#differentiated clearly ambitions from dreams

[fitjourneydaily]

The Ultimate Guide to Entrepreneurship: Starting a For-Profit Business with a Solid Business Plan

Entrepreneurship is an exciting journey that provides countless opportunities for individuals to realize their dreams and make a significant impact. However, starting a for-profit business requires careful planning and execution. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the key aspects of entrepreneurship, focusing on starting a business, developing a solid business plan, and utilizing effective strategies for success. 1. Understanding Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship is the process of identifying, creating, and capitalizing on new business opportunities. It involves taking calculated risks, being innovative, and having a passion for driving change. While it requires a certain level of ambition and dedication, entrepreneurship offers the potential for financial freedom and personal fulfillment. 2. Starting a For-Profit Business: To embark on your entrepreneurial journey, it's crucial to understand the fundamental steps involved in starting a for-profit business: a. Idea Generation: Identify a unique business idea by conducting market research, analyzing industry trends, and exploring untapped niches. Look for gaps or problems in the market that your business can address. b. Market Analysis: Conduct a thorough market analysis to understand your target audience, competition, market size, and potential demand for your products or services. This information will guide your marketing strategies and help you identify your target customers. c. Business Structure and Legal Considerations: Choose an appropriate legal structure for your business, such as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or limited liability company (LLC). Register your business with the relevant authorities and obtain any necessary licenses or permits. d. Developing a Business Plan: A well-crafted business plan serves as a roadmap for your entrepreneurial journey. It outlines your business goals, target market, marketing strategies, financial projections, and operation plans. A solid business plan also attracts potential investors or lenders. 3. Creating a Solid Business Plan: Crafting an effective business plan is vital for the success of your for-profit venture. Here are essential components to include: a. Executive Summary: Provide a concise overview of your business, highlighting its mission, vision, and unique selling proposition (USP). This section should spark interest and capture the attention of potential investors. b. Market Analysis: Conduct a comprehensive analysis of your target market, including demographics, buying behavior, and competition. Identify market trends, potential challenges, and opportunities to differentiate your business. c. Products and Services: Clearly define your offerings, emphasizing their unique features and benefits. Demonstrate how your products or services meet customer needs and differentiate themselves from competitors. d. Marketing and Sales Strategies: Outline your marketing and sales techniques, including branding strategies, pricing models, and distribution channels. Specify how you will reach and engage your target audience, highlighting your competitive advantages. e. Financial Projections: Present realistic financial projections, including revenue forecasts, expenses, and anticipated profits. This section provides a comprehensive overview of your business's financial viability and growth potential. f. Operations and Management: Outline your business's organizational structure, key personnel, and their roles and responsibilities. Detail your operational processes, supply chain management, and any strategic partnerships. 4. Effective Strategies for Entrepreneurial Success: To thrive in the competitive business landscape, consider implementing the following strategies: a. Continuous Learning: Stay updated with industry trends, technological advancements, and best practices through books, courses, and networking events. Continually sharpen your skills and broaden your knowledge to remain competitive. b. Networking and Collaboration: Build strong relationships with other entrepreneurs, industry experts, potential customers, and suppliers. Attend relevant industry events, join professional associations, and leverage online platforms to expand your network. c. Embrace Innovation: Identify innovative solutions to address market gaps, streamline operations, and improve customer experience. Embrace new technologies, such as automation and artificial intelligence, to increase efficiency and competitiveness. d. Adaptability and Resilience: Entrepreneurship often comes with challenges and setbacks. Embrace a growth mindset and be adaptable in the face of change. Learn from failures, pivot when necessary, and remain resilient on your path to success. 1. Entrepreneurship for-profit 2. Starting a business 3. Business plan 4. Entrepreneurial succes If you're interested in ways to Earn Money or exploring various methods to Earn Money, feel free to check out our website now! You can discover numerous opportunities to increase your income and learn how to make money efficiently. Don't miss the chance to explore exciting earning options on our platform. Read the full article

[adifferenttime]

Andrew Ryan vs. Robert House

On almost every House post I make, someone in the notes will reliably reference Andrew Ryan. I totally get it - they look similar, they're based on the same guy, the parallels are so clear that the NV dev team added an achievement for killing House with a golf club - but I think these commonalities tend to engulf both characters, blotting out some of their more interesting ideological/personal differences. It's useful to examine them in relation to one another, but part of that is figuring out what distinguishes them, which is just what I’ve attempted to do.

It's difficult for me to talk about Randian objectivism because I don't think it's sound enough to address on its own terms, but considering this is the philosophy Andrew Ryan has adopted, I kind of have to. What I’d identify as the core premise of Randian ethics is this: altruism is a moral wrong. Some Randians have argued that isn't really what they believe - that the real point is anything resembling altruism is self-interest in disguise - but they're departing from the beliefs of their icon when they make those claims. Per Rand:

The irreducible primary of altruism, the basic absolute is self-sacrifice – which means self-immolation, self-abnegation, self-denial, self-destruction – which means the self as a standard of evil, the selfless as a standard of the good.

The way Rand defines altruism is by linking it to self-sacrifice, which she uses to differentiate it from kindness or benevolence. Aiding others at no cost to yourself is benevolent, but not altruistic, and therefore not evil. Sacrificing your happiness to help another human being is, from Rand's perspective, evil, as is any philosophy that prioritizes the other at the cost of the self. This whole idea has been broadly rejected by most scholars on account of it being really fucking stupid. What justifies the leap from "man is naturally selfish" to "selfishness is good"? If selfishness is moral, wouldn't the most moral behavior be to exploit others through whatever means necessary, favoring force over the market? Rand defines happiness as "using your mind’s fullest power," achievable only when you "do not consider the pleasure of others as the goal," but why is this the only definition? What if your only options are self-sacrificial in nature? How do you weigh them if neither sacrifice is linked to values, individual achievement, or "your mind's fullest power" at all? Rand didn't care because she was too busy trying to ethically justify cheating on her man with her best friend's husband, but nonetheless, this is the philosophy Andrew Ryan’s adopted. He claims that "Altruism is the root of all Wickedness," in what's almost a direct quote from Rand herself.

To that end, Ryan builds a system that doesn’t just accept selfishness but actively incentivizes it. Every other principle he expresses is subservient to the ideas that selfishness rules man, and that for Ryan to act on his own selfish impulses is the highest good in the world. His lesser political principles (individual liberties, negative rights, the creation of a stateless society) don’t matter to him as much as the central precept from which they stem: that selfishness is his moral imperative.

What is the greatest lie every created? What is the most vicious obscenity ever perpetrated on mankind? Slavery? The Holocaust? Dictatorship? No. It's the tool with which all that wickedness is built: altruism.

It doesn't come as a particular surprise to me when he starts imprisoning dissidents or executing rivals or banning theft (standard practice in most societies, but not what an egoist would pursue; if you can get away with taking it, you deserve to have it, or so the thinking goes). I’ve seen him described as a hypocrite, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true considering everything he does is in line with his opposition to altruism. He'll adhere to his other principles only if they don’t sabotage his pursuit of personal power. This is evident in the fact that he only adopts a negative perception of Fontaine when his own interests are threatened, but doesn’t give two shits what Fontaine might be doing to sow conflict and harm people before that point. A guy named Gregory asks Ryan to step in against Fontaine early on before Fontaine's fully established himself as a threat to Ryan's power, and Ryan's extremely blase about it.

Don't expect me to punish citizens for showing a little initiative. If you don't like what Fontaine is doing, well, I suggest you find a way to offer a better product.

Contrast this with how he reacts when Fontaine has risen as a genuine business rival. This is from the log titled "Fontaine Must Go."

Something must be done about Fontaine. While I was buying buildings and fish futures, he was cornering the market on genotypes and nucleotide sequences. Rapture is transforming before my eyes. The Great Chain is pulling away from me.

This double standard is the natural outgrowth of his prioritization of self-interest. If your most deeply-held belief is that you should never give up your interests for others, ancillary rules become flexible in times of personal crisis, and Bioshock makes the case that putting someone like that in charge of a city will leave you with a crumbling, monstrous ruin.

Superficially, House has some similarities. Ryan executes political rivals; House has you blow up a bunker of his ideological opponents. Ryan is the highest authority in Rapture; House is the absolute monarch of Vegas. Their goals and moral codes, though, are almost diametrically opposed. When you ask House why you’re expected to trust him when he’s openly admitting to installing himself as the despot of the New Vegas Strip, he says this:

I have no interest in abusing others... Nor have I any interest in being worshipped as some kind of machine-god messiah. I am impervious to such corrupting ambitions.

Most of his resources are devoted to large-scale, impersonal projects, aimed either at building the power of Vegas or securing his long term goal of “progress” as he sees it. He’s rejected selfishness as a moral good because House is very far from Randian objectivism. He's a Hobbesian monarch.

In that respect, he shares an outlook on human nature with Ryan that I deeply disagree with (that human beings are essentially selfish), but in terms of what that means for the structure of a utopian society, House takes a very different position. From his perspective, human nature breeds suffering, not industriousness, and the only way to stamp out conflict - and, in a post-nuclear age, ensure the continued survival of the human race - is through a strong sovereign. The purpose of a state as laid out in Leviathan aligns very, very closely with the one House expresses.

...the foresight of their own preservation, and of a more contented life thereby; that is to say, of getting themselves out from that miserable condition of war which is necessarily consequent, as hath been shown, to the natural passions of men...

The monarch's successes are reflected in his society and the well-being of humanity as a whole. To subvert his goals is to subvert society's goals, and to doom humanity to the war, death, and suffering that exist in a state of nature. When you destroy his Securitrons/kill him, he doesn't plead for himself or get offended on his own behalf. He accuses you of betraying not him, but mankind.

Single-handedly, you've brought mankind's best hopes of forward progress crashing down. No punishment would be too severe. Fool... to let... personalities... derail future... of mankind? ...Stupid! Slavery... the future of... mankind? What... have you... done?

An important corollary of this idea which again distinguishes House from Ryan appears in Leviathan’s description of the political/moral responsibility of a monarch to his subjects:

...that great Leviathan, or rather, to speak more reverently, of that mortal god to which we owe, under the immortal God, our peace and defence. For by this authority... he hath the use of so much power that, by terror thereof, he is enabled to form the wills of them all, to peace at home, and mutual aid against their enemies abroad.

Hobbes and House give the monarch virtually unlimited power but match it to the monarch's duty, which he lives to fulfill. His obligation is to speak for the people, act for them, and protect them from all threats, internal and external. House generally abides by this, orienting his decisions around his goals for society irrespective of the personal cost (the negative consequences of his actions are a product of his fucked evaluations of what’s best for society, not personal greed). It’s not just a departure from Ryan’s philosophy but a complete refutation of it. He's almost died for what he's misidentified as the greatest good.

Given that I had to make do with buggy software, the outcome could have been worse. I nearly died as it was…. I spent the next few decades in a veritable coma.

This is not the behavior of an egoist. This is the behavior of an extremely arrogant but marginally altruistic (from a Randian perspective lmao) guy. This is some distorted “from each according to his ability” shit if you’ve managed to convince yourself your abilities exceed those of everyone else who has ever lived and that you can get the Mandate of Heaven by being really good at statistics.

The reason these guys develop such similar structures and hierarchies despite the ideological gulfs between them is because both of them are elitists who’ve experienced a massive failure of self-consciousness. They’re unable to conceive of other people as being fundamentally like them. Ryan separates people into the clearly-delineated classes of “producer” and “parasite,” ignoring the fact that everything he’s ever “produced” was reliant on a huge, coordinated effort between workers, architects, accountants, middlemen, and others, all of whom, in conjunction, contributed more to the realization of his dreams that he ever could have alone. Rather than realizing his own position is more parasitic and reliant on other people’s labor than that of anyone else in Rapture, he adheres to his doctrine of selfishness even when it’s not reflective of reality and is ruining the the lives of an entire city of people. He deludes himself into believing he’s a superman among ants instead of one flawed man who is reliant on the goodwill of others to help him survive, as are we all.

House, too, thinks he’s exceptional. Unlike Ryan, he acknowledges the necessity of the worker to a functioning society, but while he’ll accept his reliance on that labor, he doesn’t trust the laborer enough to share political power. House knows he’s invested in humanity’s survival and the creation of a better world, but he refuses to consider that he might not be alone in this goal. He chalks up the existence of the Legion to fanaticism/the ambitions of a sultanistic dictator and attributes everything the NCR has done to greed, without it ever occurring to him that the massive harm these nations have done was partially motivated by the same goals he’s devoted himself to - and that the atrocities he’s committed since his rise to power are, in some respects, very similar. House knows himself to be invested in the well-being of humanity, but he’s too arrogant to ask himself if his methods are wrong or trust other people to build a new path, one that doesn’t necessitate his complete control over the land and people of the Mojave. Ryan and House’s worldviews are distinct, and their flaws, as highlighted by their respective narratives, say some interesting things about how each set of devs view power and the pitfalls of elitism.

Anyway. If you put these two men in a room, they would probably try to murder each other, and I think that’s great.

#Robert House #Andrew Ryan #fallout meta #bioshock meta #fnv #bioshock #fallout new vegas

[agermanadventurer]

Levels of Language Learning - how far have you come?

Recently I’ve read some questionable sources explaining the “A to C” scale and I thought I would just clear things up and make sure people are not misinformed when they try to estimate their progress. 

First it’s good to point out that this “A to C” scale is actually named “The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages” (it’s a handful) and is used to describe a language learner’s progress on a six-step scale (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2). There are actually three different tables for different uses, but I will mostly be referencing the global one, that is the one that’s more summarizing. If you want to take a look at the self-assessing or the qualitative tables (or if you just want to check my source) they’re linked at the bottom. 

Basic user : level A

A1 

At A1 you have learned how to introduce yourself and to answer personal questions about where you live, things/people you like, and things/people you know. You also know some basic everyday expressions. 

This means you can interact with a speaker, provided they speak slowly, clearly, and are prepared to help you, a lot. 

A2

When you’ve entered A2 you can understand frequent expressions that are of the most immediate relevance to your everyday life (ex. groceries, shopping, basic information about family and personal life, locations). You can hold a simple conversation where you can in simple terms exchange information about your everyday life and things that are familiar to you.

Independent user : level B

B1

B1 language learners can understand the main idea of clear input (listening and reading) regarding familiar and relevant matters, as well as being able to deal with some situations likely to arise when traveling to an area where the language is spoken. Can describe experiences, events, dreams, hopes, and ambitions as well as give brief explanations for opinions and plans. 

B2

Can understand the main idea of a complex text about both concrete and abstract topics, including your topics of specialisation. Can interact to some degree of fluency with native speakers without putting strain on either party. Can write clear and detailed texts on a wide range of topics and from different viewpoints and perspectives. 

Proficient user : level C

C1

Can understand a variety of long texts that are more demanding and recognise meaning that is implied. Is able speak fluently and spontaneously without obvious searching for expressions. Language can be used flexibly for social, academic, and professional purposes. Can produce a well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects. 

C2

Can with ease understand virtually any input. Is able to summarise information from both written and spoken sources and make reconstructed arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Can express oneself fluently, with ease and precision and being able to differentiate shades of meaning even in a complex situation. 

