#seems ill have to... open regular youtube... with ads...

[arielluva]

falling to my knees trying to watch a video marked for kids on youtube but revanced literally will not let me bc the spoofing got fucked up somehow

[greenxgloss]

Can we get a bts fanboy headcanon?

BTS as Fanboys

themes: Idol!Reader, Gn!Reader, Fluff, angst

Gonna be completely honest im not sure if you wanted bts as fanboys or how bts interacts with their fanboys so I'm gonna do them as fanboys bc I feel like that's the more interesting of the two (I'm so so sorry if that's wrong in which case you can totally request it again and be more clear I would totally re-write it if I'm wrong)

Kim Seokjin

Jin definitely roasts other fans and claims to be a day 1 supporter.

"I literally knew them when they just posted covers online.

Jin buys all your merch, official and unofficial.

Jin spends hours watching fan-made edits of you.

Jin plays the Sims4 just to create you as a sim and then spoil your sim but forces it to write new music when you're on break/hiatus.

"Close enough. Welcome back, Y/N. When's the next album?"

Jin makes his own video compilations of your funny moments and then laughs at them for hours.

Proud of his obsession and talks about you when he doesn't know what else to talk about with new people.

Attends fan meets

Jin makes memes of the fandom's inside jokes

Min Yoongi

Yoongi buys all your albums (cd form, vinyl form etc.) just to have and collect

He writes fanfiction of you (series, one shots etc) mostly fluff but there is the occasional smutty fic, hyper erotic and juicy asf but still respectful.

He's secretly hugely infatuated but still keeps it subtle/ to himself

"Yeah their music is always in my playlists." with his usual kitten smile.

"Collaborating on something with them would be a huge accomplishment." Hed calmly reply to comments about you on weverse live.

Yoongi paints portraits of you/ makes tons of fan art but its not obvious that its fanart because he makes it look like regular everyday art.

Yoongi not only watches your interviews, he reads them, enjoying the articles far more than video interviews.

"they seem much more comfortable and open in the written interviews" hed say to himself

He's so delulu he learned all your rumoured favourite foods and how to cook them "just in case"

zones out thinking about the meanings behind your songs

Youre his celebrity crush

Yoongi doesn't attend fan meets or concerts because he a more lowkye/ private fan

just interact with the fandom

Jung heosok

Hobi writing remixes of your songs constantly

Hobi being the only one of the boys to actually be friends with you in real life

"can I get on a remix of your recent single?"

Gossiping with him about other idols

"did you hear about the scandal that group was in? they haven't even debuted yet." while tapping your hand before leaning back.

him still being a mega fan despite being friends with you

Having a yoongi and halsey dynamic

begging you to stream on weverse all the time just because he knows other fans want it just as bad.

"come on!! please just an hour. ill get you those cookies you really love.

reposting all your Instagram posts with sweet captions.

"bestie is looking so good!!!" with a ton of emojis

recreating your tiktok dances

also starts dance trends to your music and encourages people to jump on the trend

"I'll repost your video if you do this dance." big heart shaped smile.

Kim Namjoon

namjoon studies your lyrics, finds the double meanings and the word play

"reviews" and reacts to your music in YouTube videos

watches the countdown to your music being released on whatever platform (youtube, weverse etc.)

"supposedly the camera rig malfunctioned on set, that's why the camera is so shaky but they didn't re-shoot because it added to the windy scene" he'd say all jumpy and giddy like a kid on a sugar rush

has your autograph framed from the one and only time he met you

namjoon was very flustered and shy when he met you

"oh uh yeah I love your music and the double meanings in your last song."

gushes about the cinematography in your music videos

Namjoon writes questions he'd ask you if he got to interview you

Watches movies and tags you as characters that remind him of you

Park Jimin

Loves to let your music play while he's doing something and then harmonizes with your vocals

buys Vip tickets to all your events

posts your lyrics on social media

"this part omg!!!"

One time you smiled at him in the crowd and he freaked out and bragged about it for months

"they totally smiled at me last night"

"do you think they remember me from the fan meet last month?"

he's constantly talking with other fans

jimin makes bracelets with letter beads that spell your name or album names

jimin copies your makeup just because he thinks you're the picture of beauty purely in a view of admiration

he views you like greek statues.

"wow- their cheekbones-" he'd say in awh, face right up to the screen while he held a mirror and makeup brush in hands.

Kim Taehyung

requests your songs at parties and other events

begs the guys to do a cover of your songs on stage

name drops you in interviews and is always talking about you in his own interviews

has a huge crush on you and will say so proudly

"they're so pretty. Y/n if you see this, call me." with a sly smirk on his face, completely disregarding the uproar it would cause with army

Taehyung gets super shy when you say his name

Being shy despite being so confident when he talks about you in interviews

"uh- oh- the new song- yeah." while giggling

apologizing profusely when you tease him about the interviews when he comes to fan meets

Jeon Jungkook

Jungkook would write a song about you that's how down bad he is

Posts on social media in hopes you see it

Kook argues with taehyung about thinking he'd treat you better given the chance

argues with jin about being a bigger fan

picks out his outfits to coordinate with yours

kook hopes to run into you at award shows

stalks your fanpages

reads yoongis fanfiction about you

probably is the more devoted fan among the other members

sings your songs all the time, in the car, shower, while cooking, etc.

the only one of the boys that talks to you confidently

"Your style is amazing, I take inspiration all the time." while standing up straight and s soft confident smile on his lips, eye contact unwavering.

but he would never admit that he's written and released songs about you

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

sorry this took so long i was trying to get all the requests in order! i hope these were up to par hcs are usually very rushed. if you'd like something more detailed or even full drabbles id totally be down to do that. if you wanna be tagged in future works to be notified when I've posted a fic please fill out the taglist form linked below along with the masterposts

➽ Yoongi Masterlist ➽ Main Masterlist ➽ Taglist Form

[dawnleaf37]

oh god I haven’t even thought abt the lore. well there’s mecrosoft paper, suitcase, test tube, feathry, and silver spoon but I didnt really have an idea for him so. im saying ss is non canon. and then later we added gray and moon who don’t have designs yet

paper is like clippy and really clingy. I think he’s also a bit of mischievous spyware, just a silly little guy Knowing about you and your computer. despite me drawing suitcase first, paper was the first guy created. paper pops up randomly with his tips n stuff and then disappears of the screen to who knows where lol. he’s differentiated from ii paper in that he almost always has a static smile on his face and also the pink line on him is now black.

suitcase is a wonderful file organizer and works good with storage. like paper, she randomly pops up with tips and tricks about computer tech and fun facts. she usually stays on screen if there’s at least one application open. suitcase ISNT spyware however 🎉. iirc shes abt to be discontinued for a newer os (you can still archive the download site tho). difference from regular suitcase she is a flat fuck and also can float. more expressive than the other guys too!

test tube I havent talked abt too much. most recent product and is also an organizer. as well as helps run applications. they say tt makes the computer run faster but they are 8000% lying. made to replace suitcase and paper on newer operating systems but uhhh glitchy as hell not working >:(. they brought back using these guys as spyware and even adware. horrible. tt always has a clipboard and again mostly a static smiling face. silly idle animations. comes on every os and there’s youtube videos on how to uninstall her /silly

mecrosoft is a shitty company so since tt creates adware, they advertised feathry as an ad remover. and she works!!! mostly!!! theyve still gotta make money n shit so she doesnt work all the way. just enough. shes also a paid subscription so mecrosoft you bitch as. feathry has a green marker but she doesnt even scribble out ads it’s just there for appeal. but if you buy now you get a silly creature on your computer!!!!!!!! please

mecrosoft gray wasn’t really ever supposed to exist tbh lol!! they were trying to make mini helper things for each application but none of the guys ever worked except gray’s and they couldn’t figure out why. the real reason is because well! gray is the reason. fucked up little computer creature demands ten thousand attention forever and started deleting code for the other guys while they were testing. and then they just kinda forgot to take gray off of the os because no one ever uses the calculator tool. gray even buggier than metube because he just always gives the wrong answer or just some non existent unit of measurement. little fucked up thing. sentient creature. invasive species. probably a bad idea. might even give your computer a virus? idk it seems to be quite good at modifying code /silly

lore lore lore: copy of mepaper started bugging out on an old computer and the guy using it was like “hmm this is some really creepypasta shit.” idm if you wanna make that guy OJ ig that’d be cool I never really decided (I think ill just say OJ here to make it easier) but mepaper eventually became sentient and became friends with him. but OJ can’t really do work on it now so he bought another one off of like craigslist or whatever. came installed with mesuitcase. mepaper saw that n was like “what the hell dude.” keep in mind this guy(mepaper) doesnt have a voice so hes just speaking thru text boxes lol. so what mepaper did was fuck up the mecase computer with like some really bad virus but somehow mecase survived that. barely. so OJ was like “fucks sake dude” and ig mepaper felt bad so he tried to apologize. but OJ wouldn’t let them near each other so they kinda just yelled from across the house when he wasn’t home. mecase has a voice btw uh it’s not the best quality but she has it. so they made up and theyre cool now.

I haven’t thought abt anything with metube or mefeathry yet so youll have to wait for that 🎉

[dimensionsunited]

MARCH 2021 DIMENSIONS ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULES & REVIEW

Members may earn 3 points each (up to 6 points) for writing, by the end of April 7 KST:

A solo para of 400+ words based on their monthly schedule (does not count toward your monthly total).

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) based on their monthly schedule.

Threads do not have to take place directly during an important date listed on the schedule, but must be related to what the muse is mentioned to be doing in the paragraph explaining their schedule/the company’s schedule for the month and/or their thoughts on the mentioned activities or lack thereof.

These schedules may be updated throughout the month if new information needs to be added.

Reminder: February schedule posts are due by the end of March 7 KST. Please do not post schedule posts in the fmdschedule tag.

OVERALL COMPANY

Delays in construction have the opening date of the base Culture Complex delayed by a few months more than anticipated, but the idols are still on schedule to participate in preparing materials. This month, all idols will go into a studio to film short videos that will be used for a AR photobooth where fans can “take pictures” with their favorite idols. The videos they need to film will be pretty simple: sitting on benches and standing in a few different poses in front of a green screen (examples: 1, 2).

Important dates:

March 1-March 31: base Culture Complex museum AR photobooth filming (admin note: muses may encounter idols from other companies while there).

DIMENSIONS SOLOIST 1

After five months since her last comeback, another comeback for her has finally been internally confirmed within Dimensions Entertainment. Preparations in the studio and the practice studio don’t kick in quite yet this month, but she’ll be in for a few concept meetings to be told what Dimensions is looking at give her own feedback as a veteran of the company. Before she enters a new era, Dimensions is sending her in to do some wrap-up promotions for “Pporappippam”, including a “Look Me Up” video with 1theK.

Important dates:

March 5: 1theK Look Me Up video filming.

DIMENSIONS SOLOIST 2

Most of the month is spent going between the practice room and meetings as he prepares to make his comeback. His new mini-album will be released on the final day of the month, meaning he won’t get the chance to see the results just yet, but, in their meetings, Dimensions makes it clear to him that they’d like this comeback to see more success in at least a few areas compared to his prior comebacks to show his capability for long-term growth as a soloist in their company, putting the pressure on him.

Important dates:

March 31: Release of “When It Rains” & Day mini-album + press showcase, music show promotions continue through April 30.

DIMENSIONS SOLOIST 3

She finishes a successful round of single promotions on the third of the month, but she doesn’t get a break just because she’s finished promoting one comeback. Instead, she’s almost immediately ushered into preparing for her next one by having scheduled studio time to record the track list of her next mini-album, which Dimensions has slated for a summer release fitting of its more bright and pop-y sound compared to her debut mini-album.

Important dates:

March 3: End of music show promotions.

GAL.ACTIC

The next step of the comeback preparation process is to learn and rehearse the choreography for the title track. Their sound might be a little different this comeback, but their choreography isn’t too far off from what they’re used to. They’ll also attend fittings, as usual, and the denim brand GetUsed that they’re the face of has them scheduled for a fan sign at a mall mid-month. They’ve also been chosen as the newest faces of cosmetics and skincare brand MISSHA and will have a commercial filming for the brand’s Lipsticks this month. All members will appear in all CF versions, but there will be three focus versions focusing on different feelings the lipstick shades give off, where two members will be assigned to each.

Modern: Main rapper/main dancer/vocal & Leader/main vocal

Lovely: Vocal & maknae/vocal

Elegant: Lead vocal & lead rapper/lead dancer/vocal

Important dates:

March 10: MISSHA CF filming.

March 14: GetUsed fan sign.

March 15: M/V and stage outfit fittings.

ALIEN

Fantasia X releases in the second week of March and then Alien is set for promotions for the rest of the month. In addition to the regular music shows, they’ve been scheduled to make appearances on several YouTube channel popular with idols fans, particularly the international audience. The videos will focus on showing different sides of their live performances, which Dimensions considers to be one of the strongest points of their idols.

Important dates:

March 6: Dingo Jackpot Live video filming.

March 9: Release of “Fantasia” & Fantasia X mini-album + press showcase, music show promotions continue through April 9.

March 11: Relay Dance video filming.

March 13: Studio Choom Be Original video filming.

March 30: Try-lingual Live video filming.

MARS

MARS will be in Japan from March 10-19 and March 26-29 to attend Hi Touch events with their Japanese fans spanning across the country. If they haven’t already, they should brush up on their Japanese in the days leading up to their trip in order to make the best impression on their Japanese fans that don’t get to see them as often as their Korean ones. Both while they’re in Seoul and in booked conference rooms in the hotels they stay in in Japan, MARS will learn and practice the choreography for their next title track and b-sides "Zigzag”, “Red Thread”, “Eye Contact”, and “Hero”.

Important dates:

March 10: MARS Mini Live & High Touch at Sapporo Factory Atrium in Sapporo, Japan.

March 13: MARS Mini Live & High Touch at Tokyo Dome City La Coeur Garden Stage in Tokyo, Japan.

March 14: MARS Mini Live & High Touch at Kobe Harborland Space Theater in Kobe, Japan.

