Podcasts about psds

Learning and applying God's 10 problem-solving devices will fortify the FLOT line in your soul (FLOT is an acronym for Forward Line of Troops), preventing the outside sources of adversity from becoming the inside pressure of stress in your soul. This episode (Part 1) covers the first PSDs: 1. Rebound (how to handle personal sin), 2. Filling of the Holy Spirit (how to empower your spiritual life), and 3. Faith-Rest Drill (how to address worry, fear, and anxiety). You glorify God when you use His spiritual assets to solve all your daily problems.Download Transcript: https://rhem.pub/problem-solving-ac9077

I chatted to my friend Helen Shiers. Helen is a wonderful Mum to her daughter Thea who has Down's syndrome. She shared with me about her experiences of becoming a mum and about her experience of being a mum to Thea and we talked parenting and disability representation and we talked about disability and media. She is also a Co-Founder of a wonderful charity called PSDS which aims to support families who have children who have Downs Syndrome. website - https://www.psds.info/

This week we are excited to bring you content from Texas Impact's Public School Defenders' Lobby Day. We are joined by State Representative Gina Hinojosa, House District 49, while walking back to the Capitol after she addressed the Public School defenders to discuss voucher plans and how Texans of faith can push back against SB 2 and other voucher bills.   Later in the program we are joined by Texas Impact's Public Education Policy Advocate, Grace Bonilla, to talk about the lobby day and the work of the PSDs.  You can learn more about the Public School Defenders and Texas Impact's other issue teams, and see our weekly action alert, in the Action Center at texasimpact.org. Watch a clip from Scott's interview with Representative Hinojosa on our Youtube Channel. https://youtu.be/-7b-1RC-o08

In this episode, CJ sits down with Dr. Julie Gurner, the author behind the Substack Ultra Successful, to explore how top CEOs, CFOs, and entrepreneurs manage their ambition, goals, and self-talk. They examine if being hard on yourself necessary for success and Dr. Gurner shares helpful reframes that can be used to overcome negative self-talk. The conversation delves into the concept of “haunting agitation,” a term she uses to describe the hunger and ambition driving high performers. Building on this, she introduces the idea of empirical guardrails to keep one's ambition in check. Dr. Gurner also breaks down the difference between “motivated” individuals and those who go “all in,” explaining how full commitment can lead to exponential growth. They touch on the surprising power of seemingly “boring” and discuss what the “build in public” movement gets wrong. Lastly, they talk about the art of saying no to opportunities that, while tempting, may distract you from your core focus. Tune in for expert advice on channeling your drive toward meaningful success.If you're looking for an ERP head to NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metrics and get a customized KPI checklist.—SPONSORS:Mercury is the fintech ambitious companies use for banking and all their financial workflows. With a powerful bank account at the center of their operations, companies can make better financial decisions and ensure that every dollar spent aligns with company priorities. That's why over 100K startups choose Mercury to confidently run all their financial operations with the precision, control, and focus they need to operate at their best. Learn more at mercury.com.Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust®; Members FDIC. NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than 38,000 thousand companies have already upgraded to NetSuite, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform ✅ NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metrics and get a customized KPI checklist. Maxio is the only billing and financial operations platform that was purpose built for B2B SaaS. They're helping SaaS finance teams automate billing and revenue recognition, manage collections and payments, and put together investor grade reporting packages.

GOD Provides / JESUS SavesPatreon https://bit.ly/3jcLDuZServant Milito

Get stoked, jQuery 1.2 is here! Join Scott and Wes as they discuss jQuery Mobile, slicing PSD files, CSS rounded corners, CoffeeScript features, WordPress 2.3, and the rise of Skeuomorphism, shaping the landscape of web development this year. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:16 Brought to you by Sentry.io. 02:17 jQuery 1.2 released! 07:38 jQuery Mobile. 09:34 Skeuomorphism. 10:25 How do you slice up your .PSDs? Slicy By MacRabbit 12:34 Cufon, new font method. 14:06 CSS rounded corners. CSS3Please 15:17 Coda Tip. 16:48 Top 5 CoffeeScript Features. 18:44 Conference Talks to Spotlight. BatmanJS, your new favorite JavaScript superhero 20:35 WordPress 2.3! 21:15 PHP 5.2.0 PHP 5.2.0 Release Announcement 21:53 Sponsored by Media Temple. Hit us up on Socials! Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Scott:X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads

Suddenly it washed over me - that odd euphoric sensation of contentment.  No idea what triggers it, but it's well worth holding onto!  Also in this episode, a quick review of ACDSee 10 (the Mac version).  If you'd like to try it yourself, please use this link (there is no kickback or finance attached, but it does let the guys at ACDSee know that the referral has come from me and the Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast!) Enjoy! Cheers P. If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography, for more articles and videos about this beautiful industry. You can also read a full transcript of this episode. PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics, you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk.  Full Transcript: EP146 On Being Content [00:00:00] Introduction and Studio Update [00:00:00] So in an effort to keep up my weekly episodes , I am recording this mid afternoon on a Tuesday, which normally would be fairly busy here in the studio, but given I've got two people who are off sick, with both Michelle and Sarah coughing and spluttering and generally not feeling very well. [00:00:16] So with a degree of persuasion, managed to get both of them to go home. I'm assuming they are now wrapped up in duvets drinking brandy or whiskey or possibly just Lemsip. And so I suddenly found myself with some time in the studio during normal working hours. So this is episode 146 being recorded when, well, I could be doing a million other things. [00:00:41] I'm Paul and this is a very distracted Mastering Portrait Photography podcast. [00:01:03] Now if you look at the list of things I should be doing, it's long, it's complicated, there's a lot to do in the studio just now, but I quite like recording the podcast, and so I am somewhat using it as a distraction. Displacement, I think is what it's called, and I'm going to record this episode. [00:01:22] Mastering Dogs and Their Owners Portraiture Photography Workshop [00:01:22] It's not that long since the last episode, so it's not like I've done a million different things, but yesterday we ran a Mastering Dogs and Their Owners Portraiture Photography, I can't remember the title, ah, uh, workshop, which essentially is a Photographing dogs with their owners. [00:01:37] Had the most incredible bunch of people as delegates and also as models. One of the great things about running these workshops, of course, is that we can bring in models who are regular clients. Steve and Ambra and their dog Luna, and then Gemma who came in the afternoon with her dogs Luke, and, archie. [00:01:58] It was just brilliant. Spent the whole day laughing, the whole day answering questions and discussing things about photography, not just how to take these pictures, but why we take these pictures. And certainly from the point of view of running a business. The weather held, it was gorgeous and sunny, a little too sunny, with that low raking February sunshine that we don't get enough of, and when we do get it, of course, as a photographer, I moaned that it was too harsh, uh, for some of what we were doing, particularly when we were trying to photograph in an alley where I needed both walls to have the same light, more or less, and of course the sun sort of threw that out the window, but hey, you know, what can you do when you get those days? [00:02:39] It was a fantastic day, and loved every second of it, I've created some images that I really like, and more importantly, I think our delegates went away with ideas and enthusiasm and determination and confidence, possibly more than they did when they arrived, which is the right way around, and if you ever give when we're delivering workshops, the great thing is not It's not about technical stuff really, it's about having the confidence to go and do it, because without that, it doesn't matter how good you are with a camera, or how good you are with Photoshop, you're not going to run any kind of business. [00:03:14] You'll never produce anything. You need the confidence to do it in the first place. So a big shout out to all the guys that came on the workshop yesterday, and a huge thank you to my clients. [00:03:22] ACDSee Software Review [00:03:22] Uh, before I get into the nuts and bolts of the podcast I want to give a quick shout out to the guys at ACDSee. [00:03:30] That's letter A, letter C, letter D, and the word 'See' S E E. A brilliant bit of software. It's a bit of software that I first used, I was trying to remember when they asked me to get involved. I was trying to remember when I last used it. I think I used version 1. I think it came free on the front of a magazine. [00:03:49] It was I think, recalling it was shareware back then. Shareware is not really such a common model, but back then, I'm guessing 15 or 16, maybe even longer years ago. Um, and it was an amazing piece of software primarily because it was super fast and It has the ability to preview files and organize files for you in an incredibly quick way. [00:04:13] And anyway, the guys at ACDSee asked me if I'd review it and then talk about it. So, cards on the table here. I have been given a free copy of ACDSee to see what I think. I'm on version 10, it's the MacStudio version. And so I've been bunged a free license, which I've been using for the past couple of months. [00:04:34] So it's not really, this isn't a paid commercial. Genuinely, I'm using the software and I said I would talk about it if I liked it. But I'd hate anyone to think that I wasn't being straight up and honest when I'm talking about it. And clearly I've been given a free license. But of course, here's the but in all of this stuff is I will never talk about anything on this podcast that I haven't had first hand experience of. [00:04:58] Somebody did ask me, there is someone has asked me to review like an energy drink from the US to use it for a while and then talk about what I think. Sadly though you can't get it in the UK so I had to go back to them and say I can't do that until you've got a supply chain or an importer over here. [00:05:15] And then of course I will try it and let you know what I think. So I won't talk about anything that I don't have first hand experience of there are many reasons for doing this podcast but being able to be authentic in the middle of it is the bit that under pins it. So what are my thoughts on this version of ACDSee? [00:05:31] So this is version 10, the Mac version. Um, so okay, straight up, slightly mixed bag, but don't I don't take that as anything other than there's just one little bit that I'm not happy about. So when they approached me, so when ACDSee approached me, I was beyond excited to do it. Firstly, I got to play with a bit of software that I used an awful lot back in the day. [00:05:57] And it was wonderful to be using the same software again. There's a degree of nostalgia, I suppose, about that. And it's always good to see a great piece of software, as it was, not only survive, but expand and become even more useful. The second reason I was excited about it, so I went and did a quick hunt around before I committed to giving it a go, is everything I read talked about the new AI keywording tools, and they looked incredible. It would help me enormously if using a bit of AI inside the software that I have on my computer, as opposed to going online and doing round tripping and all of those things, if I had some AI software that would help me identify with some very simple keywords. I'm not after that. Detailed keywords, but very simple keywords that would let me find, for instance, like a low key studio portrait, or a high key dog image, you know those, I'm talking really quite basic stuff. [00:06:50] Now we manage our catalogue really well, but stuff slips through, and with keywording, you know what it's like, you get one folder, I've got to archive it, I've run out of disk space, I need to move some stuff today, do I keyword it now? No, I'll do it later, and of course by do it later, what I actually mean is, it doesn't get done. [00:07:07] So, that was What I was looking forward to the the speed and the simplicity of this piece of software as it used to be, but also with some of the new AI stuff in particular, the keywording. And so I suppose the question is how did it do? Brilliantly, I think, is the word I'd use. It is still blazingly quick. [00:07:27] It's an unbelievable piece of software from that point of view. It's faster than using the Finder on the Mac or Pathfinder I also use. It's incredibly fast. Now, let me just clarify how I've used it or how I'm using it right now. Lightroom is at the heart of our workflow. All of our live catalogues. All of our live RAW files, all of our live PSDs are in Adobe Lightroom . [00:07:52] And what do I mean by live? Live just means the job is not yet archived. I looked earlier and there's about 75, 000 assets in Lightroom at any one point. That includes all of our live jobs but also our portfolio, our portfolio of heroes. Now, I've configured Lightroom in a very particular way so when I run an export of JPEGs that are going to go to the client, they're going to go into album designs anything that's flagged with five stars, the little bit of code in the background that I've written spits those out into a series of Dropbox folders that are organized in line with the jobs. [00:08:27] So, let's say there's a Le Manoir wedding Tom and Amy get married at Le Manoir on a date. When I spit those files out, there'll be an equivalent Dropbox folder that contains anything that was ranked with five stars. So it allows me to have these heroes in Dropbox. And we've been doing that for about eight years. [00:08:45] So you can imagine just how many images and folders we have in Dropbox running that little bit of the catalogue. But when I archive the folder away, when it's done, the job's finished, Tom and Amy have got their wedding album, then we remove all of the files off our live drives, remove the catalog components from Lightroom, and obviously new stuff has come in. [00:09:07] Those heroes, though, still need to be active, and they stay active in Dropbox, a series of Dropbox folders that I have. And it's always a little bit of a pain trawling up and down them. Well, ACDSee solves that, because once I visited a folder with this software, All of the thumbnails stay in its catalogue. [00:09:24] So it's as if I can browse things that go across folders. There's this thing called the Image Well, which is brilliant. I can find things by flags. I can find things by colour labels. It's absolutely phenomenal. So at the moment, I've got about a quarter of a million. There's about 250, 000 JPEGs in ACDSee. [00:09:47] It's really, really fast. And one of the things I really have liked about it, which is useful for me, is, and this is the bit of the AI that is working, is the facial recognition. Now, no Lightroom has facial recognition, but of course, in the end I don't use Lightroom for longer than the job is live for any folder. [00:10:05] Whereas this is folders that go back historically. And I'm not really that worried about identifying every face. What I am interested in is having the faces all looking at me in a series of thumbnails that I can scroll through and go, Do you know what, I remember that shoot or I remember that image. [00:10:22] That's what I'm looking for. Then I can find the shoot and then I can expand that to all of the other images. And on top of that, slightly weirdly, Hehe. I found myself just smiling this morning as I was trawling through this big page of thumbnails of my clients. It's all my clients faces looking back at me and smiling. [00:10:39] And it was really nice. It was a bit of a trip down memory lane, I think, for many of these. And I know that's not its intended purpose, but if you ever want a pick me up It's simply look in this folder on ACDSee of faces looking back at you, of all these clients, and of course the memories that go with it. [00:10:57] And it is rapid, I mean it's unbelievably quick in the way it does it. And it's really useful to have that. Now on the indexing side, it's a little bit, you have to get your head around it a little bit. It indexes any folder you've visited. Browsed. However, there is also a behind the scenes index that you can get ticking over, which will run whenever you're not using your computer and ACDSee is open. [00:11:20] So gradually over time, it picks up the files and it pops them pops all the thumbnails together and categorizes them for you. So it's really really useful. On top of that, a nice little touch that I've only really discovered this morning is that your license includes the use of a thing called SendPix. [00:11:38] This won't be useful to everybody, but it's quite a nice little bit of software. So it's, if you can imagine I suppose a hybrid version of something like Zenfolio which is a catalogue system for images for your clients and WeTransfer which is a way of sending files to your clients. It's sort of in between the two. [00:11:58] What it allows you to do is select a load of images, send them to someone but instead of sending them directly it creates a short lived online gallery. It's there for a couple of weeks, I think, looking at the dates it gave me. And that allows your client, or whoever you're sending them to, to log in, see the images, and download what they need. [00:12:15] So in a sense, it's like WeTransfer, but with an interactive component. And it's equally, it's a little bit like Zenfolio, but with a gallery that only lasts for a couple of weeks. So you don't have to worry about taking them up and taking them down, and all that kind of thing. It's only there for the time you need it. [00:12:30] And, surprisingly It's actually really useful, which I hadn't seen coming. It wasn't a bit of the software. I certainly didn't pick that up when I said yes to reviewing ACDSee, but it's incredibly useful. Now, sadly, the software doesn't integrate with Dropbox properly. There is no integration with Dropbox, which is a shame. [00:12:47] It would have been really nice. It does have an integration with iCloud, but I don't use that, so I can't comment on that part of it. But it would have been quite nice. It's no big deal. Doesn't really change my usage of it. And all in all, there are just dozens of little functions that make finding and retrieving files that you have on your folders and drives really easy. [00:13:09] It makes it fast, it makes it visually interesting. I haven't used the editing tools because for us, everything we do is edited in Lightroom on the RAW files and the PSDs. I suppose it could be useful if I do pick up a file, I just think, you know what? I wish that was slightly brighter, I wish that was slightly darker, or something like that. [00:13:26] I know there are some quite sophisticated tools in there, but that's not the part of the puzzle I've been interested in. And I think the license for the Mac version is about 99, and it's absolutely worth it. [00:13:38] Sadly, the AI keywording is in the Windows version but not the Mac, but still [00:13:42] I think it's absolutely worth it. Anyway, now whether that fits into your workflow is entirely down to you. [00:13:49] Only you can answer that question. Now bear with me, I'll come back in a minute. [00:13:53] Reflections on Happiness and Contentment [00:13:53] I've got a phone call to answer. [00:13:55] So sorry about that, I had to answer the phone. It was the editor, it was Terry, the editor of Professional Photo Magazine, who we regularly write for calling about the next edition, which is very exciting, as always. I've no idea, I've no idea in the final edit where I'll leave that cut in, or whether I'll just gloss over it. [00:14:15] Either way, as I was trundling in this morning, I don't know whether this happens to you, but it happens to me occasionally, where It's just this, it's almost a feeling of euphoria, and it's happened to me a couple of times today, whether it's just chemistry, whether it's just, I don't know, I've no idea. But today, I felt like everything was good in the world. [00:14:37] And, it's a real sort of skill, I suppose, in being completely comfortable with where you are. We had a text this morning. Someone was asking, how are things out in the industry? And I can only answer from our experience. And right now, we're doing well . Everything is busy phone's ringing, even this morning. [00:14:56] We had an enquiry for a wedding just come through. We've got enquiries for headshots and commercial. Portraiture feels maybe a little bit squidgier than it has been on the economy. But all in all, our business is running really well and I'm really happy. [00:15:07] I'm very satisfied with my lot. Now, I don't mean to be self satisfied, that's not what I'm saying, but I think the art of being content with your lot is a tricky one. Now don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly ambitious and driven and impatient. I want everything to happen and I want it all to happen now, but the reality of course is things are slower. [00:15:27] So I get frustrated with it, of course I do. But trying to find the space in my head to be content is a skill that I am still learning, I guess. It's really easy not to be happy. Even this morning, Sarah had the radio on, and the news came on, and I could feel myself just getting wound up. The state of our economy, we have a particularly crappy government at the moment, and I'd like to say that's specific to the UK. [00:15:57] I've got friends all over the world, and I keep, as best I can, I keep abreast of world news, and I think it might just be a global phenomenon. The kinds of people who you'd really want to lead you are not the kinds of people who we have leading us, I don't think. So it's easy to feel down, the weather's pretty rubbish, it's that time of year, you know, it's grey. [00:16:18] Yesterday we had this phenomenal day of beautiful weather, but today, well, it's back to normal, it's chucking it down. But yet, even though it was cold and dark, I still found myself skipping into work this morning. Life is okay. And being happy with yourself is not that straightforward, I don't think. Jake, our son, was asking me if I liked myself and I thought that's an interesting question and I don't really have a satisfactory answer. [00:16:45] Some days I like bits of me, some days I feel dreadfully insecure, but I'm always confident that on balance I'm alright. I feel alright, I'm on the whole nice to people, I try really hard not to be nasty to anybody. There are people I like more than others, of course there are. You know, you marry the one you like the most, right? [00:17:09] And she's incredible. So being happy with your lot. I think is something you can do and it just washed over me this morning, maybe it's the fact that we ran the workshop yesterday and I was around people who I liked [00:17:23] And even writing up the notes on ACDSee, it still feels really strange saying ACDSee, when I grew up in the 70s and the 80s, when ACDC was a band for those about to rock and all of that stuff. So it sounds really weird when I say it, but writing my notes on ACDSee I had to look through thousands of images that had dropped into our Heroes folders, which reminded me of the things we do. [00:17:46] And on top of that, of course, I put the facial recognition on, and that reminded me of all of the incredible people we do it for. And if it wasn't enough that I came in skipping down the road as an image, right? What we do for a living, the things we create, and the people we create these things for, what an honour. [00:18:05] not only ACDSee, but Sarah spent the past couple of days designing the most incredible book. A Tramontino book is the range from Graphistudio. And it's full of the same pictures, these pictures that we took in the past 12 months. It's a collection of some of our Favourite moments, I guess, out of 2023. A mix of clients and some dogs, all sorts of bits and pieces. [00:18:31] One or two award winning images. But mostly, it's just a celebration of the people we work with. And I can't wait for that to come, for Sarah to get it made, uh, and Graphistudio to get it, to get it made. [00:18:47] The Joy of Photography [00:18:47] It'll be beautiful, I know that. But more importantly, it will sit on our coffee table, and every time I feel flat, or I feel like, Oh, do you know what? I'm not sure how I feel about all of this. I can go down and have a look at it, just as I do with one or two other bits down there. [00:19:00] And it reminds me, just What a lovely job this is, and I can't wait to have that actually on our coffee table, not just as an advert for the product, and of course it is a great advert for the product, a Graphistudio product I may have mentioned we're ambassadors for Graphistudio, so there's my cards on the table again, but in the end, I am really lucky, and we are really lucky, to have a skill that allows me to create the pictures that we do, for the people that we do, the moments that we get to enjoy, the places that we get to visit, and the joy, that we get. [00:19:36] It's easy to get distracted by life, but sometimes it's worth focusing on what it is I do. And for whatever reason that happened subconsciously this morning, but I probably should make it happen more of a deliberate thing as I go. [00:19:52] Still ambitious, still competitive, still driven, still want it all to happen today. But maybe it just takes a little bit of time. . [00:19:59] Conclusion and Workshop Information [00:19:59] And on that happy note, I'm going to wrap up. If you're curious about our workshops, please do head over to Paul Wilkinson Photography and look for the coaching and workshops section. Eventually we're going to move all of those across into Mastering Portrait Photography, but for now they're all still on my normal website. [00:20:19] I'll put a link if you're curious about ACDSee and want to download a copy to have a play. I recommend you do actually, I've really I've grown to love it. I have two screens on my Mac, two huge 27 inch monitors, and ACDSee sits permanently on my right hand monitor whenever I'm doing any design work or doing anything for the websites. [00:20:39] It's there because I have easy and straightforward access to all of our hero images, all of my favourite images. It's incredible as a tool like that. It slots in alongside Lightroom for me. At least it won't replace it, though I'm sure the guys at ACDSee would love it too. That's not, for me, the function that it serves, but does that make it still worthwhile? [00:21:00] I think it does, and I, for one, will renew my license when the time comes up. So I shall put a link down in the show notes for you to head across. It does have my name in it. I don't get a kickback from it. I think it just allows the guys at ACDSee to see that it came through me. And I'll also put it on our Facebook group for all of the people that have been on our workshop community. [00:21:19] But All in all, I highly recommend it. [00:21:23] In the meantime, I hope the weather is a little nicer where you are. I hope it's more like yesterday than today. But whatever else, keep skipping, keep smiling, remember that what we do is an incredible job. I'm Paul, and whatever else, be kind to yourself. [00:21:38] Take care.

