The Art Of Coincidence

asked:


The Art of Coincidence

By Sean Darkbloom

Myspace/darkbloom

My mother once told me “witchcraft was the art of coincidence.” It took me years to realize the magnitude of this statement. From the simplest events, to those bordering on “miracle”, it does seem that coincidence has been a noticeable reminder of my own powers. Knowing that many readers and editors of your magazine feel they witness some personal enchantment, I offer you the following experiences for contemplation, and challenge you to find similar instances in your own lives. I believe I can persuade you to share my belief that for the “charmed”, coincidence is not simply one of those “things that make you go hmmm..”, but an actual self-made reality stemming from sub-conscious mental projection and the resulting physical and environmental manipulation.

The idea of this ability to influence ones surroundings is certainly not new. If conscious, this would be considered a “spell.” Let’s consider for a moment what this entails. At the minimum, a working spell usually entails considerable preparation, utensils, and a great deal of concentration-as well as some sort of effect or “backlash” on the user. Yet coincidence offers a more powerful mind than we imagine. The fact that we can actually simply “think” an event and it happens-with no preparation or thought whatsoever, and no recognizable backlash.

Many cultures have recognized the power of the mind-probably the most famous statement being “I think therefore I am.” Is it possible that our collective reality is simply an elaborate web of relationships between individual realities created by one’s own mind? And furthermore, since each environment is a creation of an individual’s own mind, an individual’s environment can be affected by another, more powerful mind coming into contact with it. This affect may be intentional, or unintentional-which I will describe as spell vs. “coincidence.”  Perhaps I aim not to redefine, but add to the definition of “coincidence.” There are many of my counterparts noticing this, and I hope I am not too late to add my thoughts to the collection of knowledge on the subject. Let’s analyze the similarities between “spell” and “coincidence”.

Ex. of coincidence- You are upset with a co-worker on the job. You know that the next day at work you will have problems with the individual. You think for a split second “I wish that guy would get in a car wreck and not make it to work tomorrow.” You really mean it for a second…then realize, “no.., I don’t want that to happen to anybody.”

The next morning, sure enough, the employee gets in an accident. You think, “Oh my God, I was just thinking that.”

Ex. of spell- You get into a fight with a co-worker and consciously obtain the materials and time to “hex” him into a car-wreck.

We see in both instances a common factor-the user strongly wants the event to happen. In the spell-deliberately-in the coincidence-not deliberately, and only for a second. Then why…does the coincidence come to fruition more often than the spell? You would think, if reality were to be influenced by another’s will strong enough to influence another’s reality…the spell would work more often for the witch. But, from personal experience most of us will agree the latter is true. Upon contemplating this fact, I believe that the missing factor between spell and coincidence is “doubt.” While going through the series of events in a spell, the user has plenty of time to doubt whether it will work or not. In coincidence, the user thinks the act for only a second, then sometimes even regrets it… Yet, the initial thought, though involuntary, is completely free of doubt as to the outcome. The user fully wishes, for that split second, with no doubt at all.

My girlfriend has unintentionally tapped into this power many times. One week our bills were overdue. She mentioned, “I wish you’re night shift DJ (on my job) would get sick so you could get some hours.” An hour later, the employee called in sick and I gained his 3 shifts. A few months ago she simply asked me “Why doesn’t a tornado ever hit Atlanta?” She didn’t care about it, and simply put the thought out there. The very next day, out of nowhere, and according to Glenn Burns, basically impossible- a huge tornado ripped through downtown Atlanta, causing a few million dollars in damages. Would the employee have gotten the flu and the tornado have hit anyway…. if she hadn’t thought of the acts first?

The effects of doubt seem to have been most recognized by the early Jewish and Christian churches…. Or at least lack of doubt…referred to as “faith”. Faith, in fact, can be defined as complete confidence, or a complete lack of “doubt.” We know that the human psyche has the hardest time having faith in one’s self. It is much easier to have faith in a higher power. And truly, history tells us of battles won and miraculous deeds-due only to “faith.” Modern cults such as snake-handling sects believe their success or failure due totally to faith -or lack thereof. Jesus himself said that with enough Faith you could move a mountain. He attributed his own miracles only to faith. So, could it be that the collective painting of life can only be repainted, if temporarily, with this “faith”, this “lack of doubt?