March 16: MARS Mini Live & High Touch at Zepp DiverCity in Tokyo, Japan.

March 19: MARS Mini Live & High Touch at Tower Records Shibuya Store in Tokyo, Japan.

March 27: MARS Mini Live & High Touch at My Dome Osaka E Hall in Osaka, Japan.

March 28: MARS Mini Live & High Touch at Electric Building Mirai Hall in Fukuoka, Japan. 

7ROPHY

The lead up to their comeback on the fifteenth includes a fan sign in their role as ambassadors for Kaja Beauty, as well as the pre-filming of two dance videos that will be released in the days following their comeback. They’ll film another performance video for Studio Choom a few days after making their comeback. The rest of promotions are music show performances and radio show guestings for this month. “Oh My God” sees a reception similar to what Dimensions had wanted, finding a success more similar to “Lion” than the other songs they released last year.

Important dates:

March 7: Kaja Beauty fan sign.

March 13: Special Dance Practice video filming.

March 14: 1theK Suit Dance video filming.

March 15: Release of “Oh My God” & I Trust mini-album + press showcase, music show promotions continue through April 15.

March 21: Studio Choom Be Original video filming.

March 22: Guesting on KBS Cool FM Kiss The Radio radio show.

March 30: Guesting on SBS Power FM Cultwo Show radio show.

UNITY

Their album is recorded, so March is dedicated to mastering the choreography for their comeback title track. Mid-month, they’ll have fittings for their wardrobe for the next comeback. The planned style for this comeback doesn’t step too far outside of what Unity is known for, but it’s important for the style team to know that the members’ performance won’t be compromised by ill-fitting pieces. At the end of the month, Unity will go in for a long day of shooting photos for the album.

Important dates:

March 15: M/V and stage outfit fittings.

March 30: Photo book and teaser photo shoot.

 ↳ CHAMPION

CHAMPION will be performing a concert at Tokyo Dome next month, so they’ll be coming together when all members are available this month to rehearse their stages to make sure they haven’t forgotten the concert set list.

Important dates:

N/A

LUCID

Most of the month is spent continuing to promote their comeback. The reception has been mixed. While the song received a detail performance more similar to their lighter concepts that have been more popular with the public, diehard fans of one concept over the other don’t seem to be satisfied with the conceptual meeting of the two, each claiming Dimensions should have gone all the way on one concept or the other. After they finish their mostly successful round of promotions, Lucid will fly out to Los Angeles to perform at KCON as Dimensions’ solo representative at the event.

Important dates:

March 3: Guesting on MBC FM4U Dreaming Radio radio show.

March 5: Yoo Heeyeol’s Sketchbook filming (to be aired: March 13).

March 9: Guesting on MBC FM4U Noon Song of Hope radio show.

March 22: End of music show promotions.

March 27: Performance at KCON LA at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA, USA (also performing: Decipher, BEE, & Chroma Crystal).

March 28: Performance at KCON LA at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA, USA (also performing: Decipher, BEE, & Chroma Crystal).

[chrisbbaegopayo]

Hold Your Breath (Stray Kids: Stalker AU) ➻ Chapter 1

Genre: Thriller, Angst, Gore, Mystery, Suspense Characters: Stray Kids, OCs Word Count: 2.8k Warning: This story will contain elements of gore, on- and off-screen abuse, torture, mental illness, and stalking. It will feature themes that are not suitable for all ages, readers discretion is advised. Each chapter will have its own specific warning.

The story takes place in the main character’s third year of university. The prologue will detail information before the story takes place. Happy reading!

Chapters: Premise | 01 Prologue | 02 Chapter one | 03 Chapter two | Chapter three (part 1) | Chapter three (part 2)

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

During the summer, she spent most of her time hanging around Jisung, and throughout her time spent lazing around the house and marathoning movies on both of their to-watch list, the two had engaged in casual conversations like regular friends. However, the topic of her supposed secret admirer never came up, and naturally, Jisung never suspected something was wrong. Her perky attitude kept him from knowing what was going on, and plus, she felt certain that once the new semester rolled around, the secret admirer would be out of her hair.

Plus, spending time with Jisung made her feel safe.

Jisung, who had worked at the local movie theatre, sometimes would offer her discounted movie tickets thanks to his employee discount, and sometimes, they would hang out at a nearby diner or cafe. They would laugh at random things that the older boy had encountered at his job, including a woman who bought both popcorn with extra butter and two slushes only to dump it all on him because her son was being particularly playful that day.

It took a while to get the butter smell out of his hair.

She laughed for a long time, with Jisung staring at her incredulously after that.

Jisung did say that thanks to the mishap, he was able to leave work to clean up—"to avoid affecting the overall atmosphere of the theatre,” as his manager told him. He was grateful for that. Jisung was never penalized for the mishap, and the lady apologized profusely for her oversight.

Jisung had a bunch of other funny stories that he told her in the course of the summer vacation, and some good news as well.

Though Jisung at the movie theatre, his main goal was to fund his own music career. Despite being a talented musician, he had never had any luck getting his music out there. He told her that on certain days, when he wasn’t working, he would be working with another friend, producing music that he wished people would listen to.

He had shown her several of his mixtapes, but other than a few supportive fans—her included—his career at making music never really lifted off the ground. But it seemed to be better now that he was able to purchase some advanced and better technology to help him make music that that had better sound quality.

His partner, Seo Changbin, who also shared the same dream, came from money and was rich, but Changbin’s parents were too worried about his condition to allow him to become fully engrossed in the music world. Nevertheless, whenever he had time, Changbin would make his way to Jisung’s house to dip his hand back into the music world, much to his parents’ chagrin. However, Changbin’s parents made it abundantly clear that they were not going to fund Changbin’s music career should he choose to pursue the path—which is to say, though they didn’t openly dissuade him from doing so, they weren’t encouraging him to do so, either.

After all, Changbin was born with hearing disabilities, and knowing that fact alone made Changbin even more admirable in Jisung’s eyes. Changbin had great rhythm, a great sense of style, and an ear for something more—something that Jisung did not excel at.

To further add insult to injury on Changbin's part was that he also had a weak heart, so the exposure to loud and brash noises could incapacitate him to some degree. The boy was already suffering from one disability, but this was a totally new monster to tackle. Changbin still loved music, and the louder the better. He pulled a weird "loud music can train my heart to withstand more" crap to his parents, something that Jisung had a hard time believing.

Jisung often talked to her about how life was kind of unfair—to give a guy this kind of unmatched talent and give him an equal amount of handicap that would deter him from utilizing his talent to its fullest…

...is truly ironic, in a sense. But Changbin seemed to make it out just fine.

“Life is full of adversities and obstacles,” Changbin told Jisung a few months into their friendship and partnership, “but the most important thing is to know how to navigate through and past the roadblocks in life that dares to keep us back.”

And through the summer, it felt as though she was given insight into Jisung’s life like never before.

On the last week of summer vacation, as she was getting her things ready for the new semester, he asked about her. It was also the first time in a long time that he had asked her about her own schooling experiences.

She was tempted to tell him about her secret admirer, but she decided against it and talked about the crazy amount of homework she would be expecting come third year, and joked about how she was going to have no social life. Of course, she was kidding, and he knew that.

“Nothing too exciting, you know, this and that,” she said, almost dismissing the idea that her life could get interesting. “Come on, to a plain girl like me? I’m as mundane as you can get.”

Jisung gave her an ‘are you kidding me’ look as he rolled his eyes, clearly not convinced. She only stuck out her tongue in retaliation.

She didn’t lie, she just didn’t tell him the whole truth. But he was clearly not going to be satisfied with that answer, this she knew for sure.

“My friend told me about how she walked into the wrong class acting like a diva and argued for five minutes with the teacher before realizing that she was supposed to be in the classroom next door,” she started, recalling the incident. “It didn’t help that she had been awake for more than 40 hours and was pumped off of energy drinks her brought bought her.”

Jisung chuckled, almost sympathetic. “And then?”

“She became more aware of her surroundings after five minutes of arguing—I think it woke her up and she nearly ran from the room. The funniest thing was the professor’s reaction to her running, his mouth was open the whole time, almost in a disgusted manner,” she said, hardly holding in her laughter. “My friend avoided that professor for a whole half a year before she apologized to him. He had half-forgotten her by that point.”

By then, Jisung burst into fits of laughter. It took him a while to calm down.

"Dude, these stories are gold," he said, in between chuckles. "You literally need to convince your friend to go audition for stand-ups. It's going to be a full house with stories like these."

She nodded in agreement, wiping the stray tears from her eyes. "I know, that's what I've been telling her, seriously, so much raw talent for the entertainment industry. But she just keeps on telling me that other people won't find her funny and won't pay to see her even if she tries."

Jisung seemed to have eased up on the laughter, but still, maintain that tiniest hint of mischievousness. "Well, people are missing out. They're golden, golden. She just needs to find the right crowd."

"Like your music career?"

Jisung huffed. "Hey, I resent that. My music career seems to show signs of promise, I gained two listeners on SoundCloud the other day. And just the other day, I gained 10 more subscribers on YouTube. I'm on fire!"

Although she was very supportive of his music, she never let up a chance to tease him about it—all in good fun, of course, and he knew that.

"Hey, new listeners on both platforms! That's always good news. It's not much but it's something, right?" She stood up, back facing the television, looking down at Jisung, who was lazily sitting on her couch. "What's say we celebrate with some soda?"

Jisung scrunched his nose in disapproval. "Soda? Again? We have that every day. I bet you're just thirsty."

She laughed. "Yeah, you're right, but hey, I thought of you. You got to give props to me for that. You want me to just ignore you while I drink all the soda in the fridge?"

Jisung crossed his arms in front of his chest in mock anger, "what am I, chopped liver? Give me a soda!"

"Okay, okay," she chuckled as she made her way to the kitchen and poured two glasses of soda from the fridge. "One Coca-Cola for Jisung, coming up!"

Jisung raised his arms in the air, cheering. "Yeaaaah!"

At that moment, her phone buzzed, startling her. She managed not to spill anything, props to her. The message would have to wait until she brought the drinks back to the living room.

Once Jisung had the drink in hand and she had hers, she dug the phone from her pocket, curious as to who texted her—she figured that it would be her friend, and it was, the same friend who was not quite awake when she stepped foot in the wrong class—incidentally, the same friend who gave her a little lecture when she found the note written to the gift-bearer/secret admirer.

"Do you want to hang out tomorrow?" There's a new cafe opening, and I heard they sell incredibly delicious pistachio crepe cakes!"

She smiled to herself as she settled her drink on the glass table and took a seat on the armchair. She looked over to Jisung, who was drinking the cup of coca-cola she had given him a brief moment ago.

"Can I bring a friend?" She texted back. Maybe Jisung might benefit from going to cute places once in a while.

"Hey, Jisung?"

He looked up at her from his cup. "Hmm?"

"Do you want to go to a cafe with me and a friend?"

Jisung thought for a moment. "Which friend?"

"Sooji. The same friend who walked into the wrong classroom and argued with the professor for five minutes straight." She paused and then added. "Yeah, that friend.”

Jisung's eyes lit up a little. "Sure! Where? What time?"

She shrugged, "Let me check if she replied."

The sound of a 'ding' and she knew her friend sent a reply.

"Maybe noon? It's the one with floral decor, pale yellow storefront banner, and it says "Petit Pâtissier" on top. You can't miss it. It's where the Korean bakeshop used to be."

She looked up at Jisung as she relayed the information. "It's downtown, where the little Korean bakeshop used to be, you know, the one that we used to frequent back when we used to live downtown? Yeah, it's closed down and a new cafe opened up there, called "Petit Pâtissier. At noon."

Jisung thought for a moment. He didn't need to be at work because he had the day off, and Changbin was with his parents doing some checkup so he would have spent that day by himself anyway. "Sure."

A ding interrupted her mid-cheer, and she checked back at her phone. 

"Is it the hot friend?"

She flushed, and immediately fired back a text profusely rejecting her idea that Jisung was hot.

"NO! I do not have a hot friend! What the heck, Sooji!” "But yes, noon sounds great." "And his name is Han Jisung. Not hot guy."

The reply from her friend was almost immediate.

"Oh, that friend." "But wasn't he the hot friend?"

She kept on gawking—she did not know that Sooji found Jisung hot, what, what, what the heck?  

"Whaaaa??" She replied. "Since when did you find him hot what when where how what why? Spill the tea, sis."

Jisung, who sat near her, was staring at her in confusion. "What was that?"

She side-eyed him as a grin made itself to her face. "My friend thought you were hot."

Jisung stared at her in disbelief. "Hey! I'm good looking!"

She could only laugh. "Yeah, she said that earlier, sheesh. But come on, her taste is always pretty questionable, let's be real."

Jisung rolled his eyes then and there. "Sureeee, you always say that."

She stood up and stuck out her tongue at him. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."

It was then that her phone made a 'ding' sound, and she stared down at her phone, curious as to what her friend said.

"Nope, my lips are sealed!" "But if he's coming tomorrow, then maybe we could talk about how hot he is." "I'll tell you when we hang out, again. Between us girls," Sooji wrote.

She giggled.

"Okay you better tell me!"

She stuffed the phone in her back pocket as she stood up, and then made her way to the kitchen, where she could refill her drink.

The phone 'ding' ed with another notification.

Normally, her friend wouldn't reply that fast, but she figured that Sooji would probably fire back with some comment along the lines of, "I'm serious" followed by a few exclamation marks, almost determined to prove her point.

But it wasn't Sooji. It was a bunch of random numbers. Was it some sort of telemarketer? Had they switched over to text now?

Unsure, she opened the text, and she yelped, dropping her cup to the kitchen floor, smashing it into multiple pieces.

Jisung, who was in the living room, dashed around to the kitchen. "What happened?"

Quickly, she placed her phone, screen down, on the counter and pretended to busy herself with the mess she had made. "I, um, I dropped my cup, I didn't have a firm grip."

Jisung could not find out. "Really, I'm okay."

Too bad it was just her spirit that had been broken.

