#Snatcher does not pay rent

[witch-sweets]

Uh idk what to post so here's a bunch of doodles

(both ahit and oc related)

Alright oc nonsense over time 4 silly hat game stuff-

(Also featuring some doodles of @randomeggart's ahuw au because it's amazing)

[bluepoodle7]

#InfectedRealtorAu #LuxAbodeSitcom #HoneyImHome #ChateauBungalowAndHazzyBackstory #IllbleedReference#MyIdeas

Lux Abode has another show that is a sitcom called Honey I'm Home.

It's about a Realtor that fell in love with a human but still wants to eat the buyer and adopted a regular guy as a teen but due to budget cuts that same regular guy plays as the dog and the cat in the sitcom.

The logo is the silhouette of the main Realtor character's lure body sitting on top of the silhouette of the house body then have the lure body fall through the house logo then open the door with a heart around the logo.

There is a plot line where the Regular Guy messes up their role and they are half teen with the animal ears but the show just left it in.

This character later became a mascot that lasted 6 seasons and a movie with merch that is super rare.

The sitcom theme is a earworm.

There is a plot line where the buyer wants to know what a Realtor tastes like and plots how to capture one but that's in the non canon Halloween special.

If you seen any sitcom plot line then it's basically like that but with a weird twist and also have clever product placement in the show like in the background or character's randomly causally putting the product name in their sentences.

The Regular Guy that is playing as a teen is a adult but is acting as a teen but needed to be taught by the human actress or actor on what a teenager is since Regular Guys were never babies that grow up but start out as adults once they remove themself from the motherball.

The sitcom is set inside of the house body of the Realtor and this Realtor is well feed with actors or actress maybe part of the staff that arrives late or gets the wrong food orders.

But most of the time normal foods work to satisfy this house.

But one accident ruined this Realtor's whole career. While the staff was done recording the movie and after seeing the premiere decided to want to snatch a buyer because they haven't had human in awhile so this Realtor waited then later found the one.

Chateau Bungalow was this Realtors name and was clean cut and a cult classic celebrity.

But this buyer was smart and before being eaten was a smoker then dropped the cigarette on the floor which caused a fire and badly burned the house body while also damaging the lure.

The buyer did flee the badly damaged house but Chateau both the lure and the house nearly died there but some how survived but seem to have lost his memories with his lines.

Lux Abode easily replaced him with Jetty Shanty since Chateau Bungalow never showed up while his lure wasn't good enough for tv let alone a obscure channel tv show.

Chateau Bungalow tried to do the buyer hunting to survive but his lurebody moved differently along with his voice and the brain fog from the failed snatcher buyer attempt that he was losing his memories of his past life.

He was hurting and starving near death until a creature appeared checking the burned place out to see if the burned debris was edible.

Chateau was scared of the this creature but the fungmammal was nice to this realtor and tried to heal him but it didn't last long.

Sprocket was the name this fungmammal had and looked like a firecracker mixed with a cat.

She protects Chateau and sometimes finds old bootleg vhs tapes of the sitcom so Chateau can get some of his memories back but sometimes wonder where the other actors and actress are doing now.

Chateau did go to see if Hazzy which was the Regular guy in the sitcom was still at the old set but was abandoned since the reboot wasn't as good as the original.

Hazzy was homeless and was stealing food to survive then later rented her Doe ball form as a pet then later took odd jobs that didn't pay well so decided to live close to the motherball thinking of giving up to be reabsorbed.

Sprocket sensed Hazzy and telepathy told Chateau to talk to her then both got captured by the very company they made ads for in the sitcom all those years ago.

But both are now puppets for the company but are both paid decently and can now tell what their job is without lying about their job since it's on a secret channel that only a select few of people stumble on & infected realtors can watch but are not allowed to share the channel.

Sprocket is the fungmammal's name and she is a spitfire.

(I drew her.)

The fungmammal is red, white, and blue colored.

This realtor got scared when they first met this fungmammal since fire almost killed the house body from a past buyer attack.

The business card has 2876 which is Burn in telephone numbers.

Has a mutualism fungmammal that is a fireworks shaped rocket cat.

Acts female but is mushroom gendered.

This realtor's business cards has little burn marks on it and even the mint ones have a little smoke coming from the cards.

But the next batch are mint but it's always the third card this realtor gives out.

The original name of this realtor was Chateau Bungalow before burnt incident then decided to change his first name due to one buyer who was Latin who called the Realtor unfortunate so it just stuck to him. When this Realtor's housebody/lure is resting he relieves the moment.

His voice is a little scuffy when talking and will cough a little bit before talking with a mild brain fog the he will sometimes forget the Realtor speech then stumble on his words.

His walk cycle sometimes is stiff walking kind of similar to a Woodpuppet walking.

Infortunatus Bungalow (Chateau Bungalow) was a pollinator house with a chimney but due to being badly burned in the incident he had to adapt to being a seed bearing house and made his lure body remove his own chimney.

Sprocket would ask this Realtor if they want to swap back to being a pollinator house.

He will rarely change back but he like being a seed bearing more since it's less pressure and gives him more time to think even though that is hard for him since the incident.

My oc did it as a survival thing like in nature how animals adapt with losing a limb or born without certain body parts.

Snek plays Illbleed (No Commentary) (Sega Dreamcast 2001) Part 3 (Woodpuppets) - YouTube

(Just some house puns.)

What is the most common sitcom catch phase a Realtors says to their lover when entering their house body?

Honey I'm home.

What do you call a lure of a Realtor if you are married to them?

A house wife, house husband or house person.

What do you call a realtor or a being that messes with the marriage and cheats on their partner for another?

A homewrecker.

Images and video not mine but links are there.

Businessman Silhouette Standing Front Of House Home Shape Door Nicely Dressed Business Man In Suit With Suitcase Stand Thinking, Dreaming, Planning Building Big House For Real Estate Industry Royalty Free SVG, Cliparts, Vectors, and Stock Illustration. Image 27426328. (123rf.com)

Silhouette Business Man Open Walking Out Stock Vector (Royalty Free) 350490887 | Shutterstock

I'm using this house as a ref for the burned Realtor's house body.

Infortunatus which means unfortunate in Latin is Bungalow means house.

Burned-Out, Boarded-up LA Bungalow Listed for $925K (businessinsider.com)

Too Many Cooks NO INTRO (youtube.com)

This is what Mr. Banballow looked like before the change.

It's weird after the first, second, and third levels Illbleed never reuses Mr. Banballow, Woodcutters, Worms, and Woodpuppets as enemies for level 5.

Game of Streams (or is it the other way around...) - Output - selectbutton 2

[skygemspeaks]

anyways, some headcanons about spider-man in the bnha world:

peter was originally in the support department at midtown because he’s always been good at making support equipment, and it’s at lot more low-risk than being a hero, and if you’re good enough it can be pretty lucrative. he went into support hoping that he could make enough money one day to support ben and may, and give them the comfortable life they deserve. even though his heart is more in being a hero, he doesn’t want to put them through the stress and pain of possibly losing him one day.

peter goes out in disguise as a vigilante in his free time and because he tends to focus on low-level villains, things like purse-snatchers and hold-ups, people don’t initially pay him any mind! people think he’s just one of the lower-ranked pro heroes and while he does have a small but dedicated fanbase, it takes a few months before anyone realizes there’s no registered hero under the name of spider-man

peter ends up catching the eye of another vigilante called daredevil. the man is insanely talented and has a stranglehold on hell’s kitchen, and has managed to bring down criminal activity ridiculously in the time he’s been active. peter asks him one day why he doesn’t just get his hero license-

the short answer: gentrification

the long answer: daredevil grew up in hell’s kitchen and feels a strong protectiveness for the people who live there. because new york doesn’t have any form of rent protection, the cost of living tends to increase over time in areas where heroes regularly patrol or that have established hero agencies. the people living in hell’s kitchen are already extremely vulnerable, and wouldn’t have anywhere else to go if their neighbourhood became too expensive for him to live in. so he’s protecting them in the only way he knows how - by refusing to get a hero license, and by scaring away any other heroes who try to stick their nose where it doesn’t belong.

spider-man manages to catch the eye of america’s number 2 hero, iron man, one day when he assists in a villain fight. it’s way above his pay grade, and it’s a situation he wouldn’t usually have interfered in, but iron man was in a bad position, there weren’t any other heroes there yet, and peter couldn’t in good conscience let a fellow hero get hurt. so he saves him, and manages to interest tony enough that the man decides to do a little more digging into the elusive spider-man.

when tony’s digging eventually leads him to little peter parker, a student at midtown high’s support department who most certainly does not have a provisional hero license, he decides to hell with the law, there’s no way he’s letting such a talented hero fall through the cracks.

he offers peter an internship at the iron man agency, offering to help get him transferred into midtown’s heroics department

peter hesitates to take up the offer. he wants nothing more than to be a hero, but he’s become somewhat disillusioned with the pro hero industry after getting to know daredevil and some of the other vigilantes that silently protect the less privileged neighbourhoods of new york, who don’t have the support of agencies and a cushy government salary, who fight crime solely because it’s the right thing to do.

he’s surprised, though, when he asks daredevil about it, and the man encourages him to take up iron man’s offer if it’s what he really wants.

“both pro heroes and vigilantes have their own important roles in our society, spider-man. it’s not a matter of which path is morally superior, but rather which path is better suited for the kind of hero you want to be. and whether you decide to take up iron man’s offer or not, know that you already are a hero in my eyes, and the eyes of every single person you’ve ever saved. and there’s nothing that can take that away from you. not me, not iron man, not the government.”

[thelittledekuwhocould]

I'm not familiar with the series, but a lot of images I see of Aizawa's living space is that it's completely bare. I've also encountered descriptions of Aizawa as something of a slob with poor hygiene. Any thoughts?

Oof. Ok.

So the first thing you gotta know about Underground Heroes versus Heroes like Uwabami, Present Mic and All Might is that the mentioned three all are well known to the media. They do advertisements, they do promotions. They had publicized debuts. They are media personalities. They make a living by throwing themselves into the spotlight and staying there. They also do a lot do work in the daytime, and most likely just by walking down a major thoroughfare, they can catch three pickpockets and a purse snatcher and receive a commission for each one.