Mary Peter, Founder and Executive Director K9 Partners For Patriots knows dogs. Over a 35-year career, she has trained many dogs to do a variety of activities. What is unique about her training is that she utilizes dogs from pounds to learn to become best friends with a Veteran and they do it at no charge to the vet. Listen in and I believe you will be as fascinated as I am with her methods. Our library of shows can be found at www.veteranscornerradio.comJoin us on Facebook at the page Veterans Corner RadioYou can contact our host William (Bill) Hodges at bill@billhodges.com

This week, we had the pleasure of speaking with Justin Klemer, Co-founder of Pepper's Senior Dog Sanctuary in Littleton, Colorado.Running a dog sanctuary requires more than just fulfilling basic needs. Justin knows this all too well. His experience at the sanctuary has taught him the intricate details and immense responsibility that come with it, and he shares his insight with us.Pepper's Senior Dog Sanctuary (PSDS) is a haven of love and care exclusively designed for senior dogs in need. At their veterinarian-supervised sanctuary, precious older dogs find their forever home where they will be cherished until their last breaths. Unlike traditional dog sanctuaries, PSDS fills a crucial void by catering specifically to the unique requirements of elderly dogs. While they may not offer typical retiree activities like shuffleboard, they provide an array of amenities that make Pepper's a true luxury retreat for senior pups.Their commitment to personalized attention sets them apart from other sanctuaries. Each dog receives either small group or one-on-one care, depending on their preferences and needs. The dedicated team at PSDS is made up of professionally trained staff members and volunteers who go above and beyond to ensure that every resident feels safe, loved, and content throughout their stay. Here is where you can learn more about PSDS:https://psds.org/https://www.facebook.com/psdscolorado/https://www.instagram.com/peppers_senior_dog_sanctuary/Support the showYou can find Woody's Place Senior German Shepherd Sanctuary online at:www.wpsgss.orghttps://www.facebook.com/woodysplacesgsshttps://www.instagram.com/wpsgss/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Tb1hKnOWEamQstkqAxEygWe would LOVE it if you could leave a thumbs-up or comment! Please and Thank you! You can support our podcast by going to http://www.patreon.com/LifeWithOldDogsEvery little bit helps, and your support is what keeps the #Lifewitholddogs podcast going.

Welcome to Part 3 of the Hybrid Ministry Podcast's (hybridministry.xyz) captivating mini-series! In this episode, Nick Clason delves into the exciting world of video editing and he will explore the art of seamlessly integrating Adobe Photoshop files into Adobe Premiere Pro. Join us as we embark on a crash course designed to empower both beginners and seasoned editors with the skills they need to create stunning, professional-looking videos. From basic editing techniques to advanced tips, we've got you covered. Learn how to bring your vision to life and take your video content to new heights. Don't miss this opportunity to sharpen your creative prowess and join the ranks of skilled video editors! Subscribe now and hit that notification bell so you won't miss a moment of this enriching series. Let's unlock the potential of your video projects together! While you can certainly listen to this, this episode is best consumed via video: PART 1: https://youtu.be/uZzatZ4KFyE PART 2: https://youtu.be/VAKSwE97nYE Hang out on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick ShowNotes & Transcripts: http://www.hybridministry.xyz/056 FREE E-Book: https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hybridministry SHOWNOTES FREE Animation Effects for Adobe Premiere Pro: https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis FREE Stock Photo Site: https://unsplash.com/ FREE Church Motion Backgrounds: https://www.churchmotiongraphics.com/free-worship-media/ TIMECODES 00:00-02:43 Intro 02:43-04:10 Opening up Adobe Photoshop and getting things started 04:10-07:47 Creating a Background with a photo 07:47-10:09 Using layers from an old design 10:09-11:06 Creating a Still Graphics from a Video Frame Using Adobe Premiere Pro 11:06-12:16 Adding in a transparent layer ontop of your background 12:16-14:27 Bringing in Layeres from an Old Photoshop Project 14:27-15:29 Replacing a Missing Font 15:29-16:27 How to Make a Clipping Mask over a Text Layer 16:27-17:32 Editing Text in Photoshop with the text tool 17:32-18:39 Adding in other design elements 18:39-19:10 Finalizing and Saving a Graphic 19:10-21:01 Starting Graphic Number 2 21:01-21:19 Repositioning Layers in Adobe Photoshop 21:19-21:31 Using, Adding and Editing Text Layers in Photoshop 21:31-23:12 How to Add drop Shadow to your text in Photoshop 23:12-23:38 Incorporating other layers into photoshop 23:38-24:04 Transforming Layers in Photoshop 24:04-24:55 Outro TRANSCRIPT Nick Clason (00:02): What is up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Hybrid Ministry. My name is Nick. I am your host today drinking out of my work Cross Creek Students coffee mug. You gotta be on YouTube. See this? Nick Clason (00:22): Mm. Nick Clason (00:23): It's from a Keurig, so it's super mid. Anyway, uh, we are going to be rounding out our third and final, um, Adobe tutorial session. So once again, if you're listening, this is going to be a better one for you to watch. Um, all of that's uploaded to my YouTube. Oh, sorry about that. All that's uploaded to my YouTube channel. So hit the link in the show notes for that. Um, go subscribe, go light, go do all the things. Those things help us a lot. Um, all that being said, um, we have done a long form Adobe, uh, premiere Pro editing. We've done some short form video stuff. Um, and then finally we are gonna round out today with Adobe Photoshop. So I'm gonna make two graphics that I'm going to use in our student ministry pre-roll and I'll just wanna give you a step-by-step tutorial on how to do those. Nick Clason (01:12): Um, the benefit of using Photoshop and Adobe Premier Pro, in my estimation, I've never really used Final Cup Pro or any of the other ones, so I can't speak for those. But the benefit is that when you make a layer in Adobe Photoshop and you bring it into Adobe Premier Pro, you can animate it, you can move it around. And if you need to make adjustments and changes, you just need to go back to your original source file of Adobe Photoshop, change it, and it's changed. You don't have to render it out in a final form thing like A P N G. Um, but keeping it just in that Photoshop file will allow it to be, um, edited and used in Adobe Premiere Pro. So all that to be said, if you've not seen our other videos, go back and look. This video might actually be the best video to start with, like editing videos, one thing, but then animating layers and on top of it via Adobe Photoshop is gonna be what this one's all about. Nick Clason (02:03): And so if you don't have photo, a basic Photoshop skill yet, then maybe start here. Episode 56, go back to episode, uh, 53 and 54. Uh, in the meantime, 55 if you didn't know was our one year celebration. And so that was just kind of a rehash on what is hybrid, why are we passionate about it, and why do we keep doing it? So be sure to check all that stuff out. Finally, I got a couple freebies for you in the show notes, free ebook and free Adobe Premiere Pro, um, animations effects. So go grab either one of those and uh, leave us a like rating, review, subscribe, all the things. Thanks for hanging out. Let's jump in. Nick Clason (02:45): All right, so you are seeing my desktop. Now this is what it looks like if you open up Adobe Photoshop. It's gonna start with a screen that looks something like this. I'm gonna click here, new file. And we are going to make a graphic about our upcoming event called Space Jam. So the width that you want is 1920 by 10 80. If you're going wide screen, if you are going um, vertical, um, you're gonna want 10 80 by 1920. But we are going wide screen. These are your pixels, 1920 by 10 80. The resolution that you want is 72. Um, if you were gonna go for like a print piece, um, you want 300 and if you're gonna go for a print piece, you're gonna wanna switch it from RGB to C M Y K. Those are different color coding things. I don't know a ton about that, but I used to work with a guy who printed banners and that's what he told me. Nick Clason (03:39): So I'm gonna go with him. Um, shout out to Eber, Cincinnati, Ohio. Anyway, uh, RGB is uh, what you want for a screen and that's what we're gonna be doing these for. And uh, the rest of this stuff I am not that worried about. You can click into those. Those are just some advanced options. So any, anyway, we're gonna hit create. So here we go with a completely blank Photoshop canvas. Now, oh, um, so what we're gonna do is, um, I am going to grab, um, a photo. And so I'm gonna go over here and all of my photos are saved in an Amazon photo and Google photos as an automatic backup. Uh, so I am going to log into my photo storage and I'm gonna get a photo of, uh, our students or video of our students. Um, and so let me go to, I have some album, there we go. Albums, cross Creek Students go to some of the more recent ones that's Broomball from winter. That's definitely not the most recent. Um, let me just go here. I got a bunch from camp. Maybe not, you know what, I also have it in Google Photos. Nick Clason (05:18): Yeah, here we go. So it's going to be called Space Jam Basketball and Frisbee Night. So none of these super encapsulate that. Um, I'm just gonna try and find like a fun one. Here's just like, oh, that's the whole video I was gonna get. Let me pick, Nick Clason (05:56): These are all from camp, so half the battle's fine. I'm a good background. So I think I'm just gonna pick this, this one right here. This is them just in the room. So I'm gonna download that sucker. Uh, it's gonna take me a minute cuz it is a video. Um, and so if I didn't want to do a video and I just wanted to do any sort of generic background, I could also do that. So another, uh, resource for you, a couple resources. Um, you can go to unsplash.com, um, and search for anything. So if I wanted to do basketball, just pick basketball. Um, if I also wanted to do Frisbee, I could go here and just do Frisbee. So unsplash.com is a completely free stock footage, um, website. Um, another one for you that isn't footage but is also completely free. CMG create, um, here's your free, they have free like stills. Nick Clason (07:05): So, um, if you get, let's just say like it's more like abstracty than it is like photos. So, um, and I haven't been on here in a minute, so it looks a little different, but I know that they have, yeah, these are all free. So if I just click view all still backgrounds and just kind of scroll through here, you know, and if you wanted like this or, or like one of these, you could totally go for that. So I'm gonna get this Norwegian tones flow, I might use that. So anyway, back to that. Now the other thing I have is I have in my, um, calendaring, I have some, this is our summer calendar just for frame of reference for y'all. Um, lemme pull it up here. So you can see this is where our summer calendar. So it's kind, kind of got like a theme, like a vibe to it. Nick Clason (08:07): So we already got this little icon guy here. We already got these sort of texts and everything like that. And so I've been doing that. Like anytime I would build like a a thing, I would build it with like that sort of vibe, right? The little like oval, the same text using in, out, in Inc. Incorporate the use of the icons. And so that's probably what I'm gonna do here. Um, again and as well. But I got some of those different layers and stuff to work with. And so, um, what I'm gonna do, because later I'm actually going to animate this, um, probably not with y'all, but, but I am probably gonna animate it. I do kinda want to use that. Um, I do kinda wanna use that video that I downloaded of all the students screaming. And so I just need to stick, I'm gonna start this, um, this premiere file. Um, let's see, where did I store those? I think I might actually stored it in social media. Uh, 2023 events. Summer. Yeah. So I'm gonna call this oh four Space Jam and we're just gonna store it there for now. And so all I'm gonna do here is I'm just gonna, uh, pull in Nick Clason (09:33): That video of them screaming into my sequence here so you can hear trying to volume up. All right, so let's go, Nick Clason (10:10): Let's go with that. So this right here exports the frame. I'm gonna put it, um, where I store all of the graphics. So I'm gonna go to graphics announcements, summer slides, actually it's in P S D. Um, and I'm gonna actually make a folder so it all stores in the same spot. Actually, you know what I'm gonna put it, I don't have a great file storage for this, so do not borrow my file storage methods cuz everyone tells me that they can't figure it out. And um, sometimes I can't even figure it out. I'm gonna put it in there. So there's just the frame. Okay, so that being said, now we're back in Photoshop. So now I can go grab just the still frame, um, that I'm gonna use later. And so it's in social media, TikTok and Res 2023 events, summer calendar, space Jam. Nick Clason (10:59): So there's my still boom. Okay, now I, I am going to landry's face, I am going to pull this Norwegian water thing in. And uh, now it's on top of it. So now it covers up my picture. However, if I go over here and I right click or command click or whatever you do to get your other options and go to blending, I can reduce down the opacity. So now my, uh, my video or my, my photo back there, you can see back through here that it's, it's, it's, uh, showing. So I'm gonna click okay for that. Um, and I'm gonna turn this. All right. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna make that background black and white. So image adjustments, black and white. So now it's black and white. I'm gonna just increase the opacity a little bit. I want it to be just faint. All right, it's back there. Can't really tell a lot. Um, and then out of my old graphics, cuz it, I think it's worth, you know, admitting I don't necessarily have to reinvent the wheel every single time. Um, so I'm gonna go pull open, oh, it's in PSDs, I'm gonna go pull open, Nick Clason (12:40): Do water wars. Okay, so it, what it does is it just creates like a second tab there. Now it's worth noting that it, this hasn't been saved anywhere. So I'm gonna go file save as p s D, I'm gonna save it where I save all my stuff, which as you've found out is not very good. But, um, most still graphics, I put in this graphics folder, p s d and I'm gonna save this as space jam. I dunno why I'm so tempted to always put an E on it. All right, so when I click on this, it pulls open the, it, it clicks on this layer right here. I need that and the text beneath it. I also want this wars right here. I also want that and I also want this text. So when I hit shift, it selects all of those things. And now when I pull this over, boom, it's right there. If I were to add those myself, I could go here to the text tool, drag it to whatever size I want, and type in whatever I want, highlight it, change the font over here, all those good things. Um, I don't want that. So over here in my Layers panel, I'm just gonna delete that entire layer, hit backspace and it's gone. Now I don't have this text. I did, I have gotten a new, I've gotten a new computer. As I've told you, I I have backed them all up. So we're gonna go there Nick Clason (14:34): And I think it was called summer but it actually might not have backed up. So it's called Summer regular. So honestly I think I got it from DeFont. So DeFont summer regular, I'm gonna go back over here and I'm just gonna search. There it is. Download Open, installed. So now, yeah, now I can edit it cuz now I have it installed. So it's called space. And what this is right here is, this is a whole layer. So I'm gonna release the clipping mask so that you can see. So this is just a downloaded gradient thing. It kind of goes along and in line with our summer calendar theming and vibes. Um, but if you put a layer, a photo over top of another item, if you right click on it, you can create a clipping mask. So now that text is just got that same gradient file, but it's just over top of it. So now type in Space Jam and the event is July 19th. So we're gonna adjust this to that. And I'm gonna, I gotta move, I gotta select all of it. I gotta select the layer and the text and everything. So Space jam, Nick Clason (16:44): I'm gonna put it here. And then since that event in of itself doesn't really to me explain what the heck it even is. Um, I'm gonna write a little blurby blurb right here. I can make it center aligned. Come join us for some basketball and ultimate Frisbee space, Frisbee jam, basketball Space Jam. That's where I got the name from. It's corny. It's Youth Ministry. Welcome to it Spelled Frisbee wrong. So updating that and then I'm gonna go back over here and I'm gonna go to my icons and I'm gonna include that Nick Clason (17:48): I, Nick Clason (17:53): I'm looking for that. Where it tells me it's centered. I'm actually thinking about just adding it right here and then taking this sucker, just taking this, uh, off screen there. Nick Clason (18:19): Actually, I might go, no, I'll just leave it down so I can bring this select, select, bring all those up, bring this down a little center. Bring that down a little. I gotta grab both of these over here. So select, grab 'em both, put it there, let Jamb in the front a little bit and boom, it, I'm just gonna go with that. So command shift S for save, we're gonna save it where we saved it earlier. Command option shift W and now we'll export it as um, whatever we want. I'm gonna export it their format as a jpeg and then I'm gonna go drop it in that graphics folder. Um, announcements, summer, space, jam, save. Boom. It's done. All right, um, I got one more I wanna do for you. Um, and I'm gonna pull open WhatsApp cuz I sent this photo to my wife. And I'm also gonna just borrow from, I had a slide at camp that I used. You know what, I might have done the whole thing and might have done the whole thing. So I'm gonna download this photo from what I sent to my wife. You're not seeing it cuz it's on a different screen. Nick Clason (20:15): I can't think of where, I'm trying to find where it is. I can't find it so forget it. I'm gonna go back here to see him, to create though and just get me something random. Nick Clason (20:38): I Nick Clason (20:39): I something that I kinda like. I might use one of these just like Rock ones Cali Coast. So here I am. I'm gonna save this as a new one cuz this is going to be, um, a scavenger hunt slide. So scavenger hunt. So over here and downloads Cally coast. I'm just gonna drag it in, takes up the whole thing. I'm gonna drag this to the very top. So that covers everything over here. And this is like your order, right? That things lay. So this is gonna be at the top there. Um, I'm gonna add a text here that says find, I'm gonna command a that I'm gonna change the font to Gotham Black. This is italics and this is Boulder. I'm gonna give it a little bit of a drop shadow. That's too much. It also isn't gonna show up, so I'm gonna give it a little bit of a white drop shadow. Um, yeah, I'm gonna keep it white, but I'm just gonna make it real tight. All right, so it's still a little bit far now that it's that tight, I think no, we'll make it like a deeper purple background. You can see it there moving, right? That's my distance, Nick Clason (22:12): That's my size, that's my spread. Find the name of our guys. Pugsley. Make that a little smaller. I'm bringing that download of him. I'm gonna give Valla a drop shadow. I don't want purple though. If I hit command T, that's how I can change the size. Nick Clason (23:38): I Nick Clason (23:39): Just stay right there. Just a look. Command t again, just a little bit off screen and boom, that's just gonna be that command shift. W Nick Clason (23:59): And that's not a summer slide, so we're just gonna put it regular in here. Save. Done. Well I hope that that tutorial on, um, Adobe Photoshop was helpful for you. That is how I get my layers. And then like a next step would be if I'm adding those to any sort of like pre-roll or whatever, I'll bring those into Adobe Premiere Pro and I can animate each of those individual layers. If you want a completely free animated um effect, go grab that in the show notes, something that's just free and available for y'all. Hope you find that helpful. Like subscribe, leave a comment and hey, ask us any questions that we have. We would love to help y'all out. But until next time, and as always, don't forget, stay hybrid.

Se não fosse o Centrão de figuras deploráveis, a esquerda não teria poder. Nem teriam poderes qualquer outro vagabundo que assumisse a presidência, já que não teria como comprar apoio. O que sujeitos como Kassab, Bivar, Waldemar Costa Neto e afins fazem com seus PSDs, PPs União e os outros dejetos é infiltrar a sociedade e transformar a organização dela em uma máquina de eleições, vendendo o apoio de deputados eleitos num sistema que os eleitores sequer compreendem. Caso sejamos censurados, acompanhe aqui: https://odysee.com/@ideiasradicais Quer ir para a LibertyCon com 20% de desconto? https://www.sympla.com.br/libertycon-brasil-2022__1703798?d=IR20 Quer fugir do Brasil? Nos contate: https://www.settee.io/ https://youtube.com/c/Setteeio Quer refinanciar suas dívidas? É mais fácil do que você imagina: https://bit.ly/RefinanciarRadical Nos acompanhe no Telegram: https://t.me/ideiasradicais Quer comprar Bitcoin no melhor preço do mercado? Bitpreço! http://bit.ly/BitprecoRadical Apoie o Ideias Radicais: https://www.catarse.me/projects/152640/

Optical variability of eight FRII-type quasars with 13-yr photometric light curves by Agnieszka Kuźmicz et al. on Monday 10 October We characterize the optical variability properties of eight lobe-dominated radio quasars (QSOs): B2 0709$+$37, FBQS J095206.3$+$235245, PG 1004$+$130, [HB89] 1156$+$631, [HB89] 1425$+$267, [HB89] 1503$+$691, [HB89] 1721$+$343, 4C $+$74.26, systematically monitored for a duration of 13 years since 2009. The quasars are radio-loud objects with extended radio lobes that indicate their orientation close to the sky plane. Five of the eight QSOs are classified as giant radio quasars. All quasars showed variability during our monitoring, with magnitude variations between 0.3 and 1 mag for the least variable and the most variable QSO, respectively. We performed both structure function (SF) analysis and power spectrum density (PSD) analysis for the variability characterization and search for characteristic timescales and periodicities. As a result of our analysis, we obtained relatively steep SF slopes ($alpha$ ranging from 0.49 to 0.75) that are consistent with the derived PSD slopes ($sim$2--3). All the PSDs show a good fit to single power law forms, indicating a red-noise character of variability between $sim$13 years and weeks timescales. We did not measure reliable characteristic timescales of variability from the SF analysis which indicates that the duration of the gathered data is too short to reveal them. The absence of bends in the PSDs (change of slope from $geq$1 to $sim$0) on longer timescales indicates that optical variations are most likely caused by thermal instabilities in the accretion disk. arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.04058v1

Jane Miller works in private practice as a licensed psychotherapist/clinical social worker, with a particular interest in holistic modalities of healing. She currently focuses on educating others about the legal, ethical, and practical criteria of working with Psychiatric Service Dogs (PSDs). Miller has lectured about PSDs in a variety of settings, ranging from The Cleveland Clinic & MetroHealth Medical Centers' Departments of Psychiatry & Psychology, The International Association of Animal Behavioral Consultants Conference (IAABC), The Cleveland Natural History Museum, The Psychology of Health, Immunity & Disease Conference (NICABM), The National Association of Social Workers Conference and many other national and local organizations, schools, and dog-training facilities. Miller recently was approached by the VA Hospital to present for their Departments of Psychiatry & Psychology Grand Rounds focusing on PSD's for soldiers returning from combat with PTSD and to speak for the Veteran's Administrations PTSD Consortium. She appeared in the PBS program "Health Visions - Animals As Healers" on the healing power of animals and joined world-renowned veterinarian/author Dr. Allen Schoen to present a workshop on the topic of animals as healers at a national conference for medical professionals (See NICABM). She is also a practitioner of QiGong and Reiki and teaches stress reduction techniques to her clients and their service dogs. Miller earned her BA in psychology and biology from Oberlin College, and her MA in Clinical Social Work from Case Western Reserve University. She has received the Irene Sogg Gross Award for Humanitarian Services and has contributed scholarly essays for professional journals and anthologies in the field of clinical social work. Her professional experience includes serving as a counselor at a battered women's shelter and at a group home supervisor for the developmentally disabled, and as a research assistant in microbiology/immunology at Temple University Medical School. Jane Miller's lifelong passion for healing has emphasized the human-animal connection, culminating in certifications as a Canine Massotherapist and as a Consultant for Therapy and Service Animals by the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC). - http://www.healing-companions.com/ To listen to all our XZBN shows, with our compliments go to: https://www.spreaker.com/user/xzoneradiotv*** AND NOW ***The ‘X' Zone TV Channel on SimulTV - www.simultv.comThe ‘X' Chronicles Newspaper - www.xchroniclesnewspaper.com

