#and ive been trying to build a website for 4 days now

[stark-alchemy]

There is nothing stopping me from being super gay and feral at all times...

except my ADHD.

#guys its 5 am #im awake #and ive been trying to build a website for 4 days now #ive also been trying to prep comms and make stuff to sell on my site #also make cute chibis #im in a hell of my own making #i cant figure out whats up #OH! and my stream anniversary is in july #shit #help

[impishcupid]

The newest IOS update is a HUGE win for the disabled community

this is gonna be like 90% infodumping, but I LOVE all the new accessibility features! IOS 17 is projected to be released at sometime in September, but I wanna get my grubby hands on it NOW

The General Stuff

They’re updating the phone app and messages, allowing fun banners to be added to contacts when they’re calling you! As well adding better search filters to messages, and a heap of other stuff! Check out this link for the full update notes and details

2. Live Voicemail

Apple is taking it back to the days of answering machines, now as people leave voicemails it will show a transcript on the caller interface, allowing you to pick up the phone mid-voicemail and accept the call! Perfect for users with social anxiety bunking new numbers!

3. Check In

Users will be able to set a list of contacts, as well as a location, and when they hit the location it will send a mass alert to everyone in the set list, detailing where you are, what time it is, and you can choose for it to even say your battery level! Of course this is useful even for able people, but as someone who faints and sometimes forgets to send check ins to my mom, I’m so excited for this!!

4. Audio Message Transcriptions

HUGE win for the deaf and HOH community!!! Now, voice messages will include a transcript directly underneath that will try its best to provide subtitles! The first of many wins for the deaf community!

5. Hand Gestures

There’s a bunch of new stuff for facetime, but this one is my favorite. You’ll be able to set on-screen reactions (the example they used was confetti) when your hands preform a certain action, which i’m 99% sure will have to be configured by the user. If that’s the case, those who use sign language will be able to create reactions to specific signs! I can’t wait to set mine to rain confetti when signing congratulations, or hearts when signing Love! Of course it’s available to both abled and disabled people, but the possibilities!!

6. Airdrop

WOW they added so much to airdrop! This feature alone may be what pushes me to get my mom an iPhone. In the new update, you’ll be able to share information by simply tapping your iphones together (Ive been calling it applepaying data)

You can tap a new friends phone to send them your contact, and fancy banner (mentioned above)! You can also now just tap phones together to share general data, like multiple photos from your camera roll or a link!

This is all done with end-to-end encryption, which makes it a bitch and a half for anyone malicious to try to decrypt

7. Journal

OKAY APPLE I SEE YOU! Journal is like the love child of the health app and siri suggestions- it uses machine learning to pinpoint what your average routine is; your jogging route, your work playlist, even your favorite reaction meme can be turned into suggestions to add to your entry in the journal app!

The idea is to help build routine- which myself as an autistic have so many issues trying to do- and promote better mental health. They’re doubling down in their health app update, but that’s coming up!

The best part of the journaling app, is that it’s TRULY private. Once you’ve set your password, not even apple can see the data you’ve stored. This data is not sold to anyone, because they can’t even read it.

8. Airpods

for the full tech jargon explanation, look at the apple website!

Airpods will now be adapting to different noise levels! If you’re wearing your airpods in a crowd, it will kick in with noise-cancelling (as best a small earbud can)! However if someone starts talking to you while noise cancelling is active, airpods will evaluate the best mix of noise-cancelling and media volume to ensure you can hear the person talking!

9. Maps

i’m unsure how this one may help the disabled community, but I figure it’s an honorable mention! Maps will now let you download a specific area TOTK style, and allow that map/route to be used offline! Perfect for hiking trails or roadtrips with dead zones! As well, Maps will now alert users where charging stations may be along their route!

10. THE GRAND SLAM BABY (Visual Lookup)

PEOPLE WITH VISION LOSS SUFFER NO MORE!

It’s unsure if this will be used with live camera, or if you have to take a photo of the Thing, but when IOS 14 drops they’re introducing Visual Lookup! This feature will read out any text selected (perfect for signs or small text), as well you can look up specific items in the photo! Plant enthusiasts can identify the plant in a youtube video, fungi fun-guys can look up if this mushroom will kill you or just make you see God! I’m excited to use this feature with my mom, who sometimes has difficulty reading small text but can get embarrassed when it’s read to her!

11. Sensitive content

Yes! Your very own Iphone blacklist! It’ll scan all incoming data for your set Sensitive content, and much like Tumblr will pop up a “are you sure?” window!

12. The Health App

Finally, the one that will help everyone everywhere. Health will now let you choose your current mood, your daily mood, and general mental state. The best part of this, is Apple will be adding legitimate mental health assessments into the app (taken at your convenience), making it the closest to a real diagnosis without a doctor! You’ll be able to save a PDF of your results to share with your care team/doctor!

As well, if you’re in crisis, apple will now send you articles and resources regarding your crisis!

And the cherry on top of this update, is med reminders! Apple will ping your phone, your watch, anything to tell you it’s medication time! You can log several medications with several times to take them!

that’s all folks!

In conclusion, despite apples cash grab approach and complete monopoly over the tech industry, these features will be life changing to some disabled iphone carriers! I know i’m over the moon for some of them, and I’m already babbling to everyone with apple about them!

#apple #ios 17 #update explained #tech

[dyingclown]

TW ED AND SH, NOT CURRENT BUT REMINISCING

seventh grade was actually crazy because who told 12 year old me that it was normal and healthy to be browsing eating disorder twitter every single day 😭😭😭

it started as only self harm twitter because idk obvious reasons but theres so much overlap that i was just drawn in

its actually so inconvenient because now when i look through my camera roll from that time period im randomly jumpscared by a series of images of starving girls and people with sh wounds going through to their bones 😭😭😭

like come on. im trying to look back at a DIFFERENT trauma (shiloh)

thats the real reason i got permabanned from twitter LMFOAOSOALA

thats lowkey how i got out of that mindset because i wasnt in a constant echo chamber of calories and numbers and bullshit

i still think it like fundamentally altered me as a person though 💀💀💀

at least it wasnt as bad as my eighth grade eating disorder situation

since i was banned on twitter i used a different forum website which was much much worse

like ive been trying to be more healthy recently and i catch myself thinking "well it was so easy in december 2022..." NO ALLISTER. NO. BAD. EATING 300 CALORIES A DAY IS NOT THE WAY TO BE HEALTHY. HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO BUILD MUSCLE UNDER THESE CONDITIONS.

its also why im SO fucking weak now

sorry chat i starved away all my muscle and now i am not good for anything!!!

it was crazy how rapidly i lost strength

it was interesting because that was around the time i came up with the idea for my book so that was my little escapism

i just imagined charlie and built up his lore to distract myself from the constant empty aching of my stomach 💀💀💀

it was also sad though because at the time i was like "wow! starving myself is so Good For My Mental Health! because now, i dont think about my old groomer constantly! because im too focused on being so impossibly fucking hungry to even think straight!"

i like was scared of eating normally again because i didnt want to have to think again

GIVE ME ALL YOUR LSD SO I CAN FEEL MY MIND UNWEAVE AGAIN

THEY SAY THE BEAUTYS JUST SKIN DEEP SAY ANA STANDS AND RENDS THE RANCID MEET FROM HER BONES BONES BONES LET ME SEE YOUR BONES

I DONT WANNA KNOW IF THE FEELING FOLLOWS HOME

BONES BONES BONES

HELL WE'RE ALL ALONE

IF I COME HOME BABY WILL YOU SHOW YOUR BONES

there needs to be a study done on the effects of that song on mentally ill children 😭😭😭 its so good but i cant listen to it without war flashbacks.

god i was out of my fucking mind

i remember frantically googling the amount of calories in a ramen flavor packet because i was so hungry that i literally just ate the powder 💀💀💀 i came to the conclusion of 30 calories! but i dont think that was accurate LMAO

i used to like dirty up plates and stuff to make it look like i ate

and wake up early while nobody was home to sneak into my dads room and use his scale

i remember when i tried to purge like 1/4 of a sandwich 😭😭😭 ALLISTER YOU HAVE EMETOPHOBIA WHAT ARE YOU DOING

local faggot transcends boundaries of emetophobia to get rid of a nominal amount of calories because hes fucking delusional!

gtg do a dbq now more later maybe BYEEEE BOOP

#tw ed #tw sh

[pbandjesse]

I have been exhausted all day. But for whatever reason I got a burst of energy like 2 hours ago and Ive been cleaning in the studio since then. I am trying really hard to get rid of some stuff. And I am excited that I have an entire box of things to donate now. Very proud of myself. 

But today was weird. I slept okay but I had some really intense dreams. I woke up around 930 and was alright but also. Not. I was just not great all day. 

I got washed and dressed and had a bagel. I got right to work on my styling. Spent about 2 hours doing that. James would get home while I was doing that work. It is an interesting job for the most part. The big issue is really the amount of options for specific things. Specifically vegan and larger sizes. Like one of the people I was styling today only had 13 options total! And they didnt want yellow or red so that took like 4 of those away. So its a challenge but I hope I did a good job and they are happy. 

Once I was done that I took my sleepy self to the couch to sit with James. They would eventually make us lunch. And I enjoyed my little flat bread pizza a lot. But I was just kind of feeling weird about food all day. So that was hard. I was like searching for the food that would wake me up but I never found it. 

I did not nap. But I did lay in the studio. Watched videos. Dad called and we made a plan about getting a good deal on the car. We went through the build on the website together so he could see what we wanted and stuff. So that was fun. And he helped me and James figure out who we needed to email. Very helpful. And I am excited that I have some direction at least now. 

I spent a lot of time just laying around today though. James would go for a bike ride and I would play video games. And then when James got home and was making us dinner we saw that there was a jazz concert in the park so we got to enjoy the music from our place. I hung out on the fire escape a little and watched them play music and it was just really beautiful. 

Around 730 I jumped into organizing and getting rid of. There wasnt a lot I wanted to get rid of in the living room. But I did a lot in the studio. GIt rud of just some clutter but also went through some of the boxes of stuff I have on the shelves. I also took all the recycling Ive been saving for camp out of the closet and once James was done talking on the phone with their friend, they would join me in organzing and putting all of the camp stuff in our wagon, while I sorted the closet a bit more. Which has so much extra space now and I am really pleased. 

It feels good in here. I still want to keep working on getting rid of, but progress has been made! 

I was surprised by how late it got. So now I am ready to take a shower and get in bed. I hope tomorrow is nice. And I get a lot done. Sleep well everyone! Goodnight! 

