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The Higher Self and the Enneagram
2023.06.06 03:45 Mister_Way The Higher Self and the Enneagram
The higher self – this is an ancient concept, and it is found throughout human spirituality, religion, philosophy, and culture. But, what is it, and more importantly, “why are you talking about it in enneagram?”
The higher self is not something that you have to imagine; you can easily observe it in yourself. The higher self is most easily described first in relation to the lower selves, as they are far more immediately accessible, and together they comprise the higher self. You know them well, and talk about them regularly.
You might say, “I was thinking…” referring to the thoughts you were having. But, aren’t you your thoughts? What is this “I” that was having a thought? It is the higher self, observing the lower self known as “the Head.”
Alternatively, perhaps you will say “I was hungry.” Who is it, exactly that experiences hunger? It is the higher self, who observes hunger, and all the senses and sensations, which are the “thoughts” of the lower self known as “the Gut.”
And, of course, you might say “I felt [an emotion],” which is the higher self experiencing the lower self known as “the Heart.”
Each of these lower selves is a processing center designed to serve the higher self, which is supposed to be making intelligent decisions by examining all of their various outputs and weighing them appropriately in an integrated, intentional examination.
Each of these three lower selves has three modes it can operate under:
The Heart center has three settings. It can be set to any of these modes of processing:
2 - What should be felt
3 - What others feel
4 - What you feel
The Head center has three settings. It can be set to any of these modes of processing:
5 - What you think
6 - What should be thought
7 - What others think
The gut center has three settings. It can be set to any of these modes of processing.
8 - What you want to do
9 - What others want to do
1 - What should be done
The higher self can turn any of these on at any time, but the higher self tends to fall asleep and allow things to run on autopilot. This is why the first step to achieving any kind of growth is increasing the proportion of the time that you are self-aware, particularly in moments of stress, instead of acting on auto-pilot. Only when the higher self is active can you do anything but what you’ll always automatically do.
What is it that you always automatically do? It’s not a simple list of things, although it can sometimes appear to be that way if your situation remains consistent over a long period. But, what is happening is that while the higher self sleeps, one of the lower selves takes up position as the de facto “higher self,” and it just dominates all of your processing and experience at the expense of the rest of the lower selves.
The lower selves have the potential to work in an integrated way, all together in harmony, under the direction of the higher self, but they don’t just automatically do so as a natural part of human development. In the ordinary course of human development, the higher self does not recognize its responsibility, and simply watches as the lower selves compete for attention and control, with one center taking over broadly, and each center being dominated by one of its three modes.(this is the reason for tritype being a thing).
The de facto “higher self” cannot adequately replace the true higher self. When the de facto “higher self” tries to consider the inputs from the other lower selves, it cannot help but bias itself against them and in favor of its own output, particularly with regard to the other two in its own center. It also lacks the authority to command the other centers to allocate appropriate distributions of resources to each of their three functions, so it gets skewed inputs from the others, in addition to already being biased in evaluating them.
The degree to which the higher self has abdicated to the de facto “higher self” is measured on the scale of the “levels of health.” The more power and control the de facto “higher self” has been given, the greater the compulsive bias toward that mode the person displays in their being. This is why the less healthy a person is, the more unreasonably “their type” they become, whereas the healthier a person becomes, the more balanced and reasonable they become. It is also why in unhealthy states, a person can behave erratically, as lower selves wrest control for short periods when their concerns have been ignored for too long. It so happens that each type tends to cause a crisis for the lower self which is its “direction of disintegration,” and its wings, such that these are what will most likely be which one takes over when the core type’s lower self is screwing up too much as de facto “higher self.” They don’t do a better job taken alone, but they can, with a little luck, balance out a lot of the extremes and often can maintain a chaotic, disjointed, sometimes self-sabotaging equilibrium.
In contrast, at the highest levels of integration, all of the lower selves are being engaged and considered appropriately and cohesively, so all of the types begin to resemble each other – it is the return to the essence that all humans share – all of the potentials and possibilities of each personality type united within a single individual. When a person has fully integrated, they no longer have any type at all. They are all of the types simultaneously, with the right one in conscious focus at every appropriate moment. Such levels of integration appear godlike to us ordinary people, and indeed, centuries pass between individuals who appear to have achieved them, and their influence is felt throughout the intervening years, and far beyond.
But, though it is unrealistic that we all aspire to be as gods among men, for us mere mortals, this at least provides the path of growth and development which will take us toward those paragons of humanity. It makes it possible to comprehend how it is that such great people as have existed share a species with the rest of us, and how we can become more like them.
What are we to do? Know thyself, not once, not sometimes, but always. Do not fall into auto-pilot, but be present in every moment, choosing always deliberately and with awareness what you are processing and doing. This comes first. From there, all possibilities become potentials, and any potential you choose may become reality. This is the purpose of the enneagram: not mere classification, not mere self-knowledge, but ascension to one’s full potential – the potential we all share, each with our own classified path to find our way to. Learning about the enneagram is about awakening the higher self, developing the soul.
Your higher self is asleep, parked in your “core type.” As it wakes up more and more frequently, you become increasingly free to experience all of the other types that are part of your essential humanity, and to engage them properly with their place in your life, and more importantly, you will be capable of higher levels of processing that are unavailable to the individual lower selves. The higher self is greater than the sum of its parts, as it can provide an integrated consideration of all aspects of all things. This cognitive superpower is the birthright of all people, theoretically free to be claimed by any who will seek it persistently.
But– there’s the catch-22. Until you already sought out your birthright, which grants true persistence, how will you do anything with true persistence, such as seek it out? The lower selves forget the higher purposes, so if the higher self is sleeping, who will be awake to awaken it to the task of awakening?
submitted by Mister_Way to Enneagram [link] [comments]
The higher self is not something that you have to imagine; you can easily observe it in yourself. The higher self is most easily described first in relation to the lower selves, as they are far more immediately accessible, and together they comprise the higher self. You know them well, and talk about them regularly.
You might say, “I was thinking…” referring to the thoughts you were having. But, aren’t you your thoughts? What is this “I” that was having a thought? It is the higher self, observing the lower self known as “the Head.”
Alternatively, perhaps you will say “I was hungry.” Who is it, exactly that experiences hunger? It is the higher self, who observes hunger, and all the senses and sensations, which are the “thoughts” of the lower self known as “the Gut.”
And, of course, you might say “I felt [an emotion],” which is the higher self experiencing the lower self known as “the Heart.”
Each of these lower selves is a processing center designed to serve the higher self, which is supposed to be making intelligent decisions by examining all of their various outputs and weighing them appropriately in an integrated, intentional examination.
Each of these three lower selves has three modes it can operate under:
The Heart center has three settings. It can be set to any of these modes of processing:
2 - What should be felt
3 - What others feel
4 - What you feel
The Head center has three settings. It can be set to any of these modes of processing:
5 - What you think
6 - What should be thought
7 - What others think
The gut center has three settings. It can be set to any of these modes of processing.
8 - What you want to do
9 - What others want to do
1 - What should be done
The higher self can turn any of these on at any time, but the higher self tends to fall asleep and allow things to run on autopilot. This is why the first step to achieving any kind of growth is increasing the proportion of the time that you are self-aware, particularly in moments of stress, instead of acting on auto-pilot. Only when the higher self is active can you do anything but what you’ll always automatically do.
What is it that you always automatically do? It’s not a simple list of things, although it can sometimes appear to be that way if your situation remains consistent over a long period. But, what is happening is that while the higher self sleeps, one of the lower selves takes up position as the de facto “higher self,” and it just dominates all of your processing and experience at the expense of the rest of the lower selves.
The lower selves have the potential to work in an integrated way, all together in harmony, under the direction of the higher self, but they don’t just automatically do so as a natural part of human development. In the ordinary course of human development, the higher self does not recognize its responsibility, and simply watches as the lower selves compete for attention and control, with one center taking over broadly, and each center being dominated by one of its three modes.(this is the reason for tritype being a thing).
The de facto “higher self” cannot adequately replace the true higher self. When the de facto “higher self” tries to consider the inputs from the other lower selves, it cannot help but bias itself against them and in favor of its own output, particularly with regard to the other two in its own center. It also lacks the authority to command the other centers to allocate appropriate distributions of resources to each of their three functions, so it gets skewed inputs from the others, in addition to already being biased in evaluating them.
The degree to which the higher self has abdicated to the de facto “higher self” is measured on the scale of the “levels of health.” The more power and control the de facto “higher self” has been given, the greater the compulsive bias toward that mode the person displays in their being. This is why the less healthy a person is, the more unreasonably “their type” they become, whereas the healthier a person becomes, the more balanced and reasonable they become. It is also why in unhealthy states, a person can behave erratically, as lower selves wrest control for short periods when their concerns have been ignored for too long. It so happens that each type tends to cause a crisis for the lower self which is its “direction of disintegration,” and its wings, such that these are what will most likely be which one takes over when the core type’s lower self is screwing up too much as de facto “higher self.” They don’t do a better job taken alone, but they can, with a little luck, balance out a lot of the extremes and often can maintain a chaotic, disjointed, sometimes self-sabotaging equilibrium.
In contrast, at the highest levels of integration, all of the lower selves are being engaged and considered appropriately and cohesively, so all of the types begin to resemble each other – it is the return to the essence that all humans share – all of the potentials and possibilities of each personality type united within a single individual. When a person has fully integrated, they no longer have any type at all. They are all of the types simultaneously, with the right one in conscious focus at every appropriate moment. Such levels of integration appear godlike to us ordinary people, and indeed, centuries pass between individuals who appear to have achieved them, and their influence is felt throughout the intervening years, and far beyond.
But, though it is unrealistic that we all aspire to be as gods among men, for us mere mortals, this at least provides the path of growth and development which will take us toward those paragons of humanity. It makes it possible to comprehend how it is that such great people as have existed share a species with the rest of us, and how we can become more like them.
What are we to do? Know thyself, not once, not sometimes, but always. Do not fall into auto-pilot, but be present in every moment, choosing always deliberately and with awareness what you are processing and doing. This comes first. From there, all possibilities become potentials, and any potential you choose may become reality. This is the purpose of the enneagram: not mere classification, not mere self-knowledge, but ascension to one’s full potential – the potential we all share, each with our own classified path to find our way to. Learning about the enneagram is about awakening the higher self, developing the soul.
Your higher self is asleep, parked in your “core type.” As it wakes up more and more frequently, you become increasingly free to experience all of the other types that are part of your essential humanity, and to engage them properly with their place in your life, and more importantly, you will be capable of higher levels of processing that are unavailable to the individual lower selves. The higher self is greater than the sum of its parts, as it can provide an integrated consideration of all aspects of all things. This cognitive superpower is the birthright of all people, theoretically free to be claimed by any who will seek it persistently.
But– there’s the catch-22. Until you already sought out your birthright, which grants true persistence, how will you do anything with true persistence, such as seek it out? The lower selves forget the higher purposes, so if the higher self is sleeping, who will be awake to awaken it to the task of awakening?
2023.06.06 03:36 Ok-Temporary-6447 Possible bat exposure?
I was just sitting still on my deck in Virginia around 8:45pm when something dive bombed the top of my head. I heard the flutter of wings and it physically moved my hair. I did not feel any sort of sting/bite... only the movement of my hair. To be clear, its not like this thing slammed into the top of my head, bounced and flew off...all it did was make enough contact to flip the hair along the part along the top of my head. But since it was along the top part (meaning exposed scalp, hair parted down the middle), it was obviously right on my head, as opposed to the side where your hair hangs down several inches from your scalp. I didn't see what it was, but I suppose it could have been a bat. I live alone so I don't have anyone to look for marks along the part in my hair.
Does this sound like a bat exposure that warrants an ER visit and rabies vaccine?
I'm reading conflicting reports around whether infected bats could even manage such a flight (ie not crash into someone and instead keep flying) as well as whether I would actually feel a bite if one occurred.
submitted by Ok-Temporary-6447 to rabies [link] [comments]
Does this sound like a bat exposure that warrants an ER visit and rabies vaccine?
I'm reading conflicting reports around whether infected bats could even manage such a flight (ie not crash into someone and instead keep flying) as well as whether I would actually feel a bite if one occurred.
2023.06.06 03:33 Hay_Is_4_Horses Double Dose..
A close friend of mine was married to what I would consider now to be a malignant narcissist.. He took her for everything she had... All under the guise of God. He was much older and she was leaving a very dark past of drugs, and all the "fun things" that come with that life style. For her it was very much headlong into a biblical marriage and God, a new community everything.. she forsook all. Fast forward 10 years and she caught him gambling her money and others money, away on top of sneakily entertaining other women. Again.. under the guise of God. He was "ministering to them". I knew him for about half their marriage and for me he seemed to be a godly man that was just rough around the edges.. I became his flying monkey with a cape to match.. I knew he had some "bad habits". But surely these indiscretions were just bad days and most certainly misunderstandings.. She needed to forgive him and submit.
When I saw her spiral into a type of depraved double life... I condemned her.
I thought for sure she was the problem.. he would always look so kind at church.. and in our social circles.. she just looked like the younger overly sensitive wife.. and she would say herself.. "I'm the problem".. I'd had my issues with him that made me distant from him but.. my logic was.. I'm not his wife.. I wasn't built to withstand the things that she's built to withstand.. After all, look at me and my marriage (I thought). My husband isn't easy but we're making it work. She just needs to look to God..
They ended in divorce and her ex narc died months later from unknown causes in another country..
Around the time of her sending him away I came face to face with my own reality .. I ran to my parents, friends, family.. I want you to understand I have a very WIDE, LARGE circle of people around me.. easily over 30+ who I could in one way or the other confide in to some extent.. 2 people believed me and 1 was "neutral".. everyone else took his side.. Immediately I thought about my friend.. and how hard I was on her.. The word is "ashamed".. that's how I felt.. she tried over and over to confide in me.. to be honest to some extent.. but I measured her harshly and set him free (in my heart/mind).
I took a hard look in the mirror.. I stood so firm on those words of God.. Was I going to be so firm in my convictions now that it's me? So here I was clipping my wings. No longer his flying monkey.. and staring at a large crowd of my own.. Daunting. I cried to God like I never ever had before.. surrendered my hopes of being a mother, my dreams of fulfilling his marriage covenant and being the "model married couple under the Lord". I had a gremlin in my camp and my husband invited him over for tea and coffee.. OFTEN. No one can live like this.. I apologized to her and told her everything that was going on.. She did her best to be there for me but.. the truth is I hurt her deeply.. we were best friends.. Over and above that.. she just didn't have that kind of care to give anymore...
Today currently in this moment.. I'm mostly free from the hurt of "everyone believes him". But family, know that flying monkeys don't know they're the second round of abuse.. the Double Dose.
Its shameful because they know you and your character..your circle knows the type of person that you are..But consider. You were married to the Narc.. how long did it take you to see past their mask? How much more the outsiders that didn't live under your roof and experience it first hand? Doesn't matter if the narc is parents, spouse, children, friend.. often times the role is so well played that truly "God alone".
Why did I say all of this? Because.. Don't become weary in well doing.. (Galatians 6:9) If you hold on to our Father in heaven who sees all. He will reward you.. this has nothing to do with staying or leaving.. Or keeping/excommunicating. This is obedience only.. Whatever you feel God is leading you to do in your spirit. Love the flying monkey.. forgive them.. not for them but for you.. and your own literal sanity. (Matthew 6:14-15)
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Narc abuse will make you think God has forgotten you.. not so. That God is harsh.. not so. That God is unhappy with you and that's why your under this type of spiritually crushing abuse. No... He's not like that.. He's near to the broken hearted (Psalm 34:18) Don't let abuse rewrite who God is.
This is as much support/therapy for me as it is for you.. you're not alone. Don't give up on Him. God sees all. Love you guys
submitted by Hay_Is_4_Horses to BelieversAndNarcs [link] [comments]
When I saw her spiral into a type of depraved double life... I condemned her.
I thought for sure she was the problem.. he would always look so kind at church.. and in our social circles.. she just looked like the younger overly sensitive wife.. and she would say herself.. "I'm the problem".. I'd had my issues with him that made me distant from him but.. my logic was.. I'm not his wife.. I wasn't built to withstand the things that she's built to withstand.. After all, look at me and my marriage (I thought). My husband isn't easy but we're making it work. She just needs to look to God..
They ended in divorce and her ex narc died months later from unknown causes in another country..
Around the time of her sending him away I came face to face with my own reality .. I ran to my parents, friends, family.. I want you to understand I have a very WIDE, LARGE circle of people around me.. easily over 30+ who I could in one way or the other confide in to some extent.. 2 people believed me and 1 was "neutral".. everyone else took his side.. Immediately I thought about my friend.. and how hard I was on her.. The word is "ashamed".. that's how I felt.. she tried over and over to confide in me.. to be honest to some extent.. but I measured her harshly and set him free (in my heart/mind).
I took a hard look in the mirror.. I stood so firm on those words of God.. Was I going to be so firm in my convictions now that it's me? So here I was clipping my wings. No longer his flying monkey.. and staring at a large crowd of my own.. Daunting. I cried to God like I never ever had before.. surrendered my hopes of being a mother, my dreams of fulfilling his marriage covenant and being the "model married couple under the Lord". I had a gremlin in my camp and my husband invited him over for tea and coffee.. OFTEN. No one can live like this.. I apologized to her and told her everything that was going on.. She did her best to be there for me but.. the truth is I hurt her deeply.. we were best friends.. Over and above that.. she just didn't have that kind of care to give anymore...
Today currently in this moment.. I'm mostly free from the hurt of "everyone believes him". But family, know that flying monkeys don't know they're the second round of abuse.. the Double Dose.
Its shameful because they know you and your character..your circle knows the type of person that you are..But consider. You were married to the Narc.. how long did it take you to see past their mask? How much more the outsiders that didn't live under your roof and experience it first hand? Doesn't matter if the narc is parents, spouse, children, friend.. often times the role is so well played that truly "God alone".
