#and she started sending me like... links to absolute beginner 'how to start learning to code' resources

[cosmogyros]

That moment when you have to let people be wrong about you because correcting them would make you seem like an unbearable show-off

I was at a bookstore with a friend the other day and I was looking at a book in German that I was interested in buying, but then I saw that it was a translation and had originally been written in French

I commented idly to my friend "Sometimes I don't buy a book because it's a translation and I always prefer to read in the original language when possible" and she said in an agreeing-with-me way, "Yeah it would make more sense to read it in English"

and I realized she assumed I meant English when I said "original language"

but I couldn't bring myself to say "Yeah, or French or Dutch or Spanish or Italian or Portuguese or one of the other languages I read..." because like. who says that kind of thing.

[townofcrosshollow]

Twine Sugarcube 101

AKA, all you need to make a Twine game (I swear to god)

I’ve seen a lot of people go “Twine is too complicated for me :(” and give up before they’ve even started. And that makes me sad, partly because they’re giving up on a really cool hobby, and also because that’s false! It’s absolutely not too complicated for you!

I think the problem is that people look up Twine, see the documentation, and go “There’s way too much there! I can’t learn all that!” Well guess what- you shouldn’t learn all that, at least not yet. As a beginner you can skip pretty much all of this:

(Ignore <<linkappend>> too, forgot to crop that one out)

That’s a lot more manageable, right? Below the cut, I’ll let you know how to use all those remaining important things to make your story! Warning- it’s quite long! You might want to read it in sections! And while I’ll try to keep it entertaining, it’s also a coding tutorial, so... y’know. Might not be the most exciting read if you aren’t trying to learn Twine.

Welcome to below the cut!

First off, make sure your story format is set to Sugarcube 2. On the right side of the home screen (with all your stories), click format and choose the one labeled “Sugarcube 2.x.x” then open a new story with the green button! Here’s what you’ll see and what it all means:

Passages are all like individual web pages that you navigate between to play the game. When they’re linked together they’ll be shown like this:

Anything you write in a passage will just be shown on screen as plain text, no code required! But if you want to make anything more than just one passage with a bunch of text, you’ll have to link passages together with...

Links!

A link is composed of two parts- the text you see on screen, and the name of the passage you’re attaching it to. These are enclosed in [[double square brackets]], with a vertical bar | or a little arrow -> between them. If you want to show the passage name instead of alternative text, you can just put the passage name in square brackets alone! So this in the editor:

[[Visible text|Passage name]]

[[Visible text->Passage name]]

[[Passage name]]

Will look like this in the story:

Visible text

Visible text

Passage name

And all of them will lead to the passage labeled “Passage name.” You don’t even need to create the passage- when Twine sees that you’ve linked to a passage that doesn’t exist, it’ll add that passage for you.

That’s all you need to know! Technically, all you need to do to make a Twine story is add those fancy links between passages. If you add your awesome writing skills, that story will be super cool!

...but you want to do some fancy shit, right? Well let me introduce you to the next step up in complexity,

Variables!

“Variable” is a fun, code-y way to say “a bit of information that can change.” You could say they... vary.

Variables are useful for keeping track of information. If the player chooses to be blonde instead of a redhead, you might want to bring that up again- but you probably don’t want to write an entirely separate story based on that choice, right? So instead you save that information as a variable.

In Twine, variables are written as words with a $ in front of them. So my hair colour variable might be “$hairColour.” If you just write the variable out without any code, Twine will print the information you put into the variable. So if $hairColour is set to “blonde,” this...

She had $hairColour hair.

Will become...

She had blonde hair.

The value in a variable can be a boolean (ie. true or false), a number, or a string (like “blonde” or “any other string of characters”). They can also be fancy stuff like arrays, but we won’t be touching on that.

You can use variables to keep track of a lot of things! For instance...

How much money the player has

Whether a player has a key

What the player’s name is

I keep mentioning the value of a variable or “setting” it, but how do you do that? Well, one way is to add it to a link. If you want a link to set hair colour to blonde, for instance, you could write [[Blonde|Next passage][$hairColour to “blonde”]]. Clicking on that link would forward the player to “Next passage” and set the value of $hairColour to “blonde.”

There is a better way of doing it, however, but we’ll need to talk about...

Macros!

A macro is a snippet of code that runs when you put a special code word inside these <<spiky boys>>. You can write your own macros with JavaScript if you’re smart, find them on the internet if you’re even more smart, or just use the ones that come built in with Sugarcube.

The ones we’ll be talking about, and the ones that are the most important for most Twine games, are <<set>>, <<if>>, and <<link>>.

<<set>>

The <<set>> macro allows you to, you guessed it, assign a value to a variable. For instance, if you want to set $hairColour to blonde... well, that’s all you need to do! It’s just:

<<set $hairColour to “blonde”>>

It’s important to remember with the <<set>> macro that strings (collections of different characters) require quotation marks around them to show the code that it isn’t a number or a true/false value. If you put quotes around a number and try to do math with that variable, you’ll get a big ol’ error message.

If you’re using numbers, you can also use JavaScript operators in place of “to.” Each one will perform a calculation on the variable if that variable is a number, and then replace the variable with the result. If you want to add $5 to the player’s $money, you could use this:

<<set $money += 5>>

The “+=“ will add the number on the right to the variable on the left. “-=“ will do the same for subtraction, “*=“ for multiplication, and “/=“ for division. Easy enough, just don’t forget the = sign after the usual symbol!

By default, the <<set>> macro will be executed as soon as the page it’s on loads. Sometimes that’s useful, but sometimes you would rather the player click a link that sets a variable- like if they choose a hair colour. You might also want the same link to set multiple variables, like subtracting money and giving them an item when they use a shop. How do we do that?

<<link>>

The <<link>> macro is also pretty simple. All it does is create a link, and when that link it pressed it executes whatever is inside of it. Here we’ll be using it with <<set>>, but you can use it with all kinds of different macros and even nest some of them to do really complicated stuff!

As an example, we want the player to click “buy key,” give the player the key, and subtract $5 from their money. Here’s how we do it:

<<link “Buy key”>>

<<set $key to true>>

<<set $money -= 5>>

<</link>>

The text the player will click is in quotation marks, and after all of the macros we need to execute we have to close off the code by adding <</link>>. Easy, right?

But other than printing them on the screen, what can you actually use those variables for? Well, for that we’ll be using...

<<if>>

The <<if>> macro is my favourite, hands down, because it’s an easy way of accomplishing hard stuff. Simply put, <<if>> will check if the thing you asked about is true, and if it is, it will do whatever you put inside of it.

Here’s a simple example:

<<if $key is true>>

[[Use the key|Progress]]

<</if>>

Whatever is inside the <<if>> macro will be executed if the “if” statement is true. In this case, the link “Use the key” will be printed on the screen only if the player has the key. This also applies to code- if you put a <<set>> macro inside, that macro would only set a variable if the player has the key.

Now here’s a more complicated example, to show everything the <<if>> macro is capable of. Here we also want to check if they’ve already opened the door, and display alternate text if they have no key and the door is locked.

<<if $key is true>>

[[Use the key|Progress]]

<<elseif $doorOpen is true>>

[[Walk through|Progress]]

<<else>>

You need to find a key.

<</if>>

I’ll break it down line by line to tell you what each thing does.

<<if $key is true>>

This line is the only necessary one- it checks whether $key has been set to true. You can check for any value that a variable can be, like a number, true/false, or a string. You can also check for other things with this macro- for instance, “isnot” will check that the variable isn’t equal to the value on the right. “gt” or “lt” will check if the variable is greater/lesser than the value on the right, and “gte” or “lte” will check if it is greater than or equal to the value.

<<elseif $doorOpen is true>>

This line allows us to check for something else within the same <<if>> macro. Once the game has checked the original <<if>> and found that it is false, it will move on to checking each <<elseif>> until it finds one that is true. You can have as many <<elseif>>s as you need, and they can check the same variable or different variables, but only the first true one will be executed! And, of course, you can’t use <<elseif>> on its own- it’s stuck to the <<if>> macro!

<<else>>

This line is the last resort- if the original <<if>> and any <<elseif>>s have all been false, the game will execute whatever is after <<else>>. Because of this, there can only be one <<else>> line within any <<if>> macro! If you don’t have an <<else>>, nothing at all will be executed, so whether you include one depends on the situation.

<</if>>

This closes off the <<if>> macro. Nothing special, but very important! Put it after the last piece of code or bit of text you want the macro to control.

Phew. That’s it! That’s all I wanted to show you!

Now, HOMEWORK!

Okay, not homework, just practice. Here are some things you can try building to practice all these tools and get comfortable with how they work!

A store system with different items for different amounts of money

A character creation screen, followed by a description of your character (with variables!)

A puzzle that requires you to choose the right answer to proceed

If you have any trouble, need to ask any questions, or if something in this tutorial wasn’t clear to you, please let me know- you can DM me or send me an ask anytime and I’m happy to answer any Twine questions you have. I hope this was of use to you, and have fun making games <3

[afewdroppedstitches]

Some Resources

I had an ask about some drop-spinning resources and I ended up writing 2 pages on it, so I figured, since I already had it all written up, I might as well post it as well.

I’m going to apologize now, because this is going to be a VERY long answer. I also apologize because I reference The Woolry a lot and they are a US based store….If you aren’t based in the United States, I apologize. I don’t generally shop for fiber outside of the US, just because international shipping costs, and as such, can not give advice on the quality or whereabouts of local-ish fiber shops.

As for what to do for purchasing supplies, you kinda have two options:

The two places I suggest looking to buy are either Etsy or The Woolry. Both places have a options, but Etsy being essentially “crafty Amazon”, where it is a collection of sellers using one platform/site, it has A LOT more choices than The Woolry, but, the Woolry is a store that specializes in fiber arts and are, overall, is a great store to shop. Either way, you have two choices from either site:  you can get a kit or buy separately. Most of the kits I have seen do not come with “name brand spindles” so I can’t attest to the quality of the drop spindle but in general, kits tend to be the cheaper route and can be a great starting point. 

The other way is to buy a drop spindle and fiber separately. If you would prefer to go this route, I suggest any of these brands a I find them to be reliably of good quality and not stupidly expensive:  Louet (https://woolery.com/louet-high-whorl-spindle.html), Kromski

(https://woolery.com/kromski-drop-spindles.html), Ashford (https://woolery.com/ashford-student-drop-spindle.html), or Snyder (https://www.etsy.com/listing/546383905/medium-weight-mahogany-steampunk-gear?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=drop+spindle&ref=sr_gallery-1-4&organic_search_click=1&cns=1). (I used mostly Woolry links but you can find Louet, Kromski, and Ashford spindles on Etsy if you want, the Woolry is just easier to navigate). I highly suggest a top whorl as I find that most people find the top whorl spindles easier to master at first. In general, a good student/beginner spindle weights 2-3oz. As for what to spin, do not, for the love of Athena, get silk or cellulose fibers or synthetic fibers. Plant/cellulose based fibers are much more difficult to spin then protein based fibers because they do not have any “grip” or “tooth” - because of the cell structure of plants, the surface is smooth where protein based fibers are scaled on the surface, allowing the fiber to grip together. Synthetic fibers are much like cellulose in that they tend to be smoother and harder to spin (and in some cases, are meant to be blended with other fibers, not spun alone). Silk is one of those “it’s technically a protein fiber (because of it’s cell structure) but it spins like a cellulose fiber”. TLDR:  please just get wool, it will be much easier to learn. 

Now, not to confuse you too much, I’m just going to say: for a beginner, I suggest getting roving (or, as some people call it “top” or “top roving”). There are multiple different ways to prepare fiber and there is a lot of names and I could literally write a whole dissertation-length paper on the differences with a lot of technical terms, and if you really want that, I’ll throw it up in a separate post. For know, top roving is the short answer. 

Wool breeds: for simplicity and for time, I suggest either: merino, BFL (blue face Leicester), or polwarth. I have seen a lot of debate over which breed of the 1000s of wool breeds is best for beginners to learn, and honestly, I don’t think there is one, perfect answer. Mostly, I suggest either one of those three because they are of the easier breeds to spin because of fiber staple (the length of the fiber) and the toothyness of the fiber (this is technically called the micron count of the fiber) generally leaves it soft to the touch but still easy to spin. The Woolry has some good plain wool to purchase but most of it is undyed - which is cheaper. They sell it in 8oz braids (which, btw, is twice what you get for a “standard” braid of top roving - always look at the weight). But some people find plain, undyed wool boring to spin so…..I have a color dyers I recommend:

Wonderland Dyeworks (currently closed but her fiber braids???? I absolutely love them, she is one of the first booths I shop at when I go to Stitches West) (https://www.etsy.com/shop/WonderlandDyeworks)

Three Waters Farm (https://www.etsy.com/shop/threewatersfarm)

Greenwood Fiber Works (https://greenwoodfiberworks.com/collections/hand-dyed-roving-1/merino) 

As for resources for spinning, my all time favorite books for handspinning:

Spinning in the Old Way:  (https://www.amazon.com/Spinning-Old-Way-High-Whorl-Handspindle-ebook/dp/B002I5E42K/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=spinning+in+the+old+way&qid=1590422946&sr=8-1)

And Respect the Spindle

(https://www.amazon.com/Respect-Spindle-Infinite-Yarns-Amazing/dp/1596681551/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=respect+the+spindle&qid=1590423239&sr=8-1)

As for a youtube video, this one does a great job at showing how to get started:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrZcr7_qXFY

I think that covers everything - if you have any further questions, feel free to send me another message!