[rarebritney]

how do you listen to music usually?? you seem like a rly thoughtful and insightful "connisuer" (wow ok cant spell it..) of music! do you set time aside to like go through new music or do you just like do chores and have a playlist on and discocer new music that way? ive never been good with this. maybe ill hear a song in a movie and look it up but i've very rarely taken the time to go through an artist!!! im still listening to the abba 4 cd collection that i got as a child, thats the state of it

Thank you! I love music and I’ve always listened to lots of different genres. In the early 2000s, my dad used a website called emusic (which still exists) that allowed 100 mp3 downloads for $20 a month. the website works much differently now, but back then my dad used emusic to build upon an mp3 library which largely originated from his disc collection. I always listened to my dad’s discs as a kid on a walkman, but eventually he bought an ipod which I used to explore his vast collection of music during car trips.. he often downloaded things based on indie music charts and the recommendations of others, and a lot of the music I don’t think he himself has ever listened to. when i was older i had my own mp3 players which i synced to his computer, building my own mini collection of whatever he had that i liked! this is how I learned what I liked, and these days you have even better access to music through streaming services than I did.

i strongly believe that now is the best time ever to be a music fan. my taste has changed a lot throughout the years, but the way I listen/discover is the same.. i just let myself fall down genre rabbit holes. i always check out suggested “related artists” when I find things I love and try to stay omnivorous regarding genres. If you like ABBA, start there... have you listened to any other disco groups? what about motown? do you like girl groups from the 1960s? keep an open mind and if you’re easily bored, definitely put on new music while exercising or cleaning. sorry for the long answer but idk how else to answer this!

[naukaricareerpost-blog]

Career In Teaching- Teaching Career Options, Jobs, Salary, Courses

Career In Teaching

The role of teacher towards a child probably more than the child’s parents. This is because the child won't take the education from the school and get the people who play a big role in making a child’s career.  For taking up teaching as a career, you require a passion for exchanging ideas, whether it is teaching at a school or in a college. While as a school teacher you are to educate delicate minds, in a college environment, the exchanges are at an intellectual level with students who are your friends.

In India, the available opportunities for teachers are in a variety of subjects such as English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, etc. The demand for good teachers is definitely high considering that today’s children are exposed to the internet and the information overflow. Moreover, virtual classroom teaching has been introduced by some schools, which increases the overall opportunities for teachers.

By pursuing a bachelor’s degree in education after or along with your graduation, you would be able to secure a position as a teacher in a good school. Usually, jobs as teachers in government schools are considered prestigious. However, if you are interested in the new methodologies of teaching, you may try for a job in private schools as well.

To start a career as a lecturer in colleges, you may, however, need to take entrance examinations along with completing your Master’s degree and Ph.D.

Step-by-step

The course content of a B.Ed course aims at equipping teachers with the right theoretical, practical, and analytical skills. A typical B.Ed course would include the following topics, overall:

Education Theories 2. Psychology of learning and development 3. Principles and Best Practices of School Management 4. Information Communication Technology and Instructional Systems 5. Electives and evaluating education 6. Subject education 7. Practical examinations 8. Team discussions 9. Live Presentations 10. Interaction with students

Thus, through training teachers on the above-mentioned skills, colleges equip teachers with the skill and knowledge to handle learners. Several colleges also provide placements to students. as well.

Some of the best B.Ed colleges in India include JSS Institute of Education, Bangalore, College of Teacher Education, Agartala; Indira Gandhi B Ed College, Karnataka; A G Teachers College, Ahmedabad; and National Council of Teacher Education, New Delhi. Besides, there are universities such as IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) which have a standard curriculum.

To get admission into these colleges, you will have to successfully appear for entrance exams and interviews.

Start early

As a student, if you are aiming at a career in teaching, you must be aware of the colleges that offer Bachelors in Education courses in the country. Besides this, you must be willing to learn and upgrade your knowledge along with teaching students as well. You may follow these steps and start preparing for a teaching career, after school or during college:

1. Collect information about colleges that offer B.Ed courses. For instance, start from the university in your respective city. If you are in Delhi, look for information on the University of Delhi website. Similarly, search for information on other universities. Come up with four to five choices. Check which are the colleges that ask you to take an entrance exam. Takedown the topics that you would be tested on so that you can prepare for the same. If not, check the minimum score in a twelfth standard that you must have scored. 3. Be updated with information on schools or colleges you may apply to, after completing the course. This is so that you are ready to take the plunge once you are out of college.

Is Teaching the right career for me?

Teaching should be chosen as a career by individuals who love sharing information and knowledge with others. At the same time, there are benefits of this career as working hours are usually not too long. In a day, a teacher takes about 8 to 9 teaching sessions and can be back home for personal chores. This is the reason women usually prefer this career. However, these days, even dedicated men join as teachers. Besides the conventional subjects, Physical Training & Sports, Yoga, and Art and Craft teaching are some preferred areas of teachers.

What would it cost me?

The fee structure for a B.Ed course could be anywhere between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 30,000. Several universities also offer the course at a much lower fee.

Funding/Scholarship

Usually, you may not be required to take a loan for studying B.Ed. However, there are education loans of up to Rs. 7.5 lacs per year from banks such as State Bank of India.

Job prospect

The job prospects for teachers are quite good. Work timings are comfortable and a teacher usually takes classes between 8 AM and  3 PM. For colleges, the lecturers can choose their class timings, which again ends maximum by 4 to 5 PM in popular universities.

The opportunities in significant universities and schools may be low, however, there are several private schools and colleges where an individual may join after completing the education degree.

Pay packet

The pay packet is the best in government-owned schools and colleges. For instance, a teacher in central school teaching primary classes gets a starting pay package of Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 25,000 depending on the class that he or she teaches. The government schools offer perquisites such as quarters and commutation and medical allowances. On the other hand, private schools usually offer a higher package of Rs. 15,000+ depending on the class, education, and experience of the teacher. But this may not include other perquisites.

For teaching in colleges, you will earn about 40,000 and above depending on your education and experience. However, the selection method for a lecturer or professor position is stringent and you may need to clear several entrance exams

Demand and supply

Teachers play a significantly important role in any society as they build the foundation of the country’s future. The recent Right to Education act introduced in India has thrown many opportunities for the education of rural children. Already, India has always been in the dearth of teachers in all subjects. Now, one may expect that the demand will only increase. The supply has been less usually due to lesser salaries. However, the government has taken initiatives to improve the situation.

Market watch

The market is always in need of competent teachers. With the emergence of public and private schools everywhere and the rise of private institutes and universities, the need for professors and lecturers is on an all-time high.

Consider for instance universities such as Amity University, Birla group of institutions, IMT Ghaziabad, and various other private MBA colleges across the country that require competent professionals in the teaching field.

Schools are now introducing virtual learning classrooms and computers are already taught as an important subject from class V and above in most schools. In such a situation, even IT professionals can look forward to take up teaching as a career.

Besides, institutes such as NIIT, Aptech, CSC, CMC, et al have opened up opportunities for trainers in the programming field as well. Several postgraduate students work part-time in these institutes to make extra money!

International focus

Teaching is not just verbal and face-to-face. It has developed into E-learning modules and online web teaching strategies as well. In this context, the opportunities have increased manifold. For instance, if somebody is a retired teacher with 20-25 years of experience, they could look for online jobs and start providing tuitions online. In India, it is quite possible that rural children would be trained this way on different subjects.

In other countries such as the UK and the US, the system is entirely different. However, teaching opportunities are plenty and the profession is one of the most respected ones.

Positives/Negatives

+ives:

Teaching offers an individual the opportunity to exchange ideas and knowledge Teaching is an enjoyable experience especially if the classroom is a bubbly lot with proactive students and learners. There are fewer chances of getting bored in the profession. • Teaching is considered a very respected profession in all countries. The time schedules are convenient for an individual.

-ives:

Teaching is considered a low paying job when compared with other corporate jobs. • Pay packages of teachers are very low in a few schools and colleges and very high in several others. As a result, the standard of education gets badly affected. • Syllabus rather than the subject of interest in India binds teachers. As a result, the practical methodologies of teaching difficult subjects such as Maths are ignored. When these subjects are taught theoretically, the students may not grasp the subject very easily.

Different roles, different names

Teachers are called Learning and Development professionals, coaches, or mentors within the organization. Counselors who have completed their psychology courses also teach a lot of important things to others about life and personal management skills. Thus, while the same person is called by different names, the role played is more or less the same. The responsibility is to educate others and enhance their development, technically and personally.

Top Companies

List of Some Top Schools and Colleges Hiring Academicians in India

Central Schools, also known as Kendriya Vidyalaya with CBSE syllabus • State Government/Municipality Schools • Public and Private schools in your area under various state boards such as ICSE et al. • Universities approved by UGC (University Grants Commission) • Technical Universities approved by AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education)

Tips for getting hired

When you appear for an interview for the job of a teacher, be prepared on the following counts:

Prepare some points on why you like teaching and what is the significance of this profession in today’s India. State the points in the form of your interest for the subject, profession, and teacher and student life in general. 2. As teaching is considered a noble profession, do not lay stress on getting more money, especially if you are applying for a government school or college. 3. Research about the institution that you are applying to, well before the interview. 4. If the school or university is a private one, you can emphasize that you have wide exposure to people management skills and you keep upgrading your skills with the help of magazines and the internet. This is because private institutions desire more global exposure as compared to government institutions. 5. List some learning theories of interest and state them as examples during the interview. 6. You may carry information about any awards or certificates that you had won as a student or during your previous employment.

#careerinteachhing #teaching #teachercareer #teachingjobs #career #teacher #indianteacher

[kalebuchanan]

Studio V: Koha - Reflection on Action

I realise the importance this semester of showing the documentation of my project, Koha and the de-emphasis of the open studio artifact. For ease of access for the tutors as well myself and others interested in re visiting Koha in the future I thought it was best to re structure my individual documentation and my individual reflection into a blog post. What I have written below is mainly a reflection on my blog posts which I wrote throughout the semester, and I encourage you to read all of the linked post as well as this reflection to gain a full picture of my journey throughout Studio V.

Week 1:

Week 1 Blog Post: Studio V - Initial Ideas

https://kalebuchanan.tumblr.com/post/183201418611/studio-v-initial-ideas

In the first week of studio I didn’t begin working on Koha. I had thought of the idea in 2018 and originally planned on working on it for Studio IV. However, I went overseas on an exchange and never completed Studio IV so the idea was shelved. 

I knew that if I worked on Koha it would have to be by myself and after not having been in BCT since mid 2018 I thought it was safest to work with a group. After some talking to different people around studio I found I was interested in the studio idea that Sam Vea had. The first iteration of his idea was to create an app where potential tenants can rate landlords to help others find a house to rent which will be warm, safe and well maintained. At the time I said - 

“I’m interested in developing this idea further as such a service does not currently exist in New Zealand and I would want to use something like this myself.

This is mainly because in the first half of last year before I disappeared to Europe I was living in a flat which was not kept in good condition and hadn’t been inspected by the landlord for years, or even the property manager who was meant to oversee it. As a result there were vines growing through the windows, it was moldy damp and my bedroom had water come in every time it rained. Rats lived in the cupboards and I was constantly sick whilst I lived there. The house was bad, but with care from the landlord it could have and would have been a nice place to live”.