The spectral-timing analysis of Cygnus X-1 with Insight-HXMT by M. Zhou et al. on Tuesday 13 September Cygnus X-1, as the first discovered black hole binary, is a key source for understanding the mechanisms of state transitions, and the scenarios of accretion in extreme gravity fields. We present a spectral-timing analysis of observations taken with the Insight-HXMT mission, focusing on the spectral-state dependent timing properties in the broad energy range of 1--150 keV, thus extending previous RXTE-based studies to both lower and higher energies. Our main results are the following: a) We successfully use a simple empirical model to fit all spectra, confirming that the reflection component is stronger in the soft state than in the hard state; b) The evolution of the total fractional root mean square (rms) depends on the selected energy band and the spectral shape, which is a direct result of the evolution of the power spectral densities (PSDs); c) In the hard/intermediate state, we see clear short-term variability features and a positive correlation between central frequencies of the variability components and the soft photon index $Gamma_1$, also at energies above 15 keV. The power spectrum is dominated by red noise in the soft state instead. These behaviors can be traced to at least 90 keV; d) The coherence and the phase-lag spectra show different behaviors dependent on different spectral shapes. arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.05930v1

Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2022.09.01.506146v1?rss=1 Authors: Lundstrom, B., Richner, T. Abstract: The relationship between macroscale electrophysiological recordings and the dynamics of underlying neural activity remains unclear. We have previously shown that low frequency EEG activity (

Arsenal Calon Juara? Atau Cuma Ganas Sementara Liga 2 dimulai, Bagaimana Peluang PSMS,PSDS dan Karo United Daddies Kalah, Malaysia Pesta 7 Hari 7 malam

Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Robert Young, Director of Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines about Big Data, National Parks and Academia.   Read his full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 1:24  Nic & Laura discuss cruises14:10  Interview with Dr. Robert Young starts17:22  National Parks project21:21  Dr. Young talks about Big Data31:04  Field Notes: Hurricane Hugo43:41  AcademiaPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Dr. Robert Young at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-young-phd-pg-68a44339/Guest Bio:Robert S. Young is the Director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines, a joint Duke University/Western Carolina University venture.  He is also a Professor of Geosciences at Western Carolina University and a licensed professional geologist in three states (FL, NC, SC). The Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines (PSDS) is a research and policy outreach center serving the global coastal community. The primary mission of PSDS is to conduct scientific research into coastal processes, storm impacts, hazard vulnerability and sea level rise and to translate that science into management and policy recommendations through a variety of professional and public outreach mechanisms.  The Program specializes in evaluating the design and implementation of coastal engineering and restoration projects and helping communities develop coastal adaptation strategies.Dr. Young is a frequent contributor to the popular media. He has written numerous articles for outlets like the New York Times, USA Today, Architectural Record, the Houston Chronicle, and the Raleigh News and Observer, among others.  He regularly appears on programs like PBS Now, CNN's Anderson Cooper, National Public Radio, and many others.  He is co-author of two books, The Rising Sea and co-editor of Geologic Monitoring, both released in 2009.  Finally, Dr. Young has testified before congress and numerous state legislatures on coastal issues. He currently serves State of South Carolina as a member of the Governor's Flood Commission and the State of Virginia on the Technical Advisory Committee for the state's Coastal Master Plan.He is leading a major project for the National Park Service to identify the vulnerability of all coastal park assets to coastal storms, erosion and sea level rise for the purpose of adaptation planning.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the show (https://www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form)

Premierul desemnat Nicolae Ciucă discută astăzi cu Dacian Cioloș despre programul de guvernare. În aceste condiții Ionuț Moșteanu spune că USR nu o să voteze un guvern minoritar, iar Marcel Ciolacu susține că PSD nu a cerut intrarea la guvernarea alături de PNL. Premierul demis, Florin Cîțu, cere USR și PSDsă lase interesele politice deoparte. Ministrul demis al Finanțelor, Dan Vîlceanu, acuză Digi24 de Fake News. Deputatul Mihai Lasca a făcut campanie anti-vaccinare în fața centrelor de vaccinare din Oradea. Tema muzicală: Jester Of No Court - Solidarity Forever

The Christian Way of Living Part 6. CWLiving.org Cliff Spier We are at part 6 of the CWLiving, my last full lesson tonight [^] Coach Lombardi [^] blank There are no coincidences for the bel in Gods plan. I woke up Thursday morning, getting ready to start my lesson for today (Friday) and I scanned the news (always an invitation to sin and lose my RMA, since the News is always major source of MAS…) And of course I saw an excellent news report of what I taught on Wed night. [^] Recall I said …. [^] God is for freedom [^] Picture – so what did I read … These people face some amount of uncertainty. They had courage and did their jobs in the face of changing and bad ‘science'. They stood their ground and did their jobs. Now, they are under attack from the socialist, the democratic socialists, Marxists, the “cancel culture' That is what socialism does. Its evil and very very destructive to a nation. Yet, recall, as bels you do not face uncertainty. Not bels. I repeated this over and over again. God protects the believer. Not always Door #1 but you are protected and NOTHING, NOTHING can get to you that God does not approve from His throne in heaven. You are HIS and HE is your God. The solution is always the same in the CWLiving – Use Gods solutions – [^] Rebound - …. [^] So we are to Learn … Remember you cannot copy this as your sp life. You cant execute just what I tell you. (Repeat) you cannot copy this as your sp life. You must (Learn) Think about these verses, adopt them as your F/R Drill verses and then when opportunity comes up then use them. Be prepared. Do not be a casualty. [^] Blank What do I mean as a casualty? If you are concerned or have anxiety about any situation (at work or in your personal life, on in the lives of those you love, like children) Then STOP, Rebound when necessary. Go to God in prayer and claim His promise(s) and let God handle the situation. Whether it is getting a shot, refusing a shot, taking a stand and potentially getting fired… rejecting what schools teach your children…. Or Giving up your guns when they come for them… Charlton Heston famous quote – they can come and take my gun from my cold dead hands… great bravado (emotionalism), but that is not God's solution. What are God's solutions? God's #1 bumper sticker … [^] Rebound when necessary, xxx Let's God's Omnipotence handle the situation… and in His timing. … but Cliff I lost my job… then do your job… find another… ‘Oh by the way ….. Have you thought that God wanted you to have another job and He is using this to force that to happen? Do not under estimate God. Even if this is not the situation – God will protect you, He will help you… He protects you, the bel using F/R Drill, who is not falling apart…. You might have underserved suffering involved (don't be a coward), recall also God is the one who allows that suffering to occur. He is the one who will deliver you. Will you accept His help? Even in adversity? Even in pain and underserved suffering? Remember everything in this life is a test. I know it is a easy, flip thing to say from the comfort of our non-adversity situations… but it is still true… A test not of the cosmic system but from God. God may use the cosmic system and does. But God, Your creator TLJC, G/F and G/HS are the ones who allow your exact form of testing to occur, and gave you (in the past, before you needed them) the solutions to all testing. Use them and relax, or not, and suffer. The choice is yours. It's God's way or the My Way Highway The solution is always the same. Shifting gears … Let me summarize what the lessons were from the Red Sea incident and the Prodigal Son. [^] God makes you promises and God keeps His promises. o How? Well for one He is all powerful (Omnipotent) – like parting the sea! Therefore Trust God – No Mo Fear o We Trust God by a process of using the Faith Rest procedure God is a God of restoration o God knows we fail & o God patiently waits for us to return to Him, and many times again and again o So again no regrets, no guilt, no condemnation and no fear - we boldly go to God using His solutions - NO MO FEAR o We look forward (not backwards) and use God's solutions day- by-day. What are God's solutions (thus far in our study)? ... Now wait for it! [^] blank You do not need me to show it to you again. You know it by heart. Rebound Learn and use God promises Think like God thinks Again we are to use the F/R procedure when we fear, in order to put that fear on God to handle. We are to have no guilt or shame, we are to return to God's solutions and God's thinking when we fail, because He waits patiently for us to return to him. God is glorified when you use His solutions. So glorify God. Recall you have only one time in your entire existence on earth and in heaven to glorify God. And that is now, while you are on this earth. You should see in every passage of scripture, God loves you, wants the best for you and all you have to do is Learn, Think, Motive and Act. Learn about God and His procedures, Think about them and how they can apply to your life, be Motivated to make changes that you want to make. Don't make changes because of what you read only. You must understand what God says, why He says it and why you want to adopt His thinking. Then and only then change your Thinking and then be Motivated to Act. So relax. Take it one day at a time. Don't get bogged down. Just move forward each and every day. cccccccccccccccccccc Now I want to speak to a different group of believers. The Pharaoh's of Christianity. See in Pharaoh's case, after repeated warnings to believe God, he did not, So God's +R was displeased with Pharaoh and His decisions and His Justice meted out discipline and punishment to those who reject Him and violate His laws and commandments. That ‘return' from wrongdoing (disobedience and evil) should be so easy, But unfortunately for the average person, it is not. Including the average bel! But if and when you do use God's procedures (Rebound and F/R) then we have a compassionate God who forgives, forgets and who provides a RMA that is so precious in life. So it should be simple, right? Why do all this? One: God commanded us to. Two: God wants us to have a life of happiness, contentment and relative peace and tranquility with a Relaxed Mental Attitude (RMA). He also has a plan for us while on this earth So He provided solutions. Therefore it is up to us: follow God's provided solutions (aka God's way) vs. our own way or the way of the world (cosmos). These are a very important set of things to understand. When you Rebound, when necessary, and claim promises from God using the F/R procedure then you Trust those promises because you know that you have called upon God to do what His promises say and you know God is faithful and trustworthy to do what He promises. Then you can build up Trust. You come to rely upon what He says is true (Veracity) and He will come through for you (Immutability). Ccccccccccccccccccccccccccc There is another promise of God in a passage you may not be familiar with. Turn to Proverbs 12:25 I will put it on the board also but please turns to this passage so you can see it with the eye gate. [^] Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, But a good word [Divine promises and BD] makes it glad. “Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, it's a burden anxiety is. A burden wherever it occurs, and whenever it occurs, but a good word makes it glad.” Anxiety and gladness are contrasted in this verse. In fact they are antithetical terms, and a very necessary that we understand both in order to understand the message, the application of this great verse. [^] anxiety Noun Feminine singular deagah (deh-aw-gaw') Definition: anxiety, anxious care 1. fear or dread 1. This type of fear intrudes and manipulates the thought process. It affects it greatly. 2. It is a fear that paralyzes the mentality of the soul. a) And how does it paralyzed the mentality of the soul? By substituting emotion and reaction for both reasoning and objectivity. b) Fear is subjective, the counter to fear is, objectivity. (use F/R Drill and calm down … reverse process concentration 3. Emotionalism and reaction affects and sometimes debilitates normal activities in life. a) Fear can hold people prisoner. b) The reaction of fear affects and sometimes simply debilitates normal activities in life. 1) That moves into the area of depression as well. 4. It causes inertia, when there should be action. a) Fear can make people so uncertain that they don't know what to do, they can't make a decision, and therefore they can't act by making that decision. Think, Motive, Act 5. Also, fear stymies maximum effort when it is most needed. 6. A person who is anxious and emotional, turns inward, becomes subjective, and thinks only of self in times of adversity or stress. Cannot look at the problem with objectivity, can only look at themselves in fear and subjectivity. [also everything around the suffers – relationship with God (No Rebound, No F/R, No promises, cant think…), Family suffers, Job suffers, friends, Church, all suffer because you are frozen and cant think.] 7. These people are more afraid of a lack of a job, personal injury, of pain (in sickness), and even death, than personal integrity, honor and responsibility to God and to OTHERS. 8. And that's particularly true, For the believer, our responsibility is to the Lord, we are responsible to the Lord for our failure to use the spiritual life under pressure, fear - a lifestyle of fear. 9. The anxious, fearful person cannot think or function under those conditions. 10. Thus, Fear turns to cowardice. a) Fear is in all of us as we shall see, but cowardice is the result of fear that controls us. b) Fear that will not allow us to make good decisions, to be objective. Fear that makes us turn inward on ourselves, and become self-centered. c) This full-blown anxiety and cowardice is a result of a combination of confused thinking and personal arrogance and self-centeredness. And it manifests itself during interactions with people, or with other persons, or from some other stress factors. So anxiety appears in the face of any imagined, threatened, or real adversity. Adversity doesn't even have to happen for people to fear, it's only the threat of it or it's only the thought of it that brings fear. Such a person has a very, very difficult time in life dealing with demanding circumstances. They program themselves to fail because they are afraid. Because emotions and self-centeredness overrides calm, and rational, and objective thinking. People who handle adversity and fear, when they are under that kind of situation and condition, they become even more calm, more relaxed, more dependent not on their self-centeredness, but on the objectivity, and the problem solving that must occur to overcome the adversity. And we as believers know exactly what that means. We have problem-solving devices (PSDs). What I have covered these last 3 weeks. You may be sick of it. But is always remains the same -- Rebound when necessary ….. We use this overcome those moments of adversity. So that adversity doesn't become stress. Because when adversity becomes stress, that's when the pressure gets to us. That's when we can't function, that's when we fall apart. That's when fear (& Santa and His cosmic system) wins. ccccccccccccccccc I was in Glacier NP located in Montana camping before coming here. [^] It is located near and actually spans the Canadian border, Glacier NP is called Waterton Lakes NP in Canada. [^] I wanted to go into Canada and take the Trans-Canada highway across Canada and then come down into New York or Vermont to arrive here. [^] Blank I could not. Why? Psalm 91:6 Of the pestilence [corona virus, black plague] that stalks in darkness, Countries, Gov'ts, peoples are paralyzed by [^] Psalm 91:6 Of the pestilence [corona virus, black plague] that stalks in darkness, Yet, we as believers do not have to be. Why? [^] Psalm 91:1 He [the believer in TLJC] who dwells [via F/R procedure] in the shelter of the Most High [a reference to God] Will abide [reside] in the shadow of the Almighty [Omnipotence of God]. [^] Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with His pinions [feathers], And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark [a defensive wall – like a castle wall]. [^] Mother bird Psalm 91:1 … will find shelter … and reside under the protection of Omnipotent God. Are you afraid of the corona virus or of what it does? Stop Stand Still and watch the deliverance of the Lord. We as bels can, those bels who do not use the F/R Drill cannot, and all unbels tremble at the thought. But not those who reside under the protection of an Omnipotent God. [^] Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, But a good word [Divine promises and BD] makes it glad. ccccccccccccccccccccccc Turn in your bibles to Psalm 27:5 [^] Blank [^] Psalm 27:5 [Promise] For in the day of trouble He [God] will conceal me in His tabernacle [promises claimed]; In the secret place of His tent [doctrine & promises] He [God] will hide me; He [God] will lift me up on a rock. Psalm 27:5, “For in the day of trouble, we all have those days, maybe every day, especially if you have a lot of anxiety - every day's a bad day, every day you wake up with all know what's going to go wrong today? So say “Well I already know two or three things”, and so you approach life with anxiety and fear Psm 27:5 , [Promise] For in the day of trouble, God will conceal me in His Tabernacle [promises claimed], in the secret place of his tent [BD] he will hide me, he will lift me up on a rock.” What a great passage of care and deliverance, behind you. What does what does a dog do when it's scared, well often it runs into his house or it runs somewhere to hide, what a perfect example. When you are afraid, you don't hide from your fear, rather you let God hide you in His loving hands. And that is confidence. Ccccccccccccccc Turn to Psalm 56:3 [^] Psalm 56:3 [Promise] When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. [you can have fear but don't let it control you – how? F/R Drill] Psalm 56:3 not again, a promise, David, he said “When I am afraid, David was afraid, David faced a bear and killed it by himself without an H&H .375 cartridge rifle. He faced up a lion and killed it by himself. He faced Goliath. He faced the wrath of Saul for years chasing him around the countryside trying to kill him with his army. He faced his own son who deposed him, and then chased him around the countryside to kill him. David had fear! This man had fear! I suppose he could have just said any of the many true but HVP epigrams around today: put your big boy pants on; or in the west we say Cowboy up! Army Rangers say “drive on”, Airborne Rangers say “Airborne! Marines say Semper Fi! What does that mean? Nothing. Bravado. To face a bear or problems in life requires fortitude. You better have something besides just some epigram. David did have fortitude, but how? Through his own power through his own strength? No not at all. What did David have? What does it say, when I am afraid I will put my trust in You, David was a man of great courage, David was a man who could handle that adversity. David's life was turmoil, in so many ways. Many times self induced… But recall… It Matters Not … He had a great life. David could have trusted in his human ability, in his own strength, in his training. Yet David Trusted God. What did God say about David? A man after my own heart. Can God say that about you? The solution always ahs been and always will be … [^] bumper sticker So to close out this 6 part series, I want to review summarize what we have studied and remind you of the promises we covered. Thus far, we have explored in God's instruction manual [the bible]: God's Divine Essence (JR SOOO LIVE), How He thinks (His Love, His Righteousness and His Justice) and we have studied the first of His Problem Solving procedures: Rebound when necessary and learning then diligently using the Faith Rest procedure. Along with these aspects, I have emphasized God's Love for you (God's Divine Essence of Love), We need to Trust God, that is Trust His promises because He made those promises for you, for you to use, (but also Trust His Commands (CMD) and procedures and what the bible says), So that you can be relaxed in any and every situation of life (Relaxed Mental Attitude – RMA). That too is an expression of God's Love for you, providing you solutions for life. I have covered fear because fear is a big problem in life and God has given us a lot of anti-fear promises. I reminded you God has a plan for your life. And since it is God's plan, he designed it for you and only you, therefore only a perfect God can create a perfect plan for an imperfect person (i.e. you and me), so it will be a great and fantastic life. I defined the CWLiving, that is living God's Plan for you, using God's provisions, like Rebound and F/R procedure, learning about God and Trusting God, which means you start to appreciate God which develops into a love for God. You love what He has done for you, what He provides for you and then you start to Depend upon Him. But this all starts with Rebounding when necessary, diligently using the F/R procedure based upon learning God's promises & using them (in the F/R procedure), learning about God's Divine Essence and how it works. Once you ‘see' God in action and how you can lead a more relaxed life, then that too grows your love for God. And when that happens, you reflect God's thinking in your life and you make decisions that reflect God's thinking because it becomes your thinking. That then is living or executing God's Plan for your life. Just like I described in my first example of the Faith Rest procedure as driving in bad weather: God either causes circumstances to work in your favor (rain goes away or lessens), or your confidence (courage) is increased, or any number of possibilities (recall He is Omnipotent). God works things out, life out, for your benefit. In fact, there is a great verse that says just that. You know it well… [^] Romans 8:28 [Promise] In fact, we know that God causes all things to work together for [your] good to those who love God [who TRUST Him [Prov 3:5-6a]], ... The key is those who Love God, i.e. who know God, who Trust Him, who use His solutions, procedures and who follow His plan. And to follow God's plan at this point for you is Rebounding when necessary, diligently using the F/R procedure, learning who God is (His Divine Essence) and how He thinks – or in short trusting God. Let's do a quick run through of the promises we covered. You can copy them down or get them from the web site. Please do memorize them or put them on the wall in your study so that they are on the wall of your soul. [^] 1 Peter 5:7. Give me all your concerns because I (God) care for you. I like what Pastor Rory Clark says: Slamming all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (TLJC) and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:31) [^] Proverbs 3:5 [CMD #1] Trust in the Lord with all your heart [where you think, not emotion], And [CMD #2] do not lean on your own [human] understanding [your own personal opinion vs God's]. Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways [CMD #3] acknowledge Him, [using Rebound & F/R Drill] And [Promise] He will make your paths straight. [God will work out everything in your life] And recall what I said you have to do to “In all your ways acknowledge Him?” Rebound when necessary and diligently using the Faith Rest procedure. Trust, lean not and acknowledge Him - a learned behavior, a process. Never give up, never give in. I introduced the concept of Trust early to you – [^] Lamentations 3:25 [Promise] The Lord is good to those who trust in Him [F/R procedure] and to those who wait for Him [divine timing of God, having patience], Anti-Fear – God's Protection [^] eternal security anti fear promise John 3:16 "For God sooooooo loved the world, [with the result] that He gave His uniquely born Son [virgin birth], that whoever believes in Him shall never perish [eternal security], but have everlasting life.” Once you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, you are going to heaven, no matter what! You cant ‘lose' your salvation – ever. That is called eternal security. And also, you have no fear of physical death. When you die physically you are going to heaven. [^] Isaiah 41:10 [Promise] '[Stop] Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' > [^] Deuteronomy 20:3 ... “Hear, O Israel [believers using CWLiving], you are approaching the battle against your enemies [problems, adversities of life] today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, Deuteronomy 20:4 [Promise] for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save [or deliver] you.” [^] Isaiah 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord [TLJC], the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. ... Isaiah 40:29 [Promise] He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power [physical and mental courage and a RMA]. > Anti-fear conclusion ... [^] Matthew 7:11 [Promise] If you then [the context is talking about parents], being evil [compared to the character & integrity of God], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! Again, those are Promises from God. You go to God and ask or claim a promise and God delivers (in His timing). We covered Psalm 91, a great passage to put together the concepts of God's Divine Essence, His promises and what He does for us in terms of protection (anti-fear). How can we not forget… [^] Psalm 91:1 He [the believer in JC] who dwells [via F/R procedure] in the shelter of the Most High [a reference to God] Will abide [reside] in the shadow of the Almighty [Omnipotence of God]. [^] Mother bird The mother bird protecting her chicks? That is you and any of us as believers who use God's procedures and Trust in God. > Another aspect of anti-fear ... That I did not cover but you as Pastor's congregation know well… “Rebound and Keep Moving (forward)”. Do not look back. God knows that humans have regrets and worse. We are hampered by [victims of] our past. Or what we are doing right now (guilt). Rebound and move forward. Don't look over your shoulder, so to speak. Go forward and do the best you can in your circumstances. [^] Confused which way to go? So part of anti-fear in your life is not looking backwards, Rebound when necessary and move forward. Mistakes in the past, even horrible ones, God turns into blessings (not necessarily instantly but over time) so that you look back and ‘see' God and His hand in your life and are so grateful to Him that you are where you are, at this moment, and look forward to what God has for you in the future. > I addressed the issue of fear of punishment, people fear God is going to punish them. But we know God's will for all mankind. And it is not punishment [^] 1 Tim 2:4 [God] wills [1] all men to be saved [unbeliever] and [2] [for believers] to come to the knowledge of the truth [bible doctrine, what the bible says, like Rebound and F/R procedure]. SO we know by this doctrine that God is not out to punish you, but By first looking at who and what God is, His Divine Essence which for us centers around His Love and then His Righteousness and Justice. What is God's ‘goal'? Anything God does it is with this in mind. For unbelievers' discipline is to point them toward the need for salvation and a need for a savior, that is Jesus Christ. For believers' discipline is to guide us back to executing His plan for our lives. That is Rebound when necessary and diligently using the F/R procedure. > Recall [^] Psalm 86:5 For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness [unfailing Love of God] to all who call upon You. ‘call upon You' are those who Rebound when necessary and diligently use the Faith Rest procedure. Using God's solutions in life. [^] Psalm 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, Slow to anger [patient and longsuffering] and abundant in grace and truth. ‘truth' is God's word, the bible or the doctrines of the bible like Rebound and Faith Rest procedure – ‘truth' is His Love Letter to You. Yet recall part of discipline that none of us like is Reaping what you Sow. [^] Gal 6:7 [CMD] Do not be deceived, God is not [cannot be] mocked; [Promise] for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. Again, for the believer Rebound and diligently using the F/R procedure then start making better decisions. Then God may eliminate or reduce the effects of bad decisions. Or He might not, and if He doesn't then it is for your own benefit, as strange as that might seem. Yet you still have F/R procedure and you can be relaxed even when under the effects of bad decisions. So isn't God wonderful? He gives us a RMA and contentment even when we reap what we sow!!! So God loves us even when we make mistakes and are suffering the consequences of those mistakes. God has a plan for your life: Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for peace [mental prosperity] and not for calamity [evil] to give you a future and a hope [confidence]. Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him [God the Father] who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power [God's Divine Essence] that works within us. > Recall grace means God's un-merited favor toward you. You do not earn or deserve (merit) blessings from God but you get it, especially when you use His solutions then His Righteousness (+R) is satisfied and His Justice gives you what God Love wants for you. Grace. Recall again God provides for what you need in life – [^] 2 Peter 1:3 seeing that His divine power [Omnipotence] has graciously been given to you everything pertaining to this natural life [food, water, shelter, etc] and the spiritual life [CWLiving], through the knowledge [learning what the bible says = Bible Doctrine, e.g. Rebound and F/R procedure...] of Him [Jesus Christ] who called you by His own glory and virtue. 2 Peter 1:4 For by these [doctrines – Rebound, Faith Rest, God's Divine Essence and how it works] God has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises [1Peter 5:7, Proverbs 3:5-6, etc], in order that by them, when applied, you might become partakers of the divine nature [God's Thinking specifically the CWLiving], having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust [human thinking and lifestyle]. Bottom line, God has provided everything you need for this life and to grow spiritually. And to repeat, the ultimate anti-fear versus is: [^] Isaiah 41:10 [Promise] '[Stop] Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' notice again how God worded what will be done? I am, I will... Do you see how personal God is with us? Just another indication of His Love for you and me. [^] Blank So this is how God thinks and what Gods will is and How God thinks. His Promises, His CMDs and Instructions to live our lives in the face of Cosmic opposition or the troubles of life. My last promise to quote is a prayer, so read it with me as a close in prayer. Jude 1:24 [Promise] Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, Jude 1:25 to the only wise God and Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom is glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