Why did I say all of this? Because.. Don't become weary in well doing.. (Galatians 6:9) If you hold on to our Father in heaven who sees all. He will reward you.. this has nothing to do with staying or leaving.. Or keeping/excommunicating. This is obedience only.. Whatever you feel God is leading you to do in your spirit. Love the flying monkey.. forgive them.. not for them but for you.. and your own literal sanity. (Matthew 6:14-15)
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Narc abuse will make you think God has forgotten you.. not so. That God is harsh.. not so. That God is unhappy with you and that's why your under this type of spiritually crushing abuse. No... He's not like that.. He's near to the broken hearted (Psalm 34:18) Don't let abuse rewrite who God is.
This is as much support/therapy for me as it is for you.. you're not alone. Don't give up on Him. God sees all. Love you guys
2023.06.06 03:30 yamasashi Fleet advice wanted
Hi, I'm a fairly new player having started from early March. So far I've spent a bit in SC and am looking for some advice/suggestion in rounding out my fleet. The ships I own right now are:
If you have any advice or suggestions I'd love to hear it. Sorry for the long post. Cheers!
submitted by yamasashi to starcitizen [link] [comments]
- MSR: Mainly used as a daily driver and to ferry refined goods to TDD to sell
- Prospector: making money with mining, no surprises there
- Nomad: this one I actually don't really fly all that much. Upgraded from a Fury and intend to use it for upgrade later on
- Mustang Alpha: game pack, same deal with the Nomad minus the intention to upgrade.
- Vanguard Sentinel: for bounty hunting. Love this thing.
- C1 Spirit: future daily drivesmall volume hauler. Can consider upgrading to E1 if that ship is interesting or if passenger gameplay gets implemented.
- Upgrading the MSR to C2: heavily considering this option. I love the idea of owning a C2 but realistically the MSR fits better with how much time I can play SC. I've never managed to have enough time to fill the whole of the MSR's cargo with refined goods. Best I've been able to do is about 105SCUs. Plus the MSR will open up data gameplay later but the C2 open up bulk trading so really torn on this one.
- Get a Vulture: melted my old Vulture when 3.18.1 came out with the scanner bug leaving me unable to find free floating panels. Love salvage enough to consider getting another Vulture for chilling.
- Get a Sabre/another small fighter: love the design of the Sabre but irked by its poor performance. Still might get it or another light/medium fighter to deal with smaller, faster targets in the early stages of bounty hunting.
- Finally, go big and get a Galaxy: again, love the look of the ship but not enticed by it being a concept for god know how many years later. Kind of interested in trying out the loaner Carrack though.
If you have any advice or suggestions I'd love to hear it. Sorry for the long post. Cheers!
2023.06.06 03:30 TarotLessTraveled The Abandoned Papesse (repost)
Starting from the left: 1st, Nicolas Conver preserved in la Bibliothèque nationale de France; 2nd, Nicolas Conver from Phillipe Camoin’s private collection, printed from the 1760 plates in the late 1800s, so after a century of wear; 3rd, the Conver-Ben-Dov restoration (2010); 4th, the 2019 Anna Maria Morsucci Marseille Tarot
La Papesse is probably the most difficult of all the TdM trumps to talk about, so over the years, people writing commentaries and revamping historic decks have discovered all kinds of creative ways to not talk about the image or subtly (or not so subtly) rework it to bring her into alignment with what they want her to be. Alejandro Jodorowsky, as an example of the not-so-subtle, gives her an egg to hatch and claims this to be the restoration of a detail lost to the inevitable corruptions of time. His student, Yoav Ben-Dov, lands on the more subtle side: although his card appears to be an exact reproduction of the Nicholas Conver, Ben-Dov makes the slightest alteration at the corners of her mouth, so she appears to be smiling. He also gives her a more human appearance by adding a bit of color to her face – warming her up, so to speak.
Ben-Dov does not explain these modifications in his book The Open Reading; he does say in his introduction, “The CBD Tarot de Marseille [is] an edition of the cards that I restored from the most influential historical deck originally published by Nicolas Conver in 1760.”
It may seem like a small thing; however, it changes the way we respond to the figure on a subconscious level. Though Conver did not have the technology available in 2010, when the CBD deck was published, he did have the ability to add flesh tones to his decks. While the Popess’s face is white, her hands are flesh-toned; further, the woman in the 17th arcanum, Le Toille, is flesh-colored, as is le Diable and the world dancer in XXI Le Monde. In XX Le Jugement, the figure rising from the dead is bluish, but the man and woman kneeling in prayer by the coffin are flesh-colored, as is one of the dogs in La Lune and the two children in Le Soleil. We can only conclude that the choice of a white face was by design and not due to practical considerations, and Conver’s choice was in keeping with the tradition begun by Noblet, Dodal, and Madenié. The only historical TdM type-I or type-II deck I am aware of that shows la Papesse with a flesh-colored face is the 1736 Francois Chosson (though he does not have her smiling).
The CBD Popess is more relatable and approachable than her counterpart in the 2019 Morsucci TdM, also based upon Conver, allowing Ben-Dov to present her as a kind of guardian of secrets, a modernized Sophia. When her face is white, however, she appears drained of warmth, passion, life.
Other figures in the parade of trumps also have white faces, but they do not appear as lifeless as la Papesse; le Bateleur, for instance, is engaged in his performance; le Pape is teaching or giving a sermon; l’Hermite is seeking truth; the charioteer is preparing for a journey. La Papesse has an open book on her lap, but she is not absorbed in reading it: the card captures her in a moment of inattention. Some construe this as meditation, and it is possible, though her white face and her lack of expression seem to belie this interpretation.
Everything about her is suggestive of oppression: she is cloistered, presumably alone; her heavy robes hide every trace of her feminine nature (only her face and hands are visible); not a strand of hair escapes her wimple; and a quick Google search for how much her papal tiara weighs yields a result of 18 lbs. Le Pape, arcanum V, wears the same crown, but in that card, he is acting in his role as Pope; the three-tiered crown is a symbol of his office, so we understand why he has it on. (We can also imagine he removes it the moment he is alone.) Since there does not seem to be a reason for la Papesse to subject herself to its weight when she is by herself, reading a book; we might reasonable conclude that its presence is symbolic of a ponderous burden.
Ben-Dov writes, “The title band at the top of the card is exceptionally narrow, which makes the tip of the Popess’ tiara extend high when compared to other cards. This may indicate a higher kind of wisdom or intuition from a sublime source.” It is an attractive inference, though I wonder whether he would have thought it had he been forced to wear an 18 lb. weight on his head for a lengthy period of time beforehand.
Ben-Dov makes a connection to Sophia; other commentaries associate La Papesse to other deities that make even less sense. Alice Ekrek writes in the guide packaged with her 2020 TdM, “The High Priestess is also described as the veiled Isis. In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, she is seated between two pillars which represent the great universal principles and mark the entrance to the great temple…” She evokes Isis not because anything in her card stimulated the association but because she has no interest in La Papesse whatsoever and does not even try to hide the fact and defaults to the Waite-Smith card; she even calls her TdM figure The High Priestess, and she is not alone in making this connection. Sallie Nichols writes in Jung and Tarot:
“Although she is called the Popess, she is not literally the pope’s wife. Since, in sequence, she follows the Magician, who is a priestly wise man, or magus, we may think of her as a High Priestess, which is what she is actually called in some of the modern decks. The Magician represents the primary yang, or masculine creative principle. The Popess can be seen to symbolize the primary yin, or feminine aspect of the godhead. She embodies the qualities of Isis, Ishtar, and Astarte, all goddesses who reigned over the rituals of women’s mysteries. In her spiritualized aspects she appears as the Virgin Mary and as Sophia, Divine Wisdom. Her number two is a number sacred to all female deities.”
It is baffling. Isis is most frequently depicted as a young mother suckling her infant son Horus, but she is in many other images portrayed as a winged goddess. If la Papesse was ever a mother, that identity has long since been left behind; she does not have wings, nor can we imagine her escaping the bonds of gravity and soaring through the heavens. Ishtar is a spirited goddess, associated with love and war; we see her standing upon a lion in one ancient representation; with her white face and lack of expression, la Papesse appears void of passion. Astarte displays her naked breasts, for she is a goddess of fertility; la Papesse denies her carnal nature by submerging herself in her papal robes.
Isis wall painting in the tomb of Seti
Isis left and Nephthys right as kites attending mummy 13th century BCE
There was a time when feminine deities were powerful and vital; they would not recognize the Popess as one of their own. The patriarchal religions have all but eliminated feminine spirit from their orders; what little remains is sexless, joyless, anemic.
Ishtar and La Papesse from Marteau deck preserved at Yale (deck Nichols was using)
La Papesse is one of the two saddest cards in the Tarot de Marseille parade of trumps. The other is Le Mat, the mad man who wanders not because he has a deep desire to see the world, but because the world has moved on without him, and he has no place in it. He is dressed as a court jester, a position that had been all but eliminated during the period when the Tarot de Marseille imagery was being developed. The skills that had served him so well for centuries were no longer desired as Europe moved through the final years of the Renaissance, except in a few courts, primarily in Russia, Spain, and Germany. We see some of the Fool’s sadness in Shakespeare’s King Lear, and though the play itself supposedly took place sometimes around the 8th century B. C., the end of the tradition was at hand in Shakespeare’s England; it pervaded the collective psyche and Shakespeare’s writing.
La Papesse never had a place. There was a never a time when she would have been accepted in the Catholic Church. There was a popular legend about a Pope Joan – a woman who disguised herself as a man in order to become a priest and then move up through the Church’s hierarchy to occupy the pope’s throne: predictably, it did not end up well for her. I imagine the tale appealed to people’s sense of the absurd, particularly in juxtaposition to such a serious and powerful institution as the Catholic Church The tale is well-known and mentioned in many commentaries, as is the story of the very real Manfreda Visconti, pictured in the second trump of the Visconti-Sforza deck (c. 1492). For a more comprehensive treatment, I recommend Michael S. Howard’s blog:https://tarotchristianbasis.blogspot.com/2016/11/popesshigh-priestess.html
But all this deflects from the card before us represents a poignant melancholy. It is an unpleasant reminder that the realities of life, often, fail to meet our aspirations. This realization leaves us feeling deflated, wondering what meaning is left for us to discover; it is little wonder that we have tried to leave la Papesse behind. Waite and Smith de-aged her, gave her robes of flowing water, replaced her papal tiara with the cow’s horns and sun disk of Hathor, put the crescent moon at her feet, and named her The High Priestess, making her divorce from the Church final. Crowley once again bares her breasts that she might reclaim her original power; Robin Wood puts her, a young woman with long, flowing black hair, outdoors in a clearing on the night of the full moon with a crystal ball in her hand.
High Priestess from Waite-Smith (left); Allister Crowley's Thoth deck (center); Robin Wood tarot (right)
Perhaps this evolution was inevitable and necessary, yet it is not part of Tarot de Marseille tradition and wanting it to be will not make it so. The Popess illustrates the feeling of being trapped in an inauthentic life which most, if not all, people experience at some point in their lives. It is not pleasant, but it is entirely human.
submitted by TarotLessTraveled to TheTracklessWay [link] [comments]
Starting from the left: 1st, Nicolas Conver preserved in la Bibliothèque nationale de France; 2nd, Nicolas Conver from Phillipe Camoin’s private collection, printed from the 1760 plates in the late 1800s, so after a century of wear; 3rd, the Conver-Ben-Dov restoration (2010); 4th, the 2019 Anna Maria Morsucci Marseille Tarot
La Papesse is probably the most difficult of all the TdM trumps to talk about, so over the years, people writing commentaries and revamping historic decks have discovered all kinds of creative ways to not talk about the image or subtly (or not so subtly) rework it to bring her into alignment with what they want her to be. Alejandro Jodorowsky, as an example of the not-so-subtle, gives her an egg to hatch and claims this to be the restoration of a detail lost to the inevitable corruptions of time. His student, Yoav Ben-Dov, lands on the more subtle side: although his card appears to be an exact reproduction of the Nicholas Conver, Ben-Dov makes the slightest alteration at the corners of her mouth, so she appears to be smiling. He also gives her a more human appearance by adding a bit of color to her face – warming her up, so to speak.
Ben-Dov does not explain these modifications in his book The Open Reading; he does say in his introduction, “The CBD Tarot de Marseille [is] an edition of the cards that I restored from the most influential historical deck originally published by Nicolas Conver in 1760.”
It may seem like a small thing; however, it changes the way we respond to the figure on a subconscious level. Though Conver did not have the technology available in 2010, when the CBD deck was published, he did have the ability to add flesh tones to his decks. While the Popess’s face is white, her hands are flesh-toned; further, the woman in the 17th arcanum, Le Toille, is flesh-colored, as is le Diable and the world dancer in XXI Le Monde. In XX Le Jugement, the figure rising from the dead is bluish, but the man and woman kneeling in prayer by the coffin are flesh-colored, as is one of the dogs in La Lune and the two children in Le Soleil. We can only conclude that the choice of a white face was by design and not due to practical considerations, and Conver’s choice was in keeping with the tradition begun by Noblet, Dodal, and Madenié. The only historical TdM type-I or type-II deck I am aware of that shows la Papesse with a flesh-colored face is the 1736 Francois Chosson (though he does not have her smiling).
The CBD Popess is more relatable and approachable than her counterpart in the 2019 Morsucci TdM, also based upon Conver, allowing Ben-Dov to present her as a kind of guardian of secrets, a modernized Sophia. When her face is white, however, she appears drained of warmth, passion, life.
Other figures in the parade of trumps also have white faces, but they do not appear as lifeless as la Papesse; le Bateleur, for instance, is engaged in his performance; le Pape is teaching or giving a sermon; l’Hermite is seeking truth; the charioteer is preparing for a journey. La Papesse has an open book on her lap, but she is not absorbed in reading it: the card captures her in a moment of inattention. Some construe this as meditation, and it is possible, though her white face and her lack of expression seem to belie this interpretation.
Everything about her is suggestive of oppression: she is cloistered, presumably alone; her heavy robes hide every trace of her feminine nature (only her face and hands are visible); not a strand of hair escapes her wimple; and a quick Google search for how much her papal tiara weighs yields a result of 18 lbs. Le Pape, arcanum V, wears the same crown, but in that card, he is acting in his role as Pope; the three-tiered crown is a symbol of his office, so we understand why he has it on. (We can also imagine he removes it the moment he is alone.) Since there does not seem to be a reason for la Papesse to subject herself to its weight when she is by herself, reading a book; we might reasonable conclude that its presence is symbolic of a ponderous burden.
Ben-Dov writes, “The title band at the top of the card is exceptionally narrow, which makes the tip of the Popess’ tiara extend high when compared to other cards. This may indicate a higher kind of wisdom or intuition from a sublime source.” It is an attractive inference, though I wonder whether he would have thought it had he been forced to wear an 18 lb. weight on his head for a lengthy period of time beforehand.
Ben-Dov makes a connection to Sophia; other commentaries associate La Papesse to other deities that make even less sense. Alice Ekrek writes in the guide packaged with her 2020 TdM, “The High Priestess is also described as the veiled Isis. In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, she is seated between two pillars which represent the great universal principles and mark the entrance to the great temple…” She evokes Isis not because anything in her card stimulated the association but because she has no interest in La Papesse whatsoever and does not even try to hide the fact and defaults to the Waite-Smith card; she even calls her TdM figure The High Priestess, and she is not alone in making this connection. Sallie Nichols writes in Jung and Tarot:
“Although she is called the Popess, she is not literally the pope’s wife. Since, in sequence, she follows the Magician, who is a priestly wise man, or magus, we may think of her as a High Priestess, which is what she is actually called in some of the modern decks. The Magician represents the primary yang, or masculine creative principle. The Popess can be seen to symbolize the primary yin, or feminine aspect of the godhead. She embodies the qualities of Isis, Ishtar, and Astarte, all goddesses who reigned over the rituals of women’s mysteries. In her spiritualized aspects she appears as the Virgin Mary and as Sophia, Divine Wisdom. Her number two is a number sacred to all female deities.”
It is baffling. Isis is most frequently depicted as a young mother suckling her infant son Horus, but she is in many other images portrayed as a winged goddess. If la Papesse was ever a mother, that identity has long since been left behind; she does not have wings, nor can we imagine her escaping the bonds of gravity and soaring through the heavens. Ishtar is a spirited goddess, associated with love and war; we see her standing upon a lion in one ancient representation; with her white face and lack of expression, la Papesse appears void of passion. Astarte displays her naked breasts, for she is a goddess of fertility; la Papesse denies her carnal nature by submerging herself in her papal robes.
Isis wall painting in the tomb of Seti
Isis left and Nephthys right as kites attending mummy 13th century BCE
There was a time when feminine deities were powerful and vital; they would not recognize the Popess as one of their own. The patriarchal religions have all but eliminated feminine spirit from their orders; what little remains is sexless, joyless, anemic.
Ishtar and La Papesse from Marteau deck preserved at Yale (deck Nichols was using)
La Papesse is one of the two saddest cards in the Tarot de Marseille parade of trumps. The other is Le Mat, the mad man who wanders not because he has a deep desire to see the world, but because the world has moved on without him, and he has no place in it. He is dressed as a court jester, a position that had been all but eliminated during the period when the Tarot de Marseille imagery was being developed. The skills that had served him so well for centuries were no longer desired as Europe moved through the final years of the Renaissance, except in a few courts, primarily in Russia, Spain, and Germany. We see some of the Fool’s sadness in Shakespeare’s King Lear, and though the play itself supposedly took place sometimes around the 8th century B. C., the end of the tradition was at hand in Shakespeare’s England; it pervaded the collective psyche and Shakespeare’s writing.