I connected to the idea personally and I thought that I could both have a good contribution to the idea and push myself to become closer to employment at the end of BCT. 

Week 2:

Week 2 Blog Post: Team Dynamics

https://kalebuchanan.tumblr.com/post/183254798456/team-dynamics

In the second week of studio I had formed a team with Hiren Patel, Sam Vea, Stephen Solis and Osamu Tajima. We’d created a base concept for the idea that Sam had thought of and it was named Slum Lords (now Renters). 

The service was for prospective tenants to use to see if the landlord or property manager in charge of their prospective house creates a positive environment and does a good service for them in their time there. 

At the time I said - 

“Our idea is promising and I hope we can expand on it further throughout the semester. I believe the group dynamic will work quite well as this semester I’ve expanded outside of my core group of friends to work with people based on their skill set. I hope that throughout the year I can think on a more professional level to ready myself for the workplace at the end of the year”.

I knew it was important to expand from the same group of people I had always worked with in BCT, despite these people having great skill sets. I knew there was many different skills throughout BCT and choosing a group outside of my friend group was a great decision professionally to improve my skills of working within a group. I explained this as well as how we would all contribute to the project throughout the semester in this blog post and at the time I thought it would be a great project to work on.

Whilst I was dedicating my time to helping with this project, I knew Koha was still in the back of my mind. While I could contribute to the group, all of the necessary skills within the group to complete this project were already there and I knew there was a potential of me riding in the project. I had set plans in place to ensure I would add my share of value to Slum Lords, but at the same time I was re gaining my confidence to perform in BCT as well as I had done in the past and realized my semester away had not set me back as much as I had thought.

Week 3:

Week 3 Blog Post: Team Dynamics

https://kalebuchanan.tumblr.com/post/183553882556/the-new-project

After heavy consideration in the first two weeks of Studio I knew that I needed to either commit to Slum Lords, or I needed to commit to building off my 2018 which I would soon re name from ‘Supply’ to Koha. In the end of this week was the week three pitch to Laurent and Donna and I knew to prove that I would be able to complete the project and to show it to them and my peers it was important to have decided by that day. I quickly created this logo and announced to my group that I would leaving to pursue my own project.

In hindsight, now that I have seen how successfully Renters was implemented without me, and how successful my exploration of developing Koha has gone this semester I am very glad that I chose to work on this project. 

In semester 1 of 2018 in the BCT Entrepreneurship & Innovation class I came up with a concept of an idea I called ‘Supply’. Supply was a “platform connecting, travelers, adventurers and their gear.” From the people I pitched this to in 2018 it was generally well received. As this idea began to further shape and iterate it became Koha. 

Week 4:

Week 4 Blog Post: What is Koha?

https://kalebuchanan.tumblr.com/post/183554263261/what-is-koha

After the week four pitch I listed what I wanted to achieve with Koha, and explained a basic concept of the app. In this post I listed what I wanted to achieve for the semester - 

“Right now I sit in the Initial Concept stage but I’m quickly moving into the Research stage which I then need to be into the Refined Concept and Market Research which then needs to evolve into the Design Prototyping phase.

My goal for the end of the semester is to have the UI/UX design completed, have the final concept completed and have the platform in suitable condition to be developed and launched. Ultimately, I want to do this with the goal of launching the platform creating an active user base. If I can do this, I can make life for backpackers easier in New Zealand, and keep the Earth somewhat less polluted”.

Looking back over the semester I did refine the concept through research, after which I conducted market research. I did this through looking for graphic design inspiration, conducting a comparative analysis to similar apps in the existing market as well as drawing data from my past market research done in 2018.

As shown in my open studio display I also had a completed UI and showed that to the public to receive further feedback on the idea.

Week 5:

Week 5 Blog Post: An in depth look into Koha’s original concept

https://kalebuchanan.tumblr.com/post/183576073946/an-in-depth-look-into-kohas-original-concept

To refine Koha’s concept it was important for me to document and properly reflect on Koha original concept from 2018. In this time it started out as Re-Supply, then evolved to Supply, then evolved to Koha. I wanted to give the service a name which reflected it’s New Zealand roots, and also showed its social side of having the foundation of encouraging people to donate for the good of the environment and not only purely for making money. 

That is how I came to the name ‘Koha’ meaning to gift or donate in Te Reo.

To see Koha explained in the form of a business plan, please see the link above for the concept blog post. 

Week 6:

Week 6 Blog Post: Decent: X Challenge Results

https://kalebuchanan.tumblr.com/post/184546972891/decent-x-challenge-results

I spent much of the time between the fifth week, and the days leading up the mid semester break finalizing the entry for Koha into the first stage of the X Challenge - the idea. 

The X Challenge team said -

Your idea ‘Koha’ has been chosen as one of the top 40 ideas and won $250!

We were blown away by the number and quality of entries and had a really hard time picking our winners so a big congratulations for making the cut.

Now that I have spent the semester exploring Koha, I’ve decided that I don’t want to continue working on it (explained later) but back in week six I said - 

“If I was to take Koha forward it would be essential to spend Studio VI building it as well as taking it through the next stage of the X Challenge. To bulid it I would make a studio team, but I have not decided on this yet.”

I knew from earlier I would have to dedicate the rest of BCT studio to Koha if I wanted it to materialize, but now I have decided it is best to focus on a new idea for Studio VI.   

Week 7:

Week 7 Blog Post: Koha - Market Research

https://kalebuchanan.tumblr.com/post/184677972381/koha-market-research

After the formative assessment where I was asked what research i’d done I realized there was room for a lot more. After receiving that feedback I did further research and explored effective ways to do so.

After my research I’ve come to realise that market research is crucial for the success of Koha and apps and websites in general. I took some advice from an article by (de Vries, 2017) which I have expanded on further in my original post.

One of the recommendations I gained from my research was to look into existing data on the internet rather than trying to make my own. To gain credible data I would have to have much more than the simple be convenience sampling available to me. I would have to use a reasonable statistical method, which would have taken either a lot of time, or a lot of money both of which I didn’t have and wouldn’t have been the best to develop Koha.

Week 8:

Week 8 Blog Post: Koha - Comparative Analysis

https://kalebuchanan.tumblr.com/post/185560708321/koha-comparative-analysis

After initial market research I began to look into how I wanted to prototype Koha. After considering multiple directions I could take I decided that using Adobe XD would be the simplest way to achieve my goals of showing a working prototype in Open Studio. 

Once I began to prototype, my research stage and my prototyping stage began to merge as I changed between the two, with my research building my prototype and concreting the idea that Koha could make a difference, and succeed as a service.

Comparative Analysis:

For an explanation of the analysis, please see the link above.

Weeks 9 - 11:

Week 9 - 11 Blog Posts - Post 1: Creating Koha for Open Studio

https://kalebuchanan.tumblr.com/post/185561129031/creating-koha-for-open-studio

Post 2:  Koha UI Inspiration

https://kalebuchanan.tumblr.com/post/185561303916/koha-ui-inspiration

Post 3:  Koha Inspiration from existing apps

https://kalebuchanan.tumblr.com/post/185561584396/koha-inspiration-from-existing-apps

Between the weeks 9 - 12 I didn’t have a lack of documentation, however it was easiest to combine all of these weeks into one summary as I spent the entire time prototyping, and researching to prototype. Koha was my first time creating the User Interface of an app and crafting the User Experience. I began to create Koha in Adobe XD so I could focus my learning on crafting the design rather than running into coding issues.

Once it was completed in XD it was fully intractable in XD, but the button mechanics were not reliable enough to showcase it through mobile in Open Studio. I’m glad I chose to show it in video format as this created a professional display, whilst also showing that my project was still in progress. At the time I said -

“Because of this my current plan is display the app in the form of a screen recording, on a large screen with a simple display which reflects the simplicity of the Apple interface”.

I created Koha to fit with iOS so I tried to make it fit the Apple aesthetic as much as possible. Even though I’ve decided to put Koha to rest for now, I would also design an Android port and a desktop and mobile website if I was going to launch it. 

As well as taking inspiration from iOS and trying to use its common design features I also built from apps which are similar to Koha. I built its marketplace from my favorite features of Trademe and Facebook Marketplace and built the rental marketplace with a similar feel whilst integrating the best features of AirBnB and Hostelworld. 

I found that whilst it is incredibly important in design to stay original and not copy others ideas, it is often hard to keep that balance with staying within trends and guidelines to give users a familiar experience. I wanted to make Koha as user friendly as possible. This way users wouldn’t have to learn the way I’d re-invented the wheel as a designer and instead get a smooth experience with Koha.

Week 12:

Week 12 Blog Post: Koha - What not to do

https://kalebuchanan.tumblr.com/post/185561790691/koha-what-not-to-do

As open studio grew closer and the XD prototype was completed, I needed to create my display for open studio and decide the best way to show Koha. I found the best way was going to be to show a video as I had considered earlier.

The video is purposely made silent, as it is made to succeed in a loud studio environment where the sounds of many other projects and stacks of people talking will be using the audio space.

Laurent showed me an example of a bad video, and I knew what to shy away from and felt I knew a good design to follow, by trying to keep the same aesthetic I had used throughout Koha. My studio outcome video is linked below and to see the bad example please see the linked blog post above.

Week 13:

Week 13 Blog Post: Koha - Open Studio & Feedback

https://kalebuchanan.tumblr.com/post/185562539076/koha-open-studio-feedback

In Open Studio I kept the display as simple as possible and created a space where it was easy to hold conversation with people interested in Koha. I did this by creating the display shown above, and looking back I see it as successful.

At the time I said - 

“The video I showed totaled to about 4 and a half minutes, and I had it playing on a loop. What I had not thought about at the time and wish I had implemented was actually a way to set the video back to the start! All throughout the night I had interested people approaching the installation and I had no way to go to the start of the app to show it to them”.

This meant I either had to explain to them the video was going to end soon and wait, or simply start explaining what was happening part way through which often left people confused. This took some level of professionalism away from my display but I was still able to share the idea of Koha with people and gain constructive feedback.

My summarized opinion of Open Studio and with Koha is that Koha is a good idea. Koha is grounded, innovative, unique and has potential to grow into an application which can prevent tonnes of rubbish from going into the landfill. 

If I continue Koha, I know that I will spend hundreds, probably thousands of hours working on an app that may only get 10 downloads in the app store. If it does succeed, I know my hours will be fruitful to well below minimum wage. 

Finally I will say, it has been great to explore Koha as an idea throughout the idea and bring it where it is today, it has taught me a lot and the skills I have applied this semester will help me throughout time. However, for now it’s time to lay Koha to rest and change direction in studio.

Week 14:

Week 14 Blog Post: AUT X Challenge - Stage 2 The Accelerator

https://kalebuchanan.tumblr.com/post/185562781566/aut-x-challenge-stage-2-the-accelerator

After Open Studio I began to reflect on my journey for the semester and made the decision to not continue developing Koha. I have a passion for making physical things in BCT and since I don’t have a particular direction of where I want to be after graduating I feel the most intelligent thing to do is do what I’m passionate about and enjoy as that often leads to positive things.

