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Tag Archives: Taboan
Penman No. 282: Never Enough Patriots
Posted on December 18, 2017 by penmanila
Penman for Monday, December 18, 2017
(THIS IS the last of three parts of my recent talk on "Celebrating Arguilla" at the Taboan Literary Festival in Bauang, La Union.)
Leonard Casper and Joseph Galdon aver that Manuel Arguilla's best stories are those in the pastoral tradition, and I would agree that "Midsummer" is in a class all its own, but who knows what else he would have written, given ten or twenty more years? Stories like "Elias" convey less surface beauty than his pastorals, but in some ways are more resonant; his last story, "Rendezvous at Banzai Bridge," is something of a psychological thriller.
This brings to me my main point, which is to propose that to celebrate Arguilla is to recognize and embrace his complexity and even his seeming contradictions. In a sense, he prefigured the situation of many Filipino writers today who find themselves caught between burning local issues and the seductions of the global. The Third World is the new Nagrebcan, and what lies beyond it the new metropolis.
One thing we have to note of Arguilla's work is that he wrote in English—indeed, a very refined and educated English—which tells us that while he wrote tirelessly and affectionately about the farmers of Nagrebcan, he wasn't writing to be read by them. That's not an accusation—only an observation of the fact that Arguilla was very much a member of his literary milieu, a milieu inflamed by proletarian ideals but one that still conducted its passionate debates in English.
Many years ago, as a graduate student in Milwaukee, I found a copy in an old bookshop of the March 1936 issue of Story Magazine, America's pre-eminent fiction publication then, featuring Sinai Hamada's classic love story, "Tanabata's Wife." (I later gave that copy to the Hamadas in Baguio.) The author's notes mentioned that Hamada had been preceded just the month before by another Filipino writer named Manuel Arguilla and a story titled "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife." Since then I tried to locate that issue, and more than 25 years later, I received it, as a gift from a friend who knew I had been looking for it. The note on the author doesn't say much, only that "His biography has yet to reach us." I also just recently acquired, on eBay, a copy of The Prairie Schooner from the Fall of 1935, where can be found a story titled "Midsummer" by Manuel Arguilla. This same journal would also later publish his story "Heat."
All of these stories—including that of Hamada, who was younger than Arguilla by a year—had already been published in the Philippines. But they still sent them for publication in the US, because it was apparently important for them to do so in their time, just like we seek to be internationally published today not just to find more readers, but to be validated in the global society of letters.
They were young men in their early 20s, brimming with talent and ambition. All they wanted was to write, to be published, and to be read, just like all of you here today. And like many of you, they were outspoken about their beliefs, eccentric and maybe even offensive in certain ways, but totally dedicated to their craft. We lionize them today for good reason, but in truth, as persons and as writers, they were far from perfect, which also means that we can be like them.
Even after his martyr's death, critical views of Arguilla's work and legacy have varied widely. Indeed, among his peers, there seems to be a qualified dissatisfaction with his fiction that some of us today would find strange, if not unkind.
As I was preparing for this talk, I was elated to find, in my stash of old literary journals, a copy of the 1952 Literary Apprentice, where five writers—Lyd Arguilla, Ligaya Victorio Fruto, Francisco Arcellana, Edilberto Tiempo, and Alejandrino Hufana—shared their reminiscences of Manuel Arguilla in short personal essays. Lyd sweetly remembers the man and the husband—his bellowing laughter, his flair for fashion, his love of swimming, dancing, jazz, and poker (at least we share something), of Shakespeare, and above all of writing. Ligaya savors the "champaca-laden atmosphere" of the porch at the Arguillas' house on M.H. del Pilar and the carefree banter of Manila's prewar literary set, the names and initials of the notables—AEL, AVH, Estrella, Daisy and Bert, SP and Mary, and someone simply referred to by his surname Villa—dropping like cookies along some magical pathway. It all vanishes, of course, in the devastating war that sweeps in from just around the corner—the house, the company, the laughter, the floral fragrance.
Five years Manuel's junior, Franz recalls Arguilla writing him a letter, urging him to "be true to your real self," and gifting him with a book with that now famous inscription, "To Francisco Arcellana, May he put more life into his art and less art into his life." Remarkably, Franz's memoir ends with a candid admission that "the only thing that pleased me about him was his writing—when he wrote short stories. I didn't like being lectured to, not even by him…. I shall never be able to forgive him his patriotism. He was no patriot…. He was a writer of short stories. He should have left patriotism alone…. We have many patriots. We don't have too many writers."
Ed Tiempo recognizes that "the outstanding gift of Arguilla is his sense of people, his characters," but adds quickly that "people alone do not make successful fiction." Ever the traditionalist, Tiempo looks for clearer meaning and coherence in Arguilla's fiction, but grants that "because we accept the authenticity of the small details, there is something coercive even in (his) unconvincing characters." Alex Hufana, another son of La Union, does a close reading of "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife" and pronounces it authentic, praising the author for keeping "his hand cool even as they hold hot soil—decorum required of him as an artist."
Whatever your own estimation of Arguilla may be, you will probably agree with me that at his best, he delivered what I tell my students should be the hallmark of a great story: it should not only be well written, but it should be moving, and it should be memorable.
What Arguilla teaches the young writer is that technical excellence alone is not enough. Too many writers exhibit little more than cleverness and linguistic virtuosity, with hardly any emotional impact or lasting effect. He also reminds us what a vast country we have, much larger, richer, and more complex than Starbucks, Facebook, and the Marvel and DC universe, and that a "real" writer, to use one of his favorite words, is one immersed enough in his or her society to recognize both beauty and brutality in the same place.
Franz Arcellana bemoans Arguilla's loss to patriotism, but that too tells us something we often forget: that there are things more important than writing or literature, and country is one of them. In a war that tore through and across classes and across beliefs, Arguilla died for his country—not for literature, not for socialism, not for his class; well, maybe for Lydia, which makes him even more of a hero to me. With all due respect to my old teacher Franz, we have writers aplenty; of patriots, especially these days, we can never have enough.
(Photo of Manuel Arguilla's ancestral home along the National Highway in Bauang, La Union.)
Posted in Art & Culture, Education, history, Pinoys, Politics, Society, Writing	| Tagged Arcellana, Arguilla, Bauang, literature, patriots, realism, Taboan, UP	| 1 Reply
Penman No. 281: The Writer in Progress
(THIS IS the second of three parts of my recent talk on "Celebrating Arguilla" at the Taboan Literary Festival in Bauang, La Union.)
"Midsummer" is of course the quintessential mating story, setting the tone for the younger Arguilla's lyrical odes to rippling muscles and shapely breasts. The man's strength is contrasted with the girl's slenderness, and this dichotomy would repeat itself many times over in the stories ahead: in "Heat," where the Adonis-like Mero captivates Meliang, she of the "long and supple thighs" and whose body exudes "a healthy sweetness." We see it again in "The Strongest Man", where the "tall and shapely Onang" enchants Ondong, whose muscles flow under his sweating skin. Mero and Meliang, Onang and Ondong—it's tempting to think of Arguilla falling into a mannerism, a romantic formula after Amorsolo's or Botong's idealized physiques.
But he quickly disabuses us of our idyllic fantasies, because the same terrain in which so much beauty resides, in both the landscape and the bodies of its fecund youth, is shown to be awash with blood and riven by violence. The second story in the collection, right after "Midsummer," is "Morning in Nagrebcan," and it begins with a picturesque description of rustic serenity, depicting "the fine, bluish mist, low over the tobacco fields." But this mood is soon shattered by the brutal killing of a puppy, and the awakening of the children to the harshness of life—indeed, to evil—in what may seem to be a bucolic paradise.
Sometimes the violence is more subtle and only hinted at. "A Son Is Born" is a long and almost anthropological account of family life and birthing rites, ending on the luminously optimistic note of a Christmas birth and a boy named Jesus, but it is shadowed by its very first line: "It was the year the locusts came and ate the young rice in the fields." Life is difficult, but it goes on.
"How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife" appears midway through the book, providing another tranquil respite, returning us to tall and lovely women meeting male approbation.
And then almost abruptly come the city stories, beginning with tales of marital stress and distress. Here I can sense the young writer and husband flexing his muscles and trying out new material and new approaches, experimenting with the kind of breathy, abstracted adoration you might find in Arcellana, acknowledging his broadening universe, with references to Picasso and Vanity Fair popping up in the prose. There's even an attempt at comedy in "The Maid, the Man, and the Wife." "The Long Vacation" is a melodramatic paean to loss, in the spirit of Carlos Angeles' "Landscape II," but without its magic. In these so-called "marriage" stories, it is the brooding hulk of Elias, in the story of that name, that most comes alive, but this is the one story in that suite that returns to the countryside, as if to make the point that country folk can also lead terribly complicated lives and make terribly complicated decisions.
The last part of the book, which is divided into three, comprises the "socialist" stories, for want of a better description. "The Socialists," "Epilogue to Revolt," "Apes and Men," and "Rice" return us to a rural setting, but this time with an explicitly political agenda, which is to awaken the reader to the inhuman exploitation of the Filipino farmer and worker of the 1930s.
"Caps and Lower Case" is often hailed as a searing indictment of labor exploitation, and indeed it pleads the case of its protagonist—a proofreader who needs the relief of just a small raise—with eloquent anguish, but ultimately it deals him a crushing defeat. "The Socialists" is a scathing satire of armchair socialism. "Epilogue to Revolt" deals with surrender and complicity, "Apes and Men" with industrial unrest, and "Rice" with hunger among the tillers.
These were all worthy subjects, of course, the stories reflecting the afterglow of the recent Sakdalista rebellion and other such uprisings in both country and city. Among writers then, the same tensions would simmer over what would be called "proletarian literature," its standard held high by such avatars as S. P. Lopez and Arturo Rotor, and inevitably Manuel Arguilla. On the other side of the argument were ranged the likes of Jose Garcia Villa, A. E. Litiatco, and a young Nick Joaquin, who in a 1985 essay would dismiss proletarian literature as little more than that generation's adoption of the latest American fad. It "failed to sweep the local scene," Joaquin would chortle, "and the only writer of importance who may have been influenced by it was poor Manuel Arguilla—who got derailed."
Arguilla's avowals notwithstanding, however—and at the risk of committing blasphemy in the Vatican—let me opine that it would be a mistake to deify Arguilla as any kind of socialist icon. True, he embraced "proletarian literature," but his proletarian stories are thoroughly depressing, their desperate protagonists broken and beaten, with the sole exception of "Epilogue to Revolt," which is one of my favorites because it breaks the mold while remaining absolutely true to character and situation. His realism owes more to Charles Dickens than to Maxim Gorky.
Manuel Arguilla was, to me, very much a writer in progress—a writer still coming to terms with his material and his society, one who had explored the range of his talents and was arriving at a fusion of those extremes. Arguilla's stories have to be read as a continuum, where country and city were beginning to come together in his artistic and political sensibilities. But then, all too soon, he died, leaving us to wonder if his stories could have taken a brighter and more hopeful turn in the postwar world he never saw.
Posted in Art & Culture, books, Pinoys, Politics, Society, Writing	| Tagged Arguilla, Bauang, Commonwealth, literature, proletarian, Taboan	| Leave a reply
Penman No. 280: Handfuls of Fragrant Hay
Posted on December 4, 2017 by penmanila