Categories: What Does "Mystery Babylon" Mean In The Book Of Revelation? | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Critical Analysis Of Social Issues In "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad

asked:




Joseph Conrad penned Heart of Darkness in late 1890s after his journey to Congo in the earlier part of the decade. After making its debut in Blackwood’s magazine in 1899, his book was published as a novella in 1902. Conrad’s story takes place some time during late 1800s in London, Brussels, but mostly in Congo (which, at the time, was under the control of Belgium).

The main social issue in Heart of Darkness deals with abandoning European morals when faced with the power of colonialism. The two main characters, Kurtz and Marlow – once noble men – both face this challenge. Thus, the main theme in the novella can be defined as absurdly hypocritical practices of imperialism, with motifs such as ironic understatements, inability to accurately word things due to their horribleness, and, of course, darkness.

No word described Conrad’s tone in Heart of Darkness better than contradictory; while Marlow is terrified by the imperialistic harshness of life in Congo, he says that any man who gave the idea of working for the Company some thought would succumb to similar behavior. At the same time, Marlow’s reaction to Kurtz’s degeneration is horror. What once seemed like a legit job opportunity turned out to be an ironic understatement – perhaps, even, a completely inaccurate viewpoint on behalf of his aunt who signed him up for the job with the Company. As such, no words could describe what Marlow has gotten himself into.



Categories: The Politics Of Patriotism | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Irony Essays: The Ideas to Use, the Quotes to Consider

asked:




When students are assigned with irony essays, they usually try to discuss the main idea of the irony and it appears to be a kind of a definition of irony in essays, or they turn to one of the online custom term paper writing company to order a custom essay. It is easy to dwell upon the problem for those who know at least some examples of irony in literature and others sources. What should do those who know nothing about irony essays? They should consider this article! It covers a number of interesting irony essay ideasand reflects the information for discussion.

Before getting down to academic writing of an irony essay, we should check the definition of this notion.



Categories: How To End An Essay With Impact | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

HP CEO Fired – Getting Caught Falsifying Expense Reports

asked:




Get More Info The Real Reason HP CEO Fired

Mark Hurd , Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO filed Friday for falsifying expense reports and other documents to hide a secret affair with a previous contractor and assist in getting paid for work she did not work on. This 53 years man suddenly resigned, sending HP stock market tumbling after hours, he had a reputation on Wall Street almost perfectly.

During his five-year management of world’s largest maker of personal computers and printers, the stock price has doubled, increasing its market value exceeding $ 40 billion, and became the world leader Technology No. 1 by revenue.

HP said Hurd was ousted after the company discovered he had a relationship with a woman who has worked with HP on marketing issues. The company reported he falsified expense reports and other financial documents to conceal the relationship and help the contractor paid for work she did not do. But the company said its internal investigation revealed Hurd does not violate its sexual harassment policy.



Categories: Company Code Of Conduct Violated By HP CEO Mark Hurd | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Improve Memory and Recall With Sleep

asked:




Memorising things is hard. Through out or lives we are trying to memorise everything from events and history to exam answers and a plan for the future. Many students will spend all night trying to remember key facts for exams. It is ironic to think that sleep has such a large effect on memory and learning. All the students that spend all nighters to memorise answers may be doing more damage and be more forgetful than those who get a good nights sleep instead.

For insomniacs it may be sobering news that not only does a lack of sleep affect the memory and recall of exams answers, but also the memory of faces, sceneries, experiences, procedures, and many other things. Our memory of procedural and skills could be the most important and is also the most affected by sleep.



Categories: Discovering The Really Good In You With Personal Development | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Top 6 things to like about the HP TouchPad

asked:




Is there room for one more contender in the tablet market? HP thinks so, and last week it launched the TouchPad: a slate that looks similar to competing devices on the outside, but offers a fresh, new take on the inside with the webOS software. Apple’s iPad currently has the lion’s share of the tablet market, mainly because it offers a strong user experience, a myriad of applications and a strong media ecosystem. HP’s TouchPad clearly faces a challenge in the latter two areas for now, but in terms of user experience, there’s much to like.