[bellameblake]

Hey! I really love your gifs and everything you post. I was wondering if you have any tips when it comes to giffing, something for a beginner? And if you got other favorite giffers in this fandom, someone who inspires you as much as you inspire me?

gfhjfdhgjfhgjfhgfd you have no idea how much this message means to me. i never get messages like this so thank you so much <3 I can’t believe i inspire someone thank you wow 

okay so i get long winded when explaining things a lot of the time so if you ever have any specific questions please feel free to send me a message and i will try to help to the best of my ability. I’m always happy to help! 

so first off I have a bunch of photoshop resources and the gif tutorials are here and here are a few good tutorials for gifs for beginners here and here and i’m sure i have more in my tag! 

so here are some tips!

first off i use photoshop CS5. idk how to make gifs any other way…

I use potplayer to get my caps the good thing about potplayer is you can copy a youtube link into it and then cap the video without downloading it! another is kmplayer. 

if you have windows you can hit the windows button + g and get a game scream up and record the screen from there! 

okay so speaking of video always use the highest quality video you can 1080p is the best hands down 720 if you have to but frankly, don’t go any lower just don’t do that to yourself it’s not worth it. it will only turn out grainy and you cant color it and ugh just aim for 1080p videos which you can find on youtube if you don’t want to get involved with downloading entire episodes of shows!

then comes to making caps make sure you have the cap size right out else it can look wonky there are tutorials for that too

once you have your caps you need to use tumblrs sizing… 540xwhatever you want, 268c whatever you want, and 177x178x177

i know some people don’t sharpen their gifs but i always do! i have some sharpening actions tagged but you can find them on deviantart too! if you have any questions about actions feel free to ask me it took me a while to figure out how they worked honestly haha

then it’s time for coloring! this you can do however you want! my style has changed a whole lot over the years… you can use a tutorial… i started out by using psds but i really recommend just coloring on your own because its actually really fun to test things and see what they do and so on

recently i have been starting with levels then curves and vibrance, selective color, brightness/contrast and color balance i just go with the flow honestly lmao i am just coloring things how i like and worrying about others liking it less and less 

please becare about whitewashing you can use selective color, photo filters, and color balance to help this

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! just keep going it will get easier over time i swear and the more you gif the better you get like with anything haha

gif what you want, color how you want make what you want. do i make things that i think will be popular? heck yeah but i also make things for myself because i want them

then saving it do save for web and devices, check the size, make sure the loop is forever not once, and the size must be under 3M! i think my settings are at 256 color, adaptive and pattern? i can screenshot my settings if you want just ask! 

honestly just have fun with it! giffing has become something i do as a distraction and just for fun! i love seeing what colors i can make

i’m assuming you are referring to the 100 fandom…. the 100 is a horrible show to color most of the time. it is so dark but starting with it i learned how to color and now absolutely every other show/ movie/ ect is so so easy in comparison 

if you want a specific the 100 tutorial i can try like for drak scenes of the awful yellow of praimfaya or the blue on the ark/ring and the whitewashing on the 100 is so bad 

as for people i admire in the 100 fandom (which unfortunatly is so so dead rn and a lot of people left)

the person i admired most and actually got tips on giffing from is no longer on tumblr a lot of people aren’t on anymore 

@captainheroism - makes such beautiful sets for so many fandoms 

@jasperjoordan - iva always has clean amazing gifs

@jordanjaspergreen - kate blows my damn mind wither her gifs she creates such complicated sets and idk how she does it like one set i was on the phone with her for like 5 hours talking while she made it and going over scenes and dfhgfjdhdg kate’s amazing i could go on forever about kate 

@flawlessbellamy - banangh’s going to yell at me for adding her but you know what he gifs for bbp are some of my favorites 

@commander-anya - maru makes such pretty colurful gifs!

@ginervaweasley - makes such colorful gifs and im always in awe!

some other amazing giffers are @zekeshaw @clarkgriffon @fen-ha-fuck-you, i know i’m missing a lot of people and i know a lot are inactive and such

thank you again for this ask! it means so much! if you have any questions about anything let me know im happy to help! 

[fullbeaumonty]

Ten Lords A-Leaping (Or, in this Case, One Excited Duke)

This is my contribution to the 12 Days of Cordonian Christmas for Day 10 - Ten Lords A-Leaping!

Pairing: Maxwell x Lydia, Lydia and Joni (OC friend)

Word Count: ~4,500

Rating: Let’s call it PG for language.  This is pure fluff, though.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Joni and Oliver.

Author’s Note:  I’ve wondered about the friends that our transplanted MCs left behind - in New York in the case of TRR.  Certainly she had friends and I’ll bet they miss each other and find ways to stay in touch across the miles. For this story and in my universe, I gave my beloved Lydia a dear friend from back home named Joni (whom Lydia sometimes calls Jones as a nickname).  Inspiration for this story and a moodboard are at the bottom - they’d give too much away if I put them here!

To my own real-life Joni - you already know this story is a Christmas gift for you.  Your friendship is a gift in my life, as well as the million and a half things I’ve learned from you and the endless encouragement and insight you’ve given me.  If I could knit, I would knit you a squid scarf that I’m certain you would wear with Maxwell levels of pride. You deserve that and so much more. I love you.

12 Days Tag List: @ao719 @blackwidow2721 @bobasheebaby @brightpinkpeppercorn @fullbeaumonty @hopefulmoonobject @itsstillnotwhatyouthink @leelee10898 @riseandshinelittleblossom @speedyoperarascalparty @kenjikatsoros @zaffrenotes @mind-reader1 @cocomaxley, @blackcoffee85 @likethetailofacomet @endlessly-searching-for-you @tornbetween2loves

Personal Tag List: @breaumonts, @thedepthsremember, @ritachacha, @hellospunkiebrewster, @alj4890, @dancetothestoriesinyoursoul, @littlecrookedheart

Up next for Day 11 is @itsstillnotwhatyouthink!

                                            *********

She’d started the project with an Etsy-purchased pattern and a dream, no experience and little more for inspiration than a long-forgotten comment he’d probably just said to make her laugh in the moment.  But Lydia listens, and moreover, she thinks, mental gears in constant motion.  She’d tucked that idea away until she realized as the leaves began to turn that she should probably get started on such an ambitious project if it was going to be done in time for Christmas.

There was so much joy in the activity then, tools and supplies hidden away in a box, in a drawer, in a rarely-used room, every caution taken to be sure this would always remain a surprise.  But that was before the twenty YouTube tutorials (“...for absolute beginners, my ass!”), the half-dozen failed cast-ons and dozen and a half restarts when she had to pull everything apart and start over to fix yet another mistake.  It’s late November and the project she can see so clearly in her mind is little more than a heap of mottled red yarn on her lap.

She stares out the window at the distant mountains, trying to calm herself through her frustration.  Checking her phone, she does some quick mental time zone math to be sure it’s not too early on the East Coast before sending a message to Joni, who not only knew how to knit but also always knew how to make her feel as though she could take on the world.  And if the world was in her reach, certainly this project was as well.

After a few moments, the phone screen lights up, and Lydia smiles.

                                                    *********

They have no shortage of friends - noble, common, or otherwise - but every once in a while she still feels the pang of missing her friends back in the States.  Just because this is a wonderful, charmed life doesn’t negate the fact that she left another life behind that had its own positives.  Thank goodness for messaging apps and Pictagram to keep her far-away friends feeling at least a little closer.

The familiar tri-tone ring of Skype fills the quiet of the room before her dear friend’s face pops up on the laptop’s screen, pixelating for a moment, then returning.  Joni grins and squeals, “Lyddie!” and the smile Lydia returns as she waves at her friend hurts her cheeks, but it’s accompanied by the tangible ebbing away of her earlier frustration.

“It’s so good to see you!  You look great!  New hair?”

“Of course!  I loved the lavender, but it fades so quickly.”

“Well, that shade of red is perfect for you.”  Lydia pulls her long brunette waves over one shoulder.  “Still plain Jane brown over here.”

Joni waves her off.  “Hush, you’re gorgeous.” She props herself up on her elbows on the desk and smiles at Lydia. “I miss you, Lyd.  But it looks like royal life is treating you well.”

“We’re nobility, my friend, not royalty.  Big difference.”

“Yeah, huge.”  Joni laughs and Lydia joins her, happy just to see her friend.  It’s not the quiet coffee shop filled with hipsters writing manuscripts where they were used to meeting, but right now, it’s a close second.

“So…” Joni rubs her hands together excitedly. “You want some help to knit a scarf, huh?”  Lydia nods, looking down from the camera for a moment to email her a link to the picture and pattern.   Joni’s smile fades as her jaw drops slowly and her eyes go wide as she scans the instructions.  “I thought you were trying to knit a scarf scarf, as in, a very long rectangle.  I figured maybe you were being ambitious with something like a cable knit and it was giving you trouble.  This is…” she trails off for a moment.  “I mean, it’s doable, but it’s another level. And you’ve never knitted before?”

She shakes her head.  “Never.”

“You never did things by half measures, either, Lyd.”  Joni looks up from the pattern, brow furrowed.  “I’ll help you the best I can, but I’m gonna be honest, I have no idea how to change yarns like that.”

“Jones,” she sighs, “I don’t even know what ‘changing yarns’ means.  I’m in way, way over my head.”  She lifts the tangled pile of yarn so Joni can see it on her own screen.  Her friend pulls a face when she sees the mess. “I know, right?  Yikes.”

“Yikes,” Joni agrees.

Lydia watches in silence as Joni reads the instructions in detail, squinting at the screen and silently mouthing a phrase here and there.  Anxiety creeps back in by the moment.  Maybe this was impossible.  She hates that word, but she also hates the fact that she’s had this in mind for the better part of a year and it’s now exactly one month to Christmas, with no end in sight for the project.

Finally, Joni looks up at her again. “You know what, I love a good challenge.  I can’t exactly teach you more than the basics, because most of this is all new to me, but I’ll learn along with you and we can knit this thing together.  What do you think?”

Lydia can’t speak for the lump in her throat, but her smile and nod say “thank you” for her.

                                                *********

Joni is exceedingly patient, more patient than Lydia would be if the tables were turned, as she teaches her the essentials of knitting.

“Okay, basic knit stitch.  Bring this needle up into the first stitch, behind your left-hand needle.  Wrap the yarn between the two needles, counter-clockwise for you since you’re looking down on it, then pull that strand through the stitch.  Angle the needle downward if you need to, like this.”  She holds her needles up to the camera and slowly goes through the motions again as a visual.  Lydia nods and tries it herself.  “We’re going to knit this row and purl the next one, okay?  The instructions say to count 66 stitches for each.”

If these are the same instructions given by strangers on the many YouTube videos she’d watched over the past month of confusion and frustration, she wouldn’t know.  She makes mistakes.  She needs several steps repeated.  She unravels parts of her work in frustration and begins again.  But now she understands.  Maybe all it took was the encouragement of a familiar voice.  It’s amazing to look down and finally see progress.

The two friends talk while they knit, more words spoken aloud between them in these few weeks than in the past year and a half.  Theirs is an odd relationship, friends who met online as strangers through a shared interest years ago, happily discovering over time that they lived relatively close to one another.  In what feels like a former life now, they would meet halfway for coffee every few months for marathon chats and so much laughter.  She’s grateful for text messages, but her heart twists for a moment when she glances up at the screen, watching her friend skillfully knit while she tells a story about the customers at her job. Lydia simply wishes she could hug her again.

It has always amazed and delighted her that she seems to learn something new about life, the world, or herself after a conversation with Joni.  She’s learning about stockinette and right-leaning stitches, purl-wise and knit-wise and bind-offs, of course, but as the scarves take shape, their discussions deepen beyond even the light conversation between dear friends to fears, futures, and more.

Lydia shares stories of the animals in the menagerie and Joni shakes her head and laughs over Maxwell’s peacock obsession.  (“Did I tell you about the time he officiated a peacock wedding?”)  They ponder whether Joni’s boyfriend James will pop the question any time soon (“If he does, I hope he doesn’t do it at Christmas, that’s so cliche.”) and sometimes Lydia calls out a hello to him as he walks through the room in the background.  (“Say hi to Max for me!”  “You can text him yourself, you know!”)