Sources Official site The table referenced above: Global scale Choose language and look at the self-assessment grid Assess your progress quality with the qualitative table 

#langblr #cefr #language learning #learning german #deutsch lernen #german #deutsch #deutsch langblr #german langblr

[vegan-and-sara]

Full article:

By Drew Harwell and Eva Dou

Dec. 8, 2020 at 7:30 a.m. PST

The Chinese tech giant Huawei has tested facial recognition software that could send automated “Uighur alarms” to government authorities when its camera systems identify members of the oppressed minority group, according to an internal document that provides further details about China’s artificial-intelligence surveillance regime.

A document signed by Huawei representatives — discovered by the research organization IPVM and shared exclusively with The Washington Post — shows that the telecommunications firm worked in 2018 with the facial recognition start-up Megvii to test an artificial-intelligence camera system that could scan faces in a crowd and estimate each person’s age, sex and ethnicity.

If the system detected the face of a member of the mostly Muslim minority group, the test report said, it could trigger a “Uighur alarm” — potentially flagging them for police in China, where members of the group have been detained en masse as part of a brutal government crackdown. The document, which was found on Huawei’s website, was removed shortly after The Post and IPVM asked the companies for comment.

Such technology has in recent years gained an expanding role among police departments in China, human rights activists say. But the document sheds new light on how Huawei, the world’s biggest maker of telecommunications equipment, has also contributed to its development, providing the servers, cameras, cloud-computing infrastructure and other tools undergirding the systems’ technological might.

John Honovich, the founder of IPVM, a Pennsylvania-based company that reviews and investigates video-surveillance equipment, said the document showed how “terrifying” and “totally normalized” such discriminatory technology has become.

“This is not one isolated company. This is systematic,” Honovich said. “A lot of thought went into making sure this ‘Uighur alarm’ works.”

Huawei and Megvii have announced three surveillance systems using both companies’ technology in the past couple years. The Post could not immediately confirm if the system with the “Uighur alarm” tested in 2018 was one of the three currently for sale.

Both companies have acknowledged the document is real. Shortly after this story published Tuesday morning, Huawei spokesman Glenn Schloss said the report “is simply a test and it has not seen real-world application. Huawei only supplies general-purpose products for this kind of testing. We do not provide custom algorithms or applications.”

Also after publication, a Megvii spokesman said the company’s systems are not designed to target or label ethnic groups.

Chinese officials have said such systems reflect the country’s technological advancement, and that their expanded use can help government responders and keep people safe. But to international rights advocates, they are a sign of China’s dream of social control — a way to identify unfavorable members of society and squash public dissent. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

First she survived a Uighur internment camp. Then she made it out of China.      

Artificial-intelligence researchers and human rights advocates said they worry the technology’s development and normalization could lead to its spread around the world, as government authorities elsewhere push for a fast and automated way to detect members of ethnic groups they’ve deemed undesirable or a danger to their political control.

Maya Wang, a China senior researcher at the advocacy group Human Rights Watch, said the country has increasingly used AI-assisted surveillance to monitor the general public and oppress minorities, protesters and others deemed threats to the state.

“China’s surveillance ambition goes way, way, way beyond minority persecution,” Wang said, but “the persecution of minorities is obviously not exclusive to China. … And these systems would lend themselves quite well to countries that want to criminalize minorities.”

Trained on immense numbers of facial photos, the systems can begin to detect certain patterns that might differentiate, for instance, the faces of Uighur minorities from those of the Han majority in China. In one 2018 paper, “Facial feature discovery for ethnicity recognition,” AI researchers in China designed algorithms that could distinguish between the “facial landmarks” of Uighur, Korean and Tibetan faces.

But the software has sparked major ethical debates among AI researchers who say it could assist in discrimination, profiling or punishment. They argue also that the system is bound to return inaccurate results, because its performance would vary widely based on lighting, image quality and other factors — and because the diversity of people’s ethnicities and backgrounds is not so cleanly broken down into simple groupings.

Such ethnicity-detection software is not available in the United States. But algorithms that can analyze a person’s facial features or eye movements are increasingly popular in job-interview software and anti-cheating monitoring systems.

Clare Garvie, a senior associate at Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology who has studied facial recognition software, said the “Uighur alarm” software represents a dangerous step toward automating ethnic discrimination at a devastating scale.

“There are certain tools that quite simply have no positive application and plenty of negative applications, and an ethnic-classification tool is one of those,” Garvie said. “Name a human rights norm, and this is probably violative of that.”

Huawei and Megvii are two of China’s most prominent tech trailblazers, and officials have cast them as leaders of a national drive to reach the cutting edge of AI development. But the multibillion-dollar companies have also faced blowback from U.S. authorities, who argue they represent a security threat to the United States or have contributed to China’s brutal regime of ethnic oppression.

Eight Chinese companies, including Megvii, were hit with sanctions by the U.S. Commerce Department last year for their involvement in “human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance” against Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups.

The U.S. government has also issued sanctions against Huawei, banning the export of U.S. technology to the company and lobbying other countries to exclude its systems from their telecommunications networks.

Huawei, a hardware behemoth with equipment and services used in more than 170 countries, has surpassed Apple to become the world’s second-biggest maker of smartphones and is pushing to lead an international rollout of new 5G mobile networks that could reshape the Internet.

And Megvii, the Beijing-based developer of the Face Plus Plus system and one of the world’s most highly valued facial recognition start-ups, said in a public-offering prospectus last year that its “city [Internet of Things] solutions,” which include camera systems, sensors and software that government agencies can use to monitor the public, covered 112 cities across China as of last June.

The “Uighur alarm” document obtained by the researchers, called an “interoperability test report,” offers technical information on how authorities can align the Huawei-Megvii systems with other software tools for seamless public surveillance.

The system tested how a mix of Megvii’s facial recognition software and Huawei’s cameras, servers, networking equipment, cloud-computing platform and other hardware and software worked on dozens of “basic functions,” including its support of “recognition based on age, sex, ethnicity and angle of facial images,” the report states. It passed those tests, as well as another in which it was tested for its ability to support offline “Uighur alarms.”

The test report also said the system was able to take real-time snapshots of pedestrians, analyze video files and replay the 10 seconds of footage before and after any Uighur face is detected.

The document did not provide information on where or how often the system is used. But similar systems are used by police departments across China, according to official documents reviewed last year by the New York Times, which found one city system that had scanned for Uighur faces half a million times in a single month.

Jonathan Frankle, a deep-learning researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, said such systems are clearly becoming a priority among developers willing to capitalize on the technical ability to classify people by ethnicity or race. The flood of facial-image data from public crowds, he added, could be used to further develop the systems’ precision and processing power.

“People don't go to the trouble of building expensive systems like this for nothing,” Frankle said. “These aren't people burning money for fun. If they did this, they did it for a very specific reason in mind. And that reason is very clear.”

It’s less certain whether ethnicity-detecting software could ever take off outside the borders of a surveillance state. In the United States and other Western-style democracies, the systems could run up against long-established laws limiting government searches and mandating equal protection under the law.

Police and federal authorities in the United States have shown increasing interest in facial recognition software as an investigative tool, but the systems have sparked a fierce public backlash over their potential bias and inaccuracies, and some cities and police forces have opted to ban the technology outright.

Such technologies could, however, find a market among international regimes somewhere in the balance between Chinese and American influence. In Uganda, Huawei facial recognition cameras have already been used by police and government officials to surveil protesters and political opponents.

“If you’re willing to model your government and run your country in that way,” Frankle said, “why wouldn’t you use the best technology available to exert control over your citizens?”

Discrimination against Uighurs has long been prevalent in the majority-Han Chinese population. In the Xinjiang region of northwestern China, authorities have cited sporadic acts of terrorism as justification for a harsh crackdown starting in 2015 that has drawn condemnation from the United States and other Western nations. Scholars estimate more than 1 million Uighurs have been detained in reeducation camps, with some claims of torture.

U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien called the repressive treatment of minority groups in Xinjiang “something close to” genocide, in an online event hosted by the Aspen Institute in October.

Under international pressure, Xinjiang authorities announced last December that all reeducation “students” had graduated, though some Uighurs have since reported that they were forced to agree to work in factories or risk a return to detention. Xinjiang authorities say all residents work of their own free will.

The U.S. government has banned the import of certain products from China on the basis that they could have been made by forced labor in Xinjiang.

One of the Huawei-Megvii systems offered for sale after the “Uighur alarm” test, in June 2019, is advertised as saving local governments digital storage space by saving images in a single place.

Two other systems, said to use Megvii’s surveillance software and Huawei’s Atlas AI computing platform, were announced for sale in September. Both were described as “localization” of the products using Huawei chips and listed for sale “only by invitation.” Marketing materials for one of those systems say it was used by authorities in China’s southern Guizhou province to catch a criminal.

Some things people outside of China can do to help:

Folks in the US: contact your house representative and your state senators. Demand that they support the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019 (H.R. 649), and that they take further action against the genocide in Xinjiang. You can even link this article or copy and paste paragraphs (with citation) in your email if writing is intimidating for you.

Folks from most countries can write to your ambassador in China.

Avoid buying from companies that use Uighur slave labor.

Read the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s analysis of slave labor and re-education camps in Xinjiang.

Boycott the Beijing 2022 Olympics.

#islamophobia #uighur genocide #china #huawei #beijing 2022

[alliroe]

          ❛ ✶ ( ZOEY DEUTCH , CIS FEMALE , SHE / HER ) . who the hell is blasting KIDS by MGMT at one in the morning ? nevermind , that’s just ALLISON ‘ALLI’ MONROE from 1213 . apparently , they are a TWENTY-THREE year old CIVIL ENGINEER from CLEVELAND, OH , and they’ve been living at the complex for ONE YEAR . i heard they can be a bit - AIMLESS , but they make up for it by being so + ADAPTIVE — which makes sense , considering that they are a LEO ! when i think of them , i imagine HALF DEAD PLANTS YOU BOUGHT FOR THE AESTHETIC BUT ARE TOO LAZY TO TAKE CARE OF, OVERSIZED MEN’S FLANNEL SHIRTS YOU PRETEND ARE FROM A NON-EXISTENT EX, & A WELL-TABBED STEEL MANUAL THAT ONLY GETS USED AS A HARD SURFACE WHEN YOUR LAPTOP OVERHEATS . and of course , don’t forget to follow them at ( @ALLI_ROE ) ! ooc . ollie , 22 , est , they / them .

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘

— allison jane monroe was born and raised just outside the city of cleveland in ohio the unscented candle state. like the culture of all rustbelt, blue collar cities she was raised on the ideals of hard work pays off and yadda yadda yadda, you know the whole spiel.

— she had a rather mundane childhood. honestly, if you asked her, she would say much of her entire life was and still is mundane and it wouldn’t be far from the truth. her parents were happily married, they made enough to keep the family comfortable but she hardly got everything she wanted. they raised her with a firm but fair hand, and while she wasn’t the daughter who was best friends with her parents, they had a positive enough relationship. she started working at an ice cream stand when she turned sixteen to make some money of her own, and because you learn the most life lessons about humility and patience working retail or in the food industry. her first car was some beat up red sudan almost as old as she was that she bought for $1500.

— academically, she did extremely well, always a bright child even if she didn’t always fully apply herself. she wasn’t the valedictorian or the salutatorian of her class, but she was pretty highly ranked. she couldn’t really tell you why she ended up picking civil engineering as her major at university of michigan - ann arbor, either, only that she didn’t get into most of the ivy leagues her parents had expected her too ( and frankly, she had expected to as well ). it was a wake up call, but not in the sense that it made her put down her head and work harder. no... instead she realized that maybe she didn’t have to be the best because what did it really amount to anyway.

— and so she went through college, doing well in some classes, just mediocre in others ( and in a couple just downright awful — fuck you, differential equations ). she did just enough to stay slightly above average. perhaps she could’ve been in the top percentiles if she just applied herself more, but she never saw reason to. there was a time when she had a plan for her life, but that slowly eroded until she was just thinking about what she had to do next. honestly, if there was anything she learned in college from all those guest speakers it was the fact that you can’t plan life, so why should she ??

— when all was said an done, she graduated from umich with a degree in civil engineering and went off to work for a well-known civil engineering firm that specialized in designing bridges ( a position in part secured by her work for them the previous summer as an intern ). she moved to queens after graduation to work in their new york office and it’s been that way for over a year now.

𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐂.

— though she makes more than enough money, she honestly still lives like she’s on a college budget. so she’s saving a good chunk of money. for what ?? she couldn’t say.

— early in her childhood she tried to get people to call her ‘al’ and then ‘roe’ but neither of them stuck and people just call her alli which she secretly thinks is too boring but is too lazy to do anything about it.

— desperately wants to be the aesthetic pinterest girl but in practice is way too lazy for that. has killed so many plants because she just forgets to water them.

— unironically plays poly bridge 2 all the time. thinks it’s hilarious.

— she genuinely does like her job enough. she doesn’t think it’s her absolutely dream but she likes what she does, who she works with, and finds it incredibly satisfying work. she’s still got a long ways to go to become professionally licensed, her status now as just an engineer in training.

— honestly kinda needs to be mommed but absolutely hates when people tell her what to do. fiercely independent & rarely asks for help with anything ( even when she clearly needs it ).

— work attire is business casual, but personal style is probably just oversized hoodies or flannels, skinny jeans, and converse. summer style just doesn’t exist...whatever is coolest in the heat. loves thrift stores for everything but shoes. she believes in buying high quality shoes.

— she played field hockey through high school and college. and still tries her best to look Fit.

— eats brownie batter out of the bowl, hates rain but loves snow, and enjoys riding the metro to work a lot because it makes her feel a part of the world.

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘

— alli is a confident girl who likes to give the sense that she knows exactly what she’s doing with her life when in fact she truly does not. not so deep down she truly envies people who know who they are, what they want, & have things they’re incredibly passionate about, because she feels she still doesn’t quite know who she is. in some ways she is very much the image of success ( her paychecks could definitely prove that ), but she’s really struggling with the personal side of her life.

— chaotic good. chaotic bisexual.

— she says what comes to mind and has a dry, sarcastic sense of humor. while she may feel like she has no idea who she is, at the same time she doesn’t feel the need to act ‘special’ for anyone.

— definitely the type to just roll with the punches. not a whole lot phases her and hasn’t since she gave up having a ‘life plan.’ she has been told she has very little ambition, but that’s just because she isn’t sure where she wants to go. her leadership skills are surprisingly very good when there’s a clear goal to reach.

— alli is quite down-to-earth and works in reality. sometimes this works against her, because she doesn’t dare to dream big enough.

— kinda likes the idea of love but isn’t the type to go out of her way to look for it and honestly can’t truly see herself in a relationship. if someone takes an interest in her cool, but otherwise she isn’t interested — or at least she thinks. if you pried deep enough, she’s lonely, but she’ll never admit it. loves her friends and secretly hates when they start dating because she feels she gets left behind, though she’s happy for them as long as they’re happy — truly.

𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒

         dancing in the kitchen to music through your headphones at 2 am, old oversized t-shirts from a million running races, driving over the curb on accident and laughing it off, hating the rain when you’re in it but loving to watch it out your window, eating ice cream straight out of the container, worn & faded converse you refuse to throw out, walking through salvage stores and buying nothing,

𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

         i always like to vibe, but i think with alli especially i’d like to work off ooc and ic chemistry. i’d love to plot something unique going off your chara’s intro and our ooc interactions.