Jisung had a feeling it might be more than what was on the surface, but he didn't press further and helped her clean up the broken glass. "Be careful, ok?"

She nodded wordlessly.

The two returned to the movie, and even though Jisung had picked out a scary movie for the two of them to watch, she wasn't all that into it, and the scary parts within the movie seemed more prevalent to her. It felt more real. Eventually, the scary movie felt a little too much for her to handle, and she pleaded with him to switch the movie.

"Could we switch the movie? Please?"

Jisung complied, but instead of putting on a different movie, he closed off the screen altogether before joining her on the couch.

"What's wrong?"

She shook her head, almost painfully. "Nothing…really. I'm just out of it today."

He didn't want to press her earlier about whatever spooked her earlier, but now, it was a little more evident that something big was bothering her.

"Don't give me that crap," he said. "I know when you're extremely unsettled by something."

Something about 'how long have I known you for?' stuff.

She didn’t speak for a long time.

"I saw a scary advertisement," she tried again.

Jisung was still not buying it. "Really? How about you tell me what's really bothering you?"

There was a moment of pause, with the two just staring at each other, neither of them saying anything.

She entrusted him with every other secret, why not now? It made no sense of Jisung, and he felt as though she had been through this strange transition and became a totally different person—provided that she had been busy with school, but she had taken to be more secretive about everything, and he didn't like this change. Not at all.

"(Y/N)," he started, hesitantly, "are you in trouble?"

Her eyes widened—of all the question, why this one? Should she even tell him what was going on? She felt her resolve waver as she melted into a pool of insecurities.

"I—"

He only pressed further, and she felt she was backed into a wall—because why out of all the people, why her?

"Y/N, if you're in trouble, you need to let me know, really, is it school? What's going on?"

She shook her head.

"No...I..."

There was a long pause before she continued. "I just have some trouble with...someone, I guess."

He looked worried. "Who?"

What should she tell him? My secret admirer, who has been giving me gifts since the beginning of the year and making me really creeped out? No way, he'd go crazy. Someone who was pulling a year-long prank on me by sending me presents? No way.

"You're making me really worried." Apparently, she wasn't answering fast enough. "Seriously. You know I'm always worried about you."

She stared down, and fiddled around with her shirt, unsure of what to say.

"You promise you won't get mad?"

He gave her a bewildered look. "Why would I get mad?"

"I don't know. I just..." her voice trailed off, and he leaned in, almost in anticipation.

"Jisung, I..."

-----------

Boom! Chapter one completed! Next week’s chapter might come a little late, but I promise there would be some other visual aids, such as the conversation featured here! 

If anyone has any questions regarding the plot, I can answer them! I know it’s not too far into the story yet, but I promise I won't give any spoilers! I might also add more interactive aspects of the story to give it more interaction worthy content, but for now, it will stay static. Thank you for reading! 

[fapangel]

SO what do you what will happen now with the whole fake Bomer guy supposedly be a trump supporter? Do you think the blue wave will restart or is it too little to late?

The most significantrevelation of the mail-bomber incident was that the Republicanmainstream – not the usual fringe kooks, but the levelheaded,respected commentators – immediately suspected it to be amanufactured “October Surprise.”

Some of those knee-jerktweets have since been deleted, likelyfor the same reason that I was more alarmed that I could entertain a“false flag” theory in the first place than I was by the possible“false flag” itself. Embracing asinine conspiracy theoriesis, to me, a hallmark of left-wing agitprop, an indelible impressionfrom my formative Bush-era youth when ~Halliburton~ and~Bush’s cabinet of puppeteers who have Jewish last names~was unceasingly invoked in anypolitical argument. And yet, despite knowing theoverwhelming odds of a lone lunatic being the perp (as indeed theywere) and my own decades-old biases against conspiracy theories, Istill found myselfmuttering dubiously.

Iwasn’t alone in that impression – the NewYork Times picked up on it too, and as is their wont managed todisclose their unique myopia as well. In their effort to equate allright-wing media to Alex “Lizardman Chemtrails” Jones’s usualconspiracytainment bullshit, theydrop this revealing paragraph:

Mr.Jones has been largely pushed tothe fringes of the internet — kicked off Twitter, Facebook and adozen other services — and his cries for attention now seem mostlypitiful. (This week, he was filmed yellingat a pile of manure outsidea rally for President Trump in Texas.) Buthis spirit lives on in the larger universe of pro-Trump media, whichhas fused the conspiratorial grandeur of Infowars with an unshakablefaith in Mr. Trump’s righteousness.

Theyautomatically equate media exposure of an idea with how manyviewers believe the idea. The thesis of the article lies inthese two sentences; Alex Jones has been silenced, but the moremainstream right-wing media has picked up his ideas, and that’s whythey’re still alive.

Thisalone speaks volumes about the media’s worldview, but to reallydrive it home see thisarticle wherein the reporter blames Trump’s attacks on themedia for their plummeting popularity, as if the Great PresidentialPumpkin can sway millions of Americans into hating themainstream media via his eldritch mind-control rays. This is why theyspeak of “an unshakable faith in Mr. Trump’s righteousness-”leftists view the world in terms of stupid mobs and the influentialdemagogues that sway and lead them. They simply cannot comprehendthat their own actions have shattered the public’s trust in them,despite the problem long predating Trump (one of my Journalism 101professors cited trust polling that consistently put Journalistsbelow used car salesmen back in 2007!) They find it easier tobelieve that their vast media empires’ combined megaphone is beingdrowned out by RumpleTrumpskien pied piping on his magical racistdogwhistle than to admit that people might think for themselves longenough to call them out on their egregious lies.

Thisdovetails nicely with recent revelations thatthe FBI leaked information to the press, then cited said “reporting”to the Justice Dept. as justification for further investigations,including FISA wiretapping warrants. Whilethe media’s lunacy is frequently amusing – reporters leaningdramatically into nonexistent wind, CNN’sfit over a panel truck blocking their stalker peephole in the hedge,or going bugfuck insane because Trumphad dinner without informing the media – nobody’s laughinganymore. And it’s precisely because of the growing understandingamong the populace of how the media has wantonly abused its power toaid the abuse of Federal power to nullify the results of a democraticelection.As Ian Miles Cheong said; “if the media can lie about somethingas insignificant as a koipond feeding ceremony, what else are they lying about?”

Well,now we know – and the people don’t seem amused.

I’vecovered the media’s worldview and demonstrable myopia before; Iaddress it in this instance to show thatthe media simply cannot adapt their message. Indeed,the NYT article on fringe-to-mainstream cites the mocking/pol/ “suspicious devices” meme without apparentunderstanding of how it undermines their implicit assumptions mereparagraphs prior of deplatforming speakers equalingthe silencing of their ideas. Theleft-wing “mobs and demagogues” is more than theory to them; it’show they organize – which is why John Oliver’s sick Friday nightburns are being repeated ad nauseam on Facebook by early Saturdaymorning. Theleft truly cannotmeme;it’s simply how they function. So when RumpleTrumpskien needles themedia into talking All About Themselves instead of the issues at handyetagain, iteffectively makes the mediathe issue at hand – and given that pollingconsistently shows that many Democrats are coming to distrust themedia of late, that’s not a strong issue for the DNC.Conversely, right-wingers will be shitposting the latest dank memeswith or without Alex Jones’s Twitterfeed, comehellor Maxine Waters.

Thusly,I conclude the mail bomber incident won’t have a significant impacton the electoral map – notjust because of widespread cynicism engendered by constant mediafalsehoods, but also because the structural problems that producedsuch alsocripple the media’s ability to exploit such incidents. In fact, themedia’s incredible blindness makes them likely to harmthe left-wing’s cause by doubling down on narratives that wereasinine the first time around. There is no bad news for the DNC thatthe media’s mental illness cannot make worse. Takethe latest example of thesynagogue shooter thatturnedout to be a Trump-hater who thought POTUSwas controlled Jews. Theusual hate-mongeringWaPo crowd actuallydug up the “star-shapedbackground graphic in a campaign ad” gem that was laughablelunacy beforeTrumpmoved the US embassy to Jerusalem and made defending Israel in the UNa cornerstone of US foreign policy. Thisis placed at the topofthe article, as if it’s a powerful and convincing lead-in to thelong-winded paranoid rambling of “troll armies” motivated by theusual mystic ~coded signals~ mentioned later on. Eventhe more sober-sounding takes likethis NYT hit-piece must open by blaming Trump for the crimes ofTrump-supporters andTrump-haters,which obliges the author to afascinating attempt in pissing up a rope without getting wet.

Itnaturally follows, then, that breathless media polling reports citing85% and upwards chances of a “blue wave” retaking the House areabout as trustworthy as similar polling in 2016. Even Nate Silver’smuch-vaunted “538” polling agency has come under prettypointed criticism for the number of times they’ve shrugged offsimilar “80%” predictions that haven’t come to pass – froma Harvard professor, no less. Furthermore,midterm elections are different in many ways – local issues oftenhave people more fired up (read, pissed off,) especially regardinggubernatorial elections. Since midterms are traditionally very lowturnout, a popular gubernatorial candidate can have a huge impact on“down-ballot” races – i.e. people show up to vote for thegovernor, and vote straight party ticket for alltheother candidates, US House included. In short, the polls mean jackdiddly squat, soeveryone’s simply reporting what they want (if you don’t believeme, look no further than Fox News’s reportinga nail-biting dead heat currently, then thisSeptember 22ndarticle on how dismissing “blue wave” rhetoric as the bullshit itis could suppress the Republican vote via overconfidence.A “dead heat” narrative is the safest way to turn out votes; norisk of overconfidence or hopelessness keeping people away from thepolls.) Soto evaluate the potentials, we must turn to the murkiest of allpolitical-forecastingcrystal balls - “energy levels.”

There’sbeen multiple media-exacerbated own-goals for the left in thatregard, most notably the mind-blowingly vicious smear campaignagainstJustice Kavanaugh that only managed to rile the right wing via sheeroutrage even more than the left. I could roll this one around fora while – talking about the surprising pluralities (note therelatively high numbers of Democrats and low numbers of Republicans“Very Angry” over Kavanaugh’s suffering; a surprisinglycenter-right plurality,) or how big the Republican benefit really was(Republicans being moderately more outraged than Democrats amounts toa low gain if Democrats enteredthe fray with high outrage already; but it’s likely that manyRepublicans who didn’t care at all before are outraged now).Butthere’s a larger factor to contend with – the historical realitythat the party controlling the Executive usually loses seats in theHouse in midterm elections. It happens with regularity for the samereason PoliSci101 shows you a “standardized plot” of Presidential approvalratings over time – human nature. Whoever’s in charge gets blamedfor everything bad, simply enough – so even popular Presidents willshed a few seats in the mid-terms. Combine this with the importanceof turnout in midterm elections and the oft-lamented anti-Trumpobsession on the left, and everything seems to point to Democratsbeing more motivated.

However,I’m not so sure they are.

Youtuber“Aydin Paladin,” an advanced psych student who usually talksabout psychology in a political context, did a video 11 months agotitled “LeftistLethargy and Low Energy,” specifically addressing how aconstant state of horror and outrage at every single damn Trump tweethas the inevitable consequence of emotional burnout. One cannot stayoutraged forever. At some point, you simply stop caring. Onecould debate Ayadin’s point that the left was demonstrablyhittingthis point a year ago, or posit that they’ve had time to recover –but I personally believe the lethargy lingers. Myevidence? A quick jaunt through the New York Times’ editorial page:

*A Halloween op-ed about Trump literally being worse than the fuckingbogeyman (“WhenNightmares Are Real” by Jennifer Finney Boylan,)

*An article begging Democrats not to take a usually-safe votingdemographic for granted, Native Americans

*An article on “how to turn people into voters,” featuring a modelspecific to “black Southerners,” who are a safe Democraticdemographic – but only when they actually turn up to vote,

*Andmost tellingly, an article titled“You’redisillusioned. That’sfine. Vote anyway.”

Blindand narcissistic they may be, but I trust the media to know their owntribe – and theiroutlookon the base’s revolutionary fervor looks rather dim. Once again themedia’s endless talent for own-goals is apparent. The continuingdemonizingof Trump as theworst nightmare ever onlyensures that a choir that tired of the preaching a year ago willremain so. The struggle to get black voters to actually turn out isan old and ongoing one, but pissed-off Native Americans isn’t justElizabethWarren’s fault – it was mostly the media that accepted her DNAtest showing some squillionth of a percent of native DNA asvindication,andthen gallopedover to Trump to triumphantly flaunt it at him, giving him a goldenopportunity to mock it on national TV – on their own live networkbroadcasts, even.

You’llnote that the point regarding the media’s self-sabotage of theleft-wing movement was made many paragraphs ago, but it continues torear its awful head as a salient factor in almost every exampleillustrating any otherpoint in this article – this is how pervasive it is.

There’smore to Democratic lethargy than the media pissing off key left-wingDemographics in western states with important House races, however –there’s also the overall lack of a message. Instead of coalescingon a single one, Democrats appear to be taking a local-issuesapproach, which is rather awkward given they – and the media –have spent the last two years making absolutelyeverything aboutTrump. They’re stillmaking everything about Trump (e.g.synagogue shooter) even now,inthe eleventh hour. Thenthere’s the notable and growing strain between old-schoolblue-collar union Democrats and the “progressive wing” (viz.privileged wealthy white socialists) whichdivides their messaging on the economy – especially tellingconsidering the record-low unemployment and rapidlyrising wages. (It’s hard to tell people they’re living inObama’s economy whenyou were telling them it was Trump’s climate a few months ago.)

Andof course, the cherry on this shitstorm sundae is the latest greatestmigrant caravan advancing through Mexico – seven thousandstrong, originally – which took Trump’s single greatest electionissue and slam-dunked it in the middle of the debate again. Thecaravan is significant because it tangiblyprovesTrump’s long-standing point regarding immigration problems, and isexactly the kind of thing a big wall would hinder – awall Trump can’t build if he can’t get a funding bill through theHouse.