Last week I said -  “I have had high encouragement from the X challenge staff to continue Koha to the second stage of the X-Challenge. I know that this potentially reaps the great reward of $20,000 to put toward the service, as well as learning opportunities unparalleled to those in a classroom. However, if I was to continue Koha I would have to put in many, many unpaid hours for the chance at $20,000. I know that being an entrepreneur is a hard road, but I don’t see profitability out of Koha in the long run which is why I am leaving the idea behind”.

I’m very happy to have chosen Koha as a project this semester and bring it where it is now. However, I’m also glad that I know it is time to move on and know that I’m closer to the idea that will bring me success.

#ctec708

[kosmicdream]

hey!!! i just read to the most recent update of ffak (my favorite webcomic ive ever read tbh) and i kinda wanna try making my own. did you have the whole story planned out before you started or is it an ongoing thing? also how did you make the website for it? thank you for making such a cool comic!

Thank you so much!! And let me try to figure out a way to answer this properly. My process is a bit complicated to explain because it is very organic. Its almost like I am never done writing it, because I am always letting it grow/stretch and explore as I think about ffak every day, and every night before sleeping I’ll try to brainstorm things I havent thought of. So spending that much mental energy on something, you never really get ‘done’ with writing a story. Even when i eventually finish ffak, im sure i will be still working on it (or things I would have wanted to do.)

However!! Before i started working on ffak, when it was just called HELP! i established many things narratively that I stuck to and have not changed about the story. So I think the process of this comic, in a simple way, could have been broken down like this in.. stages?

1) I laid down the basic framework of the world, such as the functions of king worms specifically, the aiguille family, helpers, several characters (some havent even appeared in the comic yet!), king leadman, as well as antony/rome’s narrative arc/dynamic. that way their character arc was already figured out before the comic started and I knew it would be the central ‘root’ of the story. I knew how i wanted Rome to be introduced, and how he would meet canary, not knowing the connection between canary and his brother. I had a rough idea, even from here, how their character arc would come to a point (and basically what sorts of things the story would likely eventually close on) I also knew the general setting was on moons and how the humans got there, and how advanced society was, and what the red lights “really" were and what they meant..i figured out what ‘vein’ was here.. ect.. many worldbuilding things!!!It might sound intimidating, but this process happened very quickly. I basically figured this out in the.. day? before i started working. I have had a lot of experience with roleplaying so i think that helps with me making quick decisions. I knew i had enough to work with that I didn’t feel intimidated to start actually drawing it out-- especially because i had the rome/antony thing already set down. 2) Then when I actually started to work, things started to develop very quickly. I knew basically all i needed to for Hekatons before i got to introduce knife (their origins, history, involvement in present day politics) and before ch6 i also wrote all of the “supporting cast” (at the time) which included dylan, fork/spoon/knife, paper/scissor/rock. So i ws able to write Thumb and Heel, and set up the overall dynamic of what the world was like in the present day. (also Spoon/Scissor’s connection.) Cash was actually written in the first batch of characters oops, but her design really became more detailed during this stage because of scissor. 3) then things got more complicated as i dug deeper into the past, and wanted to include crimson. So!! I fleshed out the origin and true history of this world. basically as soon as crimson appeared I had everything in place and felt comfortable enough to include crimson, who borrowed many things narratively from a character i roleplayed for years. Anyway, i figured out all of the deep past of the world and decided to draw it out since it was so interesting in ch 9/10. I think this was around in the 2nd chapter when i figured this out, but my memory is fuzzy. I know by the time i did the flash forward scene in ch2 i had decided many things and so all i had to do was get to them in the comic to cement it in. 4) I forget when exactly (maybe around in chapter 5 or 6) , but i decided to bring in a very old story i wrote in 2009 for good leadman’s origin story-- as i thought it would be cool to make good leadman the protagonist for this old comic i wanted to do, and that helped make the background for heel and thumb more “believable” to me because they were already symbolizing this old story i had written the entire thing of. Oh that’s something else to mention, because that world was part of a collection of stories- i was able to develop DMTIA that way because i already had this cast and just decided to merge the stories into the FFAK setting. I think when i did this, it pretty much was the final big thing to make me understand everything i needed to know about this world. All the story arcs felt pretty realized and I could see how the ending could go at this point.

I guess to summarize, is that i let things grow but also had things planned from the start and once i commit to an idea, it doesnt change. Even if it might appear somewhat frustrating to work with, i like to use them to make my next decision. sometimes that means i dont get to do all i want to do, but i still have a lot of flexibility in this setting like i wanted to have from the beginning.

Even now when i feel like pretty confident that I’ve explored every nook and cranny, I’ll decide to revisit a older storyline or facet of the world and strengthen or build on that. That’s why i ended up with so many fucking side characters because I’ll brainstorm for them for a day or two and suddenly have a lot of material i know wont even “technically” go into the story even though its there. (like, Spot for example was not meant to be so interesting, but i wrote a huge fucking story for him that obviously wont get really any attention.)

So.. its ongoing and it is also not ongoing and hasnt been for quite a long time now? (after two years of constant work it felt.. really complete and done in a lot of ways. we are now currently on year three, moving to year four!) I think the best thing to do is to keep in mind what kinds of methods for writing make you feel comfortable and is your natural brain-pace. I like working with an aspect of fluidity and room for growth and flexibility because i don’t like being boxed in or “outgrowing” my project too fast. So keeping that in mind, i designed ffak to be a comic where it could grow with me and change. that’s pretty much why i decided worms would be a great subject and theme to work with because they are characters that naturally, evolve and change based on what they eat and absorb. plus the themes in ffak just are so fun to work with i will never be bored of it. structuring a project with these things in mind for when i run into walls or feel unmotivated have kept me engaged. I think that is part of why i cannot let it go because I still feel really excited to write and contribute ideas to it.

However, Chapter 12 really feels like I’m settling back down to my original plans and taking my time and patience to communicating all the structured planning ive put into it. I’m not letting it grow the same way anymore because it doesnt need to. I feel comfortable with understanding its voice/style and pacing and im no longer recovering from the uhh.. shock of it existing? I promise that once you actually start making a comic, its a wholly different experience than just it being in your head. and it will sound, look, and feel different than what you thought it would be-- that in itself has influenced a lot of change in ffak because honestly at first i was not expecting to draw it so explicit. that was difficult to get used to but im happy to have embraced that aspect of my work.

So HMM.. I made a strong spine or foundational backbone in the beginning before i started, then fleshed it out as i was in the process of making it, and i always continue to leave room for it to grow. just not grow in EVERY aspect anymore. i also dont chop down branches, but i try to hone in on specific things to make them more clear. i think chopping stuff down and removing things is generally not the best to do because its easier to build up and work with what you have than make big retcons after youve already started or established. also the challenge of working with limitations makes you feel that needed bit of pressure to really commit to your work in the moment of making it and i feel like its helped make me more serious and confident about what i write about. I never feel lost on what to do because if I cover and figure out something, that’s how it is. I make it work regardless! 

everything is done with careful consciousness to the overall balance and product of the story, while also not suffocating it in a box of limitations of what it could be. i treat it like a living thing in my mind and heart and that means i work to have thoughtful conversations with it and myself about what its needs are, what my needs are, what i want to do with it and what it wants to be.. ect. its almost a spiritual thing really. i feel like its important to always reflect and engage with your art and art process to feel a stronger connection and purpose behind what you are deciding to do and what it means to you. i am probably repeating myself a little here but!!!!!! its worth saying!!!!!!!!! 

I also really think it adds to the interesting and fun “layers” to the story, as there has been different stages to its development and it brings in different feelings with each layer. But then the older or more ‘’foundational’’ ones pop in and they seem to give off a different atmosphere (antony and rome) vrs some of the newer additions (like jacket) who are more for shallow, fun decoration or an interesting potential to explore in the future. Like, Jacket is not a character that has a lot of foundational plot connected to him, but he’s an interesting development in terms of the potential of a worm and symbolizes that early-ffak-mindset of growth and experimentation. so i think it makes him a really unique and fun character because he embodies a lot of new and old aspects of ffak’s narrative and my journey with working on the comic.

I could go on and on, but I hope this sort of gives some insight to my process and how I write/work. because in a lot of ways, it isn’t linear. just like how my comic is! sometimes this makes ffak very disorienting for people to read, but if you keep in mind that ffak is very organic and personally tailored to my mannerisms  and with that in mind, it makes a lot more sense why it is how it is and the patterns in it become much more apparent. Anyway! thank you for reading and good luck working on your own stories! it can be challenging but i think it is absolutely worth the effort. 

Also i did not make the website, my good friend Tegan did. :3 i do not know anything about websites.

#ffak faq #ffak #feast for a king #unholyopossum

[edwad]

If you had to choose 10 marxian econ books for someone who has only read marx, what would you recommend

by “marx” i have to assume you mean capital because that really is the root of “marxian econ”. it won’t suffice to just have read the manifesto or something like that and i don’t want to recommend books that will be saying things that you’re totally unfamiliar with because you’re skipping straight into the secondary literature which already largely assumes a reader which is familiar with capital. anyway, heres a list, which isnt in any particular order and which includes a few things that i’m still working through for myself:

1. essays on marxs theory of value - isaak rubin 

hugely important book which essentially all value-form theory derives from. written by an extremely knowledgeable marx scholar who had a much better idea of what marx was doing in capital than most marxists today. last month brill published a book called “responses to marxs capital” which includes some of rubin’s other writings, most of them being published in english for the first time. hes a huge figure in the literature and definitely worth looking in to. 

2. marx, capital, and the madness of economic reason - david harvey

i was obviously going to put something of harvey’s in here and i think his last book is a fairly good summary of the best of what hes done up to this point with some welcome additions (the visualization of capital, the stuff on anti-value, etc). not perfect but he definitely provides a good framework for how to understand the geography of capital which doesnt require necessarily agreeing with him on everything. honestly, if you keep up with harvey at all you’ll be able to tell that its mostly just typical harveyisms with the inclusion of some stuff from his recent talks (which have all been almost exactly the same). 

3. in the long run we are all dead - geoff mann

maybe this looks more like a book on keynesian rather than marxian econ, but its real argument is that keynesianism as a long historical project (meaning long before and after keynes himself) has been an immanent critique of liberalism and revolution and that keynes is to us what hegel was to marx. a really great book that covers a lot of ground which isnt always explicitly economic, but definitely worth the read if you have the patience. if you want a longer review, i left a pretty lengthy one on amazon a few months ago where you can get a better idea of what i got from this book, what its limitations are, and why i think its so important. 