Penman for Monday, December 4, 2017
I WAS asked to give a keynote address at this year's Taboan Literary Festival in Bauang, La Union on the subject of "Celebrating Arguilla"—Manuel Estabilla Arguilla, the writer who was born in Nagrebcan, Bauang, 106 years ago. I'll share that talk in three installments starting this week.
"Celebrating Arguilla" seems simple enough. After all, who hasn't read and enjoyed "Midsummer" or "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife," or pondered the social implications of "Caps and Lower Case," to mention three of his most familiar stories?
But right there is a huge difference in theme and sensibility between "Midsummer" and "Caps and Lower Case," which might as well have been written by two different people. How the dreamy romanticism of "Midsummer" could coexist with the gloomy realism of "Caps and Lower Case" might seem a mystery, but those of us who've written and read enough will know that, well, it happens, and perhaps it should. You see this spread and stretch in Arcellana, for example, in NVM Gonzalez, in Sionil Jose, even in Nick Joaquin.
I am not a literary scholar or theorist, so I cannot speak about Arguilla the way Fr. Joseph Galdon and E. San Juan do, and I have no special familiarity with him the way near-contemporaries like F. Sionil Jose would. I am a biographer of sorts, but have no access to his life beyond the standard summaries on Wikipedia and a few scattered accounts.
All I have to go on is the fact that I, too, have written stories, was born in a small village far from Manila and close to the sea, and have dealt quite often with the countryside in my fiction, although readers who know me as a city boy have never probably noticed that. I moved to the big city much sooner than Arguilla did, and so I cannot claim the almost ritualistic knowledge of rural life that he displays with gusto in his recollections of Nagrebcan, his evocation of such details as "handfuls of fragrant hay" in that stolidly premodern society where men till the fields and harvest the grain, and the women cook and wash.
So the best I can do today is to engage Arguilla in a kind of conversation, raising the questions that one writer might have for another. Why do you write what you write, for whom, and for what? And for myself, I might ask, what is this writer doing that I should value? How does he or she reflect on my own work?
Without an autobiographical essay in which Arguilla himself would have explained his writing, I can only speculate on the answers based solely on the evidence of his fiction and of what others have said about his work.
Manuel Arguilla's first—and to my knowledge, his only solely authored—book, How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife, a collection of 19 stories, came out in 1940, on the eve of a war that Arguilla would not survive. He was 29 when the book was published; within four years he was dead at the hands of the Japanese, reportedly beheaded at the Manila Chinese Cemetery in August 1944 along with other guerrilla leaders.
History tells us that 33 can be a good time to die, if you've more or less accomplished your mission, as did Jesus Christ, Alexander the Great, Eva Peron, and, just short by a few months, Bruce Lee. Arguably, Arguilla had much more to write, much more to achieve, when his life was abruptly cut short by war.
He had published his first book, with some of his stories appearing in prestigious American literary journals. He had successfully transplanted himself from his provincial roots in La Union to cosmopolitan Manila, earning a degree in Education in 1933 from the University of the Philippines, where he led the UP Writers Club and edited the Literary Apprentice. He taught creative writing at the University of Manila before moving to the Bureau of Welfare and edited its publication well into wartime, when he worked for the guerrillas in intelligence and was captured and executed by the Japanese.
His widow Lydia, herself a fine writer and also a guerrilla, went on to become a painter and to establish the Philippine Art Gallery in Ermita, a seminal promoter of modernist art in the country, and served as a diplomat in Geneva before her death in 1969. In 1957, the book Philippine Tales and Fables was published in Manila by Capitol Publishing, with Manuel posthumously sharing the authorship with Lyd. Two of Lyd's stories—the first published under her maiden name Lydia Villanueva, before she married Manuel—are featured in Leopoldo Yabes' landmark anthologies of the Philippine short story.
I have yet to locate his essays, but Manuel Arguilla definitely produced more than the 19 stories in his 1940 collection. One story, the rather whimsical "Rendezvous at Banzai Bridge," was published in the Philippine Review in April 1943, a year before his death. But it will always be the stories in his book that will define Arguilla for us, and I'll do a quick review of these for those who may not be too familiar with his work.
Posted in Art & Culture, books, Education, history, Pinoys, UP, Writing	| Tagged Arguilla, La Union, literature, NCCA, pastoral, Taboan	| Leave a reply
Penman No. 33: At the Literary Table
Posted on February 12, 2013 by penmanila
Penman for Monday, February 11, 2013
I'M HERE in Dumaguete City for Taboan, otherwise known as the Fifth Philippine Literary Festival, an annual gathering of writers from all over the archipelago, and even a few parts beyond. Dumaguete, of course, is inextricably linked with Philippine literary history as the home of the first and longest-running writers' workshop in the country—the Silliman Writers Workshop, based in Silliman University—which explains its proud and rightful claim to be the "City of Literature."
Scores of the country's finest writers, especially in English, have passed through Silliman's portals (in Silliman's case, these are real portals, as iconic and as symbolic as the Oblation is to the University of the Philippines), thanks largely to Edith and Edilberto Tiempo, who started the workshop in 1962 after their return from the United States. I myself might not have thought of going back to school after having dropped out for ten years and of taking up fiction seriously after laboring as a playwright if it hadn't been for the Silliman workshop, which I attended in 1981.
So holding Taboan in Dumaguete was in many ways a logical homecoming, and the fact that festival director Dr. Christine Godinez-Ortega (who now teaches at MSU-Iligan) is a Silliman alumna helped things along immensely. The university administration and the city government were very supportive, and the festival began on an appropriately celebratory note with a parade around the city on Thursday morning, led by National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera.
But it was the keynote address delivered shortly after by the Cebuano scholar and writer Dr. Resil Mojares that best reminded me why it's important for Filipino writers and academics to go out of Manila and listen to what the rest of the nation has to say if writers are to help in achieving that sense of nationhood that's eluded us for ages. Resil—whose level-headed scholarship and clarity of thought I've always admired—spoke on "The Visayas in the National Imagination" (there was some confusion about the topic, but in the end it didn't matter).
He spoke of how complicated the writer-nation relationship can be: "A writer's relationship to his or her country cannot be one of blind faith or easy self-love. I think there is much in what the Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa says about his relationship to his native Peru that we can recognize as our own. 'For me,' Llosa says, 'Peru is a kind of incurable illness and my relationship to it is intense, harsh, and full of the violence of passion… [a relationship] more adulterous than conjugal… full of suspicion, passion, and rages.' Yet, for all these, Llosa confesses to a 'profound solidarity' with the country. He says: 'Although I have sometimes hated Peru, this hatred, in the words of the poet Cesar Vallejo, has always been steeped in tenderness."
That relationship can get even more difficult when the writer feels like a stranger or second-class citizen in his or her own country, as a writer working outside the national center might be made to feel. This dichotomy between the "national" and "local" (or "regional") writer has been a longstanding point of concern and conflict in Philippine literature for which there have been no easy answers. Dr. Mojares couldn't have illustrated the problem more clearly than in this excerpt from his keynote:
"Perhaps we have to bow to the historical fact that it is where power is accumulated and concentrated that the 'nation' is most effectively imagined. It is where the 'local' ascends to the level of 'national.'
"The literary situation today is that writers and works have to be recognized in Manila for them to acquire the status of 'national.' The center exercises the power to canonize and consecrate. A Cebuano writer who publishes in a 'vernacular' magazine with a circulation of 30,000 is merely a 'local' writer, while one who publishes a book of English poetry in Manila with a print run of 750 copies is 'national.' So effective is Manila's consecrating power that a writer may start out in Dumaguete or Davao but Manila is where he hopes to 'arrive.' Dumaguete may be the 'city of literature' but it is not its capital.
"Some years ago, the poet-and-critic Virgilio (Rio) Almario asked me—with a hint of mischief and challenge—'Where's the new Cebuano poetry?' I did not have a ready answer but assured him that there was a great deal of fresh, exciting work being done by young Cebuano poets. But Rio's question did tell me that much of today's Cebuano-language poetry—that circulates in manuscripts, poetry readings, small local publications, and Internet blogs—remains largely invisible outside of Cebu and Cebuanos, and that we (Cebuanos) have been remiss in defining and projecting to a wider audience what in this poetry is distinct, different, and deserving of 'national' attention. Yet, the encounter with Rio did remind me that indeed one has to be consecrated by readers and critics like Rio for one to acquire the status of 'national.' I say this without malice. Rio is a friend. But such is the politics of recognition."
The discussion got even more lively in the plenary session following Resil's talk, which was devoted to the topic of "Your Place at the Writers' Table," around the idea that while a national literature should ideally be inclusive, many writers still felt left out—not just because of the cultural and political distance between the center and the margins, but also because of the generational divide, and perhaps even of sheer snobbery on the part of "established" writers unwilling to yield ground to younger, fresher talent.
I'd meant to keep quiet and let others do the talking, but was prodded for my opinion on this "insider/outsider" argument, which I understand had been a hot topic online. Not being on Facebook, I caught on to it late, and composed a response that I circulated privately, from which I'll quote:
Small as it is, Philippine literary society is indeed ruled in a way by cliques, barkadas, orthodoxies, and prescriptions. In some cases, these institutions and conventions may have made it difficult for new, alternative, and dissident voices to emerge and be heard.
I myself will indefensibly admit to being part of this ruling elite—I suppose by default, being the director of an institute of creative writing, a professor of literature, and a member of an NCCA committee that gives out grants. I've done well by the system (Silliman workshop, CW degree and MFA, Palancas, etc.) and the system, I think, has also done well by me.
But all this doesn't mean that my mind is closed to new ideas or that I will shoot them down when I get the chance. Within the system, I have voted and even argued for writers and kinds of writing I personally don't prefer, because I remain aware of what's at stake, which is much larger than what I like. I have voted down my friends, denied them grants, and brought in people left out in the usual pollings , again because—as an old-time, squishy, hand-wringing liberal—I believe in fair play, imperfect as any cultural or political regime will always be.
By and large, the system works, if getting ahead the usual way is all you want: join a workshop, write like your mentors, win a few prizes, publish a book or two. But I keep reminding my students that this isn't the only way to writing fulfillment and happiness, and that they're free to choose other paths and listen to other gurus—but also, and again, that the alternatives won't be easy. We all make our own choices—but we should do so with full self-awareness, mindful of the costs and benefits to ourselves and to society.
How important is writing to you? Whom or what do you write for? What do you expect to get out of writing? How do you want to be seen or remembered by others through your writing? I've answered all these questions for myself—the bottom line is that writing is my livelihood and profession; I'm less a romantic than a realist—but I can't hazard an answer for others. As a member of the barkada, the best I can do is to enlarge the table and to bring others to it—if they even want to be there, in the first place; if they don't, well, perhaps they shouldn't mind too much if we dine in peace and enjoy each other's company—and maybe even manage to write a good book or two on the side.
Posted in Art & Culture, Writing	| Tagged 2013, Dumaguete, Silliman, Taboan	| Leave a reply