𝐎𝐎𝐂

         hello friends !! i’m ollie. 22 & they / them pronouns. est tz & i regret to inform you i am in fact writing this from ohio, the unscented candle state 😔😔😔. i also enjoy hockey greatly even if the nhl is a piece of Shit™ rn and always. alli is a new chara of mine and honestly i think she’s just gunna be a chaotic mence... can’t wait to write with you all !!

#astoria.intro

[lia-jones]

Growing Stronger - Chapter Twenty-Four - Olives and Handkerchiefs

My great-grandfather was nothing if not a man of vision. Having grown up in extreme poverty, he spent his childhood days begging and stealing vegetables and fruit from other peoples’ orchards and farms so he could feed his family. His dream was to own land that would reach as far as the eye could see, and build it up with trees and animals, so food could be grown there, and no one in his family would have to starve ever again. So, when he became a man, he did everything he could to make that dream come true. Because he was too poor to go to school, he couldn’t read--only do some basic math--so he taught himself. A lonely tailor taught him his trade and provided him with enough knowledge to try and make a life for himself. He went to Oporto to work as a tailor for the elite.

My grandmother said he never stopped working for a single day, even when he was married and the father of five children: two girls and three boys. And finally, when my grandmother, the oldest of all the children, turned fifteen, he had finally saved enough to buy the land he had dreamed of. It wasn’t perhaps as grand as his ambition would have had it, but even so, vast enough so that, after it was filled with trees and animals, it could feed an entire village.

Unfortunately, my great grandfather’s dream was short-lived. Fate would have it that, while traveling to the city with his wife to buy provisions, he would lose the control of the wagon, ending his life and his wife’s at the bottom of a cliff. My grandmother was left an orphan, with four other mouths to feed, and a huge piece of land that she had no idea how to capitalize.

That didn’t stop my grandmother, though. She was desperate, and she had a determination that would be very much alive inside of her until the day she dies. Understanding that pretty much everyone in the village was barely scraping by, she offered her land to feed the small village provided she had the help necessary to feed her own family. The neighbor lands struggled to bloom due to the lack of water, so she worked her own land so the spring in her field would water all the other plantations, and, in time, she created the amazing farm she had in the present day, devoted to the production of high-grade olive oil. To that day, one week a year, there would be a large celebration on her farm, and all the villagers would help harvest her olives, thanking her for the cooperation of years ago.

It’s said my mother’s family blood makes strong women, and so far that was true. My grandmother raised an entire village on her own, my mother left the village to become a notorious therapist and researcher, and I… had been abused by a violent prick. Obviously I didn’t get the strong gene. And that made my family worry for me. Although no one ever blamed me for anything, I couldn’t help but feel like the ugly duckling. Even though I knew my family loved me to pieces, they couldn’t help but look at me with sorrow in their eyes, sad I wasn’t strong enough to fight an abusive man.

As I drove with Victor to my grandmother’s farm, I felt like things could be different now. I had finished my doctorate with the highest praise, had a good job as a researcher in a good institution, and was dating a great man. Maybe this time I could prove my worth to my grandmother, show her I was worthy of the Collaço name. The thought was as exciting as it was terrifying.

“So, garfo means fork.” Victor closed his Portuguese for Foreigners book, seeing if he had all those words memorized.

“Yes.”

“ Foca means knife.” He looked at me for approval. I laughed. He glared at me.

“ Foca means seal. The word you want is faca. ” I kept my eyes trained on the road, as I drove us to my grandmother’s farm.

“ Faca. ” He repeated. “Glass is copo.”

“It can be a glass or any kind of cup. It’s the container that is used to drink liquids. It can be paper, glass. My grandma has clay cups.” I explained.

“For the vinho.” Victor offered. “Very rustic.”

Half an hour later, we were arriving at the village my grandma lived in. It was a really small village, with only a dozen houses, a pharmacy, a supermarket, and a small church. And woods all around, luscious green as far as the eye could see.

My grandmother was already waiting for me at her door when I parked the car next to my mother’s. She was her usual self, a serious expression on her face, all dressed in black, golden Viana earrings in her ears.

“My beautiful child!” She spoke in Portuguese, opening her arms to me.

“Hello, Vó. ” I greeted, embracing her. “I brought someone for you to meet.”

“Yes, your mother told me you were bringing your foreigner boyfriend.” She frowned. “Why do you keep dating these snotty boys from the city? Look at him, so polished, he looks like a candlestick! You need a real man, with hair on his chest and some meat in the bones!”

Victor smiled, oblivious to what was being said about him.

“ Vó , be nice.” I warned her and took Victor’s hand, bring him to my grandmother. “Victor, this is my grandmother, Bia. Vó , this is Victor, my boyfriend.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Victor shook her hand, speaking in Portuguese.

“Same.” She replied, eyeing him up and down. “Come, I’ll take you to your rooms so you can change your clothes. We have work to do.”

Victor looked at me to translate what she said.

“We are taking our stuff to our room, then we’ll go olive picking.”

As we arrived in one of the rooms, with a double bed, my grandmother turned to me.

“Leave your things here. You’ll be sleeping here with Cristina.” She ordered.

“Wait, what about Victor?” I complained.

My grandmother turned to both of us, her expression stern.

“It’s very simple.” She spoke slowly in Portuguese, gesturing so Victor could understand. “Girls in one room.” She made a circle with her right hand. “Boys in the other.” She extended the index finger of her left hand. To our absolute embarrassment, she inserted the index finger in the circle and started pulling it in and out. “No funny business in my house, understood?”

Victor swallowed hard as I watched all the color draining from his face, and then returning in a bright red.

“She said-”

“No need!” Victor interrupted me. “I understood clearly.”

“You, come with me.” She pointed at Victor and raised her voice, speaking slowly. “I’m going to show you your room.”

“Vó, he just doesn’t speak Portuguese, he is not deaf.” I scolded her softly.

“You and your mother and these foreign in-laws you bring.” My grandmother shook her head. “There is nothing wrong with Portuguese men, you know.” She then turned to Victor. “Come, Stretchy. Let’s see if I can fit you in one of my beds.”

It was clear that my grandmother didn’t exactly approve of the CEO in my life, and it would take her time to accept it. Knowing my grandmother, I knew she would test and push him in any way she could, and that made my stomach turn with worry. Victor, on the other hand, looked serene and confident, completely up for the challenge. That somehow eased my mind and allowed me to enjoy my time spent with family a little bit more. Everything would be ok, I told myself. We were not alone. My parents and Josh and Cristina loved Victor, and they would vouch for him. And Victor being his extraordinary self, it was only a matter of time before she would see what a true man of value he was.

We arrived at the field filled with rows of olive trees, ready to work. We geared up with gloves and a small saw to cut some branches, and started working on the tree my parents were.

“I see you arrived safe and sound.” My mother greeted us. “Andy, teach Victor how it’s done.”

“Ok, so you take the branch from its base.” I took a branch and tighten my grip somewhat nearest to the trunk. “Then you slide to you, pulling the leaves and the olives. Just let them fall on the ground. It’s ok if you step on some, but try not too.”

“I take the leaves as well?” He furrowed his brows.

“Yes, will we separate the leaves from the olives later on, with a special sifter.” I explained. “Give it a try.”

Victor pulled the branch somewhat clumsily at first, but soon he got the hang of it. My mom smiled with pride.

“We have ourselves a picker.” She offered. “Your grandmother will be pleased when she sees this.” Insightful as always, she quickly picked the look on our faces, and turned to Victor. “Don’t worry, she’s hard at first, but she’s a softie deep inside. Reminds me of someone I know.”

I stifled a laugh.

“Ok, this one is pretty much done.” My mom took a last look at the now almost completely naked tree. “Andy, you and Victor take the next one, we take the other next to yours. Let’s make this interesting for our entrepreneur.”

“You mean a contest?” Victor smiled, pleased with the suggestion.

“That’s right.” My mother clapped the dust out of her gloves. “The first to clean the tree, wins.”

Suddenly Victor, who seemed completely out of his element before, was now completely engrossed in the olive picking task, cleaning branch after branch with amazing speed. The look on his face was a focused yet relaxed one, and I wondered for a moment if he remembered that across the ocean, miles and miles away, he was a business shark, owner of a company worth millions. Not even his clothes would differentiate him from the rest of the group. He looked like a countryman, working hard on the land, taking pleasure from harvesting its fruits. And I had to say, it suited him well.

Across the field, a group of women chanting the Portuguese well-known tune.

“Ó rama, ó que linda rama,

Ó rama da oliveira,

O meu par é o mais lindo,

Que anda aqui na roda inteira.”

Soon, everybody was singing in unison, all busy disrobing the tree branches, including my family and… me. When I finally noticed, Victor was frozen, staring at me, a loving smile on his lips. I shut up immediately, blushing.

“Don’t stop on my account. You have a beautiful voice.” He glanced at me, still smiling smugly, as he took another branch to strip it clean.

I eventually overcame my shyness and resumed my singing with the crowd. After a while, Victor was joining us too, humming the tune.

“Stretchy, I have a job for you.” I heard my grandmother talk to Victor behind me. “Are you strong?” She unceremoniously pinched his arm. Victor seemed to understand, and he nodded promptly. “Tell him to help me take the olive bags to the truck.” She asked me.

“She needs you to carry some of those bags to the truck.” I translated. “Do you mind?”

“Absolutely not.” Victor turned to my grandmother with such a ceremony I almost expected him to salute her and yell ‘Sir, yes Sir!’. Instead, he stretched his arm, motioning her to lead the way. My grandmother eyed him up and down and scoffed, walking away.

A lot of men would be deterred by this. My grandmother went out of her way to show him that despite him being a successful and rich man, she was not impressed. Part of me believed that she was making him carry those bags only to break his back and prove her point. What she didn’t know was that the man I loved was as strong-minded as she was, and wouldn’t shy away easily from a challenge. Besides, the guy worked out on a daily basis, and carried me in his arms as if I was made of air. A bag of olives was nothing to him.

I watched them go with a cocky smile on my face, when I heard someone talk to me in Portuguese.

“Is that your boyfriend?” The old woman from the village asked. “He’s very handsome!”

“Yes, he is.” I quipped, unwilling to keep that conversation going.

“He is very successful too.” My mother chimed in. “A millionaire.”

“Andrea! You won the lottery! Gorgeous, polite, rich… Oh, just look at that…” She sighed.

And I did. The heat must have had the best of him, because he took off his grey sweater, and was now wearing a white t-shirt with his dark blue chinos, his sweaty muscles visible with the strain of carrying the heavy bag on his shoulder, the t-shirt rising slightly, allowing his well-defined abs to come to view. Seeing him like that made me feel suddenly very hot… And it wasn’t the sun.

He looked my way and smiled seductively, noticing I was all flustered on his account. I smiled back, letting him know I was enjoying what I was seeing. A second later, his face fell and he looked away, his cheeks turning bright red. I looked behind me to see what he had seen, surprised with his reaction. I then noticed the group of old women behind me, all of them also flushed and sighing as they watched my boyfriend go by. I took a fallen olive branch and waved it in front of her eyes.

“Let’s get back to work, ladies! Shame on you! You are all married!” I scolded. I heard my parents cackle in the tree behind me.

“Well, we are married, not gelded!” One of them complained, walking away.

“We can’t help it if he’s so easy on the eyes! If you have it, flaunt it!” Another chimed in.

“Oh, he was flaunting it, alright…” Another sighed, waving her handkerchief to cool herself.

I felt slightly guilty for being such a hypocrite, as I turned his way again and enjoyed the wonderful view of his cute butt moving as he picked one of those heavy bags from the ground. Easy on the eyes was an understatement. That man was hot as sin, and I was looking forward to getting burned.

I was startled with the sound of my grandmother clearing her throat, a look of disapproval on her face.

“We need you in the kitchen.” She said with a grumpy voice.

“What?” I stupidly asked, still dazed with the view.

“Is the sun cooking your brain? Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the girls these days! Get going!” She scolded impatiently, and I practically ran to the kitchen.

An hour later, someone rang the bell, letting the workers know it was time to place the tables outside for lunch. I smiled as I secretly watched Victor carrying some chairs, his bangs matted to his forehead with sweat. My grandmother must’ve done a number with him, but he looked happy. Point for Victor.

I started serving lunch to the people outside, lamb stew in clay bowls with a piece of cornbread on the side, and all the wine one could wish for. I watched Victor struggle with the lack of utensils, since the only thing he was given was a fork. I came to his rescue as I served the rest of the people.

“The meat is tender enough to cut with the fork, and you push the food into the fork with the bread.” I whispered behind him.

“Aren’t you coming to eat?” He turned to me.

“In a second. I need to make sure everyone is served first.” I patted his back.

“I’ll save you a seat next to me.” I heard him behind me, as I moved quickly to distribute bowls of food to everyone.

After everybody had a bowl of food, we placed the big clay pots in another table nearby, in case anyone wanted a second serving. I took some food for myself and went to sit next to Victor… Only to find my grandmother was sitting right there. Victor saw me coming and got up, so I could sit on his chair.

“Sit here, I already ate.” He offered, looking a little sad for not being able to sit with me.

“Where do you think you are going? You aren’t finished yet!” My grandmother pulled him down by his arm, speaking in Portuguese. “Marília, get another serving for Stretchy here!” She called another woman that she saw was getting up. “Got to put some meat on those bones, you are too thin!” She pinched one of Victor’s fingers, showing him how skinny it was. Victor paused, seemingly trying to understand the situation.

“Andy, sit here.” Josh, who was sitting in front of Victor, scooted to make room for me. “You don’t need to eat more if you don’t want to, Victor. Portuguese moms want to feed you until you burst.”

“It’s not much of a sacrifice.” Victor confessed. “The food is delicious.”

I sat down and started eating, observing Dona Bia and Victor. She still wore her stern expression, while Victor seemed to be in a good mood and perfectly relaxed. While she was going out of her way to show him she didn’t like him, he was dead set on winning her over. They were both stubborn mules, so I suspected we were in for quite a treat with these two.

After eating, I helped the other women clear the table and the men went to finish harvesting from the last trees. The next step would be the next day, separating the olives from the leaves, and taking them to the mill, where they would be pressed to produce olive oil.

It was already late in the afternoon when we finished washing the vast amount of dishes. My mother was already busy peeling cloves of garlic.

“Where’s Victor?” My mother asked me as I returned from the other room.

“I don’t know. Probably on some task grandma gave him.” I sighed.

“You know, we could really use him in the kitchen. He’d do this in a blink of an eye.” She showed me the garlic cloves she had yet to peel, a bored look on her face.

“He would.” I smiled, sitting close to her. “Let me help you, you’ll finish faster.”

“What are you girls talking about?” My grandmother entered the room. “You need to hurry with that, we have to season the meat with that.”

“We were saying Victor would be a great help in the kitchen.” My mother answered. “Where is he anyway?”

“Would he?” My grandmother frowned. “That would be a first. A man in the kitchen with the women.” She laughed.

“Mother, times have changed.” My mother scolded lightly. “Men can cook. And Victor is great at it. Got training with a known chef.”

“Men these days…” Grandma shook her head. “He’s with Josh cutting dead tree branches. Where he should be. Men don’t belong in the kitchen.”