4. monopoly capital - paul baran & paul sweezy 

an older book which hasnt exactly aged well, but its thesis has become extremely popular again since the crisis. written by baran and sweezy, the fathers of “the monthly review school” of economics, its played a huge role in the direction of marxian debates from the 1960s up until today. the authors were both tending in the same intellectual direction in their earlier works (sweezy’s theory of capitalist development and baran’s political economy of growth, the former still being considered one of the best introductions to marxs work and its relevance to the 20th century, with much controversy of course) and this was the result of them coming together to talk about what they saw as a monopoly capitalism which was fairly different in character than the “competitive capitalism” of marx’s day and therefore had to be dealt with differently. 

5. capitalism - anwar shaikh

probably the most ambitious work the left has seen in a long time which tries to thoroughly critique neoclassical theory and develop an alternative economics which is rooted in what shaikh calls the “classical” school (”classical-marxian” would probably be more appropriate but i think hes trying to downplay his reliance on marx). in it, shaikh takes a good look at many of the competing schools of thought (neoclassical, post-keynesian, sraffian/neo-ricardian, etc) and sees how they stand up analytically and empirically, taking issue with their underlying assumptions and the inevitable problems which arise from building a theory on false foundations. 

one of his bigger points is that the neoclassical theory of “perfect competition” is nonsensical but wasnt thoroughly combatted by heterodox economists, who only made it so far as asserting the “imperfect” nature of competition, which, in shaikh’s eyes, is to simply add imperfections after the fact into the theory which necessarily begins with the absurd assumption of perfection. the book’s argument is that the theorists of “imperfect competition” still rely on the theory of “perfect competition” as their starting point and never really manage to escape the latter because they havent actually created an alternative way of thinking about competition, they’ve just inserted a complication into a theory which was a completely unrealistic assumption to begin with. much of his attack is directed at the monthly review school and the idea of a “monopoly capitalism” which is supposedly different in form than the allegedly “perfect competition” of capitalism during marxs life. in this sense, this book serves as a counterbalance to the MR approach and is also probably the most successful attempt at situating marxs TRPF within an empirical study of kondratiev waves. 

hes also got a website with a bunch of resources and a lecture series from a course he did on the material in the book which is pretty interesting, but it assumes a good deal of familiarity with economics. 

6. a history of marxian economics - michael howard & john king (2 volumes)

this is a pretty thorough history of the internal debates among marxian economists ever since the death of marx all the way up to 1990. it covers a lot of ground and doesnt shy away from controversies where marx didnt come out on top. of course, a good amount of this is subject to the interpretation of the authors and they definitely have a great deal of input, but its a very impressive work which i frequently use as a marxian encyclopedia of sorts. 

7. the making of marx’s capital - roman rosdolsky

despite some problems, rosdolsky’s classic book on the development of marx’s critique of political economy is easily one of the most important marxological works ever written and it still holds a lot of sway. taking the grundrisse as its starting point, the author unpacks marx’s project and constantly asserts marx’s method and in particular his explicit reliance on hegel’s logic, pitting marx (as he was in his drafts) against the then contemporary thinkers and critics which were prone to misusing or misunderstanding the arguments in capital. as a disclaimer and partial criticism of rosdolsky’s portrait of marx, i dont believe that we can simply say that marx in the late 50s was identical to the marx of the 60s and 70s that wrote and published capital, but i also dont think that means we necessarily have to discount the grundrisse (or theories of surplus value, etc) simply because they werent written at precisely the right time for marxs thinking. 

i only just got my own copy a couple of weeks ago so i cant say too much more but i have skimmed through chunks of the pdf and its totally unavoidable in the secondary literature so im not totally unfamiliar. its one i plan on tackling in full very soon.

8. moneybags must be so lucky - robert paul wolff

another marxological one, this tiny book is a literary analysis of capital and in particular the first part of volume 1. wolff does a great job of deconstructing the arguments in chapter 1 to try and clarify what marx is doing and why with a lot of humor and philosophical tangents. one of his biggest points is that marxs heavy reliance on irony was the only adequate way of capturing the contradictory nature of capitalism and is therefore part of the theory itself, rather than simply being a way to dress up the theory and make it more palatable to readers. i approached this book after id already “read marx” too, but it was extremely useful because it wasnt until i read it that i finally started to actually understand marx. for that reason, i dont feel particularly bad about recommending it to anyone thats already familiar with capital because it does a great job of making the most difficult part of volume 1 infinitely more exciting and comprehensible – especially since its never enough to just read capital once. 

9. the production of commodities by means of commodities - piero sraffa

against my better judgement, i’m putting this on the list knowing full-well that i’m going to be harassed by an anon which has been on my ass for about a year now ever since i first recommended sraffa’s book in a reading list despite the fact that ive never finished it (barely even read it to be more precise). i do, however, know that its had a huge influence on the trajectory of marxian thought since 1960 and that many of the thinkers are still trying to recover from the theoretical displacement implicit in sraffa’s thesis. 

its a math-heavy book (which is why i havent been able to wade through it) and its status as a work coming from the “marxian” approach is hotly contested, but its certainly had its way with the marxian school (not to mention the neoclassical school, which has an easier time simply ignoring sraffa entirely), generating countless debates among scholars, many of whom simply wish that this book had never been written. for a short summary of the debate and whats apparently at stake, ive got an old post where i worked out some of the initial responses to sraffa and how this has snowballed into the controversy that it is today. ive got it on this list because of how unavoidable it is. you cant go into the secondary literature at anything resembling an intermediate level without knowing sraffa’s name and why everyone feels so strongly about him.

10. an introduction to the three volumes of karl marxs capital - michael heinrich

i dont quite like that im ending this list with a book that presents itself as an “introduction” when we’ve already established that this is a bunch of recommendations for someone thats already acquainted with capital, but sadly this is the only full-length book that heinrich has in the english language and its reading of capital is so unorthodox that it feels totally alien against all the traditional interpretations of marx. honestly, it doesnt feel like an introduction in the first place, reading more like a challenge and an intervention into the secondary debates about what marx is saying in capital which derives from the german debates which constitute the parameters for the “neue marx-lekture”, or “the new reading of marx”, which sits uncomfortably among the more typical marxisms that surround it on all sides, especially among non-german theorists/readers. 

as far as the dominant reading of marx goes, nearly everything this book says betrays marx’s project, but heinrich knows marx very well, better than most of us (as even his biggest critics readily admit). this may be considered reflective of a “new reading”, but that doesnt mean the old ones are any better or that this one is necessarily a “revisionist” project as many claim (or at least, i wouldnt consider it to be revising marx even if its guilty of revising “marxism”, which is by no means necessarily a bad thing). on the contrary, i think heinrich has the best understanding of marx out of pretty much everyone else right now and thats why i wanted to end with this one. yes, you should read all of the others, especially since you cant understand the way we read and think about marx without coming across the work of people like sraffa and sweezy, but that doesnt really change the fact that heinrich points to a big problem with the way we read and think about marx, that the debates have been getting it wrong all along and largely misunderstanding marxs actual project, miscontextualizing it and falling into dogmatism for various political or academic reasons. 

what heinrich does is to show how the way marx is read and interpreted often misses or downplays the most crucial elements of what marx is actually trying to get across. marxs critique of political economy simply gets converted into a newer, more correct political economy which simply builds on the classical school (shaikh), or it suffers in the hands of those that believe its foundations need to be updated as if it isnt all that relevant anymore (sweezy and baran), or that many of its categories are lacking utility and can simply be done away with (sraffa). rubin’s work plays a big part in establishing the NML reading and harvey draws on heinrich’s scholarship a lot, but nobody really does it as well as heinrich himself and i genuinely think hes lightyears ahead of everyone else. a lot of people are starting to agree and i was one of the most recent converts on the heinrich hype train which has been growing for the last couple of years. 

any day now, we should be getting one of his older books, the science of value, in english and i plan on devouring it as fast as i can, but sadly its been in limbo for several years, with its initial release scheduled for 2014 (if i remember correctly). in the mean time though, we’ve only got his introduction to capital and a bunch of shorter pieces/videos.  

so i guess thats my list of 10 things to read after marx with some explanations on why i think theyre important, culminating in ideologically correct heinrich-worship. this was sorta fun and if you have any other questions feel free to ask. 

#communism

[haeroniel-doliet]

gah another 5 am post eh fellas

fuck i really wanna do ballet. i really rarely become obsessed (if ever) with anything, but for once i’m so so so so soso wanting to do ballet. so bad. i know i might hate it bc im fucing not musical at all, so not in shape, so not comfortable or etc. but at least im 18,(wait fuck 19 now)  and not 45 trying to get in it all stiff and stuck and i think based on all the sweet positivity to adult ballet starters beginners and sure i wont perform professionally but fuck man i dont think i need that. i just want that grace and flexibility and elegance and gah itd be fabulous. i mean even now im pretending to look for turn out and walk around the house like they do in point shoes and i try fix my posture tothe advice by a ballet dancer youtuber who ive been watching so much of. i just i really wanna do it. 

saddest fucking thing is guys, that i could’ve had the chance to go to the fucking royal ballets adult absolute beginner classes. in london. i could have. fuck. u wanna know what happened? i found out about it like a month or two ago and was fucking psyched bc its one of those things that just is too good to be true. the best company in uk?? w adult classes? while im in london?? yeah id have to miss a few weeks bc. whoops i gotta go back up to do my exams,but i couldve at least done a few weeks, come back and done a few last so i’d have had the best opportunity to give this a go in the best environment and then have a kindling to go off with to other available ballets. and not start with some barely managing person in a shitty studio thing. idk. sure so i tell my parents so fuckin excited bc look! its possible! but yeah its expensive, wouldve been abt 90 pound w me being a student and id have to miss 3/10 classes. but still! thin of it gah its making me so sad happy. sad bc guess its now sold out. of fuckin course it is. i told my mom and she just was uhmm ohh i dunno i dunno, oh its adults i could do it, and thinking that maybe getting her involved would mean i have a better chance of going, dont care much for her company but if shed take it as a bonding thing hell, i’ll probably do better than her in class and minor confidence boost as well as if they all others are old old i wont be alone. and she could pass over what they learned when im up in scotland. Guess that was a fuckin mistake. she got all nervous and self concious and put it off with a we’ll see we’ll see about it im thinking. and making it a whole thing like instead of me wanting to go so bad and offering for fun that shed join me, as if im trying to pressure her into doing it and would only go along to make her feel better. uh.... fucking wrong! im so mad actually. bc of course, no matter how often i mentioned it she wouldnt take it seriously to even consider booking me in! no no of course not we’ll see. and then i check before im coming back, dreading and being right that yep. theyre fucing sold out. of course they are its such a fanstastic opportunity! my only fucking opportunity! when ever again am i going to live in london with weeks free to go participate in that? when ever again? never. theyre moving out of london this summer and fuck. just doing some research and the scottish ballet is in fucking glasgow. yes i was supposed to get there if i hadnt been so shit with studying for my exams. (sure i wouldnt be doing archery and wouldnt have all the other wonderful things i now enjoy in aberdeen but fuck its frustrating) and ofc. aberdeen seems to have: one shady dance company that offers ballet fusion. not adult ballet classes. another shady school that practices at robert gordons that have no website nothing. no info how to sign up or if they have adult classes or when its so stupid and weird. maybe ill have to contact them directly idk. sure my uni has a what seems to be a thriving dance society that i have a glitched out membership for. (its 50 pound a year and i have cerrainly not paid that) and i guess they do ballet on the side. but again from a glance around, looks its only intermediate. not beginners. dont think theres that many uni age girls who just wanna start ballet now. 