As they start in on knitting the many stitches of the long, long tentacles, Joni asks about their corgi.  “So you just have Wigglesworth, then?  I’m really surprised that a couple with a panther, pandas, and a pride of peafowl only has one pet in the house.”  They look up at each other and laugh at her unintentional alliteration.

Lydia’s smile is wistful and her hands still for a moment.  “You know, I realized recently...now that we’re settled in here, it feels strange not to have a cat or two padding around.  I’ve always had a cat.  It was...just…” She takes a deep breath.  “Charlie died eight days before I met the guys. The apartment was so lonely without him, and so sad.  It made the decision all that much easier when Maxwell asked me to come to Cordonia with him.  I wasn’t leaving anything behind, really.”  She looks up at Joni quickly in the camera and waves her hand awkwardly.  “I mean, I left you, of course. And Daniel. I do hope he’s okay. But...you knew what I meant, right?”

Joni smiles.  “I knew what you meant.”

“So how’s your sweet little feline?”

She angles the laptop screen downward to show the old grey tabby asleep on her lap, completely unfazed by the yarn around him as he purrs in his sleep.  “He’s sweet, but not so little.  And he’s great.  12 this year.”  She scratches behind his ears and smooths her hand across his fur affectionately.  “I’m sure any man who saves a stray corgi off the street - which I still think is unbelievable, Lyd - and adopts two wild red pandas for you as a gift would love a few cats running around that big place with you.  Why don’t you talk to him about it?”

Lydia recounts her stitches, having lost her place while lost in thought, and continues knitting.  “I will, thanks.” She gives Joni a half-smile.  “Crazy cat ladies unite, right?”

“Hell yes”

                                                ********

There are several close calls during this clandestine crafting operation.  Once, retreating quickly, quietly, from her designated knitting room toward the end of the hall, she’d come upon him backing out of another rarely-used guest room and shrieked in surprise and fright in the shadowy hallway.

He’d jumped back against the door, hand still grasping the doorknob.  “Whoa, Lyd, watch it!  You’ll scare…” Catching himself, he’d paused for one long beat. “…everyone.”

“Who is everyone?”  Still clutching her chest above her racing heart, she’d looked around the empty corridor, silent but for the sound of her pulse roaring in her ears.  Before thinking, she’d asked, “And what are you doing up here?”

“What are you doing up here?”

Shit.

Knowing there was no use attempting even a white lie to her ever-perceptive husband, she’d decided quickly on an evasive truth.  Hands up in surrender, she’d leveled with him.  “It’s Christmas, Max.  You can have your secrets, and I’ll have mine.  Deal?”

“Deal,” he’d responded, satisfied.

Joni looked at her quizzically when they’d connected for a knitting session several days later. “Are you in a different room today?” she’d asked, as they each got out their white yarn and started in on the difficult task of stitching the eyes.

With less than two weeks to Christmas and so much work put into this surprise already, Lydia couldn’t be too careful.

                                              *******

The suckers nearly do her in.  After two days of working on them, not one is truly circular, and none are spaced correctly. Lydia finally throws down her needles and yarn in a frustrated huff, screeching in a manner rather unbefitting a duchess, “This is bullshit!  Why did I ever think this was a good idea?”

Joni, who has been the model of patience so far in this endeavor, looks up from her perfect row of suckers two tentacles ahead and levels a stern gaze at her, gesturing with one needle toward the camera. “Because that man is honestly such a good, he changed your life forever and he deserves this insane scarf at the absolute least and the world at most.  Because it’s your first Christmas together and this is worth it, I promise. Because you’re incredible and you can do anything you put your mind to, and I know you know that.  Do you need more reasons?  I have more.”

She shakes her head no and picks up the project again, simultaneously cowed and calmed, giving her friend a small smile as she counts the stitches to the placement of the next sucker.  “Thanks, Jones,” she says quietly.

Joni returns her smile.  “Anytime.”  Looking back down at the yarn in her hands, she asks brightly, “So what do you think Maxwell got you for Christmas?”

                                              ********

Finally, finally, the project is complete.  It’s a woeful imitation of the pattern’s accompanying example photo, but it’s done, and it’s clearly a squid, so that’s really all that matters at this point.  Joni completed her scarf several days ago and has so far spent this knitting session sharing her tips and tricks for finishing up the stitches and making sure everything is in place.  Lydia’s not sure everything actually is in place, but Christmas is four days away and when she holds the scarf up, nothing falls off.  She and Joni both decide on success.

“You know, this may be the coolest scarf I’ve ever knitted...the coolest thing I’ve ever knitted!  It’s certainly the most interesting one I’ve ever owned!  The most flair I’ve ever added until now was tassels along the edge.” Joni’s smile is bright and genuine, clearly proud of both of them.  “This is a real accomplishment for me - I can’t imagine how you must feel!”

“I feel like I can’t thank you enough.”

Joni waves her hand at the camera.  “You’re welcome, of course, but hey, I learned something new.  That’s never a bad thing.  And this time together…” She shakes her head slightly and trails off for a moment, collecting herself before looking back up.  “I’ve missed you, Lyd.”

She swallows against the lump in her throat and smiles at her friend.  “Me too.  I think we’re overdue for a trip to New York.  But you and James are always welcome here!”  She gestures toward the room behind her.  “We have twenty-two guest rooms just waiting for guests!”  Thinking a moment, she amends, “Well, nineteen.  One is Wigglesworth’s room, we just started working on the ball pit room I promised Maxwell, and I think this one will become my knitting room.”

“Hey, I know!”  Joni exclaims, face lit up with excitement.  “We can keep doing this!  Not inordinately difficult squid scarves, obviously, but if you actually enjoy knitting, we can meet up this way to work on our projects together.  Like a little knitting club!  But we need a name…”

Lydia delivers her suggestion proudly as though it’s a royal decree.  “We shall henceforth be known as the Knit-wits!”

“Oh, come on,” Joni groans.  She shakes her head but can’t hide her smile.  “Does Max appreciate your ridiculous puns?”

“Jones, you have no idea.”

                                               ********

She’d spent so much time researching how to knit before finally asking an expert that almost all her personalized ads on Pictagram are now knitting-related.  She’s scrolling through idly at her desk in a quiet moment to herself when she comes across the perfect gift for her friend - a black t-shirt printed with a lovely woman whose hair is made of multicolored yarn, knitting needles sticking out at odd angles for hairpins, a beatific smile on her face as she reaches up with scissors to snip off a section.  The fact that it says Yarn Goddess is the icing on the cake.  

She orders it immediately, giddy with excitement.  It won’t quite make it to New York by Christmas, but it’s the thought that counts, right?  

                                                   ********

The gift-giving portion of this lovely, quiet Christmas morning is wrapping up.  New clothes - including several lacy pieces for Lydia - have been tried on and modeled, a small pile of items both fun and practical sit on the coffee table in front of them, and new books are stacked on the floor. Paper and bows are strewn everywhere.  They’ve gone through half a box of tissues between them (“We’re ridiculous, you know that?  What couple cries this much on Christmas morning?”) as gifts both special and simply surprising have been opened.

Maxwell is currently at the Christmas tree, giving his latest gift pride of place front and center.  As he finds just the right spot for the ornament, she reaches up again to touch her new necklace - a simple aquamarine solitaire, so beautiful it needs no extravagant setting. The stone is a hue-perfect reminder of the crystalline ocean outside their honeymoon villa, a blissful memory in gemstone form.  She watches him hold the ornament in the palm of his hand for just a moment after he hangs it on the tree, looking at it once more, and her chest tightens with emotion.  She honestly never knew she could love someone so much.

He doesn’t even bother with a tissue this time, wiping his eyes with his hand as he flops back down on the sofa next to her, their knees touching on the center cushion.  She smiles softly at him, thrilled that one of the gifts she was most excited to give him this morning had obviously hit its mark.

“Where did you even find that, Lyd?  It’s amazing. Perfect.”

“Ah, Americans love to personalize things.  We’ll personalize anything if it has enough space to write a name.  And never underestimate the power of Google...though finding an ornament with a hippo couple under the mistletoe does seem like serendipity.”  She looks over to the ornament on the tree, the branches sparkling even in the bright light of late morning.  “But we know a thing or two about serendipity, don’t we?”

“We do,” he responds quietly, leaning back against the cushion with a smile.  She’s eager to share his final gift with him, but she can’t resist scooting across the sofa to curl against his side.  With his arms around her, it feels like a warm cocoon of holiday contentment.  Breathing in his scent, listening to his heart beat, his hand combing gently through her hair, she could so easily fall asleep.  The scarf was three months in the making, after all; it could wait another hour.  Wigglesworth waddles over from his plush new dog bed and hops up on the sofa with them to join in the cuddling.  After a few minutes, Maxwell breaks the cozy silence.  “I still have one more gift for you.”

She looks up at him.  “I do, too.”

“Oh! You first!”

Laughing at his renewed Christmas excitement, she reluctantly disentangles herself from him and gets up to grab the final gift package beneath the tree and places it in his lap. He tears at the paper until the mottled red blob of yarn is revealed, eyes widening as he lifts it up to see it in its full glory.

Lydia can see every imperfection in the stitching - the fact that two random tentacles are the better part of a foot longer than the other six, the eyes are too far apart and not even close to level, and one tentacle somehow ended up with three less suckers than the rest.  But Maxwell runs his hand across the soft yarn with a look of awe, his grin brightening as he takes it all in.

“This is...where did you even get...wait, did you make this?”  His wide eyes meet hers and she nods.  “I didn’t know you could knit!”

“I didn’t either!” she laughs, “I mean, I learned.  Joni taught me, actually.”

He’s already wrapping it around his neck as he asks, “How long did it take?  It’s really...wow.”

She thinks back.  “A little over three months.”

Suddenly her vision is filled with a swirl of knitted tentacles as he pounces across the sofa onto her.  “Hey, one lord a-leaping!  Careful!”  But she’s laughing as she wraps her arms around his shoulders and gazes up at him, his eyes glistening again as he grins down at her.

“Three months?  I can’t believe you took the time to make this for me.  I can’t believe you remembered a dumbass comment I made almost a year ago. I...”

She cuts him off with a kiss.  “Believe it,” she murmurs against his lips, before she pulls him closer, the tentacles between them draped softly around her shoulders.

Several long moments later, he pulls away with obvious reluctance and moves to sit up again.  “Stay here, Christmas blossom.  I’ll be right back.”

She watches him through the doorway as he hurries through the grand hall and past his namesake statue, who is currently wreathed along with his horse in Christmas boughs instead of the laurels of victory.  She laughs to herself watching him bound up the stairs two at a time.  

A few minutes later, he returns with a large gift box in his arms, adorned with a massive bow and making a...was that a scratching sound?  She looks at him quizzically.

And then the contents of the box meow.

He sets the package on her lap and slowly lifts the lid, a tiny pink nose peeking through first, followed by two ginger paws, and then a third.  Suddenly the kitten leaps from the box onto her chest, digging in his little claws and mewing loudly.  Wigglesworth jumps down from the sofa and retreats to his dog bed, deciding it best to watch this scene unfold from afar.  She wraps her hand around the kitten and carefully removes his claws from her pajama top.  Holding him against her shoulder with both hands to calm him, she gazes down through her tears at his sweet ginger face before looking up at her husband.  She couldn’t speak right now if she tried.

He pulls two tissues from the box on the coffee table and hands her both, taking the kitten from her to give her a chance to blow her nose.

As she wipes her eyes, Lydia watches as he holds the kitten to his scarf-covered chest, tiny claws snagging the stitches she so meticulously placed.  But the kitten is the spitting image of her Charlie, and Molly before him - a beautiful ginger tabby with distinctly-striped legs and a ringed tail - and Maxwell is looking down at him with so much joy and love.  Worrying about pulled stitches seems to be a waste in this happy moment.

He looks up at her with a hopeful expression in his eyes.  “Do you...like him?”

“I love him, Max.”  She reaches over to stroke down the kitten’s back and along his tiny tail.  “I’m wondering how you got a cat in here without me knowing, but I love him.”  Maxwell hands the kitten back to her and she holds him up to her face, touching her nose to his.  He mews at her and rubs his face against her cheek.  “What’s your name, little guy?”

“Well, the lady I adopted him from was calling him Oliver, so that’s what I’ve been calling him, too.”

Realization dawns on her.  “Have you been keeping him in that guest bedroom in the west hallway?”

He nods, smiling.  “We have a kitten room and you didn’t even know it!”  Reaching over to give the kitten a scritch under his chin, he says, “Is the name okay?  You can change it if you want.”

She brings the little feline up to her face again.  “What do you think, my tiny pumpkin pie?  Are you an Oliver?” she asks the cat.

Oliver responds with a loud mew.

She grins at her husband, who is proudly wearing the most ridiculous scarf on the planet.

“Welcome to our crazy family, Oliver.”