I felt sorry for Victor, knowing he would be under the afternoon sun, working those sweaty muscular arms, bringing the saw back and forth. At least he wouldn’t mind the sleeping arrangements that much, he would pass out the moment his head would touch the pillow. And fortunately, dinner was coming soon. Provided we worked a bit faster.

After a while dinner was served. A vast selection of dishes, including Cozido à Portuguesa, Rojões à Minhota and Caldo Verde. As it seemed to be the rule, my grandmother was adamant in keeping Victor and I apart, so she put me on dessert duty, making the rice pudding and Aletria while they ate.

After my long journey in the kitchen, manning the stove, I was finally able to sit down and eat, chatting with the women washing the dishes. I wondered where Victor was, hopefully Josh was with him, helping him cope with all the new he was being immersed in. I was slightly worried he was hating it all, just enduring it to humor me.

“What are you still doing there?” Cristina interrupted me. “Where’s your skirt and handkerchief?”

“Crap, is it today?” I almost jumped from my chair. “Oh, nevermind, Victor is probably tired and not in the mood to dance.”

Every year, on the last Saturday of the olive harvest, the village would have a dance to celebrate the community’s spirit of mutual help and cooperation. My grandmother gladly hosted the dance, providing her huge barn for the festivities, as well as food and drink. But this dance had something special though: the men of the village would get together and pick flowers in the fields, and they would go to each house and offer those flowers to their women, who were waiting by the window, as an invitation to the dance, while they offered them perfumed Viana handkerchiefs, that they embroidered themselves. My grandmother insisted I did one myself, years ago, so I could give it to my future husband.

The tradition asked that the men wore a red waistband, and the women a skirt. I was rummaging my grandmother’s closet to see if I could find a traditional that fit me when she entered the room.

“Well, I guess it’s time I give you this.” She handed me the handkerchief I had embroidered years ago, full of flowers and a dove, and the words O nosso amor só vai acabar quando esta pomba daqui voar (Our love will only end when this dove flies away from here.).

I looked at the old woman in front of me, the stern look on her face gone. Only love in her eyes.

“You approve of him?” I smiled.

“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?.” She begrudgingly admitted. “Just don’t let him hurt you like the other one, do you hear me?” Her voice quivered.

I held her tight, tears spilling from my eyes.

“He won’t hurt me, Vó. ” I assured her. “He is a good man.”

My grandmother wiped a few tears from her eyes, clearing her throat. She had more in common in Victor than she would ever care to admit.

“Now go.” Her stern face was back in place. “Stretchy is waiting for you outside.”

I put on the skirt in a haste, not believing my own ears. But sure enough, as I left the room, I started hearing the guitars playing outside, and male voices singing the known song “Menina que estás à janela” (Lady by the window).

“Andrea!” My mother called, excited. “Look who’s here!”

There he was, in all his glory, and my heart stopped. Victor had changed clothes in the meantime, wearing a white shirt with black pants and the typical red band around his waist. Without a second look, he was a villager. He smiled widely at me, as I stood by the open window, stretching his arm to offer me the makeshift bouquet of wildflowers he had collected.

I ran to my room to spray my handkerchief with my perfume, the one I knew he liked best. I bolted downstairs to meet him, and without a second thought, I threw myself in his arms, my heart bursting with joy. He held me tight, a warm chuckle vibrating in his chest.

“Will you give me the honor of coming with me to the dance?” He presented the bouquet ceremoniously.

“How could I say no to such a thoughtful invitation?” I put the handkerchief in his hand, closing his fingers around it. His smile widened and he presented his arm for me to take.

As he led us to the dance, he looked at the embroidered piece of cloth I gave him, bringing it to his nose.

“It’s scented. Did you make it yourself?” He gave me a tender smile.

“A long time ago. Carefully kept to be given to someone very special.” I looked back, and saw my grandmother at the window, looking at us and smiling.

Victor pulled me to him as we walked, hugging me tight with his arm. A huge wave of happiness and affection hit me and almost made me lose my senses, drunken with his smile, and his scent, and his warmth. I didn’t know where the future would lead us, life could be so complicated sometimes, but I was certain I would never love any other man like I loved Victor. And now that he was finally letting me in, trusting me with the darkest corners of his mind, I felt that love so much more real and possible.

The name fitted him just right. He was a victor, alright. He had won my heart, and my family’s, and even managed to melt the hardest one of all. Not because he was ambitious, or cunning, or insistent. Because he had this immense light inside of him, and whenever he let it show, one couldn’t help but fall in love.

#Growing Pains - Series #growingstronger #mlqc fanfic #victor x oc #mlqc victor #mlqc li zeyan #love and producer #mister love queens choice

[thefilmfatale]

Always Be My Maybe and How to Ruin a Rom Com

There is an art to a good romantic comedy.

Let me preface this post with a confession: I am a rom com enthusiast. Go ahead, turn your nose up at me, you snobs! But I unabashedly love romantic comedies. Yes, I’m aware that the genre is much maligned for being painfully predictable and vapid, but it would surprise you how tough it actually is to produce a solid rom com that hits all the right notes.

You see, there’s a formula. Boy Meets Girl (yes, I’m being deliberately heteronormative for this example, put your pitchforks down). Girl plays hard to get. Boy persists and wins her over despite how much the lady doth protest too much. A conflict introduces tension and separation (”Gasp! This was all part of a bet?!”), throwing the relationship into jeopardy. Boy performs Grand Gesture™ to win back Girl’s heart. Girl forgives Boy and the two gallop into the sunset. Cue Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life” as the credits roll.

The formula works, but only if the filmmaker can trick the audience into believing that this on screen romance has real stakes. To do that, you have to have a script that at least pretends to explore an interesting relationship which, as it unfolds, gives the audience butterflies and makes them want to root for the star-crossed lovers. Without audience investment, you have no rom com.

To get the audience to invest, you need likeable leads who have great chemistry and just enough tangible sexual tension to create that air of “Will they or won’t they?” After all, no one ships a couple who are devoid of personality and lack chemistry. Most of this sexual tension is physical—in the way the actors interact with each other—but what can really help establish this is verbal, by way of witty repartee.

Think of some of the classic rom coms, like When Harry Met Sally. Why does it work? Sally is a Type A personality. Prim, proper, particular, and uptight. Harry is more laid back, casual, and candid— unafraid to tell it like it is. He’s also a bit of a troll who enjoys getting a rise out of someone. Throw the two on a road trip together and you have a recipe for romance (or disaster—however you want to look at it). As a viewer, you begin to root for them because we’re told that opposites attract and complement each other. Harry softens Sally’s rough edges, Sally helps Harry realize he needs some maturing.

And you all know the Big Gesture™. A New Year’s eve confession that inspired a thousand sappy rom-com speeches.

What makes When Harry Met Sally successful?

Harry and Sally are different enough from each other that there is enough sexual tension and push and pull to make their interactions interesting.

Each half of the couple has their own personality that feels authentic to their character. They have their own ambitions and goals. They also have traits and quirks that uniquely position them to attract each other.

The relationship does not seem guaranteed—the audience has to have a moment of doubt or uncertainty that makes them will the couple back together.  

Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal have fantastic chemistry.

It seems pretty straightforward. Follow the formula, and you’ll be fine. In fact, it’s hard to screw up a good rom com if you just imagine unconventional ways to put two individually interesting but opposite enough people together then lean back and watch the sparks fly.

So all this to say that nothing could have prepared me for the soul-sucking awfulness of Always Be My Maybe, the Netflix flick starring comedian Ali Wong (know for her Baby Cobra Netflix special) and Fresh Off the Boat’s Randall Park.

The story follows Sasha Tran (Wong), a renowned chef and restauranteur, who rekindles a romance with her childhood best friend Marcus Kim (Park) when her marriage engagement suddenly falls through. Tran is portrayed as ambitious and driven, while Kim is unmotivated and immature, using his widowed father as a crutch to not follow his dreams. In its purest form (this summary), the gist of the story seems fine. Nothing to write home about (certainly not novel), but this is romantic comedy and the bar is more of a footstool so no one’s begrudging sticking to convention. But Always Be My Maybe takes that convention and, in true Asian fashion, approaches it with textbook diligence that just sapped the joy and life out of what should have been a fun, light-hearted romp. So much for subverting Asian stereotypes!

Now I’m a fan of Ali Wong and Randall Park’s, but this movie was so mind-numbing, it made me physically ill. Ali Wong? Hilarious! Randall Park? Extremely likable and has great comedic timing! Together you would think they would be dynamite. Fireworks! An explosive affair of epic proportions! And for those of us who’ve had a hankering for a rom com with Asian leads (and God knows we’ve waited a long fucking time—thank you, Crazy Rich Asians) we know about the demand for one.  

Alas, what a disappointment. A telephone pole and I would have had more chemistry than Ali Wong and Randall Park. As much as it pains, I have to say that Always Be My Maybe just might be one of the worst romantic comedies I have ever watched.

Not only did this movie put two leads together who had zero chemistry—or at least enough sexual tension to help the audience suspend their disbelief that these aren't just actors—but the story unfolds in a fashion that actually makes the audience keenly aware of the formula. I know I said if you just follow the formula you can’t go wrong, but Jesus they didn’t have to make it so obvious! It’s like Fight Club, you know? The first rule of making a good rom com is YOU DO NOT MAKE THE AUDIENCE AWARE THAT THEY ARE WATCHING A ROM COM. I mean, at least try to approach it like it’s actually an interesting story about two people.

Instead, the movie followed story beats that seemed to exist for the sake of moving the story along instead of actually selling us on the relationship. The beats were so obvious that you can actually pinpoint where they begin and end because they were helpfully (and often unnecessarily) bookended by old school hip hop songs. Cue music! Here comes the conflict, the part where Boy and Girl rekindle their romance only to find that the years apart have made them different people. Boy judges Girl for being pretentious and obnoxious. Girl judges boy for being immature and unmotivated. A big fight ensues! Insults are hurled at each other that are so truthful they hurt! But it’s only a sign that they are meant to be with each other because they can trust each other to be this honest!

You know your movie is bad when your story beats are so obvious that they take the viewer out of the movie. You know your rom com is bad when Boy’s Big Gesture™ felt like a very clear When Harry Met Sally rip-off with dialogue that makes you want to get a lobotomy. There’s certainly nothing wrong with being referential or, even better, deliberately parodying romantic comedies. But Always Be My Maybe wasn’t really trying to be either. It was just stuck in this weird gray area of trying to be a romantic comedy and failing.  

Always Be My Maybe’s biggest problem is in its turd of a script. It was so cringeworthy, filled with inauthentic lines and tired Asian jokes (the joke about Asians hating tipping was played out to the point of exasperation). Even their attempts to make fun of woke culture (which is an effort I wholly endorse) felt contrived and flat, which is such a bummer because that would have been a cool differentiator. Even the promising jabs at the pretentiousness of haute cuisine were awkwardly executed. Most of all, it didn't do its lead actors any favors, turning them into cartoonish cardboard cut-outs that were designed to follow the formula of a rom-com without putting in the work to earn the audience’s investment. Performance-wise, Wong did a passable job, but there were times when it felt like she was reciting a line that was clearly more apt for a comedy skit rather than a piece of dialogue that a character in a movie is saying. Park’s attempt at faux awkwardness, on the other hand, was excruciating to watch. Couldn’t he just be a dude in a rap band who happens to live with his dad? That's a decent enough back story. There really wasn’t a need to give him a personality quirk that seemed put on rather than authentic.  

The film’s most promising moment was a Keanu Reeves cameo. And it’s only because Reeves was so game at poking fun of himself and the pretentiousness of celebrity that it worked. But just like the tired Asian jokes, at a certain point the humor was played out to the point where it became unwelcome. I also want to give credit to the film for portraying an Asian American upbringing that wasn’t the Fresh Off the Boat variety. While there isn't anything wrong with that portrayal, it’s also a treat to be able to see a different dimension of Asian culture, one that shows how typical and relatable it is to the average American’s upbringing. Premarital, promiscuous sex! Rap music! Being into pretentious food! Much as I hate to admit it, the whole “Asians—we’re just like you!” approach is kinda needed in film and television because it removes this layer of exoticization that can be restrictive to Asian characters.

While not tokenizing Asian characters is a positive, it still doesn’t make Always Be My Maybe a good movie. While I did watch it all the way to the end (despite my body’s vehement protests), it hurt my soul in ways I didn’t anticipate. How did they ruin this rom com? First, and most importantly, there was a shocking lack of individual character development. You don't get a sense of who these people are individually. Instead, they just seemed to be characters created for the sole purpose of putting them together and contrasting them enough to where they should have some sort of chemistry. But you can’t manufacture that. Each actor has to go through the work of making their characters likable. If I like the characters individually, I like them even better together! See how that 2+2 worked? But without dedicating the right amount of time and space in the story to showing their inner lives and what makes them tick, you’re setting them up for failure.

Second, and on a related note: there were no real stakes to the relationship. because setting up Sasha and Marcus to be together just seemed like a given from the get go. There didn’t seem to be any real jeopardy to their relationship, even once the conflict was introduced. The forced repartee between the characters came off like lines of dialogue instead of natural conversation, not to mention the very apparent lack of chemistry between Ali Wong and Randall Park. So much so that you didn’t really want to see them make out, let alone root for them to end up together. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you ruin a rom com.

If you, a friend, or family member just watched Always Be My Maybe and are experiencing similar symptoms of nausea and misanthropy, may I direct you to a Netflix original rom com that is actually good? Go check out Set It Up, if you haven’t already!

What did you think of Always Be My Maybe? Am I full of shit? Did you like it? What are some of your favorite romantic comedies? Sound off in the comments below!

#always be my maybe #movie reviews #Ali wong #Randall park

[thistransient]

obligatory retrospection, 2018

2018, what a mixed bag. It feels like it lasted an eternity. Did I really go to Okinawa in February? My first months in New Zealand feel like a vague and unpleasant dream. I definitely did not cope well with leaving Taiwan, which I had come to love dearly. I had a lot of setbacks in terms of mental health, and had to stop drinking and smoking weed entirely. Even coffee was off limits as I attempted to salvage my sanity, which was probably only achieved by traveling over the summer and seeing my friends again, although that too feels like a lifetime ago now. Back in New Zealand, I waited for my road-tripping friend, and (naively? optimistically?) assured him I’d be fine after he left, hahaha. Despite living on some travel magazine’s #5 rated island in the world , I’ve managed to forge an isolated life consisting of not walking in front of a truck  to and from work, laying in bed, and occasionally buying more bananas and oatmeal. This is not ideal. I put in my notice at work today. Kickin’ off the new year by quitting my job, huzzah! This one’s gonna be bitchin’, I can tell. Anyways. I feel like 2018 was a sharp and sometimes painful thing, but in this way it also cut a path towards true desires and a way forward. Insert something regarding that Cheshire cat quote about how if you don’t know where you want to go, it doesn’t matter which path you choose. I suppose now I know which one I want. 