The Christian Way of Living Part 2. CWLiving.org Cliff Spier [^] Lombardi believed that if you want to win at anything in life, you had to perfect and master the basics. [^] Col R.B. Thieme Jr said on 15th of August 1979. “A pivot of mature believers - which is what we all should be - break no laws, sponsors no violence, including assassination, crime, terrorism, or revolution. Confiscates no one's property. And does not intrude on human privacy. [^] But turns the world upside down through the invisible force of Bible Doctrine, and the function of, the royal family honor code.” Do you recall what God's will is? You should know and recall what one of the shortest verse in the bible is. [^] 1 Tim 2:4 who [JC] desires [wills] [1] all men to be saved [unbeliever] and [2] to come to the [epignosis] knowledge [through metabolized BD] of the truth [believer]. [^] God's will = 1) salvation; 2) 2 Peter 3:18 IOWs How God works (Thinks) (God's Righteousness, Justice and Love) So the next logical question is How does God's Righteousness get satisfied? [^ - Blank screen] Blessing or Discipline (your choice) God's Promises Learn more God's promises. So far - 1 Peter 5:7, Proverbs 3:5-6 and Lamentations 3:25. We are to use these promises to ‘slam' all our cares, anxieties and problems on God, then relaxing about them knowing that in Lam 3:25 God will provide solutions while you relax and wait on His timing. This should also give you courage. Tip -- Make a list care, problems, concerns - mine is on my phone, and cite them to God in your Faith Rest procedure prayer to God. You have to move forward every day, you have to make decisions every day. Now you can do that, even in difficult times or in pressure situations, with the courage God gives you by using the F/R procedure and having confidence in God, God will come through for you. So then trusting in God and using His procedures (acknowledging Him) He will guide your life and that life will be one of prosperity (mental prosperity - RMA) and he will guide your life with the result you will have maximum happiness and a life of fulfillment (Prov 3:5-6). [^] Problems come in two flavors; 1 - the ones we created by bad decisions (which have internal (pressure, anxiety) and external (ramifications to others)) and 2 - problems others created and put on us (these can be circumstances of life or overt decisions made by others that cause you problems, including ‘natural disasters' such as Mt Saint Helen's, floods, war, pandemics, etc. ) So you know your problem is internal or external. So what??? [^] Sooooo it matters not whether we or others created the problems, God has a solution to them. His solution is to use what you know from the bible to make decisions (based upon your best judgment – at the moment) and to use the Faith Rest procedure to remain calm, relaxed in spite of the pressure, and have courage to move forward because God will fulfill His promise. > V2 goes on – [^] Psalm 91:2 I will say to the Lord, [your conclusion upon using the F/R procedure] "[You are] My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!" So the result of using the F/R procedure is coming to the conclusion that God will fulfill the promise to you (that is, you are trusting God) so that you can say (to yourself and others) God is my refuge and my fortress. Also you thank God, in prayer or verbally to others, “My God delivered me because I trust Him” (I trust His word – promises). So you are praising God and thanking Him with your thinking because He will and does protect you. But, this is only for the believer who is using Rebound and the F/R procedure. See when you follow God's thinking and use His tools and develop the spiritual skills to live your life (CWLiving) then God blesses you and part of the blessing is protection per Psalm 91. Also look how personal v2 is. My refuge, My fortress, My God. As I said God wants to have a personal relationship with you. This is you having a personal relationship with God by using His tools (promises) to live your life. And as I said you become grateful to Him for giving you these promises to use in daily life. I like v3 because it has been true in my life. [^] Psalm 91:3 For it is He [God] who delivers you from the snare of the trapper [people and circumstances in life], And from the deadly pestilence [deadly hazards like corona virus]. The snare of the trapper is an illustration of traps in life. Who would set traps for you in life? Have you ever had people in your life who were out for you and wanted to do you harm? I have. I have had bosses at work that ‘hated' me and wanted to destroy my career. I knew it and I did not react to them. I treated them with kindness and respect and I did my job to the best of my ability. And no matter what these bosses tried to do, in the end, they had no effect on my career. [nor my RMA] Now this sounds like I was perfect in all of this. I was not. A few times I got depressed and worried BUT when I did, I Rebounded and used the F/R procedure and went back to a relaxed state so I could do my job. And that is what happens most if not all the time. Sometimes we fail. We Rebound and go back to using the F/R procedure. So God protected me, I was allowed to do my job and very successfully. Then later God's solution was to give me a better job (a promotion). So God did not make the person go way, instead, He protected me so I could do my job and He ‘promoted' me and the person who ‘hated' me, got to ‘stew in their own juices' while watching me be successful. This is an example of God protecting me because I was using His solutions to the problem. > Circumstances in life can also lay traps for you, but again the solution is the same – Rebound when necessary and diligently use the F/R procedure. The second part of v3 I covered in the example of the pestilence above, using the corona virus as an illustration. [^] Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with His pinions [feathers], And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark [a defensive wall – like a castle wall]. Here is a picture of v4a that says it all. [^] Notice how the mother bird is holding on to her chicks. Physically protecting them, giving them cover and warmth – that is total protection. Notice also that the chicks could fly away if they wanted to. But they are choosing to stay under her protection. Same with us and God. We can remove ourselves from God's protection by using human solutions to problems instead of using God's solutions. So it is our choice, use God's solutions or use human solutions. Versus 5-7 are additional descriptive illustrations of terrors that can affect Believers. [^] Psalm 91:5 ¶ [result from v2 of using F/R procedure] You will not be afraid of the terror by night [criminality, etc], Or of the arrow that flies by day [warfare]; Psalm 91:6 Of the pestilence [corona virus, black plague] that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon [earthquake, volcano, tsunami]. Notice night and day, darkness and noon – this is a reference that God protects the believer 24 hrs/day! God never sleeps. He is on the job 24 hrs/day, 7 days/week. [^] Psalm 91:7 A thousand may fall [die] at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it [terrors and disasters] shall not approach you. V7 is interesting. You might be in the midst of a great natural disaster or the corona virus with thousands dying all around you but it, the disasters and terrors, will not affect you. We are blessed (by God) in the USA and we do not have many disasters like other parts of the world, but when we do, God protects the believer who is executing His Plan for their lives. [^] Psalm 91:8 You will only look on with your eyes, And see the recompense of the wicked [Justice of God in action]. V8 is interesting because it now introduces what happens to those who are evil, from v3 and 5-7. Not only are you protected but the Justice of God punishes those who are evil (anti-God, believers not using His Divine Solutions in life and unbelievers). You will many times see that they get Divine Justice from God for their deeds. Recompense – How would you like to be in the Recompense side of God's Justice?? Versus 9 & 10 are a conclusion. [^] Psalm 91:9 For you [the Believer using the F/R procedure] have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. Psalm 91:10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent [where you live]. V9 is a restatement of v1-2 and the conclusion of all these terrors and adversities is that you are protected wherever you are. These 9 verses give you enough background to understand what God is telling Believers who a executing His Plan for their lives, the protection and comfort He provides 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. And, and the recompense for those bel who do not and for those unbel who are evil. [^ Blank Screen] So this is a great example of God's promise to believers who Rebound when necessary and use the F/R procedure to handle problems, anxieties, disasters, evil and adversities of life. God protects the ones He Loves. And since He is an all-powerful God, He has the means to provide protection to His loved ones. You can see His Divine Essence in action. His Righteousness not tolerating evil and His Justice executing justice on evil in this world, His Omniscience knowing what will happen in advance and having a plan to protect the believer in these circumstances, His Omnipotence shielding the believer from the consequences of evil and disasters, even when those around you are affected. He does all this because He Loves you and you responded to His Love by first believing in Jesus Christ for salvation and then following His procedures, commands and getting to know and appreciate Him and trusting Him for deliverance from the problems of life. God can only keep His promises and in them is true security. Once you latch on to what Psalm 91 says, and once you understand the context of Psalm 91 as a whole, and once you believe God's promise, and trust God for the fulfillment of Psalm 91, then you have security. You have security in your salvation, you have security in your life, both physical and spiritual, you have eternal security, you have everything that you need, every resource to be secure in this life, no matter what. Psalm 91 is a benefit in the midst of adversity, it is a benefit in the midst of a corona virus plague. Also as you are relaxed, you look around at others who are in panic and fear and you can ‘see' what a wonderful God you have, that Loves you and protects you. Last thoughts Why is the F/R procedure so important? Why do I keep telling you to be diligent in using Rebound and the F/R procedure? What does claiming God's promises on some specific ‘issue' you are having do? First if you trust God and believe His promise(s) then you can be relaxed. That is called a Relaxed Mental Attitude (RMA). You can relax, you do not have to dwell on your problems, you let God handle them. What else does a RMA bring to you? Courage. Courage under adversity or better said Courage under fire (as in a battle). So what if - you momentarily think about your problem(s) that you asked God to handle by using the F/R procedure? There is nothing wrong with that. It happens. Remember Crunch! Give yourself grace. But if you dwell on them more than momentarily, then you have in essence told God that you want to handle them. So you need to Rebound (you told God that He was going to handle them and you changed your mind, not trusting God) and then you must use the F/R procedure again for that problem. See there is a solution for that too. Think about this for a moment. When a problem comes up, you are able to claim a promise and calm down, by utilizing the Faith Rest procedure, and have a Relaxed Mental Attitude (RMA), under adversity and that is something that only the believer in Jesus Christ has at their disposal, only the believer. You should be able to see what a great God we have. You should be experiencing encouragement of both God's presence and His care for you. You will rest with the confidence that whatever happens in life is with His knowledge and nothing happens outside of his knowledge (Omniscient). Psalm 91. And you know what? This is one of several problem solving procedures God has provided for believers only. You are well taught and know God provides 10 PSDs that you can use. We just looked at two. Rebound and F/R procedure. Now it is your job to use these two diligently! ############### ############### Morning Thought Process Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. How do we do this? What is our Morning Thought Process? Recalling what God says and tell us to do. Recalling Psalm 118:24 and then using the Faith Rest Procedure for any and all concerns we have. Daily, which is another say of saying: diligently using the Faith Rest Procedure. So, in the morning it begins with Thinking and recalling God. Psalm 55:22 [CMD] Cast [all] your burden upon the Lord [TLJC], [Promise] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous [believers using the CWLiving] to be shaken. So you can pray: Dear Heavenly Father, I have these thoughts of unsurety and I need your help to combat them by using Psm 55:22; therefore I cast the following (name them) to you …. Deuteronomy 20:3 … “Hear, O Israel [believers using CWLiving], you are approaching the battle against your enemies [problems, adversities of life] today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, Deuteronomy 20:4 [Promise] for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save [or deliver] you.” … (continuation of the prayer above) and I know you God are the One who goes with me and fights for me in Deut 20:3-4 … Isaiah 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord [TLJC], the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. … Isaiah 40:29 [Promise] He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power [physical and mental courage and a RMA]. … Therefore Heavenly Father I claim your further promise of Isa 40:28-29 to strengthen me so I do not give in to wrong thinking and I express my feelings, give me more strength to handle them… Psalm 91:15 [Promise] He [believers using CWLiving] will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and honor him. … because I know based upon your promise of Psalm 91:15 that you will answer my request and you will rescue me and I will know that rescue comes from you … Luke 1:37 [Promise] "For nothing will be impossible with God.” … for nothing is impossible with You (Omnipotent). And I know that I am to … James 1:2 ¶ [CMD] Consider [thinking vs. emoting, consider all that you know about God and His essence] it all happiness, my brethren, when you encounter various trials [testings, adversities, Providential Preventative Sufferings], v3 knowing that the testing of your faith [doctrine, F/R Drill -- ex. Job, Paul in prison] produces endurance [hupomone – w/ circumstances]. v4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. … Thank you Heavenly Father, I pray in Christ's name, Amen.