so it looks bleary. even in finland, i cant understand body parts in finnish so that might just be frustrating if i could even find a place that offers it. not that i’ll have long at all in finland. ill be there barely a month before heading back to uni and i come back holidays. if i wanted to take one of these eleven week courses, i think id have to geta fuckin liscence and a car and drive to glasgow 3 hrs both ways for a class once a week and that sjust stupid. im so fucking mad about this missed opportunity. like my muscles are itching and aching to do it. my legs want to work out in ballet positions. they just rly do. yeah maybe ill have to start doing barre at home from videos to try ease that, but its not gonna be the same and ill do it all wrong bc i have no teacher to direct me or anything. correct either. sure if i had done it and loved it i might still be mad that i have no opportunities to continue like i want to, but at least id have that expereince and could keep practicing at home based off of it.  i am genuinely upset okay. upset betrayed disappointed sad twitchy and ugh. sure tickets go on sale today to swan lake after exams. and by fuck will i go see it. and ill get all the background before it and know it inside and out before i see it (already kinda do) and i will love it. ill bemaybe more upset and more twitchy that i cant do it, that i cant be lie them and that rly sucks. i really really wish by some miracle the school would offer summer courses so that i could just, get myself after exams into one. also another frustrating thing not quite so pressing on my mind is how my dad wants me to get summer jobs, maybe even two. one here and one in finland. sure it should theoretically be easier getting it here, esp. since im 19 now and yeah. i could work in a cafe or store just to get money and have smth to put on a cv thats not 2 weeks. but i dunno i dont particularly want to, i was hoping in london i could get the most of it culturaly (considering ive been a pouting and sad whailer whos not done anything for the last two years) then again i have p much no friends here so if i did go work somewhere theres a slight chance thered be someone i get along with and could hang out w. or visit if i needa back in london. i dunno. things are weird. sure i could try get an admin job w nhs like some lady suggested but its one of those too much responsibilty things, consdiering im shit with work i kinda would prefer to do some physical job like stacking shelves in a shop bc im good at that. but thats not gonna help me in the future. money yes, but cv building or careers wise? nah. i should owrk in hospitality or smth i dunno even i can barely get thru my work to pass rn so  i dunno about job searching. im jsut a mess am i not. regardless maybe i should look if theres other ballet schoolsin london. be desperate, get a job and a ballet class going over summer and do art on the free time i guess. 

okay so fer now ive found a course for like fucking 156 pound thats a 2 day full days course that looks mad cool for having different classes to learn vocab and etc and then a bit of fucking swanlake like yooo.. best thing its in like july but thats also possibly bad bc its july 28-29 and july 30 we move out. man it could be cool tho. then they offer there as well a taster session p much every other week and then a full 8 weeks of class p near by to me. sure this is specifically taught by a man and id prefer a woman but, i guess. since its ideal timing and place. and i got wondering why thats 150 and the national ballet wouldve been abt 90 and i guess there i get concession and it wouldve been only 6 classes considering the dates they had off. i should rly ask if they do do concession bc 150 is a bit steep still. for 8 classes thats almost 20 pound for 75 mins. its kinda insane. theres probably more companies i havent looked at but there is one other thats like a drop in thing 10 pound cash each class and thats a 90 mins so it might be better. ofc. obv. fault being that its drop in so being an absolute beginner w likely a lot older adults idk how id fit in or keep up or get hte most of it. i think ill go try it once regardless. then when back in abdn ask around for taster sessions and beginner ballet. worst comes to worst i wait another 4 years till i get to a big enough city that they have a nice ballet company and somewhere i can live like an adult but also get in on adult ballet and enjoy myself. maybe my industrial placement city will have  a ballet company idk. 

all i know is that im a bit obsessed and everyone says to go for your dreams etc. and as much as i enjoy archery (slowly gonna dedicate to it) and aikido (though training can be frustrating and training with old men isnt that fun) and ice skating is another less of a dream but in the same realm as ballet. that im gonan get new skates for and give it a better try. i just think ballet could  be so fucking rad and im sad that its not so easy rn. and that my mom fucked me over. for that one course that couldve been cheap and amazing and mindchanging. to go to the ballet knowing what some of it feels like would be great. sure id love  a chance to do some after as well u know. ofc it sucks it might cost a couple hundred over summer to these hobbies and i feel iffy spending 180 on a quality waterproof jacket. sure. they spend it but, im v concientious and dont wanna spend much of their money esp cus im not making my own. i guess logically, i should put a bunch of effort to getting thru this term rly well without lies and get a sumemr job. that way, i could theoretically take loan from my parents  and pay back with summer job money w some left over to do as i like with (yeah i should save it for sensible shit but idk) also considering how nice i am my dad might not even want me to pay back. look i dunno. thats an idea. be good, be rewarded w ballet classes and an unstrained relationship w my parents, joyously move back to finland and start next term w a clean slate, hopefully more help and new determination into hobbies. maybe i wanna do 4 sports since i never did much as i was younger. tho sure, i did aikidos cousin taekwondo. ive shot a bow and arrow whenever i had a chance. ive skated since literally like 3 yrs old. and i used to take a form of dance a alot younger. sure no musicality but i think the exercises would be great for my knees and legs and butt and torso and posture. htese are fun sports since i dont like to work out. and since im not comfortable enough in myself to go swim. 

#ballet an hobbies and thoughts and lots of things. #honestly noneed to read

[afriedbreaddragonposts]

Rawalpindi board English 10th Notes Chapter 4

Rawalpindi board English 10th Notes Chapter 4 (First Aid) Include review questions, solved exercises, important board questions, Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, MCQs, and grammar.

Grammar English 10th Notes Chapter 4

Q.1) Place adverbs at appropriate places. i) l am happy when it is my birthday, (always) ii)  My brother gets up at six o’clock from Monday to Friday as he goes jogging. (often) iii) He went to the market, (last night) iv)  Have you been to Hunza Valley? (ever) v) The birds were chirping, (beautifully) vi)  I'm waiting for Khalid to arrive. I have been waiting for over twenty minutes! (still) vii) He saw a blind beggar, (in the market) Answer: i) I am always happy when it is my birthday. ii) My brother often gets up at six o’clock from Monday to Friday as he goes jogging. iii) He went to the market last night. iv) Have you ever been to Hunza Valley? v) The birds were chirping beautifully. vi) I'm still waiting for Khalid to arrive. I have been waiting for over twenty minutes! vii) He saw a blind beggar in the market. Q.2) Find a suitable adverb to replace each adverb phrase in the following sentences. i) Our teacher wanted that work to be done without delay. ii) She iswithout doubt the most caring person I have met iii) This plant flowers once every year. iv) You should complete the work in a while. v) The two old friends met each other by accident. Answer: i) Our teacher wanted that work to be done immediately. ii) She is doubtlessly the most caring person I have met iii) This plant flowers yearly. iv) You should complete the work shortly. v) The two old friends met each other unknowingly. Q.5) Change the following sentences into the passive voice. Subject in the passive sentences may be skipped. i) You must put out all smoking materials. ii) You must fasten the seat belt. iii) They will demonstrate safety precautions. iv) You should read the safety instructions. v) You can store small packages in the overhead compartment. Answer: i) All smoking material must be put out. ii) The seat belt must be fastened. iii) Safety precautions will be demonstrated by them. iv) The safety instructions should be read by you. v) Small packages can be stored by you in the overhead compartment.

Writing Skills

Q.1) Write a paragraph on “How to take care of cuts and scrapes”. Use transitional devices e.g. first, next, then, after that, in the end etc. to join sentences within the paragraph. Any injury can cause pain by cutting or scraping. It can be safely treated through cleaning and clearing the bruises at home to reduce the infections and speed up healing. Following is the guideline for how to take care of cut and scrape. Firstly, try to stop bleeding by putting pressure on the area with a tissue, gauze pad, or clean cloth. The bleeding should stop after a few minutes. If the blood soaks through the gauze or cloth, add more gauze or another cloth and apply more pressure. Don’t remove the gauze or cloth to check to see if it is still bleeding until you have kept the pressure for several minutes. Next, after you stop bleeding, rinse the cut thoroughly with cool water. You can either hold the wound under running water or pour water from a cup over the wound. After that, apply a thin layer of antibiotic cream to the wound. If the rash appears, stop using the cream. Do not forget to cover the wound to keep scratch safe from bacteria and germs. And change the dressing on daily basis. Lastly and importantly, always keep a check on the signs of infection i.e. wound redness, raising pain, liquid flow etc. In such cases, seek doctor's assistance. Q.2) Did you ever get cuts and scrapes? How did you give yourself first aid? Write a paragraph in the past tense. First, make an outline with the help of the mind map given below.

