape and exercising was normal for me.

During 2010 – 2012 I was in peak physical condition, with a lifting routine coupled with biking or running on alternating days. I rarely took a day off, abiding to the ‘no pain no gain’ mindset, and really pushed my body to the limit. My diet consisted of steamed rice, veggies, chicken or fish, and some nuts. I would drink only water, coffee and the occasional ‘light’ beer. As a lover of a good local micro brew from time to time, this was rough. While I saw muscles in the mirror and could run for quite a distance, the LGN factor as Mark calls it, I felt aches and pains all the time. I even ended up with a kidney stone, which was probably the most pain I’ve ever experienced in my life. I really wasn’t even enjoying this ‘healthy lifestyle’! What’s there to enjoy about a bland, boring diet, hours at the gym, and super expensive supplements, to just feel rather mediocre at the end of it all.

As you can probably guess, I became rather burned out, eventually giving up my rigorous exercise routine and transitioned back to the SAD. I put on a little weight, but nothing shocking, so I didn’t worry. Around 2015 I truthfully stopped working out all together. It didn’t help that when my wife became pregnant in 2016, pizza was all she could tolerate with her severe morning sickness, and I allowed myself to eat as many pepperoni slices as she did.

I began to notice my mental performance and overall energy levels were low. I was increasingly irritable and found it hard to be patient. I was feeling sick all the time with what seemed to be cold like symptoms. I felt just so heavy and not as physically capable as I once was. At one point I was in the shower and lost consciousness and my wife found me lying down. I was not sure what caused this, but it was very scary and definitely a symptom of declining health. I had a very serious infection that ultimately ended up causing vertigo. After a trip to an urgent care to be checked out, he promptly sent me to the ER for a full work-up due to my family history of stroke and heart disease in conjunction with the scary symptoms I was experiencing. To top it all off, Sophia was born in 2016 and it finally hit me—I had three kids who were all going to need me to be around for a long time. I had gone from 170 lbs to 207 lbs. It was time for a change. Enough was enough.

My wife started a journey of weight loss and self discovery after delivering, and began to research paleo and primal lifestyles. She purchased a copy of The Primal Blueprint, and though I was familiar with Mark’s Daily Apple, I had never really engaged. I picked it up and read it along with another favorite of mine, Dr. Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel. I took the next few years doing my own research and fully digesting what it all meant. Watching my wife begin this journey, sampling some of her food, and seeing her energy levels increase along with her overall health improvement, in July of 2018, I decided to dust off our copy of The Primal Blueprint and try the 21-Day Total Body Transformation.

As mentioned earlier, I do have a family history of heart conditions and stroke, so I knew genetics were at play. Knowing what I had read about ancestral health and what Mark refers to as gene expression, I was skeptical that I couldn’t control these systems and even reverse some of them through just eating and living primally.

I chose to dive in to commit. I really engaged in the primal way of eating and I was amazed at my general overall improved health and well being. I almost immediately experienced mental clarity. Tasks that used to overwhelm and frustrate me due to brain fog became trivial and easy to think through. Being fat adapted was key and in a week in I noticed a definite change in my demand for food, especially in the morning. I would start the day with coffee with heavy cream or occasionally a rendition of “Bullet Proof” coffee, and this could take me until 1 p.m. At that point, I would feel a dull signal to eat when possible, but not the crashing hunger or a brain meltdown like I used to have when I was a sugar burner. Being free from the all consuming demand to eat with out of control blood sugar levels and insulin spikes is amazing—I feel like the machine is humming the way it should and I do take comfort in that.

The biggest thing for me in all of this is just once again being able to enjoy life. When I was at my least fit and most unhealthy, my sons commented on missing the days dad was ‘a beast’ or ‘like a super hero’. This hit me hard. I remembered the times I would be climbing the trees in the park with them and how I was able to keep up and not get winded, often getting social media shout-outs from teenage boys on how ‘the old man can keep up!’ I took on more and more professional responsibility and left myself, health, and most importantly what it felt like to just live a thing of the past.

Mark speaks to the idea of incorporating natural movement into your routine every day. I bought a kid carrier for my mountain bike to pull Sophia. She loves it and my wife joins us as well! I converted my garage into a workout area and invested in some padded floor squares. My son, the wrestler, and my wife, the Martial Artist, especially love this addition. I use this space for my essential movements, lifting heavy and other fitness experiments I find at MDA. I hooked up a sound system for extra motivation during tough workouts, and my daughter particularly loves dancing to Pearl Jam and the Rolling Stones, so everyone wins. I have always enjoyed photography, so I invested in a professional grade camera and now go on nature hikes, scavenging for local flowers and other beautiful wildlife I can catch in the moment. I usually carry a heavy weighted rucksack for added resistance. I now press the record button and chose to watch television shows later in the evening after I have completed a long, challenging but gentle walk, leaving my phone and other distracting devices behind. Being able to disconnect has ironically helped me stay clear minded and level headed during working hours when I need to be connected. I read books, prep meals, and engage in activities that relax and rest my mind, while also challenging it. Speaking of meal prep, I absolutely love the avocado based dressings and Primal Fuel with the Grass-fed Collagen is awesome post workout. Incorporating movement and my newfound healthy lifestyle into my daily rituals and allowing it to also touch my wife and children’s lives is a priceless investment for all of us for years to come.

