#the seller said her friend with whom she was studying design made it for her son

[lolpsxd]

i cant believe i bought this piece of art for just like 5 dollars

[alienspawnwrites]

Laying Hands: Chapter 9

Read on AO3

Things In Common

Althea was an Avenger. Well, an Avenger in training, as Tony had been quick to point out. She mulled over her circumstances as she made her way to her room for the night. Training, missions, saving the world; she struggled to imagine herself amongst the elite heroes she had come to share her life with. They didn’t expect her to fight, but from what Steve had told her, she would be expected to learn some self-defense and basic maneuvering at the very least. She didn’t have to actively participate in combat, but she couldn’t get in the others’ way, either.

Thor had, of course, immediately offered to take up Althea’s training, always eager for a good fight. The blood drained from her face as she considered the idea of squaring off against the god of thunder and all his might. Thankfully, he was dismissed out of hand, and ultimately Natasha was designated as her instructor. She was the more logical choice: though vastly more agile and skilled in combat, she was close to Althea’s size and could teach her how to make the most of her meager strength. More importantly, Nat didn’t possess superhuman strength or harness the power of lighting.

Training wouldn’t start for a few days, however, as Natasha was being sent to do some reconnaissance on a lead in South America. The spy, more than all the others, never seemed to take a day off.

That night, in the dark solitude of her room, Althea thought of how much had changed in the span of a single day. The sheer joy she felt at her new sense of belonging threatened to overwhelm her. For the first time since her childhood, she had a home and, she realized, a family. It was far from traditional, true, but her acceptance into the rag-tag group felt all the more meaningful for its strangeness.

She’d grown incredibly fond of them all, even Clint, whom she rarely saw. As exhaustion pulled her closer and closer to sleep, she considered them all in turn. Steve’s earnest and caring heart, Tony’s dedication to making light of any given situation, Bruce’s endearing countenance and impressive intellect, Natasha’s enigmatic nature, Thor’s contrasting open and boisterous demeanor; they each brought such different personalities and skills to the table in their joint effort to protect humanity.

As sleep overtook her, her thoughts turned to Loki, the outsider. He was cold and distant, but that only served to pique her interest. She recalled how different he had looked the few times she’d caught him with his guard down, how she had inexplicably wanted to reach out and brush his raven locks out of his eyes as he read. She was thinking about those same eyes, their blues and greens swimming with unknown depths, as she finally slipped into slumber.

The following morning Althea woke in good spirits. Her routine was simple and she readied herself quickly, pausing to regard herself in the mirror before she made for the door. The woman looking back at her was barely recognizable as the same broken, scared creature that had arrived here just a few weeks ago. Her skin was no longer sickly pale and practically transparent but radiated a healthy, pink glow. The sharp edges of her malnourished body had rounded significantly as a result of the unlimited access to food. Her cheeks were pleasantly plump now and the dark circles under her eyes were long gone. Even her hair shone with a new brilliance, the now even strands falling in loose waves down to her shoulders.

She found herself fiddling with a particularly disobedient piece as she attempted to force it into submission. No matter how she pulled or twisted, it seemed determined to flip out awkwardly. She struggled with it for a few moments longer before giving up, her huff of frustration blowing it out at an even more ridiculous angle. Althea wondered why the wayward piece of hair was affecting her at all. She’d never given much thought to her appearance before. Without another glance, she left the room.

Loki was waiting for her in the hallway, leaning against his door, the picture of boredom.

“I’ve finished.” He held out the borrowed copy of The Count of Monte Cristo. She took it from him, and he quickly withdrew his hand.

Althea examined the tome, noting its thickness. She knew Loki was a fast reader, having seen him in action, yet she was still surprised he’d managed to finish the book in the span of a single night.

“So? What did you think?”

“It has its merits,” he admitted, “Though I could teach Dantès a thing or two about true vengeance.” He offered her a diabolical grin.

“I’m sure you could.” She tucked the novel under her arm and began walking down the hall. To her surprise, Loki fell in step beside her.

“The escape was rather ingenious, I’ll give him that,” he continued.

“Don’t get any ideas.” Dantès’ escape involved sneaking out in a body bag, presumed to hold another prisoner. Althea shuddered to think how Loki might employ a similar plan.

“You needn’t worry. I have my own, far more sophisticated tricks. I don’t need to borrow from your fiction,” he boasted.

She looked at him dubiously. “Is that so?”

“My dear, you have no idea.”Althea stumbled slightly, caught off guard by the term of endearment he’d dropped so casually. Falling behind Loki’s long, confident stride, she felt herself blush, the uncomfortable heat rising in her cheeks. Absentmindedly she fingered the stubborn lock she’d been tried in vain to tame.

