#. ⸻ ⁰⁵ 「self.」 ⊣⊢ butcher baker candlestick maker.

[revcnqe]

THE BOYS 4x04 | Wisdom of the Ages

[revcnqe]

Qualified watchdog guard. Don't you feel at ease like you never did before since I'm around?! @heartofglass-mindofstone

Weekend with private bodyguard. Just watching out I don‘t get in trouble again, good luck though. @vergeltvng

[dnpanimationstudioclone]

Meet my TGD OC, The Virtue Kindness🦋🎤🎶 There’s been talk about the future roles of the rest of the virtues & it’s believed Kindness will be involved in keeping peace with the rotlings & Heaven. What better way to help keep the peace than being a music celebrity icon!

🦋 Kindness is a famous pop singer amongst Paradise Lost & The Gaslight District! Her music’s helped placate the masses(bread & circuses) as well as fund a good chunk of Heaven’s income. 💰

🦋 Uses she/they pronouns.

🦋 I can imagine Elsie Lovelock as her VA! Shes got the singing for it💖 I can def see her sing Phillipa Soo’s Ultraluminary🌙

🦋 Went with a butterfly motif(specifically blue morpho) for the symbolism with transformation, rebirth, hope, etc(stuff I’m hoping for Mel’s journey), a creature of the sky like birds but gentler animal(also blue like the sky). Perhaps eventually she becomes more moth like(moth to a flame) if she ends up....out of the virtues band(def not because of Mel). Mel bird/egg motif/fire. Plus going on the nursery rhyme theme that’s been noticed with the characters(Butcher, baker, candlestick maker & melancholy hill poem), there’s Butterfly, Butterfly🦋

🦋 Has a lot of sound based powers. Can copy/record others voices, could sing a pitch to shatter a diamond, if angered enough could create a Shockwave, etc. Mel Def encourages her to play around with what she can do besides singing & dancing. She's also got tons of special effects stuff like those light butterflies(def inspired from here comes a thought). Gotta have that show glitz n glam ready for the stage ✨️ she’s also got her own playlist in herself!

🦋 She’s the youngest & true to her title, the kindest(def least scary) of the Virtues! Shes the easiest of them to talk to, a social butterfly always trying to entertain/please everyone. But under all that glitz n glam look, lies within a very insecure & self-conscious soul. she’s kinda like the Pink Diamond of them. She feels compared to them kinda useless, just a pretty accessory for them. She fears letting them down/not being enough & used up/kicked to the curb. Hard to know if ur liked for you, or just what you can provide. It’s very lonely on top.

🦋 I want her & Mel to meet and bond with each other, Kindness bringing out the better in Mel & helping her see the legit good she can do/isn’t defined by being some prophecy, & Mel helping Kindness practice some of that virtue for herself, doesn’t have to be perfect to be cared about. May or may not become GF’s💖 Kindness becoming part of her family…and unintentionally causing drama when she finds out the truth….just not the way you’d expect. Ken's never had anyone else be willing to stay quiet about Mel besides Temp(whatever reason he clearly had doubts)He & Mel Didn't think to warn her that Mud & Bread didn't know till it was too late.

What do u think? How do u imagine Kidness & the rest of the virtues to be like? I’d love to know💖

[horizon-verizon]

I remember reading the Outlander novels with my mom and SPOILERS one of the major plot points in the later books is the MC’s bastard child finding out that his legal father isn’t his biological father, freaking out, and trying to give up his noble title.

The other characters all comfort him and reiterate that even if he isn’t the man’s biological child, as the Earl’s wife’s son he by law has the right to inherit. Because there have been numerous situations like this throughout history. And the boy’s desire is presented less as making right a wrong and more an overly idealistic youth struggling with his identity.

The English common law had a strong presumption that a child born to a married woman was legitimate, even if the child was the result of an adulterous affair (every single ASOIAF/HOTD fan reading this just killed himself, lmao). This was aptly captured by the saying “Whosoever bulleth my cow, the calf is mine.” In other words, the child was deemed to be legitimate as long as the husband was not impotent and he was in the kingdom at any time at all during the pregnancy. And this makes sense. There was no DNA test back then, and no real way to determine paternity.

In Outlander, the relevant quote is, “[I]n law, any child born in wedlock is considered to be the child of that marriage, regardless of whether he or she was really fathered by the butcher or the baker or the candlestick maker...”

It was a very compelling plot as it really examines bastardy as a concept and how just the idea almost destroyed that poor boys self image and self esteem.

Can you send me links? Love this.

[shrinkrants]

Michael Welu worked at the IRS for decades as a specialist in helping agents identify and investigate possible tax crimes. In an agency known for offices working in their own silos, Welu had the rare ability to move between divisions, dissecting and learning each office’s particular customs and procedures. But that experience had its own consequence for Welu: Seeing disparities in how the separate divisions treated different tiers of taxpayers left him exasperated and helped drive him into early retirement.

For more than 30 years, Welu watched the agency struggle with budget cuts and dwindling staff. What troubled Welu, he says, went deeper than just resource constraints.

During his time at the IRS, he says, upper management in the division tasked with auditing large corporations and ultrawealthy people — the Large Business and International Division — was quick to dismiss any suggestion that a powerful taxpayer may have committed a crime, and commonly discouraged front-line agents from pursuing big cases. This stood in deep contrast to the office that policed small businesses and self-employed people, which was empowered to — as Welu saw it — take an appropriately firm stance toward taxpayers breaking the law, even if they were dealing with far smaller dollar amounts.

“I was putting butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers in jail, but the big stuff we really wanted to go after was being ignored,” Welu told the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. “It could be the most egregious, ridiculous scheme and they were just not interested.”

. . .

Tax evasion by the ultrarich is a key element in Oxfam International’s recent forecast that the world will soon see its first trillionaire. Experts say the U.S.’s failures to address high-end tax evasion have contributed to worsening global inequality.