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As Nerdist reports, Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage is now an Audible audiobook. which Wallace collected in the Amazon from 1848-52. It's a particularly exciting find because his boat caught.
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space is a 1994 book by Carl Sagan. It is the sequel to Cosmos and was inspired by the famous 1990 Pale Blue.
Buying ebooks instantly chops off the 50 percent surcharge that Amazon slaps on my credit card to cover. The beautiful coffee-table-sized hardcover edition of Carl Sagan's Cosmos, which my mom.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Few developments of Avengers: Infinity War were quite as earth-shaking as Captain America's beard, at least according to the internet. It was a good look on actor Chris Evans, and helped to represent his character's inner turmoil and growth following the events of Captain America: Civil War. That's why more than a few fans were upset that Evans shaved off his facial hair for Avengers: Endgame.
However, social media users weren't the only ones who were invested in a hirsute Sentinel of Liberty. It turns out the beard has supporters among the stars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
RELATED: Robert Downey Jr. Feels Like the MCU's "Oddball Manny"
During a press conference held Sunday in Los Angeles for Avengers: Endgame, moderator Jon Favreau put Evans' facial hair to a vote by the participating cast members and filmmakers. "I love the beard," offered Chris Hemsworth, who knows a thing or two about the subject.
"I prefer bearded Cap," admitted Evans, who's already regrown the beard. He was joined in his endorsement by directors Joe and Anthony Russo, and stars Scarlett Johannson, Brie Larson, Mark Ruffalo, Don Cheadle and, of course, Hemsworth. On the other side were Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, and stars Danai Gurira, Karen Gillian and Paul Rudd.
The only one who abstained was Robert Downey Jr, who said, "I like Chris Evans with a beard, with prosthesis over it for when they asked us to come back and do a tag for the first Avengers. Go back and watch that, he has a beard. Go back and look at it, it looks like he has gum in his beard."
That's a reference to the shawarma post-credits scene from Joss Whedon's 2012 film, in which the exhausted Avengers assemble at a restaurant following their defeat of the Chitauri invaders.
"I was shooting Snowpiercer," Evans explained, "so I couldn't shave the beard. And they were like 'That's OK, we'll use a prosthetic.'"
Feige laughed, remembering, "Chris [walking] onto set with his face [completely] covered, saying, 'I don't think this is going to work, Joss.'"
Downey turned to his co-star and quipped, "All that for Snowpiercer? Was it worth it, buddy?"
However, Evans defended the 2013 sci-fi film, insisting, "I love that movie! But I was like, 'We're making Ruffalo green. Can't you just lose this?' So we spent some hours in the chair and put some prosthetics on. So we had to do the scene with me [hiding behind my arm]."