The Christian Way of Living Part 1. CWLiving.org Cliff Spier Turn to Hebrews 4:12 [^] Col R.B. Thieme Jr said on 15th of August 1979. “A pivot of mature believers - which is what we all should be - break no laws, sponsors no violence, including assassination, crime, terrorism, or revolution. Confiscates no one's property. And does not intrude on human privacy. [^] But turns the world upside down through the invisible force of Bible Doctrine, and the function of, the royal family honor code.” As the believer advances to spiritual maturity, he or she more and more fully orient's the Gods absolute eternal essence (JR SOOO LIVE), who he is, and is rightly motivated to live the honor code, Rom.12:2, that is with renovated thinking. [^] Rom 12:2 [CMD] And do not be [Stop being] conformed to this world [the cosmic system], but [CMD] be transformed by the renovating of your mind [thinking – Rebound, F/R Drill, GO & DO …], [so] that you may prove what the will of God is [1 Tim 2:4], that which is [1] [divine] good and [2] acceptable [living the spiritual life - CWLiving] and [3] perfect [mature spiritual life] which is pleasing to God, the mature status quo [execution of the spiritual life - CWLiving] Rom 12:2 says so that you may prove what the will of God is… Do you recall what God's will is? You should know and recall what one of the shortest verse in the bible is. [^] 1 Tim 2:4 who [JC] desires [wills] [1] all men to be saved [unbeliever] and [2] to come to the [epignosis] knowledge [through metabolized BD] of the truth [believer]. [^] God's will = 1) salvation; 2) 2 peter 3:18 IOWs So how do we get to this place Col Theime mentioned? A pivot of mature believers. (on the board) I assume you are saved and you are here to learn Gods word. To learn or mature in handling problems. No just your own problems from the decisions you make, but external problems. And boy are we getting allot of external problems today. [BLANK Screen – W] < disobedience => disbelieving, apathy and lack of F.R Drill>> Heb 4:12 For the word of God is [keeps on being] living [alive] and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of [1] soulish things [cosmic things] and [2] spiritual things [God and his word], of [3] both joints and marrow [body], and able to judge the thoughts and intentions [motivations] of the heart [rt lobe – where you think]. When I studied Heb 4:12, esp the first word, gar - translated 'for' it really opened my eyes to the ICE of the verse. gar is used per HELPS Word-studies: [^] "Strong's 1063 gár (a conjunction) – for. While "for" is usually the best translation of 1063 (gár), its sense is shaped by the preceding statement – the "A" statement which precedes the 1063 (gár) statement in the "A-B" unit." What precedes Heb 4:12? Heb 4:1-11 is talking about the Exodus Generation and for us to get out of revisionism, v1 Therefore ... It goes on to talk about the Jews (they are always our example) and how they failed time and time again to use Faith Rest. The specific example is Sabbath Rest. It then goes on and talks about disobedience of the Jews [v6, v11] in 1) not Faith Resting [v1-2, v3-6, v9], 2: apathy toward their duties as a client nation (individually and collectively) [v1-2, v6], and 3) disbelieving [v3]. So, my Heb 4:12 starts out with [^] Heb 4:12 For [the solution to v11 disobedience: disbelieving, apathy & no F/R] ... and continues with Heb 4:12b ... the word of God is [keeps on being] living [alive] and powerful [effectual - accomplishes its objective] and sharper than any two-edged sword, ... So not only do we need to understand the seriousness of disobedience in our life, we are not to fall into the trap that the Exodus generation did which is disobedience: i.e. disbelieving, apathy & no F/R, because not recovering from Revisionism will lead to what happened to the Exodus Generation, the sin unto death and a loss of rewards. So Three things Israel was disobedient at: 1 – disbelieving 2 – apathy 3 – no Faith Rest life aka - The My Way Highway of life. Disbelieving and apathy are volitional matters. You have to check your own motivation to correct them. I'd like to focus on Faith Rest and mix with it God's Divine Essence Then challenge you to strengthen both. Remember our CWLiving skills > What is the F/R Drill? Faith in this case means ‘what you believe'. What we believe as it relates to God is what the bible tells us. And in this case specifically promises that God gave us. Rest means that we claim these promises and believe that God will honor the promise (trust) and so we can relax. Why do we believe that God will honor his promises? His Divine Essence. His character. [BLANK screen – W] Let me give you an example. We all have fears. Let's say it raining hard and the roads are slick and you are afraid of driving but you must. So you are going to claim, by reciting to God, one of His ‘promises' that He has make to you (don't worry I'll give you a promise to use in a second) and tell him your fear and let Him handle it. So we can be relaxed knowing, in this case, that God will give us the courage to use our driving skills to handle driving in the rain. [^] The promise we will use (and I use this almost every day) is found in 1 Peter 5:7. It says: Give me all your concerns because I (God) care for you. I like what Pastor Rory [^] Clark says: Slamming all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. So we ‘give' or ‘slam' all our concerns, worries, fears upon Him, because He cares for you. Again we do this so we don't have to ‘worry' about them. We leave them in Gods hands. So we can relax or the ‘Rest' part of Faith/Rest. Claim a promise by faith (believing God) and then resting that He will handle the situation. [BLANK screen – W] Just a few short things to know about this before we use it. - God is not a genie, we don't get three wishes and He makes them come true. God does not fix problems, He ‘fixes' us. (repeat) - God, usually, does not make the problem go away. Rather He gives you the strength (courage) to handle them with the skills you have. In the example above, God won't stop the rain but He will make sure your driving skills handle any situations you come upon. Therefore, you can trust Him, relax and drive safely in the hazardous rain. That is how God works. That is how He helps you. So take a moment and think about what bothers you, what are you worried about or afraid of? (I keep a list, so I don't forget, and I change the list frequently) So in this example, when you drive safely under God protection inn the rain, what did you do? The first thing you learn by this is: you're starting to trust God Notice Rebound and F/R Drill have to do with you. Not about other people. They deal with your thinking and with circumstances in your life. That is what God designed them to be. It's how you start out. Changing your thinking. Not doing anything…. Hold on to the F/R Drill because I will be coming back to it. (shift gears) Who and what is God? The simple explanation is God is the Supreme Being in the universe God is all powerful, He's smart, etc ... He is not flesh and blood God is a spirit. But these are inadequate, but true phrases and descriptions. But inadequate. We have been taught about His Divine Essence, His character. And that is what we will explore along with the F/R Drill as the fundamentals of the CWLiving. There are three primary things to know about God: [^] 1 - He is what is called absolute righteousness, meaning he can't sin and the reason He can't tolerate or be near sin. And the reason He provided Rebound. God is perfect and He can only act perfectly. Again that is called Righteousness 2 - God is also Just. He can only do the right thing a right way. Think of it in a legal sense as a court room judge. He knows all the facts and can only render a perfect verdict and judgment. So anything God does it is Just, fair and he has no bias. 3 - And the third thing here is God is Love. There are a lot of ideas about love. BUT, lets look at an example from God. Before we believed in Jesus Christ for Salvation, we were not ‘saved'. We do not have a relationship with God. God wants to have a relationship with us; therefore He had to solve that problem. He did what [^] John 3:16 says, God soooo (my emphasis) loved the world (you and me) that he gave us His uniquely born son, that whosoever (me and you) believes in Him shall have everlasting life (aka we will go to heaven). Whether we realize it or not, when we believed in Jesus Christ for Salvation, we claimed that promise of John 3:16 and we became saved. Just for reference notice God did all the work. All we have to do is believe. It takes no ‘effort' to believe. God did the work of Salvation. It takes faith. Faith in someone higher than you. Now that is Love. God doing all the work and we get all the benefit. But wait there is more to this ‘salvation' Let's look at it from the Divine perspective of God's Essence. Righteousness, Justice and Love God in His Righteousness could not have a relationship with you and me before salvation. Therefore His Love motivated Him to find a solution. That was Jesus Christ So God found a way. God's Love motivated Him to find a way which satisfied His Righteousness that allowed God's Justice to establish a relationship with you and me. I hope that is not too confusing. But that is how God works. He loves us and wants to do things for us, because He loves us and when His Righteousness is satisfied then His Justice is freed to do what God's Love wants to do. God can't do anything He wants to do. He operates within His own integrity. That integrity is His Righteousness and Justice. So He is motivated by His Love yet His Righteousness has to be satisfied for His Justice to execute what His Love wants. [Blank Screen – W] How God works (Thinks) (God's Righteousness, Justice and Love) So the next logical question is How does God's Righteousness get satisfied? Great question. It is when we follow His ‘instructions'. Or better said when we follow what the bible tells us. For example, you Rebounded at the beginning of class. You followed God's instructions (procedure found in 1 John 1:9) and when you executed that procedure, God's Righteousness was satisfied and His Justice forgave you of your sin(s). So that is How God works. God loves you. He wants the best for you. And He provides information on how we are to think, and when we think with God's thoughts, or think like God thinks, then He is free to bless us and help us. That is why God in His love provided the Bible, which is His complete information about Himself for us to understand and follow, by thinking like God thinks. And when our thinking changes then our actions follow. You know God does not make the sp life hard. Recall Jesus saying My yolk is easy my burden is light – and we said to ourselves sure, right!!!! I am not going to tell you that reaction is right nor wrong. Why? Because it is a matter of perspective. I can stand here and quote bible verses until I am blue in the face and that will not persuade you. Or maybe you know its true (the bible says so) BUT you have not experienced that yourself. That has been true for me at times in my life. Sooooo, let me tell you it is a matter of your perspective as to the validity of JC statement. Let me explain. Recall Adam and the Woman. God has one only one prohibition in all the entire garden. You can tend the tree (and everything in the garden) and take care of it but you cannot eat of its fruit. (some say the bible says you can go near the tree nor touch the tree. Absolutely false. Go read you bible. God said tend every everything in the garden. ) So Adam had to tend the tree but he and the woman could not eat of the fruit of the tree. Preciseness is important in Gods system. It is how Satan trips us up and did trip up the woman. So one prohibition. Do not eat. (Now isn't that easy – My yolk is easy my burden is light…) Yet what did the woman do? Crunch… Hey Adam, you tall dark handsome man, have a bit. Crunch. One command, only one. Now that was simple wasn't it? Yes. Yet….. So is it simple. Simple to rebound? … Yes Is it simple to claim a promise (surmising you know at least one promise) … Yes And when you do that, Gods +R is satisfied and His Justice executes what His Love wants for you. Simple? Yes. So what's so hard….. We are human…. We are arrogant. We make things hard. Now this is where an aspect of Grace kicks in. We are to give ourselves Grace. In my youth the expression was take a chill pill, give yourself a break. We are only human… very funny if you really understood what it meant. We are to relax and follow God procedures. Thus far tonight Rebound and F/R Drill allowing Gods Love to give us the things we need because His +R is satisfied, because we are using Gods procedures (Rebound and F/R Drill) and God's J delivers what Gods Love wants. So easy. Let's proceed. The next thing to understand is to Trust – Trusting God [^] Proverbs 3:5 [1] [CMD] Trust in the Lord with all your heart [rt lobe – where you think. PSD #3 F/R Drill], And [2] [CMD] do not lean on your own [HVP] understanding [man's opinion vs God's]. Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways [3] [CMD] acknowledge Him, [Promise] And He will make your paths straight. [1, 2, 3 - easy] Proverbs 3:7 [conclusion v5-6] Do not be wise in your own eyes [conceited - arrogance]; [CMD] Fear [Trust] the Lord and [CMD] turn away from evil. Straight forward. First this verse is both a Command and also a promise. A command to Trust in the Lord. How? That starts with knowing a little about God and doing what He says. That is why we Rebound and why I am starting with the Faith Rest procedure. Knowing those two things and using them starts the trust in God process. [In God We Trust] God said x, I will do x and I trust God will do x. Simple, but very important. Like 1 + 1 = 2. Next it says with all your heart. That is our goal – recall what Col Thieme said? Bel using BD turns the world upside down. In the sp life, we can't quite Trust God perfectly yet.. but you can start by using what you know right now (Rebound and F/R procedure). So if that's all you have in your ‘heart' so far and if you do them diligently, then you are fulfilling this part of the command. The third part is interesting and should generate some questions. But first let's look at it plainly: “And do not lean on your own understanding”. Leaning on your own human understanding is using human opinion, the worlds thinking in solving problems vs God's thinking in solving problems. Lean on God and His thinking vs lean on what humanity tells us. If human solutions do not line up with what God says then that thinking is faulty. Where human wisdom lines up with God's thinking or Divine Wisdom then humanity is following the way God thinks. Either way its Gods thinking that is correct, every time. The interesting part here is there are at least two ways to think. God's way and humanity's way. Also called God's Divine Viewpoint (DVP) and human viewpoint (HVP) thinking. We know in fact there are multiple views of humanity, many different forms of ‘philosophy'. But only God's ‘philosophy' matters and is the only one that produces results that are for your best interest, happiness and prosperity in all situations and all the time. This applies to you individually and us a group or humanity. For right now, let's keep it simple, God's viewpoint of life is correct and that is the one we are to learn and think. So And do not lean on your own understanding. Means we are NOT to use human thinking, HVP, but learn and use God's thinking, DVP. Next is verse 6, In all your ways acknowledge Him. So how do you acknowledge God? Does this mean witnessing, etc? God wants your thinking to change, He wants your mind to be ‘renovated' – out with the old thinking and in with the new thinking. God knows if you think like Him and use His procedures and follow His commands then your actions and what you do will follow suit and be based upon His DVP. So God is focused on thinking and not on acting or actions (since allot of people ‘act'). So what this means for you is something I said on Trusting: if what you have in your ‘heart' is Rebound and F/R procedure and you use them diligently, then you are acknowledging Him in all your ways (two areas so far!). So verse 6a just restates what verse 5b says (a side note, I don't know if you like poetry or not, but the relationship between v5b and v6a is called a synonymous parallel. These verses in Proverbs are all Hebrew poetry and they don't use rhyming as their style of poetry but parallelism. God uses this restating technique to both reinforce its importance and to say the same thing slightly differently so the reader understands more completely what He is saying.) So if you are using Rebound and F/R procedure then you are acknowledging God in all your ways! Now the last part of verse 6 - God's promise to you: And He will make your paths straight. A promise to make your paths straight. Make your paths straight is a metaphor (defn: A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly referring to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide clarity or identify hidden similarities between two ideas.). So to make your paths straight means to live your life in the way God wants you to live your life for maximum happiness and blessing in life. Because that is what God wants (I am not giving you lots of bible verses to back up what I say so as not to inundate you... But you can rationalize it yourself, if God is God then He must have a plan and a purpose for my life and He must have given us all the information we need to live that life ... ). God wants you to be happy and prosperous in your life. God gives us His thinking that we need to learn, procedures to execute, commands to follow so that when we do these things we can live our life, solve the inevitable problems we face big and small, day to day, have happiness and contentment in this life. You might ask “How does God make our paths straight?” In its most simplest form it is two things: 1 - you are learning and thinking what God has said, in your case Rebound and F/R procedure. If you are being diligent about using them, then you are acknowledging God and you think differently or you are more relaxed so that you can think and act differently. 2 - with your relaxed thinking and decision making, God opens and closes ‘doors', He brings circumstances into your life which will now guide your life in different directions. [^] Confused which way to go? Then make the best decision you can and if God does not want you to go in that direction, he will close the door. If you are receptive to closed doors, then you see that for what it is and you go in another direction. Don't take this to the ridiculous as some do, “should I eat Mexican or Italian tonight? I'll wait on God's will”. In all cases you make the decisions in life as to what you think is best. Remember, you will not be in fear or worry because you are using the F/R procedure and as long as you do and are remaining calm about it (really, not faking it) then any decision will either be guided by God and an open door or the result of the decision will be a closed door. Then you know to go in a different direction. The key is [pause]: are you diligent in using the F/R procedure and are you trusting God such that you are relaxed? If so, then your trust in God is not in vain and He will come through for you (but also remember it will be in His timing). [^] Trust is a process. [^] You start out slowly, so to speak, claim a promise and wait upon the Lord to handle that promise. If you put more and more on his ‘plate' and you trust Him to handle it then the more and more relaxed you become. When you see this happening in your life, you realize you have peace and tranquility that you did not have before. That is the result of using Gods thinking and specifically the F/R procedure. An other verse which is similar is Laminations 3:25. [^] Laminations 3:25 [Promise] The Lord is good to those who trust in Him [F/R procedure] and to those who wait for Him [divine timing of God, having patience], One of the objectives you have eventually is to want to please God. God is a person, He thinks and He has emotions (just perfect emotions vs our sometimes irrational emotions). He can be ‘pleased'. And doing what He wants for us to do in our lives is something worth aspiring to. This verse tells us that God is good to those who trust Him. That's what you are doing by being diligent in using Rebound and F/R procedure. Lamentations 3:25 says trust and wait upon God. The waiting is also a test. God is testing you to let him handle the situation in His time and for you to relax and wait. Patience. [Blank screen – W] Let's look at Fear - One thing that can characterize what was going on during this COVID-19 crisis is fear. So I wanted to talk to you about fear. There are several ‘fears' in life, some are inherent (you acquired them early in life, or acquired them through difficult circumstances in life) and some come on suddenly (COVID-19 virus with all the conflicting information we get). So let's discuss fear and look at it from God's Divine viewpoint (DVP). In the bigger sense, most people are afraid of death. Many don't think about it until they have an experience with it (friend, loved one, war, etc) and other fears can develop as we age. But as a believer in Jesus Christ, you should have no fear of death. You know what happens after death. You go to heaven. Now some in Christianity have said, and some religions say, you can lose your salvation by being ‘bad'. BS! Why? Because the bible NEVER, NEVER says that. It clearly says many times, you have what is called Eternal Security. Once saved always saved. Period. Unfortunately that is not how humans think (HVP). We want to feel sorry; we want to make amends or penance. BUT recall what I told you. God does not think like humans think. We have to learn how God thinks. And this is very important. Probably the most important thing after mastering Rebound and the Faith Rest procedure is to understand more and more about God and how He thinks. So once saved always saved. Proof – John 3:15 [in order] that whoever believes may in Him [Jesus Christ] have eternal life. John 3:16 "For God sooooooo loved the world, [with the result] that He gave His uniquely born Son [virgin birth], that whoever believes in Him shall never perish [eternal security], but have everlasting life.” John 3:17 For God did not send His Son into the world to judge [punish] the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. John 3:18 "He who believes in Him is not judged [Great White Throne Judgment for unbelievers]; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the uniquely Son of God. Second Proof – John 10:28 [Promise] and I [Jesus Christ speaking] give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish [salvation cannot be undone]; and no one shall snatch [pluck] them out of My hand. [eternal security] John 10:29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. Our first security is the eternal security. You cannot lose your salvation. And you go to heaven at physical death. So God handles the fear of death. No Fear! Next - Do you really understand why God loves you? Yea, Jn 3:16… But Do you really understand you and all mankind are precious to God? Think of that for a second in human terms. I love dogs. [^] [^] I loved my first dog, Hans. He was a playmate, ‘friend' and companion. He was precious to me. And every dog since then has been precious to me. What's precious to you? [BLANK Screen – W] Now, think how much more God thinks of you as precious? He created you. Don't you think that someone who created you would not also think of you as something precious to Him? ((Wait a second Cliff, my parents ‘created' me? Not quite true. Your parents ‘created' you physically and give your certain DNA traits. Through the reproduction process (that God invented), your parents DNA gave you a body. )) God gave you life and He gave you, you. I.e. your soul, your personality, the real you. When you die your physical body goes back to the earth. Your soul is still alive. And with salvation, you will live in heaven forever (and God will also give you a ‘new' body in which to house your soul). God created you and that makes you very precious to Him. That is an inkling of how much God loves you. My second favorite verse in the bible is Matthew 7:11 – [^] Matthew 7:11 [Promise] If you then [the context it is talking about parents], being evil [compared to the character & integrity of God], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! How much more! How much more does God our Father know how to give ‘good gifts' to you! What are good gifts? The things in life that you desire that are in accordance to His plan. So if we know how to give graciously to others, how much more does God who is infinitely powerful, know how to give to us gracious things in life that we desire to have which are in accordance to His plan. He has a perfect plan for our lives. And He will provide everything we need for our life. I can imagine some questions. “I do not have what I want in this life (yet)”. Are you in the Plan of God for your life? [BLANK Screen – W] So thus far in the CWLiving we ---- You started at the beginning. Salvation. Then … Rebound and the Faith Rest procedure. Master that. Next … We start with getting to know a little about God. As we get to know God and use His procedures then we trust God. That is the beginning of being in the Plan of God for your life. Simple 1, 2, 3. Proverbs 3:5 & 6. Go back and read it. [^] Rebound when necessary Diligently using (mastering) the F/R Drill Understanding God's Essence, esp His Love -> +R –J Then using your volition to execute what God says – CMDs, Promises, Instructions. … and He will make your paths straight. Very Key. Simple. Crunch…. My focus over these lessons is going to be just that. Giving you Promises and going over biblical narratives to focus your attention on the range of promises and commands we have and to see how God thinks using His divine Essence. [BLANK screen – W] In this country we are living in MORE difficult times than in the past. We are going to be tested more than ever because of the decay, the rot of our nation. (it humorous but NOT funny – what the socialists, the democrats are pushing for is to make our lives more and more difficult – a true reversal of ‘peace and prosperity' we experience today) God's way – peace and prosperity – their way hardship and difficulty. So mastering the F/R Drill and understanding How God thinks is paramount for your sp life and living in this cosmic system. If you can recall how God thinks vs cosmic system And if you can recall more than one F/R Promise (one tailored to your ‘issue(s)) Then you have the solid foundation to advance and thrive in Satan's Cosmic system. > So let's proceed by reviewing God's Divine Essence then mixing in some narratives and promises of the bible to highlight them. Before we do let's review - 1 - Faith & Divine Essence Faith in God. What is faith? I have said several times you must trust God. Faith is putting your trust in something greater than you and your problems. If someone says I trust God but can't explain why, then that is empty faith and it is not going to help you be relaxed or help you psychologically. Being relaxed or what the bible calls prosperity (mental prosperity) is one of the great benefits of the Faith Rest procedure. RMA. So, if you know or recite Gods promises and know that God backs them up because He is an all-powerful God, then you are putting your faith in someone stronger and mightier than you. You see faith must have an object. And in our case at GBC and what Pastor Bob has taught us, our faith is in God, specifically His promises and Him as an all-powerful God. Now when I say an all powerful God – what does that mean to you – Omnipotent. Well not really. It really is means that God acts IAW His character – Omnipotent God doing the right thing the right way. Not whatever He wants. That might sound sacrilegious but it is true and a key component to understanding God's Essence. God does the right thing the right way, every time – right thing – +R, the right way - Justice, and the power to do it is Omnipotent. So an all powerful God is a +R, J and Omnipotent. 3/10 attributes. What are the attributes of God's Divine Essence, His character? Pastor Rory Clark gave us an acronym to remember this by: JR SOOO LIVE (pronounced: junior soooooooo live) • Justice – God renders a fair decision based upon all the facts. He always does the right thing in the right way. He is a perfect (just) judge. • Righteousness (+R) – this refers to God is perfect, He never has made a mistake, never thought anything wrong, is perfect and without sin. • Sovereignty – God is supreme authority of the universe. There is no one more powerful or ‘above' Him. • Omniscience – God is all knowing, God knows everything including what would have happened if different decisions were made. He knows all the outcomes. • Omnipresent – God is in all places at once. He is present everywhere. • Omnipotent – God is all powerful. For example the bible describes God's creation of the universe as the work of His fingers. Your fingers are the weakest part of your body, yet God created the whole universe and all its great beauty with just His fingers. Now that is power. (and no God does not have fingers – it is a metaphor) • Love – God is Love. This is a huge concept but to keep it relatively simple we have to use all of the following words to describe God's love: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 gives several descriptions of God's love: "Love is patient, love is kind. God's Love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs (see note at end). Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God's love never fails." That is a lot to digest, but I think you can get a glimpse of what true love is and God is Love. • Immutable – God never changes. He never makes a decision that He would change. He does the right thing the right way the first time. • Veracity – God is truthful. Titus 1:2 "God, who does not lie." Also that means the bible is inerrant, without error (in the original language that is was written). God's perfect thoughts given to mankind. • Eternal Life – God always existed, He was in the past, present and future forever and ever. This is the One whom we put our faith or trust in. This is the One whom we put our faith or trust in. So when God says in 1 Peter 5:7 Give me all your concerns because I (God) care for you. Or Slamming all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. He means it. Re-Read God's attribute of Love over again. That is His attitude towards YOU. And now you know why the bible is called God's word. It is just not title. It is God's very words to you and to me. God's veracity, His Omnipotence make sure that you have His absolute thinking in the bible. That is why it is the oldest book in the world, God has preserved the bible for 4000-5000 years. Who else could accomplish that? Only God because of His attributes. That is who we put our trust in. I emphasized trust. But trust is something you have to develop; it is a process. You have to learn to trust God. Learning about His Divine Essence is an academic endeavor. You still have to learn to use [experience] each of His attributes and see it working for you. When you do you start and continue to trust God. It is a process. It does not happen overnight. Many people, including myself spend years exercising the Faith Rest procedure and trusting God. Sometimes I fail, but I keep going. I make mistakes but I keep on going (this is something I will talk about later, the concept of perseverance). ((RECAP??? Let me recap this last section on Faith in God, His Divine Essence and its relationship to learning to trust God by using the Faith Rest procedure. Faith has to have an object or it is just blind or useless faith. In understanding (and memorizing) God's Divine Essence, His attributes, we can see that the One we put our Faith in is stronger, more powerful, perfect (Veracity) and Loving. We must learn to trust Him and what He says. We start to do that by Rebounding when necessary and using the Faith Rest procedure. And as I have said, we must master this part of the CWLiving. )) 2 - God's Promises Learn more God's promises. So far - 1 Peter 5:7, Proverbs 3:5-6 and Lamentations 3:25. We are to use these promises to ‘slam' all your cares, anxieties and problems on God then relaxing about them knowing that in Lam 3:25 God will provide solutions while you relax and wait on His timing. This should also give you courage. Tip -- Make a list, mine is on my phone, and cite them to God in your Faith Rest procedure prayer to God. You have to move forward every day, you have to make decisions every day. Now you can do that, even in difficult times or in pressure situations, with the courage God gives you by using the F/R procedure and having confidence God will come through for you. So then trusting in God and using His procedures (acknowledging Him) he will guide your life and that life will be one of prosperity (mental prosperity or relaxed) and he will guide your life with the result you will have maximum happiness and a life of fulfillment (Prov 3:5-6). Problems come in two flavors; 1 - the ones we created by bad decisions (which have internal (pressure, anxiety) and external (ramifications to others)) and 2 - problems others created and put on us (these can be circumstances of life or overt decisions made by others that cause you problems, including ‘natural disasters' such as Mt Saint Helen's, floods, war, pandemics, etc. Sooooo it matters not whether we or others created the problems, God has a solution to them. His solution is to use what you know from the bible to make decisions and to use the Faith Rest procedure to remain calm, relaxed in spite of the pressure, and have courage to move forward because God will fulfill His promise. 3 - Psalm 91 God's Promise of Protection for the Believer Third, lets study a passage to put most of the concepts together – God's Divine Essence, His promises and what He does for us in terms of protection (anti-fear). Psalm 91 is an example of God's protection of you as a believer in Jesus Christ (JC). God protects believers who trust (here is that word again) in Him. When you are executing the Plan of God then because God Loves you, He wants the best for you. Based upon you executing His procedures, His Love wants to bless you and He can because His Righteousness sees that you are following His procedures and commands so then God's Justice provides you blessings. Simple? Crunch Psalm 91:1 He [the believer in JC] who dwells [via F/R procedure] in the shelter of the Most High [a reference to God] Will abide [reside] in the shadow of the Almighty [Omnipotence of God]. The author of this Psalm is saying Believers in JC whose thinking and who live their lives using God's solutions (so far in our lesson today Rebound & F/R procedure) will find shelter and reside under God's protection. God protects those whom He Loves. Protection from what? Versus 3, 5-7 give us some examples (criminality, war, pestilence, natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, etc). But let's pick one from v6 that is applicable today – the corona virus. God protects the Believer from the corona virus. Psalm 91:6 Of the pestilence [corona virus, black plague] that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon [earthquake, volcano, tsunami]. He shelters (protects) you and does it in at least one of 3 ways (which will be true for any example). 1) God protects the Believer from catching the virus. 2) God allows the believer to catch the virus but heals the believer. 3) God allows the believer to catch the virus and allows the believer to die and go to heaven. What a minute! How is #3 protection? God provides blessing to a dying believer: - first you are relaxed even when you are dying (F/R procedure); - second, in being relaxed while dying you might be a witness to others who will be curious why you are so relaxed, it is an opportunity to witness to someone; and - third God's Plan for you is to witness in dying. His Plan for you is up and He is bringing you to heaven. There cannot be a more greater protection that to spend eternity in heaven. This might be hard for you to understand but God has a Plan for you and will provide all the means for you to be relaxed and fulfill His Plan. And that Plan just might be putting you in a situation of death so that someone else can benefit from your death. How many soldiers died in WWII so that we can have the freedom and prosperity in the USA today? See there is a bigger plan and purpose, greater than just your own life. So yes, death can be part of God's Plan for a believer. And in that death, you can be relaxed and happy. That is not how the world (cosmos) thinks. Again another example of God's thinking is opposite of the worlds thinking. So back to the first 2 ways God protects the believer. Verse 1 says those believers who use the Faith Rest procedure will find shelter and reside under the protection of Omnipotent God. We might not know how God's Omnipotence might protect us in advance but we can trust (here is that word again) in His promise, an Immutable promise and when we use that promise, God will deliver. Just in this verse we can see how to apply parts of God's Divine Essence. God is all powerful, Omnipotent, and can prevent you from catching the virus or heal you if you catch the virus. God knows through His Omniscience why He might want you to catch the virus or even die, so that His Plan for you and others can be fulfilled. God's promise is Immutable it will never change and since you claimed the promise God's Righteousness is satisfied so that His Justice can execute the promise that God in His Love proved for you. Thereby proving God's Veracity. So in this example you can ‘see' how God thinks and how God works. V2 goes on – Psalm 91:2 I will say to the Lord, [your conclusion upon using the F/R procedure] "[You are] My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!" So the result of using the F/R procedure is coming to the conclusion that God will fulfill the promise to you (that is, you are trusting God) so that you can say (to yourself and others) God is my refuge and my fortress. Also you thank God, in prayer or verbally to others, “My God delivered me because I trust Him” (I trust His word – promises). So you are praising God and thanking Him with your thinking because He will and does protect you. But, this is only for the believer who is using Rebound and the F/R procedure. See when you follow God's thinking and use His tools and develop the spiritual skills to live your life then God blesses you and part of the blessing is protection per Psalm 91. Also look how personal v2 is. My refuge, My fortress, My God. As I said God wants to have a personal relationship with you. This is you having a personal relationship with God by using His tools (promises) to live your life. And as I said you become grateful to Him for giving you these promises to use in daily life. I like v3 because it has been true in my life. Psalm 91:3 For it is He [God] who delivers you from the snare of the trapper [people and circumstances in life], And from the deadly pestilence [deadly hazards like corona virus]. The snare of the trapper is an illustration of traps in life. Who would set traps for you in life? Have you ever had people in your life who were out for you and wanted to do you harm? I have. I have had bosses at work that ‘hated' me and wanted to destroy my career. I knew it and I did not react to them. I treated them with kindness and respect and I did my job to the best of my ability. And no matter what these bosses tried to do, in the end, they had no effect on my career. Now this sounds like I was perfect in all of this. I was not. A few times I got depressed and worried BUT when I did, I Rebounded and used the F/R procedure and went back to a relaxed state so I could do my job. And that is what happens most if not all the time. Sometimes we fail. We Rebound and go back to using the F/R procedure. So God protected me, I was allowed to do my job and very successfully. Then later God's solution was to give me a better job (a promotion). So God did not make the person go way, instead, He protected me so I could do my job and He ‘promoted' me and the person who ‘hated' me, got to ‘stew in their own juices' while watching me be successful. This is an example of God protecting me because I was using His solutions to the problem. Circumstances in life can also lay traps for you, but again the solution is the same – Rebound when necessary and use the F/R procedure. The second part of v3 I covered in the example of the pestilence above, using the corona virus as an illustration. Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with His pinions [feathers], And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark [a defensive wall – like a castle wall]. Here is a picture of v4a that says it all. Notice how the mother bird is holding on to her chicks. Physically protecting them, giving them cover and warmth – that is total protection. Notice also that the chick could fly away if they wanted to. But they are choosing to stay under her protection. Same with us and God. We can remove ourselves from God's protection by using human solutions to problems instead of using God's solutions. So it is our choice, use God's solutions or use human solutions. Versus 5-7 are additional descriptive illustrations of terrors that can affect Believers. Psalm 91:5 ¶ [result from v2 of using F/R procedure] You will not be afraid of the terror by night [criminality, etc], Or of the arrow that flies by day [warfare]; Psalm 91:6 Of the pestilence [corona virus, black plague] that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon [earthquake, volcano, tsunami]. Notice night and day, darkness and noon – this is a reference that God protects the believer 24 hrs/day! God never sleeps. He is on the job 24 hrs/day, 7 days/week. Psalm 91:7 A thousand may fall [die] at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it [terrors and disasters] shall not approach you. V7 is interesting. You might be in the midst of a great natural disaster or the corona virus with thousands dying all around you but it, the disasters and terrors, will not affect you. We are blessed (by God) in the USA and we do not have many disasters like other parts of the world, but when we do, God protects the believer who is executing His Plan for their lives. Psalm 91:8 You will only look on with your eyes, And see the recompense of the wicked [Justice of God in action]. V8 is interesting because it now introduces what happens to those who are evil, from v3 and 5-7. Not only are you protected but the Justice of God punishes those who are evil (anti-God, believers not using His Divine Solutions in life and unbelievers). You will many times see that they get Divine Justice from God for their deeds. Versus 9 & 10 are a conclusion. Psalm 91:9 For you [the Believer using the F/R procedure] have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. Psalm 91:10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent [where you live]. V9 is a restatement of v1-2 and the conclusion of all these terrors and adversities is that you are protected wherever you are. These 9 verses give you enough background to understand what God is telling Believers who a executing His Plan for their lives, the protection and comfort He provides 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. And, and the recompense for those bel who do not and for those unbel who are evil. So this is a great example of God's promise to believers who Rebound when necessary and use the F/R procedure to handle problems, anxieties, disasters, evil and adversities of life. God protects the ones He Loves. And since He is an all-powerful God, He has the means to provide protection to His loved ones. You can see His Divine Essence in action. His Righteousness not tolerating evil and His Justice executing justice on evil in this world, His Omniscience knowing what will happen in advance and having a plan to protect the believer in these circumstances, His Omnipotence shielding the believer from the consequences of evil and disasters, even when those around you are affected. He does all this because He Loves you and you responded to His Love by first believing in Jesus Christ for salvation and then following His procedures, commands and getting to know and appreciate Him and trusting Him for deliverance from the problems of life. God can only keep His promises and in them is true security. Once you latch on to what Psalm 91 says, and once you understand the context of Psalm 91 as a whole, and once you believe God's promise, and trust God for the fulfillment of Psalm 91, then you have security. You have security in your salvation, you have security in your life, both physical and spiritual, you have eternal security, you have everything that you need, every resource to be secure in this life, no matter what. Psalm 91 is a benefit in the midst of adversity, it is a benefit in the midst of a corona virus plague. Also as you are relaxed, you look around at others who are in panic and fear and you can ‘see' what a wonderful God you have, that Loves you and protects you. Last thoughts Why is the F/R procedure so important? Why do I keep telling you to be diligent in using Rebound and the F/R procedure? What does claiming God's promises on some specific ‘issue' you are having do? First if you trust God and believe His promise(s) then you can be relaxed. That is called a Relaxed Mental Attitude (RMA). You can relax, you do not have to dwell on your problems, you let God handle them. What else does a RMA bring to you? Courage. Courage under adversity or better said Courage under fire (as in a battle). So what if - you momentarily think about your problem(s) that you asked God to handle by using the F/R procedure? There is nothing wrong with that. It happens. Give yourself grace. But if you dwell on them more than momentarily, then you have in essence told God that you want to handle them. So you need to Rebound (you told God that He was going to handle them and you changed your mind, not trusting God) and then you must use the F/R procedure again for that problem. See there is a solution for that too. Think about this for a moment. When a problem comes up, you are able to claim a promise and calm down, by utilizing the Faith Rest procedure, and have a Relaxed Mental Attitude (RMA), under adversity and that is something that only the believer in Jesus Christ has at their disposal, only the believer. You should be able to see what a great God we have. You should be experiencing encouragement of both God's presence and His care for you. You will rest with the confidence that whatever happens in life is with His knowledge and nothing happens outside of his knowledge (Omniscient). Psalm 91. And you know what? This is one of several problem solving procedures God has provided for believers only. You are well taught and know God provides 10 PSDs that you can use. We just looked at two. Rebound and F/R procedure. Now it is your job to use these two diligently!