Insum, the left still lacks a coherent message, is still desensitizingtheir electorate with constant panicked screeching, is frequentlypissing off their own key constituencies with their ham-handedagitprop, and are helping to suppress their own vote by portraying anelection that’s all but won. Meanwhile the Republicans have aPresident who’s actually delivered on many of his promises, has agreat recent event to showcase how delivering on the rest rides onthis next election, and, in general, have optimism.Somethingabout Kanye West’s recent visit to the White House stood out to me– he saidhe had nothing against Hillary’s campaign slogan, but when he puton a MAGA hat, he “felt like Superman.”

“Feltlike Superman.” That’s a sentiment of empowerment.Obamaunderstood the power of positive messaging – it’show “Hope and Change” swept him into office in his first term.Democratsthis year simply don’t.

Ican’t call it either way. But I cantell you that anyone who thinks this election is all over but for thecounting isnuts. The battle lines of 2016 have only been dug deeper, and thesimple truths of human nature make for an uphill fight – but by thesame token, Democrats have badly misplayed the hands they have, arecompletely incapable of real self-reflection on any significantscale, and Trump’s been President for two years with realsuccesses, with the much-ballyhooed Trumpocolypse yet to descend.

Insofaras I can call anything, I’d say this election is going to be close.I’d tell you to go out and vote, especiallyif you don’t want to see the party encouraging mob intimidation andstoking racial hatred controlling the House – which they’ll useto launch endless sham investigations of Trump long after Mueller’scharade finally gives up the ghost, in addition to impeaching himjust for the hell of it. If Trump loses the House he- and his agenda- will be a lame-duck for the next two years, because any seriousbill needs to be passed by both House and Senate.

Onceagain, everything is on the line.

I’mnot sick of winning yet.

[all-things-andrew-scott]

Reflecting

I don’t normally do a year in review, but this was such an interesting year of ups and downs. That meme about “I was somehow living both my best life and worst life simultaneously” is true. At least in my case.

January to March didn’t bring me much of anything. I did, however, start working on my drawing skills. I didn’t stick to it as much as I would have liked, but I’ve found that I’m actually really good at drawing in the Rick & Morty style. Unfortunately, I was also raped this year. It wasn’t forceful or violent and I was afraid to say “no” verbally, but my body language and resistance should have been clue enough that I did not want it.

In April, I was able to go and meet Sean Astin at Indiana Comic Con. It was brief, but memorable. He was so sweet and funny and undeniably handsome. I was glad I was able to make that dream come true for my mom and that she and my little sister could enjoy their first convention with me.

In May, I got to be with my very best friends again in Los Angeles where we were able to explore gorgeous Santa Monica. I became closer with a friend I’ve confided in regularly for quite some time. I did not get to meet Andrew Scott again, which was heartbreaking, but I did get a wonderful, intimate convention experience with so many other Sherlock people I love, particularly Sian Brooke. A week later, I got to see Jacksepticeye live on stage in Indianapolis at the Old National Center, which was quite a fun experience. His “Positive Mental Attitude” movement has really gotten me through a lot this year which led me to getting my fourth tattoo in June. Immediately after that, I was fortunate enough to attend Indy Pop Con for a second time and meet another Youtuber I enjoy, Ethan Nestor (CrankGameplays).

In July, I was given the privilege and honor of being the photographer for my aunt’s long-awaited wedding, which was a beautiful and intimate affair. I also had the pleasure of seeing Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson live in concert at their Twins of Evil Tour Indianapolis show, both artists which were on my bucket list. It was truly something to behold and won’t easily be forgotten.

From late June to late September, I was in a relationship which caused me to learn a lot about myself. Unfortunately, I had to end it when it became clear that we were just far too incompatible to continue. Honestly, I don’t wish her any ill, but I hope she learns some things about life and relationships. It boiled down to immaturity and anticipating/understanding my needs the way I did with her.

August saw me abruptly quit a job I had been with and loved for a year due to an abusive change in management. The old manager had been a friend and a wonderful leader. The new manager was verbally abusive to all employees, paranoid, neurotic and so many other things. I literally could not handle it mentally anymore and left after my shift, never to return. I’m not proud of that, but I had to do what I had to do for my own mental wellbeing. I immediately started looking for a new hotel job, but was left unemployed for a month. I just barely managed to keep my head above water.

In September, I started my new job at an upscale hotel in Downtown Indianapolis that is part of the Marriott franchise. It’s different in many ways from the hotel I used to work at and I’m still trying to find my groove, but I work with some really wonderful people and I have an amazing boss again. He’s a great leader and very friendly and down to earth. I was also able to go and see Pentatonix in concert with my cousins. Another fantastic experience. It was so much fun and I’ll cherish that memory for a very long time. Later that same month, I hosted friends at my home and was able to attend my final Supernatural convention in Indianapolis. I got some wonderful photos and was able to be on stage again for karaoke. I can’t think of a better end to my attendance at these conventions. Especially considering that weekend’s Saturday Night Special was, by far, the best I’d ever attended. I wish I could continue to go, but their increased prices that don’t seem to have a ceiling are preventing me from going. I wouldn’t have been able to go to this one at all without the help and generosity of my friends.

In October, I was able to meet Tom Hiddleston. Unfortunately, it did not go as well as planned which unfortunately left be feeling a little flat and slightly brokenhearted, but it was still a good experience and I can’t quite believe I didn’t fail it entirely. As an added bonus, I got to meet Tim Jacobus who was part of my childhood in that he was the artist for the majority of the Goosebumps novels. I also finally got to work at my first ever haunted house and met some truly amazing friends in the process. Unfortunately, I did not get to celebrate my 26th birthday as I worked all day at both my regular full-time job at the haunted house, but I’m thankful that I had jobs to work at. I unfortunately also worked on Halloween which was soul-crushingly sad for me.

November, unfortunately is where everything got horrible. Everything was okay until Thanksgiving when I received a notice to vacate on my door. I am thankful it wasn’t an eviction notice. I was able to stay with a friend temporarily and I am forever grateful to her for opening her home to me. November was also the time in which I discovered YouTuber, Shane Dawson and I am glad I did because it was his humor and deep distractions that got me through the very difficult time between homes. He’s very relatable and him being so open and public about his own body dysphoria makes me feel seen and heard and understood. He refuses to let his bisexuality be erased. He’s an overall kind and genuine person.

In December, I have moved into a new, accessible cheaper place. I’ll be getting together with family at the holidays when I’m not working and overall I’m just going to keep doing the best I can. Oh and I’ve recently taken up makeup! I can’t wait to keep improving on that front as well.

Overall, it’s been a year full of both highs and lows. I cannot wait to see what things 2019 has for me.

[binkas]

                     Meditations on Scripture While We Are Apart

                                              A Lectionary Blog

Dearly Beloved,

I share this meditation as I pray for the world, and for you, dear reader, that all might have peace and hope in this time of pandemic.

Pastor Robin  

Sunday, March 29, 2020 Ezekiel 37:12-14   Psalm 130  Romans 8:6-11 John 11:1-45

                                                  BE STILL

Much of the last two days was spent in my home studio, a.k.a. the corner of the living room, shooting some video for Mosaic’s Sunday worship service (see previous post). We are a number of clergy colleagues -- this week joined by more lay members -- of the various United Methodist parishes in our area, working collaboratively remotely from our homes.

Somehow I -- possibly the oldest member of the clergy group (there is another contender for this distinction, born on the same day as I was but not knowing at what time!) ended up being responsible for creating three short videos -- Teddy reading the lesson from Ezekiel, me preaching and me giving the benediction -- and then transmitting them to Pastor Jong-Deok Park, who puts the finished product together and posts it on YouTube.

 It me took forever-- the better part of two days, in fact-- to complete these tasks. While the creative aspects of producing something to contribute were fun, mastering some of the technology was not without the drudgery of mistakes and do-overs. Then, of course, there was the anxiety, as the clock ticked while the videos took what seemed an interminable period of time to upload to Pr. Park’s dropbox. (Of course, clocks don’t really tick much these days, do they?)

By the time I was finished, I felt wiped out.  Nonetheless, I carried on for a few more hours with regular pastoral and home-and-family type activities. Afterwards, I felt more like me. As Ezekiel might have said, God put God’s spirit in me, and I lived!      

Today I have retreated to that corner of the technological world that is familiar to me: google docs, the online lectionary, and facebook. But first, I watched, listened, and prayed along with our online worship service, and am humbled that I have been able to contribute to such a worthy effort.

                                                     *****

I have been encouraging anyone who will listen (or read), if they are not ill and, in fact, are staying home, to find the blessing for themselves in this enforced “time off” from whatever it is they would have been doing were we not living through this pandemic.

Long before this thing started, my husband, who spent over twenty years at a job that required him to be on his feet all day, used to say that when he retired he was going to take a nap every day. Now semi-retired, he’s made good on that promise to himself, and I’m glad of it. He also spends lots of time working ardently and sometimes doggedly on historical research, writing, lecturing, and teaching. It’s what he loves, and, I would even say, it’s who he is.

What would you do if you didn’t have to work? If the pandemic has put time on your hands, have you done it?

Or are you someone who is habitually so busy that you are keeping up the frenetic pace doing things that are not what you love, and that are not who you are?

Do you know what it is you love?

If so, pursue it.

If not, discover it.

                                                   *****

One of my facebook friends posted a list of suggestions for surviving the pandemic. The list was exhaustive, including sound tips for taking care of others as well as taking care of yourself, and it was punctuated by exhortations to stay positive and cheer others on. His mom posted a comment to the effect that he had pretty much covered everything.

Now, my friend’s post was really good and sweet and kind, so please don’t take it as a negative criticism when I tell you that I got tired just reading it!

So I added this comment: And then there's, "Be still and know that I am God," Ps. 46:10

His mom liked that.

                                                 *****

"Be still and know that I am God."

Pastor Robin’s tip for the day is that you go and do likewise.

Ezekiel never would have had that vision of the Valley of Dry Bones if he were not in the habit of being still and knowing that God is God.

It probably would never have occurred to Jesus to bring Lazarus back from the dead, much less do it, if spending quiet time listening for the voice of the one he called God and Father was not something that he did and something that he was.

The folks at Barnerville United Methodist Church are really very good at praying. I bet you are, too.

But are you good at listening? 

Here are some hints:

So, when you have opened your heart to God, when you have confessed your shortcomings, thanked and praised God, and humbly laid your requests on behalf of yourselves and others at the feet of the Divine, take time to listen to God, as well.

Take time alone to sit and meditate, keeping your mind and heart open to the still small voice. Spend time in nature. 

Don’t just read and study scripture, contemplate it.

Listen, as you go through life. Pay attention. 

Do something you have never done or go somewhere you have never been. Don’t use GPS. Get yourself lost and found. Experience what is new to you with a sense of adventure and wonder.

Nobody wants this pandemic, but if it brings the gift of time into your life, use some of it to listen for God.

You might end up getting a glimpse of Glory

Amen.

                                                  A Prayer 

                 Holy One, we pray that you grant us quiet moments 

                                          And quiet hearts

                       That through times of busyness or boredom

                                            Joy or sorrow

                                            Hope or fear

                               And through whatever befalls us

                             We will hear and know your voice.

                                     In Jesus name we pray, 

                                                   Amen

[petitalbert-blog]

Tangential thinking about Chumbley thoughts: When I came up in the 90s and 00s, they hadn't figured out how to monetise the internet yet. Most people has disconnected personal websites, which they maintained for pleasure and rarely had expectations of others reading. Later, this became blogging - something which was still decentralised, where readers were rare and interacting with them uncommon. In my lifetime, those things have gone. Now, central microblogging platforms like tumblr and twitter make connection with readers immediate and interactive - and made "attracting more followers" a goal in a way you really didn't before. I've definitely lost my ability to write happily for an audience of one, content without knowing whether or not i am read. And one is able to monetise what one makes and offer it for sale. Bear with me: I'm sad about this. A sharing culture has vanished. I'm into historic dressmaking, but when you look for tutorials and free patterns online they are all on blogs not updated since 2013. What changed? Where did the people writing incredible free content and sharing their work with the world go? The only people who seem to be maintaining blogs are people running a brand. And I've followed plenty of great blogs which, at some point, have launched a small business - and diminished, either through loss of pleasure or a greater need to be private and middle-of-the-road. Look at Sidney Eileen's website - there is no way anyone would produce a comprehensive free guide to making corsets nowadays. Some of Eileen's most recent posts talks about being ill, so I hope she is still well wherever she is - but where are the next generation like her? The current corsetmakers mostly write for a paywall-locked site. The site does as well as any could: it still offers a lot of free articles, it pays contributors, and I know several of their authors who have reuplodded their work for free on personal blogs with permission after a period of time has elapsed. It's about as open as any site can be while still generating a profit, and I have gratitude for that; but it's still a change from Eileen's generous sharing culture. Something which made all the drama particularly irritating is: I am full time working artist. I am pretty acutely aware of the importance of paying people for work, and have to explain why I cannot lower my prices once or twice a month. And yet - and yet. It's making my grief for the early internet all the more acute. I put 100 hours into a crochet pattern and maybe three people buy it. At that stage, is it really worth me charging anything? People can and do make their own working wages online, and that's great. And yet - and yet. Maybe the culture where i was sharing my patterns for free and downloading them for free from others was better and more optimistic, than one where everyone charges £10 for a pattern and once a year £3.67 minus PayPal fees slinks into my account. Barely anyone is making much more than pocket money, and everyone is disadvantaged. I probably lose more money in a year now paying for patterns than I do by producing them, and so does everyone else. It's definitely causing me a tug of war where, I hate this new norm and I miss the old culture even as it's the only way for me to make rent. And I barely do that. The only place where this sharing culture still exists is the programming community, where it's a core value. You can generally download programming languages and full guides and documentation for free, and people are keen to help. That culture then translates into big tech workplaces who have both the money and the ideology to give employees paid time off to work on personal projects. I love that. Imagine every company gave a months paid leave to everyone each year, imagine the world we could build if underpaid and tired people had those gaps to be creative and explore, or even to spend that month at home with their children or supporting their parents. Changing the culture to recognise the value of this unpaid labour, and then finding a way to support people doing it. I also think a lot about the Universal Basic Income - where the government reinvests the national revenue in giving every citizen a poverty-line yearly wage. I dream about the way this would revive the open culture. I don't need much to survive, and I think a lot about how much happier I was blogging for pleasure and producing content for free than I am now, maintaining a bland blog for my brand and making less back in revenue than I spend buying online content from peers; more aware than ever of the importance of supporting niche artists, but ironically, too broke to do so. If I didn't worry about buying food, if the government took that worry away from me, I'd have the freedom to embody my ideal and share what I make for free. I like youtube's model, where sufficiently large creators get a share of advertising revenue. It enables people to make free content, and be paid for it. I think a lot about how a collectively-owned tumblr, where high traffic posts earned a proportion of ad rev, would work. Or perhaps tumblr's profit could be divided by each user, who could then choose to gift it to bloggers they wished to support. Economically speaking, running a tumblr is working for free: it generates revenue for the site owners. I think patreon is ok, but it still creates too direct a link for me between "producing middle of the road content acceptable to backers on a regular schedule" and "being able to afford gas". And I liked models where things are released for free and for pay simultaneously. I have ordered Dver's books, which republish free blog articles, because I like them. I own Joan Bunning's Tarot book because her website "learn tarot" made the whole book available for free, and I wanted it enough to read it in hardcover. I buy my fave musicians LPs every time, but he still releases them on youtube for free. Perhaps this economy is governed by the same economics of piracy. Studies have shown that people who pirate books and films are people who were never going to buy them anyway; people who would have bought your content still do. For spellbooks, can you even doubt that if creators released them for free online, sufficient people would still want that gorgeous hardback to make a good profit? In short - while I have some specific red flags about religious information being locked behind a paywall, I'm also at a place in my life where I'm thinking a lot about the value of releasing things for free. About that lost culture. About how existing online for profit as a content creator has made my life, the lives of my customers, and the culture of the internet generally - worse. Where I'm turning the idea of "artists should be paid" over and over in my head, and I guess trying to find radical alternatives where people can still support themselves, yet also work for free on things they want to share with the world. I'm not in a place where "more exhange of money for goods and services and survival" sounds like a great ideal to promote. Like most things I blog about, I'm not yet at an answer, and I don't really have a great solution or the power to implement the ideas I do have. And i am up for feedback, though not of the shouty and snarky kind. I just know that when I was a teenager, many people were able to share knowledge and produce outstanding resources online for free, and now they do not. I miss that. It was a better way.