is a one-stop station for your home renovation project. Our main office is located in Taman Pelangi, Johor Bahru (JB). We have a highly capable interior design and consultancy team ever ready to listen to your needs, requirements, and your dreams, producing interior designs that are breathtaking and yet easy on your budget. Contact us now for more details.


Play Plus is a toy library based in the Inch / Cameron Toll area of Edinburgh. Join the toy library as a member and enjoy free open play sessions, where you can drop in to meet new families, and borrow or play with the toys. There is a wide range of good quality toys and resources for children, families, carers and childcare groups. We also offer teas, coffees and healthy snacks for children during the play session.
Our toy library rooms are accessible for wheelchairs and the community centre has a toilet for wheelchair users and people with disabilities.


text:
Be there for someone not in a position to be there for you.And then don't tell anyone about it, and don't ask for anything in return.

                story

                    I was born in small town in Kannur, Kerala and brought up in Nerul, Navi Mumbai.

                    I love my small family (father, mother and a little sister).

                    Beginning from reading Tinkle comics which my father bought for me, I always love little things in life which are orthogonal to "race to be the best" norm in the society.

                    And I deeply love the inner voice that guides me wherever I am confronted with confusion or otherwise. And amazingly, I feel the reciprocation of that in different people at different times in different phases of my life.

                    After securing 90+ in my Xth and XIIth, I was fortunate to qualilfy IIT JEE 2008 with an AIR of 2984 and get into IIT (BHU) Varanasi for M. Tech. (IDD) course in Computer Science & Engineering.

                    Getting a laptop towards the end of first year, I loved to study technologies that make computers work and do wonderful things. In the second year, our team was selected for interview in IBM TGMC contest.

                    In my third year, I started with concentrating on web technology stack after working for Codefest Server Team. The year ended with a big surprise of getting selected for GSoC and thus started my entry into the fascinating world of open source.

                    Since then, I have been regularly dedicating myself to create open technologies that will one day help me in making the dreams of many people come true. Positions of responsibility which I held thereon included Co-ordinator for Adhyayan 2012 and the Training & Placement Representative for CSE 2013 batch.

                    The final year gifted me an internship opportunity at Yahoo! and then it saw me taking a jump into the world of entrepreneurship with Orbitnote. Playing with little kids at Zaya and learning from failures and successes, the journey now continues ...

                employment

                    Where I have worked

Zaya Labs

Software Developer, Feb - Apr 2014

Postshire

Technical Lead Engineering, Oct 2013 - Jan 2014

Orbitnote

Technical Lead Engineering, Aug - Dec 2013

Yahoo!

Software Engineering Intern, Jan - Jul 2013

Google (GSoC)

Student Developer, May - Aug 2011

Kaarya

Software Developer Intern, May - Jul 2011

                education

                    My alma mater

IIT (BHU) Varanasi

M. Tech. (IDD) Computer Science & Engineering (CGPA 8.21/10)

Fr. Agnel Jr. College, Vashi, Navi Mumbai

HSC XIIth (Maharashtra State 93.83%)

"St. Augustine"s High School, Nerul, Navi Mumbai"

SSC Xth (Maharashtra State 91.60%)

                family

                    father
                    Shri. Rajan

                    mother
                    Smt. Prabha Rajan

                    sister
                    Vrinda Rajan

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
California Teen Admits Killing 'Flirting' Gay Classmate
By Ewan Palmer
Larry King (L) and Brandon McInerney (R) Family handout
A teen from southern California who shot dead a 15-year-old gay classmate he believed was flirting with him has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Brandon McInerney was 14 when he brought a handgun into E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard and shot classmate Larry King twice as he sat at a computer.
McInerney, now 17, admitted the murder charge, voluntary manslaughter and use of a firearm under a plea. He is set to spend the next 21 years in prison, serving 11 years for manslaughter and 10 years for the use of a firearm, according to the district attorney's office. His formal sentencing is set for December 19.
The plea follows a mistrial earlier this year when McInerney was tried for murder as an adult. Five jurors voted to convict him of murder while seven voted for manslaughter.
During the first trial, prosecutors tried to portray McInerney as a homophobe and a budding white supremacist who was enraged by King's sexuality and the way he dressed.
McInerney's attorneys had argued that King, who was openly gay, had made sexual advances against their client.
His lawyer did not try to deny that his client pulled the trigger and shot him in the back of the head and once more as he lay on the floor, but that the teenager had reached an emotional breaking point over these unwanted sexual advances.
Larry King's father, Greg King, told KABC-TV he understands why prosecutors agreed to the plea deal.
"I don't think that 21-year sentence is justice for my son, but I understand the reality that was facing the DA of trying to convict a defendant who was 14 ... when he committed the murder," Greg King said.
"He will serve the entire 21 years without time off for good behaviour and will not receive time off his sentence for the three years and nine months he has spent in juvenile hall before sentencing," the prosecutor's office said, concluding that he'd then serve nearly 25 years total.
McInerney will not be sentenced for the second-degree murder charge.
"It's very unorthodox," McInerney's attorney Robyn Bramson said to Reuters. "Both sides wanted to resolve it for various reasons, and this was just our way of getting to something that was tolerable for both sides."
Related topics : California