Goals from 2018, mostly achieved! (wow)  -Get my savings account back on track It’s not quite as much as I’d hoped but after the next couple paychecks I’ll be happy enough -Maintain if not improve my current level of Mandarin I got so many hours of listening practice watching hundreds of episodes of Chinese TV shows, my brain will never be the same. Also started reading 漫畫． -Go somewhere with great stars at night Yeah, Onetangi beach wasn’t bad -Apply for opportunities even if I’m not confident I’m qualified  I did apply to that IELTS training job in Taipei (even if they never got back to me about when to come in for the interview)...and for the NZ visa even though I did NOT have the recommended savings... -Reduce my current belongings to one duffel bag and a backpack (not one suitcase, one duffel bag, a backpack, and a tote bag full of 10 kg of books) I AM CROSSING THIS OFF BECAUSE IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN -Stop lying to myself that drinking caffeinated beverages of any kind won’t make me feel like my internal organs are home to a dozen rabid ferrets for the next 8 hours while a sense of overwhelming irrational panic washes over me on repeat I religiously drink hot chocolate at work now and everyone knows it  -Engage in more platonic physical intimacy with other humans (or at least admit I need hugs) Check. Very much a check.  -Be…open…to…romance…???…!!!…??? (clearly I’m not too sure about this one)  On one hand I backed out hard when a friend I had undecided feelings for offered to take me up the mountain at night by scooter to see the city lights our last time together in Taipei, on the other hand I have discovered that there are many ways to love and be intimate with your friends that would be considered romantic by the casual observer even if neither party involved has any plans to kiss or fuck at any point (which seems to be, in the end, the only differentiating factor).  -Go to the sauna/hot springs My Taipei hostel boss took my coworker and I to Beitou for a holiday treat. She refused to be naked in front of us, and said that if she was going to the public baths, we had to get a private room, and vice versa, so that we would not cross paths. It turned out that one person couldn’t have their own private room anyways, for safety purposes. My coworker and I ended up sharing a tub. I’m an exhibitionist, he wouldn’t take off his underwear, but it worked out. The hot spring water was divine.  -Experiment with anxiety reduction techniques/chill the fuck out a bit ~ If anything I feel like I’ve gotten less chill and become extremely anal about anything involving dishes, soap, or cleaning. I am trying to return to a center of serene, supreme apathy. It’s going to take a while. 

Goals from 2015 /2016/2017 yet to be achieved: -Travel more in Ukraine ~ it’s gonna happen this summer, I swear -Learn to white water kayak ~ ...uh...not likely in the near future -Learn A2 Arabic ~ And yet somehow I’ve started learning Russian instead? -Learn how to do graffiti/street art This one I actually did, once I toned down my ambitions from murals to hand-printed stickers, which a friend put up for me in several cities around the world, so I feel “published”, as it were! -Set up a way to distribute my zine project Okay, I’m halfway there on this, I finally paid a guy who had access to some of the hard copies (three of them are missing) to scan them for me so I have digital copies, and had an interesting chat with someone about distributing them in coffee shops (yet to be acted on since I no longer have the hard copies) -Actively work on my French speaking/listening skills ~ does being exposed to Rick & Morty in French by a bunch of obnoxious backpackers in the hostel common room count... -Go to Xinjiang ~ ...uh...nah. So close and yet so far. 

Goals for 2019 - Make it to Australia and buy a car when I get there - Turn 30 in a country I haven’t visited yet - Keep improving my Russian  - Keep improving my Chinese - Finish the stream-of-consciousness autobiographical graphic novel I’ve started drawing - Start HRT - Do more linocut printing - Share less of my precious bodily fluids with parasitic insects (goddamn these fleas)

[garywonghc]

Are Manifestations & Mediums Of Bodhisattvas & Buddhas Around?

by Various Dharma Protectors

An interestingly phrased question arose recently – ‘Why do mediums not get any Buddha to answer their devotees’ questions?’ Before there is further confusion, we should be clear that the use of mediums is not a Buddhist practice. Instead, for Chinese culture, it is part of folk religion. There are naturally irreconcilable aspects of different religions, which is why they are different in the first place and remain so. In this sense, even if a medium of any religion claims to be able to ‘channel’ a Buddha or Bodhisattva through him or her, this is entirely frowned upon by all orthodox Buddhists with right understanding. The only exception is the traditional but very exclusive use of a few trusted oracles in Tibetan Buddhism involving time-tested and dedicated Dharma protector deities (who are not Buddhas or Bodhisattvas) for very special matters.

Even if there are some who claim advice from some mediums believed to represent Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to be effective, Buddhists should never consult their services. There are two kinds of ‘mediums’ – the false ones and the genuine ones. As it is difficult to discern one from the other, one might be paying (or contributing ‘donations’) while being tricked. For false mediums, there are again two kinds. The first are the downright fakes, who consciously put on theatrical acts to fool devotees to part with their money. The second are somewhat but not total fakes, who subconsciously auto suggest themselves, often also through peer pressure of those who believe they are special, to have the ability to call upon ‘higher beings’. Such ‘mediums’ are still false, even if they have no intention to deceive, and do wish to help others.

Despite power of the auto suggestable mind, that can even express seemingly superhuman feats of endurance, there are still obvious physical and spiritual limits. If a medium, say, is supposedly possessed by an ‘animal-god’, such as a ‘monkey’, why is he or she not able to climb and swing from trees, somersaulting like a real monkey? Unless… the medium was not really possessed by such a being, while being unable to fully auto suggest oneself to believe such feats can be done. Even if capable of some acrobatics, there is the puzzle of how a character from a fictitious novel can assist real people with real problems. If the Monkey King in ‘Journey to the West’ (which is not a proper Dharma text) was written to have learnt the Dharma, this begs the question of why, if he is real, his ‘mediums’ do not preach it directly, which would surely lead to full house classes attended by thousands.

Even if a medium is genuine, he or she will not be able to ‘summon’ the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas – as the enlightened ones never taught that they are summonable through any medium. In fact, in the Surangama Sutra (楞严经), Sakyamuni Buddha, our fundamental teacher, clearly instructed Bodhisattvas and Arhats who manifest in various manners in our world to aid us to never ever reveal their true identities while alive, at most disclosing who they are just before (or after) departure. While this might sound deceptive, the purpose of this is exactly the opposite – for preventing legitimisation of self-proclaimed identities for deception by anyone. Imagine if the Buddha taught instead, that all Bodhisattvas and Arhats should announce who they are to the whole wide world. Not that there are not already many, there would be even more with bold false claims.

Therefore, anyone who puts up an actual or virtual signboard (e.g. biodata, namecards, websites, posters, tickets, books, magazines) claiming oneself to be a Buddha, Bodhisattva or Arhat is directly not a true Buddhist, much less a Buddhist teacher or spokesperson for any of the enlightened, who are explicitly forbidden to claim any enlightened identity in our era. As the Buddha gravely put it, ‘Thus as I have said, is named the Buddhas’ speech [teachings]. Not thus as said, is Papiyan’s [Mara: the evil one] speech.’ (‘如我所说，名为佛说。不如此说, 即波旬说。’) Those who make audacious claims and remain in this world are out to gather fame and fortune. Such worldly ambitions straightaway render them spiritually impure. In some cases, false teachers have been influenced or possessed by Mara (or his minions) personally, to confuse the masses, and distract them from the true Dharma.

Genuine mediums, at most, can only ‘channel’ gods and ghosts. Even the duo can be hard to differentiate as there are some ghosts (or wandering spirits) who like to possess mediums to relay messages, while impersonating others. Helpful to some extent as they might be at times, and playful at other times, their advice is not ultimate as they are not enlightened – which is why they are ghosts. Even if a god possesses a medium, the messages conveyed are still imperfect as he or she is not a fully enlightened ‘Teacher of humans and gods’, a title reserved for Buddhas. Believability in mediums arises when they seem to know past events and current situations. This is simply because gods and ghosts (and some humans) can read the thoughts of their devotees about their past and present to limited extents, so as to give seemingly ‘relevant’ answers, that do not guarantee accurate forecast of the future.

Mediums are also surely not messengers of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as they are usually consulted only by non-Buddhists or confused Buddhists lacking in understanding. As such, the queries presented to them are usually mundane in nature, while they are never asked profound Dharma enquiries. Thus, these mediums are never ‘tested’ on their authenticity as ‘enlightened’ spokespersons. Even if not asked, they ought to speak more in congruence with actual Buddhist teachings, using more direct references from the Buddha’s teachings to further interest in the Dharma. For instance, if a medium claims to be able to ‘summon’ Guanyin Bodhisattva, he or she should be able to expound on her teachings, such as the Heart Sutra, with incomparable clarity, delivering detailed sermons often, instead of merely advising on worldly woes.

Mediums of the like above are also never dedicated students of the Dharma, for if they are, they would have come across the Surangama Sutra teaching, which admonishes assumption of sacred identities for ‘branding’ their ‘spiritual’ consultations. Some might imagine that since the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have great compassion, they should also manifest through mediums. Well, the enlightened will never go against the unequivocally stated Surangama teaching, as this would confuse us. Even if they really do help through mediums, they will never say they are the enlightened, which would counter that teaching. The Buddha’s warning against seeking (and being) such mediums is clear and indisputable. Even though Buddhists know others ‘borrow’ the statuses of Buddhist enlightened beings for medium practices, it does not mean this is agreeable. As these great beings originate from Buddhism, all should learn its true teachings to know what they really stand for.

The more one frequents mediums, the further one digresses from the path to Buddhahood. There would be greater refuge in gods and ghosts than in the ‘Teacher of humans and gods’ (and ghosts and all other beings). One might be asked to do practices against the Dharma too, such as animal sacrifice, which creates negative karma, aggravating existing problems. With possible addiction to medium advice for life’s issues instead of learning and applying the Dharma, this can stunt growth of personal wisdom. Most importantly, even if the advice is somewhat helpful, it does not lead to liberation, as gods and ghosts themselves are still trapped in the rounds of rebirth. With much proximity to mediums, especially those with access to real ghosts, the devotee’s karmic affinity with them might deepen, to further associate with them when being reborn.

Since summoned beings are unenlightened, they have greed, hatred and delusion to some extent. This means there might be a price to pay if their wrath is incurred, or if their expectations are not met. Praying to enlightened Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, there is no such problem. Since consultation of mediums does not ensure ideal results, and might even be dangerous, Buddhists stay clear of them. What is the alternative for those who wish to ‘look for’ deceased ones? As stated in the Ksitigarbha Sutra (地藏经), one can ask the Buddha, who has perfect compassion and wisdom, for help, before sincerely being mindful of his name. Connecting to his blessings, inspired answers will arise in the mind or in a dream so vivid that one will know it is not imagined. Mindfulness of the Dharma for diligent practice helps us much in everyday life too.

In Tibetan Buddhism, although some masters are believed by disciples to be manifestations of the enlightened, they never personally claim so. Even H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama, the most popular Tibetan Buddhist teacher, when asked if he is Guanyin Bodhisattva, says he is just ‘a simple monk’. If one comes across ‘teachers’ with repeated use of self-proclaimed titles of being such and such an enlightened being, or as a special earthly representation, it is best to keep far away. All authentic Buddhist teachers would follow the Buddha’s advice to attract the interested through the Dharma itself, not through such dubious marketing, which unfortunately easily attracts those uninformed of the Surangama teaching. Regarded as a ‘demon-reflecting mirror’ that reveals those affected by inner and/or outer demons, it must be used for self-reflection and for checking the integrity of ‘teachers’.

There are many kinds of false teachers riding on the name of Buddhism for easy gain of popularity. Some use many Buddhist terms and even speak of Buddhist sutras, mantras, meditation and such – for luring in nominal or new Buddhists who are vaguely familiar with them, to look credible, while reinterpreting them with self-concocted twists, throwing in non-Dharma in the mix that deviates from the real deal. This makes their teachings different, as if of a new tradition with exclusive ‘benefits’, while they are corrupting the actual teachings. Anything that radically differs from what the Buddha and great ancient Buddhist masters taught is almost always erroneous. Some claim to have special powers, such as being able to recall devotees’ past lives for advising accordingly – when these stories cannot be verified at all. This is how they stay off the hook.

They play mind games, making wide and thus safe guesses to suggest having predictive power, getting devotees to publicise only right guesses. Any open display of supernormal powers, not that they are real in the case of false teachers, that especially fosters the ego and distracts others from the true Dharma is forbidden by the Buddha. Those who display them are not true Buddhists. Pretending to be able to heal some is one of the easiest ways to attract crowds. If they are really so capable, why not directly visit hospitals? Any true physical healing does not lead to good rebirths or liberation from rebirth anyway. The Buddha was thus focused on being a spiritual over a physical doctor, as death is inevitable. That said, practice of the Buddha’s true teachings already can lead to natural healing due to eradication of negative karma that causes illness.

What if a ‘teacher’ who clearly flouts rules of conduct set by the Buddha seems to have some genuine supernormal powers? Well, even Mara (the most evil being in a world system) has some supernormal powers. Even ghosts, as above, can read minds. Thus, merely showing some powers does not guarantee truth of claims of being enlightened or a representative of the enlightened. It is no gauge of having real compassion and wisdom, while being bait for drawing in devotees. Since such powers can be demonically influenced, we must totally steer clear of such ‘teachers’, who might demonically influence us to be blind followers. Just as unexposed stage tricks, due to our lack of scrutinising ability should not make us think illusionists are miracle men, those who perform stunts in the name of religion should not simply be taken as real ‘saviours’.

With their bursting egos, false teachers tend to sell themselves through others, as being the ‘best’ teachers available, photoshopping to add auras of light around their pictures. With heavy international marketing, they can easily gather many of the faithful but deluded. Some use planted or incomplete ‘testimonials’ of those who ‘had’ semi-imaginary ‘healing’ effects with their ‘assistance’ to attract more. The more lavish packaging there is, the more should all be alert. The biodata of false teachers is also usually elaborate but upon closer look, is vague and untraceable to reputable and still existing people and institutions in the Buddhist community. Some appear monastic or even pseudo-monastic, especially those without a recognised lineage, or with one that disowned them. Some are established in worldly life, and tap upon this for popularising themselves as ‘Buddhist teachers’ – when these factors are not connected at all.

Some create spurious awards to praise and promote themselves. Some claim to have had special private instructions from late great teachers, so as to lean on their fame, while appearing to be their top disciples taking up the mantle. Some create fake histories through detailed (auto)biographies by their ‘devotees’, with outlandish claims of their ‘supernormal powers’ and ‘enlightened’ experiences, which cannot be proven. While ensuring such tall tales circulate, they cunningly pretend to be ‘humble’. Some even claim to have met the ‘enlightened’, who ‘endorsed’ them, which makes them their ‘equivalent’ or their ‘messengers’. Such ways of promoting the so-called ‘Dharma’, focusing on personal claims is wrong as the Buddha taught us to rely on the Dharma, instead of any personality. If a person is relied on in excess, one can easily be misled eventually.

How do the truly enlightened manifest in our world then? A great example would be Great Master Yinguang (1861-1940). Despite living a truly humble and frugal life, he was so awe-inspiring in conduct and instruction, that adheres strictly to the Buddha’s teachings, that he was posthumously conferred as the 13th Patriarch of the Pure Land Tradition by the Buddhist world, while being revealed to be a manifestation of Mahasthamaprapta [Dashizhi; Great Power Arrived] Bodhisattva. Never flashy, yet he remains prominent in his influence as an outstanding teacher. Remember – even the Buddha, who announced his true and full enlightenment, did not keep harping on his status, and let the worth of his actions and teachings speak for themselves. Egoistic imposters however, seek more attention for deluded reasons. Their demons are all clearly reflected in the great mirror of the Surangama Sutra!