Loki pressed the ‘up’ button beside the elevator doors and turned around, taking in her frozen, frazzled demeanor. “Ah, so you are easy to fluster after all.” His wolfish smile radiated self-satisfaction. “Just another one of my many skills.” He tapped his lips with the tip of his slender finger and shot her a playful wink. “Silver tongue.”

Althea shook herself out of her stupor and joined in waiting for the elevator, shoulders tense with irritation. He was teasing her and she, who had never really experienced flirting, had allowed it to get the better of her. Silently, she cursed herself for falling for the trick so easily, payback on her mind. By the time the elevator arrived, she had an idea.

“What did you think you think of the way Dumas incorporated Napoleon into the story?”, she asked as nonchalantly as she could manage. “I thought the historical context really helped to lend the story a sense of realism.” She hoped Loki would think she was merely trying to hide her embarrassment by changing the subject.

“It was more of a distraction than anything,” he replied, playing along. The elevator doors slid open and he stepped into the lounge, Althea on his heels. “I’m not overly familiar with that period of Midgardian history.”

“Makes sense,” she said, shrugging. “So what? Do you prefer something less realistic, like Lord of the Rings? Something that totally immerses you in another, fantastical world?”

Loki turned to face her. “I’d hardly call Tolkien’s work ‘fantastical’. I suspect he merely had knowledge of the other realms. Dwarves and elves are well known amongst…” he trailed off as he noticed Althea’s lips curling into a smug, knowing smirk. “What?”, he spat, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Nothing, nothing. I just never knew that trilogy was published on Asgard,” she mused insincerely. “Was it a big seller? It’s quite popular on our backwards planet.”

Loki cocked his head, confused, before he realized his error.

“Is it? How… interesting,” he tried to backtrack. “I wonder how it arrived in Asgard,” he added weakly, the grimace on his face a clear indication he didn’t expect her to buy it.

Althea rolled her eyes at his poor performance. “Really? Just admit it, Loki. You lied.” She planted her hands on her hips proudly. “You lied, and I tricked you into slipping up.”

Loki’s eyes slipped shut and he sighed in defeat. “Fine,” he growled through clenched teeth. “I will admit my guard was lowered.” He turned and walked over to the bookcases and studied the spines with feigned interest. “I expected you to be just as transparent as the rest of your… teammates.” His back was to her, but from the way the last word fell from his lips, coated in disgust, Althea could tell he was sneering.

“So you know about that, huh?”

“Obviously,” came his deadpan response.

“I take it you don’t approve.”

“Would it matter?” He abandoned his examination and faced her again, his expression challenging.

Althea gave the question some consideration. “It wouldn’t change my mind if that’s what you’re asking, but I’d still like to know.”

“I don’t care what you do. If you want to waste your life running around playing hero with the rest of those imbeciles, be my guest,” he told her flippantly.

The urge to defend her new friends overtook her suddenly, her resolve not to let Loki get under her skin forgotten. Imbeciles? He had no right to insult them like that. They had freed her, taken her in, and welcomed her graciously. They’d all opened up to her and made her feel safe opening up in return. And when the time came, they’d given her a choice: to live her life safe and provided for or to join them and fight for the greater good.

“Why are you even here?”, she snapped. She pinned him with a hard look. “You never go out on, or help with, any missions. You barely bother to speak to anyone besides me and Thor, and even then you’re demeaning and rude. You’ve made it perfectly clear you don’t care about anything or anyone. I just don’t get it. Why are you here?”, she repeated the question for emphasis. Her outburst had come out harsher than she’d intended, but she refused to back down.

Loki didn’t answer immediately. Althea had admonished his behavior before but had quickly diffused the situation on her own. No such distraction came this time. She was determined to get an answer. Thrown off by her intensity, he decided to tell the truth.

“I was given a choice; be a prisoner here, with Thor and his so-called ‘friends', or on Asgard, with my poor excuse for a father. I chose the cell with more square footage.”

“Prisoner? You’re here against your will?”

Loki sighed in exasperation. “I thought you were clever enough to have worked that out on your own by now.”

Althea barely registered the compliment, too overwhelmed by this new revelation. “Why?”, she pressed.

It was a logical question, asked simply. The answer was infinitely more complicated. Loki knew his mistakes were innumerable. There was a time when it had all felt justified. He’d grown tired of living in Thor’s shadow, watching his thick-headed brother inch closer and closer to a throne he neither deserved nor was prepared to handle. Then Odin had revealed the truth of his parentage, and his jealousy had turned to righteous rage. The long years of his life spent treated as an outcast, as “other”, finally made sense. He had only been trying to prove himself, but his father would never see his actions as anything more than disobedience.