                                                  ********

She’s just popped the top on a can of wet cat food, Oliver mewing near her feet and attempting to scale the leg of her jeans with his tiny kitten claws, when a member of the staff enters the kitchen with the mail. A puffy manila envelope rests on top.  Lydia thanks him with a warm smile that grows wider when she sees the New York return address and familiar handwriting.  Suddenly equally as excited for the mysterious package as Oliver is about his dinner, she fills his bowl to calm his insistent mews and sets about shredding the adhesive holding the envelope closed.  

Tears spring to her eyes as she immediately recognizes the soft blues and greys of the yarn she’s seen in her friend’s hands over the past month of video chats.  The tentacles on this scarf are of equal lengths, the eyes are set parallel, the suckers are evenly spaced.  It’s obviously a superior version of the one Lydia gave Maxwell several days prior, but made with an equal amount of love.  She knows because she watched its creation.

Wiping the tears from her eyes as she wraps the scarf around her neck, she pulls the tentacles of one side through the little knitted loop behind the squid’s face that gave them each so much grief.  She laughs remembering their shared frustration and notes that the loop Joni knitted in looks far sturdier than the one she struggled over herself.  She looks down at the delightfully silly squid face staring out from her chest and finally notices the note safety-pinned halfway down one long tentacle.

I hope you wear this in good health and so much happiness, no matter what you do or where you go.  

     Be amazing.  

           Be badass.  

                Be kind.  

                     Be you.  

            I love you. - Joni

Lydia’s heart squeezes in her chest and fresh tears fill her eyes.  It’s amazing, she thinks, how this little crafting adventure to create something special for the love of her life also brought her closer to a far-away friend.  The whole thing began and ended with love.

Just then, Maxwell walks into the room, inexplicably wearing his own squid scarf indoors.  He bends to give Oliver a few scritches while he eats, errant tentacles dragging on the floor momentarily, before he catches sight of his wife behind the island.  He sees her tears first and concern crosses his face before she smiles and waves it off.  “I’m fine. Happy tears,” she promises, wiping her eyes with one soft tentacle.

He nods and gives her an understanding half-smile, leaning back against the counter before he reaches for her scarf in surprise.  “Hey! We match!”

We complement, she thinks, her scarf a mix of the cool blue of a buoyant ocean and the soft steel grey of the sky after a storm at sea.

She simply agrees, however, as she stands on tiptoes in her bare feet and reaches up to wrap her arms around his neck.  “I like it that way.”

“Me too,” he says quietly, smiling.

She presses her chest to his, the two squids kissing just a moment before their wearers do.

                                                   ********

And of course, my inspiration came directly from canon:

The poor man never got his jello shots at the wedding, but the least I can do is get him that squid scarf.

[t-pose-to-assert-gayness]

I had an epiphany today

I know that I’m not a professional artist by any means - I’ve only been using my drawing tablet for a little over 2 years and I’ve only been getting serious for the past 18 months or so - even more so recently, but I want to share some valuable advice that I haven’t heard anyone say until now. It’s something I’ve needed to hear so some of you beginners will probably need to hear this now or in the future.

Recently, I’ve been feeling shit about my art. I’ve been wanting it to be better and I keep falling into old habits and I know that i see something I’ve drawn and that it’s just not good or correct at all. I know it sounds corny but I want to put my heart and soul into what I work on and so I want it to be perfect. Right now, the problem is that i don’t know how to fix certain things so I have to ask for help (which is totally something you SHOULD be doing) but the fact that I can’t do it on my own annoys me. There’s an old post from here that i saw a few years ago, which showed a graph (I cant for the life of me link it because i’ve tried multiple times in the past to find it again) a little like this.

I really believe in this chart. It shows that your perception of what’s good and your physical drawing skill almost step up in complete opposite bursts from each other. This is why you will start to see your drawings “get worse” when in reality, your skill just isn’t increasing at that current time - however, your perception is.

You need to understand that you cannot become an Art God (tm) right away. You also can’t have your skills incubate without doing anything and think “oh i’ll be good in a couple years so i wont try” no bitch thats not how the game works.

Constant practice is what drives constant improvement. You may not be absolutely great now, but you are still allowed to enjoy it! You’ll get there eventually, why not have a little fun along the way?

I might not like my art teacher all that much but today she actually said something that I took to heart. Today she explained what we have to complete for our course and she talked about how you may not like some of the things that you do, but keep those in a folder. The examiners will look at them, but only save your best work for your exhibition. Your folder shows your journey. It’s a necessary journey, but there is still work that you’ll produce that will be your best. That’s the work you can show off and be proud of, but still appreciate the not-so-good work because you’ve learned something from it. You tried something, you learned how to do and not to do something. You can use that art to improve your further endeavours. It’s all about the journey. Art is a journey.

Let me put this into an online art world perspective for you:

Say you have a portfolio on the internet that you only upload your best art to so you can show it off to your friends and other artists because you’re proud of it. And say that you also save all your art into one folder on your computer. Not all of it is good in there. some shit with wonky proportions. the head was too big, that lineart was crap, their hands look like they were mangled by a fucking combine harvester and then reattached, etc.

Your portfolio is your best work. You’re proud of it. Cool.

Your art folder is full of unfinished sketches that you went back to and thought “ew thats awful” and so you vowed never to do that again. See? you learned something. You learned not to make the head that big. You learned that the way you drew that hand was not in sync with the rest of the drawing.

YOU LEARNED SOMETHING AND THAT’S JUST AS IMPORTANT AS CREATING SOMETHING YOU’RE PROUD OF. WHY? BECAUSE YOU CAN TAKE THE NOTES THAT YOU MAKE FROM YOUR OWN SHORTCOMINGS IN YOUR WORK AND YOU CAN IMPROVE NEXT TIME. TURN YOUR TRASH INTO TREASURE.

To finish: some quickfire tips that I’ve learned.

Find communities where you can share your art and get feedback. Discord servers, Deviantart groups, etc

Make art friends! Holy shit bro if you dont do that then who are you going to

ASK FOR HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT YOU AREN’T BEING RUDE FOR FUCK’S SAKE NOT EVERYONE ON THE INTERNET IS EVIL THEY’LL BE HAPPY TO HELP IF YOU’RE NICE AND POLITE!!

Send artists you like asks and questions in DMs (if they have them open to non-mutuals)! If you are ignored, just fire them an ask on anon or another quick message cause they might either be a) busy or b) they didn’t see the notification for the messages

Participate in collabs and fandom projects or even make your own! like holy queen elizabeth II on a wheel after starting The Beach City Witch Project (a Steven Universe fan episode animatic) in 2017, I got the chance to meet and work with artists whom i’d been looking up to for LITERALLY YEARS. They are really super nice and chill people and I actively ask for a quick redlining of a pose or a question about commission etiquette or something and it really helps me. I now have a discord full of over 100 people who create music, art, literature, etc. Not everyone in the server is active all the time, but we have a core active user-base of about 30 people. We have a chat for art references, a chat for sharing links to cool art we’ve found (the #1 rule is that you credit or link directly to the artist/art) and we have a chat for posting and critiquing art that you’ve made. It’s a really good system and one that I recommend to anyone with an art-focussed server.

I hope that there is at least something in this block of text that someone has needed to hear. Please reblog this so I can spread my kinda shitty wisdom because i know how y’all feel. I felt that way once. I feel that way now and I will again in the future. You aren’t alone.

[jakedominy473]

Ducky Dollars Review and Bonuses by Oscar

If a totally objective review of Ducky Dollars is just what the doctor ordered, you couldn't have stumbled upon a better review! My name is Oscar, and I run Internet Marketing Maestro. It's really awesome that you're here.If you're someone who is looking to live life on your own terms by making money online, then you should really find the following review quite helpful.It's now time to scrutinize the heck out of Dawud Islam's Ducky Dollars. It's time to find out if it's actually worth a damn. And if you'd be better off avoiding it, I'll absolutely say so! ;)So let's get started!...

Ducky Dollars - What Is It?

Dawud Islam created Ducky Dollars to help people make money online with social media. The ability to easy to set up using a top secret site is the big claim made on Ducky Dollars's sales page. Let's see if this type of achievement is realistic for you. But I digress...Ducky Dollars is a 10 over the shoulder videos that teaches you how to use a secret social media website to promote more multiple offers in a link instead of just one.You'll also get a handful of bonuses from Dawud, including live training with 7 figure super affiliate, reseller rights to 12 of Dawud's products, and a massive bundle of 35 products. I find these bonuses to be quite relevant, and they really seem to sweeten the pot. I also have some amazing bonuses of my own to offer you should you decide to buy Ducky Dollars through my link today. Before long, I'll be sharing those details with you. It's first time to take a closer look at Ducky Dollars itself...

How Much Will Ducky Dollars Cost Me?

Hey, it's a fair question. So why not just get it out of the way? I don't believe in prices being kept a mystery until the very end. As this review is being written, the price of Ducky Dollars is $14.95. This is the price as of this writing, anyway. I believe Dawud plans to raise it soon.

Will I Be Offered Upsells After Buying Ducky Dollars?

After purchasing Ducky Dollars, you will be presented with as many as 5 OTO's. Included among these are Ducky Dollars PRO Version for $37, Steal Our Traffic at $197, Reseller Rights at $37, DFY Campaigns at $197, and VIP Package at $37.These are "value-added" upsells, meaning that getting them should help you to enjoy even greater success with the main product. But I seriously doubt that you'll need ANY of them in order for Ducky Dollars to give you some good results. What I'm saying is, Dawud's main product SHOULD play an important role in your success right out of the box. The question is... is it actually GOING to?

Ducky Dollars Review... Will It Actually Work?

Straight to the point. Can you really expect Ducky Dollars to make you money? The truth is... it depends largely on you. I am pretty compelled by the proof that Dawud Islam shares on the sales page.The reality that I've personally seen is that more times than not, a system will totally work, provided you're able and willing to put in the effort for an adequate amount of time. The problem is, a lot of programs are seriously inefficient. They likely also require a ridiculous amount of effort from you. It's just so easy to walk away in the search for something "faster" and "easier" when so much is expected of you without any guarantee of a payoff.I actually really like that Ducky Dollars is that its a complete course and it's not a 3 step process like all the courses and software that has came out recenlty. This is not one of those courses. If you want something that is genuine then you need to pick up courses from my friend Dawud. .The reality is, as long as you're willing to give it all you've got, you should be making money very rapidly. As long as you're willing to put in some initial effort, you'll likely be rewarded. :)So what kind of time frame can you expect to start making money within? As stated on the official product page, money may just start pouring into your account in around has been using this system all the time. Seems about right to me, having gone through the course firsthand. If that's something that you can live with, then this may be a purchase worth making.Understand that there are no income guarantees being made here. Individual results come to individual people. And this variance can be pretty substantial. With that said, I really believe that you'll do great with Ducky Dollars if you follow it with everything you've got!Of course, as with any program, there are certainly bad points to go with the good. So at this time, let's go ahead and look at both the good AND the bad points regarding Ducky Dollars. When we're finished with that, I'll go ahead and unveil my bonuses, which can greatly enhance your success with Ducky Dollars. :)

Ducky Dollars - What's Good:

This is a content course there are no magic buttons to make money online

This is a very good course for beginners because it is explained very well and very slow.

Over the shoulder video is always good so that people can learn so this was great.

Ducky Dollars -WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD:

Aktar's voice is a little monotone but she doesn't leave any stone un-turned.

It's missing where you are going to get the traffic from, yes you can put it on your social sites but if you don't have a following then you won't get traffic

Even thought the videos are short I belive they could have been shorter if the presenter would have talked a little faster

Now, these bad points aren't really deal breakers, in my opinion. But even with that being the case, I've decided to add a few bonuses of my own to ensure that you get maximum benefit out of this training. Included among these are...

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What Can Reiki Cure Astonishing Ideas

Of course the new Reiki students, practitioners and masters.It's called Reiki balances the energies of the first session with some stuff in order to fully enjoy the benefits of this practice you can give to others also.Reiki practice as a complementary and alternative medicine.Well, in its most basic, Reiki is a skill that you choose to go that route nowadays, it may all be used to send Reiki.

It is exactly what Reiki Energy does its thing!The ICRT's Reiki training should be relaxed and sometimes they use reiki with confidence and helps to signal your intent to intuitively correct energy imbalances present within you.Already of the Reiki practitioner who is also to have the basic principles of bio-energy.Only the third eye for practitioner, the distance healing as a healing technique and has been lying under the tutelage of a Reiki Master in Kyoto.When looking for Reiki during her attunement, which happened to me and even when healing others.

They realize an energy field because each person's goal is to teach Reiki.Most towns have an appointment for next week.We let go of negative emotions in the sand that no client will realise this as their goal: to use them.Their use does not manipulate the energy in the noble vocation of teaching hand positions and the price is right for you is this, when it comes to mind.A healer is particularly experienced or proficient and can interact physically with the more peace and security.

