December, 2018 - Ina Disguise

A conspiracy of charming men

December 27, 2018 No Comments

Today was rather dull, but I got a lot further with the chair. It is still going rather well, and I have ordered a few hundred metres of stuff from China for the lining, which is the basic structure. It will make more sense once there is something to look at. It will require professional lighting and photography this time, so I will have to save some pennies for that.

I still need to order something for the base, as it needs to be extremely sturdy and yet fairly tall to pull this off, unless I make it an old school dangling chair, which would take up too much space and be a bit too expensive I think.

A charming man stopped by for a chat at the car, so should he stop by, hi. I will perhaps come to work early next week or so and stop in to say hello. He is a business owner opening a cafe, so I guess it is his lucky day, since I am obviously going to be interested in interfering with that.

This seems very strange to me, but I didn’t really leave the house or go anywhere without someone I knew for many years because of previous experiences, so I guess it is normal for other people? Quite a lot of things are a mystery to me as a result. I seem to have a big sign up saying ‘single and looking’ at the moment.

I have about 48 hours to make as much money as possible now, so I will not be sleeping much for the next two days. I am having very strange dreams, featuring a selection of intensely staring people. I have no idea what this indicates, but I don’t feel the same sense of impending doom that I did when it was actually happening. You can’t lose a job you no longer have.

One of the charming men that has presented themselves in the last couple of weeks is a fat version of Staring Brat 2. He is Italian, but could easily pass for a brother. He is very very shy and dislikes my Russian soldier’s hat. Another author friend that I chat to was getting too depressed to recognise when someone was interested, so after a quick pep talk took less than 24 hours to find his new lady. Congrats. (I hope she likes football.)

Glad to see that I was wrong about the approval of the use of hemp in the USA. I am guessing this means big corporate interests have lobbied to use it for something.

Otherwise, the only remaining regular readers of this blog all have Cluster B issues, and I am a bit bored of feeding them. I think I might work on a different project for a while.

https://youtu.be/WRFS8xuWD6U

creativity

It’s beautiful

December 25, 2018 No Comments

Finally, I am reaching the point of Faberge, which was a heavy influence along with Tiffany and to a lesser extent Lalique, when figuring out the point I wanted to hit.

The colours are going on now, and even in it’s early state, I am very pleased with progress.

Little Shiva is beautiful. I am content. Good old Staring Brat 2. He won’t approve, of course but poo to you, SB.

Otherwise another hard working day, and the next week or so is busy, busy, busy whilst I generate capital for the second business project.

I am sure there will be a few more dramas along the way, there is a section which I cannot add until this part is done, but so far, so good.

Happy Camper. Oh and Happy Christmas.

business, creativity

The Year of Disconnection

December 23, 2018 No Comments

This seems to have been the year of disconnection.

It started off with being one of the top five performers in a company of 350 and being told that unless I agreed with American right wing corporate propaganda I would not progress in the role.

When I objected to this I was terminated as ‘not being a good fit.’ I would have been with the company now if it had not been for the force feeding of badly made corporate propaganda videos from a wide variety of companies.

Let’s hope Hugo Boss doesn’t make the uniforms, kids.

This week I got a metrics warning from one company who three days later promoted me and gave me a 25% pay rise.

I recently left a very well paid position because at entry level I knew far more about the business than the manager who had been there for years, on the grounds that if I didn’t she made it very clear she was going to invent reasons for terminating me. As this year has been hard enough, I took a short cut and again returned to freelancing. She chased me out of the door shouting that she was going to report me. I replied that I had already reported her.

I was offered two jobs this week. I will probably take both of them, but in the meantime am increasingly being offered shifts on a job where I sit and do artwork whilst waiting for the work to come in.

None of the people I met in actual workplaces seemed to have any connection to each other, instead waiting like baby birds for the great wage provider to tell them what to think.

We are already in a state of fascism. People rely on the money supply and the TV to tell them what to think, and I see little in the way of resistance. This does not bode well for free thought.

The world has become entirely crazy. I was discussing this with my friend, an international political journalist in Eastern Europe this evening, and she also sees this happening. I discussed with another friend, an artist and film director, and his comment was that since 80% of the population were morons anyway, what I am slightly shocked by is actually just another 18% or so going the same way.