[quicksilversquared]

Camembert Ice Cream

Adrien is excited to go on an outing with his friends to an ice cream parlor he's never been to before, one that is famous for its wide variety of interesting- and sometimes bordering on just plane strange- ice cream flavors. There's no way one simple outing can go anything but normally, right?

....right?

(AO3) (FF.net)

"It's the best ice cream place in town," Alya promised when she cornered Adrien and Nino. Nino had needed no persuading when she initially extended the invitation; since he had lived in Paris for nearly his entire life, Nino was more than familiar with the ice cream parlor that Alya had mentioned. Adrien, on the other hand, had never gone out for ice cream before.

He had been allowed it on occasion, of course, he had assured Alya and Nino when they looked absolutely horrified by this admission. It wasn't healthy, so it wasn't part of his regular diet, but he occasionally had a scoop of ice cream for dessert at dinner during the summer. He had just never gone out and bought ice cream elsewhere.

"They have so. many. flavors," Alya continued, waving her arms a bit wildly. "Hundreds. They don't have everything out for cones every day, of course, but they have the really popular flavors out every day and then the stranger ones rotate so that they're out once a week. And then they have everything out for sale in containers- y'know, like the ones you would buy at the store."

Adrien did not know. He hadn't ever been to the grocery store, either.

"You need to come, bro," Nino pleaded, shaking Adrien's arm. "It'll be fun. And the flavors are overwhelming at first, sure, but it's so cool to look at what people have come up with."

"Nino is attempting to try every flavor at least once," Marinette chimed in, joining them. "Are you coming, Adrien?"

"That's what we're trying to persuade him to do," Alya told her friend. She turned back to Adrien. "Please? I know you want to, I can see it in your eyes-"

"I'll try," Adrien promised. It did sound interesting, after all. He hadn't ever had any particularly fancy kind of ice cream before, so even if he wasn't going to try to try everything like Nino (he was a bit of a picky eater sometimes, after all), it would be fun to try something a little more exotic than mint. "I don't know if I can get Nathalie to let me come, but I'll try."

   It hadn't actually been that hard to persuade Nathalie to let him go out for ice cream after all. As soon as Adrien mentioned the name of the ice cream parlor that they were going to be visiting, Nathalie's eyes had lit up. She had granted Adrien permission to go without even consulting his father, on the condition that he get a single scoop of ice cream and not their gut-buster cone, and she had even sent along a little cooler half-filled with ice and money for Adrien to buy her a container of her favorite ice cream flavor.

"I didn't even know that Nathalie had a sweet tooth," Nino had said in amusement as soon as Adrien had told him the story. "That's crazy! She's cooler than I thought."

Adrien could only grin. "She's done a lot for me in the past," he had admitted freely. "She was the one who persuaded my father to let me go to public school. If I really need to talk to father about something, she'll make space in his schedule even if it makes things a bit inconvenient for her. She's not bad at all, really."

"We're almost there!" Alya called as she and Marinette led the way towards the ice cream parlor. "It'll be a little chilly inside, just fair warning. And there might be a bit of a line."

"That's not a problem, we'll just wait in the line while Adrien picks up his container of ice cream for Nathalie," Nino responded quickly. "And it's not super-hot outside yet, so the line won't be that bad. There have been times when the line goes out the door and down the block," he told Adrien. "They have a lot of workers, so things always move pretty quickly, but there's also just a lot of people who want ice cream from them."

Adrien grinned. He couldn't wait.

Soon enough, Alya was pushing open a glass door with blue and green decorations covering it. The group entered, and then Adrien stopped dead.

Glass-doored freezers covered two and a half of the walls and were filled to the brim with containers of ice cream. Labels on the doors identified the many kinds of ice cream inside. The other walls had boards with what flavors were served on what days and prices for various sized cones. Adrien caught sight of two men with what had to be the gut-buster cone Nathalie had told him about. They were impressive in size, but he felt a little ill at the idea of eating so much ice cream at once.

"Are these organized in any real way?" Adrien asked, gesturing at the walls of freezers. "I'll be here all day looking for Nathalie's ice cream if not."

"Really popular stuff is in the first case, and then it's alphabetical," Marinette said helpfully. She pointed. "See, there's signs above each freezer. So what was it that Nathalie wanted?"

"Caramel something...ah-ha! Caramel Balsamic Swirl.," Adrien said as soon as he found the little slip of paper in his pocket. He glanced over at the freezers. "Okay, so it'll probably be in the B-C freezer?"

"Probably." Nino glanced over at the oversized flavors signs on the opposite wall, probably trying to decide what flavor to try next, then he looked back at Adrien quickly. "Do you want me to help you find it?"

Adrien waved him off. "No, I'm sure I'll be fine. You figure out what flavor you're gonna try today." Before Nino could protest (or Alya could try to shove Marinette after him; why the reporter insisted on doing that on a regular basis Adrien wasn't certain, but Marinette didn't ever seem particularly comfortable with it), Adrien trotted off to grab a basket. He didn't want Nathalie's ice cream to start melting before he could get it in the cooler, and he knew full well that if he tried carrying it under his arm like he could see someone else in line doing, the ice cream would do just that. From there it didn't take long for him to locate the ice cream Nathalie wanted. Like all of the flavors, it came in two sizes- one with three and a half servings and the other with six. Adrien consulted Nathalie's slip of paper again before grabbing the larger of the two containers and tucking it into his basket. Even if Nathalie had intended for him to buy the smaller one for her (which he doubted, since she had sent along just enough money for the larger container), getting too much was always better than getting not enough. Besides, she worked for his father. She definitely deserved a whole boatload of ice cream.

Adrien was about to close the freezer when he saw it. Camembert Ice Cream.

"Camembert ice cream?" he murmured, making a face. That definitely sounded...gross, honestly. "Who would eat tha-"

"I want some!" Plagg said immediately, popping his head out of Adrien's book bag to peer around him at the container he held. The kwami hadn't been too enthused about the outing when he first heard about it, but his attitude had definitely done a 180 now. "That sounds delicious! Please, please, please-"

Okay, he had definitely walked straight into that one.

"Nino's gonna think that I'm crazy," Adrien grumbled, but he added the ice cream to his basket without two much arguing, partly because he didn't want people thinking that he was talking to himself and partly because Plagg was going to win the argument eventually anyway. He picked the smaller container, just in case Plagg ended up not liking it. There was no way that he was going to eat the leftovers if that ended up being the case. "I hope you know that."

"Nino has poor taste, then," Plagg said loftily, eyes narrowed in contentment as he watched Adrien close the freezer and head back to join his friends with both Nathalie's ice cream and Plagg's in his shopping basket. "I can't wait. I could kiss whoever came up with that ice cream."

"Please refrain from kissing any of the employees here," Adrien sighed as he got closer to the line. He couldn't even imagine the chaos that that would cause. He poked Plagg back into his bag without even glancing over his shoulder.

"I'm making no promises," Plagg's muffled voice said from inside of the bag. Adrien tried not to look too exasperated.

"Did you find it?" Alya asked as Adrien joined them in line. She glanced down at Adrien's basket and immediately recoiled. "Camembert ice cream?"

"It's, uh. I have a model friend who loves the stuff," Adrien lied quickly. "I thought they might find it interesting."

"You need friends with better taste, dude," Nino said with a laugh, turning back to face forward in line again. It wasn't a moment too soon- seconds after Nino turned around, Plagg came flying out of Adrien's bag like a tiny vengeful comet, tiny paws balled into fists as though he was planning on duking it out with Nino. Adrien only just managed to catch Plagg's tail in time before he could bowl into Nino.

"Lemme at him!" Plagg squeaked, struggling against Adrien's hold. "He dares insult my one true love-"

"Plagg, shut up and get back in the bag," Adrien hissed, struggling to pull the tiny god back. For such a small creature, he sure could be hard to pull around.

"-I'll flatten his sorry rear-"

Nino glanced over his shoulder and Adrien only just managed to yank Plagg out of sigh. "Did you guys hear something just now?"

"-make him regret ever saying anything-"

"Yeah, I hear it too," Alya said with a frown turning towards Adrien. "Did you hear it too, Adrien?"

Adrien was going to murder the little monster when he got home. But he couldn't do that now, not with all three of his friends watching him. Instead, he scrambled for an excuse.

"Oh! Y-yeah, I must have bumped my phone or something and, uh, this thing I had up on YouTube started playing again-"

"-I'll avenge my love's honor-"

"Is that seriously some sort of soap opera thing?" Alya asked, her eyebrows rising almost dangerously high on her forehead. "Really, Adrien?"

"Heh, yeah, I guess," Adrien lied through his teeth after a moment of thought provided no better excuse. "And now I'll quick deal with my phone! Don't mind me, just go ahead with whatever you were talking about before, heh heh..."

Before any of his friends could question his odd behavior, Adrien set his basket of ice cream and the cooler around and half-turned to try to give himself a little privacy. Thankfully no one had gotten in line behind them yet. He shoved Plagg into his bag and gave him as icy of a glare as he could manage.

"-I'll-"

"I will put that ice cream back if you don't cut it out right now," Adrien hissed as quietly as he could. Plagg immediately shut up, stopped struggling, and twisted around in Adrien's hand to glare back at him. "I'm not kidding."

"But-"

"Unless you want to expose my identity to everyone in this shop, you need to stay in my bag," Adrien reminded Plagg through gritted teeth. "Okay?"

Plagg scowled and floated down to the bottom of Adrien's bag. "Fine."

"I can't believe you watch soap operas, Agreste," Alya teased as Adrien straightened up again, trying his best to keep an innocent expression on his face. "Those things are terrible. I could recommend some actual quality things you could watch instead if you were interested."

Great. Now his friends all thought that he actually watched soap operas. Thanks a bunch, Plagg. "Uh, I think I'll pass, thanks. It's mostly for, uh, background noise. For when I'm doing homework and, uh, the house is too quiet."

"I'm questioning your taste level," Alya decided, shaking her head in exasperation. "The anime I could understand. Same with comics. Superhero stuff is cool, so of course I understand that, but soap operas? Weird."

Adrien would normally be inclined to agree, of course, but he couldn't say anything. Thanks a lot, Plagg. Instead, he had to force something resembling an embarrassed grin (not an expression that he often had to make during photoshoots- in fact, he could probably safely say that he had never had to practice faking that particular expression before) and give an awkward little laugh. "Y-yeah, I guess they aren't, uh, for everybody?"

"Maybe we just don't know about the good ones," Marinette suggested a bit timidly as their group moved forward in line. She glanced over at him, and if Adrien hadn't been so desperate for the topic to drop because he was totally lying and he was not a good liar, he would have appreciated the support. "Are there any shows in particular that you like...?"

"Oh, no, they're all awf- I mean, it's mostly just for background noise, I don't really listen to them properly," Adrien said hastily. He hadn't ever watched a soap opera in his life; there was no way he would be able to come up with the names of a few halfway decent ones (that was, if such a thing even existed) on the fly. "I- yeah. Don't listen to them really."

"There's some hope for your taste levels yet," Alya drawled sarcastically. Then she narrowed her eyes at him. "Unless you're lying and you do actually listen and you're just trying to hide your tracks."

Adrien tried not to react at that. If he played dead, would his friends all drop the soap opera thing and move on? Thankfully, he didn't have to test that. The line moved forward again and the signs with the flavors being served that day came fully into sight. Nino's attention immediately shot to the list, and Alya was thankfully distracted a moment later as her boyfriend exclaimed, "Hey, is that a new flavor?"