We Make Books is a podcast for writers and publishers, by writers and publishers and we want to hear from our listeners! Hit us up on our social media, linked below, and send us your questions, comments, and concerns for us to address in future episodes. We hope you enjoy We Make Books! Twitter: @WMBCast  |  @KindofKaelyn  |  @BittyBittyZap Instagram: @WMBCast  Patreon.com/WMBCast Mentioned in this episode: Glitter + Ashes edited by dave ring Silk & Steel edited by Janine A. Southard  Grace's Links: Website ArtStation portfolio Twitter Episode Transcript (by TK @_torkz) [Upbeat Ukulele Intro Music] Rekka: This is We Make Books, a podcast about writing publishing and everything in between. Rekka is a published Science Fiction and Fantasy author, and Kaelyn is a professional genre fiction editor. Together, they'll tackle the things you never knew you never knew about getting a book from concept to finished product, with explanations, examples, and a lot of laughter. Get your moleskin notebook ready. It's time for We Make Books. R: Today we are talking to Grace Fong about book art. Now we've had someone on in the past to talk about cover art and art-directing a commissioned cover. However, I think Colin would forgive me for saying that you do not want Colin to do the artwork. Kaelyn: He would, yes. R: Yes. [laughing] Would you like to introduce yourself? Grace: Hi, I'm Grace! My pronouns are she/her, I work on the narrative design team over at Wizards of the Coast for Magic: The Gathering. I am also a sometimes-writer, and for the past five years I've been doing illustration work for various speculative fiction magazines, such as Strange Horizons, and some anthologies like Silk & Steel and Glitter + Ashes. K: Rekka this is our first like, real artist. R: It is difficult to get an artist on a podcast. I have tried - K [overlapping]: [laughing] R: - for this podcast and the previous one and it is a tricky business. So Grace, you live up to your name in showing up. G [laughing]: We don't like talking to people, we just like sitting at our computers. R: I completely understand, but doesn't mean I'm gonna give up trying, so. We've finally done it. K: Awesome. So I have been involved in some cover art not as the primary person but as the editor, where I have to look at it and go ‘yeah okay that kinda tracks with what's happening here.' We have talked a lot on this podcast before about what to expect out of your cover art, and how involved the writers are going to be in it, and the answer is typically not very, at all. So, when you're doing this, who is it that you're primarily working with? G: When I do work for magazines and books I'm usually working with the editor of the publication, so for the anthology it's usually an anthology editor, or for a short fiction magazine it is usually the art director of the magazine or the editor of the magazine. K: Can you walk us through the process of how you get started on this? They're obviously not coming to you with a blank slate, they're coming to you with a series of stories that may or may not have a theme. How do you get started working with this editor? G: It really varies, depending on the type of publication. So for anthologies, because they cover a lot of different narrative ground, usually we try to come up with an image that encapsulates the theme of the anthology. Like for Silk & Steel, I was doing one of the promotional postcards for them. We knew we were doing femme-femme, high fantasy, sword-and-scorcery kind of stuff. So I knew that those characters would have to be reflective of the book's content. Sometimes editors will give me a particular story that they aim to showcase for the publication, in which case I'll usually read the story if it's under 6,000 words, and try and come up with a composition that fits it the best that I possibly can. This is how I work with Strange Horizons. K: At what point do you usually come into the process? Are you typically involved right from the get go, or do they kind of wait until they have most of the story material? G: Usually when editors are doing their selections, they will wait until they have the written content first, because the written content is gonna dictate which artist they're gonna go to, to look for. Whose style best captures the feeling of their product? It's actually similar to traditional publication as well. The art directors at major publishing houses usually have a manuscript or summary for new debut authors whose manuscripts are already completed, and then they find an artist based off the existing manuscript. Some covers are completed beforehand, if the publishing house knows the author, knows the brand of that author and knows the kind of proposal or piece they are in the middle of working. K: You're gonna be sitting down with the editor, they're gonna give you a story that they particularly wanna feature, they're gonna give you an overall feeling or theme or - how much creative license do you get? R: I wanna interrupt because you just skipped like a really huge part: the creative brief. K: Yes. R: So what you just said, they're gonna give you a mood, they're gonna give you a theme or whatever, this is a whole step. Don't smooth it over like that. And this is something that actually Grace's got a little bit of a reputation for her knowledge on. So Grace I know you in, I believe it's November, are doing the Clarion workshop about creating a brief for a cover artist, right? G: Yes. R: So let's give this the spotlight it deserves! [laughing] G [overlapping]: Okay. K: Yeah, I've written a couple, I shouldn't have skipped over that, so apologies. G: I mean it's a specialized skill not everyone has to do them, so yeah. R: Well I definitely want to highlight it a bit, ‘cause you helped me with one - G [laughing]: That's true! R: What goes into the creative brief? Kaelyn named a couple of things, and this sort of forms the silhouette around which Kaelyn's question pivots, which is how much creative control do you get as an artist? So what's in the brief that you consider sacred, and what's in the gaps that you get to play with? G: So, that - K: Well first, and I'm sorry to cut you off - I'm sorry - can we say what - [laughing] R [overlapping]: I'm gonna interrupt you back! K: That's fair, that's fair. Can we kind of say what a creative brief is? G: Oh yeah, sure. So essentially when you are starting to work with an artist, an artist does not have the time to read an entire manuscript of 400+ pages. Their pricing is usually based off of the time that they're gonna spend creating your artwork. So you need to provide them with what is known as a creative brief, or art brief. And these are small documents that are very instructional, no more than like a page or two long, that explains the kind of image and feel that you are going for, for this assignment. The assumption is that you would have done your research and sent this brief to an artist that you think would do a good job for the publication that you're sourcing art for. So you're not gonna go to someone who does only black and white work if you want to sell your book with a big, bright, neon, 80s kind of cover. G: ‘Brief' is kind of the keyword here. You're essentially writing instructions for an artist. Don't try to lead them in using prose writing, tell them what they're gonna be drawing. It's a bit like a recipe list. So if it's a story about vampires and you want your vampire main character on the cover, you would specify that that's what you're looking for. Or, let's say you're trying to sell more literary up-market fiction, which doesn't use as many figurative images. Then you would maybe make an explanation about like ‘oh this book is about a woman's time when she was living as a child in Philadelphia.' In which case you would sometimes kind of refine that into a visual or item metaphor that you would ask the artist to render in a specific way that captures the mood and feel of the book, and leverages the imagery that's common to that market, so that it can reach the correct audience. K: Gotcha. Okay. So then you're gonna get this brief, and presumably dig into it. Do you ever receive a section of text, if there's a scene in particular that they'd like illustrated? G: Specific scene commissions tend not to be used for covers, because they're not very good at selling a publication. Scene work tends to be done for interior illustration. So these the the images that go along in the story; you look at these images as you are reading these scenes. But for the front cover you're trying to provide one image that sells the entire mood of the story to a particular audience. So in general you want to avoid using specific scenes, unless that scene comes in very early, because you don't wanna spoil the ending of the book. You only have one picture to play with for a cover, meanwhile with interiors you tend to have a series. You can do like a chapter header, like in the original Harry Potter American versions. K: It's funny you say that, because I was thinking about how I remember when the Harry Potter books were coming out, and there were always the American and the British cover versions, and everyone would be over-analyzing and try to pick apart ‘okay what's in the background here, what's happening in this scene.' But yeah because those covers were all more or less specific scenes from the book. They were a little abstract. G: Exactly, but it's - the keyword as you just said it is that they were scenes but they were abstracted. Actually tapping into that same visual metaphor that I mentioned earlier, for literary up-market, it's just because they're cramming so many things - what they're actually doing is creating one image that forces you to look harder at it to find all of those metaphorical connections with the story inside. If it has the hippogriff on it and the Chamber of Secrets journal and the Goblet of Fire, these are all singular items that you don't actually see in those covers how they relate to the story, but you know that this is an important item in the story. Ergo, which Harry Potter volume this cover revolves around. K: Do you get scenarios where somebody says ‘I want you to draw exactly this and I want it to look like this,' or do you generally give them a few different ideas or rough sketches and then go from there? G: Generally the things that I like to have control over are color palette, camera angle, the stuff that would be considered very technical for an illustration. Perspective. Whether things are shot from above, shot from below, because these are all illustrator tools that help dictate the mood of a painting. And the mood is actually the thing that I usually ask my clientele for. Mood translates to ‘how are we supposed to feel when looking at this?' Because feeling is very closely tied to genre. G: So, what kind of book am I trying to sell? Is it a horror book? That dictates what kind of colors, what kind of camera angles that I'm going to use. But if somebody tells me ‘I want a top-down shot of something-something,' then that feels a bit invasive to me because I feel like if I am an artist then I can select the camera angle to best convey the drama that you're asking for. But the things that are really good for me are the object or character or focus, and if there is a character the kind of action that is being performed. A lot of times we get character description but no action, and the action is actually what tells us what the character is like, and separates it from the design. K: Yeah so you don't just have two characters just standing there looking straight forward at the camera - G [overlapping]: Yeah. K: - dressed the way they told you to dress them. G: Yes. [laughing] Because basically that would be really difficult to create an interesting illustration for. K: Absolutely yeah. [laughing] G: It's kind of like going to the mall and you see the clothes being sold on mannequins. Like it helps sell you the clothes but it doesn't tell you what the story is behind the people wearing the clothes. It helps to have stuff like props, backgrounds, and actions to help convey like, ‘oh yeah if this character is wearing a t-shirt and jeans, is this t-shirt and jeans part of an urban fantasy? Or is it a part of a YA contemporary romance?' K: How much back-and-forth do you generally have with the editors you're working with? Like what is the first thing you give back to them? G: This generally varies per artist, including the artists I work with. So usually what I do is between one to three thumbnails or sketches that I hand in to the editor and ask them ‘what do you think of these directions,' ‘which one of these thumbnails' - which I then proceed to refine - ‘do you think hits the target best?' Then if it's a very large piece of work I might work on a more refined sketch and pass it in, or like base colors and pass it in, and minimally it's usually the thumbnails plus the finished drawing. So that's two to five back-and-forths, depending on the size of the piece. R: How much do you let the art director or editor you're working with go back to the start? I know you probably don't let them past a certain point, like ok you approved the thumbnail so we're moving forward, we're not going back to thumbnails after that, but what if they don't like any of the initial thumbnails? G: Yeah so basically most artists I know have what are called revision fees, and these are generally written into the contracts that you sign upon working with them. Basically saying ‘you get this many thumbnails, you get to give comments this many times, and if you go over those times there'll be an additional fee.' Because artists are basically charging - it's a service-based industry, and your haircutter charges you per hour, and so does your artist. And generally if they aren't happy with the thumbnails, then I would then incur the revision fee, but also I ask for further information. G: So, if you as a writer or editor aren't happy with what your artist is turning back, you need to be able to explain what you're not happy with. So you can explain like ‘oh I don't think this color palette is appropriate for this target market. Here are some images of other books that have come out in the same area that we think would be good inspiration for you.' The only time that revision becomes really frustrating, outside of a timing frame, is when your client says ‘I don't know what I want but I'll know it when I see it.' R: I knew you were gonna say that. [giggling] As a graphic designer I also hate those words. G [laughing]: Yeah. K: It's like okay I guess I'll just keep throwing paint at the wall and see what happens. G: Like revisions aren't bad as long as the client is able to convey what needs to actually be changed. R: Not a series of no-thank-yous. K: Have you ever come across a scenario where you've kind of had to take a step back from the project and say ‘listen, I think maybe I'm not the right person to do this.' G: Usually I'm good enough at heading that off before a project even begins. K [laughing]: Okay! G: That is something you come to with experience, you understand your style, your way of working as an illustrator, and knowing like ‘hey this type of thing is going to be too out of my ballpark,' ‘this type of thing is not gonna pay enough,' ‘this type of thing is just too much work for what I'm capable of doing right now.' That is kind of like you're responsible, as most freelance artists are independent business owners essentially. They'll usually say so up front minus extenuating circumstances. Like at work we've had people drop out because they acquired COVID in the middle of an assignment, so - K [overlapping]: Oh god. G: - there's really nothing you can do about that. [laughing] K [laughing]: Yeah. Have you ever been presented with a commission, talked to the person, and thought to yourself ‘I don't think they have a good enough handle on what it is they're looking for here, and this may just end up being a headache'? G: Yes. That has definitely happened before, ‘cause I don't have much time. So if I feel like the client either lacks the direction and communication to give me what I need, or if they're simply asking for too much, then I will usually politely decline them, within the first couple of emails. K: Obviously you're not reading all of these books and you're working off the creative brief. Is there anything in particular that you get these, you're trying to make sure you're communicating in the feel of the book rather than an exact representation of what's going on there? G: Yeah. So I'm not trying to recreate a 1-to-1 specific moment from the book. I'm trying to generate a piece that, as you said, evokes a major theme. A lot of times I'm asked to do character work, mostly because that is something that I enjoy doing and specialize in; I love character and costume design. Like you've never seen a spaceship in my portfolio because I'm really bad at it. K: I looked through it, I didn't see one. [laughing] G: Yeah, don't put stuff in your portfolio that you are not good at painting and don't wanna paint. Like people come to me because they're like ‘oh this person does kind of anime-inspired fantasy characters,' and so that's kind of like a niche that you can reach other people who like anime-inspired fantasy characters. So things for me that I consider important is, I like to know a character's build and ethnicity. G: Stuff like ‘oh the character's mouth is a Cupid's bow' or like ‘they have eyebrows that are waxed to a certain angle,' that's a bit too specific. Or like ‘they wear ten rings.' Because if you mentioned that the character wears ten rings, it automatically makes those ten rings really important. And you have to wonder, are those ten rings really important to actually selling who this character is? Do those ten rings have a narrative function in the story? If so, do you wanna include the rest of the character, or do you wanna focus on that character's hands and the rings, as a way to say ‘hey this is what this story is about'? Because it's very hard to include such a small item and such a big item together on the same image. There's a lot of physical limitations to representational art; similar as it is, it's really challenging to get a photo with both your shortest friend and your tallest friend at the same time and not have a giant gap between them. [laughing] K [laughing]: Lot of negative space and awkward positions. G: Yeah. R: Well this is where your control over the perspective comes in, right? So that would be a shot from below. K: Or above! Really above. [laughing] G: Yeah. So one of the things that I like to ask for is no more than two or three key items, I would call them, that differentiate who this character is from all the other characters. Like you can say ‘yes, she is a Black woman' or ‘yes, he is a muscular man of European descent.' But Aragorn is defined by Andúril, his sword. Once you stick that sword on Aragorn, you know ‘hey this is a high-fantasy Tolkienesque property.' So I'm looking for a handful of items like that, to help show who this character is and how they differentiate and help sell the genre, setting, and time period. K: Covers are telling people things without explicitly telling them that. Like you mentioned you give Aragorn his sword or a similar character, you're stating ‘hey this is a high-fantasy book.' If there's a background in it and it's castles built into rolling mountains, that's also indicating things to somebody who might be potentially interested in reading it. Do you spend a lot of time or give a lot of attention to trying to signal to potential readers that this might be something they're interested in, or do you kind of let the cover do what it's gonna do? Like how much do you try to work elements into it that are telling you things about the book without telling you things about the book? G: I usually try to focus on having as I said up to three of those key items - K [overlapping] Okay. [laughing] G: - because, as you said, castles are really common in a lot of European-based high fantasy. So you can leverage that castle, change it up, be like oh is it a floating castle that implies that there's a certain kind of magic? Is it a castle that's built into a hillside that implies another sort of magic? And so when I'm doing that I'm not necessarily looking at other pieces that are within the same genre, because the same genre-ness comes from the castle itself. I'm trying not to make a cover that looks exactly like every other cover out there, because this writing is probably not like every other fantasy story out there. K: Mhm. G: I'm actually specifically looking for those key items that differentiate it within its own genre. K: Any good stories, or interesting things that've happened here, your favorite piece that you've worked on or something that was particularly challenging? Maybe not just cover art but any commissions in general? G: All of my really funny stories are actually just from when I was doing random stuff for anime cons. I've had to draw a woman making out with Loki, but the woman is not herself, the woman is Kate Beckinsale. Fandom's strange. R: So you drew Kate Beckinsale making out - K [overlapping]: Making out with Loki - [laughing] G: Yes. R: And let the woman believe it was her? G: There are certain things you simply cannot draw. You cannot draw the flow of time. If you have a single image, it is very difficult to have anything that goes from step one and step two. [chuckling] And convey two images in a single image. K: Those Animorphs covers used to do that. G: That's true. And they had the little flipbooks in the back. K [laughing]: Remember that? G: Yeah. K: What advice would you have for somebody who, like let's say they're going to self-publish, or maybe somebody who hasn't really done this before but is looking to commission a piece of art - what advice would you have for them? G: For prospective clients, I generally ask that they do their research beforehand, essentially. Like working with artists, we have our own system, our own language, essentially, for technical stuff, for our materials, our use of camera angles, our use of colors. And to kind of understand what is within and without our control. So don't expect an art piece to be able to capture your entire story, because your story has some form of linear time in it, which art inherently will not if it's a single image. And that usually requires a lot of trust on the part of new authors, because this is their baby, right, they spent a lot of time on it and they wanna give it nice clothes. K: I love that by the way - G [overlapping]: [laughing] K: - they wanna give it nice clothes, that's perfect. [laughing] G: And like, a lot of us really understand this, but it's really helpful for us if you are to distinguish things that are and are not concrete. If you have a story that's based on music and you want your cover to celebrate the fact that it revolves around song, artists cannot draw a song. Unless you have synesthesia, you're probably not gonna look at a piece of artwork and hear music. So you're gonna have to come up with concrete visuals to convey this. G: So that main character, how do they produce this music? Are they a violinist? In which case yes, a violin can be drawn, that's very clear, very easy. And so just coming up with those small as I say key items, that would probably be one of them. Coming prepared with those and trusting the artist to interpret that - you can always say ‘hey, my book is about song, that is why I'd like to include these items,' but don't throw them into the wind with ‘my book is about songs' and - K: ‘Draw me a song.' G: Yes. K: You had mentioned revision fees, now again a constant theme in this podcast is contracts and read your contract and check your contract. Typically if you're going to engage an artist they're going to sign a contract with you. By the way, if the artist is not interested in signing a contract with you, and this is a custom piece, maybe that's not the artist to work with. But you're going to have a fee schedule, you're going to say ‘okay up front this is how much I'm estimating this to be but there are additional fees and costs for revisions, for changes, for going back.' K: We've definitely had to, with artists we commissioned for covers, go back and say ‘hey listen, something came up and we need another version of this, can you tweak these things?' And that's fine, it's just an additional charge. Is there anything in particular you would say to the people who are looking to commission an artist to just be aware of and expect, so they're not 1) shocked or 2) completely overlook something, in terms of costs associated with this kind of thing. G: Art is skilled labor. K: Absolutely. G: It's gonna vary per artist. Some people work faster, some people work slower. The type of publication is also going to affect the cost. But do not be surprised if an artist asks for a living wage, in terms of hourly money, because this is what they do; it's generally not a side job. K: Art is a skilled work that needs to be paid accordingly. There's a reason you're having to go out and find somebody you need to do this, because it's not an easy thing to do. G: Yeah, you're gonna be looking at prices significantly over part-time retail, because this is full-time work. Artists pay taxes on top of their stuff, and they are in charge of maintaining their own tax books. The high prices also cover their cost of living, the materials, 30% of it automatically goes to taxes, so those rates are going to be relatively high. A lot higher than I think what people expect. I feel like sometimes when people are new to commissioning, they'll expect it to be something in the price range of like ‘hey, I'm asking someone to in their off-time help me out at home with this, etcetera, or babysit my cat.' R: They wanna pay you 20 bucks and an extra pizza. G: Yeah. K: Well they're looking at it in like hourly rates, not realizing that it's not just hourly. Like you said there's taxes, there's material, there's - you don't get something then immediately sit down and start drawing it, you have to read some things, you have to think about it, you have to process, there's a lot of invisible hours that go into this as well. G: Yeah. R: You might spend - random number - 12 hours working on a cover, but that skill that you developed to create that cover is not 12 hours worth of skill-development, that is the lifetime that you have put into being an artist. So if anybody is thinking that ‘well the cover for my book is just a box I need to check off on my way to publication' - G: Yeah and that high hourly rate encompasses the work of emailing back and forth and sending the revisions and all the administrative stuff that the artist has to do. Artists generally do not have assistant teams, and they are not big publishing houses. K: The phone call was two minutes, it took me five minutes to read this thing, and ten minutes to write a response, but all of the stuff in between is additional time. All of your back-and-forth with your artist, all of the discussion that you're gonna have, all of the time that you the artist have to sit and think about this and do some sketches and stop and walk away and collect your thoughts, all of that is your valuable time. R: We've been talking about hourly rates. But every time, in my personal experience, that I've commissioned a cover, I have been given a flat number and then the contract as we've discussed talks about how many revisions or whatever are included in that number. I assume this is the practice of this person doing covers so frequently that they have a general ballpark of what they need to earn to justify what a cover is. But that's still based on a living wage that they're creating for themselves. G: Correct. That's usually it. R: When somebody gives you a flat rate it's not that this is a flat rate and someone else is going to just give you like ‘$85 an hour please.' G: Yeah. K: Well are you calculating your flat rate based on how many hours you, in your experience, know this takes? G: Yes, that's exactly what most artists do. Because clients tend to not want to bill per hour, because it's a single gig, most artists will give a flat rate based off their previous experience of how long something is going to take, which is why when back-and-forth gets too much, we incur revision fees. Because usually the flat rate is based off of our average experience of a client who spends this much time talking with us, and this much is gonna have to go to taxes, etc. And because flat rate is generally easier for clients and billing as well. R: Yeah rather than an open-ended number where they have no idea, and there's probably some paranoia that if you don't know the person well you might just keep billing them for stuff. G: You're gonna find contracts that specify hourly rates for longer term stuff, like visual developments or several character designs, or if you have a world that you're trying to build out for a TTRPG or concept art for a new video game or something like that. But for single one-off jobs, it's usually the artist will give you a flat rate number based off of their estimation on how long the gig will take, which is why sometimes these flat rate numbers look gigantic. But remember, again, that's based off of an hourly rate. R: Now do you ever get an email from a potential client and you go ‘oh yeah I better double the number, based on the way this email is written'? G: Yes that has happened before; the asshole tax is a pretty common practice - K [overlapping]: [laughing] G: - among artists. We are factoring in how long something is going to take as well. K: And by the way along the flat rates and the contracts and Grace I don't know if this is how you typically handle this, but when we would do book covers it was usually half up front, of the flat rate, and half when the work is finished plus any additional revision fees, which for us was always just a like ‘hey here's the down payment if you will to show we're serious and to get started.' Artists put a lot of time into this, and if you say ‘well I'm gonna pay you when this is done' and then they go ‘I don't like it. Forget it. I don't want it anymore,' that's a lot of time and energy that the artist has now wasted for no return. G: Yup. Most artists will not start without half to full payment upfront. I'd say like 95% of them won't. ‘Cause everybody has been burned very early on in their career by somebody who asked for work and never paid for it. So you only let that happen once. [laughing] Yeah. Always be prepared to have the money ready, like half the money ready, before the artist will start working. If you have a relaxed deadline, a lot of artists are really chill about just letting things kind of be like ‘oh I have this email of somebody who's interested' but it doesn't become real and doesn't actually get scheduled until there's money down. K: Artists have schedules. And they have open time slots and things that they might not be able to fit you into. How much of a lead time would you say they need to leave, in order to have a fully completed piece of art ready to go? G: I'd say at the minimum one to two months. I know people that can turn stuff around in two weeks, but if you're looking to get something done in the one month range, you're probably looking at a rush fee. Artists usually keep one to two jobs forward, like they have something but they're working on something lined up, and they usually have maybe another one lined up. And so if you demand something immediately, then that means they have to rush the next two. K: Mhm. G: So usually they will include a rush fee for that. K: I mean essentially it's overtime - G: Yes. K: - at that point, like I'm having to work extra hours outside of my regular schedule so that I can get to your thing faster. G: Yeah. And the lead time will very specifically vary per artist, because if you're trying to get someone who's like super super popular, who has a large number of clients already, you may be waiting like a year or two. Like. [laughing] K: There're science fiction cover artists out there that, like two years, if you want anything from them. Some of those people have incredibly long lead times on these, and their schedules are just full like over a year. G: Yeah. Like for me, I tend to be booked out about four to five months in advance, personally. But I generally, I will do rush fees and I'll also do smaller client pieces here and there that I know I can fit into a weekend. But again it really is up to that individual artist. I know how fast it takes me to complete a piece, but when I have 50 things going on, yeah it might take 20 hours to do, but if I have ten things that all take 20 hours, then I have a lot of time management that I need to figure out. K [laughing]: Yeah absolutely. When you finish a commission, when you finish a piece, how are you getting it to the person who is actually going to use it then and turn it in for the publication? Because a lot of these pieces are, they're very high resolution, they're very large files, and what does this look like - First of all what kind of a file is it, what does it look like? And then 2) how are you getting it, and how do you set it up so that they can manipulate it the way they need? G: So usually for clients I send a flat image, unless a layered image is requested - R: And let the artist know that at the beginning. G: Yes. K: Yes. G: Yes, layered images will usually incur a higher charge, because it implies that you will be editing the image afterwards. And so basically you need to buy some rights, the editing rights, from your artist. So that'll be a higher charge up front, when you write your original contract. Usually because I do a lot of web work, I just deliver a high resolution JPEG, high resolution PNG, and that's fine for my clients. For other major work especially if you need a layered file, PSDs, Photoshop files, are generally the common way to do it. In which case you upload a massive, massive file to a file transfer service such as Dropbox, or a lot of companies often have an internal file transfer upload - you log onto their system and upload directly to their system. K: If you're getting, especially one of those huge high-res layered images, you need to have a program that can manipulate it. You might need something additional on your end to even work with the image then. But also like, these files are huge. Typically they can't just email it to you. There's actually file transfer services as Grace mentioned, where you drop these and it's just in there for like two days. And you've gotta go get the file within that two-day period. G: Yeah. I think for major transfers I generally lean on Dropbox and actually just sometimes Google Drive. They're not exactly super secure, but like - K: [laughing] G: - few very people are going around sneaking your self-pub cover, like. [laughing] They'll just delete it after you've got it. K [laughing]: Well, you never know, Grace. Maybe someday somebody will steal something that you've done and leak it to the public, and - G: That actually would be really bad. [laughing] I work for Wiz of the Coast, if it happens then it's bad. R: Secure FTPs from here on out. [laughing] K: Multi-factor authentication in order to get these files. G: Yeah. R: So Grace, I happen to know, because I am on the inside, that you are - at the time of this episode coming out - you are the guest art director on the next issue of The Deadlands. G: Yes! Yes I am. [laughing] R: So from the other side of the table, how do you go about picking artwork on behalf of who are essentially clients here for their magazine issue? G: Cool. So, for The Deadlands I worked with Cory, who is the main art director, and I looked through the existing repertoire of work that had already been selected for Deadlands publications. Cory was very helpful too in kind of summarizing up the visual style of the magazine, as stuff that's more dark, more photo-real, lots of use of textured work, and I could see it in all the previous selections that'd already gone through. So based off of that, I was using my knowledge of my time in the art community to find pieces that I thought would resonate with that style. G: I was also provided a showcase short story essentially, for that issue, that they thought like ‘hey it would be good if the cover resonated emotionally with this written piece.' So I was looking for stuff that leveraged the visuals within that story, visuals of growth and forestry in particular, goes with a nice visceral story. They gave me the rest of the stories to read too, but as just more background information. And so I went to the portfolios of some of the artists that I knew worked in that kind of emotional field, like artists that did a lot of dark work, artists that do a lot of work in monochrome spaces, and so I looked in their portfolios for work to license that fit the forest-y theme of the showcase story. G: And so I took a couple of pieces that I thought were good, showed them to Cory, Cory showed them to the editor, and we moved forward with one of them. I contacted that artist; they spoke English as a second language so that's another thing you have to watch out with artists, so you have to be very clear and direct in your emails to make sure that you can be understood when your email gets thrown into Google Translate. And then I put Cory in touch with the artist for final contracts and payment. R: This is coming out on September 14th; the new issue of The Deadlands should be out on the 19th, so make sure you check that out, because you will see the cover that Grace picked, and the art that fit into the style, and I happen to know from behind the scenes that everyone was really enthusiastic about your choices. So you made a small mention, but we should probably highlight just a little bit - this is licensed artwork, the artwork already exists, you didn't commission something new, this is a piece that the artist already created either on commission or just as part of their creative process on their own. And so the artwork is available for license, which means that in a limited capacity it can be used again. Can you explain a little bit more about licensing? G: Yeah. So licensing is essentially buying rights to print an image, whether it be like a t-shirt or whether it be like your book cover, and it kinda goes through a separate route than commissioning. So commissioning essentially you are paying for a service, you're paying for an artist's time to make custom work for you. For licensing, it's closer to buying rights, and you're saying ‘I want to pay you x amount for the right to use this image in my piece. And generally artists are pretty lenient about licensing, especially if you are doing a non-exclusive license. It's basically free money for us, like you're paying us for something that we've already created, there's no additional hourly time that we're gonna have to handle other than administrative fees, which are usually more than covered in the licensing. For that you just generally email them and ask them if they have a licensing fee already, or you can generally look for standard licensing fees for products of the same type as yours. G: Most magazines and such will print how much they pay for licensed covers, in part of their artistic submissions and generally you can offer this rate for similar products within the field. When you are commissioning, though, these rights and usages will actually be factored into the contract. For example, if you want to be the only person who can use this work, you want the artist never to sell this work to another licensee, then this will factor into the cost of your original contract. The flat rate that the artist gives you might be higher, because basically you're saying they can't make future money off of it by licensing it to somebody else. ‘Cause copyright-wise, the image I believe is retained with the artist, unless the rights are completely bought out in the contract. Like I believe most contracts are they pay for the work and they pay to license the work, so an exclusive license would be the license fee but higher. R: Kind of like the layered file, like you know that this person wants to own this image and do whatever they want with it, so you kind of charge extra. G: Yeah. I'll charge even higher if somebody is like ‘you can never show this in your portfolio,' like you can't even use this to get more work later. K: I don't understand why anyone would want that. R: Yeah. K: Ok. G: It really has to do with intellectual property NDA-type stuff, so if they're like ‘this is a super-secret project, this is too early on,' ‘cause usually it's like artists get to post in a portfolio once the thing has been released, but if they're worried a project is gonna be canceled and they wanna hold onto the image in case they wanna use it for another project, then that would bar them from putting it in a portfolio. This is more common practice among artists who work in video games and animation, where their projects are constantly like revolving, canceled, there's a lot more asset reuse, yeah. R: Alright so. There [laughing] is a lot of information on licensing, on contracts, on payment structures. Be nice to the artist, ‘cause look at everything they're already balancing. K [overlapping]: [laughing] R: So any final thoughts, Grace? Anything we haven't touched on that is a bugaboo for you, that you wanna make sure we warn people or - G: I feel like we've covered a lot. R: - invite people, it can be inviting too. G: I dunno, come to my class November 13th. It's a free business class on how to write effective art briefs. [laughs] R: Yes, that's through Clarion West. G: It'll be through the Clarion West, yes. R: Yeah, so we will put the link to that in the show notes. Hopefully the - is it unlimited spaces, or is it limited? G: There are one hundred spaces, I think like 40 of them are already taken. R: Okay! So by the time this comes out there'll be less than 60 available, so make sure that you go find that link in the show notes for that free workshop, because I think a brief is going to make you as compatible as possible with the person that you commission. Because you wanna make their job easy, so that they don't wanna charge you extra. K [overlapping]: [laughing] R: And also so that they still love your project by the time they get to the final artwork. K: Yeah, so they don't have some sort of visceral shudder reaction every time the name of that book or project comes up. [laughing] G: Things also go around. Artists talk to each other, so if you give one a terrible time, then a lot of them will not wanna work with you anymore. K: Yeah this is something not just in art and publishing, but I think most industries - people who work in the same field talk to each other. Artists do not exist in a bubble, they are not all hiding in some dark studio bent over an oil painting that they've been devoting their life to - G: I mean we are. K: Okay. G: But we all just have Discord open on the side. K [laughing]: The room has internet access, yes. Grace thanks so much, this was great. I think this was a lot of really good information that people kinda dipping their toe in the water here may not be aware of, or know how to find easily. But speaking of finding, where can people find you? G: Ah, you can find me on ArtStation, at artstation.com/fictograph. It's like pictograph but with an f instead of a p. That is the same on Twitter, where it's mostly cat photos. K: [laughing] R: Alright we will put those links in the show notes too, so you won't even have to spell anything. Just go find a link, and go find Grace because Grace has a lot of amazing artwork to look at, and also might be the perfect artist for a future project of yours!