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text:
Entrepreneur Conundrum Podcast
Come Onto The Show
Episode 17: Jodi Chaffee
Join us today as we talk with Jodi Chaffee and she shares with us how and why it is so important to get your entire family involved in your Family Culture!
EC 01 | 4min
Today we have back with us Jodi Chaffee and how she helps families live more intentionally by creating systems and strategies for a thriving culture.
Jodi is a seasoned podcast or homeschool mom and family culture expert.
She has hosted our modern heritage, the Home and Family Culture Podcast, for three years and recently released her one hundredth episode.
During this time, she has interviewed dozens of experts from Paralympic athletes to entrepreneurs and authors for more than three years.
Jodi studied business culture and looked for ways to apply it to families. This resulted in a powerful framework for hacking successful cultures and applying it to families who want to live in intentionally and question the status quo.
She has been featured on several podcasts presented at homeschool conferences and is a published author in a digital magazine.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/familyculturestrategies/
Virginia [00:00:01] Welcome to Entrepreneur Conundrum with Virginia PR. We are growing entrepreneurs share how they get visible.
Virginia [00:00:10] Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Entrepreneur Conundrum podcast. My name is Virginia Purnell. And today we have back with us Jodi Chaffee and how she helps families live more intentionally by creating systems and strategies for a thriving culture. Jodi is a seasoned podcast or homeschool mom and family culture expert. She has hosted our modern heritage, the Home and Family Culture Podcast, for three years and recently released her one hundredth episode. During this time, she has interviewed dozens of experts from Paralympic athletes to entrepreneurs and authors for more than three years. Jodi studied business culture and looked for ways to apply it to families. This resulted in a powerful framework for hacking successful cultures and applying it to families who want to live in intentionally and question the status quo. She has been featured on several podcasts presented at homeschool conferences and is a published author in a digital magazine.Welcome, Jodi
Jodi [00:01:05] Thank you, Virginia.
Virginia [00:01:08] I'm excited to be here. Thanks and glad to have you back. So can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Jodi [00:01:16] Well, like you mentioned, I have my podcast and I have to mention again that I'm relaunching as the host of the family culture movement and in the hopes to present the podcast is with a more concise objective about, you know, this movement that I want to create around family culture and the importance of having a thriving culture based on trust and constructive coping strategies and systems and strategies for tackling problems before they even happen in your families. So that's my been my obsession for more than three years. And I, I can I have developed frameworks and systems to help families to cultivate their family culture. And so that's been my obsession besides my own family, our own family culture journey that I've been on, it really was sparked by the conflicts and questions I had in my own little family as we were going through our own journey and following the path, the quote unquote success path of going to school and getting a job and, you know, those kinds of things. And that path kind of like dead ended for us. And I did what I didn't realize was that subconsciously we felt like that was the only path that we could follow, because that's what we'd always been taught growing up. And when that fact when that path ended for us and we didn't know what to do, that was where I was like, wait, what do we do? And how do I raise my kids in a way that they will be successful even if they don't follow that path. And so that's where this whole exploration of family culture came from, was how I could educate my children, raised my kids to be more intentional about their future and how my husband, Michael and I can also change our status quo from, OK, we're supposed to just follow this path like robots to no, we want to live a path that's off the beaten path for us and do things that are going to help our family to thrive and be successful even if we don't necessarily follow the status quo.
Jodi [00:03:20] And so that's where it all spurred from. And since then, my husband has quit his job and we're working on building our business and we actually moved in with my parents. So we're kind of doing a blended family type of thing. And.
Jodi [00:03:33] And so it's been a really interesting journey, but one where I've learned a ton and have really been able to develop these systems that have allowed our family to get to a place where our kids, you know, we're not perfect, but they're they're really growing and progressing. And my husband and I are really changing our our trajectory of where we're going with our careers and our happiness. And we've been able to make the transition to live with my parents and actually be OK with it. And because I know that can be scary, but we're really supporting each other in our respective life situations. And so. Yes. So that's been our journey. And it's something that we're learning a lot and growing a lot. And it's been interesting and fun.
Virginia [00:04:24] You just mix up the culture a bit. Exactly. Exactly. You're trying to learn all spectrums of this whole thing.
Virginia [00:04:33] What is the best advice you've ever received?
Jodi [00:04:37] Mm hmm. OK. That's a good one. So one of the first thing that first pops into my mind was when I first learned about what family culture was. I was actually a missionary for my church and I was assigned to serve in Hawaii. And that's a place where there's a lot of diversity, a lot of different cultures. And I had this experience where I went into a home of a newly married couple and they were from different countries and they were really, really butting heads with each other. And some of it had to do with some advice that they'd received that they that interracial marriages were doomed to fail. And so they were really upset about that. And they were upset about their cultural differences, kind of like they were almost believing that advice. And it really upset me because I just thought. Oh, my gosh, what am I going to do when I get married, if I marry somebody from a different country or, you know.
Jodi [00:05:34] Wait a minute. If I marry somebody from a different family, which is obviously is going to happen.
Jodi [00:05:38] But it was like we're gonna have different cultures, we're going to have a different heritage and backgrounds. And so I went to somebody that I felt like would have the best advice. And he was a senior missionary who is like a retired gentleman. And he and his wife were from different countries. He was from Polynesia and she is from America. And they've obviously been making it work for decades, you know, and and so, you know, I like to go to him to advice for advice a lot while I was a missionary because he was great. He's really wise and really cool. And I told him the story of the situation and I said, how do you do it? How do you make it work? And he said, you know, he had this deep, gravelly, thick accent.
Virginia [00:06:19] He had an accent
Jodi [00:06:20] He slashed his hand to the areas like you forget about where you come from and you adopt the church culture as you know, culture. And I've since translated that to mean like you, would you come together and agree on what your new culture is? You got to forget about where you come from and you have to agree on what your new culture is going to be. And so that really started my journey of exploring family culture and why it's such an important aspect of of our families that we can't just continue to expect that how our parents did things is always going to work for our new for our families. You know, we can't if especially if our parents and our grandparents had disfigures dysfunctional patterns. You know, we can't continue those descent dysfunctional patterns in our families in order if we're gonna be able to thrive. And so that advice is always stuck with me.
Jodi [00:07:13] You know, he also, you know, shared advice, like, you know, when I was ready to go home for my mission. And he's like, you're not you know, you're writing the book of your life. And the next page is blank. So you're going to write your own story. And that's something that always stuck with me. Also that, you know, those those two things like always remember that you don't have to hold on to the previous chapter. Whether it's in your family history or your personal life, you can turn the page and start over with a clean slate and move forward and write the chapters of your life.
Virginia [00:07:50] I like that because it's we can apply that to tomorrow, too. Yeah.
Jodi [00:07:54] Right. We can start over tomorrow or we can redo tomorrow.
Jodi [00:07:57] We can do better even today, though, even the rest of the day. You know, it's like today didn't go very well, which, you know, I've experienced that plenty where a lot of times I would beat myself up if the morning routine didn't go the way that I wanted it to.
Jodi [00:08:10] And then the rest of the day, I was like, it's ruined, you know? But then my husband be like, stop that. Like, OK. So what? Start from right now. Thank you.
Virginia [00:08:19] Things are reminding you I needed that reminder a little bit of grace to start over from right now.
Virginia [00:08:27] Yeah. Something I don't like about New Year's resolutions. I'm like, why should I wait six months? Yeah. Before I correct it. Yeah. So start right now. How do you define family culture? What's that definition for you? So your family culture. It's every every family has a culture, whether by default or by design.
Jodi [00:08:50] And most of us are going by default because we just kind of pick up the norms, the traditions, the customs that we're used to because we're so used to them. It's like this joke of, you know, two fish swimming in the water. Another one swims by is like, hey, how's the water? And they're like, pause and go, wait a second, what's water?
Jodi [00:09:12] And so that's kind of like our family culture.
Jodi [00:09:15] We don't always question how things are done just because that's how it's always been done. And and so I like to compare family culture to, like being on a road trip. And, you know, everybody piles up into this vehicle and, OK, what is the vehicle look like? Does it serve our family? If, you know, dad's a sports car guy and everybody else is like, but that doesn't fit all of us, OK? Maybe he needs to compromise and get an SUV. You know, it's like that's how our family culture starts out. We've got to figure out what is going to fit our family. And then you go from there going, wait. All right. So do we just put this thing in cruise control and just see where it goes? We set up on the top of the hill and put it on neutral and see what happens, you know, or flip a coin at every intersection or whatever it is. But so many of us do that wherever there's a conflict, we kind of like flip a coin, go, OK. How do we deal with this thing? You know, and how do we how do we respond or react or, you know, how do we most of us are just kind of like this isn't a new crisis. I don't know what to do. And but as with a family culture, that's intentional. And one that we can design. We anticipate those kinds of problems by knowing where we're going and how to get there and why, you know, so I teach about having a mission, having a vision for your family and having your core values. That is like a compass for your family. All of those things have like an analogy that I use with the road trip thing, because your mission is your destination. Where are you going? What do you want to end up looking like if you know or you say that destination? Today, every day, like we are a truly authentic, charismatic and, you know, excellent family. That's the destination. The vision is kind of like your G.P.S. where it's like, OK, we know where we're going. And so you get in the car and you start going. And I can't think I think I know where we're going. And then you get a few miles into the trip.
Jodi [00:11:17] You're like, I think you're lost.