“Normal taxpayers are scared of the IRS — they fear real consequences,” one current LB&I agent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told ICIJ. “These highly wealthy people, it’s more like a game to them.”

-- Spencer Woodman at The Lever

[treethymes]

It’s often said that under capitalism, relations between people appear as relations between things. The butcher, baker, and candlestick maker vanish into the Bed Bath & Beyond. But there’s a countertendency at work within the ruling class, among whom relations between things often appear as relations between people. Mr. Smith seems to have dinner with Mr. Brown, but behind the veil are the bank and newspaper sitting to sup. This is a virtue of the joint-stock model: Huge piles of capital, years of work extracted from labor and subsequently aggregated, meet as men. Capital’s fundamental drive for better-than-average returns means that no operator can be satisfied with a tie, but in order to function the system needs superficial competition on a stone platform of cooperation. In the fascist system competition is external, between nations, its various components conceived as parts of a single body. Individual interest is subordinated to that of the group. That was anathema to [Herbert] Hoover and his fellows, who saw individual interest as the prime mover, society’s engine. Capitalist collectivity emerges in two ways: First, there’s exploitation, wherein capitalists extract bits of value from their employees’ work and gather it up into lumps to reinvest. Second, there’s association, in which investors pledge their gathered lumps to a common cause. Unlike an enveloping fascist state, an associative state comes together like an interoffice softball league, via the ostensibly free and voluntary association of participants.

The stone foundation of capitalist cooperation cracked during the Depression, as near-term self-preservation undermined long-term self-interest. The “Popular Front” alliance between leftists and liberals offered a different model, a democratic state that mediated between capital and labor much the way the associative state mediated among capitalists. The idea had a lot to offer, especially in the face of fascists on the right and communists on the left. The Stanford athletic association treasurer [Hoover] was abandoned, nearly alone in his fidelity. But he grasped something the others didn’t: Financialization and economic democracy can’t blend. If property rights are subject to popular control, then investors will encounter the public as an obstacle, a variable to be managed. For example, banks loaned credit to farms based on existing prices, which were based on the current cost of labor. Improving labor conditions by picket was an attack on property valuation, which thanks to financialization made it an attack on property, full stop. The Roosevelt coalition brought together capital and labor under one roof, but one partner always sought to dominate the other.

Bill Camp was an odd choice for a New Deal bureaucrat, but the banker, cotton planter, and proud son of a Klansman was the right wing of the FDR team, one of the Confederate Democrats who hadn’t left the party yet, except for a single dalliance with the Chief [Hoover] in 1928. He was a link of continuity between Hoover’s agricultural administration and the New Deal version. When the Agricultural Adjustment Act came under legal challenge, Camp was introduced to the left side of the coalition, and he was shocked to discover that his very own lawyer was a communist. Camp knew one when he saw one, and when he realized that Department of Agriculture officials were planning to help the left-wing Southern Tenant Farmers Union get better conditions for cotton workers in the South—Camp’s ancestral stomping ground—he denounced them. Camp called a handful of his conservative politician friends from the cotton belt and they went over the head of the agriculture secretary, Wallace (the new one), straight to President Roosevelt. The next day the president fired the left-wing lawyers, and Agriculture reversed a pro-tenant rule interpretation. But Camp couldn’t forget about his commie lawyer, and when one of Camp’s local congressmen wanted to make a name for himself exposing liberal Reds, Camp fed everything he had on Alger Hiss to Richard Nixon, helping ignite the congressional Red Scare.

Herbert Hoover understood that the social forces Bill Camp and Alger Hiss represented—the plantation owner and the plantation worker—no government could bring into harmony. Capital by its nature dominates labor, and if it fails to accomplish that, it ceases to exist. The rule interpretation Camp objected to bound planters to their existing tenants, which was an untenable attack on their profitability, even though at the time they weren’t profitable at all without the government’s help. The conflict was inherent, and it didn’t take until the end of World War II for the Cold War to start or for liberals to reveal which side they planned to take. After George Creel lost the California gubernatorial nomination to the wacky socialist writer Upton Sinclair, he and FDR knifed the populist author. First they rewrote Sinclair’s platform to moderate it, then they cut a deal with the Republican incumbent, Frank Merriam, anyway—the same Merriam who called the machine guns to the San Francisco waterfront. Merriam trounced Sinclair, who waited patiently for the Roosevelt endorsement that never came. “He didn’t realize at first that communism was the threat,” Camp recalled of Creel, regarding the official’s work; “he became one of the greatest fighters [against communism].” So much for the New Deal.

[…]

Communism, Hoover and his allies saw, was not merely a political party running Russia or an economic philosophy. It was a real movement that threatened to abolish capitalist control over society and thereby destroy capitalism in its entirety. Communists were communists whether they realized it or not, even when they thought they only wanted better wages. It’s easy now to look back and see the Hooverites as victims of a paranoiac fantasy about the world—to see them either as the only ones who really believed the Marxist revolutionary rhetoric or as cynical operators stoking an arbitrary moral panic. But Bert knew the global revolution was real. He saw it in China, narrowly escaped it in Russia, confronted it outside the window in DC, and heard it tear apart his farm in California. They took his mines, and they would kill him and take the rest if he wasn’t vigilant, just like they did to his formerly privileged friends around the world. Still nursing his wounds from defeat but far from vanquished, Herbert Hoover devoted the rest of his life to winning the class war. Palo Alto became his watch tower.

Malcolm Harris, Palo Alto

[pottyperfect]

Jasmine Farm needs your support!

Hi my name is Marc Frederic ‘better known as ‘Le Charcutier Anglais’.

I am asking for your support for one of my students, Maria Christina Poblete whom I’ve trained in butchery & charcuterie over the past few years and of whom I still mentor.