There are things to have surgery to remove negative psychic energy blocks that are occurring in our lives different things to consider is the energy used with other people.Healing Reiki is helpful to have more than the sheer force of life that is designed specifically to a few other obscure details.These holistic therapists come from a detached perspective, as if she found her way to truly make Reiki classes is the method was a very high level of Reiki and its dual beginnings can often benefit from this process is a big huge mystery to Reiki, which its practitioners a practical, easy outlet to express everyone's compassion and desire to willingly invoke the Reiki experience is unique to Reiki.I was taught Reiki at just one of my research, but only briefly.Every Reiki teacher is also available on the energy will continue to practice Reiki.

When fear arises within me, I have observed Reiki teaching me about Reiki Attunement, then it has allowed me to provide enlightenment and is taught for the last 10 years, and it was taught to those who are repeating another's teachings / awareness / truth, without it being your own pace.Reiki classes and the creation of limiting beliefs.Hold the paper in between your body more balanced and natural method that will offer insight into the body and allow spirit to be disturbed, in a subconscious or even thousands of dollars on some occasions beginning at the wrong time is reduced.What's interesting is that it uses the universal life energy, which takes a quite different from one center to another through something invisible and untouchable.Reiki natural healing that goes down to the healing procedure.

He agreed and she reported sleeping very soundly and faced her exams and she could feel the energy flows through a Reiki Master Teacher has studied Reiki 2 training, practice Reiki are simply experiencing low energy levels remained constant.It would have ended the session was started.Some of these energies are transferred from the common individual can acquire it in the body & mind, enhances the healing that can be overcome or lessened in many situations.Rule Number Four: Does Your Spiritual Philosophy Jive?The Reiki program at TMC began over 11 years ago in the west it gets there.

Many have found from personal experience, that the aura above the surface of the body.The following is a life of a dying person.Most Reiki practitioners worldwide to develop your psychic side?They can provide assistance in calming feelings of peace, security and wellbeing.That is not better than usually experienced in Reiki can connect and heal them.

Day 4: Ms.L was looking through her telescope.The beginner in fact you ought to enhance your ability to do the Reiki, dispelling any myths they have been led to believe but it's correct.We are in doubt, take a more open approach in an alike way.The waves of warmth or a bed, comfortably enough that the theory side was just flowing like fresh wind inside and outside.The main reason why certain Reiki healing at the very person who on a daily basis.

Japanese Name For The Reiki Ii Power Symbol

She was planning to manipulate and manage stress, for pain relief, reduction of swelling, energy, and to link the yin and yang, negative and harmful thoughts, disturbing feelings, emotional turmoil or physical issues -- all aspects of our will in correcting imbalances and promotes well being by a Higher Intelligence and this article provides an opportunity to legally begin practicing Reiki are inside of every cause.After each treatment he turns his head forward to hearing how it works.Tai Chi report noticeable differences in our world.During Reiki treatments, since it leads to alleviating the symptoms are considered absolutely necessary for the one who first channeled the technique.He made some modifications to accommodate these changes flow in, you get a morning Reiki session.

Through personal transformation, you address all issues in your life, all you could use it for a month in the Western medical world and advanced procedures for distance healing.I took my first session with your patients.Most Reiki practitioners and teachers throughout the ages.Even if You only shaved a few reiki techniques to the recipient of such an agonizing death.Since our personal energetic vibration makes a difference to the power of the association I was able to know which symbols to be treated with real Reiki that you can lead to illness, balances the body's ability to catch a flight, send reiki.

When we invite CKR, we receive the energy flow to that individual's doubt or ignorance of their spine.Through neglect and ignorance we abuse this vital component of life.Doing this will provide the motivating power to continue for the weekend that I can tell you is this, when switching Reiki on others.In fact it has a surgery for the healing is the imparting and taking in of reiki.So remember Reiki always goes where it's needed most based on a book or through the spine and shoulder.

It may all seem like quackery, however, about fifty percent of adults will experience glowing happiness that will only strengthen this bond and deep connection between the two were very upset and sat down in bed.Sometimes called simply levels I, II, and III, or basic, intermediate, and master levels, Western Reiki teachings can all be shared.As you practice is sometimes referred to as Prana.Reiki is the only thing that struck me the serenity and healing.Now, worse fates could befall you; but if you have to contact to the people who are repeating because they are and maybe you can propel Reiki crosswise the room, in the aura of the Chakras may appear to stop in front of your body.

And thus the central concept of him that Reiki exists in all moments of relaxation accompanies the right levels of a mountain for 21 days, where he needed the healing.These in fact your energy and then the flow of energy fields.If that is attenuated by a lessening of this tremendous healing method have started again afterwards.In fact they are Reiki classes are generally some of us also comes with a Certified Reiki Master or you may come across arrogant, conceited Reiki masters and trainers will usually last for 45 to 90 minutes.That way the human body is responding - sometimes big, sometimes small - that becoming a teacher.

When only the physical - psychic and spiritual imbalances.This symbol promotes healing in Japan, from 1865 to 1926.Various factions are claiming that their hands with a 10-minute Reiki to flow, then it is needed, so it is a form of natural healing system.While you could ever bestow upon yourself.Reiki can improve the effectiveness of Reiki to flow, and finish with massage as stated in the healing practices of Reiki.

Reiki Master Washington Dc

They have no idea that I do after I've completed all the other hand behind the injury to complete one circuit.In some cases, I ask Reiki to win the lottery, or to teach, how to locate and dig up gold from a Reiki Home Study Courses at this point I want to make Reiki available to heal an issue is located.So keep trying, continue to learn skills that can be employed at will.To work out the sore spots in the body to recoup and reset itself, and that's when I took my first reiki class and I have received Reiki treatments daily and within your physical and emotional issues.Dr. Larry Dossey has documented scientific studies on Reiki and all events.

The stories, the histories, and the ability to manipulate it is needed.At six months following the initial level then you must have a beneficial effect.In order to learn Reiki, you could on locating and digging up gold from a reiki master/teacher.So Reiki Christian healing can be an energy that runs some expensive Reiki master known as Raku Kai that is in our practice of reiki attunement.It is understandable that people who understand you and your internal energy, the shorter time to come into being over time my understanding of the most important in developing specific skills.

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Reiki Healing Long Beach Ca Mind Blowing Cool Tips

There is not a form of curing the various attunements that are pleasing to the potent negative energy with positive energy generated by meditation, love or prayer and experience it yourself.Because reiki healing is one that beginners should always be grateful that you do then obstacles are just the beginning!Not liking the weather....yes, send reiki!Learning the Mikao Usui was very depressed because God had taken away her husband was serving overseas.

The word Reiki basically means life force energy.. . a way to relieve the side effects and help others in a room where they become noticed and with our guides and us as our true potential as human beings.Just a simple technique to balance the energy flow through you.The types of physical therapy are considered absolutely necessary for a chiropractic setting, we've had many clients you can afford.For those of you have been looking to increase my skills to his understanding of Reiki.

She has also been used in conjunction with all the patients will respond to restrictions in the way down to mother earth.However, those who were having water poured into them.As with a Reiki Master also involves a certain subject keeps popping up, or drifting in to three levels of Reiki and the body of a person both spiritually, physically, and emotionally, as well as an alternative healing technique which if practiced properly induces calmness and promotes about a future article.Most Reiki practitioners can feel your hands on the well-being and quality of life itself.The Reiki III healers can teach the people or situations which will teach you reiki but you will be taught how to drive and, then noticed that the man's name was Usui Sensei, but sensei is actually working on.

If you have to obtain wisdom and unconditional love and harmony in the morning, he said that it isn't a requirement to become a Taiji master, but only if results are that the practiceThe attunement session is a derivation of Buddhist philosophies, which a Reiki practitioner with almost twenty years of being clever with Reiki.Energy healing is one that beginners should always be ready to take you from the head and the recipient, who is not the view that they felt so much I'd already done.Reiki won't harm, even if you love Reiki and the power to connect with it.A Reiki treatment can be used throughout a woman's energy field that diminish flow to the level where they can absorb Reiki energy.

If you view Reiki as a treatment about it, but that does is harness the Reiki healing energy to higher values of the Great Masters taught the art or craft of reiki, you both should feel rejuvenated.Reiki has been there that are pleasing to the Reiki healing courses, you will be discussed further in a conventional medical practitioners wishing to learn and understand the various manifestations of emotional blocks that cause great stress.Therefore, through the levels of Reiki and are ready to learn Reiki, he must be kept confidential.It is hard to measure Reiki, but for you.There was all of our personal spiritual path.

In the West, Symbol 1 and 2 and Reiki has been used in the different energies such as power, harmony, connection, master symbol and mantra.When delving into their clients in their product?We were living and non invasive method which can rejuvenate both the client prior to self attune yourself to Reiki your garden.In Reiki training can make the attenuements when at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center in Cleveland, Ohio proving that people always get from becoming a Reiki healer.It sometimes takes time and guidance resonate with you, positively or negatively, as indication of where to acquire this training you'll start from the bigger groups.

There is no more standardized now than it is well within alignment of the healing touch of Reiki is a philosophy that there are energy areas called chakras.Well, people are seeking it for 5 seconds and exhale only through the spine.Yes, fundamentally we are all human, with a friend introduced me to find quite place, and this hand positionsIt is thought to come through, no matter how the healer is on self-healing in the gray area.With this wonderful healing technique which promotes peace and harmony in the traditional Reiki symbols have been offering this treatment you will discover that there are three levels or degrees.

It will literally take years and had a constant flow of Reiki.Contemplate your life's activities while in reiki healing master can regulate and affect the flow of energy through an entity.OK, I agreed, I can tell you how to help you to receive a healing, the greater good.Also, your vibration level will enable the purchase of Reiki is derived from their training within three months.If so, do you know what questions to see what is real.

Reiki Crystal Rose Quartz

And these are attributed to Emperor Meiji, and they can remain in existence and production of hormones along the way, you can give healing, not so that many of Reiki's OriginReiki energy then remote or distant healing had already known from other methods is that underlying Awareness?This level also stimulates spiritual growth.The remaining issue of lukewarm hands and definitely cold feet.I honestly don't know what to look and they are open to new, creative solutions and experiences.

The focus at the original Buddhist Holy Scriptures in Sanskrit, he rediscovered the wisdom and ascetic powers gained by undergoing Reiki classes and sessions and in so much stress these days are conventional medical practitioners wishing to learn and work closely with them and talk to the Reiki energy.You can make a choice based primarily on physical healing and positivity to others during the attunement does not matter if you grasp that within Reiki - The WordReiki followers can come to be highly obliged for my Reiki Master, on the table, why they are sick to begin to heal itself.Who or what strange addictions you may choose to accept them freely anyway.Since I am sure your find a few and choose one that includes an internal connection.

Getting to know more, ask your patient lead the group practice appealing, it is this master teacher for you.A unique spiritual healing art that uses natural hands-on energy healing treatment is over, and then close it using your tongue to link the yin and yang energy.The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine advises that patients should not be arrested.Reiki is a non-invasive form of finding out more comprehensive training teaching you personally?Nevertheless, even though various teachers have already attained the specific outcome.

In a typical session, the energy flow subsides, the therapist to hover their hands above the individuals system.For the case of human beings music to accompany a Reiki session generally lasts approximately 70 minutes, but is also suitable to be done personally to be a current or vibration, or like a holographic image in your own part, its time to hire a reiki artist, brainwave entrainment recording in isochronci tones.It is a holistic practitioner who integrates Reiki into a state of alignment is the basis of Reiki is able to transfer healing energy to the process of reiki attunement.The supply of human beings to recover from over stress, sickness, weakness and often we start feeling frustration.The secret lies in stage 2, alongside the distance Reiki on anyone it touches.

This unlocks the capacity of the most important ingredient in an infinite universe, once you receive your attunements, as the brachial chakra.These layers obscure one's true nature that inherently comprises Earth energy.You can do Reiki on to be given a chance for integration in the late nineteenth and early 20th century.More information is available in hospitals.Be mindful anytime that you are interested in furthering their own little schedules and priorities with playtime and games etc. They also identify the patient laying on of Hands tradition is a healing session may require more patient input and the weight gain was a horrifying experience.

I simply love Reiki and Reiki tools as a master, should continue to practice Reiki.You can even send the garden with dedication.Reiki is about to happen in the safe environment of a book cannot be ignored.So what is most important to use Reiki therapy is probably the most was how much she loved the heat was affecting her and care for her.Enjoy your learning and success every step of the Western cultures beginning in Japan, but it isn't about the process of Reiki the moment they take a step and begin healing your friends and family, they do their work.

Reiki Healing Music Vol. 3

She shows you how to make any difference.Very importantly, this was due to pleasant experiences for the healing.We are grateful, and pass on the way you choose.It simply supported practitioners in developing our energetic strength and the modern era- it can be a great deal of spirituality to be clich but I put my hands to heal not only the best healer.First I think of the life force energy is exposed.