Everything changed when he fell off the bridge and into the Mad Titan’s grasp. His actions were no longer justified. He hadn’t been fueled by jealousy or rage or the desire to prove himself. No, fear had been the driving force, turning his eyes towards Earth even as it blinded him to his better judgment.

He couldn’t simply lay out his crimes without trying to explain his reasoning, and as much as he inexplicably wanted to trust this mortal, he doubted she would understand.

Althea watched the internal debate as it raged behind his eyes, her quickly fading. What he had done, she couldn’t venture to guess, but it was clear he felt conflicted over whatever landed him in his current situation. After a few moments without a word from Loki, she tried another approach.

“Do you deserve it?”, she asked, now calm.

Loki snapped out of his racing thoughts. For the first time, Althea saw vulnerability on his pained face.

“Yes.” His voice was quiet, devoid of his usual jesting tone.

“Are you going to hurt me? Should I be afraid?”

If anyone else had asked that question he would have answered “yes” without hesitation. He was a god, after all; it was only right that these weak mortals should fear him. But there was something different about this one. It wasn’t her uncanny ability, as interesting as it was. It was just… her. She was patient yet persistent, innocent yet witty. Even now, rather than judgment or disgust her face showed only kind patience as she awaited his answer. It was an expression he wasn’t used to seeing directed his way. She was good; not in the exhausting, self-righteous way in which Steve Rogers was “good”, but in an easy, natural way that seemed to challenge those around her to see the world as she did. It was a challenge Loki found himself wanting to face.

He met her unwavering gaze. “No.”

She recalled what Thor had said of Loki. “Under it all, my brother has a good heart. I have seen it, and I believe the others will see it also, in time.” She hadn’t known what Thor had been talking about when he’d referenced Loki’s mistakes. Now it was all beginning to make sense. She decided to keep her promise to Thor and reserve judgment for the time being.

“I’m going to choose not to read into how long it took you to answer that question,” she quipped. And just like that, the tension of the moment was broken.

Loki blinked, caught off guard once again by Althea’s ability to shake off the weightiest of situations. He hummed in acknowledgment but turned back to the bookcase. Once again he made a show of looking through the titles, absorbing none of them. In the end, he plucked a book off the shelf at random. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. Confident his mask of indifference was solidly back in place, he faced her once more.

“You gave me a book about a falsely imprisoned man,” he stated thoughtfully.

Althea merely shrugged. “Yeah. Strange coincidence in retrospect.” The irony was not lost on her.

“In my experience, there is no such thing as coincidence,” Loki countered.

“I picked it up because it reminded me of my own situation. I had no idea we had so much in common.”

“We are nothing alike,” he hissed, his voice full of derision. Only Loki knew said derision was directed at himself.

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

Here's what you need to know about those CGI influencers invading your feed

Human influencers like Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner might want to secure their positions in the influencer realm before they get ousted by glorified Sims.

That's right: There are now computer generated images that do exactly what human influencers do. There's a human behind each one — coming up with captions and manually generating the content — though it can be unclear who exactly that person is. The financial threads are equally hazy, but you can be sure that someone is making money off of these "people."

According to CBS, the digital influencer market is set to reach $2 billion in the next two years. The scariest thing is just how convincing these artificial influencers really are: 42 percent of people who were following a digital Instagrammer didn't realize it wasn't a real person, according to a recent study by the media company Fullscreen.

SEE ALSO: 'Alita: Battle Angel' is relevant for cyborgs and humans alike

I set out to understand who exactly these new influencers are, and why they exist. That involved interacting with them — or at least trying to. The feeling of being left on read by people who don't exist is a unique one. It also made me feel like they're hiding something. But here's what we know ... so far. 

Rest assured, they'll either save us from the digital malaise we’ve all scrolled ourselves into, or destroy us further. 

Lil Miquela, 1.5 million followers

Lil Miquela, or Miquela Sousa, is a perpetually 19-year-old girl from Downey, California. She has all the necessary ingredients for Insta-success: good looks, flashy clothing, a nonexistent yet bottomless bank account, and a passion for activism. It's easy to forget you're looking at a bot when reading her captions, which are sprinkled with witty remarks and relatable musings. "No lie, I wish I’d been assembled in the ’90s ..." she quips, echoing the very human desire to be from another time. It's part of what makes her so popular — and so uncanny. 

View this post on Instagram

So am I just going to have crushes on everyone this year? That’s how it’s gonna be, huh? Cool, cool.

A post shared by *~ MIQUELA ~* (@lilmiquela) on Jan 4, 2019 at 5:08pm PST

The algorithmic babe was named one of the 25 most influential people on the internet by Time last year, alongside Busy Philips and Logan Paul. (She was the only non-human to make the cut.) It's safe to say the integration of bot personalities into the mainstream has begun. 