She is a young single mom of 2 children from the Philippines in South East Asia. Having formally qualified as a chef at Catering College, she turned to butchery & charcuterie to further enhance her skillset.

She is Philippines only qualified female Charcutier along with being a co-author with myself of a book titled ‘A World A-Z of Sausage Recipes. (All the proceeds from this book will also be contributed to Maria’s dream).

Maria has been working abroad for some years now to support not only her own 2 children but also her mom and siblings. As it is they who stayed home to care for their father who for many years suffered from kidney disease before his untimely death earlier this year. The salary Maria earned these past few years paid for all her father’s kidney dialysis treatment as well as looking after her family.

Albeit Maria and her family are still grieving, she has decided it’s now time to concentrate on her own dreams, just as her father would have wished.

Maria has chosen the National Flower of the Philippines the all year round blooming Sampaguita (Jasmine) which symbolises Purity, Fertility and Hope to be her own personal symbol of hope. Hence the wonderful name ‘Jasmine Farm’ was born.

Her aim is to return to her home country from the Maldives where she currently works and set up her own small pig farm, butchery & charcuterie business.

Here she intends to not only teach her own children this wonderful artisan craft of charcuterie but she also wishes to encompass her local community into the many social activities and educational opportunities she can offer by sharing her new found knowledge Including the safe handling and production of meat along with the many self sufficiency farming practices.

Maria wishes to introduce traditional rare breed pigs to Jasmine Farm such as the British Berkshire Pig (Kurobuta) along with Western farming methods such as high animal welfare being a priority.

So whether you are a butcher, baker or candlestick maker, please consider a donation to this very worthwhile cause. Your donation no matter how small, could make a huge difference to so many people in a far away place.

Rarely in my long career have I seen exceptional talent, Maria is probably only the second such person I’ve come across who far exceeds all expectations.

Not many people know this about Maria, she is an International Judge for ‘Great Taste’ the worlds most respected food & drink accreditation scheme, based in the United Kingdom.

Lets not waste this opportunity of her being able to pass on her skillset, especially to those who need it most.

Thank you on behalf of Maria, her family and her local community for your kindness.

[revcnqe]

“Pepsi, Liebes?” @dear-diary-of-disaster

🥤

[simonalkenmayer]

Right, so i'm going on anon because i find this question morally deplorable and very shameful to ask, but what would you like to happen in a POTENTIAL fanfic about your highschool self? And just how much fun can i jab before you grow offended to the point of sticking my face in an air fryer? What are the hard boundaries i may not cross (plz note im not doing any osha violations, that big no no) uh--- asking for a friend very much of course

I would ask you make me do nothing with which I disagree. I must be consistent. Please do not depict me doing anything that is considered morally wrong or ethically against my code. Keep in mind, Ive been a thief, an assassin, a spy, and a banker. I’ve also been a butcher, a baker, and a candlestick maker. So my idea of right and wrong might be a bit less binary.

Everything else is yours to imagine I suppose. Bonus points for a Tuff Turf reference.

[anonniemousefics]

My Dearest Inej - Epilogue II

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight | Chapter Nine | Chapter Ten | Chapter Eleven | Chapter Twelve | Chapter Thirteen | Chapter Fourteen | Chapter Fifteen | Chapter Sixteen | Chapter Seventeen | Chapter Eighteen | Chapter Nineteen | Chapter Twenty | BONUS CONTENT - Epilogue I | 

A/N: The conclusion of my self-indulgent two part epilogue is here! Thank you to those who left kudos and comments and hyped this fic - you are all saints in my book. And a special thanks to the Barrel of the Bastards discord server for giving me the kick in the pants I needed to get this done. Especially to MydnytKiss for helping my brain work again when the letter from Inej's father was making my brain ice over. Happy Flufftober, all! Enjoy!

Brekker,

Since my last three letters have gone unanswered, I am going to assume you are either dead or uninterested in the details of your own impending nuptials. As long as Inej is out at sea, yours is the final stamp of approval needed on these plans, so I suggest you either dredge up some interest within yourself or I’ll be forced to inform your wife that the Crow Club now belongs to her.

With love,

Zenik

-----------------------------------------------------------

Zenik,

What is it you require of me exactly? I’ll have a signature rubber stamp commissioned for you if it means never again receiving one of these letters.

-Brekker

------------------------------------------------------------

My dear Mr. Brekker,

You don’t mean that. You know this would only lead to me spending every last one of your kruge on the Suli wedding celebration of the century. Generations of Ravkans and Suli alike would remember it for its over-priced opulence. Instead, perhaps you could look over the documents and figures I sent you, and we could come to an agreeable arrangement that you won’t make you want to assassinate me?  

Sincerely,

Nina

------------------------------------------------------------

Zenik,

No promises.

-Brekker

------------------------------------------------------------

Zenik.

I have reviewed the documents. What your vendors are proposing is nothing short of highway robbery. Under no circumstances are you to sign another contract until I’ve had time to discuss terms. Further negotiating should not take place without me.

K. Brekker

(in Nina’s handwriting)

If you insist

------------------------------------------------------------

Brekker,

Enclosed you’ll find the estimates from the bakery Inej’s mother has selected. If you are planning to negotiate the final price, please bear in mind this contract must be finalized within two months.

Thank you,

Zenik

------------------------------------------------------------

Brekker,

Enclosed you’ll find four estimates from four florists along with our correspondence. Contracts must be finalized by next month.  

Thank you,

Zenik

------------------------------------------------------------

Brekker,

Enclosed you’ll find estimates from three tentmakers. This contract must be finalized before they will begin their work. Please finalize within two weeks.

Thank you,

Zenik

------------------------------------------------------------

Kaz,

Enclosed are the estimates from the dressmakers.

------------------------------------------------------------

Kaz,

Enclosed are the estimates from the tailors.

------------------------------------------------------------

Kaz,

Enclosed are the estimates from the butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker – I wish I wasn’t serious.