Underground Heroes are different. They are not known to the media,  they do not have publicized debuts, and they don’t do promotions and advertisements, and go out of their way to avoid the media. Their work is done at night, and you know what goes down in the dark? A lot of shit and shady business.

Government commissions are not something widely discussed and getting data on it is not easy. But let’s assume that the monthly cost of living for a single person in Tokyo is $1,082.91 USD without rent and that the government issues a flat rate of $200 USD per petty criminal (It sounds pretty low, but this is a Government commission for the live apprehension of a criminal we’re talking about, not a professional criminal hit. Those start at 1K USD minimum). You’d need to catch at least six petty criminals a month to break even. But each hero has a set patrol route, and you’re not always going to encounter trouble, even if you go out looking for it. Now, I’m assuming the rate will increase as you go up the ranks, but, even if you patrol nightly, you’d be lucky to break even.

Fortunately for Aizawa, the average monthly salary of a teacher in Japan is roughly $2358 USD before deductions. So he’s pretty well off right? 

Think again.

Because now, consider that rent for a single bedroom apartment in Tokyo costs roughly $989 USD on average. Suddenly, a hero who does not have a second job, who is not promoting things, doing commercials, kissing babies, who is not selling the rights to their image and name now has to catch 12 petty criminals a month to not only have clothes on their back, food in their bellies, utilities to pay, medical bills (because you know that can get pricey even with insurance), and a roof over their heads. And we haven’t even gotten into the cost of the special protective fabrics a hero’s costume is made out of or even the support equipment they use.

In short, the cost of living is high and the payoff to heroics is shit, and Aizawa, in addition to being a hero is also a teacher. This tells me he continued his schooling after graduating from Yuuei, so he probably had a student debt of roughly $26million USD from uni assuming that the government didn’t cover the graduate education for a hero.

So. Thirty year old hero fresh out of college, has a teaching certification which he uses to teach snot nosed brats heroics, but lives in squalor because he’s poor. Sounds about right.

[violetsystems]

Sitting by the river today was nice. Unfortunately everything has a body snatchers type vibe around here lately. I don’t really make much sense of it. Statement T-shirt interpretation might be the skill set everybody wants from me. But it does not pay the rent. My bank account does. Speaking of which I had to walk a piece of mis delivered mail ten blocks. It said important financial information. I don’t ask questions. I just deliver the mail to the right address. Unless it’s junk. The postal police must be too busy with social media surveillance or something. I write it all here anyway. So see you in the morning. 💤

[ana--rojas]

[ok, so I’ve been away a little while and want to set in my mind and let everyone know where my characters are up to so I’m going to be doing a little past, present and future plot ideas on all of them. I was going to post on the OOC blog but kinda wanted to keep them on my characters blogs so I could find them later. I’ll try to keep it brief.]

PAST:

Ana was a child during the last wizarding war and was 5 when it ended so she’s one of the older characters in the RP (34). 

Her parents were snatchers, she grew up in poverty and when they were sent to azkabhan after the war because of their part she essentially become an orphan. She doesn’t see them anymore

Ana never felt like she fit in a school, partially because she had built a wall around herself but she tends to blame everyone else. She assumes people didn’t like her because she was a bit different. She was poor, had parents who were snatchers and when she came out as gay she was convinced it would only cement this feeling of ‘otherness’ and so it did.

She didn’t do that well at school, she was good at transfiguration (especially human transfiguration because she liked looking like and pretending to be someone else) but found it difficult to stay focused on school work.

She didn’t complete her N.E.W.Ts and only has a few O.W.Ls so basically didn’t have much in the way of career prospects (or at least not the kind of glamorous, high paying career she wanted).

All this to say that when Ana left school she has become a small time criminal because she viewed it as the easy way to live the life she wanted.

She never felt like she had a home anywhere, not Hogwarts, not with her parents and certainly not the shabby little flat that she moved to when she left school. The one place she felt like herself was when she went partying and went to gay clubs.

She felt like the LGBT+ community embraced her and all her flaws in a way that no one else did (at least the run down, shady bar she went to did) and it felt like her first home.

She’s still living on the breadline, barely making rent payments, doing her best to scam money from people and get through life.

Well that was until she won the payback ring which allows her to borrow money and never pay it back.

AND THAT’S WHAT YOU MISSED LAST TIME...

PRESENT:

Ana is trying to make as much money as quickly as possible with the payback ring. She wants to be able to move out of her shitty little room with a shared kitchen into a real flat. This is the first time things have really gone her way by winning the ring and she’s not letting it go.

She holds a lot of anti-muggle born sentiment, and hates the ministry because she feels like if it hadn’t been for them her parents would at least still be able to see her and her brother. (they weren’t great parents at the best of times and Ana holds a lot of resentment towards them as well but she also doesn’t want them locked up).

She increasingly holds the local LGBT+ community (at her local dive bar at least) as her only family. Ana usually puts on a hard shell but when she’s at the bar and meets someone who is struggling with their sexual/gender identity she extends a hand of kindness and feels she owes it to help them out like others helped her. 

FUTURE:

Ana is going to be increasingly involved in muggle/muggle born hate. She blames them for the way her life turned out and feels if they weren’t taking jobs which ‘real wizards’ could have then she would have the life she deserves.

That being said she doesn’t want to be a snatcher like her parents and on the bottom rung of whatever group she might join, she is desperate to have a higher position than her parents and will do anything to get there.

She will probably be living with less worries than normal now she has the payback ring and using to steal from a lot of people. 

PLOT IDEAS: Message me if any appeal to you. My aim is to always have a plot with every player but I usually fail, but I’ll be trying to message everyone over the next couple of weeks as Summer starts but it’ll take me a while to reach everyone so please don’t me scared to message me - if you want a plot that’s not below I’m 100% game. probably. Freeze Your Brain - [ANY CHARACTER WHO HAS A BIT OF MONEY AND TRUSTING ATTITUDE] Ana is pretty much going around everyone and asking to borrow money, taking it, putting on her ring and making them forget she ever owed them. Thing is convincing strangers to lend you money is sometimes difficult, although with the ring she can give them her address, full name etc or whatever they want to be confident she’ll pay them back and then slip on the ring and they’ll forget all about it. I’m thinking when Ana doesn’t wear the ring someone can see her, remember and confront her about still owing them money or something along those lines. 

Life Boat - [ANY CHARACTER WHO IDENTIFIES AS BELONGING TO THE LGBT+ COMMUNITY/STRUGGLES WITH THEIR IDENTITY] Ana doesn’t take on a nurturing role in her daily life but she feels it semi-frequently. She often wants to protect people she sees as vulnerable or remind her of herself as a kid - scared and alone. If she meets someone who is struggling with their identity or fitting in especially if it’s because of their sexuality/gender then Ana will try to befriend them. She’s even thinking of starting a group in her local dive bar for people who want support in this way.  

Yo Girl - [CHARACTER WHO IDENTIFIES AS FEMALE AND MIGHT FIND ANA ATTRACTIVE] Ana hasn’t had that many girlfriends and when she has they’ve been fiery and passionate but burn out quickly - usually because Ana keeps her feelings about muggleborns/her job a secret. So either the same thing happens here or this person is just as shady as Ana and she feels like she can open up to them. NB: Ana is 34 and I know this is older than most characters in the RP so I’d normally say Ana probably wouldn’t date anyone under the age of 28 or so, but this also limits every character. So if this fits except for the age then message me and we’ll talk age gap.  

Candy Store - [CHARACTERS WHO HAVE SOME MONEY TO SPLASH/WANT A GOOD TIME] Ana has money now, for the first time in her life the payback ring means that she doesn’t need to be constantly thinking about her next payday, so she’s going to have some fun with it. She goes on a shopping spree, buys new clothes, moves into a new place maybe, certainly buys a lot of alcohol. This character maybe comes along for the ride also spending and splashing out or in her new generous spirit Ana pays for them to come with her because she likes the company.

Fight For Me - [CHARACTERS WHO ARE ANTI-MUGGLE] Ana has never had anyone to talk to about her anti-muggle born views and so when she meets this person/people and they all start to talk she realises that there’s a lot of people who feel the same way as her. She decided that now is her chance to get in with them and does everything she can to win favour. 

I Am Damaged - [CHARACTER WHO HAD A TOUGH LIFE/CHILDHOOD] Having not really told anyone about growing up in poverty and her parents been absent as she grew up, Ana keeps a lot of secrets from the world. If she meets someone just as damaged who grew up with shitty parents or a bad childhood in some other way she might relate and become buddies who can confide in one another. Bonus points if they also have parents or someone they know in prison, but not necessary. 

Dead Girl Walking - [CHARACTER WITH DODGY DEALINGS/IN WITH A BAD CROWD] Ana probably isn’t going to end up keeping the payback ring forever. Eventually it’ll get lost or stolen or the charm will wear off or something. I’m not sure when that will be, probably not for a while but before that happens I’m thinking Ana borrows money from some very shady people and they forget because she has the ring... but when she doesn’t have it there’s a price over her head and she’s in a dangerous situation with this person/their bosses or whatever. 

[weshallneverrevolt]

VA-11 Hall-A: Cyperpunk Bartender Action (2016, PC)

Video games are typically about heroes.

This is mostly out of necessity. No one wants to play a third-person going-to-school simulator (okay, maybe Persona attracts a certain audience.) They’re inherently escapist art. We want to be a paladin, or the Hero of Time, or anyone other than ourselves when we pick up that controller and stare at the screen.

It’s also a design decision. Action keeps players interested in a game, and creates more definite objectives. “Go there and fetch the ring” is much easier to program than “Conquer the fear of abandonment rooted in your childhood,” and it’s also easier for players to understand. That cycle of risk, goal, and reward is the most foundational element of game design.