#bodhi #bodhicitta #bodhisattva #buddha #buddhism #buddhist #compassion #dhamma #dharma #enligthenment #mahayana #mindfulness #monastery #monastics #monks #path #quotes #sayings #spiritual #teachings #venerable #wisdom

[driftingglass]

Kimi no na wa / Your Name Analysis Review

I wasn’t originally going to post this, since, these analyses are a lot more personal and I never really consider them worth sharing. It’s a bit messy, and just a stream of my thoughts after finally watching the anime film Your Name for the very first time. 

This is kind of long. So, thanks, @killushawn, for pushing me into posting this and sharing it on this site. 

Again, these are unedited and mostly just theories done without any additional research. My rawest thoughts on the film and what it entails. 

Also there are definitely spoilers. So, if you haven’t seen this beautiful film, please do yourself a favor and watch it. 

So, yeah. Here goes nothing.

Analysis / Review of Your Name

There are countless things to appreciate individually about Your Name, and not all of it has to do with the fact that it’s one of the most gorgeous films I’ve ever had the pleasure to experience.

I want to first discuss how this film operates in its combined, balanced usage of aestheticism with visual storytelling.

The art style is photorealistic and traditional in a worthwhile combination that, against all intents and purposes, shouldn’t work this well, but it does. 

There’s a certain candor to how its presented, from the sweeping landscapes that are conveniently zoomed out for our pleasure as the viewer, to the ever-changing sky that echoes the importance of time, place, and location for the two main protagonists.  

Again, of all the elements of this film that impressed me to the core, one of them has to do with the fact that, unlike nearly every other medium I’ve come across, I easily believed and grew attached to the world presented in Your Name.

This is, of course, owed to two major things: the blend of traditional and newer, more polished animation, both leading to an experience that dips easily between realistic and fantastical. 

The world of Your Name feels so tangible and real it teeters on the edge of mind-boggling, owed to these factors as well as the incredibly well-drawn features and mannerisms that differentiate the two leads from each other.

This is especially important because there should be definitive factors about them as people that show through their swapped bodies, adding not only a more authentic feel to the overall story, but a sense of relatable theme and lighthearted connection between the viewers and the characters.

Mitsuha’s actions and manner of speech are easy to pinpoint in Taki’s body, and vice versa.

Thankfully the animators and the immensely talented voice actors paid attention to who they were meant to be in the switched roles, creating a sense of realism and humanistic layering on top of everything else.

I was shocked at just how easily I felt like I could reach out and have a conversation with either Taki or Mitsuha, just from watching how they interact in their circumstances and within each other’s physical bodies.

Aesthetically, we are presented the polished, beautiful worlds that both characters thrive in—one encompassed mostly by family, togetherness, and culture (Mitsuha) and the other finding balance in a busy, bustling city with more personal and internal ambitions as an artist (Taki).

The characters feel very real and human, making it easy to connect with them and identify with them. 

Even the humorous undertones in certain scenes are incredibly wholesome, and expected when it comes to the idea of switching bodies with the opposite gender.

Mitsuha and Taki’s reactions to each other’s body swaps are hilarious and genuinely heartwarming in a strange way that I certainly didn’t expect. Maybe it has something to do with the mark of innocence and maturation from adolescence, and how that correlates between their experience and a rather unfortunate introduction to coming-of-age.

Now, taking these into consideration, there’s something truly immaculate about how non-pretentious and artful this film appears with such jaw-dropping animation and a story that, if done incorrectly, could come off as trite and uninteresting.

The animation does not overpower the characters or the story. To the strength of the overall film, it enhances it.

And this, is one of the greatest aspects of Your Name.

The ambient sounds, the gentle, wistful music that flourishes in its soundtrack, the way that each character walks and embraces each scene in accompaniment with the other factors of the film on a visual standpoint make it all the more entrancing.

The story and themes are a fine mix between realistic—in terms of emotion, nostalgia and experience—and fantastical—when relating to scenery, the mystical elements and the more controversial topics of dimension-jumping in space and time. 

Because it’s structured in this way, the visual representation, while beautiful and practically flawless, works as a bridge between what you would both ideally expect from a work of animation, and what you would expect from a work of live-action.

Film is meant to a be a medium of visual storytelling. And this film takes every element needed to make a film watchable and elevates it to unimaginable heights.

It is due to each combined factor of these elements that we are able to see the blossoming relationship between Taki and Mitsuha and a plotline that I’ve never seen done in this manner before.

I had no idea what to expect in terms of how I could buy a romantic connection developing via body swap—it sounds ludicrous.

And, honestly, the film is ludicrous, but that’s one of its greatest strengths.

It’s a work of balanced, human art with both rawness and polish, and this is just one of many things I adore about this spectacle. 

It feels like a true testament to youthful dreams, hope, and love, with special emphasis on how the journeys themselves matter apart from the themes and ideas taking place in the background.

Mitsuha and Taki, rather than fall into the traditional and somewhat overused anime trope of the love-hate dynamic between a girl and boy, make choices that instantly separate them from the demographic even in the first twenty minutes of the film. They bicker, of course, but the real charm lies in their communication to begin with, and how they quickly fall in sync with the actions and decisions they make when switching bodies.

And here, is where I found the film’s incorporation of technology and the emphasis on phones, in particular, to be one of its greatest strengths.

I think this is a good time to segue into what I thought about the film’s clear focus on the state of human connection and emotional intimacy, and how it was portrayed through both modern and older, more traditional ways.

The film pays special attention to how both Mitsuha and Taki are awkward, growing teenagers, and we are easily drawn into their dynamic because of how easily it feels that, in such a short span of time, we believe that they know each other well. 

The connection is palpable and richly brought out in their dialogue and messages left behind on their phones, creating a truly beautiful and wholesome relation that echoes to our generation of viewers with ease.

I love that the use of cellular technology in Your Name is neither romanticized nor demonized, but viewed for its practicality and shown as the sole bonder between Mitsuha and Taki in their rather unfortunate circumstance.

The attention to detail is, of course, mind-blowing, but I love how amplified and important the minute details are as well.

From watching both Mitsuha and Taki flip through their phones, engage with social media, and brush their fingers over the glass touchscreens… ah, it all flows on a wavelength that reminds me of just how varied and engaged people are with the world despite how opposite it seems to older generations.

This movie, at points, seems to be both its own intrinsic story, and a reflection of coming-of-age, natural romance and relational development. 

The way these two fall in love isn’t overly explained or even thrust into our faces as some ludicrous concept; it’s believable because we know, from watching them communicate, interact, and admire one another in both their own and in each other’s bodies, that they have a connection that cannot be matched equally with anyone else in their separate lives.

Now, these factors, while seemingly small and even insignificant to some, parallel much larger occurrences in a setting that doesn’t require disastrous things to happen. 

The story weaves a massive tragedy in its world to make the concept of two people switching bodies across the length of space and time seem all the more nonsensical. But, again, this is playing to more of the film’s strengths, rather than weaknesses.

Your Name, despite its relatively simple premise (at least, at first) expands so heavily in a visual sense that we’re greeted with amazing landscapes, incredible mountains, a fucking comet, starry evening skies, dawn, dusk, fields, busy cities and quiet roads alike.

It’s such a gift to be able to see the beauty in completely different lives take place, and to see the appreciation experienced from one person to another, just by living in their shoes for days at a time each week.

Now, the purpose between these two characters being the way they are speaks volumes to the intention behind creating this story to begin with.

The concept of possibly switching bodies with someone across the world, or close by, or, you know, switching bodies at all, is a terrifying concept. But, these two, while clearly raised in cultural differences and having varied interests (thankfully) embrace the process and use it as an opportunity to communicate with each other in a unique way that no one else can do.

It honestly makes me think of something much more mundane, but honestly, truly incredible. 

The Internet, social media, and the potentially easy connections formed over distances both vast and small, serve as a human reflection of what this film is delivering. Of course, it’s not nearly the same as switching bodies, which is the ultimate form of being required to experience through the other person’s shoes, but… there’s something equally beautiful about this, and how easy it is to take it for granted.

One of the words, actually, that came to me almost instantly as the film began, just from the scenery alone and one very particular thing that I’ll touch on later… was connection.

This film embodies both the fantastical and realistic forms of human, emotional, spiritual and intellectual connection.

In my opinion, there is nothing more intimate than understanding that piece of another person that allows that connection to begin and grow into something indescribable.

It’s miraculous, to experience a connection that you can’t grasp the meaning behind, and yet, somehow, those thoughts linger, and you find yourself drawn to particular people out of first sight, or first conversation, or other factors woven through other topics that could contribute to this argument.

The ending of the film, with the two of them consistently passing one another with that vague recollection of each other’s names (which I will also touch on later… since that’s obviously pretty damn important) reflects so many unexplained moments of Déjà vu and other instances that make you think: “Wait. I swear I’ve seen this person before. I don’t know how, but I have.”

Of course, I don’t believe in the supernatural elements displayed in this movie’s setting and story. 

But, the fact that the argument exists as a reality in this world that we get to experience, is wonderful to think about. 

It’s a romantic idea on its own, to think that these connections formed between people out of incredibly simple circumstances are borne out of occurrences like this, separated across time and meant to find each other’s likeness at some point in their lives.

The moment where Mitsuha and Taki find one another’s voices on the rim of the hollow, where the comet had struck, and finally see each other across the barrier of time and space… that, was one of the most breathtaking and emotional scenes I’ve seen in a film. And I’ve seen many.

The pacing, the music, the unbelievable joy you feel as the viewer being allowed to witness something so intimate and mythical take place on the edge of one world and the next… there’s nothing like it.

The animation was astounding in this scene, and the emotions were so vulnerable and believable with both Taki and Mitsuha. 

Watching them accept the terms of how they were meeting and agreeing to write each other’s names on their skin is something that just echoes trust, honesty, and love through actions and words as an assistance, rather than a replacement.

Now, since I’m getting way too excited to dance around this topic any longer, I’m going to dive into one of the most obvious (but undeniably fascinating) elements of the film: the literal, figurative and symbolic representation of fate. 

And this goes alongside the usage of the Red String of Fate.

I knew as soon as I saw Mitsuha’s red thread that it was meant to be a symbol for the symbolic Red String of Fate. Of course, this is to be expected in a film with this premise, but man, was I impressed with not only its subtle usage of this mythological element, but its handling of it as well.

I don’t believe in soulmates. 

I enjoy reading about them or studying the mythology behind the idea, as well as learning to experience it in mediums that make the idea in itself romantic and interesting. The Red String of Fate is used prominently in this film as a means of representing the connection between Mitsuha and Taki.

We see her call out her name to Taki on the train when she met him as a stranger, tossing out the thread and allowing him to take it in his hands. When they encounter each other again on the “Edge of the Comet” (that’s just what I’m going to call it), Mitsuha takes the thread from the bracelet around Taki’s wrist and wraps it around her now-cut hair.

It’s beautiful and intimate, and shows the amount of both conscious and subconscious care displayed between these two characters and their inevitably intertwined fates.

Something I noticed during these scenes, and this may be a bit farfetched, but I’m going to talk about it since it struck me while watching and now it won’t leave me alone.

The place where they meet officially in each other’s bodies for the first time—what I’ve now called the Edge of the Comet—was seen in earlier parts of the film as one complete, whole place. We’ve seen it destroyed, repaired, demolished by the comet, and even overgrown with breathtaking landscapes and people alike.

This place, when struck by the comet, is expanded into two melding circles. Two worlds inevitably colliding, one borne from outside the earth, and the other already there to begin with. Molded over years and years, of mountains growing from nothing and trees and flowers blooming from natural time.

The two circles overlapping, these constructs of one world meeting the next, to me, resembled the infinity symbol.

Of course, it’s not the exact same thing, but it adds some considerable weight to the scenes that transpire around these moments, with the two craters visible and showing just how impactful the story and interwoven destinies of the characters are.

... Or maybe it's just me.

Anyway!

The concept of infinity is an interesting one when considering the attention to culture, family, love and destiny in the overall film. 

The Red String of Fate, even, is often seen as a symbol of tethered souls connecting that breach the laws of logic, space and time. 

To think that the Red String would be breaching the laws of infinity as well, or somehow intertwining with it in some way, shape or form, makes the universal idea all the more interesting, and it stemmed simply from watching this movie.

It’s a truly incredible thing to think about, and even more so when considering how Taki goes through leaps and bounds to successfully prevent a natural comet disaster from killing countless people.

You know. The usual daily shenanigans of a teenager in Tokyo.

Now, I’m going to take this and shift it into something I loved from beginning to end about this movie, and again, it ties into the discussion of fate, dimensions and time itself being considered something as flexible and changeable, rather than concrete. 

The Red String of Fate and the two craters resembling an infinity symbol to me are only two of many scenarios I thought of while watching this.

There’s one consistent change of scenery that’s constantly brought about in this film. It’s both a stylistic experiment on the story itself and a visual representation of what it means to take a step forward and unknowingly testing the waters of new possibilities that you would never think of as possible.

I’m talking about doorways.

I’m talking about the sliding doorways, specifically, that are shown in heavy magnitude throughout the entirety of the film. 

Many obvious transitionary scenes in the film either start, end (or start and end) with doors sliding open and shut. 

This is prevalent in Mitsuha’s home as well as other notable locations throughout the film, especially as the story picks up.

But, it’s also an important stylistic choice when considering the train scenes—all of which are present prominently in both the earliest and latest portions of the film.

Doorways have always been symbolic in literature as an easy means of representing the idea of stepping forward, or into another world entirely. In fantasy, especially, this is very common, all the way back through old myths and legends. 

In this modern tale, doorways are relatively subtle in their usage, but when considering the concept of fate, destiny and time alterations thrown into the mix… you have an entirely new definition for the doorways in Your Name.

Destiny and fate are portrayed as still frayed paths of adventure and journeys between two people. 

Yes, they are connected by fate, and yes, they are contacting over the span of bending time and the laws of natural order. Yes, they keep one another in their lives, but it is due to their choices and the individual motions they make apart from each other.

This film brings about the thought of destiny still treading on the path of choices. 

A theory of fate lying on a thread, yet still woven through an intense labyrinth of decisions and ideas made by the two individuals involved that can either lead them to crossing their paths, or never fulfilling their “purpose” to begin with.

Mitsuha meets Taki on the train in Tokyo after deciding to go see him herself. She knows she must, and at this point we know that a strong, unique bond has formed between them through a connection unlike any other, through messages and decisions made out of their knowing, out of their control. 

In this moment, she knows who Taki is, and tells him to remember her name while removing the tread in her hair and allowing him to take it.

In this scene, she takes the bold leap through the door of the train, and then leaves with the same bustle of people after she removes the thread.

What would have happened if she never took that step onto the train to begin with? What decisions would have transpired from that moment? Would the same events still have happened in a similar manner?

What would have happened if he never took hold of the thread from her hair? If he never called out to her and asked her who she was?

A pretty glaring series of questions, in my opinion.

We have this moment again, flashing forward five years later, after Taki and Mitsuha changed the dynamics of their futures and altered their own destinies through choices that neither of them expected. 

They glimpse each other in passing, fleeting but unsure, wondering if those moments of slight recollection and meeting are remnants of fantasy or reality.

It still makes me wonder, even now: “If we watched this film in reverse, or just saw the ending with neither of them saying a word, what would the rest of this story appear to be? Would it still hold that same resonance of genuine love that we saw develop and grow? Or would it seem too farfetched to even grasp?”