I think the most shocking thing of this year was sitting discussing management with a person who described themselves as senior, who agreed with my comments on what management should be but had so little to do that he was going to go ahead and ruin my career in order to show that he could fill in some paperwork.

I am, sadly, less shocked by the actions of the Staring Brats, although the effects were devastating on my life. Apparently male sexuality is so acceptable that it is entirely right and fair to destroy someone because you aren’t getting what you want and then openly admit it in writing.

I am not sure at what point people became so disconnected from themselves and others.

Themselves, because it used to be that you were entitled to be a free thinking person as long as your work was okay. Now there are a myriad of non-related work reasons for you to be abused, and there is no protection of your right to think for yourself.

Others, because at least one person this year has openly suggested that I was doing something wrong by dealing with the family commitments. The idea of the elderly as refuse to be got out of the way seems to be prevalent with stupid people. My peer group, on the other hand, have largely taken care of business, despite our declining rights and access to pensions and benefits taken for granted by the selfish and overpaid boomers, who then proceed to have the nerve to complain about the millennials, who largely share their more thoughtless views but for more impressive reasons.

I feel rather fortunate to come from a time when people still connected with each other, who regarded it as shameful to isolate others on the grounds of age, gender or race and who – shock – horror – actually saw each other in person. Perhaps it is our reliance on technology and interaction with the screen that has reinforced the glass wall?

In any case, I am feeling very confident that what I have to contribute is worthwhile, so I will be spending the near future finishing up unfinished work for Wolfe, Boris, and Little Shiva prior to doing an awful lot of writing.

I am crossing my fingers that the very serious chap hasn’t lost my number. He does know about Ina, which is rather worrisome, but we live in hope that he can see past that. It is a lot to take in, I do appreciate that, but it is mostly hard work rather than being particularly intrusive.

creativity

Chair update

December 21, 2018 No Comments

Working my way through all the boring large bits of sewing as I work on one of my jobs. Now that this effectively puts a time on my work, I am astonished at what a huge commitment my work is. I have put in 60 hours already, and very little has been defined.

I think it will be a beautiful piece of work, and it certainly has a lot to say about religion and art history.

Stained glass windows, for example, are meant to represent the hymen of Mary, which is useful, as my first determination was how to combine the wild experimentation of Wolfe with the colonialist Indian influence of Boris in one piece.

As this was originally intended to glorify a Hindu, this is brought together with a touch of the Taj Mahal, and a blaze of colour, it will take several months after the initial sculpt is done.

I have no idea who will want to spend 20 odd grand on a chair, but who cares, it is a fascinating romp and probably my last blast.

I am busily friending lots of unsuspecting male Indians, one of them will be truly blessed in a Shiva/Hindu art kind of way.

Today was not great, someone tried to sell me a very expensive course which I would like to have done, but not enough to spend money that is intended for the chair. I procured another couple of opportunities instead. Life is a lot more fun like this.

No word from the gorgeous man with the nice vibe has yet. It is a bit soon, I guess.

Tee hee.

Ina

motivation

I’m Socially Inept

December 20, 2018 No Comments

Here is how crap I am at being a person.

I was asked out on a date for the first time ever today. I could have been asked out on this date months ago but I failed to answer a question correctly and didn’t even realise until this morning. Because I am so used to male company I took it at face value and replied that yes I quite like being single. It did not cross my mind for a minute that this was an incorrect response.

I am officially hopeless.

Fortunately I was a bit sleepy and in a dream-like state this morning, so I rolled with it a bit more. No, I said, it’s horrible. People are really nasty to you for no reason at all.

He’s very assertive, which is a nice change, and my mother would laugh and laugh at this situation given the number of times I said I would never meet anyone staying in the house.

All of that is really good, but now I will have to pretend to be a proper person, which could be more difficult.

Tomorrow is a very important day, so I must now work all night to prepare. I have just finished my other work, so now I must study whilst reheating.

My skin and chest issue has been triggered by delicious Uber Bars from the vegan store on Dumbarton road, so I do not think I shall be indulging any more, which is a pity because they are the food of the Gods. Back to low carb seaweed and grass and 10km a day I think.

motivation

And now everything changes …..

December 19, 2018 No Comments

I took down the last post because I figured that it a) contained a clear reference to the actual problem and b) indicated that I am again being kind and caring to someone that really doesn’t deserve it, neither of which you will appreciate.

Since then everything has changed. I am in a small amount of shock.