VA-11 Hall-A is a bartending simulator. You do not play a hero, and it has very little of those core gameplay elements; what is there is extremely simple and serves the purpose of telling its story. Calling it a game feels sort of wrong, but so does calling it a bartending simulator; it is instead one of the latest in a great lineage of games that have existed on both the fringe of the genre’s definition and of public appreciation.

The visual novel genre is a uniquely Japanese phenomenon, a sort of digital choose your own adventure novel. There may be branching narrative paths, menial resource management or role-playing game elements, but most of it is just you clicking the text forward. Americans flirted with this a bit with our Leisure Suit Larrys and our Mysts, but those games still focused on puzzle-solving over story.

Perhaps the most famous example is Snatcher, one of the first pre-internet visual novels to arrive on American soil. Directed by the venerable Hideo Kojima, its story of robots assuming human identities obviously borrows from Blade Runner. First released for Japanese-only computers in 1988, it was released here in 1994, right before the dawn of the 3D action game. Naturally, it received very little attention, as did Kojima until he directed a little-known indie game called Metal Gear Solid: Tactical Espionage Action.

VA-11 Hall-A doesn’t just riff of of MGS’  subtitle; its developers have clearly followed Kojima since his earliest days.

The most obvious influence lies in the game’s setting and aesthetic. VA-11 Hall-A is set in “the year 20XX”, in a dystopian pixelscape called Glitch City. Here corporations and government are interchangeable, lifelike robots called lilim mingle with humans and nanomachines bury themselves into human flesh to keep dissenters in check. It’s a dark but gorgeous setting, a rusty jungle of pink and purple neon and flashing lights. It’s all portrayed through colorful pixel art and one of the best video game soundtracks in years, a mashup of vaporwave, cyberpunk, and anime influences.

Such a setting lends itself to stories like those of Snatcher, where you play an elite detective diving into the city’s seedy underbelly. VA-11 Hall-A takes a different tack: you play a twenty-something bartender named Jill who works at a dingy dive bar in a back alley. Her story has a journey - one of forgiveness and redemption - but as the player, your only goal is to serve drinks correctly and pay rent.

Your customers are what give the game its true color There’s Dorothy, a childlike lilim sex worker with a raunchy sense of humor; Alma, a tenderhearted hacker at the center of ever-present family drama; Donovan, a misogynistic but strangely endearing newspaper editor; Art, a mild-mannered private investigator. Jill also has a complicated relationship with her boss, Dana, and mysterious co-worker Gil.

Save for one particular character, most of the stories you hear are far from heroic. One patron finds joy in helping the poor around “Mega Christmas,” while another drinks to cope with his long-lost daughter. It’s not all sentimental: VA-11 Hall-A does embrace the wacky absurdity of its anime heritage. There are talking dogs, robotic catgirls, plenty of fan service, even a daimakura (those creepy body pillows you see in cringe compilations.) The goofiness juxtaposed with the dreary setting and frequent sob stories is captivating.

It’s also surprisingly profound. VA-11 Hall-A‘s developers are from Venezuela, where a corrupt socialist regime has cracked down on civil rights and mismanaged the economy. Anecdotes in the game reflect that reality: a mysterious hacker exposing government corruption, characters waiting in line for flour rations, an independent newspaper turning to shallow journalism for fear of government reprisal. Similar to the regine in North Korea, it’s easy to forget that under cartoonish dictatorships are real people who struggle to maintain their families and friendships.

My boy George R. R. Martin said it best in A Game of Thrones:

“’The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never ends,’ Ser Jorah told her. ‘It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones, so long as they are left in peace.’ He gave a shrug. ‘They never are.’”

Art about “normal people” is not new. Early modern art was a reaction to paintings of gods and kings, an effort to find heartbreak and joy in the lives of common people. Musicians, too, have largely turned from bardic tales of epic voyages to songs about universal emotions: love, loss, and hope. While games have had a broad emotional palette for years, it’s rare that they’re mined from people not on a quest, or fulfilling a destiny, or serving a greater cause.

The men and women of VA-11 Hall-A just want to be happy, fate and feats of heroism be damned. Though you learn a lot about their world by interacting with them, you never find the solution to its problems. They have more pressing things to worry about: finding work, going to the new concert in town, what that cute girl by the jukebox is up to.

VA-11 Hall-A taps into the exhaustion of being a nobody. Of feeling powerless, confused, and lost in a world too large to wrap your head around. Even those of us in a stable country can relate to that, drained of energy by constant Facebook debates and a news cycle that seems desperate to one-up itself with tragedy and dark tidings.

Most importantly, it signals that gaming has grown. The medium once dominated by a jumping plumber and his single-minded quest for a princess is on its way to achieving the same diversity as film, literature, music, and other more “reputable” forms of art.

And they don’t have nearly as many waifus.

VA-11 Hall-A is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The kick-ass soundtrack is also available for streaming on Spotify and Google Play.

[creativitytoexplore]

Tony Ambrosio's Unsuccessful Life of Crime Is Finally Looking Up by Michael Drezin https://ift.tt/2xnTIVE It takes a lot to teach hapless petty thief Tony Ambrosio a lesson; by Michael Drezin.

Anthony Ambrosio, Tony to his friends, is not an honest man. No need to be. No one who ever made it big, made it big being honest. Honest or not, indications are Anthony Ambrosio will never make it big in crime because he doesn't have what it takes. He pulls mostly minor scams like selling weed that isn't weed, or bootlegged CDs where the cover doesn't match what's inside. And he gets caught like flu in winter. Tony's always getting caught. He does his time without complaint, 'cause that's the way real men do time. And then he starts the cycle all over again. No thought about what went wrong, or how to do it better. He does the same thing, in the same way, every time. He can't see that a life of crime is not for him because Anthony Ambrosio, Tony to his friends, is not an honest man. Not even with himself. And so when he told himself he had enough money for a fine meal at the Actor's Crib (insiders call it the Crib), a five star restaurant in the heart of NYC's theater district, it turned out he did. It's just that it wasn't on him. Upon the direction of management Alberto, the waiter, called the police. When they arrived Tony was arrested and until he was able to see a judge, he spent an afternoon, evening and the next morning in jail.

Anthony Ambrosio aka Tony Ambrosio aka Little Tony of Arthur Avenue, has been arrested like 100 times before. Pull a job. Get arrested. Tony was so regularly arrested he knew what to expect for dessert any day of the week whenever he was jailed. Tony started his life of crime at age 14. Beer, his first heist. Problem is, he got regularly caught doing it. His mentor suggested he bring his own shopping bag, but by then Tony was banned from most places that sold alcohol. Years later, when he graduated to burglaries, it took only one try to realize a yellow Dodge with a bumper sticker saying Proud parent of a Harvard graduate was a poor choice for a getaway car. It's not that Tony had bad ideas. It's more like he had no ideas. Like an impulse purchaser, Tony was an impulse desperado who never kept his impulse in check. Could be he was raised that way.

Tony's mom supported her and Tony by playing poker. Most often, she did so wearing a low cut leopard print blouse while chain smoking Evet's filtered cigarettes. She played in high stakes games held in the private room at Gino's (Fine Italian Cuisine) in the Little Italy section of the Bronx. It was mostly a men's game, but anyone who could afford the five thousand dollar minimum could play. Big fat cigars were banned ten years ago because they stunk up the restaurant, and except for Francesca these were no smoking games. She knew the dangers of smoking, everyone does, but she felt she had a realistic perspective on her habit. It was the same as her realistic perspective on life. Nothing bad would ever happen to her. If she thought about it at all, I'm sure she wasn't happy her son was sent to the principal's office nearly every day, but boys fight. What could she do about boys being boys? She didn't do much in the way of cooking, or cleaning, or any of the things formerly known as woman's work, but she always left Tony money for McDonald's, or pizza, or the like. Tony never lacked for anything that up to twenty-five dollars could buy. Besides poker, Francesca had a talent for attracting well-to-do men. It was just such a man who, in return for intimate companionship, staked her to her first major league poker game. That was maybe ten years ago, but even in early middle age, she was eye candy. She had a trim figure and an oval face framed by long, formerly dark, brown hair. If there was any flaw in her package, at least in my view, it was the unoriginality of a woman with tip over bazookas having brassy blond hair. The fact that she wore black framed glasses toned it down some, but not enough for men who liked a reserved looking woman. Still, anyone thinking Francesca was an uncaring mother would be wrong. She was teaching self-reliance to her young son, same as her parents taught her. In that effort, although she didn't know it, she was getting help from her boyfriend Joey Sanitation. Joey was in private sanitation, that is, he collected business refuse while the city collected residential garbage. The industry was heavily regulated in New York to rid it of the mobsters who once dominated the field and who, through front men, still do. Joey was too advanced in his legitimate career to break the law the way street thugs do, but not too old to tell stories of his own, earlier days, when a street thug was exactly what he was. Tales of crimes and tales of survival in prison, make for interesting listening even if you are not an impressionable 14-year-old. (If incarcerated, find a guard to bribe. There will be one. From special meals to skipping out on your work detail, they make life easier.) Joey was someone Tony could look up to, a substitute for the father who left too long ago to be remembered. With Joey Sanitation as inspiration, Tony lived his life the way any 14-year-old on his own would. He did whatever seemed like a good idea at the time.