Learning to ride a bicycle for the first time is fun yet, frightening. It was a cloudy beautiful morning in summer. I took my bicycle, newly gifted by my father on my eighth birthday without any assistance. The road of my street is wide and clear. I mounted my bike and started paddling. I stumbled first but then balanced myself and gave my bike some speed which increased gradually. It was quite fun. Suddenly, I heard horn of a car from behind. As I turned my head to the back, I don’t know what happened and when I gained my conscious back, I was in a hole and bike on my side. The hole was not very deep. I couldn’t make sense of the accident from where the hole comes from, in the middle of the road. I stood up, dusted off my clothes and started looking for the bruises I got. At that moment I was feeling pain but not much, since I was scared to death because of the car horn. I held back my tears, took my bicycle and started running towards my house, stumbling and jittering. I didn’t tell my mother just to avoid her anger, went to my room silently and inspected my bruises. Now I was really feeling pain in my toes and knees. Along with that, I also had scratched my lips which were bleeding. I rinsed my wounds with cold water and covered the bruises with tissue paper. I took some ointment cream, polyfax from my mother's drawer and spread it over the scratched and cuts. As I felt a little satisfied, I went to the mirror to scrutinize myself. To my horror , I lost my tooth. That gave me a twinge of pain. I started crying louder this time. My mother came to my room and shocked by surprise. After that I faced the music for going outside alone. Riding a bicycle for beginners need high level of precautions. Helmet, knee pads and shoes are mandatory to wear to avoid these loses. Q.2) Answer the following questions. i) Hazrat Muhammad ﷺ is a perfect model and example for all mankind. Explain. Answer: Hazrat Muhammad ﷺ is a perfect model for all humankind. He is the best epitome of justice, equity and fair dealing. He never favored unjustly, that even his worst enemies used to bring their suits for justice. He followed the rules according to the rules given by Allah. ii) Write a note on Chinese New Year celebrations. Answer: Chinese New Year celebration starts from January 21st till February 20th. Families visit each other, devouring heavy feasts typically made for the event. Doors and wall are decorated with red wall hangings and frames, inscribed with the word fu. Red color is customary to wear. Even the envelopes given to children are red in color. It symbolizes good spirits. Thorough cleaning of houses is customary before the New Year event starts. That wards off bad spirits from the houses. Henceforth, Chinese New year celebration is associated with welcoming of good spirits that keeps bad luck and troubles away for the year. iii) Why is trying again important in life? Answer: iv) Write the First Aid Process of cuts and scrapes. Answer: 1. Trying again is important in life as it gives courage to face the challenges and never losing hope when you are on the way of success. As failure is a stepping stone in the process of succeeding. Trying hard keeping you persistent and build up your courage to embrace success. 2. Any injury can cause pain by cutting or scraping. It can be safely treated through cleaning and clearing the bruises at home to reduce the infections and speed up healing. Following is the guideline for how to take care of cut and scrape. Firstly, try to stop bleeding by putting pressure on the area with a tissue, gauze pad, or clean cloth. The bleeding should stop after a few minutes. If the blood soaks through the gauze or cloth, add more gauze or another cloth and apply more pressure. Don’t remove the gauze or cloth to check to see if it is still bleeding until you have kept the pressure for several minutes. Next, after you stop bleeding, rinse the cut thoroughly with cool water. You can either hold the wound under running water or pour water from a cup over the wound. After that, apply a thin layer of antibiotic cream to the wound. If the rash appears, stop using the cream. Do not forget to cover the wound to keep scratch safe from bacteria and germs. And change the dressing on daily basis. Lastly and importantly, always keep a check on the signs of infection i.e. wound redness, raising pain, liquid flow etc. In such cases, consult the doctor. Q.3) Read the passage and answer the questions given below. Since the advent of the Internet, there have been profound changes in the way we live, work or play. Firstly, the Internet has brought e-mail to the masses, which made it possible to send messages, digital photos, music, and videos to anywhere in the world instantly. Gone are the days when it took about fifteen days for a letter from Lahore to reach San Francisco. Besides e-mail, further innovations like instant messaging has also become the norm. With a web camera, users can actually see each other on the computer monitor and speak to each other through a microphone at no extra cost. In the past, this convenience was only available to companies that could afford highly expensive video conferencing equipment at exorbitant charges. The effect of this technological development is thai people are able to stay in close touch with each other even though they are thousands of kilometres apart. Not iong ago, this was only possible in science fiction movies and our fantasies, internet has also changed the way we access information. In the past, one had to search books, magazines and libraries if one needed to know something. Now, search engines e.g. Google and Yahoo give us a list of websites that provide the information that we need. There are even free online dictionaries, encyclopedias and maps. As technology advances, the impact of the Internet will be even more profound in the future. Now It is up to us to use its power to serve mankind in a positive way. Questions 1.    What is the first change that internet has brought in our lives? 2.    How have search engines revolutionized access to information? 3.    Internet has brought people closer. How? 4.    Find words from the passage that mean the same as phrases given below.         a.  far greater or higher than is reasonable         b.   the quality of being or making things easy  5. Write a precis of the given passage and suggest a suitable title for it. Answer: 1. Internet has changed our way of living, completely.  Through emails, we can easily send instant messages, photos, and videos anywhere around the world. Beside a camera, user can see each other from far distant area at a very cheap cost. Any information can be searched through the search engines with a single click. 2. Search engines have revolutionized the search, as it provides us lists of information related to any field of life with a single click that is accessible to everyone. We do not have to spend hours in libraries to search a book or piece of journal. 3. Internet is accessible to everyone, everywhere with cheap cost. People can communicate with each other, sitting miles apart and send instant messages and do video chats. Hence, it has brought people more closely. 4. (a) Line no. 5: equipment at exorbitant charges can be replaced by far greater or higher than reasonable.                                                                                                              (b) Line no.9;”even more profound in future" can be replaced by the quality of being or making things easy. 5. Internet has revolutionized the world through changing the lifestyle by introducing. Emails, instant messages, videos and picture on a single click. It has revolutionized the search by introducing search engines, like Google, yahoo etc. which take a split of second to provide ample of information regarding any subject hence, saves us from wasting our time by inducing our heads in book shelves in libraries. Everything is available at the cheapest cost which was beyond imagination before. Now it depends on us how we take it.             Title: "Internet -a bliss for Mankind" Q.4) Write a paragraph on any ONE of the following topics. i)  Land Pollution ii) The subject I like the most in school Answer:                                                    Land Pollution What is beneath your feet? A floor, made up of bricks. What comes next?  Underground pipelines. Beneath that, we have soil, sand, rocks, etc that form the earth. We imagine these basic foundations of our planet to be a kind of pristine, internal wilderness but that is not the case. We are the ones that cause changes to the world, negatively. We can see many of the changes we've made to the world, some of our impacts are virtually invisible, and land pollution is a good example. Factories are causing smoke that pollutes air and water as well through the oil drifting over the ocean, but the poisons that seep from underground mines, the garbage tipped into landfills by the truckload, or the way the very soil that feeds us is turning to dust. Land pollution, in short, is a much bigger and more subtle problem than it might appear. The land pollution is caused by solid wastes and chemicals. One of the major pollution problems of large cities is disposal of solid waste material including farm and animal manure, crop resi­dues (agricultural wastes), industrial wastes including solid fuels, garbage, paper, cardboard, plastics, rubber, cons­truction rubbish, brick, sand, metal and glass resulting from demo­lition of buildings, dead animals like dogs, cats and birds. Huge quantities of unwanted material cause serious disposal problems. Further, many of the chemicals emitted into the air such as radioactive minerals, sulphur, and lead, eventually come to earth to pollute the soil. Many pesticides and herbicides are harming the soil causing loss of fertility. In forest ecosystems, these chemical pollutants may inhibit processes of soil formation, and reduce the capacity of the forest to maintain fertility of the soil that eventually will cause shortage of vegetation as well as wood and other useful things. To save the earth from destruction, we need to introduce “recycling” of waste materials.  We also have to introduce organic food and organic farming that could lessen the use of artificial pesticides. Technologies, such as bioremediation can help in clearing out pollutants from land need to be used. Phytoremediation is a similar concept but involves using plants, such as willow trees, to pull contaminants from the soil. These will facilitate in cleaning environment. It realizes us that earth is a limited and precious resource.                                       The subject I like the most in school  Out of six subjects at school, Mathematics is my most favorite subject. No doubt some people find it difficult, dull and colorless but for me it has worth.  It gives me a level of satisfaction and interest while studying. I can solve problems related to mathematics for hours without getting bored. My aim in life is to become a mathematics professor or mathematician someday. The major reason why I like mathematics is that I do not have to memorize everything like a parrot the way I have to do in other subjects. To acquire good marks in mathematics you just need to have sufficient mental logic for the subject. This subject is also demanding in various education fields. This is the only subject in which you can score full marks and raise your overall percentage. The most amazing part of this subject is that you just have to remember some formulas to solve the problems. It is needless to say that mathematics is a very logical subject and does not require any kind of boring memory work like other subjects. For me remembering facts and dates is very difficult while mathematical reasoning is quite easy. Some of my friends find this subject very difficult. I wonder why. In my spare time, I help my friends to solve mathematical problems. As far as mathematics is concerned, homework and tests are easy to achieve. I really get surprised to see my classmates getting punished for not completing the mathematics homework. However, every individual on this earth has his/ her own kind of likes and dislikes. Q.5) Write a general essay on any ONE of the following topics. i) Traffic Problems of a Big City ii) School Discipline Answer:                                        Traffic problems of a big city Big cities have bigger problems. Traffic is one of the major concerns of big cities. Authorities remodel streets and roads to avoid traffic. But does it solve the problem? Traffic control in the big city, like Rawalpindi, is challenging. Increase in the number of vehicle day by day is causing troubles for pedestrians, and residents of the city. What is the reason behind the increase? People from rural areas are rushing towards metropolis of cities to make bright future. Banks are offering loans for cars. And lack of responsibility to follow the rules, among the drivers Big cities are bloodlines for a country’s economy. These centers generate great amounts of revenue through business activity and industrial estates. The facilitated lifestyle in big cities attracts more and more village dwellers to migrate to the cities. The rapid expansion of urban cities in Pakistan has generated many problems for its residents that contaminate the cities. As many dwellers set in cities as much land is required to live. For which trees are cut down, and forest are cleared off. This creates an imbalance in nature as well. Furthermore, an easy access to cars through bank loans has increased the number of vehicles on roads. The city roads are always crowded by trucks, buses, motor cars, scooters, and cycles which create chaos on the main roads of the city. People are attracted to the offer due to lack of public transport. The irregular expansion has caused a disrupted road network in the cities. This expansion in vehicles consumes a large portion of fuel, which release in the air causing air pollution. Last but not least, expanding traffic network arises the next challenge of implementing traffic rules. The traffic sergeants are at every signal but the people disregard their signs either deliberately or unknowingly. A lot of people driving on the roads are unaware of these rules and eventually causes loss of many precious souls. The government needs to take immediate steps toward this issue. The city was expanded irregularly on one side and the absence of facilities in the newly found towns draws its residents to drive to other parts of the city to shop for their necessities. Lack of proper public transports pushes everyone to keep his own vehicle. And with the ongoing construction projects and absence of proper alternative routes, the traffic jams have added to the woes of people. To wrap it up, I would suggest that in future all the big cities should be planned, keeping in mind the next 60 years expansion. Read the full article

#10th #2021notes #Class10Notes2021 #exercises #Grammar #importantboardquestions #Punjab #RawalpindiBoard #rawalpindiboardresult #reviewquestions #SecondaryEducationRawalpindi]

[ltsaint-a]

IMPORTANT

i.  this is a roleplay blog for SHAUNDI of SAINTS ROW. she very much follows canon but is also very headcanon based as well.

ii.  any mention of shaundi from saints row 2 or even just past shaundi in saints row 4 will be tagged with FUN SHAUNDI.

iii.  the only trigger that will come up on this blog is in reference to her drug habits back in saints row 2. if there is mention, it will be tagged accordingly: DRUG MENTION /

BASICS

i.   this is basically going to cover the basics. keep in mind, i do have a job and i will be going back to school soon for my bachelor’s degree. with that being said, i don’t spend all of my time on this blog or on tumblr as it is. my time is divided up to where i see it fits best. 

ii.   i really, REALLY,  really, try and stay out of drama. it does nobody any good and honestly it ruins the whole writing experience for me. i’ve been on tumblr long enough to see the rise and fall of roleplaying and i don’t wish to see my writing career on this website come to a screeching halt. keep it away from me and we’ll be alright. 

iii.   do not send me hate. do not send the people i write with hate. just don’t do it.

iv.   i queue all of my replies and i usually have one reply post a day in order to keep up with everything. i work during the week and don’t have a lot of time to write during the week so queuing my replies allow me to keep everything under control and help me not to become too overwhelmed.

v.   I USE SMALL FOR MY FORMATTING, AND DOUBLE SPACED. if that’s not your style, then i would suggest possibly not following me. this is how i like to write my replies and asks, i like the way it looks and small font has always helped me to write more than i normally would. i’ve been using small font since my gaiaonline days and that’s not going to change anytime soon.