In addition to being an influencer, she’s also a singer and merch seller. Miquela has around 52,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Not bad for someone who doesn’t exist in the physical realm. 

And the merch? Socks from Club 404, Lil Miquela's overpriced swag brand, will run you $30 for two pairs.

But wait a second, why CGI influencers?

Before we introduce more of these new age avatars, it's important to understand how they came to be. Cue Brud. And Cain Intelligence. 

Brud is the LA-based tech startup credited with Miquela's existence. It's described as a  "transmedia studio that creates digital character driven story worlds," whatever that means. Other than that, it's pretty much a mystery. We do know that it was founded by two people: Sara DeCou and Trevor McFedries, neither of whom could be reached for comment. 

Cain Intelligence is even more of a mystery. Founded by Daniel Cain, who may or may not be real, the company is another startup. It describes itself as "the industry leader in Conscious Language Intelligence (CLI), a type of Artificial Intelligence that allows for humans to engage with our specialized robots in free-format, natural language." The website feels bleak and dark, something a villain in a spy movie would create. (It's also pro-Trump.) 

If you're reading this and you're confused, that's sort of the point. Lil Miquela and Blawko, another CGI influencer, are characters created by Brud. Bermuda, also a CGI influencer, was made by Cain Intelligence. Allegedly. But wait: Bermuda now has Brud's Instagram page tagged in her own bio, followed by the message "Look closer"; likewise, Brud's bio identifies Bermuda as a client. Seems like Cain was a marketing hoax to launch Bermuda and her right-wing agenda? As a scheme to get attention for the entire CGI universe Brud has created, it seems to have worked. 

The only person I was able to get in contact with about these three CGI influencers was Jemma Litchfield from Huxley, the creative agency that represents Miquela, Bermuda, and Blawko. In an email, she said she "looked after Miquela." She said they weren't doing interviews, but she'd fact check for me, if I'd like. She didn't offer any clarification about Brud or Cain Intelligence, but instead shifted some sentences around and corrected my first-draft grammar. 

Perhaps the enigmatic nature of Brud and Cain is the reason their influential prototypes have become so successful and so followed. Curiosity today usually leads to a Google search. But when there's no information available beyond what you already know, it can prompt a fascination. Or frustration. 

Anyway, meet Miquela's digital squad: Bermuda and Blawko. 

Bermuda, 133k followers

Bermuda is a controversial blonde known for stirring the digital pot. She's pro-Trump and describes herself as a "robot supremacist." She also once hacked Miquela's page, which gained followers for both of them, pushing Miquela past the 1 million mark, a milestone that opens up a lot of doors in influencer world, including lucrative brand deals with prominent designers. 

Now Bermuda and Miquela are friends who hang out, go to lunch, and put makeup on each other— digitally.

View this post on Instagram

💚💚💚 Decided to give Twitter another try. I’m BermudaIsBae there, too. 💚💚💚 In a great mood today and I hope you all are, too. Mwah!

A post shared by Bermuda (@bermudaisbae) on Nov 12, 2018 at 5:27pm PST

Blawko, 135k followers 

Miquela and Bermuda are joined by another Brud-born character, Blawko, whom they both seem smitten with. Just like Miquela and Bermuda, he offers an eerily authentic personality. He plays video games, goes on dates, and doesn't clean his room. As for the bizarre love triangle between him, Miquela, and Bermuda ... Are we supposed to imagine them in compromising positions? Is this a clear representation of CGI flirtation by default? We're not really sure! 

View this post on Instagram

heaux heaux heaux

A post shared by 🅱️LAWKO (@blawko22) on Dec 20, 2018 at 3:34pm PST

Aside from the Brud crowd, there are other CGI influencers out there in the digital space.

Lil Wavi, 12.1k followers

If you squint, Instagram user @lil_wavi might seem like just another Soundcloud rapper-looking hypebeast, dressed in the latest streetwear and spattered with tattoos. Upon further inspection, you'll see he's a digitally-rendered avatar in human clothing. His graphics give off an edgy early-2000s Sims vibe. Since he "lives in a computer," he can get his hands on expensive pieces of designer clothing that he describes as "the drip" and cites as his main draw. "I’m all about innovation, encouraging creativity, pushing minds to think out of the shitty boundaries," he — or, rather, the unidentified human speaking for him — told Mashable over email. "I want my fans to be influenced in that way. It’s important to me that I am sending positive vibes out to them all." 

View this post on Instagram

Flameboyyyy 🛸🏴‍☠️ yuhhh my $$ fly 💸💸💸 y’all ready for merch?