First time Tony was arrested for shoplifting, his first time out, a security guard reached into a jacket pocket and found items not paid for inside. When asked how they got there, he had a simple defense. "I borrowed the coat," he said. And he's the kind who needs someone to blame, and so when he got arrested for not paying at the Crib he blamed his waiter for believing he had money to pay for dinner at a place as expensive as that place is. The thing is, when he wants to, Tony can make a decent enough living dumpster-diving for information to sell to identity thieves. But making money, having it on you, and spending it are three different things. No talent or special skill is required to buy things with money. A child can do it. The thrill for Tony, the excitement, is in getting over, in getting something for nothing. If you don't understand that, you're either too square to explain it to, or not being honest with yourself. Still, some might argue, given that Tony did order and eat, no gun to his head, his waiter could reasonably assume he would pay when the time came. The way Tony sees it, that's a mistake. Not his mistake. It's a mistake in the way restaurants are run. Tony came to this insight by way of life experience, which taught him that placing trust in people almost never works out well. He thinks restaurants should be run like stores. There they make you pay before you get the merchandise. They do that for a reason. Clearly, it's not Tony's fault the Crib isn't run that way. And using that logic, that impeccable logic, Tony was certain at the conclusion of the Crib's case against him, he would be a free man. "It's not like he asked if I could pay, Your Honor. Is he not, thus, as guilty as I?" But the judge did not consider the guilty waiter theory much of an excuse, and he sentenced Tony to thirty days of dishwashing at the cafe. Alberto, as witness for the prosecution, hearing of Tony's defense, was deeply offended that a man of honor, such as he, would be accused of being a negligent waiter. But what could he do? He was not long in this world before he realized dishonest people abound. Tony fulfilled the obligations of his sentence with admirable diligence. For 30 days he arrived on time, kept to himself, scrubbed dishes for eight hours and then left. At the end of his sentence, Tony told himself he had enough money for a fine meal at the Crib, and he ordered one. He ordered lobster prepared in clam sauce. No wine to go with it. Coffee was fine. When he was through and unable to pay, Alberto was, once again, directed to call the police. When they came, Tony was arrested and once again blamed Alberto, witness for the prosecution. And once again Alberto was offended at Tony's attempt made to sully his good name, but what could he do? Waiters do not get to pick their customers. Alberto was satisfied that he lived his life doing unto others...

It was high noon when Tony was released from the Bronx House of Detention for Men. Like checkout in a hotel, his time inside was up, his probation sentence to be served. As the gate clanked closed behind him, after walking through the cement yard and past the barbed wire fencing, he looked up at the cloudless sky and then down the block where children, five or six in all, ran under water spraying from a capped fire hydrant. A time and temperature sign brought to the community by Third Avenue Bank read 89 degrees. A Mr. Refreshment ice cream truck was approaching, its bell ringing the same few sounds over and over, and all looked right with the world except that not ten feet away a purse snatcher was plying his trade on the oldest-looking, shortest (under four feet), whitest- haired, most wrinkled, bony fingered, four-eyed woman in oversized pink-lensed sunglasses Tony had ever seen. Her silver-tone cane fell to her right side as she struggled with her assailant to hold on to her purse, and what Tony guessed were the proceeds from a cashed Social Security check inside. Tony suspected she was fighting, as best she could, to hold on to her food and medicine money and that part of her rent not paid by the government. He and Tony were in the same line of work, but Tony had standards. Stealing from the elderly was permissible, but doing so violently was out of the question. That's just wrong, was the way Tony saw it. Problem was, Tony wasn't much of a fighter. So he walked on by, called 911 from a safe distance, and hung up satisfied he made the world a better place for being in it. Before he left, he heard a police siren in the distance. Tony hopped the turnstile and took the number 4 train to Times Square. In the city he walked past the places where the peep shows used to be before Times Square was ruined by becoming a family-friendly destination. He stopped to remember the girls he saw- on film for 25 cents a peep. Where are they now, he wondered. A short time later, after waking past some of Broadway's oldest and most famous theaters, he was at the Crib.

As required by his sentence, for 30 days Tony arrived at the Crib on time, kept to himself, scrubbed dishes for eight hours and then left for the day. When his sentence was up, Tony was very hungry and so he ordered lobster, stuffed with shrimp and scallops and accompanied by a fine Chardonnay. He had baked clams to start. He skipped the coffee. Being pleasantly looped, he saw no need for coffee to kill his buzz. But by now Tony had learned his lesson. Take care of others (at least those that can help, or hurt). This time Tony left a generous tip that he removed from a nearby table just as Alberto was delivering the cheesecake. He slipped it into Alberto's outstretched hand. In brotherhood with a fellow employee, of sorts, Alberto forgot to leave a check. Well, better late than never. Twenty-two years after beginning life, Tony learned something new. Who knows. Could be he'll learn all kinds of lessons. Like plan an escape route. Wear gloves. Bring your mom's DNA to the job. The friends of Anthony Ambrosio, the ones who call him Tony, hope, however unrealistically, that someday he will succeed, that he will be at the top of his game and that the FBI will consider him to be a most wanted man, his face on posters, a major player in the minor leagues of crime.

[cksmart-world]

The Completely Unnecessary News Analysis

By Christopher Smart

Nov. 5, 2019

ARREST THE HOMELESS

& THE HUNTSMAN CONSPIRACY

Let's just arrest all the homeless people and get it over with. OK, Operation Rio Grande wasn't that simplistic. There was an effort to get people into treatment. But for most, it was handcuffs and off to the Salt Lake County Jail where they were booked and, in most cases, released within hours. Now, the ACLU has issued a report on the draconian sweeps around the aging shelter at 210 So. Rio Grande Street. When homeless people get criminal records from such arrests, it makes it much more difficult to integrate back into society, get a job and rent an apartment, the report says. But in August 2017 when Greg Hughes, then speaker of the House, saw an uptick in violent crime, people shooting up in broad daylight, and folks defecating in public, he brought the hammer down. Law enforcement agencies swept up the human detritus and fenced off the street. Problem solved. Well, not exactly — homeless people spread out across the city into parks, backyards and any place they could lay their heads before cops would shoe them away. No one chooses to be homeless. Most homeless people are not drug addicts or criminals — although the opioide epidemic hasn't helped — they are single moms and folks from many walks of life who are one bad break away from what had been a good life. Now they will be coping with what the ACLU calls “long-term damage” from Operation Rio Grande. And so it goes.

BODY SNATCHERS GET HERBERT

Who is that in the governor's office and what have they done with Gary Herbert? Recently, a person looking remarkably like our governor revealed he'd written a letter to President Donald Trump requesting that more refugees be resettled in Utah. What? Hasn't he heard that refugees are vermin who soak up social services and want to blow stuff up. That's why our commander in chief has cut refugee resettlement to a trickle. Of the 26 million refugees around the world, more than half are under 18. (Another 45 million have been displaced with their own countries.) Through the United Nations, 27 countries accepted more than 81,000 refugees for resettlement in 2018. But last month, the Trump administration said it would limit the number of refugees admitted in this country to 18,000, the lowest number in more than 30 years. The Obama administration, by contrast, accepted as many as 85,000 in 2016. The Herbert Body Snatcher looks kinda like a liberal. He said refugees add significantly to our country. “They become contributors in our schools, churches and other civic institutions, even helping serve more recent refugees and thus generating a beautiful cycle of charity,” he wrote. What's next — will Herbert come out against conversion therapy for LGBT people? What? He did that, too? It's the Body Snatchers for sure.

SEIG HEIL NOT!

It's getting to the point where you can't even wear a Nazi uniform anymore. Imagine this: a Kaysville elementary principal and teacher were suspended for allowing a student to wear a Nazi uniform to the school's annual Halloween celebration. (We are not making this up.) By allowing some kid to exercise his First Amendment right to dress like a murdering fascist, the educators were punished, according to The Salt Lake Tribune's ace costume reporter, Paighten Harkins. Davis County School District officials explained that the First Amendment doesn't protect offensive stuff, like swastikas or North Vietnamese noodles. “The district does not tolerate speech, images or conduct the portray or promote hate in any form.” No Wilson, they haven't banned Trump T shirts. We don't know why. The school district refused to name the offending principal and teacher, but it's likely they will get demerits in their annual reviews for allowing free expression of costumes. Wonder what would happen if the lad had come as Quentin Tarantino. OMG — there'd be hell to pay.

THE HUNTSMAN CONSPIRACY

OK, what does Jon Hunstman know and when did he know it? Recently, Huntsman left his post as U.S. Ambassador to Russia. Last week, Secretary of State Mike “I Don't Answer Questions” Pompeo awarded the suave Utahn the Distinguished Service Award. Some have advanced unfounded speculation that the accolade was meant to buy Huntsman's silence for all the inside dope he has on Donald Trump's bromance with Vladamir Putin and Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Despite the Mueller Report and the two dozen indictments it spawned, President Trump insists there was no Russian meddling (because it undermines the legitimacy of his presidency). By contrast, The Donald and his sidekick, Rudy “Nothing Up My Sleeve” Gulianni, want Fox News viewers to believe it was Ukraine that hacked Hillary's emails in an effort to get her elected. Rudy hasn't explained exactly how that would work, but it has something to do with Hunter Biden and his father, who are up to their necks in intrigue and dirty money and should be impeached. And since we're making stuff up out of whole cloth to bolster alternative reality, why not include Huntsman? We know he knows more than he's saying and could have passed critical intelligence to Sen. Mike Lee when they met at the Mormon Ward House in Moscow and did Jell-O vodka shooters in the back when no one was looking.

Post Script

Who said life ain't grand? Here we are in the midst of a Utah Indian Summer and it is delicious, unless, of course, you are a skier or anyone who lives in Park City. Lack of snow in November for them is cause for a significant increase in medication. Climate change? What Climate change? Coincidentally, the Trump administration officially bailed the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accords this week. We stand alone among nations. America First, anyone? According to Trump and his friends in the fossil fuel industry, climate change is a hoax perpetrated by people who hate America and want to ruin our economy. Sixteen-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg said she wouldn't even try to convince Trump otherwise because talking to him “would be a waste of time.” And now that we come to think of it, talking to Trump about most things is a waste of time. If you already know everything, there's no need for further information. And if you don't know something, you can just make it up.

All right Wilson, will you and band take us out with a little something for this glorious Indian Summer:   Groovin' on a sunny afternoon / Really couldn't get away too soon / I can't imagine anything that's better / The world is ours whenever we're together / There ain't a place I'd like to be instead of / Just groovin' on a sunny afternoon / Really couldn't get away too soon / No, no, no, no..

[tamboradventure]

Is Southeast Asia Safe for Travelers?

Posted: 6/22/2019 | June 22nd, 2019

Southeast Asia is one of the most popular regions in the world for backpackers and budget travelers. It’s home to a well-worn travel trail that dates back to the 1960s and ’70s, stretching across Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore.