La Papesse never had a place. There was a never a time when she would have been accepted in the Catholic Church. There was a popular legend about a Pope Joan – a woman who disguised herself as a man in order to become a priest and then move up through the Church’s hierarchy to occupy the pope’s throne: predictably, it did not end up well for her. I imagine the tale appealed to people’s sense of the absurd, particularly in juxtaposition to such a serious and powerful institution as the Catholic Church The tale is well-known and mentioned in many commentaries, as is the story of the very real Manfreda Visconti, pictured in the second trump of the Visconti-Sforza deck (c. 1492). For a more comprehensive treatment, I recommend Michael S. Howard’s blog:https://tarotchristianbasis.blogspot.com/2016/11/popesshigh-priestess.html
But all this deflects from the card before us represents a poignant melancholy. It is an unpleasant reminder that the realities of life, often, fail to meet our aspirations. This realization leaves us feeling deflated, wondering what meaning is left for us to discover; it is little wonder that we have tried to leave la Papesse behind. Waite and Smith de-aged her, gave her robes of flowing water, replaced her papal tiara with the cow’s horns and sun disk of Hathor, put the crescent moon at her feet, and named her The High Priestess, making her divorce from the Church final. Crowley once again bares her breasts that she might reclaim her original power; Robin Wood puts her, a young woman with long, flowing black hair, outdoors in a clearing on the night of the full moon with a crystal ball in her hand.
High Priestess from Waite-Smith (left); Allister Crowley's Thoth deck (center); Robin Wood tarot (right)
Perhaps this evolution was inevitable and necessary, yet it is not part of Tarot de Marseille tradition and wanting it to be will not make it so. The Popess illustrates the feeling of being trapped in an inauthentic life which most, if not all, people experience at some point in their lives. It is not pleasant, but it is entirely human.
2023.06.06 03:29 Low-Assistance1635 Carolina title work
This is kinda specific but if there are any Carolina real estate attorneys out there I would really appreciate your insight. I am still new to practice in SC but have been working about 3 years. I never got great training in title work. First firm only wanted me to do closings and second the boss was licensed in another state. Gave me some pointers but I have pretty much been trying to figure it out on my own. Problem is my firm specializes with investors. It has been necessary to work with them during the real estate slow down with rates going up. But it puts me in a difficult position. My boss wants me to sign off on any contract that we get but the title work has gotten worst with some of these properties. Some of the things I feel the investors are doing is a grey area. I don’t have a more knowledgeable person to talk to. I am worried that I will make a mistake and get a title claim against me. I have brought this to the attention of my boss but he is not concerned with my license it seems. He has a ton of money and can close up shop tomorrow and be fine but I have to work for another 20 years to repay my loans and retire. Title company reps has told me that I might not get approved in the future if I have title claims against me or work for a firm that is know for doing sketchy stuff. I feel stress everyday with each file that comes through. I don’t feel like I can go to another firm because no one is hiring right now and I can’t afford to not work. If anyone has advice I would really appreciate it. If you do title work in the Carolina’s I would like to message you if possible. Thanks for reading and I appreciate any response. Thanks
submitted by Low-Assistance1635 to Lawyertalk [link] [comments]
2023.06.06 03:23 votiverose The Right-wing and Freedom of Association
The main reason why I primarily prefer to vote right-wing is ultimately because of freedom of association.
I like being able to choose who I want to associate with. Ever since I was little I have interests and preferences that are unusual to my peers, and I like to meet and associate with people who share the same interests as I do. It sounds simple and innocent enough, right?
Then came diversity, inclusivity, and equity. All of a sudden it's become popular in Canadian institutions to... force yourself to like things or to support things you don't like because its diverse and inclusive and equal, because if you don't you're a racist bigot! Then they shove it in everyone's faces with racial quotas of sorts.
The Canadian Cabinet has to have at least one Black person, a couple Muslims, a Sikh, and lots of women. Because even though I'm not Black, a Muslim, a Sikh, or a woman, I have to like and support them or else I am a racist bigot.
Forget about being a non-White minority myself, I must support all non-Whites and all women because they're my allies. Because anyone who isn't a Straight White Christian Male is my ally, even though I have nothing substantive in common with most Blacks, Muslims, Sikhs, or women. That was sarcasm.
That doesn't mean I am rude, or disrespectful, it just means I don't particularly associate with some groups in my daily life because it simply doesn't match with most of my interests.
And that's where freedom of association is so important to me. I don't support discrimination in terms of violating individual rights, freedoms, and liberties. But I support the right for people to have interests and preferences, and to be able to live according to that, and associate with people accorddingly.
So no, I am not going to support some product or movement because it is for a minority, made by a minority, or features a minority.
I am not going to support the Liberals because they pretend to like every culture on Earth, because I don't like every culture on Earth so why would I support a party that pretends they do?
In the end, I don't really support diversity, inclusivity, and equity. For me, as long as you're not rude, disrespectful, and deceitful, that's all that matters. Opportunities available for everyone, but not forced quotas. People can choose who they want to associate with, diversity, inclusivity, and equity be damned.
You can't support multiculturalism then whine why outcomes are unequal. A plurality of cultures naturally means a plurality of outcomes. Duh! Many on the left can't accept this so they force outcomes with quotas and propaganda.
submitted by votiverose to CanadianConservative [link] [comments]
I like being able to choose who I want to associate with. Ever since I was little I have interests and preferences that are unusual to my peers, and I like to meet and associate with people who share the same interests as I do. It sounds simple and innocent enough, right?
Then came diversity, inclusivity, and equity. All of a sudden it's become popular in Canadian institutions to... force yourself to like things or to support things you don't like because its diverse and inclusive and equal, because if you don't you're a racist bigot! Then they shove it in everyone's faces with racial quotas of sorts.
The Canadian Cabinet has to have at least one Black person, a couple Muslims, a Sikh, and lots of women. Because even though I'm not Black, a Muslim, a Sikh, or a woman, I have to like and support them or else I am a racist bigot.
Forget about being a non-White minority myself, I must support all non-Whites and all women because they're my allies. Because anyone who isn't a Straight White Christian Male is my ally, even though I have nothing substantive in common with most Blacks, Muslims, Sikhs, or women. That was sarcasm.
That doesn't mean I am rude, or disrespectful, it just means I don't particularly associate with some groups in my daily life because it simply doesn't match with most of my interests.
And that's where freedom of association is so important to me. I don't support discrimination in terms of violating individual rights, freedoms, and liberties. But I support the right for people to have interests and preferences, and to be able to live according to that, and associate with people accorddingly.
So no, I am not going to support some product or movement because it is for a minority, made by a minority, or features a minority.
I am not going to support the Liberals because they pretend to like every culture on Earth, because I don't like every culture on Earth so why would I support a party that pretends they do?
In the end, I don't really support diversity, inclusivity, and equity. For me, as long as you're not rude, disrespectful, and deceitful, that's all that matters. Opportunities available for everyone, but not forced quotas. People can choose who they want to associate with, diversity, inclusivity, and equity be damned.
You can't support multiculturalism then whine why outcomes are unequal. A plurality of cultures naturally means a plurality of outcomes. Duh! Many on the left can't accept this so they force outcomes with quotas and propaganda.
2023.06.06 03:20 MikeOxHuge FAA Medical Review Update
Original post: https://www.reddit.com/flying/comments/13qo8ko/faa_medical_review/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&utm_content=1&utm_term=15
Okay, so the FAA received my paperwork and had it all scanned in, or so I thought.
From the time they received my packet it took them 4 days to scan the documents and send me another letter stating, “we do not have enough information, please send understated information within 30 days of this letter being sent.”
The problem is, I did send them the information they are requesting.
I did a little digging on the medexpress site and realized that this letter had been sent exactly 30 days after my first time constraint of 60 days.
Basically, it seems as though this was sent erroneously/automatically, or they didn’t scan one of the 6 documents from my packet.
Regardless, I’ll be on the phone with my AME and hopefully the FAA first thing tomorrow morning to try and shed some light.
I don’t think I did a great job explaining my situation to y’all the first post, so here’s the rundown.
I received a class 3 back in 2014. Flew about 35 hours fixed wing. After this, I was selected to go to flight school in the Army.
I flew nearly 1000 civilian equivalent hours as a Medevac pilot. Saw some bad shit down range and was diagnosed with PTSD when I got out. Currently in remission and am living a normal, happy life. However, I’m still in therapy because it helps.
I self reported to the FAA. (I know, I know)
I sent in a full BH exam conducted by my Psych to show the progress made, personal statement, VA documents, etc…
I know some of you would discourage someone like me from flying with this diagnosis, but that’s cool. I don’t really care what you think. If I thought I was a danger, I would never even try, but like I told them in my letter, Safety was my #1 consideration while I was flying in the Army, and it will continue to remain so as a civilian pilot.
Hopefully these posts lead to a happy ending and encourage some of you who may be in the same boat. This is why I’m laying out the entire scenario to you all now.
I’m not going to quit.
I’ll update again as soon as something happens.
Thanks
submitted by MikeOxHuge to flying [link] [comments]
Okay, so the FAA received my paperwork and had it all scanned in, or so I thought.
From the time they received my packet it took them 4 days to scan the documents and send me another letter stating, “we do not have enough information, please send understated information within 30 days of this letter being sent.”
The problem is, I did send them the information they are requesting.
I did a little digging on the medexpress site and realized that this letter had been sent exactly 30 days after my first time constraint of 60 days.
Basically, it seems as though this was sent erroneously/automatically, or they didn’t scan one of the 6 documents from my packet.
Regardless, I’ll be on the phone with my AME and hopefully the FAA first thing tomorrow morning to try and shed some light.
I don’t think I did a great job explaining my situation to y’all the first post, so here’s the rundown.
I received a class 3 back in 2014. Flew about 35 hours fixed wing. After this, I was selected to go to flight school in the Army.
I flew nearly 1000 civilian equivalent hours as a Medevac pilot. Saw some bad shit down range and was diagnosed with PTSD when I got out. Currently in remission and am living a normal, happy life. However, I’m still in therapy because it helps.
I self reported to the FAA. (I know, I know)
I sent in a full BH exam conducted by my Psych to show the progress made, personal statement, VA documents, etc…
I know some of you would discourage someone like me from flying with this diagnosis, but that’s cool. I don’t really care what you think. If I thought I was a danger, I would never even try, but like I told them in my letter, Safety was my #1 consideration while I was flying in the Army, and it will continue to remain so as a civilian pilot.
Hopefully these posts lead to a happy ending and encourage some of you who may be in the same boat. This is why I’m laying out the entire scenario to you all now.
I’m not going to quit.
I’ll update again as soon as something happens.
Thanks
2023.06.06 03:08 limerhymes Twisted turning tangled trails
Looking through a looking glass Lingered longing glances alas Not too long before the tide Takes me on to my next ride On an island in the stream Where I dreamt a dreary dream We met ‘neath an olive bough To say more than words allow At the sun-soaked side of sea I gave myself away you see They rose up upon a wave Took me kindly to their grave In gingko gript gardens there Remained a chill in the air Strange for June but stranger things Come for those who spread their wings Thanked them for the lovely view Said I must return to you Tell you all the things I’d seen Show you all of where I’ve been When I came back to my home It had been leveled to the loam I laid to rest in the soil Hoping that the earth might roil Take me in her warm embrace Instead grew up Queen Anne’s Lace To guard the world from my tears And to gently sap my fears I was chilled to the bone Fore I see my sea and stone Gave my heart to the ocean Hoped to hide from that emotion The current swept it from my view I Feared it might wash up to you But it nestled down in the grit Where it goes I where I go ithttps://old.reddit.com/OCPoetry/comments/141rppg/black_sheep/jn29tjx/
https://old.reddit.com/OCPoetry/comments/141xw8h/decided_to_write_a_short_poem_while_overthinking/jn28yex/
2023.06.06 03:06 msz-44 AITA for making fun of others weight
I (F) have been friends with Joanna (F) for well over 5 months. She was previously new and didn't know many people so I took her under my wing. Our friendship grew quickly and we became inseparable we enjoyed being around one another and had great times together. Although she had many issues one being where she would get very clingy towards me and grow angry when talking to friends of mine that she didn't like. I tried to talk about this with her but she always switched the conversation. I decided to stay close friends with her as we enjoyed each others company and it wasn't that big of a deal. Another thing I noticed was that she was extremely sensitive and took things wrong most of the time which resulted in break ups. While in a car with Santana and a few other friends going home. One of my friends let's call her Emily said a joke that Santana didn't like . While Santana was getting up to leave the car she mumbled the words along the lines of "shut up bitch". Emily who noticed Santana's mumbling asked me what Santana had exactly said in which I told her. While on my phone I get a text from Santana asking me why I was talking behind her back and how I had betrayed her as a friend I got confused as to why she had asked me that. Santana then sent me a screenshot of Emily confronting her as to why she insulted her over a silly joke. I told Santana what happened and apologized to her. But she didn't let it go she sent me many texts insulting me and even bringing up personal issues. The texts involved her telling me to kill myself and making fun of my weight . As a person who has suffered with body image and an eating disorder this hurt me . I clapped back and told her that she was a twig and to grow up along some other things . I don't feel bad about what I said but still wonder why she got that hurt and destroyed a perfectly good friendship .We are still on bad terms
submitted by msz-44 to AITAH [link] [comments]
2023.06.06 03:03 One-Summer5250 [QCRIT] Making Stupid Work, Urban Fantasy/Humor, 60K
Just including the "summary/blurb" part because that's what I'm most stuck on. Thank you so much for taking the time! ___________
Twenty-three year old Matt Cantor and his wife Ellie need to make this month’s rent. Luckily, Matt is a Walker, meaning that he is able to project his soul out of his sleeping body. A nice long train-ride should be plenty of time to peer invisibly over a few very rich shoulders onto laptops and phone-screens, juicy passwords to online-banking accounts…
But things go sour when Matt’s soul is abruptly ejected out the back of the train at fifty miles-per-hour into a sunny meadow-- Walkers like him can’t cross running water, and he and Ellie missed a buried sewer-line on the map while they were planning all this out. Luckily, it’s not all a waste. Wandering around the meadow, waiting for his wife to wake him up, Matt stumbles across a mysterious man in a suit, burying an ornate treasure-chest. Not-so-luckily, when he and Ellie make their way back to the meadow to dig up the chest for themselves, they find that it is empty… despite still being locked with a heavy padlock. Before the two of them can figure out what’s going on, they’ve already attracted the attention of a gang of otherworldly death-monsters and accidentally stolen a baby. It’s only because of the terrifying candle-magic of Ellie Cantor that the now-three of them manage to survive their first encounter with the strange creatures. But despite Ellie’s sharp wit, peerless style, and bone-chilling power, she’s only going to be able to get them so far. Pryce Gilligan, Matt’s grumpy old Walking-teacher, can’t offer much either. There’s nothing for it but to just cross their fingers and push forward.
By the time there’s anything even close to a plan in the works, Matt has found himself turned bright-yellow, flung out the open window of a hundred-story building, flown on giant wings of wax through a full-mooned Beijing midnight, killed and brought back to life as an eyelash curler, and forced to run through a neon-orange hotel hallway without any pants. If he and Ellie are going to survive the rest of their topsy-turvy trip, they’re going to need to learn all over again how to trust each other… and that sometimes, no matter how clever you try to be, there’s nothing smarter than making stupid work.
submitted by One-Summer5250 to PubTips [link] [comments]
Twenty-three year old Matt Cantor and his wife Ellie need to make this month’s rent. Luckily, Matt is a Walker, meaning that he is able to project his soul out of his sleeping body. A nice long train-ride should be plenty of time to peer invisibly over a few very rich shoulders onto laptops and phone-screens, juicy passwords to online-banking accounts…
But things go sour when Matt’s soul is abruptly ejected out the back of the train at fifty miles-per-hour into a sunny meadow-- Walkers like him can’t cross running water, and he and Ellie missed a buried sewer-line on the map while they were planning all this out. Luckily, it’s not all a waste. Wandering around the meadow, waiting for his wife to wake him up, Matt stumbles across a mysterious man in a suit, burying an ornate treasure-chest. Not-so-luckily, when he and Ellie make their way back to the meadow to dig up the chest for themselves, they find that it is empty… despite still being locked with a heavy padlock. Before the two of them can figure out what’s going on, they’ve already attracted the attention of a gang of otherworldly death-monsters and accidentally stolen a baby. It’s only because of the terrifying candle-magic of Ellie Cantor that the now-three of them manage to survive their first encounter with the strange creatures. But despite Ellie’s sharp wit, peerless style, and bone-chilling power, she’s only going to be able to get them so far. Pryce Gilligan, Matt’s grumpy old Walking-teacher, can’t offer much either. There’s nothing for it but to just cross their fingers and push forward.
By the time there’s anything even close to a plan in the works, Matt has found himself turned bright-yellow, flung out the open window of a hundred-story building, flown on giant wings of wax through a full-mooned Beijing midnight, killed and brought back to life as an eyelash curler, and forced to run through a neon-orange hotel hallway without any pants. If he and Ellie are going to survive the rest of their topsy-turvy trip, they’re going to need to learn all over again how to trust each other… and that sometimes, no matter how clever you try to be, there’s nothing smarter than making stupid work.
2023.06.06 03:03 UnDead_Ted Family Prayers Monday, June 5th 2023
Heavenly Father, whose favor is life, whose loving kindness is better than life — we thank You for all the favors You have shown to us. Through another day You have led us. Goodness and mercy have followed us all the way. We enter now into the quiet and rest of the eventide, and Your banner over us is love. We hide in the shadow of Your wings.
We remember before You this evening, all the interests of our household. We thank You for all that home means to us of love and shelter. Bless us in our family life, making it more and more like the heavenly life. Lord, You have been our dwelling-place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. A thousand years in Your sight, are but as yesterday, when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
We are but creatures of a moment, dying and passing away. We are like the grass which in the morning flourishes and grows up, and in the evening is cut down and withers. We spend our years as a tale that is told. You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us. We ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Everyday Verse
Acts 4:31 (NIV)- After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Quote of Prayer
Samuel Chadwick"Prayer is the acid test of devotion."Let's Pray:
Heavenly Father, whose favor is life, whose loving kindness is better than life — we thank You for all the favors You have shown to us. Through another day You have led us. Goodness and mercy have followed us all the way. We enter now into the quiet and rest of the eventide, and Your banner over us is love. We hide in the shadow of Your wings.