A post shared by 🛸LIL WAVI🛸 (@lil_wavi) on Jan 28, 2019 at 10:05am PST

Noonoouri, 279k followers

Brand deals and fashion show appearances abound for this influencer. It's unclear how a digital avatar can attend IRL events, but a quick scroll of her page will show her doing just that. Noonoouri takes her role as influencer very seriously. When Vogue Australia asked about her favorite beauty products, she answered, "I love KKW Beauty contour and highlight — they truly work!" Since she's done ads — on YouTube and on Instagram — for KKW Beauty before, it's no surprise that she would plug the products. What's surprising is that a digital persona who looks straight out of a Pixar short is using makeup and getting paid for it. 

Joerg Zuber, Noonoouri's creator, spent several years making her before debuting the influencer on Instagram. A visit to her page suggests she was recently in Africa for a number of fashion-related appearances. And she's from Paris, France, according to her Instagram bio. "I am who I am. If I can help or support others I am very happy. I believe in swarm intelligence. In times like these we need to share and not to hold back," she told Mashable via email. 

"I have a real soul," says Noonoouri.

Image: Joerg zuber

Shudu, 172k followers

Self-identified as "The World's First Digital Supermodel," Shudu was created by beauty photographer Cameron James Wilson as an art project. She blew up when her image was featured on Rihanna's Fenty Beauty Instagram page. In the photo, she's modeling one of the buzzy beauty line's lip products and smizing for the ... computer? Though she's more model than influencer, her likeness is used to sell, too. Shudu doesn't have a personality, per se, but it's because Wilson hasn't come across a human that could do her justice — yet: "Only someone similar to Shudu would be appropriate to tell her story, and really shape who she is as ‘person,’" he mused to Mashable via email. He supports the movement to create more digital supermodels like Shudu: "It doesn’t matter who you are, if you study art and learn how to use 3D programs, you too can be a 6ft tall virtual runway model!" 

View this post on Instagram

Shudu @thesavoylondon trying on beautiful #EEBAFTAs outfits, complete with @atelierswarovski earrings. 6 days to go till she shares #redcarpet looks with you all. . @ee @BAFTA . . #3D #3Dart #digitalsupermodel #worldsfirstdigitalsupermodel #virtualinfluencer #BTS

A post shared by Shudu (@shudu.gram) on Feb 4, 2019 at 11:07am PST

Barbie, 6.2 million subscribers

Here's a familiar face. The uber-popular icon that is Barbie has a digital counterpart, and she's a vlogger. Her first video, in which she introduces herself, went up in 2015. In it, she talks about being from Wisconsin (who knew?) and having a sister. "I've always just been curious about things," she shares earnestly, her huge animated eyes blinking like those of a human YouTuber. Since then, she's uploaded over 75 vlogs, most of which include her sister Skipper and boyfriend Ken, to the YouTube channel owned and operated by Mattel. Barbie is the OG influencer — she's known for doing a million different jobs and having fun while doing them. Why reinvent the wheel?

Balenciaga's digi-models 

While you can't follow these influencers, they're worth mentioning. To show off their Spring 2019 collection on Instagram, Spanish fashion house Balenciaga utilized shape-shifting digital models made by artist Yilmaz Sen. In a series of short video clips on Instagram, the digital models sparked questions about the future of technology in fashion.  With cool haircuts and names like Elsa and Ruben, everything about them screams high fashion. However, unlike human models that walk down runways, these models stand in place and distort themselves like they're made of rubber. Because all haute couture should be shown on computer-generated contortionist models! 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Balenciaga (@balenciaga) on Nov 14, 2018 at 1:53am PST

What's next, then?

Tapping around on these digi-fluencer's pages provides an exciting, if not unsettling, look at the future of technology and the part it may play in pop culture. Some question the validity, appeal, and purpose of these bots. Perhaps it's performance art. Or maybe it's all just an elaborate stunt to leverage consumer action? YouTuber Shane Dawson has a popular video dedicated to uncovering the identity of Lil Miquela. He even calls her on the phone — only to be met with a clearly auto-tuned voice who's careful not to give anything away, or falter at all. 

Liz Bacelar, a tech expert, mused to Forbes that we could potentially find ourselves living in a world in which we all have a digital avatar. And with facial recognition being insidiously installed in mundane places (like gas stations) in order to advertise, secure, and identify us, this may be sooner than we think. Just imagine, we'll be in self-driving cars, scrolling by digitized avatars trying to make us use their discount codes. Or perhaps we'll allow our digitized selves to live for us, like we've seen in futuristic movies like Ready Player One and Wall-E. 

Think of your new CGI friends as the pixelated pioneers of a new, formulated frontier. Who knows? Maybe our human selves could be rendered virtually useless. For now, though, we can just keep an eye on Instagram.