Jodi [00:11:20] And so you got to bust out your G.P.S. and figure out where you are in this global positioning system so that you can see, oh, that's where we are. And that's where we're going. And now I can see how we're going to get there. That's your vision. So if you have a vision of of why you want to get there and how to get there, then your family starts to work towards that vision that you've cultivated together. And then you're, like I said, your core values like a compass. So I always help you to point your true to your true noice north. So then when issues arise, you go, well, how can we respond to this, that in alignment with our core values? So we're always point to our true north. And then you also have your family policies. Some people call them like rules, but it's also a policy is also more like how you just respond to different things. And I kind of compare those like road signs along the trip, you know? So it's like, you know, like what direction you're headed if you're going in the right direction, if the sign says, you know, this is the freeway that you're on or stop signs or one way street signs, you know, things like that. Those are your policies. It's like if your family has a policy around or a core value around safety, then you have a policy that everybody wears their helmets when they ride their bikes, you know, so it's your policies and your values will always coincide. And then they always coincide with your vision and mission for your family. And along the journey, you also need to have maintenance strategies like a vehicle, like an actual car. It needs fuel, it needs a tire rotation and oil change and all kinds of things. Well, you can't always expect that when you set up your mission and your visionary values for your family that there is never going to be like roadblocks or detours or times when you need to step back and reevaluate or figure out like, are these things still true to who we are right now, if we'd like right now during the pandemic that's been going on? Right. I don't know when you're going to air this episode, but we're all still feeling the effects of this whole shutdown around Colvard 19. Well, we can't always respond the same way as we would when we're not in crisis, when we are in a crisis. If your child gets diagnosed, diagnosis something that has to be in the hospital, if mom gets really sick or mom's pregnant or, you know, different things, if dad gets laid off from his job or, you know, these different situations, you got to know what is going to serve your family in that time in and establishing your family culture and then knowing how to respond to those different situations with Grace and with, you know, with being able to talk about those things and having star systems in place so that you can complete continually check in with your family to make sure you're still going in the right direction. Or or maybe taking a detour or whatever it is your family needs. And then the fuel of your vehicle is trust. So if you don't have trust in your family culture, then you're not going to go anywhere. And so all of those things come together to form your family culture so that you can you can thrive and you can anticipate issues and problems and you can be prepared to not react, but be proactive in the situations that arise for your family.
Virginia [00:14:39] Thank you. When you were talking, one of the things that I was thinking of was like communication, right.
Virginia [00:14:44] You need to communicate with each other, like see how they're doing or because you can't pivot or adjust or change anything if if you don't know about it. Yeah. Yeah.
Jodi [00:14:55] And if you and if you decide, well, I want to pivot, but then the rest of the family doesn't know about it or they don't know if they don't get onboard with it or don't understand it, then that can create conflict as well. So yeah, it's really important to implement like family meetings or, you know, taking time to to just have those kinds of communication touch points so that your family is always on the same page with where you're going.
Virginia [00:15:18] Speaking of pivoting, what the what are some of your big goals that you're looking to achieve or at least one big goal and the next one to two years?
Jodi [00:15:28] Well, I I want to serve.
Jodi [00:15:31] I want to serve a thousand families in a family called have an intentional family culture. I mean, this family culture movement idea, it's really about helping families to have that intentionality so that they can be proactive about any crises that arise in their families or or even just preparing themselves so that they can achieve that mission that they have for the family. And and even if it doesn't always play out the way that they envision having having a vision is is is having hope that even if that there is a way to achieve that destination, even if it always isn't perfect, you know. And I want to be able to serve families that so that they can be happy. I mean, I just feel like we've our culture at large, our society is like trying to break away or distance from this importance of the family. And and it's deteriorating our whole psyche. It's deteriorating. Our morals is deteriorating. You know that this. Our education system, it's everything about it is deteriorating because families are not the center of the development of our children and of adults even, you know. And so I really want to create this movement that brings families back to the center of the change that needs to happen in our society so that we can all thrive together as a society. You know, Mother Teresa's has this quote that if you want to change the world, go home and love your family.
Jodi [00:17:00] And I 100 percent believe that if you want to impact the world and somebody will I don't know who said this quote, but it's like the hand that rocks the cradle is the one that will change the world. Right. I want to see was like Barbara Bush or something anyway. But it's it's true. It's true. And it's not that there hasn't more than. It's not just about like mothers. It's about I mean, mothers are superimportant and they're powerful. It's about but it's about all of us, all the family we need to all get on board with how important every member of the family is to having this driving culture to check out our kids and make sure that they're on the right path or, you know, quote unquote, right path for them. Right. No. One, that that is going to help them to achieve their individual personal mission and become the best version of themselves. And families are the epicenter of creating that change and that source of strength for everybody in our society.
Jodi [00:17:58] Each person in the family unit or the family culture plays an important role, regardless of how little they are or how little they're around.
Jodi [00:18:10] Yeah, well, that's one of the things that is part of this whole strategy, is that there is always a culture leader in your family, just like there's always a driver in your car. Right. And sometimes, though, it becomes the culture leader in our home is that tantrumming toddler.
Jodi [00:18:26] And everybody, like, throws up their arms going, oh, my goodness, what are we gonna do with this tantrumming toddler?
Jodi [00:18:32] And they are like the cultural leader. But it's up to us as parents to step back and get into that driver's seat and go, you know what, our toddlers as tantrumming. But it probably just means that they need something. And I'm going to take charge of the culture and the feeling in our home by showing them love and compassion and connecting with them to give them what they need, you know. So it's really about who in your family is going to take the lead to make sure that the culture and the feeling, the environment in your home is still aligning with your mission, vision and values.
Jodi [00:19:02] You know, so it's like, OK, who's at the wheel right now, that hormonal teenager or, you know, OK, or maybe it's not the hormone teen, your teenager.
Jodi [00:19:12] It's the teenager that reminds you, mom, you're being kind of hormonal, you know, and says, I think we may bring it back.
Virginia [00:19:19] OK. Thank you. Whoo! Thank you so much. You know, it just depends.
Jodi [00:19:22] Hope. Ideally, everyone in your family is a culture leader in a positive way. And so if everybody if you have that communication systems in place, then, you know, and everybody's on board, they recognize, you know, I think that looks like the dishes need to be done and looks like Mom's really busy with the baby. So I'm going to do the dishes. You know, it's everybody hopefully taking on the role of being a cultural leader and recognizing when needs need to be met and just doing it.
Virginia [00:19:53] What's your number one roadblock that's stopped you from achieving that goal of reaching the thousand families?
Jodi [00:20:01] Well, I haven't really. I've struggled with my clarity to this point.
Jodi [00:20:06] You know, it's something that actually, you know, and that's another reason why I'm working on my relaunch of my podcasts is because I really I want to convey that clarity of of what I'm trying to accomplish. You know, that this idea of the family culture movement is just more clear. And I'm going to clarify the description in the trailer. You all those kinds of different things that go into relaunching the podcast. And and also, I've I've struggled with clarity of what what exactly my product is being in the relationship market to. It's a little bit more challenging than being in the wealth market or even the health market where you know that people will buy dozens of programs to help their business.
Jodi [00:20:54] They see it more as an investment because they can see the tangible monetary results that come from investing in that thing or in the health market. They can see the tangible results of the old pounds dropping or things like that or getting stronger or whatever. But in the relationship market, it's it requires a lot more trust in order to get people to invest in that aspect of their lives.
Jodi [00:21:18] Because a lot of times two people don't necessarily like to be told that they're they're not getting something right or that, you know, they don't necessarily like to be told that that something is wrong with them or anything like that. And that's not my goal either. I don't want to be like, hey, you're doing this thing wrong. I just want to be like, hey, there's a better way, you know, to to raise your families. And so but it takes some it takes more effort on the on the back end of creating a business or on the relationship market to build and cultivate that trust so that people know that I'm not here to I'm not here to, like, destroy your family or I'm not here to, you know, make you feel bad. I really am here just to to help you to grow and. And that this is an investment in yourself and in your family. And and it's necessary that I think that parents especially, you know, helping them to recognize that investing in themselves and in their children is going to bring not just happiness for their families, but it's going to bleed out into their business and their health and then everything that that you do.
Virginia [00:22:27] Yes, I like that, like it's not like we're in compartmentalized Yandle little areas, right? Like it's not like it's one compartment. Life is one compartment for families. It's they were all as much as we might not want it to be, we're all just muddled together. Yeah.
Jodi [00:22:45] Yeah. Well, the principles that I teach, I they actually I've taught these principles in a business setting, in a podcasting setting, you know, having clarity of the culture that you're trying to create inside of your business or around the message that you're creating your brand.
Jodi [00:23:01] You know, it all translates actually, because, you know, your your family also has its own brand that if you cultivate these things, then it's like, oh, when I go to the Pernell's house, I know exactly what I'm gonna find there. I'm going to find them happy kids. And well, what you know is that whatever like people come to know your family brand because you're cultivating those things and it's the same. It all translates over to if you were to apply these principles to your business, then people go, oh, I know exactly what to expect from the entrepreneur conundrum, because that's that's what she created intentionally in this program. And so people come to know what to expect. That's your brand.
Virginia [00:23:43] I like it, I never thought about thinking of my family as a brand before. So what are you doing to get visible and stand out online?
Jodi [00:23:55] So most of it has to do with my podcast and I'm working on revamping the way that I publicize the podcast. Because I think that I'm publishing. There's there's thousands of podcasts out there. Right. Like, how is anybody going to see that message? But I'm working on having more intentionality around how I publicize the podcast and work with my guests so that they are willing to publish more and publicize their interviews more and get give them more benefit out of having exposure. Through my podcast. And. And so that's that's been that's part of it. I have a strategy that I'm working on around how to get more visibility through social media and public's publicity and graphics.