We remember before You this evening, all the interests of our household. We thank You for all that home means to us of love and shelter. Bless us in our family life, making it more and more like the heavenly life. Lord, You have been our dwelling-place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. A thousand years in Your sight, are but as yesterday, when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
We are but creatures of a moment, dying and passing away. We are like the grass which in the morning flourishes and grows up, and in the evening is cut down and withers. We spend our years as a tale that is told. You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us. We ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
2023.06.06 02:48 Able-Candle723 I have no idea how to take care of my baby
Dramatic title, but I really have no idea of schedules with naps or feedings or how much in a feeding. Every day is pure instinct. The baby has chub and sleeps like a champ. They asked me so much today at his first day at daycare and I had like no answers. Kid loves boob and eats/sleeps on demand. “He likes to sit up and loves someone to smile at him” were my only words of wisdom about my guy. I have just been totally winging things. They’ve dealt with way more babies than I have. I’m not sure what advice I could even give.
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2023.06.06 02:26 bie716 Singapore experts of r/bangtan! What advice and recommendations do you have for ARMY visiting Singapore for the SUGA Agust D Concert? (16 - 18 June 2023)
In just under two weeks, ARMYs will descend upon Singapore to see SUGA! Help an ARMY out and let them know about safety, how to get around, where to eat, tourist attractions, BTS-related things to do, or anything else that you think someone should know when they visit! (Special thanks to the mods for your input and feedback for this guide!)
This made history as the first time a K-pop group held a concert at the venue (largest concert venue in the country) and tickets sold out in about 3.5 hours! (45,000 audience)
Carrying some cash with you (~$10 per pax) is a good idea, especially if you’re venturing out to hawker centres; while many places now have an electronic payment system in place, cash is still king in terms of versatility, and anecdotally most stores prefer cash or will charge a credit-card payment surcharge.
In general, using the Circle Line (yellow) or Downtown Line (blue) should get you to most tourist attractions. Orchard Road (main shopping belt) can be accessed via the North South Line (red), between Orchard and Somerset MRT stations. Map for reference, with links to versions in Chinese/Malay/Tamil available for download.
Taxis and ride-hailing cars: We have Grab and Gojek in place of Uber.
All signs are in English, and the locals - esp the younger generation - are able to speak English fluently. If you’re really lost, feel free to approach others to ask for help! People are generally friendly and helpful despite initial appearances :)
As a side note: in general, if Google Maps is asking you to circle around a building to get somewhere - don’t. You can cut through most places on the ground floor quite easily, even the residential buildings (unless they’re private properties like condominiums/landed housing). MRT stations are connected to a good number of places via sheltered corridors if they’re nearby enough. Enjoy the aircon & shade instead of walking outside in the heat if you can.
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BTS' Past Visits
Red Bullet Tour (2014 BTS Live Trilogy Episode II) at the The Star Performing Arts Centre (13 Dec 2014)- Fancam
- Official photos by Hallyu Singapore
- Official photos of Hi-Five session by Hallyu Singapore. Session was for all Cat 1 VVIP ticket holders ($268), who got a Hi-Five Pass and Concert Poster. The first 100 VVIP ticket holders also got to go up on stage to get a "Dark & Wild" album autographed by BTS.
- Fancam
- Quiz game video
- Outing at the Merlion statue and Singapore flyer: Photos Set 1 Photos Set 2.
This made history as the first time a K-pop group held a concert at the venue (largest concert venue in the country) and tickets sold out in about 3.5 hours! (45,000 audience)
- Concert review
- Witty notice from the Singapore Police Force abt avoiding ticket scams (it uses the BTS song titles!)
- Bonus: Jimin picked Marina Bay Sands as his special spot in the BTS x Street Galleries collaboration with Google revealed on ARMY Day (July 9) 2022
Concert Venue
Do note that it’s currently the June school holidays too (26 May-26 Jun), so the Sports Hub and surrounding areas may be crowded with many other visitors besides the concert-goers. Please be mindful!- Singapore Indoor Stadium, right next to the National Stadium (both are part of the Singapore Sports Hub) where BTS performed at their last concert here in 2019. In fact, the Indoor Stadium was then used as the waiting zone for the standing zone ticket-holders.
- Concert guidelines been posted yet (will update here when they are), but here are the general guidelines for events there (links opens a pdf)
- The nearest MRT station is the Stadium station, on the Circle line - here is a train map (with Stadium MRT circled out in light purple). You’ll know when you’ve arrived as the station design is quite unique! Go up the elevator and follow the signage - the path is sheltered.
- You can find Kallang Wave Mall right next to the venue, for a spot of shopping and dining before the concert (opening hrs:10am-10pm daily). There is another smaller mall Leisure Park Kallang located next to the carpark, which houses an ice skating rink, bowling alley and cinema alongside more food options. The open space in front of the MRT station and the two malls is where ARMYs are likely to gather to exchange fan support and stuff
- The nearest hawker centre (i.e the affordable street food) is Old Airport Road Food Centre, one of the oldest and largest hawker centres in the country. It is about 20 mins walk away from the stadium, or you can simply alight at the Mountbatten/Dakota MRT stations (one or two stops away from Stadium MRT station respectively); both are about a 5 mins’ walk away from the food centre. Here is a list of recommendations (unfortunately, not a lot of Halal food stalls here. Let me know if you need those).
- There is also a McDonalds’ & KFC near Mountbatten MRT if you want something more familiar, or potentially try whatever new promo is currently going on at these places.
Sightseeing/Activities
Non-exhaustive list (all prices are in SGD)- National Gallery Singapore. There is a special Namjooning Tour as part of the Gallery Wellness Festival. Slots are fully booked for the guided tours on 25 & 30 June. You could try the self-guided tours instead, which start on 17 July. Gallery passes for general admission to the permanent galleries (needed to access the tour) cost $20 for non-Singaporeans aged 13-59. Closes early (by 3pm) on some weekends in June and July (see dates on website).
- National Museum Singapore. Has very interactive and engaging exhibits. Highly recommended (I used to be a volunteer docent there for abt a year). Tickets cost from $15 (for access to permanent galleries only)
- Singapore Zoo & adjacent parks (Bird Park, River Wonders, Night Safari). We have one of the best zoos in the world! Single park tickets cost $50. Multi-park options also available. .
- Gardens by the Bay. Pretty gardens with outdoor sections and 2 indoor air-conditioned conservatories - you may have heard of the supertrees that have been featured in the movie "Crazy Rich Asians" and K-drama "Little Women". Provides a welcome respite from the heat. It’s free to visit the outdoor areas, but it’s really worth it to pay for entry to the conservatories. There are various pricing packages, so best to check out the website yourself.
- Singapore Botanical Gardens is our first UNESCO World Heritage site, the first and only tropical botanic garden on the list. Admission is free.
- The Merlion and the Marina Bay area. I personally recommend going at night to see the famed cityscape of Singapore all lit up (the temperature’s cooler too!). Marina Bay Sands Mall has a light and water show every night. There is also the iLight Festival going on now until 25 June with artistic light installations (mix of free and paid attractions). Bonus: Yoongi wore a Merlion Singapore t-shirt in a travel-themed Lotte Xylitol ad!
- You can also ride the Singapore Flyer for an aerial view of our city like the boys did! Admission costs $40.
- Visit our ethnic enclaves, Chinatown, Little India, Kampung Glam and Geylang Serai to see old shophouses, shop for souvenirs and try ethnic food
- One of the fanbases here, BangtanSG, has teased an ARMY event from 11-13 June. Will update when more details are released.
- Sentosa & Universal Studios Singapore theme park - you can access the island via various modes of transport with varying admission fees. Transport within the island is free.
- If you don’t want to think too hard, the best airport in the world for 12 years running is also an attraction in itself! See its dedicated section below for more information.
- Singapore is also located in the centre of Southeast Asia - if you’ve never been in this oft-forgotten region of the world, take the chance to check out our neighbouring countries as well! Malaysia can easily be reached via bus, and Indonesia via ferry.
Dining
Singapore is a food paradise with various cuisines from the local ethnic groups, as well as international ones. For Muslims, there are a lot of Muslim-owned or Halal-certified options around (look for this certificate, or the label “Muslim-owned”), including most of the fast food chains like McDonald’s/KFC/Burger King/Subway.Carrying some cash with you (~$10 per pax) is a good idea, especially if you’re venturing out to hawker centres; while many places now have an electronic payment system in place, cash is still king in terms of versatility, and anecdotally most stores prefer cash or will charge a credit-card payment surcharge.
Where to eat?
- Most of the malls have a good selection of dining options, ranging from the (relatively affordable) multi-stall foodcourts to fast-food restaurants, cafes, and more upmarket restaurants.
- It can get crowded during lunchtime (12-2pm) as office workers come out for their break, so try to avoid those hours if possible, or make advance reservations.
- If you are staying/shopping in Orchard Road, Far East Plaza (level 4 & 5) and Lucky Plaza (multiple levels) have relatively more affordable food options for the area..
- There’s a myriad of other malls in the suburban areas outside of Orchard to be explored.
- Hawker centres: A “hawker” in Singapore refers to a street food vendor, and in Singapore they’ve been centralised into food centres to create an iconic Singapore dining institution. These places are generally not air-conditioned, but they are the most affordable dining option. If you see an item on a table even if it’s something innocuous like a tissue paper packet or name-card, it means the seat's been reserved (“chop-ed” in the local slang) by people who are off queuing for their food.
- Look for stalls with the longest lines (the most popular stalls will have long queues all day long), but most stalls should have decent food.
- Newton Hawker Centre (near Newton MRT station) and Lau Pa Sat (near Telok AyeDowntown/Raffles Place Stations) are probably the most well-known to tourists, but beware of touts and over-charging, especially at Newton.
- Taking the MRT out to slightly less central areas like Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh, Kallang, etc. should bring you to other hawker centres that cater to locals.
- Order in: GrabFood and Foodpanda are the two most popular food delivery apps with extensive coverage all around Singapore. Deliveroo is also available. Just be prepared to pay upwards of $5 delivery fee during peak periods, and the listed online prices are usually higher than in-store. The apps also have pick-up available if you’d simply like to order in advance.
- The ethnic enclaves like Kampung Glam (Malay/Muslim), Chinatown and Little India have a higher concentration of the respective ethnic cuisines, but most places in Singapore have a good mix of different local and international cuisines
What to eat?
Breakfast (These are generally very affordable options that should cost you below $10 per person, particularly if you go to food courts/hawker centres)- Tea/coffee with kaya toast and half-boiled eggs. Available at most hawker centres (usually at the drink stalls), and chains like Ya Kun Kaya Toast and Killiney Kopitiam in malls. Order tea/coffee like a local by referring to this guide.
- Among the fast-food chains, KFC offers the more local option of chicken porridge (congee)
- Roti prata, a south-Indian flatbread (also known as paratha in India, or roti canai in Malaysia), available at most hawker centres and Indian coffee-shops
- Nasi lemak, coconut milk-flavoured rice with a variety of side dishes (usual ones: omelette, fried chicken wing/fried fish, fried anchovies).
- Beehoon, rice vermicelli with a range of toppings like fish cake, luncheon meat (spam), chicken wings, veggies etc.
- Chai Tow Kway (“carrot cake” - it’s actually radish cake), Tau Huey (soya bean curd pudding) + Youtiao (chinese fried dough)
- Mee Rebus, a Malay noodle dish with thick & spicy potato-based gravy topped with hard-boiled egg, bean sprouts, fried shallots, tau kwa (fried beancurd) and spring onions
- Chilli crab: I don’t have any personal recommendations, and it could be costly because the crabs are usually charged by weight, which may vary daily. The link gives a run-down of some popular places
- Hainanese chicken rice: Again, no personal recommendations, but you can find this in most foodcourts and hawker centres. You should be able to find one of these for $5 or less.
- Murtabak/Briyani: My favourite is ZamZam Restaurant (est, 1908) at North Bridge Road in the Muslim enclave of Kampung Glam, but there is a whole row of Singapore-Indian restaurants serving a similar menu there
- Everything under the sun :) Google maps & data coverage generally works well in most parts of Singapore, so search & explore! Some sites you can start at include Chope & Burpple.
- A must try, it’s sold by any ice cream man you see roaming around with a popup like this
- We have a ton of bubble tea (boba) stores if you’re craving it, you’d probably find a bubble tea store or two within 20mins of walking anywhere. Koi/Gongcha/LiHo are quite standard options, and then there’s others like Playmade/Chichasansen with their own unique points. Here’s a list with 61 of them...
- There’re plenty of 7-11s and convenience stores around, as well as “mama shops” around public residential housing.
Getting Around
Singapore has a great public transport system. It’s really easy & cheap to get around on the MRT (mass rapid transit trains) and buses. Use Google Maps or the City Mapper app to navigate yourself and get route recommendations (the latter also has transport arrival timings and fare estimates. It also works in many cities globally, so is very useful for tourists). Various transport passes are available for tourists, but you can also use your contactless credit cards (Visa and Mastercard) to pay for the fares (no registration required).In general, using the Circle Line (yellow) or Downtown Line (blue) should get you to most tourist attractions. Orchard Road (main shopping belt) can be accessed via the North South Line (red), between Orchard and Somerset MRT stations. Map for reference, with links to versions in Chinese/Malay/Tamil available for download.
Taxis and ride-hailing cars: We have Grab and Gojek in place of Uber.
- The largest local taxi fleet - the blue Comfort Cabs - also have their own ride-hailing app to compete, although they can also operate via the traditional meter & can be booked via phone call/flagged down as usual. Fares can be paid via cash post-ride or credit card for all these private car options.
- Ride-hailing tends to be very expensive. At peak periods, ride-hailing services could be even more expensive than taxis, but at least you know the price beforehand. All malls have a taxi stand where you can stand in queue and hop on the next available cab. Queues can be long at morning and evening peak periods, so avoid taking cabs then if you can.
All signs are in English, and the locals - esp the younger generation - are able to speak English fluently. If you’re really lost, feel free to approach others to ask for help! People are generally friendly and helpful despite initial appearances :)
As a side note: in general, if Google Maps is asking you to circle around a building to get somewhere - don’t. You can cut through most places on the ground floor quite easily, even the residential buildings (unless they’re private properties like condominiums/landed housing). MRT stations are connected to a good number of places via sheltered corridors if they’re nearby enough. Enjoy the aircon & shade instead of walking outside in the heat if you can.
Shopping
- Orchard Road is our main shopping belt, running from Orchard to Somerset MRT stations. You can find many shopping malls there, with collections ranging from upmarket to fast fashion. Check out Design Orchard, a retail space for fashion and lifestyle items by Singapore designers.
- For an old-style emporium experience drop by Mustafa Centre. It used to be open 24 hours but this was disrupted by COVID19 and now it is only open until 2am (best place for late night shopping!). It's not a glitzy mall, but has crowded aisles chock full of all manners of things, including snacks and souvenirs (avoid going on Sundays when it gets super crowded with migrant workers on their day off).
- Already mentioned above are the ethnic enclaves Chinatown, Little India, Kampung Glam and Geylang Serai with smaller standalone shops. Special mention for Haji Lane in the Kampung Glam area, a small street with cute boutiques.
- The many, many other malls scattered across the country - a brief list. For example, Paya Lebar alone (just another station up from Dakota!) is connected to several malls like Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ), PLQ 2, PL Square, Singpost centre, and a couple more within a 5-mins’ walk (Tanjong Katong Complex, City Plaza, KINEX etc.).
Weathewhat to wear
The weather is especially hot these days (max temp of up to 35 degrees celsius, or 95 Fahrenheit), with possible spurts of heavy rain at certain times of day, so dress light and carry an umbrella (most places do have sheltered walkways between buildings and bus-stops/MRT stations though, so don’t worry too much about getting around in the rain). Mall air-conditioning can be cold, so hv another layer (e.g. cardigan/wrap/scarf) on hand. Remember to hydrate frequently & avoid staying outdoors for too long!Airport
- Singapore Changi Airport is often voted by travellers as the best airport in the world, with lots of shopping, dining and leisure options in the various terminals. BTS (except Jin who took a different flight) stopped over at Changi Airport on the way to New Zealand for Bon Voyage 4 (airport lounge scenes shown in Episode 1)! While you may not have access to the business class lounge like them, there are various other options to rest and hangout, like the many gardens (some even accessible from the public areas) and even a free 24h cinema (Terminal 3 transit area).
- Jewel Changi Airport which is attached to Terminal 1 is an attraction in itself. It's worth arriving 2-3 hours earlier than your flight check-in time to grab a meal and have a look around Jewel. A particular highlight is to take the skytrain between Terminals 2 and 3, cutting across the centre of Jewel, to get a spectacular view of the indoor waterfall. There is also shopping aplenty (Tip: NTUC Fairprice supermarket in Jewel has a nice selection of food and non-food souvenirs which are pretty affordable).
- There are various transport options for getting to the city from the airport. Public transport like MRT is convenient if you are travelling light, else there is a shuttle service to selected downtown hotels. Taxis and ride-hire cars can be expensive, especially with the airport surcharge.
- Sort of related, Yoongi gave a shout out to our national airlines (Singapore Airlines) for its great seat and amenities in business class in BV4! (He said: let's always fly Singapore Airlines in the future!). The airlines must have taken notice, because they recently announced that they would be adding BTS content like songs, MVs, LY New York concert, and Break The Silence docu in their in-flight entertainment system to commemorate BTS' 10th anniversary. An ARMY also spotted a write-up abt BTS in their in-flight magazine.