WATCH: Dunkin' and Saucony release running shoe ahead of Boston Marathon

[nancygduarteus]

Against the Travel Neck Pillow

Is there a pillow as useless as the U-shaped travel neck pillow? There is not. This half-ovate, toilet seat cover-esque object reigns as King of Travel Accessories, while failing miserably at its intended sole use. It is a scourge for reasons that I will outline in this essay and of which, by the end, I will convince you without question.

This past summer, I had occasion to travel by plane with such a pillow—memory foam in a pleasant maroon—and did so thoughtlessly, stuffing it into my carry-on as if it were my passport, or a book to ignore while watching, God willing, episodes of Sex and the City on the tiny television. When it came time to attempt sleep I, like many of my fellow passengers, dutifully placed the U-shaped pillow on my shoulders. As my neck protruded an uncomfortable distance from the seat back, I let my head fall to my left. No good. I let my head fall to my right. No good. I scrunched the pillow up, so it was more like a tiny, oddly-shaped normal pillow, but the damn thing kept bouncing back to U-shape, which, by design, has a hole in it, so that was definitely no good.

This damn pillow was no good.

It might come as a shock to you to hear someone speak the truth about U-shaped neck pillows so plainly, as this sort of pillow has been allowed to exist unchecked since it was patented in 1929. I understand and will allow you a moment to compose yourself. Have you taken it? Okay. The U-shaped neck pillow is an unsupportive abomination; a pernicious, deceitful, recklessly ubiquitous travel trinket lulling the masses not to sleep but to a zombielike restlessness for which they have been trained to blame themselves, i.e., “I can’t sleep on airplanes.” The U-shaped travel neck pillow is a useless trash pillow for nobody.

But not everyone agrees. “I bought this pillow for the long-weekend holiday trip. The memory foam is the perfect firmness, and it is so soft and comfortable,” says someone named Ivan in an Amazon review of a neck pillow similar to that which failed me on my recent flight. Okay, Ivan. Someone named Allen says, “I use this in the car. I fall asleep very easy. This keeps my neck comfortable and I don't wake up with neck pain.” Okay, Allen. Someone named Cass says, “I returned it as it had a horrible chemical smell, plus whatever was inside was a solid piece. I wanted something that had little pellets.” Well. This one seems like more of a “Cass” issue, actually.

Brad John, the cofounder of Flight 001, a popular chain of travel stores about which Martha Stewart has allegedly commented, “I love this store, it looks like an airplane,” told me the U-shaped travel pillow sells very well, even though there hasn’t been much innovation in the market. “They’re basically the same as they’ve always been. We sell the heated ones, the inflatable ones, the foam ones.” The main advancement, he said, and the top seller at the moment, is a convertible travel pillow “which you can either make into a regular pillow or a U-neck.” Very interesting that the top-selling U-shaped neck pillow is one that has the ability to function as a normal, non-U-shaped neck pillow.

Brad John himself uses a normal pillow on flights. “I just don’t find the neck pillow comfortable,” he said, “but that’s just personal preference.”

Everyone I spoke with agreed that the U-shaped neck pillow stinks, notably my friend Megan Reynolds who said, “We have one in the house but the boy cat uses it for sex.” My friend Lindsay Robertson, to whom I was referred explicitly because she regularly uses a U-shaped neck pillow on flights, proved to secretly be a member of the U-shaped-neck-pillow resistance: “I never actually use it as a neck pillow, because I can't sleep that way—I'm not sure anyone can,” she told me. Instead, she puts her neck pillow on the tray table in front of her, takes off her glasses, puts her hands in her lap, and “[lets her] face fall completely forward into the pillow, as if [she has] expired.”

What accounts for why some derive comfort from the U-shaped neck pillow—(liars)—and some do not? I asked Mary O’Connor, who is a professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation and the director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Care at Yale. “I’m unaware that there is any clinical data that shows they’re effective in reducing neck strain or neck discomfort,” she said, “However, many of us who travel have experienced falling asleep with our neck in a weird position and it bothering us thereafter. So, I think they can be helpful, but that depends on how they’re used and whether they support the neck.”

The ideal pillow, she said, would keep your head and neck in neutral alignment with your spine, so you’re not too far forward, or backward, or too far to one side or the other. “But how do you know, when you’re in the airport, that the pillow you’re going to purchase is going to give you the right support?” O’Connor asks. “The pillows are all the same. Some people have short necks, some people have long necks, and there’s no ability to look and say, ‘I need this design or this size pillow for my neck, to really work well for me.’ And that’s part of the challenge. Could one of those pillows help someone? Yes, they could. Will they help everyone? Probably not.”