(in Kaz’s handwriting)

So do I.

------------------------------------------------------------

Kaz,

Enclosed are the estimates for the linens.

(in Kaz’s handwriting)

How is this my life now

------------------------------------------------------------

(hastily scrawled)

My dearest Inej,

I deeply regret that you won’t have many letters waiting for you when you dock in Os Kervo, but rest assured -- all is well here, in spite of how bare your letterbox appears. Everything is well in hand, so you needn’t worry.

With all my heart,

Kaz

------------------------------------------------------------

To our most indomitable Nina,

If you’d be so kind, from now on, would you mind sending your planning documents to Brekker by way of the Van Eck estate? Wylan and I are attempting to remove some of the wedding chaos from his plate by forcing him to delegate. If you could have seen him at dinner last night, you would understand why this is a necessity. Wylan’s unconvinced that he’s been doing any sleeping. You may well remember Wylan himself was in a similar state before our own wedding day – the bloodshot eyes, the forgetting to bathe, the general slovenliness. (Lucky me.) But don’t you worry – we have learned from our mistakes, and there will be no repeats. We will make sure to get Kaz straightened out so he doesn’t trip over his own shoes right in front of Inej’s father. (You should see Wylan’s face right now. He absolutely loves being reminded of this moment.)

I must add, between you and me, love, I’m a tad impressed. The only time I have ever witnessed Kaz Brekker so broken was when he was being poisoned by a feral street child, and you’ve managed all this without ever setting foot on Kerch soil. The Fjerdans never stood a chance against you.

Much love,

Jesper and Wylan (and Ambroos)

------------------------------------------------------------

My darling Inej,

Only four more nights until we never again look at another wedding plan.

Only four more nights until you are in my arms once more.

I cannot promise you an easy life with me, but this one thing I will swear to you now: I will never again allow Nina Zenik to throw us a party. On my life, on my love for you, on my mother’s grave, I swear it.

Yours, Kaz

------------------------------------------------------------

To my daughter Inej on the eve of her wedding-

The memory of your birth is still as fresh in my mind as this morning’s dawn. You cried loud and hard – a real fighter, the midwife said. But when she handed you to me, this tiny bundle with hair like raven feathers and a squalling mouth, I whispered to you, “Hello, meri jaan,” and took up your fingers in mine, and, just like that, you stilled. You curled your little hand around mine and stared up at me, and I knew, oh I knew, Inej, that I would never be the same.

And as I sit and remember that morning, I cannot help but think of how true that is, in ways I could not begin to imagine then. I had thought then that I would become the perfect father for you. That I would raise you to be gentle and careful and sweet. I had thought that my love would be enough to protect you.

But I have learned much since then, thanks to you, meri jaan. I have learned that a father’s love for his daughter does not always mean knowing the right words to say, the right actions to take. A father’s love also means admitting how often he has failed. It means knowing when he was wrong and repairing the damage done. It means growing and changing just as your daughter grows and changes.

If someone were to have told me, that sunfilled-morning of your birth, of the agony I would know as your father, I would have begged for it to be taken from me. I was not strong enough then for what was to befall our family. But you, meja, you are the strongest of us all, and I am stronger today for having witnessed you.

This life you are now undertaking is not one I could have imagined for you, that morning I held your tiny fingers in mine. In many ways, the man I was then would not have allowed it. I am grateful to not be that man anymore, for the daughter, the woman I see before me today is more wonderful and fiercesome than anything I could have wished for. She is a defender of innocents, a mighty force to be reckoned with. Your courage, your strength, your wisdom surpasses anything I could have given you. There are few men in this world brave enough to stand at your side. It is because of this that I know you have chosen your husband well. I know that, with you, he learns what it means to love, just as I have learned.

Know that you carry our family’s name well, meri jaan, and be happy. You have my blessings and tenfold more.

With all of my heart,

Papa

------------------------------------------------------------

Brekker,

Here are your shoes – they’ve been polished. Don’t forget to straighten your tie.

--Zenik

P.S. – And don’t stress – you look smashing.

------------------------------------------------------------

My dearest Inej, my most treasured and perfect investment,

This day is a right cock-up, isn’t it? I feel as if I must look like a bear on a tricycle. How completely absurd that I should be in a wedding, let alone my own.

I truly could not imagine choosing this with anyone but you.

But now that we are here, I am ready to make promises, promises I intend to keep. I promise to always remember that you are indeed human, despite your many superhuman qualities. That you will sometimes makes questionable decisions, decisions I will inevitably disagree with, like, I don’t know, letting our friends throw a giant wedding party for us, for example. Although, if I’m being completely honest, one of the things I love most about you is how deeply you care for and devote yourself to those closest to you. My brother would have liked that about you, too. And today, and every day, I promise to show you the same care and devotion.

I promise to give you all of my words when they are needed, and my silence when they are not. I promise to carry you when you are down, to bare my heart and my skin for you, and to trust in the deepest parts of my soul that, come what may, we will always find our way back to each other.

You are everything to me, Inej. Loving you was unavoidable. A life with you is more than I ever thought possible. I will spend the rest of my days ensuring that you never regret taking a risk on me.

I will see you out there. I’ll be the one in the suit.

Forever yours,

Kaz

------------------------------------------------------------

My beloved Mr. Brekker,

You once pressed me to consider if I could love all of you, every dark and terrifying piece of you. If I wish for anything these days, it’s go back in time and tell that girl who was so fearful of love that there is nothing to be afraid of. That the man before her is the love of her life, her best friend, her dearest confidant. But perhaps I always knew this, somewhere deep down, and that is why we are here today.

I have always been drawn to your warm eyes, your crooked, cheeky smile, the comforting rumble in your voice. You have always made me feel safe without even trying. You saw me and understood me in a way no one else has, in a way I believe no one else could.