2023.06.06 02:08 ItsDumi [SOUL STEALER] Chapter 14 - Vhifet
A strong gust of wind blows past Raya and Kita as they walk beneath the darkening sky. The stars beading the darkened edges, like the inside of a snow globe being covered for storage.
Their attention is shifted to the myst. Kita instinctively tries to deduce where the myst will be coming from, but the brick wall of her knowledge stops her in the process.
"Where's it coming from?" Kita asks Raya.
"It'll blow from the South," Raya answers.
"How do you know that?"
"Thunderstorms often accompany the myst,"
"So the winds suggest a thunderstorm?"
"Sure," Raya responds before pointing to the sky- in the same direction the wind came from.
Kita turns around to look up at dark, distant clouds with strobes of lightning casting menacing, white flashes on the shadowy surface below.
"So you use your eyes?" Kita shrugs, realizing the technique is not all that impressive.
"Sure, but that only works when it's too late. We won't be escaping the myst's path,"
"How do the cities escape it?"
"I'm not certain. A combination of weather analysis and the alignment of the stars,"
Kita's eyebrow raises, "How the hell would the alignment of the stars determine where the myst flows?"
"I'm no observer. I don't understand the ways of the beads in the sky," Raya chuckles.
Kita wouldn't consider herself 'unintelligent' but she knows she's not the brightest flame in the fire. Using the stars to guide the motion of a 'sandstorm' is a truly unintelligent design.
"So how long do we have?" Kita asks.
"Not long. I see a good place for shelter,"
Raya points ahead of her, at the base of a mountain with a small cave entrance at its base. Small lights radiate from deep inside the cave as the surrounding fog of the impending myst slowly starts to limit their vision.
"Ah, I'd love to camp in a cave with strangers all around me," Kita sighs, and Raya just laughs- Thinking Kita's joking, but she wasn't.
No, those people are probably poor and smelly. Ugh, she'd rather sleep in the myst than deal with the pungent smell her mind is imagining much too vividly.
"Can't we just camp out here," Kita groans.
"Are you worried they'll steal the coin you no longer have?" Raya's sarcasm has Kita rolling her eyes.
"Not all of us had servants to bring beautiful men and women to the bedroom in our castle, your Heiness,"
Raya chuckles, "Our tipi isn't strong enough. The myst is quite forceful,"
"Have you ever seen anyone get consumed by the myst?" Kita finds herself curious about watching someone die in such a horrific way. Maybe she could cast a spell that does something similar.
"I have," Raya responds, to Kita's surprise. "It's quite gruesome,"
"Oh yeah? Was it a friend of yours? Family maybe?" Kita chuckles, "Some of your citizens?"
"No…"
"Who then?"
"You," Raya responds, passing a smug smile to Kita.
"Seriously?" Kita asks in awe.
"Indeed," Raya responds. "I couldn't get to you in time, but when the myst passed. I found your… mangled body in the dirt,"
"How'd I get caught in it?"
"You didn't want to sleep in a cave with people 'lesser' than yourself, and opted to challenge the myst,"
"Haha, very funny," Kita replies, thinking Raya is messing with her.
"That's the true story," Raya chuckles.
"Huh…" Kita grunts, surprisingly unsurprised that she'd have done something so stupid. "What'd it do to me?"
"It melted away most of your skin and muscle. So much of it had deteriorated by the morning, I could see the beat of your heart through the gaps in your ribcage. Your body used over three hundred souls to stay alive throughout a single night,"
"Woah, that's pretty gross," Kita chuckles.
"It was," Raya laughs.
Ahead of Kita, the cave entrance peaks at the same size as one of those villain office doors. It tunnels deep into the cave. The walls tighten as they travel further in, following with light as they shuffle sideways through the cracks.
As Kita pokes her head out the final portion of the slender hallway. She stumbles out into a gargantuan sight. From her elevated position, she witnesses the largest cave she's ever seen- as far as she knows. Much wider than the canyon, an entire city expands amongst an isolated biome of glowing rivers and tipis scattered amongst this seemingly subsurface world.
At the cave's ceiling, dozens of large, circular tents hang suspended on chains as though they're the eggs of some gargantuan beast. All interconnected with walkways. Their only connection to the ground are long, steel wires that lead up to platforms amongst the orb-shaped homes. She can see a figure in the distance, smaller than the tip of her finger, scaling up one of these wires rapidly. With some sort of connection at their waist.
"This isn't as small as you made it seem," Kita responds. Staring into the naturally illuminated glows of purple and sapphire, coupled with the accenting glow of orange lights scattered in homes and pathways throughout the city.
"It's grown a lot since I was last here," Raya says, with an expression as perplexed as Kita's.
"When was that?" Kita chuckles," When they'd just found it?"
"... Yeah," Raya stammers.
Kita raises both her eyebrows as she whistles in shock, "Alright then, Grandma,"
Raya chuckles, rolling her eyes to look at Kita, "You're older than I am,"
At the far end of the city, a large stairway leads up to a marketplace, occupying a low, but large platform of what was probably once a gigantic boulder. With streams of people walking towards it.
"Food," Kita commands, seeing the marketplace.
"I'll set up the tipi," Rays adds. "Bring something back for me,"
"Where you thinking of setting up?"
"Over there," Raya points at a lesser occupied part of the common area. Beside the glowing lake.
"Alright," Kita nods, then heads down the pathway that leads to the marketplace.
•°•°•°•
Kita slouches over as she makes it up the last step to the marketplace, huffing heavily thanks to her poor stamina. When she raises her head she is greeted by an expansive marketplace. Stalls and stands with food and different ornaments on sale, alongside tipi's selling clothes, weapons, and all the goodies Kita could imagine. It'll be tough for Kita not to spend all of this coin.
Maybe I should have been the one to set up the tent.
She slowly walks past the plethora of stalls selling all sorts of useful items- Making her contemplate a future in which she settles down and decorates a really cute tipi with all of this useless crap she could collect. Figurines and hanging sculptures made of polished stone. With glowing liquid from the lake, flowing in all directions through the stone.
And…
Kita steps up to the table of a stall that catches her attention. And gently places her hands on a… bird. A polished dark stone accents with a purple liquid glow, flowing among its spread wings. It's shaped like that obnoxious one she'd met.
Rayn.
"Many dream of soaring the skies," Says a young, dark-skinned man with short white dreadlocks. He has an amalgamation of turquoise and white robes draped across his body.
"I'm not the dreaming type," Kita responds.
"You gaze at this piece with the eyes of one," He smiles.
"Did you make it?" She asks.
"I did," He nods.
She lifts the piece closer to her face. Casting a soft purple light into her nose as she watches this liquid flow amongst the fine details and patterns of the sculptures.
"What is that stuff?" She asks. "It flows thicker than water,"
"Most believe it stems from the depths of the cave," He lifts a larger one of his sculptures. "It does hydrate us. Some believe it does more,"
"More being…"
"We call it, Vhifet. The next life source. We see it as our world's message to us. One of future abundance. A world better than the one of the old humans. If one is to drink Vhifet, their soul will rejoin our world when the time is right, and they will be chosen to experience the era of Vhifet."
"Hmm," Kita mumbles, in an interested way. "The last thing I would want is to come back here,"
"You're not of faith?" He asks.
"The way of gods is not my concern," She responds.
"I do not mean faith in god. Do you have faith in a good future?"
"I'm not so sure I'll have one," She drops her eye contact. Taken aback by the numbness of her missing soul. Incompleteness trickles through her like an itch she cannot reach. "All that exists is now,"
"Yes, but you are not designed to only perceive now. You need not work for your future but you must believe in it,"
Kita glances up at the guy. He's got a way with words. If Kita was any more downtrodden, she'd have been converted right on the spot. Drinking the slime water and whatever other weird ritual they probably have to get a taste of that faith. But, no faith will get her soul back. To her knowledge, most faiths require their participants to have souls anyway. She's not exactly suited for the lifestyle. The religious system is rigged against the soulless.
"How much for this?" Kita asks, holding up the little Rayn statue. Trying to ignore the idiotic ramblings of her mind.
"Twenty-one coin," He smiles.
"Is a meal included? She asks, raising an eyebrow at the price.
The man laughs, raising his hand to his chest as his head leans back. "Since we had a lovely conversation, I can give it to you for Fifteen,"
Kita chuckles at the man's animated behaviour. "Alright, Fifteen it is,"
She swings her backpack around to her front and reaches in to grab some coin out of a pouch.
"Here you go," She says, taking her hand out from the bag and reaching out to him with fifteen coin in her hand. "Fifteen coin,"
The man reaches his hand out to collect the coin. And in doing so, his fingers collide with Kita's. Inducing a sudden lapse in Kita's vision. She can't see anything, or even feel her body anymore.
There is only darkness.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Read ahead on RoyalRoad [https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/68702/soul-stealer-anti-hero-reincarnation-fantasy](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/68702/soul-stealer-anti-hero-reincarnation-fantasy)
Kita's thoughts - Post Chapter 14
"B-I-R-D,"
submitted by ItsDumi to HFY [link] [comments]
Their attention is shifted to the myst. Kita instinctively tries to deduce where the myst will be coming from, but the brick wall of her knowledge stops her in the process.
"Where's it coming from?" Kita asks Raya.
"It'll blow from the South," Raya answers.
"How do you know that?"
"Thunderstorms often accompany the myst,"
"So the winds suggest a thunderstorm?"
"Sure," Raya responds before pointing to the sky- in the same direction the wind came from.
Kita turns around to look up at dark, distant clouds with strobes of lightning casting menacing, white flashes on the shadowy surface below.
"So you use your eyes?" Kita shrugs, realizing the technique is not all that impressive.
"Sure, but that only works when it's too late. We won't be escaping the myst's path,"
"How do the cities escape it?"
"I'm not certain. A combination of weather analysis and the alignment of the stars,"
Kita's eyebrow raises, "How the hell would the alignment of the stars determine where the myst flows?"
"I'm no observer. I don't understand the ways of the beads in the sky," Raya chuckles.
Kita wouldn't consider herself 'unintelligent' but she knows she's not the brightest flame in the fire. Using the stars to guide the motion of a 'sandstorm' is a truly unintelligent design.
"So how long do we have?" Kita asks.
"Not long. I see a good place for shelter,"
Raya points ahead of her, at the base of a mountain with a small cave entrance at its base. Small lights radiate from deep inside the cave as the surrounding fog of the impending myst slowly starts to limit their vision.
"Ah, I'd love to camp in a cave with strangers all around me," Kita sighs, and Raya just laughs- Thinking Kita's joking, but she wasn't.
No, those people are probably poor and smelly. Ugh, she'd rather sleep in the myst than deal with the pungent smell her mind is imagining much too vividly.
"Can't we just camp out here," Kita groans.
"Are you worried they'll steal the coin you no longer have?" Raya's sarcasm has Kita rolling her eyes.
"Not all of us had servants to bring beautiful men and women to the bedroom in our castle, your Heiness,"
Raya chuckles, "Our tipi isn't strong enough. The myst is quite forceful,"
"Have you ever seen anyone get consumed by the myst?" Kita finds herself curious about watching someone die in such a horrific way. Maybe she could cast a spell that does something similar.
"I have," Raya responds, to Kita's surprise. "It's quite gruesome,"
"Oh yeah? Was it a friend of yours? Family maybe?" Kita chuckles, "Some of your citizens?"
"No…"
"Who then?"
"You," Raya responds, passing a smug smile to Kita.
"Seriously?" Kita asks in awe.
"Indeed," Raya responds. "I couldn't get to you in time, but when the myst passed. I found your… mangled body in the dirt,"
"How'd I get caught in it?"
"You didn't want to sleep in a cave with people 'lesser' than yourself, and opted to challenge the myst,"
"Haha, very funny," Kita replies, thinking Raya is messing with her.
"That's the true story," Raya chuckles.
"Huh…" Kita grunts, surprisingly unsurprised that she'd have done something so stupid. "What'd it do to me?"
"It melted away most of your skin and muscle. So much of it had deteriorated by the morning, I could see the beat of your heart through the gaps in your ribcage. Your body used over three hundred souls to stay alive throughout a single night,"
"Woah, that's pretty gross," Kita chuckles.
"It was," Raya laughs.
Ahead of Kita, the cave entrance peaks at the same size as one of those villain office doors. It tunnels deep into the cave. The walls tighten as they travel further in, following with light as they shuffle sideways through the cracks.
As Kita pokes her head out the final portion of the slender hallway. She stumbles out into a gargantuan sight. From her elevated position, she witnesses the largest cave she's ever seen- as far as she knows. Much wider than the canyon, an entire city expands amongst an isolated biome of glowing rivers and tipis scattered amongst this seemingly subsurface world.
At the cave's ceiling, dozens of large, circular tents hang suspended on chains as though they're the eggs of some gargantuan beast. All interconnected with walkways. Their only connection to the ground are long, steel wires that lead up to platforms amongst the orb-shaped homes. She can see a figure in the distance, smaller than the tip of her finger, scaling up one of these wires rapidly. With some sort of connection at their waist.
"This isn't as small as you made it seem," Kita responds. Staring into the naturally illuminated glows of purple and sapphire, coupled with the accenting glow of orange lights scattered in homes and pathways throughout the city.
"It's grown a lot since I was last here," Raya says, with an expression as perplexed as Kita's.
"When was that?" Kita chuckles," When they'd just found it?"
"... Yeah," Raya stammers.
Kita raises both her eyebrows as she whistles in shock, "Alright then, Grandma,"
Raya chuckles, rolling her eyes to look at Kita, "You're older than I am,"
At the far end of the city, a large stairway leads up to a marketplace, occupying a low, but large platform of what was probably once a gigantic boulder. With streams of people walking towards it.
"Food," Kita commands, seeing the marketplace.
"I'll set up the tipi," Rays adds. "Bring something back for me,"
"Where you thinking of setting up?"
"Over there," Raya points at a lesser occupied part of the common area. Beside the glowing lake.
"Alright," Kita nods, then heads down the pathway that leads to the marketplace.
•°•°•°•
Kita slouches over as she makes it up the last step to the marketplace, huffing heavily thanks to her poor stamina. When she raises her head she is greeted by an expansive marketplace. Stalls and stands with food and different ornaments on sale, alongside tipi's selling clothes, weapons, and all the goodies Kita could imagine. It'll be tough for Kita not to spend all of this coin.
Maybe I should have been the one to set up the tent.
She slowly walks past the plethora of stalls selling all sorts of useful items- Making her contemplate a future in which she settles down and decorates a really cute tipi with all of this useless crap she could collect. Figurines and hanging sculptures made of polished stone. With glowing liquid from the lake, flowing in all directions through the stone.
And…
Kita steps up to the table of a stall that catches her attention. And gently places her hands on a… bird. A polished dark stone accents with a purple liquid glow, flowing among its spread wings. It's shaped like that obnoxious one she'd met.
Rayn.
"Many dream of soaring the skies," Says a young, dark-skinned man with short white dreadlocks. He has an amalgamation of turquoise and white robes draped across his body.
"I'm not the dreaming type," Kita responds.
"You gaze at this piece with the eyes of one," He smiles.
"Did you make it?" She asks.
"I did," He nods.
She lifts the piece closer to her face. Casting a soft purple light into her nose as she watches this liquid flow amongst the fine details and patterns of the sculptures.
"What is that stuff?" She asks. "It flows thicker than water,"
"Most believe it stems from the depths of the cave," He lifts a larger one of his sculptures. "It does hydrate us. Some believe it does more,"
"More being…"
"We call it, Vhifet. The next life source. We see it as our world's message to us. One of future abundance. A world better than the one of the old humans. If one is to drink Vhifet, their soul will rejoin our world when the time is right, and they will be chosen to experience the era of Vhifet."
"Hmm," Kita mumbles, in an interested way. "The last thing I would want is to come back here,"
"You're not of faith?" He asks.
"The way of gods is not my concern," She responds.
"I do not mean faith in god. Do you have faith in a good future?"
"I'm not so sure I'll have one," She drops her eye contact. Taken aback by the numbness of her missing soul. Incompleteness trickles through her like an itch she cannot reach. "All that exists is now,"
"Yes, but you are not designed to only perceive now. You need not work for your future but you must believe in it,"
Kita glances up at the guy. He's got a way with words. If Kita was any more downtrodden, she'd have been converted right on the spot. Drinking the slime water and whatever other weird ritual they probably have to get a taste of that faith. But, no faith will get her soul back. To her knowledge, most faiths require their participants to have souls anyway. She's not exactly suited for the lifestyle. The religious system is rigged against the soulless.
"How much for this?" Kita asks, holding up the little Rayn statue. Trying to ignore the idiotic ramblings of her mind.
"Twenty-one coin," He smiles.
"Is a meal included? She asks, raising an eyebrow at the price.
The man laughs, raising his hand to his chest as his head leans back. "Since we had a lovely conversation, I can give it to you for Fifteen,"
Kita chuckles at the man's animated behaviour. "Alright, Fifteen it is,"
She swings her backpack around to her front and reaches in to grab some coin out of a pouch.
"Here you go," She says, taking her hand out from the bag and reaching out to him with fifteen coin in her hand. "Fifteen coin,"
The man reaches his hand out to collect the coin. And in doing so, his fingers collide with Kita's. Inducing a sudden lapse in Kita's vision. She can't see anything, or even feel her body anymore.
There is only darkness.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Read ahead on RoyalRoad [https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/68702/soul-stealer-anti-hero-reincarnation-fantasy](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/68702/soul-stealer-anti-hero-reincarnation-fantasy)
Kita's thoughts - Post Chapter 14
"B-I-R-D,"
2023.06.06 01:59 Pinto_RED_Window13 Demo samedi (tf2 freakshow) Vs dragonborn (Skyrim)
Scene: A snowy forest in Solstheim. Demo Samedi is wandering around, looking for victims to torture. He hears a loud roar in the sky and sees a dragon flying overhead. He decides to follow it.