As Alya and Nino debated whether or not the flavor in question was really new or if it was just a more obscure one that he hadn't noticed before, Adrien let himself scan the list. Even though only a fraction of the flavors were offered each day, there was still an intimidating list to choose from. Since Nino had threatened to disown him if he went with vanilla (or chocolate, or strawberry, or mint, or any other of the more common flavors), he had to actually scan fairly far down the list. Camembert wasn't listed (thank goodness, or Plagg might have tried to pull something), but there were definitely some other flavors that sounded interesting (and some that sounded like an actual nightmare).

"Do you know what you're getting?" Adrien asked Marinette, who was watching the other two bicker with a vaguely interested expression.

"I was thinking of doing salted caramel," Marinette said, pointing the flavor out on the list. "It's one of my favorites."

"Salt in ice cream is good?" Adrien hadn't been expecting that. It just sounded like a weird combination of flavors.

"When it's done right, yeah." Marinette glanced up at the list, then back at him. He must have still had a disbelieving expression (or maybe just a slightly overwhelmed expression) still on his face, because she added, "They do give samples if you ask. You can't taste everything in one go, but if you have a few things that you can't decide between..."

Adrien glanced up at the flavors sign again and this time, he spotted the note at the bottom. Ask us for samples! No more than six free samples/customer/trip. Additional samples 10c each.

"Nino does samples of things that he knows he isn't going to like so that he can say he's had them," Marinette added after a moment of silence. "And things that he's not sure about before he orders them. I wouldn't be surprised if he asks for a couple samples today even if he's already decided on what he's going to have."

Adrien grinned. That definitely sounded like his friend.

"I think I have a couple things I should sample, then," Adrien said, glancing back at a few flavors that he had previously discarded as especially weird, but if Marinette said that the salty-sounding flavors were good, then he wouldn't be so quick to ignore them, especially since his only hang-ups about those flavors were that he wasn't sure how they would translate into ice cream. "Have you ever had the white chocolate pretzel flavor?"

Marinette glanced up at the board, finding the flavor he had mentioned. "I don't think so. Are you going to try that?"

"I'll sample, at least. It sounds like it might be interesting." He hadn't actually ever had any white chocolate-covered pretzels, but it sounded like it might be a good flavor.

It was a fantastic flavor, as he discovered several minutes later. The salted caramel that Marinette had mentioned was also fairly tasty, but the white chocolate pretzel?

He was going to have to come back more often just to have that. If this was how Camembert tasted to Plagg, he couldn't even blame the kwami for his obsession.

Speaking of the kwami...

The little pest hadn't waited long at all after they got home before he ended up perched on the edge of a glass dessert bowl, stuffing pawfuls of the Camembert ice cream in his mouth. Adrien had somehow managed to smuggle the extra container of ice cream in without Nathalie noticing, and Plagg hadn't wasted any time before demanding that Adrien serve up some of his treat.

"This stuff is amazing," Plagg said, tossing the last bit in his mouth and then zipping around the bowl to lip up the leftovers. "Can I have the rest now?"

Adrien scoffed as he tucked the container into the minifridge/freezer in his room. "Not right now, you can't. I shouldn't have given you any, to be honest. Bad kwamis shouldn't get any ice cream."

Predictably, Plagg scoffed. "Me, a bad kwami? What did I do?"

Adrien briefly wondered if Plagg had already forgotten about the incident with Nino, if he hadn't seen that he was doing anything wrong, or if he was just pretending that he was innocent. It was hard to tell with Plagg sometimes. "You nearly exposed me to my friends! And now they think that I watch soap operas, of all things!"

"You need to get better at coming up with excuses," Plagg said with a yawn, showing off his tiny fangs as he reclined in the now-empty glass bowl. "If you didn't want your friends to think that you watch soap operas, then you should have said something different."

"What should I have said, then?" Adrien demanded, indignant. "And I wouldn't have had to say anything if you hadn't tried to fight Nino!"

"If Nino hadn't insulted Camembert, then I wouldn't have had to fight him," Plagg drawled lazily. "So blame him if you want to try to blame something other than your lousy excuse skills."

Adrien could only sigh.

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: In Memory of Dump.fm, an Endlessly Collaborative Image Poem

Screenshot of a typical dump.fm visual collage by dumper kiptok (image courtesy of dumper larsdk)

Dump.fm died a quiet, seemingly definitive death last month, after having survived a number of rumored deaths over the years. This pleasant monster would sometimes sputter and refuse to take on all the junk it was fed — seemingly without remuneration or institutional support. But never would it definitively enter unto the 404 and scroll no more. Until now.

Dump.fm was a real-time imaging sharing site that took its cue from the transmissional aesthetics of radio, perhaps ham radio in particular. Since its inception in 2010, the ragtag group of amateurs and auteurs of digital junk space who participated fulfilled the site’s mission of “talking with images” by adding these images to a single chat stream, much as one would add multiple mixing channels to a single broadcast mix. The gifs, pngs, and jpgs inevitably became spliced, remixed, broken, minced, enlarged, interlinked, and eroded, elaborately arranged in gif altars or parsed into animated rebuses by the site’s semi-anonymous users.

Screen capture from dump.fm window. Online users, both those participating and lurking, can be seen on the right; hearts on top of an image indicates that a fav has been made. In this image, a troll is in the process of posting long Christian rants below. (image courtesy of larsdk)

Unlike the multiply niched and customizable web at large, there was only one window for adding dumps. You could change it to black-screen or full-screen mode, you could mute users if boring or offensive, and there were some secret and rarely used alt rooms (the /art room, the /sex room, the /lisafrank room), but that was about it. At the bottom there was a field in which you could paste image urls end-to-end to form a collage, plus an upload button, and a webcam button. To the right, you could see all the users currently online and their dump score based on accumulation of favs, access to their favs, their top dumps, and the entire dump stream of each. A leaderboard greeted new logins with the best dumps of the day. Most of the time, even the best of the best barely reached ten favs.

Image of the dump.fm front page/leaderboard (courtesy of dumper goatmilk)

Depending on one’s taste — and one’s interpretation of the site’s raison d’être — you could say that this scrolling image flow was either interrupted or enhanced by more typical chat conversations, trolling, and obsessive webcamming. (A common, and sometimes ironic, dump was “this is an art space, not a teenage hangout.”) But the charm of this window was that it merged both webcam cheesecaking and intricate net-arting into an improvisational mega-assemblage, a particular exploitation of the real-time potential of the web that one surprisingly sees very little of. In an email to me, veteran surf-club denizen and dump regular tommoody described the difference between the “live”-ness of dumpspace versus that found in more regulated and infinitely scalable online spaces, “Dump had horizontality — the ability to compose ‘inline’ image groups on the fly, writing a sentence in pictures — and there is no surrounding framework for posts, such as Twitter’s … which imposes a kind of rigid logic and reminds you at all times that someone else is the boss.” Everybody present on dump had to share the chat window with everyone else, with speed of response being more valuable than quality. Whether or not you decided to directly communicate with others, you were all together in one compositional space, “fave”-ing with hearts that did not seem a creepy imposition (as with Twitter) but a show of genuine affection for those with whom you shared this space, at all hours, for years. Neither an art-world-ish “internet surf club” nor a monetized zeitgeist sump pump, dump seemed to harken back to a pre-1997 internet era, when it was possible to imagine that the users you met online were a small enough cohort to seem communitarian, but not large enough to merely replicate the social structures and hierarchies of the world at large.

Dump chat (courtesy of larsdk)

Consequently, while the site was in conversation with the world of the meme and social media, it seems to have developed in ways that challenged the blithe replication of meme products and also worked against the slicker aesthetic of the cinemagraph gif or the Tumblr-ready net-art object. (The majority of makers of the latter use Tumblr more as an aggregator and exhibitor than a compositional and performative space.) Dump did have its standalone classics, like the following, which seems to parody a kind of 4chan conspiracy meme but clearly marks itself, perhaps only half-seriously, as for-dump-only:

Standalone dump gif by user reneabythe puts itself “outside the spin zone”

The fact that reneabythe’s dump object sets itself apart, in however tongue-in-cheek a manner, from the “sharing” culture of Tumblr and the web at large is important on a number of levels for thinking about the particular magic of dump. As an insider remix joke that doesn’t release itself into the mass-culture of remix memes and multiply recontextualized images, the dump opts for the “democracy” of a small community rather than the chaos of the commercialized web that threatens to detour détournement at every turn.

You were more likely, however, to see dumps like the one that heads this article, which is a combination of premade repeating units, screenshots, screenshots of screenshots, gifs, and collages of gifs. What started in the above example with user tommoody posting science gifs of squiggly protein-folding simulations soon became, through additions by five or six other dumpers, a kind of asemic poem on the question of language in general and dump language particularly.

Gif or gif collage of originally by user pepperII. Each object here has its own url, so the pieces can be instantly rearranged with other urls to form a new dump. (images capture by the author, gif by Hrag Vartanian/Hyperallergic)

Weird fragments, heavy dithering, pieces of images or text floating without context. Inaction gifs as opposed to reaction gifs. The quasi-syntactical combinations of these crappy objects were only possible if participants were more interested in treating the combinations like a language — one for which they would both have to amass the vocabulary and then be willing to speak with it. The rapidity of these combinations allowed for the unexpected, as if Breton’s automatic writing had finally found its imagistic counterpart. While many dumpers were content to aggregate their dumps out of appropriated urls and other dumps, some artists, like anndunham, have created vast archives of images from scratch to combine and recombine new image fields, pulling on this idiosyncratic dataset with miraculous speed and energy — what he described in a Facebook message to me as “rapid serial moods.” You can get a sense of what this dump grammar could look like when expanded to other media via his “open field” web-based projects.

Screenshot from anndunham’s DUNP in the link above, and also accessible here

Here, on a vast scrollable field of white — which turns out to be a YouTube video containing a tiny window with a dump poem en-abyme — we see anndunham’s signature dump style and, among other self-recycled images, some of his most popular dump combinatorials. We also see some reference to dump space — the open white field, sometimes crossed with pink stripes to signify that a “fav” has been made — becoming like the prismatic blanks of Mallarmé’s notorious spaced-out poem “Un Coup de Dés.” In this, anndunham is uniquely exploiting (or perhaps the better term is “de-exploiting”) the negative space of dump. One of the reasons the dump process differed from meme products is that in meme creation, any blank space is filled, translated, detoured, morphed. It’s no longer that the emperor has no clothes but rather that the queen’s coat is a green screen. With viral culture, overloading the space of composition and exploiting any void in image and attention is key. Conversely, what we saw on dump was that there was a communicative modesty in letting the blank be — not manically informatic but rather, even in its speed and overload, pointing to the whole, the absolute creative duration in things. In the strangest of ways, dump seemed to approximate the ideals of experimental filmmaker Nathaniel Dorsky, who thought of the relation of images neither as narrative nor montage, but rather based on a spacing, an “aeration.” The single live chat thread calls for indiscriminate dumping, yes, but also for collaboration, call and response, spacing, a rhythm. This is what Dorsky calls “intermittence” — to be closer to the rhythm of the being of the spectator. To create a “vibration.” To respect the gaps of life. Between a media object that rudely imposes its reality and one that imposes the egotism of the artist, intermittence provides a third way. “It occurs through someone’s inspiration to put something into the world that is uncompromisingly present, which, in turn, invokes our innate ability to share in that presence.” But the trick is that this presence comes from absence and incompletion.

It might seem patently ridiculous to compare the types of devotional experiences Dorsky finds with experimental film to new media experiences that are more compatible with getting zonked on Red Bull. However, should we see the likes of dump.fm again, with images composed of mixtures of slices — moving, glitched, or almost-not-there — we might find that it is still the flicker that threatens to go out which calls our greatest care and attention.

Screenshot of screenshots of screenshots of an ill-fated navigational tool used for dump, recomposed in the dump window (courtesy larsdk)

The post In Memory of Dump.fm, an Endlessly Collaborative Image Poem appeared first on Hyperallergic.

from Hyperallergic http://ift.tt/2kf7HkR via IFTTT

[maritzaerwin]

5 Tips For Sourcing Ideas For eCommerce Content

Ecommerce isn’t quite as simple as ticking all the boxes from a functionality standpoint. Sure, it’s important to have great products, competitive prices, and customer service good enough to turn first-time buyers into loyal customers — but it’s really tough to be found in the first place, and it’s entirely possible to have a great store that goes largely unnoticed.

There’s no shortage of competition, after all, with so many stores offering very similar things. Very often, the key to making sales is simply being found first, because most people don’t want to spend huge amounts of time trying to hunt down fractional savings. They know what they want to buy and they just want to get their orders placed quickly and conveniently.

So how do you get found first? The answer is content marketing. By creating great content that’s relevant to your prospective customers, you can improve your rankings for relevant search terms (making it more likely that you’ll earn clicks) and build up your brand reputation. That’s easier said than done, though: content marketing is difficult.

The toughest part isn’t the production, though, or the distribution. It’s ideation. Coming up with great ideas for content (and enough of them for a conventional content calendar) is a major challenge, even for experienced content marketers. Having some issues with it? Let’s take a look at some options for sourcing eCommerce content ideas that you might not have tried:

1. Looking for Gaps in Rival Pieces

Researching what your competitors are already doing is far from a leftfield idea: it’s something that every eCommerce content marketer should do before they launch their ideation (and should repeat on a semi-regular basis to see how those other retailers adapt their strategies over time). Everyone knows about looking for gaps in the market. You check the keywords and topics being targeted by others, figure out which titles are being overlooked, and target those titles specifically.

That’s not what I’m talking about, though. I’m talking about gap analysis inside existing content. Suppose that you were interested in creating content about smartphones, for instance, and you noticed that your chief competitor had 20 blog posts on smartphone-related topics. If you opted for writing posts that seemed to be missing from that lineup, you might end up competing with content they’d lined up but not yet produced or released.

If you looked for missing elements in their published eCommerce content, though, you could build your strategy around beating that eCommerce content: covering the same ground, then adding a little extra to make your content more useful. That rival might notice eventually, but having that direct comparison going in your favor for a time would be good for your image (and for outreach).

This is a hugely efficient way of getting noticed for the quality of your content because it skips a lot of the regular creative process. So much goes into the development of an industry-leading piece of content: exhaustive keyword research, structured data optimization, and the lengthy process of writing, rewriting, and editing copy to get the tone and details right. By using the best pieces of content out there as templates, you can reap the benefits with none of the work.