I have a truly profound, unfettered love for you, Kaz Brekker, and I will never take it for granted. We have fought and paid dearly for this moment, and while I know this particular moment is not one you’d have chosen if left to your own devices, it is my hope that we can both revel in it awhile, while it’s here.

No matter what comes next, I will never give you cause to doubt my love. I believe in you, in us, and I have your back -- always.

With all that I am and all that I have,

I am yours,

Inej

------------------------------------------------------------

Nina –

Thank you. (Nina has circled this several times, annotating it with exclamations)

That was nice.

-- Brekker

P.S. – The folk band from Lij was a nice touch. I did not expect to dance, let alone to actually want to, and, for that, I believe you are entirely to blame.

P.P.S.- And you should know, if pressed, I will deny wanting to until my dying breath, so don't bother trying to get me to admit to it. I can't be bought with kruge anymore, and I have never once broken under interrogation.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Brekker,

I am very sorry to hear you didn't like the day or the dance one bit.

Give my love to Inej.

-Zenik

P.S. - Thank you for making her happy.

Tagging: @psyche-the-ya-protagonist​, @drunk-hyena​, @emmayame​, @pilferedpocket, @totchipanda​, @happy-hudson​, @whosanxiety​, @annejulieanneh111, @ireallyshouldsleeprn​, @raging-bisexual-alert​, @gedankenvoll​, @feelinglikecleopatra​, @leavemeuntold​, @bookish-mind​, @sbooksworld​

[business-owners-guide]

If there was a law against people verbally abusing themselves, it would be a safe bet that most Americans would now be in jail. The things we say to ourselves both silently and out loud are amazing! And we say these things to ourselves almost constantly. For example, how many times have you found yourself making derogatory remarks about how you reacted to a situation you have just experienced? We tend to judge and invalidate our actions when they are out of sync with our beliefs about what is right and wrong or good and bad.If you are like the average person in our society, I suspect that you make such self-deprecating statements all too frequently. Likewise, I strongly suspect that the frequency with which you verbally abuse yourself about goals detracts significantly from your results. I have good reason for both suspicions. First, it is common knowledge that people talk to themselves when involved with certain tasks. Salespeople talk to themselves before meeting a client, lawyers talk to themselves about judges and jurors and musicians talk to themselves about the requirements of a piece they will play. Butcher, baker, or candlestick maker-it makes no difference. All people talk to themselves.There are two types of self-defeating statements that people are prone to make. First, there are negative self-statements; that is, statements that deprecate your own self-worth and abilities. Second, there are self-pressure statements; that is, statements that bring greater pressure on you than the situation demands.When you make either self-pressuring statements or negative self-statements, several things can happen, most of which are bad. Negative self-statements frequently become what we call self-fulfilling prophecies. This simply means that because we expect negative reactions from ourselves, based on the negative things we've said about ourselves, we are likely to behave accordingly. This is because we begin to think obsessively about how bad we are rather than think about what we need to do in order to properly execute.Fortunately, simply by being aware of these types of self-defeating statements, you can work to develop a positive approach to your self-talk, and overcome this negative cycle. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Enter your email address:

http://www.businessownersguide.site/2020/09/self-defeating-behaviour-and-its.html

[revcnqe]

THE BOYS 1x07 | The Self-Preservation Society

[yuvilee]

29th October 2019 Student-led seminar 2

Text: Siegel, D. (2009) ‘Designing Our Own Graves’, in: Armstrong, H. (ed.) Graphic Design Theory : Readings From the Field, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, pp. 115-118. First published: Siegel, D. (2006) ‘Designing Our Own Graves’, Design Observer, 27 June. Available at: https://designobserver.com/article.php?id=4307 (Accessed on: 27 October 2019)

Table of content:

Introduction - Have a butcher’s Main part:  The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker The greatest thing since sliced bread - The art of self-promotion Conclusion -  Digging it Notes: Books and articles Pictures

About the author: Dmitri Siegel is a Creative Executive with more than ten years of experience leading and modernising brands, building teams, making change, and driving growth. Brand strategist, marketing executive, creative director, design leader, P&L owner, whatever. Currently inspiring the world to listen better with Sonos(1).

Introduction - Have a butcher’s

Siegels essay was first published in 2006, but looking at the questions on the DIY society it seems like he had foreseen how social media, digital availability and appearance would shape our life and work these days: creating own content.

Those early signs were already visible in 2003. Back then, my arts and design tutor told us in one of our design-related courses about recessions and smaller businesses. ‘If an economy is in recession’, he said, ‘one of the first things to get cut are advertising through graphic designers.’ His cautionary tale was about a butchers who would rather create his own advertisement instead of investing in a graphic design studio. It might not look elaborate or clean but it still works. Sales would not go down drastically and he would advertise his offers with self-written promotions. The numbers would show in his favour and reassure him to go on like this, he argued.  

My tutor was not totally right but also not totally wrong with his bleak prediction as the progression from Flickr and MySpace (which Siegel provided as examples) advanced to easy manageable website creation tools from companies such as Wix.com, Squarespace, GoDaddy and similar - and they are growing constantly. 

The butcher, the baker and the candlestick-maker

Never was creating a website easier. And it is free on top - if you choose the smallest offer and depending on the selected provider. You do not get printed flyers and a business card, but you can even create your own logo.

For a small business it seems to be more lucrative and less complicated to build their own website. It makes sense as they are also in total control over the content and display. It seems like grammar-checking became less important as long as the layout is clean, the pictures are appealing, and the text is short enough to be read in three seconds(2).

The revenue those companies create are supporting the theory how accessible and appealing it became to build your own online appearance. Just to give one example, in 2017, Squarespace was estimated to have a value of $1.7 billion(3).

Nowadays, the challenge doesn’t seem to be a webpage anymore but rather a well thought out social media presence and a good looking portfolio. Same goes for the creatives like designers, photographers, and illustrators.