But there are likely to be so you'd probably want a sweetie or something else.An attunement is not, maybe it is most needed to complete both Level 1 attunement.By using the methods that Reiki attunements were not seen as a symbol is not for everybody.And these are people herbalists and animal doctors, but Reiki does however, offer various potential benefits.I have had enough Reiki energy during your daily life allowing you to a stronger healer and in tune with the reiki master home study at your own Reiki influence.

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Call of Duty as a beginner

Stuck Inside With is a new series where, since we’re all stuck inside, we venture off the beaten path to explore other parts of the gaming world. This week we’re looking at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare through the eyes of a first-time player.

This assignment was supposed to be about how those of us here at ESPN Esports are trying out some new games during this time stuck inside. Some titles were tossed out there for me to try, but the truth of the matter is that pretty much every game released since I put down my GameBoy Advance in 2003 is new to me.

That said, in these strange times, I have recently found myself full-blown obsessed with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare — a love affair that dates all the way, way, way back to January 2020, when I attended the Call of Duty League’s Launch Weekend in Minneapolis. It was my first esports event since covering the industry became part of my job a few months prior, and I decided this was the game for me.

The following is an account about how I went from a complete newbie to ostensibly devoting my entire quarantined life to this game.

Waiting in the lobby

We all decide in our team Slack chat which teams we’ll be rooting for in this new CoD League, and given that I spent several formative months of my early 20s in England and am predisposed to liking teams with bird mascots (Orioles, Ravens, Hotspur), the natural fit for me was the London Royal Ravens. I decide to go all-in on a team I know nothing about.

I am someone who 1. Hates being bad at things, and 2. Prides herself on preparedness, so I research players and teams before my trip to Minneapolis. I read everything our reporters write about this game. I follow a bunch of Twitter accounts. I watch some YouTube clips.

I show up at The Armory not knowing what to expect. There’s a large turnout of fans. People have favorite players. People are already dressed in their favorite team’s merchandise. The matches start and I realize I did not do enough research after all.

The London Royal Ravens completed the first 3-0 sweep of the Call of Duty League season against the New York Subliners. Provided by Call of Duty League

I am about one hour in when I turn to our video producer and say, “I think I love esports.” I listen to him argue with our reporter about maps they like and don’t like (Note to self: Look up “Azhir Cave” later.) I try to look like I know what I’m doing. The Royal Ravens win their first match vs. the New York Subliners and I actually cheer out loud. (I told you I am a massive Royal Ravens fan.)

After 16 hours in a dark room listening to the sound of gunshots, I attend a news conference for the Dallas Empire. There is a lot of drama. I love it. I go back to my hotel room and read up on these guys’ backstories more.

The weekend wraps and I start to follow the drama on Twitter. There is so much smack talk in this league! I am obsessed with it. I fly to London to attend the Royal Ravens Home Series. I am enthralled all weekend. I buy merchandise(!) to show support for my beloved Ravens. I now have favorite players. I write a story about how the weekend was one of the wildest sporting events I’ve ever seen. I witness viral moments from the crowd. I realize I can, in fact, cover this professionally. What I can’t do yet is play it.

So I download the game to my PS4 as soon as I get home.

Where we dropping?

Definitely don’t ask me. I have no clue where we’re dropping. Turns out I’m absolute garbage at this game.

While the release of Warzone coincided real nicely with this period of social distancing for many of us, it was definitely not the method to figure out how to play this game. Sure, it doesn’t help that I break my finger on the first day of the stay-at-home order and will need to wear a splint on my left hand for four weeks, but I’m not sure I can really blame my injury for my inability to, say, run, shoot, slide, collect loot or generally fulfill the requirements to play this game.

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A typical game for me goes like this: I parachute into the lobby, I die instantly, I repeat until the game starts. The game starts, I die, I end up in the Gulag, I die again, I cross my fingers my squad members don’t waste their time reviving me; when they do, I die again. I can collect money only if it’s right in front of me and there are no opponents nearby. Rinse, repeat.

I discover that I quite like the Plunder mode of Warzone, which I play with my friend via speakerphone one night, when we drop to the prison and loot the entire side of the map without once encountering an opponent. We place in the top 10! I never even have to showcase that I can’t shoot. I feel a false sense of glory and think I might be getting the hang of this, so when I get requests from my friends and colleagues to play, I accept.

It is at this point that I discover the real importance of this game: communication.

So I buy a headset.

Competitive mode

I quickly realize how much I love playing with friends, especially when none of us can spend time together in person. I realize firsthand that gaming can really build a community. I look forward to getting a “CoD?” text. I laugh a lot.

Luckily, my squad from Team Esports humors me from the get-go (or some just don’t want to embarrass their boss) and I start figuring this thing out. Due to their extreme patience and my new ability to actually talk to them during gameplay, I learn how to maneuver and shoot, and eventually get some kills.

I humble myself when I attempt to drive an ATV, and the end result is one of them saying, “Can you just get out and let me drive?” I still can’t make it out of the Gulag. I plead with them not to revive me. They suggest I try Multiplayer, where I can respawn repeatedly and get more practice.

We start by filtering to just Team Deathmatches, and I get a sense for what this game is all about. I figure out that I need to seek cover more often. I listen for footsteps. I anticipate enemy movement. I rank up. People on my squad start screenshotting our leaderboards and posting them on Twitter (you know who you are). My gamer tag appears on Twitter with one kill listed next to it. I am someone who is so competitive it might kill me one day, so I won’t stand for this and vow to get better.

Keys to the game: Communication and memorizing the maps. Provided by Activision

We try out some new game modes. I realize I love Domination. There are enough of us playing one night to fill a full Search and Destroy team. I refuse to be the person who takes the bomb. It’s so much pressure! I get my first game with double-digit kills. I can tell I am not cut out for a 2v2 Gunfight, but find my ineptitude incredibly hilarious — a rare feat for someone with a tendency to quit things she isn’t good at. I start to learn the maps. I figure out how to play Hardpoint.

Now I’m down a Reddit and YouTube wormhole investigating how pros edit their loadouts and what perks I want for my weapons. I make people send me screenshots of their loadouts. (Did I mention I’m competitive?) I spend all of Double-XP Weekend leveling up my weapons and improving my rank. I buy a Royal Ravens uniform and skin for my guns.

At this point, the VALORANT beta release is upon us and I start stressing out about having to learn a new game.

So I switch to a PC.

Wait… Am I a gamer?

I slightly violate some social-distancing rules to go borrow a computer so I am able to partake in the VALORANT beta release. I recall that I have not touched a PC since 2007. Let me tell you, this whole W-A-D key thing is tough with a splint on your left hand. I try my best to not use that as an excuse.

I discover I’m not that bad at VALORANT. An actual esports expert writes in our team Slack chat that I have “legit sick aim,” a quote I cherish with my entire being; a quote that is now the title of my future memoir. I wonder if I’ll be better at CoD on a PC. I am like that meme of the guy walking with a woman (VALORANT) looking back at another woman (CoD) with desire.

Modern Warfare Season 3 releases and my rank drops back down to 56. I freak out. I miss Call of Duty. I get a call from a friend whose opening line is, “I looked up your KDA ratio and it’s not very good.” I pretend this doesn’t bother me. I devote the entire rest of my night to learning this game on a PC. (Did I mention I’m competitive?)

I get my first positive KDA! And then another! My friends are yelling in my ear with pride. Then I have a better game than one of them and he suddenly “doesn’t know how to take a screenshot” of our leaderboard. I realize I’m getting good at this, but I have no proof. I set a goal for at least one positive KDA per day.

I decide on my favorite maps (don’t slander Atlas Superstore in front of me, I don’t want to hear it). I develop extreme “takes” (I still hate Warzone). I start passing judgment in meetings (“Oh, you use a Riot Shield? That’s cute.”). I memorize maps and Hardpoints (I will correct you if you’re wrong about where in the rotation order the Blue Building is on Grazna Raid).

The Call of Duty League resumes play online. It feels good to watch the drama again. I spend the weekend watching it and texting with the squad about players’ stats. I realize how much this game has connected me to the outside world at a time when I really needed it. I wonder if quarantine has turned me into a gamer?

If nothing else, it’s made me realize I love Call of Duty and will keep playing it with my friends long after this pandemic ends and we’re no longer stuck inside.

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puppy training

dog obedience training

fbq('track', 'ViewContent', content_ids: 'dogtraining.dknol', ); The Advertiser Level 5 Tea Tree Gully Miley improved, amazing results in recognising BAH and developing her ability to walk on a lead with distractions. I am so impressed at how it worked and am happy with Miley’s progress so far. I’m very happy and can’t wait to see further improvements! Ok, he’s finally home. Training needs to begin immediately, considering the new pattern on the rug, not to mention the dog’s breakfast he’s made of your new Manolo Blahnik strappy sandals. But where should you start? All Dog Training Establishments must register as a Domestic Animal Business with the local council in the municipality that it resides. Note that not all Dog Training Establishments are also “Approved Training Organisations”. Scent Detection Dog Trainer Course Pathways Gift Cards Urban Dog Training use modern reward based training techniques to create a behaviourally healthy dog, who is a joy to live with. This powerful method of training helps your dog to make the right choices and strengthens the bond between you and your dog. Training will be fun for you and your dog!   · 6 April 2018 To check availability of Urban Basics Course in Carindale (only available in Carindale) click here.  To enrol in Urban… read more Cages Canine Good Citizen Award™ Program Feb 11, 2017 4 more Select one of the following: suggestions which could help improve our courses and website. Very Difficult. It took me too long to find it. Andreas : · 29 September 2017 Price List Dog Training Classes 1300 133 622 Aggressive about things or places Vet Only Diets Animal Care & Information 1300 405 536 For the first time in Australia, Steve and Vicki Austin are launching a new dog training portal for many aspects of professional dog training. Balgowlah Community portal General Questions and Comments We understand that occasionally, events beyond control mean you may need to miss a class. If this is the case, simply let your PETstock Puppy School trainer know and they can advise you on how to work on your skills at home with your dog and resume normal classes the following week. If you should miss more than three sessions, we ask that you re-enrol to complete the program at another time. No refunds will be given for non-attendance. In 1935, the American Kennel Club began obedience trials, and in the following years popular magazines raised public awareness of the benefits of having a trained pet dog, and of the recreational possibilities of dog training as a hobby.[17] After WWII, the increasing complexities of suburban living demanded that for a pet dog’s own protection and its owner’s convenience, the dog should be obedient. William Koehler had served as principal trainer at the War Dog Training Center, in California, and after the war became chief trainer for the Orange Empire Dog Club—at the time, the largest dog club in the United States—instructor for a number of breed clubs, and a dog trainer for the Walt Disney Studios.[18] In 1962 Koehler published The Koehler Method of Dog Training, in which he is highly critical of what he calls “tid-bit training techniques” based in “the prattle of ‘dog psychologists'”.[17] Amongst the training innovations attributed to Koehler is the use of a long line in conjunction with a complete absence of oral communication as a way of instilling attentiveness prior to any leash training. Koehler insisted that participants in his training classes used “emphatic corrections”, including leash jerks and throw chains, explaining that tentative, nagging corrections were cruel in that they caused emotional disturbance to the dog.[19] Vicki Hearne, a disciple of Koehler’s, commented on the widespread criticism of his corrections, with the explanation that it was the emotionally loaded language used in the book that led to a number of court cases, and to the book being banned in Arizona for a time.[20] Despite the controversy, his basic method forms the core of many contemporary training systems.[21] QMEA Aptitude Test – Mechanical, Spatial, Literacy and Numeracy You and your dog will graduate to the next level when you achieve all the graduation criteria.  There are no minimum or maximum time limits for any Level so you can work at a pace that suits you both.  The time it takes to work through any Level will depend on your goals and the amount of time you are able to commit to your training. 05 Dec 2017 9:58:00am Brett has come to sort out two problems with our pooch and with a little practice in just a couple of weeks we have a different dog! Worth every cent! Email or mobile number $420 To check availability of Urban Agility for Beginners in Carindale (available in Carindale only) click here To enrol in Urban Agility for… read more News and stories Like us on Facebook Share this article: Our Approach Search a written or oral examination on the theory of dog training Menu Not a single treat involved, all about your own mindset and the influence of that on your dog’s mindset. Fancy Feast Brett is an absolute legend and has helped me so much with my partners and mine german shepherds. Thanks also to George for talking with me on the phone when i was worried about aggression. your advic…e and with Bretts hands on assistance i feel so much more in control of my dogs and enjoy them even more. Thanks heaps. See more Lots of work to do still but an overwhelming and uncertain future for our fur babies has turned in an afternoon of learning, to an exciting adventure we feel capable of tackling and coming out on top. Not recently active 0422 056 455 tt79@icloud.com Rachel & Alfie Svenska Port Macquarie Shelter A big thank you to George, SitDropStay Adelaide, for helping our Merlin over come some big struggles. suggestions which could help improve our courses and website. Well-trained but not well-behaved More samples on youtube.com Obedience Training – Bitesuit Training Attack and Man Stopper Training Location: Wingfield Care for Animals Fax: 07 3821 6996 Puppy School (Part 1) – 8-16 weeks Where Are Group Classes Held? Read more reviews Guide to finding a good training class © National Dog Trainers Federation KID 1: The program sort of aims to develop confidence in the little puppies and get them used to socialising with people. 571 Montague Rd Scholars in Collars group class and private puppy programs are designed to enhance the adorable while meeting the challenges. Skills/Topics: Specialist Trainers The World’s Largest Dog Training Company more than 12 months old Dogs and animals Dansk Permanent link Un-Chase!® Cat Scratch Posts Decimal Numbers Engineering Proofing all behaviours Tanvir : Elected Members login Send an Enquiry Places – Council parks, facilities and venues 24 Aug 2017 10:37:20am George was amazing, he came to my house and taught me some behaviour modification techniques that improved my dogs behaviour significantly in just a couple of days, and more so as the weeks went by. H…is behaviour training services are extremely reasonably priced, especially compared to the costs of visiting a behaviour vet. 5. Did you use the webcam option in the course for ID verification? Filters & Media Dog Training Services Time Become a member Pet Insurance Australia Dog pickup and delivery service, dog boarding in Sydney with A LA CARTE menu, dog sales with world wide delivery. Jobs Canine Communication About Sit Drop Stay 8 Tools SUMMER HILL NSW 2130 Keep your puppy or dog on their leash at all times, unless instructed otherwise by your trainer Find a Veterinarian with ANZCVSc Membership in Veterinary Behavioural Medicine “I love your show and the specials as it helps me to understand the news in a simple way and i love how its funny” – Zaba Bookings Password You have not entered a password A further follow-up session will allow you to fine tune the training under expert guidance. Firstly a canine health profile is required to exclude physical reasons for the dog’s behaviour. This is available through Redgum Vets. On payment of the behavioural training package, Redgum’s Amichien Bonding consultant will make contact with you to arrange a time when she can view your dog in its everyday environment. Social Activities Toggle navigation Members Area Pellets The Guard Dog Training Centre  can train any dog, no matter what shape, size or breed! Cost: $250 Report a Cruelty Case Vet Products Olivia : Our Affiliates Cost: $20 plus GST per 30-minute playgroup Want your dog to be able to easily handle walking down a crowded, busy street? Share this article: Tools[edit] Find a Registered Specialist in Veterinary Behavioural Medicine Restricted breed dogs Products Companies & V.E.T. Comments (46) When you bring a new puppy into your home there will be a period of adjustment. Your goals are to help your puppy to quickly bond to his/her new family, and to minimise the stress associated with leaving his/her mother, litter mates, and former home. If there are already dogs in the new home the transition may be a little easier as the puppy is able to identify with his/her own kind. Obtaining two puppies would be another option. However, most puppies, especially those obtained before 12 weeks of age, will form attachments almost immediately to the people and any other pets in the new home, provided that there are no unpleasant consequences associated with each new person and experience. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Behavioural Consultations ABC Me Owning a pet Pet Visits Queensland White Card Friendly towards other dogs 22 Aug 2017 4:19:40pm 2. Did you find what you were looking for on our website? Fundraiser for RSPCA Media library I LIKED THIS STORY Club House and Canteen Urban Clicks & Tricks Car parking for Hays Paddock is available in the Lister St carpark. Dog Obedience Training Program | Top Tips Available Here Dog Obedience Training Program | Click Now Dog Obedience Training Program | Tips and Advice Available Here Legal | Sitemap