I’ve been visiting the area regularly since 2004 (I even spent a few years living in Thailand). It really does have something for everyone: bustling cities, delicious food, spectacular diving, lots of outdoor activities, historic sites — the list goes on.

Best of all? It’s budget friendly!

But is Southeast Asia safe?

That’s a question I get asked often, especially by solo travelers (or their worried families).

Generally speaking, Southeast Asia is incredibly safe. In fact, it’s one of the safest regions in the world.

You aren’t going to really face any physical danger, and it’s rare to even get robbed or mugged. People are nice, respectful, and friendly.

That said, here’s everything you need to know to stay safe in Southeast Asia!

Table of Contents

11 Ways to Stay Safe in Southeast Asia

5 Common Scams in Southeast Asia

Is the food safe in Southeast Asia?

Can You Drink the Tap Water in Southeast Asia?

Are Taxis Safe in Southeast Asia?

Is Southeast Asia Safe for Solo Travelers?

Is Southeast Asia Safe for Solo Female Travelers?

Should You Visit Southeast Asia?

  11 Ways to Stay Safe in Southeast Asia

Staying safe in Southeast Asia doesn’t take a lot of work. Southeast Asia is an incredibly safe place to backpack and travel – even if you’re traveling solo, and even as a solo female traveler. Violent attacks are rare. There are some common scams around, like the motorbike scam where vendors try to charge you for damage to their bike, but for the most part, this is a safe place to travel. People are nice and helpful and you’re unlikely to get into trouble. The people who do tend to be involved with drinking or drugs or sex tourism. Stay away from that stuff and you’ll be fine. That said, here are 11 ways to ensure nothing is going to happen on your trip:

1. Watch for purse-snatchers – Purse-snatching is rare, but it does happen. To avoid the most common types of theft, don’t wear your purse or bag over just one shoulder — instead, wear it across the front of your body. Also, many purse-snatchers will be on a scooter, so take particular caution when walking alongside traffic.

2. Be extra careful in traffic – Most injuries in Southeast Asia are caused by vehicles. Be especially careful walking in hectic cities like Hanoi or if you are driving (especially scooters).

3. Don’t do drugs – Drugs like marijuana are easily accessible in Southeast Asia (especially in party locations, like the Full Moon Party). But they are illegal! Fines are heavy — and if you get caught, expect to spend time in jail or pay a hefty bribe. Save yourself the hassle and don’t do any drugs while you’re in the region.

4. Wear a helmet – If you’re renting or riding a scooter or motorbike, be sure to wear a helmet. Also wear proper clothing and footwear. I’ve seen a lot of road rash during my time in Southeast Asia!

5. Look out for bedbugs – Unfortunately, bedbugs are a reality in Southeast Asia. Though rare, you will likely encounter them at some point if you’re traveling around the region for any length of time. Always check your accommodation in advance. If it looks dirty, simply move on. Also, never put your backpack on your bed. That way, if the bed is contaminated, at least your backpack won’t also be contaminated.

6. Bring a lock – While theft in dorm rooms is rare, you don’t want to take any chances. Hostels almost always have lockers available. Bring a lock so you can store your possessions safely while you’re out and about.

7. Hide your valuables – When you’re out exploring, keep your wallet and valuables hidden in your backpack (or leave them loved up in your accommodation). Carry some cash in your pockets, but keep your cards and other valuables out of reach. Most theft is opportunistic, so if you’re vigilant, you’ll have nothing to worry about!

8. Don’t party solo – Make sure if you’re out partying that you do it with friends or people you can trust. Don’t get so drunk that you can’t get home safely. (If you’re taking part in the Full Moon Party in Thailand, you can find specific safety tips in this blog post.)

9. Keep your passport – Never give away your passport as a deposit when booking things like accommodation or rentals. Always make sure you get it back, or else you might not see it again. (And be sure to keep a digital scan of your passport in your email inbox just in case.)

10. Stay away from animals – Stray dogs (as well as monkeys) often carry diseases, such as rabies (which can be fatal). To avoid getting bitten, don’t pet stray dogs or wild monkeys.

11. Buy travel insurance – While Southeast Asia is generally safe, unexpected incidents can still occur. Cover yourself by buying travel insurance. It has the potential to save you thousands of dollars while also giving you peace of mind. I never leave home without it!  

5 Common Scams in Southeast Asia

While Southeast Asia is generally quite safe, there are still a few common travel scams. Here are four of the most common scams — and how you can avoid getting fooled by them!

1. The Taxi/Tuk-tuk Overcharge This is one of the most common travel scams out there — you’ll encounter it all across Southeast Asia. Either the driver will tell you the taxi meter is broken and try to charge you a high rate, or you’ll see the cost on the meter skyrocket faster than Superman!

For tuk-tuks, you’ll need to negotiate in advance, because drivers will quote a price much higher than what the ride should cost. To avoid being ripped off, you’ll first need to know how much your ride should cost. The best way to figure this out is to ask your hostel or hotel staff for a quote so you have a frame of reference (or google it, if you’re just arriving).

If the driver tries to negotiate the rate with you, offer them the correct rate. If they refuse, just leave and find someone who will put the meter on. (Then, if the meter seems to be going up too quickly, have them pull over and get out.)

Many tourism boards let you report bad cab drivers, so be sure to always make a mental note of their ID number when you get in the cab.

2. Motorbike Scam Southeast Asia is a great place to rent a scooter or motorcycle and get off the beaten path. But there is a common scam you’ll want to be aware of.

Here’s how it goes: You’ll rent a bike and then when you bring it back, the owner will demand additional payment or expensive repairs because there is some “damage” you didn’t know about. Sometimes the owner will send someone to mess with the bike or steal it so you have to pay.

To avoid this, take photos of the bike first to document any previous damage. Go around it with the owner so they know what you are taking pictures of.

Once you rent it, use your own lock and keep the bike out of sight and off main streets when you park it.

Also, always make sure you buy travel insurance so you can make a claim if there is an issue.

3. Your Attraction is Closed for Lunch I admit, I have fallen for this one before. A friendly local will approach you and inform you that the attraction you want to visit (often a temple) is closed for any number of reasons (religious ceremony, holiday, etc.).

They’ll then try to guide you to a different attraction (or often a shop), where you’re heavily pressured to purchase something or pay a high admission price.

To avoid this scam, be sure to ask your accommodation staff before you leave to confirm that the attraction is open. Then find the main entrance or ticket counter and see for yourself. Opening and closing times are almost always available online too, so you can often look them up just to be safe.

Generally speaking, most attractions in Southeast Asia don’t close for lunch. They either close for the day or not at all.

4. The Drug Deal Gone Bad This scam is common anywhere there is a party in Southeast Asia. You’ll be in a popular tourist area (usually a party place) and someone will offer you drugs.

If you say yes, before you know it, a real cop is will be on the scene! They’ll insist that they are going to arrest you unless you can pay a hefty fine right there (i.e., a bribe).

Caught red-handed, you’ll probably pay the bribe rather than go to jail. Simply put: Don’t buy drugs in other countries!

5. The Taxi Scam Only use taxis that use a meter. If the meter is rigged or they refuse to use it, just get out and find a new taxi (more on this below!).  

Is the Food Safe in Southeast Asia?

If the food weren’t safe here, I’d likely never come back. Street food is almost always safe (it’s important to the cultures of the locals). In fact, it’s usually more safe than restaurants, because the operation is so simple and the turnover so fast.

When looking for somewhere to eat, find a place with a crowd, as well as one with children — if parents think it’s safe for the kids, then it’s safe for you! Anywhere with a lot of people (specifically locals) is a good indicator that the food is both good and safe.

Be sure to wash your hands before eating (hand sanitizer is good for that), as you’ll likely have been out and about all day and may have picked up all sorts of germs.

  Can You Drink the Tap Water in Southeast Asia?

The tap water in Southeast Asia will vary from country to country, but as a general rule I would not recommend you drink the water unless you have a water purifier like the Lifestraw or Steripen.

  Are Taxis Safe in Southeast Asia?

Taxis in Southeast Asia are safe — but they also have a reputation for overcharging (see above) or taking longer routes to dive up the fare.

Always make sure your driver is using the meter (and that the meter is not moving overly quickly). If you encounter a problem, simply get out and find a new taxi.

A better option is Grab or Uber (depending on where you are). You’ll be able to see your driver, track your ride, and make complaints if you have a problem. It’s the best way to get around, when available.

  Is Southeast Asia Safe for Solo Travelers?

Southeast Asia is one of the best places in the world for solo travelers. There are tons visiting the region each and every year, many of them traveling solo for the first time (it’s great for both new and veteran travelers alike).

With a little common sense, a solo traveler won’t have to worry much about safety here. There is a well-worn backpacker trail, so you’ll never be far from other travelers. That means it’s easy to meet people in case you decide you’d rather travel in a group for some (or all) of your trip.

  Is Southeast Asia Safe for Solo Female Travelers?

Female travelers have additional safety concerns they need to be aware of. That being said, Southeast Asia is still one of the best (and most safe) regions for solo female travel.

By following the tips above, as well as the same precautions you’d take at home (such as not wandering alone at night intoxicated, keeping an eye on your drink while at the bar, etc.), a solo female traveler will be able to have an amazing visit to Southeast Asia without worrying too much about her safety.

And as mentioned above, with so many solo travelers — including many women — in the region, it’s easy to find others to spend time with in case you’re feeling insecure or unsafe.

  Should You Visit Southeast Asia?

So, is Southeast Asia safe?

Absolutely!

It’s super unlikely that anything will happen. And even less so if you follow the advice listed above.

Be sure to get travel insurance just in case something goes wrong. The past is not prologue and you always want to play it safe. Travel insurance was there when I lost my bag, broke my camera, and popped an eardrum while diving in Thailand. I never expected those things to happen and was glad I had insurance! You can use the widget below to look up the travel insurance policy that is right for you (or just click here to go to their website directly):

  Book Your Trip to Southeast Asia: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe, so you always know no stone is being left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewher eother than a hotel, use Booking.com, as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time. Some suggested places to stay in the region are:

Golden Mountain Hostel (Bangkok) – This is a new hostel with dorm beds built into the wall for added privacy. Each room sleeps eight people and the décor is super beautiful and well thought out. The mattresses are soft too!