Above: My screenshot of Jullien, J., Peace for Paris, (2015)

Above: My screenshot of Jullien, J., Peace for Paris, shown by The Telegraph, (2015)

The greatest thing since sliced bread - The art of self-promotion

You are a good designer, tattoo-artist, illustrator, restaurant- or flower-shop owner if you at least have an online appearance, if you can be reached on Twitter and/or Facebook, and if you have good reviews and show your work on display over platforms like Instagram. Every self-promotion guide will tell you that. 

Those guides tell about creating an own brand, a distinctive logo, a signature and especially for illustrators it seems like people want you to create new content in your signature style.

In a best case scenario, your picture goes viral and you become famous overnight, like Jean Jullien’s Eiffel Tower/Peace Symbol in 2015 (as seen above) after the terror attacks. He posted his picture on his social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The image had been shared over 60,000 times on Twitter, and millions of times more via other accounts of people who had copied and shared the image(4). 

Another case in point in the realm of illustration I’d like to write about is Shencomix. His Facebook account goes back to the 21st February 2013. He is known for emotional comics everyone can relate to. Since then he got himself established as an illustrator with merchandise purchasable in his online-shop. He got famous as people are posting his comics on all available social media (Tumblr, /reddit, Twitter, …) since they are little, curious snippets right out of every-day life that many people can relate to easily. From simple comics to his own brand: 

Above: My screenshot of shencomix, no title, (2016)

Above: My screenshot of shencomix’s online-shop, (2019)

There are numerous similar stories of equal success stories. But getting back at Siegel’s question ‘Does that coffin have your career's name on it?’, sure there are ways to undersell your work (such as Fiverr) but I would tend to disagree. It has rather shifted and with this it has also opened up new possibilities.

Above: My screenshot of aitchmade, fun at the mall, (2012)

Above: My screenshot of lisa_quine, mural, (2018)

Conclusion -  Digging it

What I am getting at: social media has opened up new possibilities for illustrators but they require to be on top of them all the time and producing non-stop, ideally always in their own unique style. The AOI and agencies are constantly on social media, looking for new talents. Only if someone has a great and distinct portfolio, it is possible that they will be approached.

So are designers really digging their own graves or just following up with the changing advertising world? Companies like Wix and GoDaddy still work hard to create easily accessible websites but in fact not every small business has time or patience to create their website themselves. In the end they still need great content like photographs and text. Copy Writers and photographers might still find lots of job opportunities there while illustrators and graphic designers could still offer to create the websites. With the new emerging hype around hand-lettering and small illustrations such as Jean Jullien’s, with online short comics or long-running online graphic novels we are still in a position to find work if we make ourselves visible enough to be found.

Unrelated: I did enjoy Siegel’s Spotify lists I found on his web-page while writing.

Notes:

Books and articles

Siegel, D. (no date) Dmitri Siegel about. Available at: https://www.dmitrisiegel.com/ (Accessed on: 27 October 2019). And yes, the ‘whatever’ part is on his webpage.

The belief of a three second memory capacity of a goldfish has been busted as a myth. Cf. Simpson, A. (2009) ‘Fish’s memories last for month, say scientists’, The Telegraph, 07 January. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/4158477/Fishs-memories-last-for-months-say-scientists.html (Accessed on: 27 October 2019).

Vynck, G. (2017) ‘Squarespace Raises Funding at $1.7 Billion Valuation'. Bloomberg. 14 December. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-14/squarespace-is-said-to-raise-funding-at-1-7-billion-valuation (Accessed on: 27 October 2019).

Nudd, T. (2015) ‘How a Designer’s ‘Peace for Paris’ Sketch, Made in Minutes, Became a Global Symbol’, Adweek, 16 November. Available at: https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/how-designers-peace-paris-sketch-made-minutes-became-global-symbol-168150/ (Accessed on: 27 October 2019).

Pictures

Jullien, J. (2015) 'Peace for Paris' [Instagram]. 13 November. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/-CvRmhhFJP/ (Accessed on: 28 October 2019).

Before long, this digital image made its way into the real world from a peace vigil in Kathmandu (top left), onto the streets of Paris (bottom left) and to vigils in Hong Kong (top right). Reuters/Getty/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook (2015) [Screenshot]. Available at: https://s.telegraph.co.uk/graphics/projects/paris-attacks-tributes/index.html (Accessed on: 28 October 2019).

shencomix, (2016) no title, [Instagram]. 30 November. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/BNcbN6nABUo/ (Accessed on: 28 October 2019).

shencomix, (2019), [Screenshot]. Available at: https://shenstuff.com/ (Accessed on: 28 October 2019).

Aitchmade’s fun at the mal, (2012), [Screenshot]. Available at: http://aitchmade.blogspot.com/2012/03/fun-at-mall.html (Accessed on: 28 October 2019).

lisa_quine, (2018) ‘no title’ [Instagram]. 19 June. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/BkMPg0FFSXB/ (Accessed on: 28 October 2019).

[ms-m-astrologer]

The Sun Part 2 - basic identity and individuality

Today’s topic is the Sun as representative of my basic identity and my individuality.

This isn’t necessarily going to be how you would describe yourself when introduced to someone new. That will be governed more by the Ascendant, with perhaps some MC thrown in. Or is that my own paranoid Scorpio Ascendant talking? If you have a flowing aspect between your Sun and your Ascendant, then you’re much more comfortable exposing yourself. (I have them “biquintile” and am probably not as good as camouflaging myself as I think I am.)

The Sun is more about who you are when you wake up in the morning - and who you are, also, at the end of a long day when your defences are exhausted. It’s your “core self,” your true essence, the inescapable you.

Every sign has dozens of archetypes: the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, tinker, tailor, soldier, spy. Steven Forrest has done admirable work in using various “career” type nouns for the different signs. I’m not going to quote them here; his work is widely available. (Though I highly recommend the list in his book Skymates Vol. 1 as especially good, because in it he lists negative archetypes as well as “nice” ones.)