Superb multitasking. When HP bought Palm and the webOS platform last year, the company wisely continued one of the most compelling functions found in the operating system: simple but effective multitasking. Applications open in full-sized windows, but one touch gesture — a finger flick from the bottom of the screen — shrinks the app into a small card. Users can swipe through multiple cards on the TouchPad to jump from one app to another. And similar cards are automatically grouped together. Open multiple web pages, for example, and the TouchPad stacks them for easy access. Closing an app is as simple as flicking a card off the top of the tablet screen. Monster messaging. Another webOS differentiator for HP’s Touchpad is the singular Messaging app that integrates several services. From one app, the TouchPad natively supports Google Talk, AIM, Skype audio and video calls, Yahoo! Messenger and future third-party apps. TouchPad owners who also have a webOS smartphone can send and receive text messages from the application as well. Notifications. These are a necessary evil for any mobile device, and there’s a fine line to balance. People don’t want to be pestered with “in your face” notifications for every email, message or news blurb. But incoming notifications can’t be missed either, or they defeat their primary purpose. The TouchPad offers the best of both worlds, and even an added bonus. Notifications appear directly on the device lock screen so you see them at first glance. An LED light in the home button blinks when there are notifications and the TouchPad display is off. When using the tablet, notifications appear in the top right of the screen and are stacked by application: Emails are grouped as are Facebook updates, text messages, etc. You can swipe through these notifications, and if there’s one that requires attention, a quick tap opens the appropriate application. Printer integration. I often use a tablet in lieu of a full notebook or desktop computer and although I don’t print often, when I need to print, it’s a must-have function. Other tablets, notably Apple’s iPad, now support wireless printing, but the TouchPad goes toe-to-toe with the iPad in this area. That’s likely due to HP’s commitment to wireless and cloud printing: I recently bought such an “ePrint” device, and the TouchPad automatically discovered my Photosmart C310 printer. Wireless or network printers not found automatically can be added manually with the devices’ IP addresses. You can even choose different print settings such as 2-sided printing or color, directly from the TouchPad. A keyboard for all hands. I think one of the most under-rated features of the TouchPad is the re-sizable keyboard. In either portrait or landscape mode, holding the keyboard button brings up four size choices: extra small, small, medium and large. When I passed the device around to several people and told them about this function, I found that all used different sizes, customizing the keys just for their hands and use. Given that mobile devices are highly personal, the customized keyboard sizes offer both a nice personalization touch and a wider range of input usability. A new canvas for developers. The quality of apps on the iPad makes it a compelling device and the TouchPad has a ways to catch up here in terms of quantity. But I’ve already noticed some outstanding new features found in webOS apps that not even the iPad had. Take the Facebook app, for example. There still isn’t one for the iPad, but the webOS version is stellar. Outside of chat support, there are no major features I find lacking. And a unique magazine-style layout option has no equal on any other Facebook client: You can see this useful design in my video overview of the TouchPad below. Need another example? I constantly check WordPress to view and respond to reader comments here on the blog, which leads to various checking in on the comment queue. I don’t have to do that on the TouchPad though, because the software supports integrated notifications in webOS: Comments appear alongside my emails and texts, where I can quickly manage them.

The last aspect is one that shows the most promise to me because I’m looking forward to seeing what applications third-party developers can create for HP’s TouchPad. Unfortunately, this strength also points out one of the key reasons why consumers may balk from the TouchPad for now. A solid mobile platform on a tablet with strong base features is nice, but not enough for everyone to make the purchase. Instead, the TouchPad offers much to like now, with the potential for even more to like later. As much as I’m enjoying this review unit, it’s that potential that I — and many others — are waiting to see: Holiday Gift Guide: Fashionably Tech

Note that there are plenty of other pleasant aspects to the TouchPad: a great email client, a wireless charging dock and the JustType feature that works as a universal search function, to name a few. My list of likes will likely vary from yours, but these six items jumped out at me. With solid basics out of the way for the TouchPad, access to a media store and strong third-party apps are the key for HP’s TouchPad going forward.



Categories: Best Buy Luring Laptop Customers With $149 HP TouchPad Offer | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Skinception How does it work?

asked:




It’s ironic, that some of the most defining events in human life cause stretch marks. Adolescence, child birth and growth spurts contribute to who we are, but we wear them like a neon sign that speak of life experience in less-than-flattering ways. Stretch marks say “My body’s been used.” That’s not a bad thing. But in bathing suit season it’s…well…embarrassing.