Sla Boutique Hostel (Phnom Penh) – This is a nicer hostel that’s well designed and great for meeting like-minded travelers. The staff are super helpful and it’s located near lots of bars, attractions, and restaurants (but the hostel itself is pretty quiet).

Coral Hostel (Singapore) – With all day breakfast, fast Wi-Fi, and AC, this is a great choice for the budget-savvy traveler. Everything is new and clean, and they also have female-only dorms.

Kememai Hostel (Ubud) – This hostel is small and cheap, but the staff are friendly and it has everything you need for a comfy budget stay.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it, as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)

Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use — and I think they will help you too!

Looking for more information on visiting Southeast Asia? Check out my in-depth destination guide to Southeast Asia with more tips on what to see and do, costs, ways to save, and much, much more!

The post Is Southeast Asia Safe for Travelers? appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

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[ana-maria-barrios-escobar]

10 Red flags and other dating secrets

Ana Maria Barrios Escobar. = = 10 Red flags and other dating secrets women must know. = = Just Because it Glitters Doesn’t Mean It’s Gold = = Don’t be impressed by the unimpressive. Too many women sell themselves short by settling for a man with an attractive exterior. A man who is overly concerned with himself and his material things has no room to value you. This is a dynamic that has always baffled me. Just because a man is good- looking, wears a shiny new suit, sports some Now and Later gators, drives a shiny new car, and profiles a new Rolex on his wrist does not mean he is a good man. As a matter of fact, that’s usually the joker who can’t rub two nickels together. What’s wrong with the guy in jeans and a T-shirt, driving a Camry, checking his Timex to see exactly when his check is going to hit the bank? You’re tripping over dollars to get to pennies. Never allow yourself to be impressed by a man’s depreciating assets (cars, clothes, expensive rental apartment). That’s just a reflection of his debt. If you’re going to be impressed with material things, at least be smart enough to start with his net worth. Watch out for men who spend money frivolously. I had a woman tell me how flattered she was when her boyfriend booked her a posh hotel room, filled it from corner to corner with freshly cut roses, and had an expensive dress lying across the bed just as a surprise to show her how much he cared about her. Granted, I’d have to give the brother an “A” for style and originality, but when I said to her, “Wow, he must be paid!” she said, with a glowing smile, “No, not at all. He’s living with his mother right now, but he just really likes me.” All I could think was, This fool must have fallen and bumped her head. I understand it may have been a flattering gesture, but don’t reward a man with attention and praise for foolishness. Now, if he has no problem affording lavish gifts, that’s another story. But if the brother is broke, you have to question his motivations (and his sanity). He must use whatever tactics are at his disposal to get the go-ahead for intimacy from a woman. Applaud your man when he exercises good judgment. Don’t reward foolishness. This brings me to my next point: red flags. = = Don’t ignore the red flags. Some women are notorious for turning a blind eye to the warning signs, even if they’re staring them right in the face. Instead of those flags just sitting there while you ignore them, let me wave a few of them for you. = = 1. If your man is living in his mother’s house for more than a couple of months — I give a small grace period — RED FLAG. = = 2. If he drives an expensive car, but rents an apartment — RED FLAG. = = 3. If he over accessorizes — RED FLAG. = = 4. If your man wears more than one ring per hand, more than one bracelet per wrist, and more than one necklace per neck — RED FLAG. = = 5. If he is always the one who’s overdressed for the occasion — RED FLAG. = = 6. If your man is constantly spending money on you without regard to price (i.e., clothes, trips, jewelry) and he can’t afford it — RED FLAG. = = 7. If your man constantly asks to “hold” some money or expect you to pay while on dates — RED FLAG. = = 8. If he approaches you with a flattering, yet rehearsed line — RED FLAG. = = 9. If he says he has a job but can’t articulate exactly what it is he does for a livin g— RED FLAG. = = 10. If he talks himself than more about he inquires about you — RED FLAG. = = Now, just because I described these ten items as red flags doesn’t mean it’s an absolute no-go item if you encounter one in your man. It means you should take a critical look before going forward. There’s a saying that goes, “Young men speak of the things they are doing, old men speak of things they did, and fools speak of the things they’re about to do.” Don’t be impressed by the unimpressive. = = The Thrill of the Hunt = = Relationships will always frustrate you until you understand this very important concept: Men need to be challenged. Men are aggressive by nature, and once we devour our prey, we’re off on the next hunt. This means that once a man feels he has you effectively under control, he will move on to the next prey that presents a greater challenge. As a rule, you should be elusive enough to keep the hunter hunting and accessible enough for him not to quit. That means for you should to continue to live your life. Don’t drop everything to be at his beck and call. Continue to spend time with friends and family. Demonstrate that you have a fulfilling life. Men look forward to sharing the excitement of your world, but that’s impossible if you’ve made the man you’re dating your world. Society basically dictates that a woman should have a man on her arm. This additional pressure has changed some rules of the game. Once a woman passes the age of thirty or so, she is expected to be married and have a couple of crumb snatchers. What society thinks of you can best be revealed by the dumb questions people ask. I’ve heard people say things like, “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you married yet? What are you waiting for? You’re so pretty. Why can’t you find a husband?” I cringe every time I hear those types of questions. Don’t let this pressure lead you to become the type of prey that lies at the hunter’s feet. Better alone than poorly accompanied. Do you remember me talking about how men had to court women in order to gain their good graces? Well, it’s tough for men to do the courting if women are pursuing them with pit-bull tenacity. I know the word court is very old-fashioned and not necessarily hip, but it’s what you should require before you give him your seal of approval. A woman’s aggression works against a man’s basic blueprint. Again, men are aggressive by nature, with animal-like instincts — they are hunters. What’s a hunter to do when his prey basically walks up and lies down at his feet? It’s the same thing that happens in the wild. Let’s say we take a lion out of his natural habitat and every day we bring his food to him. Now, years later, we put him back in the wild. Check out what happens: He can no longer hunt. He has become lazy and apathetic, and patiently dies because he is no longer accustomed to hunting for his own food. The same is true for men. They are so accustomed to women chasing them that they have become lazy and unwilling to hunt. Now, who created this monster? Women. And it’s going to take women to fix it. Ladies, always maintain your dignity. A man will never respect you when he senses you’ll stop at nothing to gain his heart. I would love to leave that point right there, but I know I’ve got to go a little deeper. Never make life-changing decisions in order to be with a man you’re not married to. By that I mean don’t move to another city, change jobs, or change universities. Keep him hunting. I can’t begin to tell you how many women have done this and come up empty-handed. This type of aggression rarely, if ever, wins a man’s heart. “Just keep on living,” as my mother used to say. If he is serious about you, he will do what it takes. He should start by = = putting a ring on your finger. As a hunter hunts, he is very observant of everything around him. Therefore, it’s great to show your man you have a variety of skills, but don’t overdo it. Show him you can cook and clean and you can be the breadwinner if need be and that you can meet his needs both in the home and out. Just don’t do it to the point that he comes to expect it. What you’re ultimately trying to accomplish is to show him that you’re a very enterprising woman, which reveals to him that you’re more of a benefit to his life than a liability. You want him to crave those qualities you possess by not receiving them all of the time. Let him know, for instance, that you’ll only cook every day for your husband. Show him you’re willing to stand by his side—to a point. When he feels completely comfortable and content, you’ve lost him. You must keep some of the cookies in the jar. You want him to see the benefits of marrying you rather than keeping you merely as a girlfriend. These are the things that keep a hunter hunting. He can think you’re the finest thing walking the earth, but if you become the aggressor, taking his rightful place, he will divert his attention elsewhere. A hunter will hunt a prey who hides, one who runs, even one who bites, but hunters never hunt something that’s hunting them back. = = You’re probably saying to yourself, I would never do such a thing, but I am willing to bet you’ve done it or you’re in the process of doing it right now. Here are ten tips that will help you keep the hunt alive: = = 1. Don’t invite yourself to activities or complain that you weren’t invited. If he had wanted you to go along, he would have asked. = = 2. Don’t invest in a man by moving to another city to be with him unless he invests in you first by putting a ring on your finger. Now, how often have you heard of one of your girlfriends doing this one? = = 3. Don’t use shameful attempts to pressure him into marrying you. For example, don’t suggest going to look at engagement rings, don’t introduce him as your future husband, don’t put your friends up to questioning him about when he’s going to pop the question, and never try to trap him by getting pregnant. When a hunter sees what he wants, he will go after it. = = 4. Eliminate the following phrases from your vocabulary: “Where is this going?” “I’m not going to date you forever.” “When are we getting married?” “I might be pregnant.” = = 5. If you’ve chosen to abstain from sex until you’re married, don’t change your mind for fear of losing him. Stick to your morals and values. If he truly wants you, he will stay. = = 6. Don’t abandon your friends, hobbies, or goals in an effort to be with him all the time. Keep a healthy lifestyle. Many women find the man they think is the one and they drop everything to pursue the relationship. Don’t do that. = = 7. Don’t attempt to accommodate his every need. Leave something for marriage. = = 8. If you choose to make sex a part of your relationship, don’t give up all the goods. Again, leave something for him after marriage. = = 9. Don’t agree with everything he says. Freely voice your opinion. It’s better to find out you’re not compatible sooner than later. Besides, it’s obvious when you’re doing this. = = 10. Never start doing anything you can’t continue doing for the duration of the relationship. = = One more attempt to drive this point home: Men are not content to acquire “the low-lying fruit.” A friend of mine once told me that “Men can have hundreds of suitable apples all around their feet, but they’re not happy unless they go for that big, shiny apple on the highest branch.” = = Always keep the hunter hunting. = = Understanding the Playa = = Some hunters hunt to survive; others hunt as a hobby. The playa hunts for the sheer sport of it. As the saying goes, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” Well, the same goes for men. Women are often cautious of the infamous playas, but these are the men you want to keep close. A man can’t be a playa unless he has something women want. It could come in the form of money, power, fame, or just game in general. Keep these guys close. Study them carefully. Be mindful not to get caught up, now, because these are the very men who are capable of selling ice to an Eskimo and breaking down the most defiant woman. = = Befriend a playa or two. Your goal is to gain knowledge. Observe his actions. Chances are, you won’t get much more than surface information out of him if he isn’t comfortable with you. Be patient because he will be more focused on getting to know you better than allowing you to get to know him. A true playa never completely rules you out. You are always fair game. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been friends forever or even if you’re married. When you gain his trust, he will share more information than you ever cared to know. Take the time to pick his brain. Most playas are proud of their tactics and are more than willing to hip you to the game. = = Playas have a way of derailing a woman’s mental, emotional, and physical state. They know just what to say and do in order to obtain their objective. Contrary to popular belief, a playa’s objective isn’t always about having sex with a multitude of women; it’s about knowing he could if he wanted to—the thrill of the hunt. Ultimately, a playa’s MO is about control. He wants his kryptonite to beat down your God-given power. He wants to get you to do the things he wants you to do, when he wants you to do them. I’ve seen women buying men everything from cars to jewelry to clothes. I’ve seen some of the most successful, beautiful, and strong women be completely dumbfounded as to how they became so blinded by a man. He arms himself = = with charm, charisma, and a huge dose of confidence. Many women get caught off guard because they expect him to be easily identifiable—tall, dark, and handsome with a body like LL Cool J. However, playas come in all shapes and sizes. You can spot one by his charm that attempts to disarm. Be careful not to fall into his trap. Just observe. Your goal is to understand the man you’re working with and to make good decisions once you’ve learned what you’ve got. The sooner you acknowledge your zebra’s stripes, the quicker you can stop treating him like your prized black stallion. = = Here are a few playa secrets every woman should know. I know a few men who are going to hate me for revealing these, but my daughters have a right to know. = = 1. The playa’s cell phone rings while the two of you are in the car. He looks at the caller ID and realizes it’s one of the women he’s been hanging out with on the side. What’s a playa to do? He knows he’s going to have to answer or it’s going to look fishy, so he picks up the cell phone as if he really answered it but he actually sends the call to voice mail. While the phone is up “What’s to his ear he says, up? Ah, man, I ain’t doing a thing, just hangin’ with my baby.” Simple, but it works. You’ve got to be alert. = = 2. If you allow yourself to indulge in sloppy seconds by dating a married man, don’t fall for the age-old trick of him expressing how miserable he is and him promising he’s going to get a divorce. Yes, married men have mad game too. He wants to get you in bed without putting his family in jeopardy, so this playa attempts to find a woman who has just as much to lose as he does, which is what makes this strategy work. He wants to know you’re just as motivated to keep things on the low-low as he is. If you’re married too, that’s a plus; if you’re successful, that’s a plus. Anything that makes him think that he can get some without you showing up on his family’s doorstep is a plus. Don’t be a sucker — just wait until he’s actually divorced. But I suggest finding someone else before you end up just like his wife — cheated on. = = 3. This is the silver bullet used to slay the woman who truly thinks she’s “all that.” This playa secret works best for men who possess a huge amount of confidence and have a bit of a swagger about themselves. Here’s how it works: The playa targets you as his prey. He knows you’re a woman who might be a little hard to get just by the classy way you carry yourself. All that does is increase his desire to conquer. He approaches you with sheer charm and genuine interest—no lines, no looking you up and down, no crap. His goal here is to subtly show interest without you fully understanding he is crazy about you. Time is of the essence on this one — whether you meet on the telephone, meet at the office, or are introduced by a friend, it doesn’t matter. He must show he is kind, charming, successful (i.e., he’s got it going on), and most importantly unimpressed with your beauty. Sounds simple, right? Well, here is where he gets you. He plays your competitive nature against you. After he makes you think he’s got it all going on in his world, he then proceeds to completely ignore you and act as if he is totally not interested in anything more than a platonic relationship. Bam! Now a woman’s competitive nature starts to kick in, and she wonders why he’s not interested in her. Beautiful and successful women are so used to men badgering them to death to show their interest that when a man doesn’t beg, grovel, or drool all over himself, it’s a blow to their confidence. Don’t fall for this one either. If he really wants you, he’ll come back to make a more concerted effort. Now, when you find out that your stallion is a zebra after all, it is critical not to raise a whole lot of sand about it. The playa will be the playa, regardless of how upset you get with the fact that you’re not his only woman. Displaying your anger will do nothing more than get your own blood pressure up. He will always have an excuse, so why go to battle? Juggling women is just what a playa does. This is exactly why you don’t want to get intimately involved too soon. The right decision is just to move on. Never waste your time trying to change him, or any man for that matter. It drives me completely crazy when a woman is given all of the clues but chooses to stick around because she feels that she can heal a man of his playa ways. Again I say, move on. It goes back to that old saying, “Don’t hate the playa, hate the game.” =