Jane Miller works in private practice as a licensed psychotherapist/clinical social worker, with a particular interest in holistic modalities of healing. She currently focuses on educating others about the legal, ethical, and practical criteria of working with Psychiatric Service Dogs (PSDs). Miller has lectured about PSDs in a variety of settings, ranging from The Cleveland Clinic & MetroHealth Medical Centers' Departments of Psychiatry & Psychology, The International Association of Animal Behavioral Consultants Conference (IAABC), The Cleveland Natural History Museum, The Psychology of Health, Immunity & Disease Conference (NICABM), The National Association of Social Workers Conference and many other national and local organizations, schools, and dog-training facilities. Miller recently was approached by the VA Hospital to present for their Departments of Psychiatry & Psychology Grand Rounds focusing on PSD's for soldiers returning from combat with PTSD and to speak for the Veteran's Administrations PTSD Consortium. She appeared in the PBS program "Health Visions - Animals As Healers" on the healing power of animals and joined world-renowned veterinarian/author Dr. Allen Schoen to present a workshop on the topic of animals as healers at a national conference for medical professionals (See NICABM). She is also a practitioner of QiGong and Reiki and teaches stress reduction techniques to her clients and their service dogs. Miller earned her BA in psychology and biology from Oberlin College, and her MA in Clinical Social Work from Case Western Reserve University. She has received the Irene Sogg Gross Award for Humanitarian Services and has contributed scholarly essays for professional journals and anthologies in the field of clinical social work. Her professional experience includes serving as a counselor at a battered women's shelter and at a group home supervisor for the developmentally disabled, and as a research assistant in microbiology/immunology at Temple University Medical School. Jane Miller's lifelong passion for healing has emphasized the human-animal connection, culminating in certifications as a Canine Massotherapist and as a Consultant for Therapy and Service Animals by the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC). - http://www.healing-companions.com/ To listen to all our XZBN shows, with our compliments go to: https://www.spreaker.com/user/xzoneradiotv*** AND NOW ***The ‘X' Zone TV Channel on SimulTV - www.simultv.comThe ‘X' Chronicles Newspaper - www.xchroniclesnewspaper.com