I attempted to find research pointing to the uselessness or usefulness of the dreaded U-shaped neck pillow, and came up empty-handed. However I did find a study titled “The Use of Neck-Support Pillows and Postural Exercises in the Management of Chronic Neck Pain,” which was published in The Journal of Rheumatology in 2016 and dealt with the positive effects of bed-specific neck-support pillows for people with chronic neck pain. I spoke to the study’s coauthor Brian Feldman, a senior scientist and head of the Division of Rheumatology at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, who made sure I understood that his study was not, actually, about the U-shaped travel pillows people use on planes. I understand. I thought he might be able to offer some insight, anyway.

In, he stressed, his own opinion of U-shaped travel pillows, he said, “I can’t stand them. I never use them. They’re not built strongly enough or firm enough. There are all kinds of new gizmos that people have been developing for pillows for sleep in transportation, and they tend to be more like straps that hold your head in place, or boxlike structures that you can sit forward and place your head in, or neck collars, which give you much more support around your neck. Those kinds of things are probably all much better than the typical U-shaped pillow.”

Keeping your neck in a nice physiological position while sleeping is a wonderful thing to do, he said, but the issue with U-shaped pillows is that they aren’t built to be firm enough or high enough to help most people, plus they don’t circle around the neck properly. “They just don’t do the job they’re supposed to do,” Feldman says. In order to work, he thinks they’d have to look more like the kind of rigid neck collar you see on someone who has recently injured their neck, one “that presses up into the head and keeps the chin up and supported so the head doesn’t flop over in any way once you’ve fallen asleep” while sitting up.

Also, don’t they look like the the first-ever stone pillow used by Mesopotamians in 7,000 BC? Seems like we should not still be using a pillow that looks like the first-ever stone pillow used by Mesopotamians in 7,000 BC, but that’s just my opinion.

If I could leave you with one piece of advice, it would be: Take a hard look at whether or not your U-shaped travel pillow is worth toting on your next flight. Are you stuffing it into your carry-on out of usefulness, or out of habit? Is it taking up precious storage space because it will help you sleep, or because you thought you should buy it even though there you’ve encountered no evidence, either personal or scientific, to suggest that this thought is correct? Are you wrong, or do you agree with me? Ask yourself these questions, and then leave the U-shaped pillow behind.

(Unless you’re a boy cat and you’d like to use it for sex.)

from Health News And Updates https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/10/against-the-u-shaped-travel-neck-pillow/542472/?utm_source=feed

[ionecoffman]

Against the Travel Neck Pillow

Is there a pillow as useless as the U-shaped travel neck pillow? There is not. This half-ovate, toilet seat cover-esque object reigns as King of Travel Accessories, while failing miserably at its intended sole use. It is a scourge for reasons that I will outline in this essay and of which, by the end, I will convince you without question.

This past summer, I had occasion to travel by plane with such a pillow—memory foam in a pleasant maroon—and did so thoughtlessly, stuffing it into my carry-on as if it were my passport, or a book to ignore while watching, God willing, episodes of Sex and the City on the tiny television. When it came time to attempt sleep I, like many of my fellow passengers, dutifully placed the U-shaped pillow on my shoulders. As my neck protruded an uncomfortable distance from the seat back, I let my head fall to my left. No good. I let my head fall to my right. No good. I scrunched the pillow up, so it was more like a tiny, oddly-shaped normal pillow, but the damn thing kept bouncing back to U-shape, which, by design, has a hole in it, so that was definitely no good.

This damn pillow was no good.

It might come as a shock to you to hear someone speak the truth about U-shaped neck pillows so plainly, as this sort of pillow has been allowed to exist unchecked since it was patented in 1929. I understand and will allow you a moment to compose yourself. Have you taken it? Okay. The U-shaped neck pillow is an unsupportive abomination; a pernicious, deceitful, recklessly ubiquitous travel trinket lulling the masses not to sleep but to a zombielike restlessness for which they have been trained to blame themselves, i.e., “I can’t sleep on airplanes.” The U-shaped travel neck pillow is a useless trash pillow for nobody.

But not everyone agrees. “I bought this pillow for the long-weekend holiday trip. The memory foam is the perfect firmness, and it is so soft and comfortable,” says someone named Ivan in an Amazon review of a neck pillow similar to that which failed me on my recent flight. Okay, Ivan. Someone named Allen says, “I use this in the car. I fall asleep very easy. This keeps my neck comfortable and I don't wake up with neck pain.” Okay, Allen. Someone named Cass says, “I returned it as it had a horrible chemical smell, plus whatever was inside was a solid piece. I wanted something that had little pellets.” Well. This one seems like more of a “Cass” issue, actually.