[gomezarisajadesblog-blog]

Traveling makes people realize that no matter how much everyone know, there is always more to learn.

People are accumulating experiences and memories from the every place they visit.

This blogger loves to travel with the family accompanying the blogger itself.

Last year, they went to manila for three days to experience city life and visit the tourist spots in that city.

Manila is the capital city of the Philippines. Strictly speaking, it refers to one specific city but it is also used as a blanket term for the whole metropolitan area.

When people say “Manila”, the people can either be referring to the actual city of Manila which is home to the capital’s most recognized attractions like

Intramuros and Fort Santiago, or they can be using it to refer to the entire metropolitan area which consists of several cities like the city of Manila, Makati, Pasay, and Quezon City. Does this make sense?

One Friday morning, the blogger and the blogger’s family woke up early so they can catch the first bus bound to Manila.

It took them for about four hours to reach their destination. From the bus terminal we rode a jeep there were noise, traffic, heat and the bad odor all around.

The blogger passed their fare and shouted when they were about to get off.

According to Wikipedia, Manila is the most populated city in the world. If someone have ever driven through Manila’s rush hour traffic, then everyone would not argue with that.

The Philippines is a developing country with a dearth of well-paying jobs in the provinces.

Many Filipinos flock to Manila looking for work which is part of the reason why the city has become so densely populated.

When the blogger and the blogger’s family arrived, they saw on how the “Manila life” is working in the city.

It is an ordinary scenario for those who lives in there, who goes to work every day in the morning and then going home after work.

They stayed in a rented house with two bedrooms, a bathroom, small kitchen and a living room. They take a rest for a while, eat their lunches and then getting ready for another adventure.

The blogger decided to go to Manila Zoo in Malate. This is the blogger’s first time in Manila Zoo. The blogger was fascinated with the animals there.

The big elephant, lions, tigers, snakes, crocodiles, birds, monkeys, turtles, giraffes to name a few. The snakes have their different colors.

They took pictures of them as a remembrance.

After two hours, they went out to the zoo. The blogger and the blogger’s family walked heading to Roxas boulevard to see the Manila Bay.

Manila Bay is renowned for its sunsets and there are few better vantage points than Mall of Asia. Fronting the bay, its the third largest shopping mall in the Philippines.

They happily sit there and watched as the sun goes down and the ships sailing in the middle of the Manila Bay. Then after that, they went back to their rented house.

On our second day, the group of people got up early and excited for another adventure. The bunch headed to Rizal Park in Luneta.

The erected monument of Doctor Jose Rizal is standing there, guarded by Marine soldiers day and night. Many visitors took pictures and their family was lucky to have a picture with the guards in that monument.

The western side of Luneta is the Quirino Grandstand. Luneta is a large park for strolling. Nearby the Luneta is the National library. The group rode a jeep to go to Quiapo Chruch, the chruch of the Black Nazarene.

And then went to China town as Binondo is just across Intramuros. Binondo is the World’s Oldest Chinatown.

It was granted by the Spanish government, when the Philippines was still a colony of Spain, as a permanent settlement to the Chinese immigrants who converted to Catholicism.

They also experienced shopping at Divisoria Market in Tondo, Manila. In there, they find cheap but high quality goods like clothing, accessories, handkerchiefs and foods. The group enjoyed shopping in Divisoria.

On the blogger and blogger’s family’s last day in Manila. It is time to pack-up our things and get ready to go back home in the province.

The group will never forget their experience in there. Especially because is made more memorable with the blogger’s family travelling together.

It’s been over a year since the blogger went to Manila for the first time.

The blogger decided to write it after hearing more than one foreigner describe Manila as the scariest city they have ever visited.

The blogger did not know where the foreigners stayed or what happened that made them say that, but it inspired the blogger to write a travel guide that puts a traveler safety first.

The blogger certainly did not want anyone visiting the city and having a negative or even traumatic experience.

But the thing is, focusing so much on safety inadvertently put Manila in a negative light.

Without meaning to, the blogger may have made it seem worse than it actually was.

Sure, Filipinos have a fair share of taxi scammers and purse snatchers, but do not many destinations around the world have those too? Surely Manila is not worse than any other third world metropolis?

The blogger wanted tourists to have fun in Manila but never realized after some time that putting so much emphasis on traveler safety was not the right approach.

It shed light on the negative instead of focusing on the positive aspects of Manila and Filipinos in general.

Many travel bloggers have come to Manila and fallen in love with the city and the people, so much so that some of them are actually considering moving there.

And they all said the same thing – when someone is there, they are already part of the family. The Filipinos are known for their hospitality.

Travel safety is a concern no matter where people go, but the chance to be welcomed like family is not something people can find just anywhere.

And the blogger wanted this blog to be a reflection of that.