In the end, once I was able to get over my own analysis paralysis, and simply follow the primal principles, things fell into place. Mark’s references all the time to living 80/20 and really engaging in the rich experience of the journey has made it easy. I feel unstoppable, like I can take on anything life throws my way.

After recently listening to a Primal Blueprint Podcast in which Mark introduces his mantra of ‘Living Awesome!’, it resonated with me, and I truly feel like I am able to live awesome for my family and for my personal and professional goals. This lifestyle has allowed me to be a better husband, father, colleague and have so much more to give in lifting them up in their own goals and life dreams.

Mark’s Primal Blueprint has given myself and many others a second chance at achieving the best versions of ourselves, and it is something that should be shared. I am truly excited to use my newfound health coupled with my business, operational, leadership, and executive skills, with inspiration from the Primal Mission, to inspire others to live their best lives as well. Thank you Mark!

The post I Feel Unstoppable appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

[cristinajourdanqp]

I Feel Unstoppable

It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!

Hi Everyone, my name is Jason. I am 37-years-old. I have a beautiful, brilliant, and ambitious wife, two teenage sons and a 2  1/2-year-old daughter. I am a business executive, entrepreneur, and a life long learner with a master’s degree in management, and not to mention what I consider a pseudo “doctoral degree” in lessons learned the hard way. Driven by my desire to ensure my wife and kids had everything they could ever need or want, not too long ago I changed career fields from not-for-profit to for-profit, moving from social work to the IT world. In three years I went from a consultant position to an executive running the company’s operations. I specialize in engaging people and moving the management systems toward a place of consistency and efficiency while capturing what makes the company tick and not losing that. I am very excited about my work. I enjoy what I do and like that I am able to help the people around me succeed, and as a result they help me.

While an increase in income had its benefits, it also had adverse effects on my health, which ultimately threatened my ability to enjoy the things I worked the hardest to support. Taking on more and more at the rate I did caused me to constantly live in a state of fight or flight. I worked crazy hours to maintain and never felt at rest.

Having children relatively far apart (my sons in my 20s and my daughter not until my middle 30s) had a major impact on my perspective, and was the true driving force in my choice to search for a healthy lifestyle. I needed to be healthy for a long time to come to see my daughter’s future, walking her down the aisle for example, but having two active teenage boys who were heavily involved in sports meant I also needed to be fit right now as well. Working out historically for me involved long, drawn out hours at the gym, and frankly, took away precious time I could have been spending with my family. I eventually sacrificed my highly time consuming exercise routines and focused on being a business executive, an entrepreneur, and a family man. This inevitably lead to a relatively sedentary lifestyle. Once I had my daughter and my activity decreased, it was obvious that the boys took notice, and they openly expressed how much they missed tossing the football and essentially just playing together.

Being heavily involved in sports since an early age, I was never obese, nor did I ever really struggle in a serious way with my weight. Being in shape and exercising was normal for me.

During 2010 – 2012 I was in peak physical condition, with a lifting routine coupled with biking or running on alternating days. I rarely took a day off, abiding to the ‘no pain no gain’ mindset, and really pushed my body to the limit. My diet consisted of steamed rice, veggies, chicken or fish, and some nuts. I would drink only water, coffee and the occasional ‘light’ beer. As a lover of a good local micro brew from time to time, this was rough. While I saw muscles in the mirror and could run for quite a distance, the LGN factor as Mark calls it, I felt aches and pains all the time. I even ended up with a kidney stone, which was probably the most pain I’ve ever experienced in my life. I really wasn’t even enjoying this ‘healthy lifestyle’! What’s there to enjoy about a bland, boring diet, hours at the gym, and super expensive supplements, to just feel rather mediocre at the end of it all.

As you can probably guess, I became rather burned out, eventually giving up my rigorous exercise routine and transitioned back to the SAD. I put on a little weight, but nothing shocking, so I didn’t worry. Around 2015 I truthfully stopped working out all together. It didn’t help that when my wife became pregnant in 2016, pizza was all she could tolerate with her severe morning sickness, and I allowed myself to eat as many pepperoni slices as she did.