Is this unethical somehow? Well, you’re not ultimately going to copy any individual elements. You’ll write everything from scratch, feature different graphics and structural elements, and align everything with your unique brand. You’ll also make some meaningful improvements as you do so, demonstrating that your piece is far more than simply an imitation of its predecessor. 

2. Trawling Through Wiki Articles

If you’re looking for complete accuracy, you shouldn’t be using wikis: Wikipedia is disregarded as a reliable source of information for good reason, that being that the inherent strength of the platform — anyone being able to create eCommerce content — lends itself to ridiculous edit wars that drag on in perpetuity (additionally, there’s the tendency to remove content on a whim that has led to the creation of more open-minded forks such as Everipedia). But I’m not talking about using wikis to come up with citations for academic papers: I’m talking about using it for ideation.

This method is actually very simple. You find a topic that’s suited to your content marketing, and you start following internal links. You look for product types you’re not familiar with, or interesting nuggets of historical information — anything that stands out. A short session of chasing links will take you through numerous pages, and can yield a scattergun assortment of snippets that you can use to further fuel your creative process.

In addition to providing you with fresh concepts for topics and titles, this can inspire you to flesh out your existing content with things you never previously knew. Got a product page for an electric bike? Well, the more you learn about electric bikes, the more you can say to expand the content on that page — and you can even make it the foundation for a bigger piece all about the history of electric bikes, something that you can use to drive product page visits.

There isn’t much of a framework to this, but that’s something that you need to accept when you’re handling your own ideation. If you want a more orderly and predictable process, you can hire a digital marketing agency to do it for you, but keep in mind that developing your own digital marketing expertise is absolutely worth doing. Not only will it help you with your retail store, but it will also stand you in good stead for future employment opportunities.

3. Analyzing Customer Feedback

Paying close attention to what customers are saying is mission-critical for modern retailers because barring some rare exceptions (such as Apple), brands don’t have unique things to offer. Their customers always know that they can get what they need elsewhere in the event that they become unhappy, so they need to be kept happy, and that requires understanding.

That understanding stems from analyzing feedback. What do customers like about your store? What do they dislike? How do they use the products they buy from you? What else would they like to see you sell? All of this isn’t just vital for improving your business: it’s also vital for informing your content marketing because it gives you many things to write about.

Let’s say you get a lot of feedback from customers who say that your product range is the best in your niche. That’s great to hear, but it also gives you a prompt to write an article about how to choose a great product range. That article will give those customers more insight into how you think and work, reinforcing their support of you, but it will also allow you to demonstrate for a much broader audience than you bring something special to the table.

You should seek feedback from all possible angles, starting with your Google reviews (Google being the jumping-off point for so much e-commerce activity) but moving on to all social media references, blog comments, and even any YouTube videos that mention you. It isn’t just customer feedback that matters, obviously. What about the people who are aware of your brand but have never elected to buy from you? What exactly are you lacking in their eyes?

In the end, you have to keep in mind that you can’t make everyone happy, not least because you’ll encounter contradictory requests. One person might want you to focus on a specific type of product, while another might want you to branch out and diversify your range. All you can do is make the best overall call given the evidence.

4. Polling Your Audience for Titles

Getting content guidance from your audience shouldn’t be limited to squeezing extra value from the existing process of feedback collection. Instead, you should take advantage of social media activity and polling options to directly ask your customers — and followers — what content they’d like to see from you (Zapier has a good guide to this). Are there specific guides they’d find useful? Topics they want to be covered?

You can get as in-depth about this as you want. If you think there’s value in setting out some specific titles and having people vote on them, you can go about things in that way: just ensure that you check the analytics after you’ve produced and released your content, though, because people don’t always know what they want (it’s a significant failing in human nature).

If a massive majority of your followers back a particular piece of eCommerce content, but it barely gets any visits when you release it and promote it heavily, consider that a good indication of the usefulness of your polls (well, the lack thereof). Try being less specific and taking all expressed preferences with a pinch of salt. Go by what people read in the end, not what they claim to want.

That said, keep in mind that you need to deliver when it comes to content quality: and the more people are eager to see a particular piece, the more they’ll likely expect from it. If your audience wants a post about choosing a great ice-cream maker and you deliver something that meets that requirement but falls woefully short of expectations, the level of disappointment might mislead you into thinking the concept was a bad idea (instead of the execution).

Due to this, don’t just write an ill-received piece off as a mistake. Investigate what happened. Speak to your audience again to ask them why they didn’t like the content very much: don’t take an accusatory tone as though they’ve somehow disappointed you, but instead be completely calm and accepting of the possibility that you’ve failed to deliver something worthwhile.

5. Considering Events and Seasons

It’s standard practice in eCommerce content marketing to write both evergreen content and seasonal content, with the latter picking up some easy visits during the relevant times of the year. The latter is particularly useful because of everything it brings to ideation: simply by looking at the near future in your calendar, you can come up with a lot of great ideas.

As I write this, it’s the start of June, so the 4th of July is a little over a month away. Why not come up with some ideas for that? The beauty of event-based search volume is that it will accommodate anything and everything demonstrably relevant: it could be as valuable as a full history of American independence or as thin as a list of snack foods you could eat on the day.

“X great gifts for Y” is a reliable performer, and you can redo it every year by making it “X great gifts for Y in 2020”. It’s not the most interesting or sophisticated content, of course, but it gets visits and it drives sales — and that’s ultimately what matters for online retailers. Additionally, you can tie it into your larger and more high-quality pieces of content on broader topics.

Consider the hub-and-spoke strategy that’s become very popular in the content marketing world in recent years. If you create pieces like “4 Perfect Celebration Gifts to Get Your Patriotic Friend on the 4th of July” or “10 Great Christmas Gifts for Rock-and-Roll Fans”, you can link out to them from an overarching piece on how to buy gifts for friends and family members. Each niche piece of content you add makes the hub content more valuable for visitors and significantly more competitive from an SEO standpoint.

When you’re staring at your screen trying to come up with ideas to flesh out your content calendar, take a break from the monotony and resolve to try something else. See where you can beat rival content. Go on fun tangents through wikis. Address the most common queries that pop up through your feedback. Ask your audience directly what it wants. Look at your schedule and come up with some viable clickbait titles.

This is all about getting eyes on your content, so everything after that is up to you: if your content is bad, all the effort will end up wasted, so your main goal should be to produce great content that really delivers value. Do that, and promote sensibly, and you’ll get the results you’re looking for.

The post 5 Tips For Sourcing Ideas For eCommerce Content appeared first on CareerMetis.com.

5 Tips For Sourcing Ideas For eCommerce Content published first on https://skillsireweb.tumblr.com/

[dragnews]

Vietnam set to tighten clamps on Facebook and Google, threatening…

HANOI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A struggle over internet laws in Vietnam is pitting a government keen on maintaining tight control against U.S. technology companies trying to fight off onerous new rules – with the country’s online dissidents among the biggest losers.

Rights activist Le Van Dung (R) live streams on Facebook in a coffee shop in Hanoi, Vietnam May 15, 2018. Picture taken May 15, 2018. REUTERS/Kham

The latest conflict centers on new cybersecurity legislation set for a vote by Vietnamese lawmakers later this month. It aims to impose new legal requirements on internet companies, and hardens policing of online dissent.

Facebook, Google and other global companies are pushing back hard against provisions that would require them to store data on Vietnamese users locally and open offices in the country. But they have not taken the same tough stance on parts of the proposed law that would bolster the government’s crackdown on online political activism.

Vietnam offers a case study in the conflicting pressures the likes of Facebook and Google confront when operating in countries with repressive governments. It also shows how authoritarian regimes try to walk a line in controlling online information and suppressing political activism without crippling the digital economy.

Such tensions are playing out across Southeast Asia, where the enormous popularity of Facebook and Google has created lucrative business opportunities and outlets for political dissent. With that, though, has come both government censorship and a way to get propaganda to large audiences efficiently.

The region is particularly important for Facebook and Google because most Internet users in China are blocked from accessing them.

An industry group called the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) is leading efforts to soften the proposed cyber law in Vietnam. Jeff Paine, managing director of the AIC, said he and others were able to raise concerns about the law directly with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and other top government officials when they visited Singapore last month.

The discussions took place as part of a seminar about internet issues that included academics, industry officials and the high-level Vietnamese delegation, according to Paine. He said there was “a healthy dialogue” that focused mostly on how Vietnam can leverage the next stages of the digital revolution.

But he said there was no discussion of content restrictions.

The Vietnamese government did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment for this article.

Political activists in Vietnam rely on social media to rally support, and the new cyber law comes on the heels of an April letter from more than 50 rights groups and activists to Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg accusing the company of working too closely with the Vietnamese government to stifle dissent.

Facebook and Google say they have to abide by local laws in the countries where they operate.     

Facebook’s latest “transparency report,” released Tuesday, shows that in the second half of last year, the company began blocking content in Vietnam for violations of local law for the first time. The company reported 22 such instances – though it said they were prompted by “private reports of defamation” rather than direct government requests.

Google last year also blocked YouTube videos at the request of the government for the first time. Updated figures released Friday show the company was asked to remove more than 6500 videos in 2017, mostly for criticizing the government, and that it complied with a majority of the requests.

A man uses an iPad device in a coffee shop in Hanoi, Vietnam May 18, 2018. REUTERS/Kham

The transparency reports do show that the companies don’t automatically do the bidding of the government. Facebook said it had received 12 government requests for Facebook user account data in 2017 and complied with only 4 of them, all of which were “emergency” requests. The company defines an emergency as involving “imminent risk of serious physical injury or death.”

In cases where content is alleged to violate local law, both companies say takedown requests are subject to legal review, and when they comply the material is only blocked locally.

Direct government censorship requests don’t tell the whole story though.

Facebook also removes content and blocks accounts for violating its own global “community standards,” which bar material and behaviors ranging from posting pornography to hate speech and inciting violence.

“The first thing we do when a government tells us about content that violates laws is we look at whether it violates our standards,” said Monika Bickert, Facebook’s vice president of global policy management. The company this week began providing data on community standards violations but does not break it down by country.

“My account was blocked for 8 months,” said Le Van Dung, an independent journalist in Vietnam who signed the letter to Zuckerberg. “I sent letters to Facebook management for months but there’s only an automatic reply saying they have completed your request.”

His account was restored last month, the day after the appeal to Zuckerberg was sent, he said.

Facebook said Dung’s account was correctly removed for violating community standards provisions barring “spam” activities and was restored by mistake. Dung denies engaging in spam. He did, though, have more than one account. Multiple accounts are not allowed on Facebook and fall within the company’s definition of spam behavior.

TIGHTENING THE SCREWS

Vietnam has had tough internet regulations in place since 2013. They ban any postings that are anti-government, harm national security, cause “hatred and conflicts” or “hurt the prestige of organizations and individuals.”

The rules also ban social media users who “spread fake or untruthful information.”

New rules implemented in 2017 tightened the screws further. One turning point, according to Yee Chung Seck, an attorney in the Ho Chi Minh City office of the international law firm Baker McKenzie, was an April 2017 meeting convened by the government to discuss a range of Internet ills including disinformation, hate speech and bullying.

Slideshow (2 Images)

That came just after the government called on all companies doing business in the country to stop advertising on YouTube, Facebook and other social media until they found a way to halt the publication of “toxic” anti-government information.

Yet another decree implemented last month stated that social media platforms had to remove illegal content within three hours of it being reported by the government, though Paine said the rule applies only to domestic companies.

Still, Facebook and Google don’t seem to be under any imminent threat given how deeply they have penetrated into Vietnam society.

About 55 million of Vietnam’s 96 million people are regular social media users, according to research by Simon Kemp, a digital media consultant based in Singapore.

Facebook, YouTube and Google Search are far and away the most popular internet destinations, Kemp’s data shows. Facebook is also the most popular platform for online shopping in Vietnam.

And the government is eager to nurture the country’s digital economy: smartphones and all that they enable, especially e-commerce and online banking, are transforming economies across Asia, and no one wants to be left behind.

“They love that part of the story,” said Chung.

But the government also wants more control, including local data storage and local corporate offices – a provision company officials privately fear is designed to allow the government to intimidate companies by exposing individuals to arrest.

Both Facebook and Google serve Vietnam from their regional headquarters in Singapore.

The new law also gives more power to Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, which is tasked with crushing dissent in the communist-ruled country.

Facebook said it expected the new rules would require it to restrict more content. Google declined to comment.

LONG JAIL TERMS

For the rights activists, there appears to be little hope of relief.

For example, just this month, a Facebook user in Vietnam was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for posts which “distorted the political situation,” according to a statement posted on an official Communist Party website.

Still, Facebook remains an important tool for activists in Vietnam – a country where government criticism is rarely tolerated and the battle between the authorities and dissidents is a game of cat-and-mouse.

“Sometimes we use Facebook to distract authorities, like we pretend to discuss an important meeting, which obviously won’t happen,” activist Nguyen Lan Thang said. “Then we watch from afar and laugh as they surround our fake meeting spot,” Thang added.

Additional reporting by James Pearson; Editing by Martin Howell

The post Vietnam set to tighten clamps on Facebook and Google, threatening… appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2KAW7x4 via Today News

[shirleydazzle]

SEC Charges Pastor with Defrauding Retirees

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges and an emergency asset freeze obtained against a Michigan-based pastor accused of exploiting church members, retirees, and laid-off auto workers who were misled to believe they were investing in a successful real estate business.

The SEC alleges that Larry Holley, the pastor of Abundant Life Ministries in Flint, Mich., cloaked his solicitations in faith-based rhetoric, replete with references to scripture and biblical figures.  Holley allegedly told prospective investors that as a person who “prayed for your children,” he was more trustworthy than a “banker” with their money.  According to the SEC’s complaint, Holley held financial presentations masked as “Blessed Life Conferences” at churches nationwide during which he asked congregants to fill out cards detailing their financial holdings, and he promised to pray over the cards and invited attendees to have one-on-one consultations with his team.  He allegedly called his investors “millionaires in the making.”