FOLLOWING & UNFOLLOWING

i.   this is a MUTUALS ONLY blog. now, you’re probably sitting there like “but eris, what does that mean?” and i’m here to tell you. if you follow me and i choose to follow you back, that means we are mutuals. it means you have every right to respond to my open starters & to like my starter calls. 

ii.   I DO NOT FOLLOW MINORS, NOR DO I WISH ANY TO FOLLOW ME. sorry, but i gotta look out for myself. while my blog doesn’t feature smut and i normally don’t write any, there is the occasional nsfw on my blog. along with that, i do post stuff that is 18+ in general due to the nature of the muses i tend to write. i wanna keep you all protected so i would ask that you don’t follow me.

iii.   as for who i choose to follow, it’s all based on whether i find that our characters will write well together. if i don’t see any way for me to have my characters  interact with your character, then sadly, i won’t give you a follow back. i’m pretty chill though when it comes to following and pretty much follow everyone back. 

v.   now for the dreaded rule about unfollowing. what will bring me to unfollow you? this is something i’m still very lenient on because i’m big on the whole “it’s your blog, do what you want” but if i see you posting a lot of drama and like really excessive ooc, i will sadly unfollow your blog. i like to keep my dash clean so i can easily navigate it.

vi.   let’s talk about softblocking. if i wish to break mutuals with you, i am going to softblock you because i only feel that it’s right. i don’t want people to get confused because i know a lot of people sometimes don’t check their followers to see who is still mutuals with them. along with that, i will utilize softblocking if you start to post stuff i don’t agree.. it’s better that way, i promise. 

INTERACTION

i.   once again, MUTUALS ONLY. only people that i follow back will i interact with. meaning only those people are allowed to like my starter calls, only they can reblog open starters, etc. if you’re a non - mutual and you try, you will be ignored and if this happens multiple times, i will soft block you.

ii.   I LIKE TO START OFF SMALL WITH MY STARTERS AND THEN EVENTUALLY BUILD UP AS WE PROGRESS THE THREAD ALONG so don’t be alarmed if i start off with just a paragraph in our starter. unless i’m already comfortable writing with you and i know how we vibe, we’re going to start off slow because i want to get a feel for how our characters mesh and how we, as partners, will write together. you’ll end up noticing an increase in content as we continue to write because now i know what i’m working with.

iii.   asks are always the biggest thing. Basically, non - mutuals can send asks but only if they are sentence starters / sentence memes, any sorta “tell me how i’m doing” memes or the like. I WON’T ANSWER UNSOLICITED RP ASKS FROM NON - MUTUALS.  they’ll get ignored or deleted. this is more for my sanity and the fact that in the past, i’ve had non - mutuals hound me about stuff like this and i’d rather just not let that anxiety overwhelms me again. if you are a non - mutual and send me sentence memes and the like, please know it won’t go further than the answered ask.

SHIPPING

i.   i ship based on chemistry for the most part and i am up for shipping with multiple characters. please do not try and force your character upon mine. that’s grounds for immediate removal from my blog and it’s like really uncomfortable as it is. 

ii.   as for shipping, everything will be set in it’s own little universe. meaning no ships shall overlap unless you’re totally cool with that. i love to incorporate my character’s past and their relationships wherever i can but if it makes you comfortable to have no mention of prior relationships in any of my character’s lives, we can separate them.

MISCELLANEOUS

i.   all of the icons that are featured on this blog were made by me. meaning i took the time out of my day to sit in photoshop and edit them. same for any graphics & photosets i decide to post to this blog. i spent the time making said items so i don’t take too kindly to theft. 

ii.   please try and have fun while writing with me. i don’t care if you take a million years, i don’t care if you take two seconds. all i care about is that you enjoy what we’re writing. 

iii.   you are always allowed to message me via IM and discord is available to those i have begun to feel comfortable with. i’m pretty easy going so don’t be shy. 

iv. seriously though, have fun.

[ms-marmar]

quarantine relapse

hey y’all! i hope you’re safe and healthy. with the state of things around the world, it’s hard not to feel distress, hopelessness, anxiety, pain, and a whole lot of other negative feelings. 

for one thing, quarantine has been difficult, to say the least. ive come to notice that many (myself included) have created expectations for themselves to practice certain behaviors during this pandemic in efforts to try to carry on as if things were normal, minimize the effects that this shift in environment has on us, and prevent ourselves from becoming “lazy.” ppl have set out to try to be more productive (from home), follow a schedule, dabble into new hobbies, work out from home, try new recipes and diets, etc. 

unfortunately, many face even more struggles with this pandemic than just a shift from their daily routine. many of you are facing insecurities regarding your health, employment, finances, and much more. such pressures can trigger increased anxieties and lead to the unhealthy coping mechanisms (ie. self harm, restricting, binging, purging, etc) that you’ve built up over time.

i struggled (and still struggle) to commit to a routine, often feeling guilty for failing to do so. i thought about how i was lucky to be in the comfort of my financially stable household, seemingly separated from the outside world and personally unaffected by the coronavirus. i have so much privilege in this moment that i shouldn’t be feeling such despair and instability. im stuck at home, with nothing to do but sit around on my laptop to attend online classes and try to find some hobbies to pass the time. even though everything else going in the world hangs in my mind like a grey cloud of concern, the biggest worry constantly invading my mind was just about what i had to eat. im sure youve heard ppl despair over the possibility of gaining weight by staying cooped up at home, unable to go outside or to the gym. in a house full of food, many of which are “fear foods” with long shelf lives, ive been battling the temptation to mindlessly binge on snacks all day. it’s also easy to opt out for restricting. for instance, when supplies are low at the store, you decide NOT to get that last loaf of bread, thinking someone else could use it more than you. by justifying that you dont need that food, it can become a cycle of justifying that you dont need any food. there’s also that feeling of guilt that arises when you do get the food, knowing full well it’s something that’ll just get purged. there are numerous experiences y’all have gone through and are (re)facing right now as a result of our present day. the pandemic has created circumstances in which new thoughts and anxieties provide a gateway to practicing disordered eating behaviors as a source of relief.

as a result of this quarantine climate, all these thoughts and expectations, many of which have resurfaced from the shame and guilt ive already felt for years, continued to build up. my concern over weight gain turned into fear, and i fell back into the vicious cycle of binging and purging. 

thing is, nothing right now is normal. the moment we’re living in is beyond control. it’s natural to feel helpless. however, we can’t let that take over our lives. the “little” things we can contribute every day to help the cause (ie. social distancing, limiting going outside, being hygienic, showing appreciation to essential workers, keeping yourself and others informed, donating to groups, etc) can go a long way. you’re not helpless if you can do something to show your support. additionally, we don’t need to punish ourselves for the changes we’re experiencing. staying at home might mean we don’t move around as often, and that’s okay. you being hungry after sitting all day? also okay! all these are natural as we adjust to these lifestyle changes. 

apologies i am late with this. for some, quarantine restrictions are easing up. however, pls continue to limit your outside excursions,practice social distancing and hygiene, and wear masks. times are ambiguous and cases are still very much present (and numbers continue to rise). in addition, social justice movements have experienced a recent surge. pls be safe and support your families, friends, and communities. we all deserve to be treated equally and need to stand up to oppressive systems in whatever ways we can. take time to educate yourselves and others, while maintaining a balance in order to not overwhelm yourselves and create more stress/anxiety. i know these ideas seem contradictory, but i know each of us have different thresholds for stress. find yours and develop healthy mechanisms to cope with them. reaching out is always the best option. 

takeaways n important things to keep in mind or try (some of which you may have already heard before; however, sometimes we need a reminder):

-its okay to relapse. recovery is full of ups n downs, its not linear

-u dont have to earn the right to eat. ur body is communicating to you what it needs. if you’re confused over your hunger and satiety levels, which often happens due to changes in brain chemistry, maybe this guideline is helpful. it’s from one of my lectures in an eating disorders class i took last quarter. act according to your body’s physiological responses. if you’re hungry, please eat. if you’re about to go over your fullness levels, please stop yourself and do something else to distract you. maybe call a friend to hold yourself accountable. ik everything is easier said than done, and i struggle with this myself, but every thought and effort counts:

-limit your media use. sometimes watching the news all day or watching how others seem to be doing great in quarantine can trigger anxiety and disappointment. opt for enjoyable activities, learn something new, or meditate. 

-try to eat regularly. 2-3 meals a day, with some snacks between. do not ignore your hunger cues. you might then become very hungry, which increases the likelihood of binging then purging. 

-you’re not alone. many articles have been written about how quarantine has made a hard blow to everyone, especially those with need insecurities and/or mental illness. i encourage you to please reach out to any trusted individual in some way if you’re experiencing any challenges. refer to the bottom of this post for some links about having ed’s during the pandemic. seek covid relief and emergency funds if you are in need (here’s an informational website with grant resources in the US link)

-having said that, seek out a support system. therapists, support groups, etc have moved online. now is the time to join them, especially if you haven’t had time in the past. talk to friends and/or family when you can. be transparent with your needs. 

-feel free to reblog with or comment any resources you may find helpful for others

there are definitely some viewpoints that i’ve missed, and i apologize if through this post i haven’t made you feel a part of this struggle when it’s something you also experience. i just want to say that every experience is valid, and they vary widely. eating disorders affect ANYONE. i wrote this mainly with my own experiences and observations in mind, and i’d love for you all to share your own stories. i want you to keep fighting through. i want you to see the end of this pandemic, to be able to go outside again and experience life to its fullest. all those plans you had but were forced to cancel? you can do them when things have become okay again. didnt have plans? make some so you have something to look forward to when this is over. you have to conquer this battle by putting your health first and realizing the danger you’re putting your body in when you engage in disordered eating. there’s so much waiting for you in the future. recovery is a long, hard journey that we’re reluctant to embark on at first. but i promise that nothing will feel as beautiful and relieving than when you live free from this toxic mindset. pls stay safe everyone. my heart goes out to you and all the different struggles you’re facing. we’re in this together. 

thank you if you’ve read this and made it this far. 

articles about ed’s during quarantine:

1 2 3 4 5 

ms-marmar xx

#ana #ana recovery #mia #mia recovery #not pro just using tags #dont promote eds just using popular tags #ed #ednos #eds #binge eating disorder #binging and purging #eating disorders #eating disoder recovery #long post