Brad John, the cofounder of Flight 001, a popular chain of travel stores about which Martha Stewart has allegedly commented, “I love this store, it looks like an airplane,” told me the U-shaped travel pillow sells very well, even though there hasn’t been much innovation in the market. “They’re basically the same as they’ve always been. We sell the heated ones, the inflatable ones, the foam ones.” The main advancement, he said, and the top seller at the moment, is a convertible travel pillow “which you can either make into a regular pillow or a U-neck.” Very interesting that the top-selling U-shaped neck pillow is one that has the ability to function as a normal, non-U-shaped neck pillow.

Brad John himself uses a normal pillow on flights. “I just don’t find the neck pillow comfortable,” he said, “but that’s just personal preference.”

Everyone I spoke with agreed that the U-shaped neck pillow stinks, notably my friend Megan Reynolds who said, “We have one in the house but the boy cat uses it for sex.” My friend Lindsay Robertson, to whom I was referred explicitly because she regularly uses a U-shaped neck pillow on flights, proved to secretly be a member of the U-shaped-neck-pillow resistance: “I never actually use it as a neck pillow, because I can't sleep that way—I'm not sure anyone can,” she told me. Instead, she puts her neck pillow on the tray table in front of her, takes off her glasses, puts her hands in her lap, and “[lets her] face fall completely forward into the pillow, as if [she has] expired.”

What accounts for why some derive comfort from the U-shaped neck pillow—(liars)—and some do not? I asked Mary O’Connor, who is a professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation and the director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Care at Yale. “I’m unaware that there is any clinical data that shows they’re effective in reducing neck strain or neck discomfort,” she said, “However, many of us who travel have experienced falling asleep with our neck in a weird position and it bothering us thereafter. So, I think they can be helpful, but that depends on how they’re used and whether they support the neck.”

The ideal pillow, she said, would keep your head and neck in neutral alignment with your spine, so you’re not too far forward, or backward, or too far to one side or the other. “But how do you know, when you’re in the airport, that the pillow you’re going to purchase is going to give you the right support?” O’Connor asks. “The pillows are all the same. Some people have short necks, some people have long necks, and there’s no ability to look and say, ‘I need this design or this size pillow for my neck, to really work well for me.’ And that’s part of the challenge. Could one of those pillows help someone? Yes, they could. Will they help everyone? Probably not.”

I attempted to find research pointing to the uselessness or usefulness of the dreaded U-shaped neck pillow, and came up empty-handed. However I did find a study titled “The Use of Neck-Support Pillows and Postural Exercises in the Management of Chronic Neck Pain,” which was published in The Journal of Rheumatology in 2016 and dealt with the positive effects of bed-specific neck-support pillows for people with chronic neck pain. I spoke to the study’s coauthor Brian Feldman, a senior scientist and head of the Division of Rheumatology at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, who made sure I understood that his study was not, actually, about the U-shaped travel pillows people use on planes. I understand. I thought he might be able to offer some insight, anyway.

In, he stressed, his own opinion of U-shaped travel pillows, he said, “I can’t stand them. I never use them. They’re not built strongly enough or firm enough. There are all kinds of new gizmos that people have been developing for pillows for sleep in transportation, and they tend to be more like straps that hold your head in place, or boxlike structures that you can sit forward and place your head in, or neck collars, which give you much more support around your neck. Those kinds of things are probably all much better than the typical U-shaped pillow.”

Keeping your neck in a nice physiological position while sleeping is a wonderful thing to do, he said, but the issue with U-shaped pillows is that they aren’t built to be firm enough or high enough to help most people, plus they don’t circle around the neck properly. “They just don’t do the job they’re supposed to do,” Feldman says. In order to work, he thinks they’d have to look more like the kind of rigid neck collar you see on someone who has recently injured their neck, one “that presses up into the head and keeps the chin up and supported so the head doesn’t flop over in any way once you’ve fallen asleep” while sitting up.

Also, don’t they look like the the first-ever stone pillow used by Mesopotamians in 7,000 BC? Seems like we should not still be using a pillow that looks like the first-ever stone pillow used by Mesopotamians in 7,000 BC, but that’s just my opinion.

If I could leave you with one piece of advice, it would be: Take a hard look at whether or not your U-shaped travel pillow is worth toting on your next flight. Are you stuffing it into your carry-on out of usefulness, or out of habit? Is it taking up precious storage space because it will help you sleep, or because you thought you should buy it even though there you’ve encountered no evidence, either personal or scientific, to suggest that this thought is correct? Are you wrong, or do you agree with me? Ask yourself these questions, and then leave the U-shaped pillow behind.

(Unless you’re a boy cat and you’d like to use it for sex.)

Article source here:The Atlantic