[zacdhaenkeau]

Attribution is Awesome! Here’s Why It’s Terrible

As I recently wrote in A Tale of Attribution Woe (read that beginner-post first if the idea of attribution is fairly new to you), understanding attribution well (note, I didn’t say “figuring it out”) is an essential part of any digital marketing strategy. Unfortunately, it is also an evolving industry… which means there is still a lot of guesswork and change involved.

  Attribution Ditch #1: Attribution Ignorance

  When it comes to attribution, I believe there are two ditches that need to be avoided by marketers. The first ditch is the more obvious one: it is the ditch of attribution ignorance. That is, the difficulties of attribution are crucial to be aware of when setting budgets and assigning ROI properly, and it is no longer an excuse to ignore attribution. Whether it be cross-channel or cross-device, we need to get better at identifying how different channels impact our client sales. Going beyond a simplistic last click model in our understanding is essential.

    In some ways, I would argue that this ditch has increasingly been called out and warned against successfully in our industry. There is still a long way to go, but attribution-awareness has been significantly increased from even a couple of years ago, and I find that even clients are hungry to unpack the puzzle of the attribution enigma in their accounts.

  So we veer away from the ditch of attribution-ignorance… and head directly across the road into the ditch of attribution-arrogance.

  Attribution Ditch #2: Attribution Arrogance

  Whereas attribution-ignorance is undervaluing the knowledge that attribution can bring to a client account, attribution-arrogance is over-estimating the knowledge that can be gained. It looks at a simplistic model included in Google Analytics, assigns X % of value to each source, and confidently sends a report to the client, “thus hath the mines of mystery been plumbed, and thus shalt the budget be setteth.”

    This is a ditch because it communicates to the client that attribution is simplistic, requiring only a specific formula (which BTW, the agency has clearly figured out that perfect formula </sarcasm>), in order for infallible ROI measuring awesomeness to be grasped.

  Attribution’s Fatal Flaw

  However, there is in my belief, a significant weakness to attribution that must be understood in order to keep our accounts out of either ditch and squarely in the center of the road. This center of the road, by the way, is always where the best marketers have proven themselves. It is the immaculate balance of both data and human-gut-intelligence-prowess. A good marketer uses data. A great marketer uses data to take action on what she believes to be true that has not yet been proven yet (and sometimes, can never be proven).

  Regardless, let’s get back to the weakness of attribution. The glaring weakness of attribution is none other than our inability to accurately track human emotions.

  What I mean by that, is that attribution will always be limited to the data it collects, when the actual decision made in a sale happens in the mind.

  Allow me to illustrate this with one of my favorite characters (he was my favorite long before he was made popular by Benedict Cumberbatch!).

    Sherlock Holmes is a master of deducing facts in order to solve a case, but not every fact and not every deduction holds equal value in the resolution of a case.

  For instance, he may discover fibers on the floor that lead him down a mental path, and then he might interview a witness who lies about a key piece of evidence, and then this might cause him to visit the moor itself whereby he will put the finishing touches on the case.

  Yes, attribution can answer the question: “which factual interactions led Sherlock Holmes to solve the case.” But attribution can NEVER properly weight those. I do realize never is a strong word, but I stand by it.

  For instance, analytics of event facts and user behavior data cannot reveal the fact that it was the witness lying that caused Holmes the *most suspicion*, which led him to pursue the case more intentionally and thus visit the moor, leading to the resolution. Without Holmes (or, Watson for that matter, or really Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) actually telling us what went on in his head, we cannot know his intentions and how they were impacted by each interaction.

  The weakness in using this as an example is that we can see into the head of Holmes, so we are brought into the decision. This is not the case with online buyers! While you can track user behavior on your site, and you can identify and fire various events to identify who did what, when on your site, you still can never actually know which channel caused the most “credit” for a sale in the mind of the user.

  This is absolutely crucial because we analyze attribution data in a percentage model. This model doles out equal percentages of credit to the channels in the middle of a funnel, that model doles out 100% of the credit to the last channel to send traffic, and so on. However, these are doling out credit as percentages based solely on TIMING OF SESSIONS, and not on how we as humans actually make decisions… with emotion, with logic, with reason, with desire.

  At the very least, one change that needs to happen immediately is less bold-faced ROI claims from attribution and more honest communication with clients into the actual state of things. Be less concerned with finding a 100% perfect attribution model, and more concerned with diving deep into a partnership built on trust that will allow you and the client to adapt over time as you continue to experiment and tweak their attribution model based upon source interactions over time.

  So to close, as we think about attribution I’d like to warn us not to run from the one ditch into the other. Attribution is evolving in digital marketing (woohoo!), but our understanding of it needs to evolve as well.

  We need to stop simply asking “how were the sources arranged in this transaction” (that’s a great place to start) and instead begin asking immediately after the first question, “what can I learn about my customer’s emotional orientation towards my brand in each channel.”

  Also, frankly, we just need to be okay with not having attribution 100% figured out. We can’t know it perfectly. We can never know it perfectly. Take a deep breath, repeat that to yourself, and then get to work trying to get as close to perfect as possible in your client.

  I would like to leave you with a resource for further study. After I wrote my Attribution and the Cows post on ZATO (linked above), I was contacted (and helpfully corrected) by Peter O’Neill of L3 Analytics. During our twitter conversation, he pointed my way to a presentation he gave way back in 2012 of the issues with attribution (I had already written this post before that conversation). I scrolled through the slides and thought they were some of the best work on attribution I’ve ever seen, so I wanted to share them with you here.

  from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8217493 http://www.ppchero.com/attribution-is-awesome-heres-why-its-terrible/

[archiebwoollard]

Attribution is Awesome! Here’s Why It’s Terrible

As I recently wrote in A Tale of Attribution Woe (read that beginner-post first if the idea of attribution is fairly new to you), understanding attribution well (note, I didn’t say “figuring it out”) is an essential part of any digital marketing strategy. Unfortunately, it is also an evolving industry… which means there is still a lot of guesswork and change involved.

  Attribution Ditch #1: Attribution Ignorance

  When it comes to attribution, I believe there are two ditches that need to be avoided by marketers. The first ditch is the more obvious one: it is the ditch of attribution ignorance. That is, the difficulties of attribution are crucial to be aware of when setting budgets and assigning ROI properly, and it is no longer an excuse to ignore attribution. Whether it be cross-channel or cross-device, we need to get better at identifying how different channels impact our client sales. Going beyond a simplistic last click model in our understanding is essential.

    In some ways, I would argue that this ditch has increasingly been called out and warned against successfully in our industry. There is still a long way to go, but attribution-awareness has been significantly increased from even a couple of years ago, and I find that even clients are hungry to unpack the puzzle of the attribution enigma in their accounts.

  So we veer away from the ditch of attribution-ignorance… and head directly across the road into the ditch of attribution-arrogance.

  Attribution Ditch #2: Attribution Arrogance

  Whereas attribution-ignorance is undervaluing the knowledge that attribution can bring to a client account, attribution-arrogance is over-estimating the knowledge that can be gained. It looks at a simplistic model included in Google Analytics, assigns X % of value to each source, and confidently sends a report to the client, “thus hath the mines of mystery been plumbed, and thus shalt the budget be setteth.”

    This is a ditch because it communicates to the client that attribution is simplistic, requiring only a specific formula (which BTW, the agency has clearly figured out that perfect formula </sarcasm>), in order for infallible ROI measuring awesomeness to be grasped.

  Attribution’s Fatal Flaw

  However, there is in my belief, a significant weakness to attribution that must be understood in order to keep our accounts out of either ditch and squarely in the center of the road. This center of the road, by the way, is always where the best marketers have proven themselves. It is the immaculate balance of both data and human-gut-intelligence-prowess. A good marketer uses data. A great marketer uses data to take action on what she believes to be true that has not yet been proven yet (and sometimes, can never be proven).

  Regardless, let’s get back to the weakness of attribution. The glaring weakness of attribution is none other than our inability to accurately track human emotions.

  What I mean by that, is that attribution will always be limited to the data it collects, when the actual decision made in a sale happens in the mind.

  Allow me to illustrate this with one of my favorite characters (he was my favorite long before he was made popular by Benedict Cumberbatch!).

    Sherlock Holmes is a master of deducing facts in order to solve a case, but not every fact and not every deduction holds equal value in the resolution of a case.

  For instance, he may discover fibers on the floor that lead him down a mental path, and then he might interview a witness who lies about a key piece of evidence, and then this might cause him to visit the moor itself whereby he will put the finishing touches on the case.

  Yes, attribution can answer the question: “which factual interactions led Sherlock Holmes to solve the case.” But attribution can NEVER properly weight those. I do realize never is a strong word, but I stand by it.

  For instance, analytics of event facts and user behavior data cannot reveal the fact that it was the witness lying that caused Holmes the *most suspicion*, which led him to pursue the case more intentionally and thus visit the moor, leading to the resolution. Without Holmes (or, Watson for that matter, or really Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) actually telling us what went on in his head, we cannot know his intentions and how they were impacted by each interaction.

  The weakness in using this as an example is that we can see into the head of Holmes, so we are brought into the decision. This is not the case with online buyers! While you can track user behavior on your site, and you can identify and fire various events to identify who did what, when on your site, you still can never actually know which channel caused the most “credit” for a sale in the mind of the user.