I love how much this film makes me think, how it presses audiences to appreciate what they have in modern-day relationships and how we can use our technology to reach across the world and break new ground.

As a person who’s been betrayed and used so many times out of naivety and my own incompetence, to see something like this played out of pure love and adoration for the idea of two people connected across time, space, and tragedy, makes the overall appeal even more breathtaking.

Now, there is another important point I want to talk about when referring to the film’s thankful subtlety and handling of its own title.

I find it beautiful to think about the nature of knowing someone’s name, and to have the memories behind that person’s identity held in the palm of your hands. 

Mitsuha and Taki experience each other’s lives, quite literally stepping in each other’s shoes and growing attached to memories that aren’t originally meant to be theirs.

They know each other so well, without having the opportunity to directly speak for the longest time. This, in itself, is truly mind-boggling, and just emphasizes the importance of experiences and how they shape people and form bonds.

There's so much more to this idea than just romantic connotation. 

No, I do not believe in people being connected by fate, but it’s incredible to think how simple choices lead to certain friendships and relationships forming out of seemingly nothing. To think of how vast the world is, how many different people there are walking this earth, and how many different minds operate in existence…

The nature and beauty of life and human connection is celebrated in Your Name, down to the rawest and sincerest moments.

Thinking about this film today amidst the darker times in both life and the world brewing around us, makes me consider and mull over how thankful and glad I am to be alive, and to have the connections to both good and bad experiences and people.

Life, choices, and the concept of fate in general resemble a bit of a quilt, really, in all shades of colors and contorted into different patterns, scattered and messy beyond belief. Frayed edges, smooth turns, twisted knots and curling loops. Paint slathered on cords, shapes changed from triangles to squares and beyond.

And finally, an endless ocean of names of people we will never know, people we wish we knew, people we see on the other side of the world and dream of encountering, and people we have come to know thus far.

This is what Your Name just… does.

Not what it is. What it does.

And that’s just… amazing.

#Ramble #Long Post #Your Name #Kimi no Na Wa #Film Analysis #Review #Film Review #Meta #Personal Thoughts #Personal #Your Name Analysis #Analysis Review #Unedited #Raw #Red String of Fate #Destiny #Themes #Discussion #Analytical Review #Anime #Art In Motion #DriftingGlass #My Posts #Words By the Ramble #Doorways and Destiny #Fate #Love #Connection #Human Connection #So Many Thoughts

[fitjourneydaily]

The Ultimate Guide to Entrepreneurship: Starting a For-Profit Business with a Solid Business Plan

Entrepreneurship is an exciting journey that provides countless opportunities for individuals to realize their dreams and make a significant impact. However, starting a for-profit business requires careful planning and execution. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the key aspects of entrepreneurship, focusing on starting a business, developing a solid business plan, and utilizing effective strategies for success. 1. Understanding Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship is the process of identifying, creating, and capitalizing on new business opportunities. It involves taking calculated risks, being innovative, and having a passion for driving change. While it requires a certain level of ambition and dedication, entrepreneurship offers the potential for financial freedom and personal fulfillment. 2. Starting a For-Profit Business: To embark on your entrepreneurial journey, it's crucial to understand the fundamental steps involved in starting a for-profit business: a. Idea Generation: Identify a unique business idea by conducting market research, analyzing industry trends, and exploring untapped niches. Look for gaps or problems in the market that your business can address. b. Market Analysis: Conduct a thorough market analysis to understand your target audience, competition, market size, and potential demand for your products or services. This information will guide your marketing strategies and help you identify your target customers. c. Business Structure and Legal Considerations: Choose an appropriate legal structure for your business, such as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or limited liability company (LLC). Register your business with the relevant authorities and obtain any necessary licenses or permits. d. Developing a Business Plan: A well-crafted business plan serves as a roadmap for your entrepreneurial journey. It outlines your business goals, target market, marketing strategies, financial projections, and operation plans. A solid business plan also attracts potential investors or lenders. 3. Creating a Solid Business Plan: Crafting an effective business plan is vital for the success of your for-profit venture. Here are essential components to include: a. Executive Summary: Provide a concise overview of your business, highlighting its mission, vision, and unique selling proposition (USP). This section should spark interest and capture the attention of potential investors. b. Market Analysis: Conduct a comprehensive analysis of your target market, including demographics, buying behavior, and competition. Identify market trends, potential challenges, and opportunities to differentiate your business. c. Products and Services: Clearly define your offerings, emphasizing their unique features and benefits. Demonstrate how your products or services meet customer needs and differentiate themselves from competitors. d. Marketing and Sales Strategies: Outline your marketing and sales techniques, including branding strategies, pricing models, and distribution channels. Specify how you will reach and engage your target audience, highlighting your competitive advantages. e. Financial Projections: Present realistic financial projections, including revenue forecasts, expenses, and anticipated profits. This section provides a comprehensive overview of your business's financial viability and growth potential. f. Operations and Management: Outline your business's organizational structure, key personnel, and their roles and responsibilities. Detail your operational processes, supply chain management, and any strategic partnerships. 4. Effective Strategies for Entrepreneurial Success: To thrive in the competitive business landscape, consider implementing the following strategies: a. Continuous Learning: Stay updated with industry trends, technological advancements, and best practices through books, courses, and networking events. Continually sharpen your skills and broaden your knowledge to remain competitive. b. Networking and Collaboration: Build strong relationships with other entrepreneurs, industry experts, potential customers, and suppliers. Attend relevant industry events, join professional associations, and leverage online platforms to expand your network. c. Embrace Innovation: Identify innovative solutions to address market gaps, streamline operations, and improve customer experience. Embrace new technologies, such as automation and artificial intelligence, to increase efficiency and competitiveness. d. Adaptability and Resilience: Entrepreneurship often comes with challenges and setbacks. Embrace a growth mindset and be adaptable in the face of change. Learn from failures, pivot when necessary, and remain resilient on your path to success. 1. Entrepreneurship for-profit 2. Starting a business 3. Business plan 4. Entrepreneurial succes If you're interested in ways to Earn Money or exploring various methods to Earn Money, feel free to check out our website now! You can discover numerous opportunities to increase your income and learn how to make money efficiently. Don't miss the chance to explore exciting earning options on our platform. Read the full article

[rposervices]

8 Ways to Land a Job You Love

Every professional has the ability to land their dream job, however, this is not the result of random happenstance and rather the result of intentional and strategic efforts in pursuit of a position they truly desire. So why do so many professionals, especially young professionals, struggle to land their dream job? The answer is a lack of ambition and patience. After graduation, young professionals feel immense pressure to gain employment resulting in a mad dash to submit applications, schedule interviews, and expedite interview processes. Much the same, many established professionals sacrifice proper planning, preparation, and strategic decision making in lieu of speed, especially when their primary motivation is to leave their current position. Unfortunately, many professionals endure the arduous hiring process only to find themselves in an all-too-familiar, unfulfilled position at a new company. Both the recent college graduate and the seasoned professional can land their dream job by following these 8 steps: #1 Know What You Want Taking the time to clearly define what constitutes the dream position can make all the difference in landing one. Candidates set themselves up for failure when they accept interviews for any position, regardless of whether or not they would consider the role ideal. Most often, this happens when professionals have trouble defining what type of position they truly want and, in turn, blanket apply to any remotely relevant position they find. This leads to one of two poor outcomes: the candidate may apply to multiple positions within the same company (universally a bad sign to recruiters) or the candidate may waste valuable time interviewing for a position they don’t ultimately want. When candidates think long-term, have specific career goals in mind, and are committed to those goals during the interview process, they are doing both themselves and the companies a favor. Once professionals have clearly defined their dream job, they should tailor a professional resume to that specific goal so that hiring managers will consider them an ideal candidate for these open positions. #2 Be Ambitious “Be relentless in the pursuit of your goals.” -Zig Ziglar Candidates should never back down from a goal that seems unattainable or settle for a job they aren’t interested in. To improve their chances of landing a dream job, candidates should develop a clear mental image of themselves being a valuable asset at the company and effectively convey that throughout the interview process.

#3 Always Dress Up, Not Down Be sure that your resume is tailored for your dream job! With many companies adopting the modernity of a casual dress code, candidates are unsure of how professional to dress. Here is our advice: When in doubt, dress up, not down. Being the best-dressed person in an interview can only improve the candidate’s chances. This is applicable for in-person interviews and video chat interviews. Although interviewers may only see the top half of the candidates’ bodies, looking the part for an in-person interview will make a good impression andmake the candidates feel more professional. #4 Be Actively Engaged Although a common piece of advice is to come to interviews prepared with questions in mind, the best questions will be thought of throughout the interview. Candidates should practice stellar listening skills to think of follow up questions to points brought up by the interviewer. This shows genuine interest in the position and company. #5 Go Above and Beyond It is important that candidates differentiate themselves through minor details that less interested candidates wouldn’t consider. Although sending a follow-up email after the interview is common practice, candidates can stand out by making contact before the interview, as well. To further differentiate themselves, candidates can send a hand-written note to say they are looking forward to the interview before, and a hand-written thank you card after. Another way that great candidates differentiate themselves is to do an extensive amount of research. The research shouldn’t stop at information on the company website—it should consist of digging through the company’s Glassdoor profile, any recent news about the company, and personal details about who the candidate will be interviewing with. This is a great way to bring up talking points and make a personal connection with the interviewers. #6 Get There Early Candidates should always plan to arrive at an interview 15 minutes early. It is extremely beneficial to get there early to decompress, focus, and observe the energy of the office. This gives candidates a solid representation of the office culture and work style, and they can more easily determine if it is the right company for them. #7 Make Connections In the research and preparation phase of the interview process, candidates should look for common ground between themselves and any current employees. People love connecting over similar backgrounds or experiences, and building a connection with a current employee could result in gaining insight into the interview process and the company as a whole. Better yet, this connection could turn into a reference. #8 Have a Strategy and Follow Through There is no such thing as dreaming too big. If candidates are passionate about a specific role at a certain company, they should chase that goal relentlessly—but they will not be successful unless they are deliberate throughout the entire process. “Dream job” offers don’t come as a result of luck. In order to reach their goals, candidates must develop a plan and utilize every possible angle to win that position. Read the full article

[keyshafirafs]

Analysis on Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

This article is based on the novel and film Into the Wild. I decided to choose this literary work and start to analyze the literary work because Into the Wild is one of my favorite films. Into the Wild is a novel written by Jon Krakauer, an American author who focused on writing outdoor literature. He indites a lot of popular books, and one of them is Into the Wild, which has written based on the true story from a figure of Christopher McCandless. In 1993, Krakauer began to bring up the story by writing an article, Death of an Innocent on American magazine Outside, which focused on outdoor activities. After a couple of years, precisely in 1996, the novel, which is an expanded form the article was published and become an international bestseller book. Subsequently, after successfully achieving success as a bestseller novel, in 2007, this novel is adapted into a film with the same title as the novel. Sean Penn directs the film with Emile Hirsch starring the character of Christopher McCandless. McCandless’s death has become a polemic, whether he dies of starvation or poisoning, but the novel and film reveal the same reason for his death. In my opinion, the theme in the novel and the film are a bit different. In the film, the theme probably about a man full of desire looking for his self-identity through away in his mind, living in Alaska. But in the book, the theme might be about McCandless, who follows his ideology to live far from society.

Before going to the analysis of the novel and film of Into the Wild, I would like to give a brief explanation about the ecranisation process. The process of the shift of mode from a novel to a film is not a new matter. In Sastra Bandingan—a book that collects comparative literary analysis— presents various types of comparison in literary works and the process of the shift of mode. The concept of the shift of mode is part of comparative literature. A Novel becomes a literary work that considered to compare the reader’s imagination with the style of written language. At the same time, films develop the audience’s imagination with the form of images as the language. Novel and film categorized as fiction, but both of them have a different way to deliver the story through the audience (readers and viewers). A novel develops the audience’s imagination through written language. In contrast, a film develops the audience’s vision through the portrayal presented on the screen. However, there are some essential aspects of the process of ecranisation. The first process is the process of cutting. Second, the process of changes and the last process is additions. The process of ecranisation in Into the Wild has used the three methods I have previously mentioned. Here are the analysis between the novel and film of Into the Wild using the three aspects in the process of ecranisation;

1.      Process of cut; There is some cutting process that happens in the process of ecranisation in this literary work. First, the novel consists of eighteen chapters, while the film only provides five chapters. Second, in the book, there is a description when McCandless arrived at Bullhead City and stayed for two months (the longest time he stayed in one place). He works at a fast-food restaurant, surprisingly uses his real name Christopher McCandless instead of Alex (his new name when he begins his adventure), and gives his actual security number. However, when he does a full-time job in the restaurant, he has some trouble with his co-workers. It starts because his co-worker advises him to bathe more often, and another incident happens when McCandless’ quarrel with another co-worker because she offered to give him a soap. Still, in the film, there is no complete description of this incident. The film only shows McCandless has a job in a fast-food restaurant and be rebuked by his co-worker because he does not wear socks when he is working. Third, in the book, there are more depictions about McCandless’ life. The description consists of his childhood until his adulthood, yet the film only presents most of his adulthood. Fourth, in the novel, there is a description when Gallien gives McCandless a ride, and when they arrive at Denali National Park, he wants to give Gallien money and his wristwatch. In the film, the scene does not provide a complete description of who is Gallien. Gallien only shows up as a man who gives him a ride and gives a pair of boots to McCandless. Even the favor Gallien does when he gives his sandwich and chips to him does not appear on the screen.

2.      Process of changing; First, Jon Krakauer is the narrator in the novel, while in the film, the narrator changes to McCandless and Carine, McCandless’s sister, yet Carine is a dominant narrator in the film. Second, Gallien explains that the weapon Alex has was 22 caliber. Gallien believes that the gun is too small to kill large animals, whereas, in the film, McCandless’s gun does not seem to be as small as what the book has said. Third, in the book, there is a discussion about why McCandles does not make a fire as a sign so that an aircraft will recognize his existence and probably call someone to check. But after that, Krakauer states that he barely see any aircraft passing by. Compared to the film, there are quite a lot of scenes of planes passing by during McCandless in Alaska. The fourth change happens when McCandless also displayed involve in a romantic scene with a woman named Tracy. In the novel, Tracy only described as a girl who has a crush towards him, but there is no further explanation of what they do or the intense relationship between McCandless and Tracy. The fifth change shows when Krakauer writes that McCandless wants to make a new ID in Los Angeles by saying his real name to an officer, but then the film changes this scene becomes McCandless’ escape scene. Also, when the custodian who provides a building for the homeless to sleep asks his name, he answers it by telling her that his name is Alex, not McCandless.