According to the SEC’s complaint, which also charges Holley’s company Treasure Enterprise LLC and his business associate Patricia Enright Gray, approximately $6.7 million was raised from more than 80 investors who were guaranteed high returns and told they were investing in a profitable real estate company with hundreds of residential and commercial properties.

According to the complaint, Gray advertised on a religious radio station based in Flint and singled out recently laid-off auto workers with severance packages to consult her for a “financial increase.”  Gray allegedly promised to roll over investors’ retirement funds into tax-advantaged Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) and invest them in Treasure Enterprise.  The SEC alleges that no investor funds were deposited into IRAs, and Treasure Enterprise struggled to generate enough revenue from its real estate investments to support the business and make payments owed to investors.  Treasure Enterprise owes investors an estimated $1.9 million in past due payments, according to the SEC’s complaint.

“As alleged in our complaint, Holley and Gray targeted the retirement savings of churchgoers, building a bond of trust purportedly based on faith but actually based on false promises,” said David Glockner.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Holley, Gray, and Treasure Enterprise were not registered to sell investments.  The SEC encourages investors to check the background of anyone offering to sell them investments by doing a quick search on the SEC’s investor website.

The SEC has obtained a temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Utah that freezes the assets of Holley, Gray, and Treasure Enterprise.  The court’s order also appoints a receiver and imposes other emergency relief.

The SEC’s complaint alleges violations of Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5.  The complaint seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest, penalties, and permanent injunctions.

The SEC’s investigation, which is continuing, is being conducted by Ana P. Doncic, Delia L. Helpingstine, and Sruthi Koneru of the Utah office.  The case is being supervised by Steven L. Klawans, and the litigation is being led by Jonathan S. Polish.

SEC ADOPTS JOBS ACT AMENDMENTS TO HELP ENTREPRENEURS AND INVESTORS

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has adopted amendments to increase the amount of money companies can raise through crowdfunding to adjust for inflation.  It also approved amendments that adjust for inflation a threshold used to determine eligibility for benefits offered to “emerging growth companies” (EGCs) under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act.

“Regular updates to the JOBS Act, as prescribed by Congress, ensure that the entrepreneurs and investors who benefit from crowdfunding will continue to do so,” said SEC Acting Chairman Michael S. Piwowar. “Under these amendments, the JOBS Act can continue to create jobs and investment opportunities for the general public.”

The SEC is required to make inflation adjustments to certain JOBS Act rules at least once every five years after it was enacted on April 5, 2012.  In addition to the inflation adjustments, the SEC adopted technical amendments to conform several rules and forms to amendments made to the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) by Title I of the JOBS Act.

The Commission approved the new thresholds March 31. They will become effective when they are published in the Federal Register.

BACKGROUND ON THE SEC JOBS ACT

Section 101 of the JOBS Act added new Securities Act Section 2(a)(19) and Exchange Act Section 3(a)(80) to define the term “emerging growth company” (“EGC”).  Pursuant to those sections, every five years the SEC is directed to index the annual gross revenue amount used to determine EGC status to inflation to reflect the change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“CPI-U”) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (“BLS”).  To carry out this statutory directive, the SEC has adopted amendments to Securities Act Rule 405 and Exchange Act Rule 12b-2 to include a definition for EGC that reflects an inflation-adjusted annual gross revenue threshold.  The JOBS Act also added new Securities Act Section 4(a)(6), which provides an exemption from the registration requirements of Section 5 under the Securities Act for certain crowdfunding transactions.  In October 2015, the SEC promulgated Regulation Crowdfunding to implement that exemption.  Sections 4(a)(6) and 4A of the Securities Act set forth dollar amounts used in connection with the crowdfunding exemption, and Section 4A(h)(1) states that such dollar amounts shall be adjusted by the SEC not less frequently than once every five years to reflect the change in the CPI-U published by the BLS.  The SEC has adopted amendments to Rules 100 and 201(t) of Regulation Crowdfunding and Securities Act Form C to reflect the required inflation adjustments.

In addition, Sections 102 and 103 of the JOBS Act amended the Securities Act and the Exchange Act to provide several exemptions from a number of disclosure, shareholder voting, and other regulatory requirements for any issuer that qualifies as an EGC. The exemptions reduce the financial disclosures an EGC is required to provide in public offering registration statements and relieve an EGC from conducting advisory votes on executive compensation, as well as from a number of accounting and disclosure requirements.  The regulatory relief provided under Sections 102 and 103 of the JOBS Act was self-executing and became effective once the JOBS Act was signed into law.  The technical amendments that the SEC is adopting conform several rules and forms to reflect these JOBS Act statutory changes.

Free Initial Consultation with a Securities Lawyer

When you need help with an SEC or Securities matter, call Ascent Law for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you.

Ascent Law LLC8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite CWest Jordan, Utah 84088 United StatesTelephone: (801) 676-5506

Ascent Law LLC

4.9 stars – based on 67 reviews

Recent Posts

Government Liability and Immunity in Utah

Child Support and Parental Relocation

Securities Lawyer

Copyright Lawyer

MLM Lawyer

Intellectual Property Lawyer

Source: http://www.ascentlawfirm.com/sec-charges-pastor-with-defrauding-retirees/

[loycereiber]

SEC Charges Pastor with Defrauding Retirees

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges and an emergency asset freeze obtained against a Michigan-based pastor accused of exploiting church members, retirees, and laid-off auto workers who were misled to believe they were investing in a successful real estate business.

The SEC alleges that Larry Holley, the pastor of Abundant Life Ministries in Flint, Mich., cloaked his solicitations in faith-based rhetoric, replete with references to scripture and biblical figures.  Holley allegedly told prospective investors that as a person who “prayed for your children,” he was more trustworthy than a “banker” with their money.  According to the SEC’s complaint, Holley held financial presentations masked as “Blessed Life Conferences” at churches nationwide during which he asked congregants to fill out cards detailing their financial holdings, and he promised to pray over the cards and invited attendees to have one-on-one consultations with his team.  He allegedly called his investors “millionaires in the making.”

According to the SEC’s complaint, which also charges Holley’s company Treasure Enterprise LLC and his business associate Patricia Enright Gray, approximately $6.7 million was raised from more than 80 investors who were guaranteed high returns and told they were investing in a profitable real estate company with hundreds of residential and commercial properties.

According to the complaint, Gray advertised on a religious radio station based in Flint and singled out recently laid-off auto workers with severance packages to consult her for a “financial increase.”  Gray allegedly promised to roll over investors’ retirement funds into tax-advantaged Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) and invest them in Treasure Enterprise.  The SEC alleges that no investor funds were deposited into IRAs, and Treasure Enterprise struggled to generate enough revenue from its real estate investments to support the business and make payments owed to investors.  Treasure Enterprise owes investors an estimated $1.9 million in past due payments, according to the SEC’s complaint.

“As alleged in our complaint, Holley and Gray targeted the retirement savings of churchgoers, building a bond of trust purportedly based on faith but actually based on false promises,” said David Glockner.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Holley, Gray, and Treasure Enterprise were not registered to sell investments.  The SEC encourages investors to check the background of anyone offering to sell them investments by doing a quick search on the SEC’s investor website.

The SEC has obtained a temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Utah that freezes the assets of Holley, Gray, and Treasure Enterprise.  The court’s order also appoints a receiver and imposes other emergency relief.

The SEC’s complaint alleges violations of Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5.  The complaint seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest, penalties, and permanent injunctions.

The SEC’s investigation, which is continuing, is being conducted by Ana P. Doncic, Delia L. Helpingstine, and Sruthi Koneru of the Utah office.  The case is being supervised by Steven L. Klawans, and the litigation is being led by Jonathan S. Polish.

SEC ADOPTS JOBS ACT AMENDMENTS TO HELP ENTREPRENEURS AND INVESTORS

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has adopted amendments to increase the amount of money companies can raise through crowdfunding to adjust for inflation.  It also approved amendments that adjust for inflation a threshold used to determine eligibility for benefits offered to “emerging growth companies” (EGCs) under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act.

“Regular updates to the JOBS Act, as prescribed by Congress, ensure that the entrepreneurs and investors who benefit from crowdfunding will continue to do so,” said SEC Acting Chairman Michael S. Piwowar. “Under these amendments, the JOBS Act can continue to create jobs and investment opportunities for the general public.”

The SEC is required to make inflation adjustments to certain JOBS Act rules at least once every five years after it was enacted on April 5, 2012.  In addition to the inflation adjustments, the SEC adopted technical amendments to conform several rules and forms to amendments made to the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) by Title I of the JOBS Act.

The Commission approved the new thresholds March 31. They will become effective when they are published in the Federal Register.

BACKGROUND ON THE SEC JOBS ACT

Section 101 of the JOBS Act added new Securities Act Section 2(a)(19) and Exchange Act Section 3(a)(80) to define the term “emerging growth company” (“EGC”).  Pursuant to those sections, every five years the SEC is directed to index the annual gross revenue amount used to determine EGC status to inflation to reflect the change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“CPI-U”) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (“BLS”).  To carry out this statutory directive, the SEC has adopted amendments to Securities Act Rule 405 and Exchange Act Rule 12b-2 to include a definition for EGC that reflects an inflation-adjusted annual gross revenue threshold.  The JOBS Act also added new Securities Act Section 4(a)(6), which provides an exemption from the registration requirements of Section 5 under the Securities Act for certain crowdfunding transactions.  In October 2015, the SEC promulgated Regulation Crowdfunding to implement that exemption.  Sections 4(a)(6) and 4A of the Securities Act set forth dollar amounts used in connection with the crowdfunding exemption, and Section 4A(h)(1) states that such dollar amounts shall be adjusted by the SEC not less frequently than once every five years to reflect the change in the CPI-U published by the BLS.  The SEC has adopted amendments to Rules 100 and 201(t) of Regulation Crowdfunding and Securities Act Form C to reflect the required inflation adjustments.

In addition, Sections 102 and 103 of the JOBS Act amended the Securities Act and the Exchange Act to provide several exemptions from a number of disclosure, shareholder voting, and other regulatory requirements for any issuer that qualifies as an EGC. The exemptions reduce the financial disclosures an EGC is required to provide in public offering registration statements and relieve an EGC from conducting advisory votes on executive compensation, as well as from a number of accounting and disclosure requirements.  The regulatory relief provided under Sections 102 and 103 of the JOBS Act was self-executing and became effective once the JOBS Act was signed into law.  The technical amendments that the SEC is adopting conform several rules and forms to reflect these JOBS Act statutory changes.

Free Initial Consultation with a Securities Lawyer

When you need help with an SEC or Securities matter, call Ascent Law for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you.

Ascent Law LLC8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite CWest Jordan, Utah 84088 United StatesTelephone: (801) 676-5506

Ascent Law LLC

4.9 stars – based on 67 reviews

Recent Posts

Government Liability and Immunity in Utah

Child Support and Parental Relocation

Securities Lawyer

Copyright Lawyer

MLM Lawyer

Intellectual Property Lawyer

Source: http://www.ascentlawfirm.com/sec-charges-pastor-with-defrauding-retirees/

[latashavlw872-blog]

Preparing Your Dogs For The Wintertime It is actually Going Obtain Cold.

Graphic video clip uploaded to YouTube last week shows the second a sizable pet bites a girl in the face after she is blown out along with cool water for an ice-bucket obstacle. And also certainly dogs ought to be left behind outside just under the ailment from meals, water, dog property As Well As tons of added focus time with their people. Your dog undoubtedly doesn't recognize the variation amongst a jump as a tiny, charming puppy dog, as well as a jump as a big, woolly adult. Make use of a fragile cycle along with the chilly water possibility, and also use plenty of softener, so the toy doesn't lose its hugable sense. Additionally the floor covering will definitely suggest that your sleeping bag doesn't need to depend a cool floor - so this could be warmish to start with. For some types, managers will definitely maintain their canine cleaned with recurring showers and pruning the pet's fur coating. You could locate a canine residence heater compared to operates on energy, through generator, or both. In many cases, you could find a great affordable family pet insurance plan which deals with yearly examinations supplementandpills4u.info in addition to unexpected emergency clinical therapies. A couple of safety measures can easily help guard your pet from fatigue triggered by heat energy in addition to heat stroke. Please don't leave your pet dog neglected in an automobile even if you have opened the windows - it is actually best to become safe and certainly not sorry, discover secure as well as somewhere trendy for them to become. This lady mentioned its own her dad in laws canine not hers, therefore do not press the blame onto her. The cold will likewise influence center after attacking feets to induce stomachache and rough menstrual cycle. Having just lost my little gal Minnie a full week ago I am not obtaining one more dog as they are as well fastened and struggle with separation stress when laid off, as your video clip displays. Heating your pet up is actually the initial step towards managing Hypothermia to try to get his body system back to its own regular temperature level. Discharge the dog and also permit him to discover the box the treat remains in. Ultimately you may start hiding the delight along with the canine experiencing far from packages. Puppies can be a great deal even more job compared to a canine that is actually actually established, which are going to definitely function a lot better along with your parents needing to manage a dog in the house as well as your brother and also on your own. While your canine will certainly certainly not be taking a trip in a 4 legged pack, they are a part of your household and also you must be reasonable yet firm so as for them to behave adequately. So a really good item from canine health tips is to make sure that anything that is down where the animal can get to that is actually one thing that will not create you ill. My dog was just detected along with ME, she is actually nearly 12. She has actually hacked up water and also meals irregularly for a long times. Spaniards cruising later to Mexico brought numerous canines along with them, no question this small dog was actually carried all over the sea as well. If the canine decides on the incorrect mug, they acquire nothing at all and the game starts over, yet if they obtain that right, they acquire a surprise. Afterwards, you are going to have to hone each comb blade of the canine brushing decreasing shears using a wand sharpener, which seems like a long, narrow stick that would certainly accommodate in between each tooth. I educate people mental techniques to eliminate their worries as well as make helpful behaviors, to revise their psychological as well as negative mental scripting around marketing, account control and also cold calls.