Jodi [00:24:52] I mean, there's so many opportunities in social media right now. All the different kinds of graphics you can make. You can do videos with with the text on top of it. You know, all this kind of stuff. Now, with with Canberra. And I'm like, I love exploring all that kind of stuff.
Jodi [00:25:07] So it's been fun to figure out, like the strategy to get more consistent in my posting, because that's that's really powerful way to work on, you know, algorithms and exposures and all kind of stuff is having good social media posts that people will we'll see and interact with. So that's my biggest. And then also having a really clear call to action when I publish certain, I'm kind of focusing on my Facebook group to get people inside of the group so we can have discussions and I can do more like teaching and getting to know each other and supporting each other, our respective family culture journeys and things like that. So having clarity on the one thing that I want to send people to is also helpful, because that's, you know, then there's not like which I go to Instagram or Facebook. Oh. So I go to our website today. So that's something that, you know, having to having clarity also helps with visibility. And people know, oh, there's just oh, there's one place that I can set that I go to find Jody and family culture and having that clarity and and also working on and building my product. Because when you have a product and you have not only when you get social proof of people purchasing that product that people see, oh, there's a value in that product. But also just having a product that you can see that others can see. People are valuing that in and of itself is perceived value. I think sometimes it's really scary to want to, like, sell it to people or to have an offer and to ask for payment because we think, oh, no. Oh, no, I'm going to. Well, all I'm asking for money and people get turned off by that. But the people who really want to make a transformation with their life, they are willing to invest in something that is going to give them that clear transformation. You know, it's more than just dabbling in the content that's out there. When you have a product that you can prove, it gives them that transformation that in and of itself is perceived value that people are willing. Oh, so. So all these people have invested in this program.
Jodi [00:27:22] It must be worth it. And so that right there is perceived value that is going to help spread your message so that people can see, oh, not only is Virginia publishing a podcast when she has a product, people go, oh, she's doing more than just publishing. She has a product that's serving people and bringing us value so that we can make a transformation and server in our lives. So and then, you know, there's also perceived value in how much you're charging for that product, because sometimes if if it's something that's cheap, people go, you know, you might get a lot of sales out of it, but you're not might not get a lot of engagement and might not produce that transformation that you want to help people to achieve. And especially because sometimes when people don't pay a lot for something, they go, I don't need it, or they just kind of brush it off or they don't revisit it.
Jodi [00:28:16] You know, mithai when they have to pay more. Yeah, exactly. You know, I mean, I've even paid three bucks for a little course.
Jodi [00:28:23] And I went through the first few modules and I was like, I can already know this stuff. And I just said it on the backburner, you know? And so the more you charge for something, the more they have to invest not just in their money, but also in their time to say, well, I just this has to be a valuable thing. I spent a ton of money on it. And so they're going to get more out of it. And you can you can also invest more into it yourself as the creator, because, you know, you're not going I'm doing all this work for pennies on the dime. And, you know, it's like. That's that it's harder to produce that when you can't, you know, you can't. It's not sustainable for your family. So that's my strategy is about visibility and more in depth. You know, it's getting out there and publishing consistently and having quality quality products that bring that value and serve and have that perceived value that you are creating transformation for people that you serve.
[00:29:21] Awesome, thank you so much for those words of wisdom.
Virginia [00:29:26] How can people find out more about you and what you do so you can come find my podcast?
Jodi [00:29:33] After this week, it's going to be called the Family Culture Movement.
Jodi [00:29:38] And I'm also on Facebook. Facebook, dot com slash family culture podcast. And you can find my profile. Also, family culture Erskine's Facebook dot com slash Jodi Chafey. And my Facebook group is called The Family Culture Hackers.
Jodi [00:29:55] Awesome. Thanks again, Jodi, for sharing with us. And thank you to each of you for joining us on this amazing interview.
Virginia [00:30:03] I am Virginia Purnel and thanks for joining us on The Entrepreneur Conundrum.
Virginia [00:30:10] Thank you so much for joining us today. Be sure to subscribe and leave some left through a review. And I'll catch you on the next episode.
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Today we are joined by the automation king himself, Mr. Matthew King. When you listen to the show today you will want to hear how Matthew works to keep the balance in life. To keep a low number of clients and to keep a small amount of team members working for him.
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Kaci Brown was around Clickfunnels during their major growth and she was lucky to be around all the legends that have worked there. Today she is killing it with her own business and below is a little statement about her podcast. Amplify My Impact is The live-workshop style podcast that is on a mission to help others define success on their own terms, dream boldly, and build a legacy of impact. You can get a front row seat to join us in the journey of industry leaders how to Do more. Be more. Give more.
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text:
View from Brussels: The best offence is a good defence
By Sam Morgan
The European Union does not have an army, contrary to what you may have heard. But that has not stopped Brussels from piling investments into the defence sector. More radical forays into everything military might also be on the horizon.
Ever since 2017, the EU's member countries have been able to band together under one scheme known as PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation), in a bid to upgrade and improve their respective military might.
Europe's armed forces still march under their national banners, but they regularly go on manoeuvres together and, if crunch time were ever to arrive, would have to team up to counter attacks.
Compatibility issues have affected some of these joint missions in the past, including ammunition that does not work with all weapons, transport vehicle spare parts not fitting properly and so on.
PESCO was designed to correct those errors and help plug the gaps in Europe's military capabilities. In November, the list of defence projects eligible for funding grew, as EU countries agreed to add 14 new initiatives.
They range from relatively mundane upgrades such as training facility improvements and cyber-security tweaks, to building a new 'Strategic Air Transport for Outsized Cargo', a capability that Nato armies are currently short on.
Germany, the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands and Slovenia have teamed up to look into that particular project. The timeline aims for studies to wrap up by 2026, before actual work begins on building a new aircraft.
Interestingly, the scheme is open to non-EU countries, in what may prove to be an open invitation to close European neighbours Norway and the United Kingdom.
However, of the now-60 defence projects included on the PESCO list, just one has been finalised by the 25 EU members that take part (Malta and Sweden have so far declined to sign up). That has led critics to complain that EU defence policy has no urgency.
According to the European Council, the latest update to the defence project list comes with strings attached. Progress will be monitored, and recommendations issued if initiatives are behind schedule or not allocated sufficient resources.
"European defence is no longer an option. It must come of age. The only question is 'when'. And we will be ready," insists EU commissioner Thierry Breton, who is tasked with overseeing defence policy.
PESCO projects can be co-funded by the European Defence Fund (EDF), a relatively new tool embedded within the EU's big trillion-euro-strong budget. It has about €8 billion to dish out between now and 2027.
That is just a drop in the ocean when the EU has ambitions to develop a new heavy-duty transport aircraft, autonomous warships, and next-gen armed drones, so national governments are expected to pick up the rest of the bill.
A far bigger budget could soon be coming the way of the defence sector though, as the European Commission's fairly successful first foray into borrowing hundreds of billions of euros for pandemic-recovery policies starts to pay off.
According to an article published in Foreign Affairs by Max Bergmann – a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress – and Benjamin Haddad – senior director of the Europe Center at the Atlantic Council – the EU should borrow €100 billion and pump it into defence.
"Such additional stimulus funding would boost Europe's economic recovery and supercharge European defence efforts, transforming Europe's ability to defend itself and allowing it to partner with Nato and the United States on a more equal footing," they write.
The article cites the recent withdrawal by US troops from Afghanistan and tensions between France, the United Kingdom and Australia over a botched submarine deal as recent examples of defence policy topping the list of priorities.
It is questionable whether the idea could ever work in practice, as not every EU country is convinced that joint debt under the umbrella of the triple-A-rated European Commission is a good plan that can be repeated more than once.
Advocates of joint borrowing insist that the €800bn-strong recovery instrument can be used again and even converted into a financial instrument that could pay from the EU's transition to green energy.
Bolting on another fund to pay for defence policy would be a hard sell and probably rely on the blessing of France – most likely a given, due to its vested interests in the sector – and Germany, which now has a new government.
Next year will be a defining period for the EU's defence ambitions. The Commission is hosting a big summit in the first half of 2022 entirely dedicated to the issue and France will chair the six-month-long presidency of the Council.
External events such as Russia's unpredictable behaviour towards Ukraine and the continuing crisis on the Polish-Belarus border might also force the EU's hand.
More cash is not the full extent of ambitions in Brussels either. Defence chief Thierry Breton says "we must go even further in order to establish a genuine European capability plan in order to jointly define needs, establish joint procurement strategies and ensure consistency between the various national plans."
Breton is pushing for a "security and defence doctrine", which would emphatically spell out where the EU should intervene and where it should complement Nato missions. A renewal of ties with the military alliance is now on the cards.
The plan would also involve setting up what Breton calls "a military projection force," which would be "operational, flexible and can be mobilised quickly". There has never been enough appetite to set up what has been dubbed an "EU army", but perceptions may have shifted.
Brussels is slowly but surely following up its rhetoric on improving European defence capabilities with tangible actions, reflecting the uncertain and unstable times we are living through.
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How do I add a Prayer Request?
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How do I message other community members directly?
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Ten Tips for getting your community started.