Demo Samedi: (grinning) Aye, what's this then? A flying lizard? Maybe it has some treasure for me. Or maybe I can make it my pet. Come on, let's go see.He runs after the dragon, unaware that it is heading towards a nearby clearing where Dragonborn is waiting for it. Dragonborn is wearing a full set of Nordic carved armor and wielding a Nordic greatsword. He also has a bow and some arrows on his back.
Dragonborn: (looking up) There you are, you filthy worm. I've been tracking you for days. You've been terrorizing the people of Solstheim long enough. It's time to end this.He draws his bow and fires an arrow at the dragon. The arrow hits the dragon's wing, causing it to lose balance and crash into the ground. Dragonborn runs towards the dragon, ready to finish it off.
Dragonborn: (shouting) FUS RO DAH!He unleashes a powerful blast of Unrelenting Force from his mouth, sending the dragon flying backwards and slamming into a tree. The dragon lets out a final groan and dies. Dragonborn approaches the dragon's corpse and absorbs its soul, gaining a new word of power.
Dragonborn: (closing his eyes) Ahh... another one down. I wonder what this one knew.He opens his eyes and sees Demo Samedi standing in front of him, holding a voodoo doll in one hand and a sword in the other. Demo Samedi has a wicked smile on his face.
Demo Samedi: Well, well, well. Look what we have here. A big, strong man with a fancy voice. And a dead dragon. You must be the one they call Dragonborn.Dragonborn: (surprised) Who are you? How did you get here?
Demo Samedi: (laughing) Oh, I'm just a humble traveler, looking for some fun. And you look like a lot of fun. You see, I have this little toy here. It's a voodoo doll. And it can do some amazing things.
He squeezes the voodoo doll and Dragonborn feels a sharp pain in his chest.
Dragonborn: (grunting) What... what are you doing?Demo Samedi: (mocking) What am I doing? I'm playing with you, of course. And you're going to play with me too. Or else...
He twists the voodoo doll's arm and Dragonborn feels his arm breaking.
Dragonborn: (screaming) AHHH!Demo Samedi: (cackling) Oh, yes. That's the sound I like to hear. The sound of pain and fear. You're going to make a lot of noise for me, Dragonborn. And then you're going to die.
He raises his sword and prepares to stab Dragonborn in the heart.
Demo Samedi: (shouting) DIE!Dragonborn reacts quickly and shouts another word of power.
Dragonborn: (shouting) WULD NAH KEST!He uses Whirlwind Sprint to dodge Demo Samedi's attack and get behind him. He then swings his greatsword at Demo Samedi's neck, hoping to decapitate him.
Dragonborn: (shouting) DIE!However, Demo Samedi is faster than he looks and blocks the sword with his own blade.
Demo Samedi: (grunting) Nice try, laddie. But you're not the only one who can move fast.He kicks Dragonborn in the stomach, making him drop his sword and fall to his knees.
Demo Samedi: (taunting) What's wrong, Dragonborn? Can't handle a little kick?He stabs Dragonborn in the shoulder with his sword, making him scream again.
Demo Samedi: (laughing) Oh, that's right. You can't handle anything. You're weak. You're pathetic. You're nothing compared to me.He pulls out his sword and raises it for another strike.
Demo Samedi: (shouting) I AM DEMO SAMEDI! THE MASTER OF VOODOO! THE LORD OF THE DEAD! AND YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A WORM!He swings his sword down, but Dragonborn manages to roll away and grab his bow and an arrow.
Dragonborn: (panting) You... you're insane. You're a monster.Demo Samedi: (snarling) And you're a fool. A fool who thinks he can stop me.
He charges at Dragonborn, ready to kill him.
Dragonborn: (shouting) NO!He fires an arrow at Demo Samedi's face, hoping to hit his eye.
Dragonborn: (shouting) YOL TOOR SHUL!He also uses Fire Breath to ignite the arrow, turning it into a flaming projectile.
The arrow hits Demo Samedi's eye, piercing through his skull and setting his head on fire. Demo Samedi lets out a horrible scream and falls to the ground, dead.
Dragonborn: (relieved) It's over. It's finally over.He drops his bow and arrow and sits down, exhausted and wounded. He looks at Demo Samedi's corpse and shakes his head.
Dragonborn: (muttering) What a madman. What a waste of life.He then looks at the sky and sees a dragon flying overhead. He recognizes it as Odahviing, one of his dragon allies.
Dragonborn: (calling) Odahviing! Over here!Odahviing sees Dragonborn and flies down to him. He lands next to him and sniffs him.
Odahviing: (speaking in Dragon Language) Dovahkiin. You are hurt. What happened?Dragonborn: (speaking in Dragon Language) I fought a man who had voodoo magic. He was very powerful and evil. But I killed him.
Odahviing: (speaking in Dragon Language) Voodoo magic? I have never heard of such a thing. It sounds dangerous.
Dragonborn: (speaking in Dragon Language) It was. But it's over now. Can you take me back to Skyrim? I need to heal my wounds.
Odahviing: (speaking in Dragon Language) Of course, Dovahkiin. Climb on my back. I will take you home.
Dragonborn: (speaking in Dragon Language) Thank you, Odahviing. You are a true friend.
Odahviing: (speaking in Dragon Language) And you are a true hero, Dovahkiin. Come, let us go.
Dragonborn climbs on Odahviing's back and holds on tight. Odahviing takes off and flies away from Solstheim, leaving behind the bodies of Demo Samedi and the dragon he killed.
The End
2023.06.06 01:48 italianpizzaguy Finding an absurd amount of crow feathers
 | I’ve dabbled with the thought of exploring Paganism in the past, but never committed. submitted by italianpizzaguy to pagan [link] [comments] Lately I’ve been a bit confused about my path life and how things have been going for me this year. A lot of times I “speak” (talk in my head) with some of my loved ones who have passed away. I ask them if I’m making the right choices? Is there something I’m missing? Two weeks ago I found an injured crow in traffic. His wing looked broken and like there were bones jutting out. He couldn’t fly. I wrapped him in my coat and took him to a local wildlife rehab. A few days later, they followed up and said they had to euthanize him because it was an old, bad injury in a spot that couldn’t be repaired. I was devastated. Since then, I am finding crow feathers nearly every time I go on a walk. Different places, miles apart (I frequent a few different trails and neighborhoods.) Is this a sign of something/someone trying to communicate? Or am I looking into things to much? I have strong Irish ancestry if that means anything. |
2023.06.06 01:32 More-Candidate-1719 The scamming began when.....
The panhandling fully started once she had the baby. Before that she was working and going live but she was getting viewers from being vulgar and wearing the braids, she would sit and argue with people for hours yelling as her girls were in the room. She enjoyed that attention and would come on often. Then she got fired from her "good dispatching job" because people from tik tok called her job to inform her boss of what she said about the Sex A victim. According to her she didn't care and neither did they but they did let that ass go when she got Covid and found out she was pregnant. Her job suggested she should stay home and bedrest since she was so "sick and pregnant."
While she was employed she was paying for baby ds dad to get on his feet, giving him rides to work, feeding him, letting him shower in the house while her girls were home and she sat in the car chatting to TikTok. She loved being on Live showing them clubbing and waking up the next morning looking dusty and musty. Until he deaded her ass when she popped the baby out and wouldn't let him shack up with her.
Once she had the baby she immediately began using the baby to make money off of vulnerable women. She's pretty much a pimp herself. She accuses her exes of scamming women however she does it too with her stories and using her MODS to back her up.
I need money for cleaning supplies the moment she gave birth she said the house will be dusty and I don't have Lysol, Clorox wipes etc. People sent her money and even Walmart orders so the girls can have snacks.
Then came oh my God I need to start working and the only thing I can do is Uber or something like that. BUT I need insurance money because my need renewal is like $700 and my unemployment ran out. They need lump sum to renew me.
While she was waiting for insurance money she "lost her license" they revoked it for not having car insurance. So she needed money for that too.
Got the money but......
Oh can't work at Uber or Grubhub because of an "insurance issue" due to her son having an accident.
Next I can work from home, but I don't have a laptop. Never mind after she got the money the laptop was never purchased and she said she can't work from home because the baby cries alot and needs tl be held.
Alrighty next comes I need Rent Money. Wait someone at Walmart was trying to help me with my transaction because Walmart wouldn't take my apple pay and he scammed me and stole my money, but we have their license plate and yet nothing got done and she never mentioned the status of that whole ordeal.
Her refrigerator broke she claimed the leasing office wasn't going to replace it she got money for that and yet the maintenence office replaced the fridge plus they gave her a credit for the food that was lost. She raised money again for rent and claimed that when she went to pay it she found out she had a $200 credit for the refrigerator and so she's going to use the additional money she has from the rent donations to get Davons name tatted because it's not fair that his name isn't tatted on her and she doesn't want him to get left out.
Got her nails & toe grabbers done, the babies name tatted, bought some Patron water and went to the strip club, plus bought fast food, gassed up, and kept playing the broke and struggling card.
She got robbed the night her BDs mom stomped her out in the club bathroom with a chicken wing in her non dominant hand. Her friend that drove her to the club took $1k that was in her purse while she was getting beat up. However she never PULLED UP on the friend, never mentioned that again either. She just mentions the fight at the club.
She has such bad luck her lights got cut off and she needed to put that back on before asking for another month's rent and daycare for the baby.
Daycare is needed even though she doesn't have one set up, hasn't signed paperwork, but she needs diapers, wipes, bottles, crib sheets, and formula for daycare plus all the daycare application/registration fees. So about $650 is needed to get the baby into imaginary daycare.
Her luck gets worse and 4 days into June she's getting EVICTED and her foodstamps got taken away.
submitted by More-Candidate-1719 to Sniperbike561snarkk [link] [comments]
While she was employed she was paying for baby ds dad to get on his feet, giving him rides to work, feeding him, letting him shower in the house while her girls were home and she sat in the car chatting to TikTok. She loved being on Live showing them clubbing and waking up the next morning looking dusty and musty. Until he deaded her ass when she popped the baby out and wouldn't let him shack up with her.
Once she had the baby she immediately began using the baby to make money off of vulnerable women. She's pretty much a pimp herself. She accuses her exes of scamming women however she does it too with her stories and using her MODS to back her up.
I need money for cleaning supplies the moment she gave birth she said the house will be dusty and I don't have Lysol, Clorox wipes etc. People sent her money and even Walmart orders so the girls can have snacks.
Then came oh my God I need to start working and the only thing I can do is Uber or something like that. BUT I need insurance money because my need renewal is like $700 and my unemployment ran out. They need lump sum to renew me.
While she was waiting for insurance money she "lost her license" they revoked it for not having car insurance. So she needed money for that too.
Got the money but......
Oh can't work at Uber or Grubhub because of an "insurance issue" due to her son having an accident.
Next I can work from home, but I don't have a laptop. Never mind after she got the money the laptop was never purchased and she said she can't work from home because the baby cries alot and needs tl be held.
Alrighty next comes I need Rent Money. Wait someone at Walmart was trying to help me with my transaction because Walmart wouldn't take my apple pay and he scammed me and stole my money, but we have their license plate and yet nothing got done and she never mentioned the status of that whole ordeal.
Her refrigerator broke she claimed the leasing office wasn't going to replace it she got money for that and yet the maintenence office replaced the fridge plus they gave her a credit for the food that was lost. She raised money again for rent and claimed that when she went to pay it she found out she had a $200 credit for the refrigerator and so she's going to use the additional money she has from the rent donations to get Davons name tatted because it's not fair that his name isn't tatted on her and she doesn't want him to get left out.
Got her nails & toe grabbers done, the babies name tatted, bought some Patron water and went to the strip club, plus bought fast food, gassed up, and kept playing the broke and struggling card.
She got robbed the night her BDs mom stomped her out in the club bathroom with a chicken wing in her non dominant hand. Her friend that drove her to the club took $1k that was in her purse while she was getting beat up. However she never PULLED UP on the friend, never mentioned that again either. She just mentions the fight at the club.
She has such bad luck her lights got cut off and she needed to put that back on before asking for another month's rent and daycare for the baby.
Daycare is needed even though she doesn't have one set up, hasn't signed paperwork, but she needs diapers, wipes, bottles, crib sheets, and formula for daycare plus all the daycare application/registration fees. So about $650 is needed to get the baby into imaginary daycare.
Her luck gets worse and 4 days into June she's getting EVICTED and her foodstamps got taken away.
2023.06.06 01:21 rodroar From Heartbreak to Infinite: How Marvel Snap Helped Me Find Solace and The Quest For the Golden Cassette
 | TLDR: Today I finally hit infinite for the first time. It has been a though 7 months since submitted by rodroar to MarvelSnap [link] [comments] How Marvel Snap Helped Me Find SolaceI began playing Snap in November 2022 after coming across a positive review about a new Marvel-themed card game. As someone who loves board games, I decided to download it on my phone and give it a try. However, with my partner's birthday approaching, I didn't get a chance to fully dive into the game. She always wanted a piano, and we were able to afford a decent second-hand piano, so I wanted to surprise her by playing 'Happy Birthday' on it. So, I dedicated a lot of time to practice.Later that month, after her birthday and during a work trip, my team attended a 1920s-themed party. Ironically, we all caught a horrible flu there. I quickly developed a cough, a fever and had problems staying awake. A few days before Christmas, I was laying in the sofa having fever-dreams when my partner shook me awake and told me she was leaving me. I was devastated. I had been with her for 3 years and I loved her. Feeling helpless and in immense emotional and physical pain, I desperately needed something to distract myself until I regained my health and my ex moved out. I tried immersing myself in work, taking care of household chores, and pursuing my hobbies, but my weakened state prevented me from doing much. Just as I was starting to recover, I was hit with a second bout of the flu. Unable to do much besides lying on the sofa, I found myself bored and yearning for some form of entertainment. Since my ex still worked from home, I couldn't watch TV, play the piano, or video games due to the noise they made (even muted, she would complain about the clicky sound of the buttons/keys/mouse). Then it hit me: I could play Snap silently. While I couldn't play consistently or smartly (god did fever-brain give cubes away like an ATM on pay-day), I found solace and excitement in the game. Snap became a much-needed escape from the darkness in my life. It helped me pass the time during those difficult days. A couple of months later, my ex moved out, and my health gradually improved over the following month. Nowadays, I'm in a much better place, and I often play Snap while working out at the gym, enjoying the game as a source of entertainment and relaxation. The Quest For the Golden CassetteI had never attempted to reach Infinite before; I simply played Snap for fun, often experimenting with zany homebrew decks just for the laughs. Usually, I struggled to reach rank 60 for the variant, and my highest achievement was reaching 80.However, this season turned out to be different. The stars aligned, and three factors converged to create the perfect storm:
However, once I reached rank 60, things started to become less enjoyable. I found myself facing numerous meta decks, with seemingly everyone running Luke Cage. Frustration set in until I had an epiphany: with my new Colleen Wing, I could finally try out the discard decks that I had never been able to build during the Modok Season. Ironically, that was when my winning streak truly began. This deck was incredibly consistent, and I achieved my highest win rate ever. Before I knew it, yesterday, less than a week later, I reached rank 90 for the first time. Then it dawned on me—I was so close to reaching Infinite that I could potentially achieve it and obtain that coveted golden cassette cardback. So, I decided to keep pushing forward. Unfortunately, despite maintaining a high win rate, occasional losses of 4 or 8 cubes would set me back and halt my progress. I found myself stuck at rank 93 for a whole day. As I faced numerous Galactus decks, I pondered building a deck specifically to counter them. It was then that I realized two things:
To my pleasant surprise, not only did I immediately start winning 8-cube victories, but in each match, I didn't even have to play Galactus. Let me tell you, people are seriously underestimating Kang. I genuinely believe that most ramp and "cheat-out-things" decks could benefit from including him. I finally achieved the golden cassette cardback, and I couldn't be happier. Now that I've reached Infinite and no longer have to worry about losing cubes, I can unleash even crazier decks than ever before. Turn 7 Empty Board Orca Sentry, here I come! Kid-me would have loved this The Final Match |
2023.06.06 01:06 Expensive_Ad_5089 June 2023 - Unpacking the Light Police
Unpacking the Light Police. Light Pollution News.
Show Link: https://lightpollutionnews.com/podcast/unpacking-the-light-police/
Subscribe: Apple Podcast Spotify Google Podcast
Social: Instagram LinkedIn
Guests:
John Barentine of Dark Sky Consulting, LLC.
Kaitlyn Evans, Conservationist.
Show:
I was busted by the light police. They had a point, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post.
Dana Milbank purchased a home in, soon to be not, rural Virginia. At night he kept the formerly vacant property lit to the degree that spurned one commentator to call it “spaceship lighting.”
Milbank recaps being visited by the “light police,” a group of concerned citizens who help educate neighbors and instill a sense of pride in the brilliance of their starry night skies.
At first, he was taken aback, but later, not only did he appreciate their efforts, but he also converted his blinding always on, white light flood lights to warm 2700 Kelvin motion sensing lights.
Per Ruskin Hartley, executive director of the International Dark Sky Association, “for 4.5 billion years there was no artificial light at night. It’s really only in the last five human generations that we transformed that. It’s one of the most profound transformations of our environment.”
Many of you may recall an earlier story, way back in our Hormone of Darkness episode, showcasing concerns by local residents prior to a 760 house (now 761) plus town center development moving into the Culpepper County, VA area. Per the Rappahannock News, this development features “a resort style swimming pool, clubhouse, tot lot, and multiple sports fields and sports courts, all connected by a network of biking and walking trails.”
The forgotten medieval habit of ‘two sleeps’ by Zaria Gorvett of the BBC.
Gorvett opened my eyes to something I never knew about, the medieval custom of two sleeps. For those of you unaware, two sleeps are exactly what it sounds like.