  This is absolutely crucial because we analyze attribution data in a percentage model. This model doles out equal percentages of credit to the channels in the middle of a funnel, that model doles out 100% of the credit to the last channel to send traffic, and so on. However, these are doling out credit as percentages based solely on TIMING OF SESSIONS, and not on how we as humans actually make decisions… with emotion, with logic, with reason, with desire.

  At the very least, one change that needs to happen immediately is less bold-faced ROI claims from attribution and more honest communication with clients into the actual state of things. Be less concerned with finding a 100% perfect attribution model, and more concerned with diving deep into a partnership built on trust that will allow you and the client to adapt over time as you continue to experiment and tweak their attribution model based upon source interactions over time.

  So to close, as we think about attribution I’d like to warn us not to run from the one ditch into the other. Attribution is evolving in digital marketing (woohoo!), but our understanding of it needs to evolve as well.

  We need to stop simply asking “how were the sources arranged in this transaction” (that’s a great place to start) and instead begin asking immediately after the first question, “what can I learn about my customer’s emotional orientation towards my brand in each channel.”

  Also, frankly, we just need to be okay with not having attribution 100% figured out. We can’t know it perfectly. We can never know it perfectly. Take a deep breath, repeat that to yourself, and then get to work trying to get as close to perfect as possible in your client.

  I would like to leave you with a resource for further study. After I wrote my Attribution and the Cows post on ZATO (linked above), I was contacted (and helpfully corrected) by Peter O’Neill of L3 Analytics. During our twitter conversation, he pointed my way to a presentation he gave way back in 2012 of the issues with attribution (I had already written this post before that conversation). I scrolled through the slides and thought they were some of the best work on attribution I’ve ever seen, so I wanted to share them with you here.

  from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8217493 http://www.ppchero.com/attribution-is-awesome-heres-why-its-terrible/

[racheltgibsau]

Attribution is Awesome! Here’s Why It’s Terrible

As I recently wrote in A Tale of Attribution Woe (read that beginner-post first if the idea of attribution is fairly new to you), understanding attribution well (note, I didn’t say “figuring it out”) is an essential part of any digital marketing strategy. Unfortunately, it is also an evolving industry… which means there is still a lot of guesswork and change involved.

  Attribution Ditch #1: Attribution Ignorance

  When it comes to attribution, I believe there are two ditches that need to be avoided by marketers. The first ditch is the more obvious one: it is the ditch of attribution ignorance. That is, the difficulties of attribution are crucial to be aware of when setting budgets and assigning ROI properly, and it is no longer an excuse to ignore attribution. Whether it be cross-channel or cross-device, we need to get better at identifying how different channels impact our client sales. Going beyond a simplistic last click model in our understanding is essential.

    In some ways, I would argue that this ditch has increasingly been called out and warned against successfully in our industry. There is still a long way to go, but attribution-awareness has been significantly increased from even a couple of years ago, and I find that even clients are hungry to unpack the puzzle of the attribution enigma in their accounts.

  So we veer away from the ditch of attribution-ignorance… and head directly across the road into the ditch of attribution-arrogance.

  Attribution Ditch #2: Attribution Arrogance

  Whereas attribution-ignorance is undervaluing the knowledge that attribution can bring to a client account, attribution-arrogance is over-estimating the knowledge that can be gained. It looks at a simplistic model included in Google Analytics, assigns X % of value to each source, and confidently sends a report to the client, “thus hath the mines of mystery been plumbed, and thus shalt the budget be setteth.”

    This is a ditch because it communicates to the client that attribution is simplistic, requiring only a specific formula (which BTW, the agency has clearly figured out that perfect formula </sarcasm>), in order for infallible ROI measuring awesomeness to be grasped.

  Attribution’s Fatal Flaw

  However, there is in my belief, a significant weakness to attribution that must be understood in order to keep our accounts out of either ditch and squarely in the center of the road. This center of the road, by the way, is always where the best marketers have proven themselves. It is the immaculate balance of both data and human-gut-intelligence-prowess. A good marketer uses data. A great marketer uses data to take action on what she believes to be true that has not yet been proven yet (and sometimes, can never be proven).

  Regardless, let’s get back to the weakness of attribution. The glaring weakness of attribution is none other than our inability to accurately track human emotions.

  What I mean by that, is that attribution will always be limited to the data it collects, when the actual decision made in a sale happens in the mind.

  Allow me to illustrate this with one of my favorite characters (he was my favorite long before he was made popular by Benedict Cumberbatch!).

    Sherlock Holmes is a master of deducing facts in order to solve a case, but not every fact and not every deduction holds equal value in the resolution of a case.

  For instance, he may discover fibers on the floor that lead him down a mental path, and then he might interview a witness who lies about a key piece of evidence, and then this might cause him to visit the moor itself whereby he will put the finishing touches on the case.

  Yes, attribution can answer the question: “which factual interactions led Sherlock Holmes to solve the case.” But attribution can NEVER properly weight those. I do realize never is a strong word, but I stand by it.

  For instance, analytics of event facts and user behavior data cannot reveal the fact that it was the witness lying that caused Holmes the *most suspicion*, which led him to pursue the case more intentionally and thus visit the moor, leading to the resolution. Without Holmes (or, Watson for that matter, or really Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) actually telling us what went on in his head, we cannot know his intentions and how they were impacted by each interaction.

  The weakness in using this as an example is that we can see into the head of Holmes, so we are brought into the decision. This is not the case with online buyers! While you can track user behavior on your site, and you can identify and fire various events to identify who did what, when on your site, you still can never actually know which channel caused the most “credit” for a sale in the mind of the user.

  This is absolutely crucial because we analyze attribution data in a percentage model. This model doles out equal percentages of credit to the channels in the middle of a funnel, that model doles out 100% of the credit to the last channel to send traffic, and so on. However, these are doling out credit as percentages based solely on TIMING OF SESSIONS, and not on how we as humans actually make decisions… with emotion, with logic, with reason, with desire.

  At the very least, one change that needs to happen immediately is less bold-faced ROI claims from attribution and more honest communication with clients into the actual state of things. Be less concerned with finding a 100% perfect attribution model, and more concerned with diving deep into a partnership built on trust that will allow you and the client to adapt over time as you continue to experiment and tweak their attribution model based upon source interactions over time.

  So to close, as we think about attribution I’d like to warn us not to run from the one ditch into the other. Attribution is evolving in digital marketing (woohoo!), but our understanding of it needs to evolve as well.

  We need to stop simply asking “how were the sources arranged in this transaction” (that’s a great place to start) and instead begin asking immediately after the first question, “what can I learn about my customer’s emotional orientation towards my brand in each channel.”

  Also, frankly, we just need to be okay with not having attribution 100% figured out. We can’t know it perfectly. We can never know it perfectly. Take a deep breath, repeat that to yourself, and then get to work trying to get as close to perfect as possible in your client.

  I would like to leave you with a resource for further study. After I wrote my Attribution and the Cows post on ZATO (linked above), I was contacted (and helpfully corrected) by Peter O’Neill of L3 Analytics. During our twitter conversation, he pointed my way to a presentation he gave way back in 2012 of the issues with attribution (I had already written this post before that conversation). I scrolled through the slides and thought they were some of the best work on attribution I’ve ever seen, so I wanted to share them with you here.

  from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8217493 http://www.ppchero.com/attribution-is-awesome-heres-why-its-terrible/

[maxslogic25]

Attribution is Awesome! Here’s Why It’s Terrible

As I recently wrote in A Tale of Attribution Woe (read that beginner-post first if the idea of attribution is fairly new to you), understanding attribution well (note, I didn’t say “figuring it out”) is an essential part of any digital marketing strategy. Unfortunately, it is also an evolving industry… which means there is still a lot of guesswork and change involved.

  Attribution Ditch #1: Attribution Ignorance

  When it comes to attribution, I believe there are two ditches that need to be avoided by marketers. The first ditch is the more obvious one: it is the ditch of attribution ignorance. That is, the difficulties of attribution are crucial to be aware of when setting budgets and assigning ROI properly, and it is no longer an excuse to ignore attribution. Whether it be cross-channel or cross-device, we need to get better at identifying how different channels impact our client sales. Going beyond a simplistic last click model in our understanding is essential.

    In some ways, I would argue that this ditch has increasingly been called out and warned against successfully in our industry. There is still a long way to go, but attribution-awareness has been significantly increased from even a couple of years ago, and I find that even clients are hungry to unpack the puzzle of the attribution enigma in their accounts.

  So we veer away from the ditch of attribution-ignorance… and head directly across the road into the ditch of attribution-arrogance.

  Attribution Ditch #2: Attribution Arrogance

  Whereas attribution-ignorance is undervaluing the knowledge that attribution can bring to a client account, attribution-arrogance is over-estimating the knowledge that can be gained. It looks at a simplistic model included in Google Analytics, assigns X % of value to each source, and confidently sends a report to the client, “thus hath the mines of mystery been plumbed, and thus shalt the budget be setteth.”

    This is a ditch because it communicates to the client that attribution is simplistic, requiring only a specific formula (which BTW, the agency has clearly figured out that perfect formula </sarcasm>), in order for infallible ROI measuring awesomeness to be grasped.

  Attribution’s Fatal Flaw

  However, there is in my belief, a significant weakness to attribution that must be understood in order to keep our accounts out of either ditch and squarely in the center of the road. This center of the road, by the way, is always where the best marketers have proven themselves. It is the immaculate balance of both data and human-gut-intelligence-prowess. A good marketer uses data. A great marketer uses data to take action on what she believes to be true that has not yet been proven yet (and sometimes, can never be proven).

  Regardless, let’s get back to the weakness of attribution. The glaring weakness of attribution is none other than our inability to accurately track human emotions.

  What I mean by that, is that attribution will always be limited to the data it collects, when the actual decision made in a sale happens in the mind.

  Allow me to illustrate this with one of my favorite characters (he was my favorite long before he was made popular by Benedict Cumberbatch!).

    Sherlock Holmes is a master of deducing facts in order to solve a case, but not every fact and not every deduction holds equal value in the resolution of a case.

  For instance, he may discover fibers on the floor that lead him down a mental path, and then he might interview a witness who lies about a key piece of evidence, and then this might cause him to visit the moor itself whereby he will put the finishing touches on the case.

  Yes, attribution can answer the question: “which factual interactions led Sherlock Holmes to solve the case.” But attribution can NEVER properly weight those. I do realize never is a strong word, but I stand by it.

  For instance, analytics of event facts and user behavior data cannot reveal the fact that it was the witness lying that caused Holmes the *most suspicion*, which led him to pursue the case more intentionally and thus visit the moor, leading to the resolution. Without Holmes (or, Watson for that matter, or really Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) actually telling us what went on in his head, we cannot know his intentions and how they were impacted by each interaction.

  The weakness in using this as an example is that we can see into the head of Holmes, so we are brought into the decision. This is not the case with online buyers! While you can track user behavior on your site, and you can identify and fire various events to identify who did what, when on your site, you still can never actually know which channel caused the most “credit” for a sale in the mind of the user.

  This is absolutely crucial because we analyze attribution data in a percentage model. This model doles out equal percentages of credit to the channels in the middle of a funnel, that model doles out 100% of the credit to the last channel to send traffic, and so on. However, these are doling out credit as percentages based solely on TIMING OF SESSIONS, and not on how we as humans actually make decisions… with emotion, with logic, with reason, with desire.

  At the very least, one change that needs to happen immediately is less bold-faced ROI claims from attribution and more honest communication with clients into the actual state of things. Be less concerned with finding a 100% perfect attribution model, and more concerned with diving deep into a partnership built on trust that will allow you and the client to adapt over time as you continue to experiment and tweak their attribution model based upon source interactions over time.

  So to close, as we think about attribution I’d like to warn us not to run from the one ditch into the other. Attribution is evolving in digital marketing (woohoo!), but our understanding of it needs to evolve as well.

  We need to stop simply asking “how were the sources arranged in this transaction” (that’s a great place to start) and instead begin asking immediately after the first question, “what can I learn about my customer’s emotional orientation towards my brand in each channel.”

  Also, frankly, we just need to be okay with not having attribution 100% figured out. We can’t know it perfectly. We can never know it perfectly. Take a deep breath, repeat that to yourself, and then get to work trying to get as close to perfect as possible in your client.

  I would like to leave you with a resource for further study. After I wrote my Attribution and the Cows post on ZATO (linked above), I was contacted (and helpfully corrected) by Peter O’Neill of L3 Analytics. During our twitter conversation, he pointed my way to a presentation he gave way back in 2012 of the issues with attribution (I had already written this post before that conversation). I scrolled through the slides and thought they were some of the best work on attribution I’ve ever seen, so I wanted to share them with you here.

  from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8217493 http://www.ppchero.com/attribution-is-awesome-heres-why-its-terrible/