Fortunately you can erase those embarrassing stretch marks, with Skinception Intensive Stretch Mark Therapy.

Stretch marks, or striae, are thin white stripes that appear in a striped formation where the skin has been stretched. They most often occur in areas of the body prone to growth, including the abdomen, hips, thighs, buttocks and upper arms. You know how the upper arms tend to flaunt excess, er, “baggage” when you’re waving good-bye in a short-sleeved shirt? They show more than some people would care to admit.

Stretch marks occur from the inside-out. Some events, including pregnancy, weight changes and adolescence can increase the body’s production of a hormone called glucocorticoids. This hormone suppresses the collagen and elastin needed for taut, healthy skin. The loss of these supportive structures allows the layers of skin to separate, causing the grooved, discolored appearance of stretch marks.

Skinception Intensive Stretch Mark Therapy is scientifically formulated to address two of the main causes of stretch marks lost collagen and elastin and reduce and even erase those debilitating stretch marks. Specifically, it’s designed to:

boost collagen production increase elastin fade red and purple discoloration even skin tone smooth striations and deep furrows

Categories: Latest Skinception Intensive Stretch Mark Therapy Is It Really The Stretch Mark Cure | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Examples of Irony

asked:




Irony is said to have occurred when the words are used in such a way that they convey the opposite of their literal meaning. Although there is no hard and fast definition of irony and it is prone to as many interpretations as the user wishes to provide, in simple terms, irony is to say something and mean something else.

A circumstance which reflects irony is referred to as an ironical situation and its meaning is the total opposite of the one which is presented by the facts. There are three kinds of irony and they are dwelt upon individually in the following manner.

A Verbal Irony

A verbal irony is said to occur when the irony is expressed through words, which means the words convey a certain meaning but are intended to put forth a different meaning. Examples of verbal irony are scattered throughout the literary works as it is commonly used by authors and poets to convey the implied meaning. William Shakespeare used verbal irony in Julius Caesar through the speech given by Mark Anthony in which he uses the following words:

“Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honorable man.”

Verbal irony is used by Robert Frost in his poem titled ‘The Road not Taken’ through the expressions “with a sigh” and “made all the difference” when the narrator is aware all along that he is going to narrate the story.



Categories: Cuisinart Coffee Grinders | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Internet safety tips for teens

asked:




When chatting online it is a brand new world, thanks to the internet. The media are constantly presenting horror stories about young teens being lured off the internet from social media networks, teen chat rooms or dating sites into compromising positions by paedophiles and sex traffickers. Unfortunately these types of events are not just stories they really happen and young teen internet users are at the greatest risk.

Online social and dating sites continue to grow at a rapid rate over the last few years and there is an increased risk a teen will fall victim to an online predator. Websites like myspace, facebook and twitter all cater for teens and don’t cost any money to join so young people and adults can meet. Unlike dating sites like oceanlovers.co.uk a screened and membership only dating site, free friendship building sites rarely screen users. All it takes to become a user is a username, password and a picture. These sites are not constantly monitored and information can be provided on how to reach users in the real world. Only if a serious compliant is made by parents, most profiles go unmonitored making these sites prime targets for internet predators.

It is extremely easy to lie about who you are on an online profile. You can post any picture of yourself and claim it is of you. Internet predators do this without remorse. These predators pose as teenage girls when they are really grown men and pictures posted alongside the false profile sometimes fool other users. Predators also pose as ideal boyfriends, making them seem to be every girls dream guy, and again, they add pictures to bolster the deception. The internet predators then befriend teens and work to earn their trust. On occasions, they try to make the teens fall in “love” with them. Once trust is earned it seems only natural to make a date to meet face-to-face. Since many teens that meet people online do so in secret, without telling parents or even real life friends about their activities, face-to-face meetings are often set up without anybody else knowing. It is ironic that the same teens that post many pictures of themselves leave detailed profiles at public sites, are unlikely to tell people in real time what they are up to.