text:
package ff.sql.dialect;

import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;

import ff.sql.FunctionDefinition;
import ff.sql.SqlDialect;
import ff.sql.dialect.functions.DateFunctions;
import ff.sql.dialect.functions.OracleDateFunctions;
import ff.sql.dialect.functions.OracleFullTextFunction;
import ff.sql.dialect.functions.OracleString_aggFunction;
import ff.sql.dialect.functions.OracleSubStringFunction;

public class OracleDialect extends SqlDialect {

	private static Map<String, FunctionDefinition> functions = new HashMap<String, FunctionDefinition>();

	static {
		OracleDialect.functions.put("STRING_AGG", new OracleString_aggFunction());
		OracleDialect.functions.put("SUBSTRING", new OracleSubStringFunction());
		OracleDialect.functions.put("FS_CONTAINS", new OracleFullTextFunction());
		DateFunctions.apply(OracleDialect.functions, new OracleDateFunctions());
	}

	@Override
	public void beginAnalyticOffsetLimit(final StringBuilder query, final CharSequence orderby) {
		query.append("SELECT x.* FROM ( SELECT x.*");
		query.append(",");
		query.append(" ROW_NUMBER() OVER (").append(orderby).append(") \"__RNK__\" FROM (");
	}

	@Override
	public String dualTable() {
		return "dual";
	}

	@Override
	public FunctionDefinition interceptFunction(final String function) {
		return OracleDialect.functions.get(function);
	}

	@Override
	public void offsetLimit(final StringBuilder query, final String offset_str, final String limit_str) {
		query.append(") x ) x WHERE ");
		if (offset_str != null && limit_str != null) {
			query.append(" \"__RNK__\" <= ").append(limit_str).append(" AND \"__RNK__\" >= ").append(offset_str);
		} else if (limit_str != null) {
			query.append(" \"__RNK__\" <= ").append(limit_str);
		} else if (offset_str != null) {
			query.append(" \"__RNK__\" > " + offset_str);
		}
		query.append(" order by \"__RNK__\"");
		return;
	}

	@Override
	protected String typeDouble() {
		return "BINARY_DOUBLE";
	}

	@Override
	protected String typeFloat() {
		return "BINARY_FLOAT";
	}

	@Override
	protected String typeInt() {
		return "NUMBER(10, 0)";
	}

	@Override
	protected String typeLong() {
		return "NUMBER(20, 0)";
	}

	@Override
	protected String typeVarchar(final int precision) {
		return "VARCHAR2(" + precision + ")";
	}

	@Override
	public boolean useAnalyticOffsetLimit() {
		return true;
	}

}


So you want to backup your seed phrase.
Your recovery seed is the most important aspect of maintaining ownership of your cryptocurrencies.
If you lose (or forget) this seed phrase you won't be able to restore your wallet if you lose your phone or hardware wallet.
How do you backup your seed phrase?
Most people write it on a piece of paper, and store it in a safe or deposit box.
Is this really safe enough though? We don't think so.
Place these files into a cloud storage or hardware device (we recommend using cloud services as there is always a chance to lose your HDD or USB stick).
First of all, you would need a 7-zip application, to obtain a copy of 7-Zip, please see http://www.7-zip.org/ and select the Download link.
Right click on the file to be encrypted.
3. In the Add to Archive window change the name of the archive you wish to create.
4. Change the Archive format to "Zip".
5. Change the Encryption Method to "AES-256".
There is a trade-off between using AES-256 and ZipCrypto. AES-256 is proven much more secure than ZipCrypto, but if you select AES-256 the recipient of the zip file may have to install 7-zip or another zip program to read the file contents. Selecting ZipCrypto may allow users to open the zip file in Windows without a zip program, but it does not provide adequate protection against attackers with modern cracking tools.
It is strongly recommended to use AES-256 to protect sensitive and confidential data.
6. Enter a Password. Use a strong password with at least 8 characters containing upper and lowercase letters, and a minimum of one number.
7. Select "Ok" to create the encrypted archive file. The new archive file will be located in the same folder as the original.


What is Bobcat Goldthwait, the veteran comedian who directed World's Greatest Dad and God Bless America, doing behind the shaky handheld camera of a found-footage monster movie? The cynical answer would be that it's much cheaper to film a gaggle of no-name actors sprinting through the wilderness than it is to shoot… well, just about any other kind of movie. But Willow Creek, about an amateur filmmaker who drags his girlfriend on a search for Sasquatch, may be more of a labor of love than it first appears. Last summer, during the film's festival run, Goldthwait was quick to confess his interest in Bigfoot lore—a fanboy fascination the director conveys through interviews with real enthusiasts, who play themselves and expound on the mythology of the fabled beast. He may be seriously slumming by putting a modern spin on 1972's The Legend Of Boggy Creek, but at least Goldthwait's done his homework.
He's also clearly studied the most famous and effective of found-footage thrillers: The Blair Witch Project, to which Willow Creek bears more than a passing resemblance. In fact, this may be the closest any filmmaker has come to replicating the basic architecture of that 1999 milestone, beginning with an extended riff on its chatting-with-the-townies prologue. Bigfoot believer Jim (Bryce Johnson) has opted to spend his birthday retracing the steps of Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin, the men who shot the famous 1967 footage of an ape-like creature—or, perhaps more likely, a guy in an ape costume—wandering through the woods of Northern California. Accompanied by his skeptical girlfriend, Kelly (Alexie Gilmore), Jim drives out to the titular community, the "Bigfoot capital of the world," where he conducts interviews, visits tourist attractions, and blows off ominous warnings from the locals. As in Blair Witch, the camera creates a false sense of control and security, which Goldthwait amplifies by having his characters often call "cut!" and repeat takes—a filming strategy Jim abandons once he and Kelly are out in the middle of nowhere, at the mercy of what they're hunting.
Willow Creek has one great scene, an epic long take within the dimly lit interior of a tent. Observing his petrified lovers for a breathless, static 20 minutes, Goldthwait demonstrates how duration, off-screen sound, and the commitment of talented actors can combine to create a black hole of suspense. Unfortunately, nothing that happens afterward comes close to matching the intensity of that tour-de-force sequence. In essentially remaking Blair Witch, but with a camera-shy behemoth instead of a vengeful crone as the antagonist, Willow Creek flubs the ratio, stretching out the all-is-well prologue and condensing the nightmare-in-the-woods payoff. Goldthwait is just having too much fun with his bantering couple and the eccentric, guitar-playing Bigfoot fanatics they encounter; the climax feels like an afterthought, the obligatory mayhem he had to provide as justification for making a shaggy romantic comedy about the cult of Sasquatch. Bonafide believer though he may be, Goldthwait clearly remains more interested in folks than folklore.


Our homie Sneakertoons wants to see how much you know about sneakers. Along with the talented game-maker Totally Bueno, Sneakertoons has created SneakerTime, a sneaker-centric quiz app that will test your knowledge about kicks. Choosing from four categories and two game modes, you can stick to what you know and tackle questions specifically about ASICS, Jordans or Air Max sneaks, or you can go all out and play the random 'mixed' category where the app will attempt to son you on everything you've ever learned about sneakers.
The app will also offer timed quizzes where you'll race sneaker heads from all over the world in choosing a SneakerToon of a classic shoe from a set of possible names, or identifying as many random sneakers as you can in 30seconds. If you're up for the challenge, search SneakerTime in your local app store now.