Folks would partake in a communal nap, complete with rigid sleeping arrangement conventions, between 9 – 11pm, then awaken for a few hours to do everything from hang out to brew beer! In fact, the idea of multiple sleeps crossed cultures and was found in places as far from Europe as indigenous South America.
How can one’s circadian rhythm make sense of all of this?!
Well, for starters, until the invention of the alarm clock, which humorously was invented by a clocks salesman so he could wake up and sell more clocks, people had no firm way to wake up at a consistent time. The industrial revolution enforced a new circadian standard.
And there’s some science behind this! In the 1992 study, In Short Photoperiods, human sleep is biphasic, researcher Thomas Wehr found that after four weeks of 10 hour days, his subjects began to engage in this two sleep cycle, involving a one to three hour period for which they became awake and engaged in between.
Want to Learn About Light Pollution? There’s a mini-course for that!, Jennifer Sensiba of Clean Technica.
Quoting Sensiba, “As I got older, I traveled a lot more and saw the problem more for what it is. Not only did I see that in many places there is no refuge from it, but I also saw that it was slowly growing worse. Places that had been dark 30 years ago had more and more light creeping upon the horizon.”
If you’re interested in learning more, or more importantly, know someone who might benefit from learning more, Sensiba links up to an International Dark Sky Mini-Course on light pollution, call it Light Pollution 101!
There’s a Play Date at the National Museum of Natural History: Lights Out exhibit!
But unfortunately, by the time you listen to this, and hell, by the time we talk about this, it has passed.
Ann Arbor named best place for sunrises, sunsets in Michigan. Sarah Parlette for Click on Detroit.
Evidently gambling websites have decided to honor April’s International Dark Sky week in a strange new content marketing campaign, which was to rank the best places in each state to see sunrises and sunsets. My favorite one, “Ann Arbor named best place for sunrises, sunsets in Michigan,” comes from Click on Detroit, whereby a quote “study” examined Michigan’s most populated cities.”
According to Click on Detroit, “to celebrate International Astrology Day on Saturday, staff at Great Lake Stakes, a Michigan online gambling news site, looked at light pollution in the five most populated cities around the Mitten state to determine which offers the best views every morning and evening.”
Star bathing is the new outdoor travel trend we should all be trying for Summer 2023, according to Amy Beecham at Stylist.
Evidently, as an attempt to destress and promote mindfulness, romanticism about sleeping under the stars has birthed a 70% increase in searches for the term ‘star bathing’ on Hipcamp. And to be sure, “Hipcamp recommends checking a stargazing calendar which outlines major astrological events – like supermoons, pink moons, and star showers.”
“Industry Must Face an Inconvenient Truth — Most LED Lights at Night are Unhealthy”
Dr. Martin Moore-Ede, a circadian clock expert, recently published an article in LEDs Magazine chastising the lighting industry for not recognizing and reigning in the negative externalities of its products. Per the piece, such effects are, obesity, diabetes, depression, cancer, and more.
He cites three categories of industry responses, making the correlation that long term Denial or outright Ignorance of the Facts, may result in “asbestos-scale liabilities or draconian regulations.”
Per the piece, a recent survey by the Circadian Light Research Center of 2,697 peer reviewed scientific articles confirmed that human circadian clocks are highly sensitive to blue wavelengths, and that exposure to such wavelengths leads to major health disorders.
Moore-Ede calls for the industry to harvest the “commercial opportunity” to greatly limit future liability by creating and managing its own standards for circadian modulated lighting.
Unpacking the Wallpack, by Dan Weissman in LD+A Magazine.
Weissman, who recently purchased a telescope for his family in Cambridge, MA, discovered that the scope could only afford him views of some solar system objects and a few brightly burning stars.
The ire of Weissman’s pen takes the shape of a rectangular fixtures, be it box like or simply a panel these days, that typically hang off the side of an exterior wall or above an exterior door. “Devoid of aesthetic value” this light is often put up under the “pretense of security and safety” by “recommended practices and adopted municipal codes.”
Weissman recognizes labels that often accompany, what he calls, “Glare bombs,” including “contractor-select,” “energy efficient,” or “light pollution friendly.”
Further, per an earlier LD+A article, such lighting driven by its extreme contrasts is exceedingly common in minority communities where light is weaponized as a tool of power. It becomes a “device of alienation, creating a zone of control and separation.”
Weissman recognizes that the true reason such fixtures are selected often comes down to cost. He recognizes that it may take equally as much cost to persuade building and homeowners away from such lighting into the realm of more responsible, lower lumen, shielded lighting.
Weissman calls for producers of these glare bombs to be labeled as polluters, putting them in line with fossil fuel manufacturers and PFAS makers.
Songbirds, dusk and clear skies: Scientists explore migratory flights, by Erin Blakemore.
Bird migration season is ending here in the Mid-Atlantic. I was lucky enough to catch several Baltimore Orioles and Indigo Buntings last week. Researchers looked at 400 songbirds from 9 major species, “including the yellow-rump warbler, American redstart and Bicknell’s thrush.”
The question they hoped to answer was how are these birds so darn precise in identifying the best time to take off for their nightly migration? Scientists found that 90% of the migrating birds in the study took off within 69 minutes of dusk. A “much narrower takeoff window,” that even shocked the research team!
Per the study, taking off at night is all about maximum flight time. In addition to being able to precisely schedule their take offs, a feat that every airline I’ve flown with over the past few years has proven inept at, birds also are apparently good meteorologists! They often depart when the atmospheric pressure rises over a day’s span. Other factors also trigger migration, including sex, age, and celestial cues.
‘Lights Out’ initiative appears to be saving birds from crashing into Philly buildings by Sophia Schmidt.
Preliminary results indicate that bird death counts are down 70% at one Market Street tower, since it began its participation in Lights Out. As we spoke about on a previous show, birds utilize the stars to navigate, but city lights can disorient the birds. Combine the lights with reflective or transparent glass, and that spells fatal trouble for our migrating warblers!
Per Keith Russell, a program manager for urban conservation with Audubon Mid-Atlantic, “We’ve lost almost a third of our birds – and [collisions] contributing to that. If we’re going to want to preserve the bird populations here in North America, we have to look at these types of problems. And this is a preventable one.”
The Knoxville, TN Zoo is offering up what they call “Twilight Tours” per WVLT 8. Each event will feature a guide to showcase nocturnal critters.
I did something similar in Singapore years ago. The zoo had very dim lights in the exhibits – and they kept those lights dim as you walked so that you didn’t lose your night vision. It was a very different and, might I say, peaceful experience than the typically chaotic daytime zoo.
Flashlights posing major threat to nesting sea turtles. Fox35 Orlando
Apparently, a single flashlight can deter female sea turtles from coming onto a beach and nesting. Florida, as I did not know, is home to 90% of the sea turtle nests across the world, so losing sea turtles can affect the global ecosystem.
One visitor to Cocoa Beach stated, “Just leave them alone. Stand back and look. You don’t need a flashlight.”
Another, “It’s not super surprising because more buildings go up, more technology. As it increases, nature and stuff like that decreases,” said Zoe Jovaag, whose grandfather used to take her on walks to see sea turtles.
Capture the Dark 2023 officially is under way!
The International Dark Sky Association opens up its annual photo contest complete with prizes across eight categories and an additional People’s Choice category. Voting begins on July 3rd, entries must be received by June 30th.
City Tests Traffic Light That Only Turns Green for Drivers Who Obey the Speed Limit. Erin Marquis for Jalopnik.
And hey, you better not speed in Brossard, Quebec….otherwise you may be waiting around for a while. Brossard is testing out a new traffic light that will stay red until it senses oncoming traffic. However, it will only change to green if the car is going the speed limit. Per the Jalopnik article, “FRED [the French acronym for “educational traffic calming light] forces fast drivers to stop and gives them a chance to reconsider their life choices.” Such lights are already used in Europe, but this will be the first for the Great White North.
Why the Greatest Threat to Star-Gazing Isn’t Light Pollution, and this comes to us from Dorin Elin Urrutia at Inverse.
Elin Urrutia writes, in her compelling piece, that the greatest threat to star-gazing is actually the weather. Citing notable examples of the Mount Stromlo Observatory in Australia (which burnt down due to bushfires) and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico (which sustained structural damage following the winds of Hurricane Maria).
While the threat of human-caused climate change has presented new challenges, Elin Urrutia references proactive burns that saved Los Angeles’ Mount Wilson Observatory from flames in 2020.
On a similar note, ABC News (the Australian Broadcasting Company, not to be confused with the American Broadcasting Company), brings us “A World Without Darkness Could Be a Reality within a Few Years.”
Per Carol Redford of Astrotourism Western Australia, “There are some people in the world now who don’t actually experience darkness anymore. They’re in a city like Beijing, Toyoko, or London. In all those big cities, it’s never dark, it’s always light. During the day of course with the sun, but then during the night with all of the artificial light. They’re not experiencing darkness, and definitely not seeing those beautiful stars…”
In the 66 years since the implementation of the UN Convention on the Peaceful Use of Outerspace, around 11,000 satellites orbit the Earth. But it’s about to get wayyy busier. Driven by innovations that have led to dramatic reductions in costs, over the next ten years, Per attorney Steven Freeland, it’s anticipated that somewhere between 100,000 to 500,000 objects will be sent up. Let me pause on that for a second.
On the travel front, we stay in the land down under, “Aussie region determined to keep its darkness is a stargazer’s dream” by Chantelle Francis of News.com.AU.
The town of Swam Reach, population 270, resides in a 3200sq km region of Southern Australia that received its International Dark Sky Reserve status over three years ago. On a scale of darkness between 0 – 22, the River Murray Dark Sky Reserve at Swam Reach, measures in at a whopping 21.9!
Tourism has become a growing business. The reserve hosts numerous telescope pads and offers tours of the night sky. There’s hope that an observatory and/or planetarium may also arrive in due course.
Best smart lights for outdoors in 2023, Brittney Vincent of CBS Essentials.
Oh there’s a lot not to love here, but it does fall in line with last month’s ‘Lumens are Coming’ article.
For those of you who feel the need to light your trees, because for some reason they need light at night I guess…I’ll try and pretend it’s not solely for ostentatious and narcissistic reasons. By the way, does anyone remember when those were negative characteristics?
The article features spotlights that can be programmed to over 16 MILLION colors including…lucky for us, ALL shades of white….which you can also do for a 500 lumen flood light set.
And hey, Ring now has solar path lighting. Don’t worry though, the fixtures themselves put out up to 80 lumens of sideways light.
You know, it’s astounding when you look at some of these pictures. The amount of redundant lighting. It honestly makes no sense to me. You have a porch light, which lights up the path. Path lighting, which lights up the path. And, in the one picture, god awful frontward facing flood lights, which also light up the path. How bright do you need these paths!? I digress. But the lumens are indeed coming.
LDS Church will get to light up its Heber Valley Temple after all, but the faith didn’t get everything it wanted, Blake Apgar of the Salt Lake Tribune.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fought hard to rid itself of any nighttime lighting responsibility by pressuring Wasatch County, Utah officials to approve new lighting rules that would enable the church to light a proposed new temple the same way it does for every other temple.
The Church received permission to uplight the temple, enabling an exception to be made in Wasatch’s rather stringent nighttime lighting rulebook. However, the temple will be restricted by the level of lumens it can use, and it must have exterior lighting turned off an hour after sunset or an hour after normal business hours.
Smart Street Lights Market is Expected to Hit USD 14,751.1 million at a 23.4% CAGR by 2030, Market Research Future Press Release
The pandemic is officially over, smart street lighting is about to boom. Combine the rush to LED fixtures with the Internet of Things, and expect to see street lights moonlighting as traffic and parking monitors, air quality meters, and more. Not to mention, “it is anticipated that camera-connected smart street lighting will increase road safety by lowering the likelihood of accidents and criminality.”
Texas now has 7 dark sky communities for spectacular star gazing, Sana Ameer, MRT.
Let’s cheer on the city of Bee Cave, everyone! Bee Cave joins a growing list of dark sky places already in the Lone Star State, including 2 Dark Sky Sanctuaries, 5 Dark Sky Parks, and 1 Dark Sky Reserve. Nighttime is alive and well in some parts of Texas!
Our Afraid of the Dark article is a bit scary! Hilton Head’s dark roads and pedestrians are deadly combo. What the town is doing about it, Blake Douglas at The Island Packet.
Per the article, 9 pedestrian and cyclist fatalities occurred since 2018, with five occurring after dark. Prior to that period, there were 28 recorded deaths from 2000 – 2016, with 20 of them taking place after dark.
In 2018, an 11 year old resident was struck and killed while walking her dog across an intersection one night. Lighting advocates began taking shape in what otherwise is a very conservation focused island. Hilton Head, SC has a limited number of street lights, priding itself on “avoiding light pollution and blending nature with construction.”
Lighting advocates appear to be, at the very least, asking for flashing crosswalk lights on the island to indicate when an individual is crossing.
It should be noted that the article shows a chart of 9 after-dark-deaths since 2014, only two of them occurred at crosswalks. In fact, during the same time frame, 6 additional deaths occurred at crosswalks during the daytime.
As a whole, the National Safety Council reports that 74.5% of pedestrian deaths occurred at night, whereby 39.1% took place in lit areas and 35.38% took place in unlit areas.
Bryan Bloch, an auto safety expert, surmises that car companies bear some of the blame – producing cheap or ineffectual headlight fixtures, and drivers themselves, who don’t realize that they need to regularly clean their headlight lenses.
Despite opposition from residents, it appears that Hilton Head will be receiving lights at two new intersections and possibly more depending on engineering studies currently in progress.
Is lighting the key variable here? Is more light going to solve pedestrian deaths?
Our featured research article of the month comes to us from Animal Conservation, “Manipulating spectra of artificial light affects movement patterns of bats along ecological corridors.”
Bats are already known to have a wide range of responses to artificial light at night (also known as ALAN). Fast flying species tend to be more opportunistic in the presence of ALAN while slower ones tend to be more light averse. We know that “long wavelengths and reduced intensity” can minimize their environmental effects on bats. It’s not unheard of for bats to travel upwards of “tens of km per night.” Furthermore, bats are very dependent on the landscape and the structures within those landscapes.
Despite the nuances between species, the consensus is that ALAN, especially high intensity ALAN, negatively affects bats. This study attempted to answer what exactly bats do when they encounter ALAN – how do they react depending on different types of ALAN.
The study used three different light fixtures – one green, one red, and one white. The control was devoid of light fixtures. The researchers attempted to ascertain the behavior of bats as they encountered lights adjacent to woody areas. The researchers looked at three different bat groupings based on their foraging-echo location behavior, that being one of open field foraging, forest edge foraging, and narrow space – or more aptly forest foragers.
Researchers found that open and edge foraging bats increased their activity close to white and green lights, and to a lesser extent red lights. However, narrow space bats were more likely to veer away from all colors of lighting. Edge foragers were also less likely to cross a white light.
The positive effects of white and green light on open and edge foraging bats appear to be attributed to the accumulation of insects around light sources containing more blue light.
The nighttime sky over Oahu will be lit up with green lasers in the coming days. Here’s why. Hawaii News Now
Before we close up today, do you live in Hawaii? I know I wish I did!
If so, do you recall seeing green lasers streak across the night sky? Well, the Army Corps of Engineers was using lidar at night to complete a coastal mapping survey.
Why did they survey at night? Specifically, why did they do this between midnight to 5am? Simply b/c the airspace is so busy, that time was the only chance they had to complete the survey. The remaining survey was completed during daytime hours.
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Show Link: https://lightpollutionnews.com/podcast/unpacking-the-light-police/
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Guests:
John Barentine of Dark Sky Consulting, LLC.
Kaitlyn Evans, Conservationist.
Show:
I was busted by the light police. They had a point, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post.
Dana Milbank purchased a home in, soon to be not, rural Virginia. At night he kept the formerly vacant property lit to the degree that spurned one commentator to call it “spaceship lighting.”
Milbank recaps being visited by the “light police,” a group of concerned citizens who help educate neighbors and instill a sense of pride in the brilliance of their starry night skies.
At first, he was taken aback, but later, not only did he appreciate their efforts, but he also converted his blinding always on, white light flood lights to warm 2700 Kelvin motion sensing lights.
Per Ruskin Hartley, executive director of the International Dark Sky Association, “for 4.5 billion years there was no artificial light at night. It’s really only in the last five human generations that we transformed that. It’s one of the most profound transformations of our environment.”
Many of you may recall an earlier story, way back in our Hormone of Darkness episode, showcasing concerns by local residents prior to a 760 house (now 761) plus town center development moving into the Culpepper County, VA area. Per the Rappahannock News, this development features “a resort style swimming pool, clubhouse, tot lot, and multiple sports fields and sports courts, all connected by a network of biking and walking trails.”
The forgotten medieval habit of ‘two sleeps’ by Zaria Gorvett of the BBC.
Gorvett opened my eyes to something I never knew about, the medieval custom of two sleeps. For those of you unaware, two sleeps are exactly what it sounds like.
Folks would partake in a communal nap, complete with rigid sleeping arrangement conventions, between 9 – 11pm, then awaken for a few hours to do everything from hang out to brew beer! In fact, the idea of multiple sleeps crossed cultures and was found in places as far from Europe as indigenous South America.
How can one’s circadian rhythm make sense of all of this?!
Well, for starters, until the invention of the alarm clock, which humorously was invented by a clocks salesman so he could wake up and sell more clocks, people had no firm way to wake up at a consistent time. The industrial revolution enforced a new circadian standard.
And there’s some science behind this! In the 1992 study, In Short Photoperiods, human sleep is biphasic, researcher Thomas Wehr found that after four weeks of 10 hour days, his subjects began to engage in this two sleep cycle, involving a one to three hour period for which they became awake and engaged in between.
Want to Learn About Light Pollution? There’s a mini-course for that!, Jennifer Sensiba of Clean Technica.