Jane Miller works in private practice as a licensed psychotherapist/clinical social worker, with a particular interest in holistic modalities of healing. She currently focuses on educating others about the legal, ethical, and practical criteria of working with Psychiatric Service Dogs (PSDs). Miller has lectured about PSDs in a variety of settings, ranging from The Cleveland Clinic & MetroHealth Medical Centers' Departments of Psychiatry & Psychology, The International Association of Animal Behavioral Consultants Conference (IAABC), The Cleveland Natural History Museum, The Psychology of Health, Immunity & Disease Conference (NICABM), The National Association of Social Workers Conference and many other national and local organizations, schools, and dog-training facilities. Miller recently was approached by the VA Hospital to present for their Departments of Psychiatry & Psychology Grand Rounds focusing on PSD's for soldiers returning from combat with PTSD and to speak for the Veteran's Administrations PTSD Consortium. She appeared in the PBS program "Health Visions - Animals As Healers" on the healing power of animals and joined world-renowned veterinarian/author Dr. Allen Schoen to present a workshop on the topic of animals as healers at a national conference for medical professionals (See NICABM). She is also a practitioner of QiGong and Reiki and teaches stress reduction techniques to her clients and their service dogs. Miller earned her BA in psychology and biology from Oberlin College, and her MA in Clinical Social Work from Case Western Reserve University. She has received the Irene Sogg Gross Award for Humanitarian Services and has contributed scholarly essays for professional journals and anthologies in the field of clinical social work. Her professional experience includes serving as a counselor at a battered women's shelter and at a group home supervisor for the developmentally disabled, and as a research assistant in microbiology/immunology at Temple University Medical School. Jane Miller's lifelong passion for healing has emphasized the human-animal connection, culminating in certifications as a Canine Massotherapist and as a Consultant for Therapy and Service Animals by the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC). - http://www.healing-companions.com/ To listen to all our XZBN shows, with our compliments go to: https://www.spreaker.com/user/xzoneradiotv *** AND NOW *** The ‘X' Zone TV Channel on SimulTV - www.simultv.com The ‘X' Chronicles Newspaper - www.xchroniclesnewspaper.com

Jane Miller works in private practice as a licensed psychotherapist/clinical social worker, with a particular interest in holistic modalities of healing. She currently focuses on educating others about the legal, ethical, and practical criteria of working with Psychiatric Service Dogs (PSDs). Miller has lectured about PSDs in a variety of settings, ranging from The Cleveland Clinic & MetroHealth Medical Centers' Departments of Psychiatry & Psychology, The International Association of Animal Behavioral Consultants Conference (IAABC), The Cleveland Natural History Museum, The Psychology of Health, Immunity & Disease Conference (NICABM), The National Association of Social Workers Conference and many other national and local organizations, schools, and dog-training facilities. Miller recently was approached by the VA Hospital to present for their Departments of Psychiatry & Psychology Grand Rounds focusing on PSD's for soldiers returning from combat with PTSD and to speak for the Veteran's Administrations PTSD Consortium. She appeared in the PBS program "Health Visions - Animals As Healers" on the healing power of animals and joined world-renowned veterinarian/author Dr. Allen Schoen to present a workshop on the topic of animals as healers at a national conference for medical professionals (See NICABM). She is also a practitioner of QiGong and Reiki and teaches stress reduction techniques to her clients and their service dogs. Miller earned her BA in psychology and biology from Oberlin College, and her MA in Clinical Social Work from Case Western Reserve University. She has received the Irene Sogg Gross Award for Humanitarian Services and has contributed scholarly essays for professional journals and anthologies in the field of clinical social work. Her professional experience includes serving as a counselor at a battered women's shelter and at a group home supervisor for the developmentally disabled, and as a research assistant in microbiology/immunology at Temple University Medical School. Jane Miller's lifelong passion for healing has emphasized the human-animal connection, culminating in certifications as a Canine Massotherapist and as a Consultant for Therapy and Service Animals by the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC). - http://www.healing-companions.com/ To listen to all our XZBN shows, with our compliments go to: https://www.spreaker.com/user/xzoneradiotv *** AND NOW *** The ‘X' Zone TV Channel on SimulTV - www.simultv.com The ‘X' Chronicles Newspaper - www.xchroniclesnewspaper.com

The summary of today show is a very timely subject of how to cope with the struggles of isolation in a the times of the Pandemic. Interview with my guest Nicole Cimmarusti who is a college student at UC Davis in California studying Psychology. She interviews Joanne on how Covid 19 has impacted people in general and client with Emotional Support Animals  (ESAs) and Psychiatric Service Dogs (PSD).   Nicole started off by sharing why she wants to do her paper on emotional support animals and how they can help with the feelings of Isolation through the pandemic and ways to cope better. We discussed working with ESAs and PSDs and how it can help with anxiety to fly. Joanne works with clients who need an Emotional Support Animals (ESA) or a Psychiatric Service Dog. (PSD) and the difference between them. ESAs need to help with a daily functioning, like sleep, concentration or socializing and the law is now only for housing and it is under the FHA.   The law for PSD is under the Americas with Disabilities Act (ADA) and they can go anywhere with the person.  The dog needs to be “trained” to do a task to help them with their psychological diagnosis. Suggestions to help with isolations for building daily habits to not let drama take your focus off your goals and to focus forward on solutions, instead of focusing on problems. How to get a Psychiatric Service Dog, and how to get a Emotional Support Animal.  Find a dog at a shelter that matches your energy level and emotional needs to calm or comfort you or helps by noticing your anxiety is rising that come over and calms your anxiety or depression. Dogs can help with isolation during the pandemics. Connecting with others is really important for dealing with isolation, reach out in other in any way that will. Suicides have increased because of isolation call the hot line 1800-273-8255. Reach out to a professional. There is a current Shadow Pandemic with mental health issues rising. Campus resources for counseling. But less access because of demand. Interns are not allowed to do in-person sessions because of Covid. Some of the interview questions she asked and we explored in the podcast. How has the pandemic affected the need for emotional support animals? What’s the difference between an ESA and PSD and who qualifies? How has the pandemic affected your business of certifying with emotional support animals? More personally, how have you been coping with the isolation of the pandemic and what would you recommend for people struggling? Nicole and Joanne described the affect of isolation and losses from the Pandemic. This is by no means a replacement for therapy of any medical attention if you need it.  Always reach out and take care of yourself or if you are feeling like you want to hurt yourself, there is always someone standing by at 1800-273-8255 or call 911. Remember to Share the Love. Or check out other videos of the podcast at AnxietySimplified.net Or go to https://esapros.com for an emotional support animal or a Psychiatric Service Dog to go with you everywhere to give you the support you need. Join us for Our next podcast: How to keep what happen in Vagus, in the Vagus nerve See other podcasts at AnxietySimplified.net

Whooooo are they? Who ooo. Ooo ooo. Yea I know we're recycling the same joke from last week but you can't expect us to be funny all the time (or even sometimes). This week we will find out the what, why and who of the new Perth Swing Dance Society.Story time with Chester Whitmorehttps://www.facebook.com/events/247701423217227Perth Swing Dance Societyhttps://perthswing.com/Patreon Supporthttps://www.patreon.com/user?u=31754096

Brands wanting to stand-out (and the agencies that serve them) often seek to have a unique visual voice within their digital experiences. This process often starts with designers using design software like Photoshop to design an experience that development teams will convert into themes and content within WordPress. This is a tried and true workflow for WordPress teams, but how can teams use workflows like these in efficient ways that not only preserve the visual voice of the designer, but preserve agility within development teams?In this episode of PressThis, we interview Gautam Khorana of Seahawk Media about his team's process for Custom PSD to WordPress conversions. Gautam shares how his teams approach projects like these, the technology they use, and how WordPress plays a unique role in scaling design innovation in the projects they complete.If you're looking for new ideas on how to better convert PSDs to WordPress sites, listen to this episode of PressThis now!"

Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.08.18.253120v1?rss=1 Authors: Colon-Cruz, L., Rodriguez-Morales, R., Santana-Cruz, A., Castres-Velez, J., Torrado-Tapias, A., Yudowski, G., Kensler, R., Marie, B., Burgess, S. M., Renaud, O., Varshney, G. K., Behra, M. Abstract: The role of the cannabinoid receptor 2 (CNR2) is still poorly described in sensory epithelia. We found strong cnr2 expression in hair cells (HCs) of the inner ear and the lateral line (LL), a superficial sensory structure in fish. Next, we demonstrated that sensory synapses in HCs were severely perturbed in larvae lacking cnr2. Appearance and distribution of presynaptic ribbons and calcium channels (Cav1.3) were profoundly altered in mutant animals. Clustering of membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) in post-synaptic densities (PSDs) was also heavily affected, suggesting a role for cnr2 for maintaining the sensory synapse. Furthermore, vesicular trafficking in HCs was strongly perturbed suggesting a retrograde action of the endocannabinoid system (ECs) via cnr2 that was modulating HC mechanotransduction. We found similar perturbations in retinal ribbon synapses. Finally, we showed that larval swimming behaviors after sound and light stimulations were significantly different in mutant animals. Thus, we propose that cnr2 is critical for the processing of sensory information in the developing larva Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info

Setelah memutuskan untuk ke medan, aku gagal lolos PPLP tapi tetap melanjutkan latihan di ssb kurnia, dari sini banyak perjalanan bar. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Shownotes:Alle Details & Links dieser Folge: https://talkondemand.at/65/  Nun ist es soweit, seit wenigen Tagen ist das neue Provisionsmodell von Spreadshirt online! Merkt man schon den versprochenen Anstieg der Sales oder gibt es den erwarteten Einbruch der Provisionen? Dies und weitere Themen aus der bunten Print on Demand Welt besprechen wir in der Episode 65 des Talk on Demand Podcasts, hört rein! Themen und Links dieser Folge: Merch by Amazon legt Infoblatt bei Kindergrößen bei Tobi feiert Tier-Up Party Productor Update - Rezensionen inkl. Text anzeigen Februar Sales Affinity 1.8 Update unterstützt PSDs mit Smart Objectshttps://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/1-8/  Spreadshirt neues Provisionsmodellhttps://www.spreadshirt.net/forum/t/das-neue-vergutungsmodel/7925/365  Petition von Felix:https://shirtmoneymakers.com/spreadshirt-petition/  Feedback Runde: DANKE für euer Feedback & Reviews! Hinterlass doch auch mal ne Bewertung:https://talkondemand.at/itunesDE https://talkondemand.at/itunesAT 

On this episode of Local Control, Peter Ravella speaks with Robert Young, the Director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines, a joint Duke University/Western Carolina University venture. He is also a Professor of Geology at Western Carolina University and a licensed professional geologist in three states (FL, NC, SC). The Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines (PSDS) is a research and policy outreach center serving the global coastal community. The primary mission of PSDS is to conduct scientific research into coastal processes and to translate that science into management and policy recommendations through a variety of professional and public outreach mechanisms. The Program specializes in evaluating the design and implementation of coastal engineering projects. Dr. Young received a BS degree in Geology (Phi Beta Kappa) from the College of William & Mary, and MS degree in Quaternary Studies from the University of Maine, and a PhD in Geology from Duke University where he was a James B. Duke Distinguished Doctoral Fellow.

The conditions that brought us to the series of events in WESTPAC in 2017 did not happen over night. They did not happen in one PCS cycle, or under one command climate. Layer by layer from many sources, it took time to get to where we found it.Our guest for the full hour to discuss his views of the latent causes of what is now generally accepted as a systemic failure of a "new normal" will be J.C. Harvey, Jr., Admiral USN (Ret.).Admiral Harvey retired from the Navy in November, 2012 after serving as the Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, in Norfolk, Virginia.In his 39 year Navy career, he specialized in naval nuclear propulsion, surface ship & Carrier strike-group operations & Navy-wide manpower management/personnel policy development. He served in a variety of operational command positions at sea, as the Navy’s Chief of Naval Personnel (the senior uniformed human resources official in the Navy) & as the Director, Navy Staff immediately prior to commanding U.S. Fleet Forces.Since his retirement, Admiral Harvey has joined the Board of Directors of the Navy Memorial Foundation, where he currently serves as Chairman of the Board, & serves as an Outside Director of AT Kearney, PSDS.On 12 January, 2014, he was sworn in as a member of Governor McAuliffe’s cabinet where he served as the Commonwealth’s Secretary of Veteran & Defense Affairs until 31 August, 2017.A few months later, he joined the Institute of Defense Analyses as the Director, Strategy, Forces & Resources Division.Born and raised in Baltimore, MD, Admiral Harvey is a graduate of the Phillips Exeter Academy, the US Naval Academy & the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.Admiral Harvey & his wife, Mary Ellen, now reside in Vienna, Virginia & have two grown children, Sarah & David.

Ryan Summers - Character Animation, Motion Design, Visual Effects, Studios, Freelancing, Networking, Finding Your Voice, After Effects and Cinema 4D. As motion design matures, Ryan discusses with host Blair Walker how we are in a unique position to create products ourselves, rather than for clients. Pro Video Picks: Animatic.io - create hand-drawn animations on iOS and Android Video Copilot Saber - Use as a stroke with taper instead of trapcode stroke. School of Motion - A free tapered stroke preset available when you sign up for the free areas of their site. Following online: Ice Cream Hater Aaron Covrett - Twitter  Inspirational Videos: “Klaus” by Sergio Pablos “Lynx and Birds” by Blue Zoos  Where you can follow Ryan online: Ryan Summers - Twitter  Pro Video Podcast Online: Blair Walker - Twitter Pro Video Podcast - Slack Pro Video Podcast - Facebook Group Pro Video Podcast - Twitter Pro Video Podcast - Website  Show Notes: Compiled by Matt Lloyd 1:06 - Ryan’s background 3:30 - Digital Kitchen (DK) a “creative design company” designing spaces and places 3:45 - Motion design has diversified onto all kinds of “canvasses”, far beyond broadcast media. 4:55 - Brett Morris with Ranger and Fox is an example of someone proving that a small company (two staff and some freelancers) can now compete directly with the likes of DK. The skillset and tools of the individual motion designer have kept pace with the explosion of new canvasses onto which motion can be applied. New “canvasses” for motion design: AR, VR, MR, realtime gaming... 5:30 - As motion designers, we get to use every aspect of creativity: sound, location, environment, projection mapping 6:00 - Audio as an essential ingredient of motion/experience design 8:47 - Capture room tone sound during production of any video that has audio as a component. 9:21 - Create a spotify playlist to inspire/influence you and your team when working 10:44 - Pixel density as a design consideration for giant screens 11:25 - Tuning the direction in which LEDs point 13:35 - Discussion of the @oddernod avatar, Big Van Vader 14:20 - Discussion of the opportunities afforded by the era of social media, and how such connections can lead to real life relationships: working and friendship. Ryan: “I’ll take the good with the bad to be able to have those opportunities ” 16:00 - Node Fest and Brett Morris 17:00 - In the last ten years the motion community has exploded. “It’s a full time job just keeping up with the community!” 18:30 - Ryan: “I always encourage graduates to network:” There are too many people graduating with no “workplace skills” 19:35 - Ryan: “After graduation I would spend all my time networking and the last two years before graduation as well: doing personal projects and sending them out on Twitter and Slack.” 19:48 - “How do I get to work at Buck?”: Find junior animators  who work there and reach out to them, don’t go via the head honchos or HR 20:15 - Even easier: Join the Node Slack group and post your work 20:54 - Happiness Factory for Coca Cola by Psyop as a turning point in the motion industry 22:03 - Ryan on getting hired: “It’s not even about showing your work: you have to be someone I want to work with.” 24:00 - Thoughts on brick and mortar schools vs online. 25:45 - Ryan: I can’t find [freelancers] who can work independently and turn a job around in a week 27:42 - Basic skills required in order to be a professional workaday motion artist 32:32 - Finding your voice. Why do you like making animation? Who do you want to reach? 32:55 - Make products! We have the one skill set that enables us to become, or to make the products such as games, movies, television shows etc 36:40 - Blair: “It’s very easy to work hard and not get very far, versus thinking big and sticking with it for a long time.” 39:40 - The importance of single mindedness in order to attain ambitious goals. 42:45 - Discussion of Ryan’s work specifically GOOGLE: Meet Data which he made for Oddfellows 45:30 - Ryan: Jordan Scott’s skills exploded 48:50 - Duik and the puppet pin for 2d animation 49:55 - Flow State experienced while animating 50:43 - Pro Video Picks: Animatic.io - create hand-drawn animations on iOS and Android. RS used it to help create the Detroiters titles. It can create layered PSDs, then utilize some Kyle Webster brushes etc 55:10 - “How was Glen Keane animating Tarzan?” Using a VCR jog shuttle to analyse it frame by frame.  57:00 - Inspirational video: “Klaus” by Sergio Pablos “Lynx and Birds” by Blue Zoos   01:00:20 - Following Online Ice Cream Hater Aaron Covrett - Twitter 01::02:40 - Where you can follow Ryan online: Ryan Summers - Twitter 01::05:55 - Pro Video Podcast Online: Blair Walker - Twitter Pro Video Podcast - Slack Pro Video Podcast - Facebook Group Pro Video Podcast - Twitter Pro Video Podcast - Website

I am starting a new short series on Sundays with John Riddle and Leigh Garczynski alternating short tips and recommendations for fitness and safety. Today John talks about situational awareness and being prepared for the unplanned events that come your way. Hope you enjoy these!

This week on the Boagworld Show we are joined by Chris Gollop to discuss moving away from PSDs, enforcing discipline and failing fast. This week's show is sponsored by Resource Guru and Invision.

On Thursday, January 30th, over one hundred people gathered at the statehouse in Montpelier to support passing PSD legislation this year. With this proposed legislation, all workers would get one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked; up to seven sick days per year, which would allow them to take time off without having to lose wages. Many people testified before the House General Committee to share how they've struggled without paid sick days and to show legislators why paid sick days for all workers are essential to the health and dignity of all people in Vermont. Others testified in solidarity with the thousands of Vermonters who struggle each day to meet their fundamental needs and who cannot afford to miss a day of work without pay when they or a loved one get sick. Many people shared how they struggle to make ends meet working in part-time, full-time, and temporary jobs, and how paid sick days must be available to all workers. Many business owners also shared why they support PSDs and why PSDs will not only benefit workers but businesses as well. Jennifer Kimmick, co owner of the Alchemist Pub & Brewery, shared how providing her employees with paid sick time helped her employees and her business. Paid sick days are a major step toward ensuring that the people of Vermont are treated with dignity at work.Without this legislation, many business owners will continue to prioritize their bottom line over the health needs of their employees. The people of Vermont can't afford to wait any longer. We must contact our representatives now and let them know we are in support of paid sick days for all workers in Vermont.

On Tuesday, January 7th, more than 100 people from across VT packed the statehouse in Montpelier to kick off the 2014 legislative session. The day began with a rally and press conference, lead by leaders of organizations such as Green Mountain Self Advocates, AFSCME, AFT, and the Vermont Workers' Center, who spoke about winning our human right to dignified work by passing PSD legislation this year. To kick off the press conference, members delivered over 2,000 PSD petitions to legislators to show the commitment to healthy communities and dignified work and the urgency to pass PSD this year. Along with PSDs, leaders also spoke about supporting VT Early Educators in forming a union, continuing to move forward with universal healthcare in VT, and developing a people's budget that meets everyone's fundamental needs. Following the rally and press conference, Governor Shumlin spoke to the House and Senate Healthcare Committees on how to move forward with universal healthcare in Vermont. Gov Shumlin spoke about the problems with the current insurance marketplace, VT Health Connect, and spoke about how to move forward with VT's transition to a universal healthcare system, which was passed into law in 2011 after years of grassroots organizing through the HCHR campaign. The day ended with a People's Team training. The People's Team consists of PPF members who sit in on legislative meetings at the statehouse in order to hold government officials accountable for decisions they make that affect the people of Vermont. During the training, members from PPF organizations spoke about the goals for this legislative session, what to expect when sitting in on a legislative meeting, and about what it means to be a member of the People's Team. This legislative session, through passing PSD legislation, supporting VT Early Educators in forming a union, developing a people's budget that meets everyone's fundamental needs, and continuing to work toward a universal healthcare system, together we will win Health & Dignity for the people of Vermont.

Prototyping is an effective way to communicate design ideas. Static PDFs, PSDs, and wireframes can help get your point across but aren’t dynamic. Usually, any necessary changes are logged away as to-dos. They’re then taken back, fixed, and presented again. Nathan Curtis and the team at EightShapes are prototyping with HTML and CSS more in their design process. They find that employing these techniques leads to greater efficiency.

Background: Schizophrenia is a significantly disabling disease that affects all major areas of life. There is a lack of comprehensive synthesis of research findings on the full extent of psychosocial difficulties (PSDs) experienced by people living with schizophrenia. This paper provides a systematic review of the literature concerning PSDs and their associated factors in schizophrenia. PSDs were conceptualized in accordance with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as disabilities, in particular impairments of mental functions, activity limitations and participation restrictions. Methods: An electronic search using MEDLINE and PsychINFO plus a manual search of the literature was performed for qualitative and longitudinal studies published in English between 2005 and 2010 that examined PSDs in persons with schizophrenia. The ICF was used as a conceptual framework. Results: A total of 104 papers were included. The most frequent PSDs addressed in the literature were not specific ones, directly linkable to the ICF categories of mental functions, activity limitations or participation restrictions, but broad areas of psychosocial functioning, such as psychopathological symptoms (53% of papers) or global disability and functioning (37%). Among mental functions, the most extensively studied were cognitive functions (27%) and emotional functions (27%). Within the domain of activities and participation, the most widely investigated were difficulties in relationships with others (31%) and employment (20%). Of the factors associated with the intensity or course of PSDs, the most commonly identified were treatment modalities (56%), psychopathological symptoms (26%), and socio-demographic variables (24%). Medication tended to improve the most relevant PSD, but at the same time was the only consistently reported determinant of onset of PSDs (emerging as unwanted side-effects). Conclusions: The present review illustrates the remarkably broad scope and diversity of psychosocial areas affected in schizophrenia and shows how these areas are interconnected and how they interact with contextual factors. The need for a shift in focus of schizophrenia research is suggested - from an excessive reliance on global measures of psychopathology and disability for defining outcomes to the creation of profiles of specific PSDs that have a more direct bearing on the disabling experience and real-world functioning of patients and can serve to guide interventions and monitoring over time.