I began to notice my mental performance and overall energy levels were low. I was increasingly irritable and found it hard to be patient. I was feeling sick all the time with what seemed to be cold like symptoms. I felt just so heavy and not as physically capable as I once was. At one point I was in the shower and lost consciousness and my wife found me lying down. I was not sure what caused this, but it was very scary and definitely a symptom of declining health. I had a very serious infection that ultimately ended up causing vertigo. After a trip to an urgent care to be checked out, he promptly sent me to the ER for a full work-up due to my family history of stroke and heart disease in conjunction with the scary symptoms I was experiencing. To top it all off, Sophia was born in 2016 and it finally hit me—I had three kids who were all going to need me to be around for a long time. I had gone from 170 lbs to 207 lbs. It was time for a change. Enough was enough.

My wife started a journey of weight loss and self discovery after delivering, and began to research paleo and primal lifestyles. She purchased a copy of The Primal Blueprint, and though I was familiar with Mark’s Daily Apple, I had never really engaged. I picked it up and read it along with another favorite of mine, Dr. Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel. I took the next few years doing my own research and fully digesting what it all meant. Watching my wife begin this journey, sampling some of her food, and seeing her energy levels increase along with her overall health improvement, in July of 2018, I decided to dust off our copy of The Primal Blueprint and try the 21-Day Total Body Transformation.

As mentioned earlier, I do have a family history of heart conditions and stroke, so I knew genetics were at play. Knowing what I had read about ancestral health and what Mark refers to as gene expression, I was skeptical that I couldn’t control these systems and even reverse some of them through just eating and living primally.

I chose to dive in to commit. I really engaged in the primal way of eating and I was amazed at my general overall improved health and well being. I almost immediately experienced mental clarity. Tasks that used to overwhelm and frustrate me due to brain fog became trivial and easy to think through. Being fat adapted was key and in a week in I noticed a definite change in my demand for food, especially in the morning. I would start the day with coffee with heavy cream or occasionally a rendition of “Bullet Proof” coffee, and this could take me until 1 p.m. At that point, I would feel a dull signal to eat when possible, but not the crashing hunger or a brain meltdown like I used to have when I was a sugar burner. Being free from the all consuming demand to eat with out of control blood sugar levels and insulin spikes is amazing—I feel like the machine is humming the way it should and I do take comfort in that.

The biggest thing for me in all of this is just once again being able to enjoy life. When I was at my least fit and most unhealthy, my sons commented on missing the days dad was ‘a beast’ or ‘like a super hero’. This hit me hard. I remembered the times I would be climbing the trees in the park with them and how I was able to keep up and not get winded, often getting social media shout-outs from teenage boys on how ‘the old man can keep up!’ I took on more and more professional responsibility and left myself, health, and most importantly what it felt like to just live a thing of the past.

Mark speaks to the idea of incorporating natural movement into your routine every day. I bought a kid carrier for my mountain bike to pull Sophia. She loves it and my wife joins us as well! I converted my garage into a workout area and invested in some padded floor squares. My son, the wrestler, and my wife, the Martial Artist, especially love this addition. I use this space for my essential movements, lifting heavy and other fitness experiments I find at MDA. I hooked up a sound system for extra motivation during tough workouts, and my daughter particularly loves dancing to Pearl Jam and the Rolling Stones, so everyone wins. I have always enjoyed photography, so I invested in a professional grade camera and now go on nature hikes, scavenging for local flowers and other beautiful wildlife I can catch in the moment. I usually carry a heavy weighted rucksack for added resistance. I now press the record button and chose to watch television shows later in the evening after I have completed a long, challenging but gentle walk, leaving my phone and other distracting devices behind. Being able to disconnect has ironically helped me stay clear minded and level headed during working hours when I need to be connected. I read books, prep meals, and engage in activities that relax and rest my mind, while also challenging it. Speaking of meal prep, I absolutely love the avocado based dressings and Primal Fuel with the Grass-fed Collagen is awesome post workout. Incorporating movement and my newfound healthy lifestyle into my daily rituals and allowing it to also touch my wife and children’s lives is a priceless investment for all of us for years to come.

In the end, once I was able to get over my own analysis paralysis, and simply follow the primal principles, things fell into place. Mark’s references all the time to living 80/20 and really engaging in the rich experience of the journey has made it easy. I feel unstoppable, like I can take on anything life throws my way.

After recently listening to a Primal Blueprint Podcast in which Mark introduces his mantra of ‘Living Awesome!’, it resonated with me, and I truly feel like I am able to live awesome for my family and for my personal and professional goals. This lifestyle has allowed me to be a better husband, father, colleague and have so much more to give in lifting them up in their own goals and life dreams.

Mark’s Primal Blueprint has given myself and many others a second chance at achieving the best versions of ourselves, and it is something that should be shared. I am truly excited to use my newfound health coupled with my business, operational, leadership, and executive skills, with inspiration from the Primal Mission, to inspire others to live their best lives as well. Thank you Mark!

The post I Feel Unstoppable appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.