Quoting Sensiba, “As I got older, I traveled a lot more and saw the problem more for what it is. Not only did I see that in many places there is no refuge from it, but I also saw that it was slowly growing worse. Places that had been dark 30 years ago had more and more light creeping upon the horizon.”
If you’re interested in learning more, or more importantly, know someone who might benefit from learning more, Sensiba links up to an International Dark Sky Mini-Course on light pollution, call it Light Pollution 101!
There’s a Play Date at the National Museum of Natural History: Lights Out exhibit!
But unfortunately, by the time you listen to this, and hell, by the time we talk about this, it has passed.
Ann Arbor named best place for sunrises, sunsets in Michigan. Sarah Parlette for Click on Detroit.
Evidently gambling websites have decided to honor April’s International Dark Sky week in a strange new content marketing campaign, which was to rank the best places in each state to see sunrises and sunsets. My favorite one, “Ann Arbor named best place for sunrises, sunsets in Michigan,” comes from Click on Detroit, whereby a quote “study” examined Michigan’s most populated cities.”
According to Click on Detroit, “to celebrate International Astrology Day on Saturday, staff at Great Lake Stakes, a Michigan online gambling news site, looked at light pollution in the five most populated cities around the Mitten state to determine which offers the best views every morning and evening.”
Star bathing is the new outdoor travel trend we should all be trying for Summer 2023, according to Amy Beecham at Stylist.
Evidently, as an attempt to destress and promote mindfulness, romanticism about sleeping under the stars has birthed a 70% increase in searches for the term ‘star bathing’ on Hipcamp. And to be sure, “Hipcamp recommends checking a stargazing calendar which outlines major astrological events – like supermoons, pink moons, and star showers.”
“Industry Must Face an Inconvenient Truth — Most LED Lights at Night are Unhealthy”
Dr. Martin Moore-Ede, a circadian clock expert, recently published an article in LEDs Magazine chastising the lighting industry for not recognizing and reigning in the negative externalities of its products. Per the piece, such effects are, obesity, diabetes, depression, cancer, and more.
He cites three categories of industry responses, making the correlation that long term Denial or outright Ignorance of the Facts, may result in “asbestos-scale liabilities or draconian regulations.”
Per the piece, a recent survey by the Circadian Light Research Center of 2,697 peer reviewed scientific articles confirmed that human circadian clocks are highly sensitive to blue wavelengths, and that exposure to such wavelengths leads to major health disorders.
Moore-Ede calls for the industry to harvest the “commercial opportunity” to greatly limit future liability by creating and managing its own standards for circadian modulated lighting.
Unpacking the Wallpack, by Dan Weissman in LD+A Magazine.
Weissman, who recently purchased a telescope for his family in Cambridge, MA, discovered that the scope could only afford him views of some solar system objects and a few brightly burning stars.
The ire of Weissman’s pen takes the shape of a rectangular fixtures, be it box like or simply a panel these days, that typically hang off the side of an exterior wall or above an exterior door. “Devoid of aesthetic value” this light is often put up under the “pretense of security and safety” by “recommended practices and adopted municipal codes.”
Weissman recognizes labels that often accompany, what he calls, “Glare bombs,” including “contractor-select,” “energy efficient,” or “light pollution friendly.”
Further, per an earlier LD+A article, such lighting driven by its extreme contrasts is exceedingly common in minority communities where light is weaponized as a tool of power. It becomes a “device of alienation, creating a zone of control and separation.”
Weissman recognizes that the true reason such fixtures are selected often comes down to cost. He recognizes that it may take equally as much cost to persuade building and homeowners away from such lighting into the realm of more responsible, lower lumen, shielded lighting.
Weissman calls for producers of these glare bombs to be labeled as polluters, putting them in line with fossil fuel manufacturers and PFAS makers.
Songbirds, dusk and clear skies: Scientists explore migratory flights, by Erin Blakemore.
Bird migration season is ending here in the Mid-Atlantic. I was lucky enough to catch several Baltimore Orioles and Indigo Buntings last week. Researchers looked at 400 songbirds from 9 major species, “including the yellow-rump warbler, American redstart and Bicknell’s thrush.”
The question they hoped to answer was how are these birds so darn precise in identifying the best time to take off for their nightly migration? Scientists found that 90% of the migrating birds in the study took off within 69 minutes of dusk. A “much narrower takeoff window,” that even shocked the research team!
Per the study, taking off at night is all about maximum flight time. In addition to being able to precisely schedule their take offs, a feat that every airline I’ve flown with over the past few years has proven inept at, birds also are apparently good meteorologists! They often depart when the atmospheric pressure rises over a day’s span. Other factors also trigger migration, including sex, age, and celestial cues.
‘Lights Out’ initiative appears to be saving birds from crashing into Philly buildings by Sophia Schmidt.
Preliminary results indicate that bird death counts are down 70% at one Market Street tower, since it began its participation in Lights Out. As we spoke about on a previous show, birds utilize the stars to navigate, but city lights can disorient the birds. Combine the lights with reflective or transparent glass, and that spells fatal trouble for our migrating warblers!
Per Keith Russell, a program manager for urban conservation with Audubon Mid-Atlantic, “We’ve lost almost a third of our birds – and [collisions] contributing to that. If we’re going to want to preserve the bird populations here in North America, we have to look at these types of problems. And this is a preventable one.”
The Knoxville, TN Zoo is offering up what they call “Twilight Tours” per WVLT 8. Each event will feature a guide to showcase nocturnal critters.
I did something similar in Singapore years ago. The zoo had very dim lights in the exhibits – and they kept those lights dim as you walked so that you didn’t lose your night vision. It was a very different and, might I say, peaceful experience than the typically chaotic daytime zoo.
Flashlights posing major threat to nesting sea turtles. Fox35 Orlando
Apparently, a single flashlight can deter female sea turtles from coming onto a beach and nesting. Florida, as I did not know, is home to 90% of the sea turtle nests across the world, so losing sea turtles can affect the global ecosystem.
One visitor to Cocoa Beach stated, “Just leave them alone. Stand back and look. You don’t need a flashlight.”
Another, “It’s not super surprising because more buildings go up, more technology. As it increases, nature and stuff like that decreases,” said Zoe Jovaag, whose grandfather used to take her on walks to see sea turtles.
Capture the Dark 2023 officially is under way!
The International Dark Sky Association opens up its annual photo contest complete with prizes across eight categories and an additional People’s Choice category. Voting begins on July 3rd, entries must be received by June 30th.
City Tests Traffic Light That Only Turns Green for Drivers Who Obey the Speed Limit. Erin Marquis for Jalopnik.
And hey, you better not speed in Brossard, Quebec….otherwise you may be waiting around for a while. Brossard is testing out a new traffic light that will stay red until it senses oncoming traffic. However, it will only change to green if the car is going the speed limit. Per the Jalopnik article, “FRED [the French acronym for “educational traffic calming light] forces fast drivers to stop and gives them a chance to reconsider their life choices.” Such lights are already used in Europe, but this will be the first for the Great White North.
Why the Greatest Threat to Star-Gazing Isn’t Light Pollution, and this comes to us from Dorin Elin Urrutia at Inverse.
Elin Urrutia writes, in her compelling piece, that the greatest threat to star-gazing is actually the weather. Citing notable examples of the Mount Stromlo Observatory in Australia (which burnt down due to bushfires) and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico (which sustained structural damage following the winds of Hurricane Maria).
While the threat of human-caused climate change has presented new challenges, Elin Urrutia references proactive burns that saved Los Angeles’ Mount Wilson Observatory from flames in 2020.
On a similar note, ABC News (the Australian Broadcasting Company, not to be confused with the American Broadcasting Company), brings us “A World Without Darkness Could Be a Reality within a Few Years.”
Per Carol Redford of Astrotourism Western Australia, “There are some people in the world now who don’t actually experience darkness anymore. They’re in a city like Beijing, Toyoko, or London. In all those big cities, it’s never dark, it’s always light. During the day of course with the sun, but then during the night with all of the artificial light. They’re not experiencing darkness, and definitely not seeing those beautiful stars…”
In the 66 years since the implementation of the UN Convention on the Peaceful Use of Outerspace, around 11,000 satellites orbit the Earth. But it’s about to get wayyy busier. Driven by innovations that have led to dramatic reductions in costs, over the next ten years, Per attorney Steven Freeland, it’s anticipated that somewhere between 100,000 to 500,000 objects will be sent up. Let me pause on that for a second.
On the travel front, we stay in the land down under, “Aussie region determined to keep its darkness is a stargazer’s dream” by Chantelle Francis of News.com.AU.
The town of Swam Reach, population 270, resides in a 3200sq km region of Southern Australia that received its International Dark Sky Reserve status over three years ago. On a scale of darkness between 0 – 22, the River Murray Dark Sky Reserve at Swam Reach, measures in at a whopping 21.9!
Tourism has become a growing business. The reserve hosts numerous telescope pads and offers tours of the night sky. There’s hope that an observatory and/or planetarium may also arrive in due course.
Best smart lights for outdoors in 2023, Brittney Vincent of CBS Essentials.
Oh there’s a lot not to love here, but it does fall in line with last month’s ‘Lumens are Coming’ article.
For those of you who feel the need to light your trees, because for some reason they need light at night I guess…I’ll try and pretend it’s not solely for ostentatious and narcissistic reasons. By the way, does anyone remember when those were negative characteristics?
The article features spotlights that can be programmed to over 16 MILLION colors including…lucky for us, ALL shades of white….which you can also do for a 500 lumen flood light set.
And hey, Ring now has solar path lighting. Don’t worry though, the fixtures themselves put out up to 80 lumens of sideways light.
You know, it’s astounding when you look at some of these pictures. The amount of redundant lighting. It honestly makes no sense to me. You have a porch light, which lights up the path. Path lighting, which lights up the path. And, in the one picture, god awful frontward facing flood lights, which also light up the path. How bright do you need these paths!? I digress. But the lumens are indeed coming.
LDS Church will get to light up its Heber Valley Temple after all, but the faith didn’t get everything it wanted, Blake Apgar of the Salt Lake Tribune.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fought hard to rid itself of any nighttime lighting responsibility by pressuring Wasatch County, Utah officials to approve new lighting rules that would enable the church to light a proposed new temple the same way it does for every other temple.
The Church received permission to uplight the temple, enabling an exception to be made in Wasatch’s rather stringent nighttime lighting rulebook. However, the temple will be restricted by the level of lumens it can use, and it must have exterior lighting turned off an hour after sunset or an hour after normal business hours.
Smart Street Lights Market is Expected to Hit USD 14,751.1 million at a 23.4% CAGR by 2030, Market Research Future Press Release
The pandemic is officially over, smart street lighting is about to boom. Combine the rush to LED fixtures with the Internet of Things, and expect to see street lights moonlighting as traffic and parking monitors, air quality meters, and more. Not to mention, “it is anticipated that camera-connected smart street lighting will increase road safety by lowering the likelihood of accidents and criminality.”
Texas now has 7 dark sky communities for spectacular star gazing, Sana Ameer, MRT.
Let’s cheer on the city of Bee Cave, everyone! Bee Cave joins a growing list of dark sky places already in the Lone Star State, including 2 Dark Sky Sanctuaries, 5 Dark Sky Parks, and 1 Dark Sky Reserve. Nighttime is alive and well in some parts of Texas!
Our Afraid of the Dark article is a bit scary! Hilton Head’s dark roads and pedestrians are deadly combo. What the town is doing about it, Blake Douglas at The Island Packet.
Per the article, 9 pedestrian and cyclist fatalities occurred since 2018, with five occurring after dark. Prior to that period, there were 28 recorded deaths from 2000 – 2016, with 20 of them taking place after dark.
In 2018, an 11 year old resident was struck and killed while walking her dog across an intersection one night. Lighting advocates began taking shape in what otherwise is a very conservation focused island. Hilton Head, SC has a limited number of street lights, priding itself on “avoiding light pollution and blending nature with construction.”
Lighting advocates appear to be, at the very least, asking for flashing crosswalk lights on the island to indicate when an individual is crossing.
It should be noted that the article shows a chart of 9 after-dark-deaths since 2014, only two of them occurred at crosswalks. In fact, during the same time frame, 6 additional deaths occurred at crosswalks during the daytime.
As a whole, the National Safety Council reports that 74.5% of pedestrian deaths occurred at night, whereby 39.1% took place in lit areas and 35.38% took place in unlit areas.
Bryan Bloch, an auto safety expert, surmises that car companies bear some of the blame – producing cheap or ineffectual headlight fixtures, and drivers themselves, who don’t realize that they need to regularly clean their headlight lenses.
Despite opposition from residents, it appears that Hilton Head will be receiving lights at two new intersections and possibly more depending on engineering studies currently in progress.
Is lighting the key variable here? Is more light going to solve pedestrian deaths?
Our featured research article of the month comes to us from Animal Conservation, “Manipulating spectra of artificial light affects movement patterns of bats along ecological corridors.”
Bats are already known to have a wide range of responses to artificial light at night (also known as ALAN). Fast flying species tend to be more opportunistic in the presence of ALAN while slower ones tend to be more light averse. We know that “long wavelengths and reduced intensity” can minimize their environmental effects on bats. It’s not unheard of for bats to travel upwards of “tens of km per night.” Furthermore, bats are very dependent on the landscape and the structures within those landscapes.
Despite the nuances between species, the consensus is that ALAN, especially high intensity ALAN, negatively affects bats. This study attempted to answer what exactly bats do when they encounter ALAN – how do they react depending on different types of ALAN.
The study used three different light fixtures – one green, one red, and one white. The control was devoid of light fixtures. The researchers attempted to ascertain the behavior of bats as they encountered lights adjacent to woody areas. The researchers looked at three different bat groupings based on their foraging-echo location behavior, that being one of open field foraging, forest edge foraging, and narrow space – or more aptly forest foragers.
Researchers found that open and edge foraging bats increased their activity close to white and green lights, and to a lesser extent red lights. However, narrow space bats were more likely to veer away from all colors of lighting. Edge foragers were also less likely to cross a white light.
The positive effects of white and green light on open and edge foraging bats appear to be attributed to the accumulation of insects around light sources containing more blue light.
The nighttime sky over Oahu will be lit up with green lasers in the coming days. Here’s why. Hawaii News Now
Before we close up today, do you live in Hawaii? I know I wish I did!
If so, do you recall seeing green lasers streak across the night sky? Well, the Army Corps of Engineers was using lidar at night to complete a coastal mapping survey.
Why did they survey at night? Specifically, why did they do this between midnight to 5am? Simply b/c the airspace is so busy, that time was the only chance they had to complete the survey. The remaining survey was completed during daytime hours.
2023.06.06 01:04 CeaselessPain89 I made a Catterfly!? 🤔
 | I was just trying out a tiny Ami, totally freehand, so I made a lil kitty then decided it had to have wings lol it's 6cm tall. What do you guys think? I have loads more wings in different colours, would ppl buy them if i made more? submitted by CeaselessPain89 to Amigurumi [link] [comments] I thought maybe one day I could do a stall so I've started making a few things, creating a homemade stash of crochet items, small sewn bags, wooden badges and keyrings so far. When my stash is big enough I'll look into doing a stall in my area. This lil catterfly has been putting a smile on my face every time I look at it so maybe I should make more lol 😆 I hope you guys like it too ❤️ |
2023.06.06 00:54 MasterVinciguerra Need advice for post surgery index finger wound
Hi, I' praying someone can alleviate my concerns. 28 year old male, no smoking or drinking, 6 feet 165lbs. No medication currently. Only medical issue is my left index finger.
Basically to make a long story short, my landscaping trailer crushed my index finger and part of my middle. Happened May 3rd. Had surgery May 8th, digital nerve decompression, NO broken bones but my tendon was crushed, not cut completely. Had a really bad cut across 75% of my finger, basically opened my finger wide open.
My biggest concerns is that I don't think my physical therapist is that amazing. I get the feeling she wings my sessions , and I'm sent home with not great homework to do. My finger is literally a BRICK. I can move it a little bit, but it doesn't bend at the joints like it should. I've only done a week or so of therapy, but I dont feel like the exercises I'm given are helping at all. I feel like if it goes like this the entire time I'm screwed. My sessions are 30 mins and half the time she's undressing and redressing it. Then says "oh you can try this". It is so stiff and swollen it feels hopeless to be honest.
Ive been playing guitar my whole life and I will be heartbroken if I can't play again.
Does anyone have some recovery stories, advice on getting this thing mobile AT ALL, loosening, how to avoid scar tissue from forming... how to decrease the swelling? When I try to bend it down it feels like the lowest joint is going to burst. I show this to my therapist and she doesn't really have any concrete answers. Idk what to do at this point.
If you want to see pictures/ video please let me know. I really hope someone can help
submitted by MasterVinciguerra to AskDocs [link] [comments]
Basically to make a long story short, my landscaping trailer crushed my index finger and part of my middle. Happened May 3rd. Had surgery May 8th, digital nerve decompression, NO broken bones but my tendon was crushed, not cut completely. Had a really bad cut across 75% of my finger, basically opened my finger wide open.
My biggest concerns is that I don't think my physical therapist is that amazing. I get the feeling she wings my sessions , and I'm sent home with not great homework to do. My finger is literally a BRICK. I can move it a little bit, but it doesn't bend at the joints like it should. I've only done a week or so of therapy, but I dont feel like the exercises I'm given are helping at all. I feel like if it goes like this the entire time I'm screwed. My sessions are 30 mins and half the time she's undressing and redressing it. Then says "oh you can try this". It is so stiff and swollen it feels hopeless to be honest.
Ive been playing guitar my whole life and I will be heartbroken if I can't play again.
Does anyone have some recovery stories, advice on getting this thing mobile AT ALL, loosening, how to avoid scar tissue from forming... how to decrease the swelling? When I try to bend it down it feels like the lowest joint is going to burst. I show this to my therapist and she doesn't really have any concrete answers. Idk what to do at this point.
If you want to see pictures/ video please let me know. I really hope someone can help