3.      Process of adding; Additional process is a sort of modification made by the director to differentiate and gives a now touch for the film. The first modification in the film appears when instead of showing McCandless as the opening in the film, Penn chooses to show the scene of his mother waking up from a dream of hearing the voice of her son asking for help. Second, the film brings up the issues of family and showing his parents more often rather than the novel does. Third, the next modification shows when McCandless decides to paddle using a canoe. The book mentions that he impulsively bought a kayak when he was in town, he decided to paddle down the Colorado River to the Gulf of California, nearly four hundred miles to the south, across the border with Mexico. But the film presents this occurrence becomes a scene of McCandless visit an office to ask how the procedure to paddle, and the clerk explains he could not paddle because of his lack experience, and he does not have a license. If he wants to queue, the waiting list is twelve years to be able to paddle legally, without further consideration, he paddles illegally. In this scene, McCandless appears immediately bringing a canoe without any explanation where he gets the kayak. The fourth additional scene appeared in the scene when McCandless has a thought to contact his family, instead of calling his family, he gives his coin to a stranger in front of him. The director also modifies the film by presenting romance in the storyline, this romance scene shown from the love scene between Jan and Bob. Penn also adds new characters in this film. The new characters appear in the film are Sonja and Mads, who described as a traveler from Denmark. They meet McCandless while he paddles along the river, McCandless leaves in a rush because there are patrols show up looking for him.

In the book, the author tries to emphasize the figure of McCandless and his adventures, Krakauer also adding his point of view while tracking McCandless’s adventure to Alaska. The film presents the whole package of McCandless life, not only his adventure and his figure, but it shows the portrayal of his family and adding some romance in his journey. The difference I can feel when reading the book and film is, when I read the book, I can better understand the character of McCandless and his ambition. The depiction of McCandless is described clearly in the book. I can have a portrayal that he is not a person who likes to be around a lot of people, his temperament, and how idealistic McCandless is. At first glance, I feel like his adventure to Alaska is only a decision that was influenced by his unstable emotions. Afterward, I try to understand his ideology as someone who sees society as a cruel place. I try to understand the reason he often says that he does not need money in his life. He believes money is the reason people quarreled and misbehaved towards one another. I again think the firm intention that brought McCandless to Alaska is not motivated by his unstable emotions, yet the decision he made is an act he truly knows it is right for him.

I can assume that he is a naturalist because he is a big fan of Jack London, and the book written by London inspires his travel to Alaska. He also has five characteristics of a naturalist. The first is his trouble with his father indicate the theme of man versus man. Second, he does not want to live in society because, for him, society sucks; this can indicate to man versus society. The third, when he arrives at Alaska, he was mad due to lack of animals that can be hunted; this indicates to man versus nature. The fourth is when he has a portrayal of himself sitting on the bar and imagining if he blends in society. Also, when he writes, “happiness only real when shared” can indicate to man versus himself because he is sort of struggling with his decision coming to Alaska. The last one is when he does not want to have a phone, this indicates to the theme man versus machine.

In contrast with the film, I feel like seeing a young man with a big ambition trying to find his self-identity. In both literary works, McCandless’s cause of death described by the same reason. A poisonous wild potato is what causes his death. Although there is a debate that McCandless’s death is caused by starvation, Jon Krakauer believes that he died of poisoning. Jon Krakauer writes this book based on his research on McCandless’s journey to Alaska. This book supported by the letters McCandless writes, some information through people who have contact with him while he does his adventure. Sean Penn, as Into the Wild director, builds the film like displaying the adventure of McCandless through Candless’s perspective so the audience can have a lucid imagination of McCandless’s portrayal in his adventure and death.

In conclusion, the adaptation of Into the Wild has also used the three processes in ecranisation. The ecranisation process in a literary work certainly has a specific purpose. The method of cutting the storyline usually aims to save the duration in a film, because a novel has a flexible duration, in contrast to the film, the duration becomes an important aspect that must calculate. Hence the process of cutting the story from a novel to a film often occurs. The changing process is made to convey a description of the story to be clearer and makes the film more appealing to watch. The latter method is additions. This process can also be intended for commercial purposes. A novel already has a market before the film. The film must compete to get the same or the broader market. Therefore the film often adds new characters, changes the storyline, and adds romance as happened in Into the Wild intended to boost the film’s popularity and attract enthusiasts.

 References

Krakauer, Jon. 1996. Into the Wild. New York: Anchor Books, a division of Penguin Random House INC.

Into the Wild 2007, online video, Paramount Vantage, River Road Entertainment, Square One C.I.H, Linson Film, written and directed by Jon Krakauer and Sean Penn, viewed 16 May 2019, Netflix.

#intothewild jonkrakauer alexandersupertamp McCandless

[chicagoindiecritics]

New Review from Jeff York of Creative Screenwriting Magazine: Greta Gerwig Gives Us a Thoroughly Contemporary Take on “Little Women”

In this overpopulated age of remakes, reboots, and re-imaginings, how do you find a new path in on a property that’s already been told on the big and small screen over a dozen times? Filmmaker Greta Gerwig has managed to make something quite new out of Little Women, the classic and over-exposed Louisa May Alcott novel. She directs the old chestnut with breezy, contemporary energy, shaking up the structure, the casting, and giving it a modern feminist feel.

Telling the tale of Jo March (Saoirse Ronan), a headstrong young woman trying to navigate her way through an adult world echoes the theme of Gerwig’s Oscar-nominated Best Picture Lady Bird in 2017. Lady Bird McPherson (Ronan there too) lacked focus and follow-thru in her ambitions, earning the doubt of her family and classmates. In Little Women, Jo is laser-focused as she chases her dreams of becoming a writer with utter zeal. The obstacle in this heroine’s way is not her own immaturity, but rather 19th-century patriarchal society.

As the film starts, Jo visits big-city editor Mr. Dashwood (Tracy Letts) with a manuscript, hoping that he’ll publish it. He likes her story and agrees to put it into print. Then Dashwood implores her to write another, advising her to “make it short and spicy, and if the main character is a girl, make sure she’s married by the end.” It’s foreshadowing, of course, but Gerwig’s adaptation of the famed novel will find many slyer ways to get there.

Saoirse Ronan

For starters, as we get to know Jo and her lively sisters, Gerwig continually showcases them as much smarter, stronger emotionally, and resilient than most of the men around them. In past productions, the conservative Meg (Emma Watson) was painted as a compromised character, choosing marriage over her acting ambitions. Here, it’s deemed her choice for a more stable life, and Watson plays it as the decision of a bold, clearheaded adult.

Gerwig applies such modernity to all of the female characters. Even the doomed Beth is stronger here, indicated by the casting of Eliza Scanlen, a young actress with a steely gaze. (Scanlen is strong, but still can’t seem to get out of those sickbeds, just like in that last episode of Sharp Objects.) Momma Marmee is bolder and more opinionated than any adult male in the room in this version, even instructing the wealthy Mr. Laurence (Chris Cooper) what to do in this crisis and that. Marmee appears to be just fine without her husband around too, and when he shows up played by wishy-washy “Jimmy McGill” himself, Bob Odenkirk, we realize that Gerwig’s casting is underlining that fact. The director also burnishes off all of Cooper’s usual edges.

Most distinctly modern is Florence Pugh’s Amy. In previous adaptations, Amy usually comes off like a bit of a brat. Here though, she’s much more likable, wittily droll, and as knowing of a woman’s potential as Jo. If anything, Amy here seems less naive about the ways of the world than her older sister.

Amy’s interactions with Theodore “Laurie” Laurence, played by Timothee Chalamet, suggest a more genuine connection than the one he had with Jo too, suggesting that he would have been eaten alive by her had they married. Gerwig suggests that Amy will be calling the shots nonetheless, as Laurie seems like a much more recessive character than in previous adaptations.

Meryl Streep

Ronan is always exceptional and imbues Jo here with a ton of wit that keeps us on her side even when she can be a pickled pill.   Meryl Streep is prickly too, suggesting an extravagantly haughty Aunt March. Streep is all withering put-downs and side-eyes here, though Gerwig clearly sides with such opinions. She adapted the script, after all, and is using such mouthpieces to speak truth to the silly rules of 19th century Massachusetts by way of the male-dominated hierarchy.

The rhythms of Gerwig’s editing ensure that this period piece feels fresh and contemporary too. Rather than telling the film in chronological order, Gerwig cuts back and forth between two time periods – the present and nine years earlier. The earlier days are shot with more of an idyllic glow as well, reflecting a better time for the March clan. For the decade later, when all kinds of problems arise, Gerwig’s lighting and color palate darken.

At times, the editing is too self-aware, overt in juxtaposing irony or commentary from one era to the other. Gerwig loves showing Jo run too, in both time periods, often buttressed up against each other in the cut. Occasionally, it’s hard to tell which period the story is taking place in with less differentiation in the lighting, but by and large, Gerwig keeps her time periods separate and trackable.

Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, and Eliza Scanlen

The production design is gorgeous to a fault, suggesting a Hallmark card perfection that never existed in the world. At times, the middle-classed March home appears far too tony and posh as well. Even their clothes look unlived in at times. Gerwig misjudges the classic scene where Marmee instructs her daughters to sacrifice their holiday breakfast for poor neighbors as the spread is so vast it looks like it could feed the entire neighborhood.

Gerwig makes better choices in smarter adjustments for modern sensibilities, like portraying Professor Bhaer (Louis Garrel) as much closer in age to Ronan’s Jo. None of the men are bullies, and even Letts, who can do stiff-collared pricks in his sleep, chuckles as he is won over by the logical Jo.

This take on Little Women is passionately about female empowerment, more than even Alcott could have imagined as a maverick in her time. Such sentiments are never more evident than when Gerwig has Jo watch her first published book roll off the presses. She gazes upon its creation with the watchful eyes of a mother. Indeed, that book is her baby. Jo takes Dashwood’s advice and does end her story with marriage, but the real love of Jo’s life is those pages. And Gerwig makes certain none of us miss it.

Check out the trailer for Little Women below:

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[mike-ac]

What is AGI?

Peter Voss

Feb 21, 2017

· 4 min read

Let’s start at the beginning. Why do we even need this term?

60 years ago when the term ‘AI’ was coined, the ambition was to build machines that can learn and reason like humans. Over several decades of trying and failing (badly), the original vision was largely abandoned. Nowadays almost all AI work relates to narrow, domain-specific, human-designed capabilities. Powerful as these current applications may be, they are limited to their specific target domain, and have very narrow (if any) adaptation or interactive learning ability. Most computer scientists graduating after the mid 80’s only know AI from that much watered-down perspective.

However, just after 2000 several of us felt that hardware, software, and cognitive theory had advanced sufficiently to rekindle the original dream. At that time we found about a dozen people actively doing research in this area, and willing to contribute to a book to share ideas and approaches. After some deliberation, three of us (Shane Legg, Ben Goertzel and myself) decided that ‘Artificial General Intelligence’, or AGI, best described our shared approach. We felt that we wanted to give our community a distinctive identity, to differentiate our work from mainstream AI which is unlikely to lead to general intelligence.

The term ‘AGI’ gave a name to this emerging group of researchers, scientists, and engineers who were actually getting back to trying to develop ‘real AI’. This ‘movement’ was officially launched with the publication of the book Artificial General Intelligence , and has since gathered momentum with additional publications and annual AGI conferences. By now, the term has become quite widely used to refer to machines with human, or super-human level capabilities.

Some people have suggested using ‘AGI’ for any work that is generally in the area of autonomous learning, ‘model-free’, adaptive, unsupervised or some such approach or methodology. I don’t think this is justified, as many clearly narrow AI projects use such methods. One can certainly assert that some approach or technology will likely help achieve AGI, but I think it is reasonable to judge projects by whether they are explicitly on a path (however far away it may be) to achieving the grand vision: a single system that can learn incrementally, reason abstractly, and act effectively over a wide range of domains — just like humans can.

Elsewhere I’ve elaborated on what human intelligence entails; here I want to take a slightly different angle and ask “What would it take for us to say we’ve achieved AGI?”. This is my proposed descriptive definition, followed by some elaboration:

A computer system that matches or exceeds the real time cognitive (not physical) abilities of a smart, well-educated human.

Cognitive abilities include, but are not limited to: holding productive conversations; learning new commercial and scientific domains in real time through reading, coaching, experimentation, etc.; applying existing knowledge and skills to new domains. For example, learning new professional skills, a new language (including computer languages), or even novel games.

Acceptable limitations include: very limited sense acuity and dexterity.

Alternative suggestions, and their merits

“Machines that can learn to do any job that humans currently do” — I think this fits quite well, except that it seems unnecessarily ambitious. Machines that can do most jobs, especially mentally challenging ones would get us to our overall goal of having machines that can help us solve difficult problems like ageing, energy, pollution, and help us think through political and moral issues, etc. Naturally, they would also help to build machines that will handle remaining jobs we want to automate.

“Machines that pass the Turing Test” — The current Turing Test asks too much (potentially having to dumb itself down to fool judges that it is human), and too little (limited conversation time). A much better test would be to see if the AI can learn a broad range of new complex human-level cognitive skills via autonomous learning and coaching.

“Machines that are self-aware/ can learn autonomously/ do autonomous reduction/ etc.” — These definition grossly underspecify AGI. One could build narrow systems that have these characteristics (and probably have already), but are nowhere near AGI (and may not be on the path at all).

“A machine with the ability to learn from its experience and to work with insufficient knowledge and resources.” — Important requirements but lacking specification of the level skill one expects. Again, systems already exist that have these qualities but are nowhere near AGI.

Some objections

Why specify AGI in terms of human abilities? — While we’d expect AGI cognition to be quite different (instant access to Internet, photographic memory, logical thinking, etc.), the goal is still to free us from most work. In order to do that it must be able to operate in our environment, and learn interactively via natural language and human interaction.

Why not require full sense acuity, dexterity, and embodiment? — I think that a reasonable relaxation of requirements is to initially exclude tasks that require high dexterity & sense acuity. The reason is that initial focus should be on cognitive ability — ie. a “Helen Hawking” (Helen Keller/ Stephen Hawking)” The core problem is building the brain, the intelligence engine. It can’t be totally disconnected from the world, but its senses/ actuators do not need to be very elaborate, as long as it can operate other machines (tool use).

Peter Voss is founder of SmartAction and CEO of AGI Innovations Inc

Please like and share — if you like :)

#AGI AI PeterVoss

[seovoiceskills]

LEVELS OF CAMBRIDGE ASSESSMENT ENGLISH

The Common European Framework divides learners into three broad divisions that can be divided into six levels; for each level, it describes what a learner is supposed to be able to do in reading, listening, speaking and writing. The following table indicates these levels. A more thorough description of each level, with criteria for listening, reading, speaking, and writing,

Language activities

The CEFR distinguishes among four kinds of language activities: reception (listening and reading), production (spoken and written), interaction (spoken and written), and mediation (translating and interpreting).

Competences

A language user can develop various degrees of competence in each of these domains and to help describe them, the CEFR has provided a set of six Common Reference Levels(A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2).

A Basic user

A1 Breakthrough or beginner

·         Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type.

·         Can introduce themselves and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where they live, people they know and things they have.

·         Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.

 A2 Waystage or elementary

·         Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).

·         Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters.

·         Can describe in simple terms aspects of their background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.

 B Independent user

B1 Threshold or intermediate

·         Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.

·         Can deal with most situations likely to arise while travelling in an area where the language is spoken.

·         Can produce simple connected text on topics that are familiar or of personal interest.

·         Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

 B2 Vantage or upper intermediate

·         Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in their field of specialization.

·         Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.

·         Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

 C Proficient user

C1 Effective operational proficiency or advanced

·         Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer clauses, and recognize implicit meaning.

·         Can express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions.

·         Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes.

·         Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.

 C2 Mastery or proficiency

·         Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read.

·         Can summarize information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation.

·         Can express themselves spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations.

#cae #cambridge assessment english