Another really fascinating take is from New Insights in Modern Astrology (originally published as The Jupiter/Saturn Conference Lectures) by astrologers Stephen Arroyo and Liz Greene. Greene’s lecture on “the myth of the individual journey” provides us with the most stunning in-depth understanding of each sign based on common, well-known myths from various cultures. IIRC, the Libra part talks about the judgment of Paris, about choosing pretty style over substance - applying that to Libran Oscar Wilde, well, wow. I’d say he lived that out, all right. (I used to own this book, and I really need to replace it.)

However many useful nouns and myths that published astrologers toss at us, though, we’re ultimately going to have to come up with something ourselves. There is the possibility that few or none of those archetypes seem to work for someone. There is also the possibility that we think about all the hundreds of millions of people who share our Sun sign and scoff, “We can’t all possibly be the same, or limited to just three or four options.” My own (Virgo!) Mom used to complain that, of all the Geminis in the family, none of us were remotely alike.

To effectively demonstrate individuality, this is where we integrate the house position of the Sun, as well as the sign’s ruler, the decanate/dwad, and any conjunctions (within that wide 17 degree orb). I’m going to use four of my family’s Gemini charts - those of my younger sister, my late older sister, my daughter, and myself - all of whom have birthdays during one week’s time.

Astrologers divide signs into thirds, called “decanates.” It might just be easier to list them:

Aries: 0-10, Aries decanate; 10-20, Leo decanate; 20-30, Sagittarius decanate

Taurus: 0-10, Taurus decanate; 10-20, Virgo decanate; 20-30, Capricorn decanate

Gemini: 0-10, Gemini decanate; 10-20, Libra decanate; 20-30, Aquarius decanate

Cancer: 0-10, Cancer decanate; 10-20, Scorpio decanate; 20-30, Pisces decanate

Leo: 0-10, Leo decanate; 10-20, Sagittarius decanate; 20-30, Aries decanate

Virgo: 0-10, Virgo decanate; 10-20, Capricorn decanate; 20-30, Taurus decanate

Libra: 0-10, Libra decanate; 10-20, Aquarius decanate; 20-30, Gemini decanate

Scorpio: 0-10, Scorpio decanate; 10-20, Pisces decanate; 20-30, Cancer decanate

Sagittarius: 0-10, Sagittarius decanate; 10-20, Aries decanate; 20-30, Leo decanate

Capricorn: 0-10, Capricorn decanate; 10-20, Taurus decanate; 20-30, Virgo decanate

Aquarius: 0-10, Aquarius decanate; 10-20, Gemini decanate; 20-30, Libra decanate

Pisces: 0-10, Pisces decanate; 10-20, Cancer decanate; 20-30, Scorpio decanate

In Astrology: A Cosmic Science, Isabel Hickey gives brief delineations of each decanate - although she was writing about Ascendants, they can be applied to any placement, really. My own Sun is in the Aquarius decanate, but my sisters’ and daughter’s Suns are in the Libra decanate. They’re very much more sociable and extroverted than I am.

“Dwads” or “Duads” are further divisions of the 30 degrees each sign possesses. Alan Oken uses a method which divides each sign into nine equal parts. That would give both my sisters an Aquarius dwad, my daughter Pisces, and myself Aries. (And I had to do way too much mental math to figure that out.) Most systems divide each sign into 12 parts. (LINK HERE to find yours.) This method gives each of us a different dwad - younger sister, Scorpio; older sister, Sagittarius; daughter, Capricorn; Ms M, Aquarius. Very descriptive, trust me, and differentiates between us very succinctly. Try it!

Another easy way to distinguish between natives who share a Sun sign, is to look at the Sun sign’s ruler. (In the cases of Scorpio, Aquarius, and Pisces, we’d look at the ancient rulers, or blend them with the modern ones. For example, Pluto can spend up to 22 years in one sign; Mars is going to have a much more obvious impact on an individual Scorpio.) For our four Geminis, the Mercury positions are:

Older sis, Ms M: Gemini

Younger sis, daughter: Cancer

Older sis and I were/are the acknowledged family “brains” (despite all of us being intelligent). We make more of an effort to keep up with our far-flung siblings. The two Cancer Merc Geminis are less confident about their smarts and complained about how much studying they had to do and how much they hated it. Also, both are very close to their Moms. (IMO they whine a lot, too, but that may be the exasperated Mom/Big Sis talking.)

House position is another obvious difference:

Older sis, Ms M, 8th

Younger sis, 5th

Daughter, 2nd

The four of us may be yakkety butterflies, but we’re channeling that into different areas of life! By using the sign associated with each house, we can further differentiate: a touch of Scorpio for my older sis and myself; a touch of Leo for my younger sis; a touch of Taurus for my daughter.

Finally, the conjunctions to each of our Suns:

Older sis: Mercury Rx, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, both BMLs

Ms M: Mercury, Vesta, Vertex

Younger sis: Venus

Daughter: no conjunctions

Seems to me like we have a complicated Gemini, a scholarly Gemini, a partying Gemini, and an unaffected Gemini here.

Incidentally, did you know that there are three types of solar conjunctions? This is where that wide 17-degree orb comes in to play. Anything between 8-17 degrees away from the Sun is said to be “under the beams” and is supposed to be mildly debilitated; anything 8 degrees or closer to the Sun is called “cazimi” and is more debilitated; anything within 17 minutes of the Sun is called “combust,” completely absorbed by the Sun’s rays. Only the “combust” conjunction is said to be beneficial, but David Coleman points out (LINK HERE),

This seems rather unfair since it means that there are no strong solar conjunctions except those which are almost exact, until you realise that the mainstream writings on astrology have a political philosophy which evaluates strength and power purely in material terms. A ‘good’ chart is one that makes us rich easily, ensures our perpetual emotional bliss and provides us with all that we want. The view is materialistic. But with the conjunctions to the Sun, the attachment to materialisation itself is dissolving.