Categories: Online Dating Chat Rooms A Whole New Experience | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

An approach to Frye’s statement – romance-irony-parody

asked:




          There’s an assumption that literature, like language itself, has a grammar or syntax, on, which our understanding of it inevitably depends. For the reader, the simplest and the subtlest understanding of literature must depend on a similar tacit but necessary knowledge of the grammar of literature. Frye suggests we should use recurrent patterns, because they are there. For him, an inductive survey of all western literature reveals the presence of four archetypal narrative patterns, called mythoi by Frye and the lyrics analogues, romance, irony, tragedy and comedy, constituting the basic framework of literature (Frye 01).

            He believes that as structure the central principle of irony myth is best approached as a parody of romance: the application of romantic mythical forms to more realistic content which fits them in unexpected ways” (Anatomy of criticism 223, Smith 860-871-872).

          We can imagine a world in which goals are thwarted and nightmares become reality (the world of irony). In this sense, we need to qualify the relationship between narrative patterns and individual works of literature in a third way. Just as the pattern of expectations cannot be derived from or limited to a single literary work, so the particulars of the work cannot be reduced to the

Cunha 02

pattern. The full meaning of any story worth our time depends on pattern but can never be reduced to it. Each narrative pattern is related to the mode. Each mode has a special affinity with one of the narrative patterns. E.g. romantic mode and romance, ironic mode and irony. (A transition from archetypal criticism as practiced by Hughes to archetypal criticism based on Frye’s thought can also be observed (Foulke and Smyth 7-10)).

           In romance narratives, as in the myths they often draw on, animals give warnings, dragons threaten, and princes inevitably rescue the beleaguered at the darkest moment (Frye 45).

           The romance narrative most often dominates the earliest period in the literary history of a culture. It reflects more than the human need to give respectability to dreams. Romantic ideals are originally manifested in the hero’s quest with is rewards of the beautiful heroine, great wealth, a position of power, and the attainment of a kind of wisdom, often derived from some arcane source. Like the narrative structure, the characters of romance are obedient to a higher order. In spite of the ambiguity of the Green Knight and other shape-shifters in the complex versions of romance, most characters are ranked with good or evil, the divine or the demoniac, and openly wear the moral insignia of white or black.  There’s a kind of conflict between divine and demoniac forces. It’s better to remain neutral (Frye 48-49).

           “Verbal irony says one thing and means another, so narrative irony often alludes to one structure and creates another. It is this allusive design that leads critics to speak of irony in terms of the other three major narrative patterns: a work may seen ironic because it is structurally close to “but no quite comedy, or because it ” isolates” one and only one element from tragedy, or because it “adopts feature from romance and then transmutes it into its opposite”. All these insights strike us as valid, if only because to define irony by what it is not is to affirm the negative principle that is the hallmark of the mode (Frye 223-239).

Cunha 03

            The idea that irony operates on some such denial of a formal or structural expectation underlies Northrop Frye’s original concept of the narrative pattern. The central principle of ironic myth is best approached as a parody of romance: the application of romantic mythical forms to a more realistic content, which fits them in unexpected ways. The important term is parody. Although we usually think of parody as the humorous use of the writer’s style to that a subject strikingly uncharacteristic of his work, there’s a familiar tradition in literature of structural parodies. Whether stylistic or structural – and admittedly, the line is hard to draw – the effect of parody depends on some violation of a convention that requires the equivalence between manner and matter, form and content (Foulke and Smith 860).

            There’s in the work of contemporary ironists a variety of compounded duplicity, in the face of which the innocent general reader has little assurance that there is a meaningful system on which he and the author would agree or at least consistently disagree. Pervaded by incongruity, irony resists our terms and categories, and we are reduced more often than critically comfortable, to negative definitions and to working through antonyms from the other narrative forms toward irony. Our sense of the divine that gives order to the narratives of romance leads us to recognize the principle of disorder that confuses the ironic narrative (Foulke and Smith 861).

            Perhaps the better strategy is to characterize the world of irony in the negative to speak of it as unidealized existence without laying claim to a greater realism, a claim dictated more by our contemporary tastes than by critical understanding.

            One example of irony that goes beyond conventional limits is the put on, the facetious and bizarre event or discourse that all its apparent structure and intention we cannot interpret as either serious or conventionally satiric. The point of such nonevents is that they have no point: the most that one can do with them is to identify some general target toward which they direct and which



Categories: Independent Author Lisa Taylor Releases The Hour Of Tiamat And Book Of Dreams And Nightmares | Tags: , , | Leave a comment