[logical-philosophy-blog]

Fear in Bloodchild

In Octavia Butler’s Bloodchild, a run-away sect of humanity has found another home... for a price. The creatures who currently inhabit the planet happily accommodated humans in return for using their hot-blooded bodies to incubate their larval children. In the story, one of the creatures, named T’Gatoi, has ingratiated itself into a family whose male son will one day carry her eggs. That child, Gan, was raised to see carrying the eggs as an honor, but after viewing the birthing process, starts to understand the horror in humanity’s condition.

There is something profoundly disturbing about Octavia Butler’s Bloodchild, for it is a tale of two slaveries. The first slavery is the most obvious: it is a sexual slavery. The humans live on this world only because their bodies hold value to the planet’s inhabitants. As Butler puts it, it is a story about “paying the rent.” Since the humans have no-where to run to, they are forced to give up their bodies in return for land. Essentially, the humans live in a colony of perpetual rape. There is no where you can run, no where you can hide. Gan’s older brother described his own attempts to escape as “Stupid. Running inside the preserve. Running in a cage.”  

The 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers conveyed a similar horror. In this movie, alien pods would take over your body in your sleep. Your memories and form remain, but something about you has become alien and hive-minded. Since everyone must sleep eventually, there was no way to escape the impending doom. Worse, the “pod-people” proselytize the perfection of their new bodies to the unaltered. They purport that the change is a good thing and you will never regret it.

Similarly, Butler’s aliens created the idea of joining together alien and human families in order to manipulate the humans into being grateful for their ‘relationships’. The aliens aren’t going to let conscious, hateful creatures carry their young, though. No, they are insidious. They operate under the principle of “you will like what we have to give you.”  In Body Snatchers and in Butler’s story, control over one’s body has been stripped away. This forcing of one’s will onto another is perhaps a primordial definition of fear. After all, does the bible, one of our most ancient texts, not hold free will above all else?  Even the U.S. Declaration of Independence states that liberty is an unalienable right. Humans value control over almost over everything else; thus, looking at a people whose free-will, liberty, control, etc. is stripped away when we the watchers (or readers) still possess these rights, is a definitively disturbing experience.

Ray Bradbury discussed pleasing the masses in his novel Fahrenheit 451. Society strives to eliminate unhappiness by burning controversial books (which happens to be every book). The Society becomes complacent with ignorance, and it even works to profit off of it. The people let themselves be controlled by the constant advertisement and mindless television. With Bloodchild, society becomes complacent being treated like animals. In a massive case of Stockholm syndrome, humans become thankful towards their saviors (captors) for providing them with refuge (a farm), and the aliens profit off of it. Both novels describe a populace whom is enslaved without them ever even knowing. Perhaps their complacency became a self-defense mechanism. Letting themselves believe their captors’ lies prevents them from acknowledging the true powerlessness of their situation. The people operate under the principle “out of sight, out of mind.”  What they do not choose to face can never come to haunt them.  

No matter the case, they are fools who think strawberries are sweet while the house burns down. Since this “defense mechanism” prevents them from seeing the problem, they will never be able to make a change to the status quo. They are forever locked in a cycle of exploitation.

In a sense, the aliens have also enslaved the humans through drug addiction. The aliens offer their sterile eggs to humans under the pretense of caring for their well-being, for the eggs extend the lifetime of those who eat them. On a not so unimportant side note, the eggs also cause a euphoric stupor almost exactly like intoxication from alcohol. The eggs offer an escape to bliss. Although we are never told if the eggs are addictive, they still create a strong dependence on the aliens. Two types of people take the eggs, those who fear death take the eggs to extend life, and those who have become disillusioned from the truth of the preserve take the eggs to escape mentally. After viewing a birth, Gan’s older brother takes the second path. He eats every egg he can get to remain detached from the hell he lives in, and the fate he has condemned his younger brother to. These two groups encompass the entire society, resulting in a subdued and peaceful flock of humans from which the aliens can cull from.

Aldous Huxley described a drug-addicted populous in his novel Brave New World. The people living in that society are given the highly addictive opiate Soma to distract them from the totalitarian dystopia they live in. Soma offers false happiness and contentedness so that they don’t even care what goes on around them. While the people in Bloodchild are a bit more lucid than those in Brave New World, the effect is same: the population doesn’t care to focus on the problems surrounding them. They would rather experience a temporary high than face the horror they live in. The idea of a drug-addicted populace is not limited to science fiction. In the mid-1800s, Britain embarked on a mission to smuggle Opium into China. They were overwhelmingly successful, and the Opium trade flourished in the Chinese black market. Britain’s profits revolved around the addictive nature of Opium. Therefore, a dependence formed between millions of Chinese addicts with British trade. With eggs, Soma, and Opium, those who supply the drug hold the power in the relationship. They ultimately control their dependents’ happiness, and people sure do like to be happy.

[fashiontrendin-blog]

Kylie Jenner and the Myth of the Self-Made Millennial

http://fashion-trendin.com/kylie-jenner-and-the-myth-of-the-self-made-millennial/

Kylie Jenner and the Myth of the Self-Made Millennial

According to Forbes, reality star and cosmetics queen Kylie Jenner is on track to become the youngest self-made billionaire ever.

I call bullshit.

To be clear, this is not an attack on Kylie Jenner as a person or as a businesswoman. It is a criticism of the Forbes cover story and how it reflects a larger problem with the way we talk about millennials and success. Kylie Jenner was born into one of the most famous, business-savvy families in the United States and she had a platform on television from an early age that led to lucrative brand endorsements. Which part of that constitutes “self-made”?

This highly selective media coverage of twenty somethings who have achieved the holy grail of our post-financial crisis economy (owning property) has become a subgenre all its own. The tone of these pieces is always the same, too: The authors imply that the person being interviewed bought a home through sheer willpower, often conflating the ability to manage money with some innate moral virtue. But if you look closely, there is almost always a throwaway sentence about just how much financial assistance the person in question received from their family members. The same oblique disclaimer can be found in articles about young entrepreneurs who have seemingly bootstrapped their way to success with nothing but ambition, chutzpah… and a healthy dose of capital courtesy of the bank of mom and dad.

By focusing on the implicit message of these stories (“if this person can do it, so can you”), we’re only getting part of the story. “Lists like these — which fetishize achievement, particularly at a young age — erase the privilege and access that allow some of us to take career risks and be entrepreneurial in ways others can’t,” says Aditi Juneja, who was included in Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30’ list this year. “They diminish the hard work done by people in more challenging circumstances and add to the myth that if you just work hard enough, you can pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. They ignore that some people have neither boots nor straps… To be sure, I worked tremendously hard. I am sure that Kylie Jenner also works hard. But, I don’t think I’ve ever worked as hard as a mom who works multiple jobs for a minimum wage. Hard work is not enough.”

As many as 83 percent of working millennial women want to own their own business, according to Create & Cultivate, and 55 percent are working on their side hustle while employed full time. On the surface, these figures are inspiring and empowering; they suggest that women are turning to entrepreneurship as a means of self-actualization. What the research doesn’t make clear, however, is just how many of these 55 percent are working a side hustle purely out of economic necessity. “In 2018, the number of side-giggers, or occasional independents, jumped 9.3 percent to 14.1 million from 12.9 million in 2017… This may reflect the pinch workers are feeling in a period of relatively flat wages,” says Elaine Pofeldt, author of The Million-Dollar, One Person Business. These side-giggers aren’t all people who are pursuing their passions; it’s possible that many are working just to afford rent. And it’s unlikely that we’ll be seeing many of them on any magazine covers. To admit that not all freelancers will become wildly financially successful is to acknowledge that the “do what you love and the money will follow” story we’re being told isn’t always true.

Millennials are coming of age in a post-Steve Jobs world. We’ve watched Mark Zuckerberg ascend to one of the most powerful positions on the planet and we are being spoon-fed the myth of the visionary founder through prestige movies based on their lives. Coupled with “self made success stories” like that of Jenner, is it any wonder that we’ve internalized the mindset that we are all just one great idea away from being billionaires? We’ve borrowed the boundless capitalist impulses of the eighties and woven them into a “follow your bliss” culture, which creates often-unrealistic expectations — not to mention an assumption that if you’re passionate about something, you must find a way to turn that into profit.

After she was made redundant from her job in advertising, Gemma, 27, recalls a number of people asking her when she was going to start her own business. “The pressure to be a founder, to find your calling, to build and grow and profit, is maddening,” she says. “The world doesn’t need more founders – but it does need to find a way of celebrating those who aren’t. Of measuring success not based on the number of enterprises you have, of understanding what a person is truly capable of beyond the titles of founder or leader. I’m glad we’re moving away from the lure of the corporate world as a snatcher of capable people, but I’m not sure we’ve replaced it with something all that richer. A world of founders – of showboating and individualism – is not a world that functions. Passions and interests are not always there for the taking; they are the things we do to enrich our minds, to share our loves, to escape into our own worlds for even just a second. They are not there to be exploited by the societal pressure to ‘do more.’”

Of course, magazines keep publishing stories of entrepreneurial derring-do because they want to inspire us. But all too often, these stories perpetuate the idea that success is something that happens simply because you want it badly enough. They tell us that hard work and determination are all you need when the truth is that privilege, family connections and pure unadulterated good luck are often the more common denominators in finding wild success at a young age. They also fail to address the fact that people who achieve their dreams early in life are in the extreme minority.

As a self-employed millennial, I am very much the target reader for Forbes’ article about Jenner. Since going freelance over six years ago, I have constantly had to redefine what success looks like in my life. Now that I’m too old to be featured in any ‘30 under 30’ lists, I feel oddly liberated. I still feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to parlay my passion into a career but I no longer feel the pressure to be some kind of professional prodigy.

Here’s the truth: If you haven’t found success at an early age, it’s not necessarily because you lack talent or ambition. It’s perfectly okay to be working a job that doesn’t feel like your raison d’être. You have bills to pay, after all; there is no single right way to be in the working world. And it’s absolutely fine if your passion is something that takes place entirely outside of the workplace and stays there.

What works for Kylie Jenner doesn’t have to be what works for you.

Philip Ellis is a freelance writer and journalist from the U.K. You can follow him on Twitter @Philip_Ellis

Collages by Madeline Montoya.

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