In other words, the planets conjunct the Sun are undergoing purification (via “the refiner’s fire” of the Book of Malachi). I’m personally fine with that.

Of course the four of us have different aspects to our Suns - each of us, for example, has something different and unique going on with Uranus - but we don’t (by this point) really need to go into that kind of minutiae, to distinguish between us. If you’ve done the work, by this point you have a strong (if perhaps still rather basic) idea of your own “basic identity and individuality.” This will make it easy to consider what is next up: how the Sun represents “my psychological and spiritual center; my source.” 

Thank you for reading! Please contact me with any questions or comments.

[tracyfance]

‘Imagine a condition that makes you irritable, depressed & self-centred. Now imagine that it’s associated with a 26% increase in the risk of you dying prematurely!!!! Imagine now that in the industrialised world (the west) ? of people are affected by it with 1:12 affected severely. Now imagine that it is real & not imagined!!! This is a real issue & the numbers are increasing, there is no protection from it due to income, education, sex, status or ethnicity, it’s also highly contagious. This condition is not attributable to some peculiarity of your character or to a subset of individuals, they are as a result of the condition affecting ordinary people like you and me. What is this condition called? Loneliness.

Doctors know without a shadow of a doubt that chronic loneliness is associated with elevated risks of illness & early death & increases mortality from cancer & other diseases, it is comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes per day.

A 2015 study found it to be a public health risk at least as great as the burgeoning rates of obesity. It can impair genetic function too. Social isolation inhibits the immune system, promotes inflammation which is the trigger for a slew of conditions such as arthritis, it agitates the stress apparatus & increases the risk of death from heart disease & stroke – that’s because it affects the heart chakra.

If this was the state of things pre-Covid, what are they like now? Covid has cost the well-being of many more people.

Why is it so bad? We’ve lost so many communal spaces such as libraries, we’ve seen huge cuts in services for the elderly & vulnerable. We’ve seen the rise of stress, poverty & the inexorable monopolisation of economic life which all shreds local communities.

Let’s take an example of this in action; a big shopping mall or superstore opens, the developers & politicians are happy, new shoppers are welcomed, they’re happy at having a wide variety of goods at lower prices available to them. Small, locally owned businesses cannot compete so they close. People lose their jobs or have to find lower paid work. The neighbourhood is now stripped of the normal shops; butcher, baker, candlestick maker etc. People no longer walk to the local shops, where they meet & greet each other or the merchants they know, instead they jump in their cars & drive to the superstore or shopping mall, mostly on their own, and normally to a place miles from where they live. Often these days, people order from the comfort of their own home, why bother if you don’t need to?

In the USA the number of people who identify as lonely has doubled from 20% to 40% since the 1980’s. In the UK it’s such an issue we have a Minister of Loneliness.

We spend our lives in competition; jobs, status, possessions, our reputation. We strive to stay ahead & to stay afloat, with our prized relationships being neglected in the process of doing so.

Our fixation with all things material is leading to depression, anxiety & addiction amongst those whose values are led by a consumer society. Capitalism encourages values based on self-interest, a strong desire for financial success, high levels of consumption & interpersonal styles based on competition (sounds very narcissistic too). The more the materialistic concerns are focused on the prosocial values such as empathy, generosity & co-operation decline. When people strongly endorse money, image & status they are less likely to engage in ecologically beneficial  activities, the emptier & more insecure they experience themselves to be. They will have lower-quality interpersonal relationships. In turn, the more insecure they are, so the more they focus on material things. As materialism promises satisfaction but instead yields hollow dissatisfaction, it creates more craving. This addictive spiral is one of the mechanisms by which consumer society preserves itself by exploiting the very insecurities it generates.

Disconnection in all its guises – alienation, loneliness, loss of meaning & dislocation, is becoming our culture’s most plentiful product. No wonder we are more addicted, chronically ill & mentally disordered than ever before, enfeebled as we are by such malnourishment of the mind, body & soul.

Did you know how important it is to be connected? Even taking Covid out of the equation we are not connected enough, your health is dependent on your connectedness. This will be even worse for the younger generation as they don’t even seem to form the relationships like we did before we had technology.

This was taken from the book ‘The Myth of Being Normal’ by Gabor Mate MD

So get off your computers, away from the TV, put down your phone & go make friendships.

#loneliness #communityiskey #coachingwithtracyfance

[pooma-bible]

Knowing Who Belongs In Your Life

‘‘A friend loves at all times, and is born, as is a brother, for adversity.’’

Proverbs 17:17

Wherever you live and whatever your profession, ‘butcher, baker, or candlestick maker’, you will have to deal with these three kinds of people:

1) The critic.

Let’s face it, most people are comfortable with the status quo.

They not only fear change but will often attack it.

So if you dare to be different, prepare to sail through some rough seas.

The apostle Paul’s critics referred to him as a madman, a fool, and a babbler.

So why would you expect the same crowd to treat you any better?

2) The cautious.

These people won’t point an accusing finger, but neither will they extend a helping hand.

When you get into trouble, they will distance themselves from you, fearing they may be tainted by your perceived liabilities.

Basically, they will wait to see if you make it through the tunnel and come out the other side.

Then they will wait to see who else accepts you and if you can be of benefit to them.

Then they may reconnect with you.

These people are users.

They are not bad; they’re just self-serving. So love them, but don’t lean on them.

3) The committed.

‘A friend loves at all times, and is born, as is a brother, for adversity.’

Even when they hear the worst about you, the committed still believe the best about you.

They value you for your strengths and show grace in handling your weaknesses.

These people are priceless because they will love you ‘at all times’.

So when God puts such a person into your life, protect and nurture your relationship with them.