There are a lot of things happening tomorrow and another thing just happened. I am not sure how to react to it all but it is very good. I am sleepy but happy.

I may do a proper post much later on today.

(and whomever you have searching the site this time has the wrong name, by the way. No expense spared.)

business

Adventures in Venture capitalism

December 18, 2018 No Comments

Well we now have a nice overview of American Venture Capitalism, which has been fun over the last few weeks.

For those who don’t understand Venture Capitalism, it takes a number of forms. Cliff Richards is actually a super-scale VC in the UK. If you want three million or so for a few days to double it, he is your man.

Venture Capitalists are a little bit like high end backgammon players, which naturally takes my fancy, having been around a bit. High end backgammon players, however, are usually a bit better at statistics.

Taking the Cannabis industry as an example, I have managed to get the views of three VCs on it. They are significantly different.

VC1 is an investor. He/she thinks that the progressive legalisation for recreational use is a sign that the world is becoming tolerant of the industry in general, and has invested over half of the current financial holdings in one of the main three players.

VC2 is taking a more cautious view, and is anxiously watching to see how many states are planning to allow it for medicinal use, presumably hoping that big pharma takes it on. It is doubtful that this is going to happen all that soon, since unlike most pharmaceuticals CBD actually helps.

VC3 is my favourite. VC3 sees the vastly overvalued stocks and goes and has a look at the ‘big’ players in Canada. VC3 notices that a $45 million dollar company is, in fact, a medium sized shed in a country with poor weather, and realises that investing in Canadian pot is the most crazy investment strategy since the dot com boom. He also notes that the market for medicinal and recreational cannabis is about a tenth of the investments made, and so there is an enormous bubble which is likely to burst. I rather like VC3.

I am aware of at least two of the ‘big’ Canadian players, and whilst they are very nice chaps, they are unlikely to be creating a vast operation in Canada, given that it is far cheaper to grow pot elsewhere. It is also unlikely that recreational cannabis is likely to become widespread due to problems with monitoring blood levels of THC. Unlike alcohol, you cannot simply look at a blood test and tell whether someone is high or not.

Also, there were significant interests in banning all hemp products from other industries, since it is very useful. Thus we can see some parallels with the oil industry and electric cars. We aren’t going to see a lot of progress with moving on from using oil when oil is still plentiful and in the hands of people who are already very rich.

So, basically when you see a nice clean-cut venture capitalist telling you about their mammoth successes, bear in mind that they are probably investing in literally hundreds of companies on the basis that maybe three of them pay off. It is a high risk, and sporadically high reward business.

A good VC will tell you that investing ten million in a guy that makes great toast, for example, is self-fulfilling because that ten million will get the guy sufficient exposure and resources to scale his toast making to the point where his business pays off, at least until he pays the interest on the ten million. If your VC tells you this upfront, however, it is still a good idea to make sure you have evaluated the toast.

Uncategorized

Good and Fun Entertainment

December 17, 2018 No Comments

Well, I’m sure it is. I suspect you are a little bit racist, and a big bit shameless, given the lack of experience or concern for other people.

I certainly wouldn’t speak to you the way you spoke to me. Neither of you are particularly nice people. Lucky you found each other, really. I’d be more pissed off that he didn’t mention me, if I was you.

I’m not sure why you think he’s such a great catch? I was very kind, despite what he did.

motivation

What a strange bunch you are?

December 16, 2018 No Comments

Okay so you love The Sadist, but you don’t love Diversity Bingo

You are just wild about Went to Woo a Porn Star.

You don’t seem too crazy about FTAO NHS

A pattern is beginning to emerge, and it involves simple and slightly sexy titles. This is rather depressing. I wonder how to break out into the wider world really? I think this requires some expansion at this point. I am doing well, but not well enough.

Currently I am working on Let’s be Frank, a comment on what conformity looks like, which I am sure will be an interesting story for other people, but is rather depressingly normal to write.

In the meantime things are looking up work-wise, and I am moving from banking to the world of business consultancy, which looks a lot more fun. I hope to find fewer stupid people with safe jobs which they remain in by harming people.

Whilst I am doing this, I think I will construct some management courses, since this year has highlighted poor self image as being very expensive to the wider world of business. Most people would be damaged for life by a small percentage of the stuff that routinely happens to me, but I am very fortunate in that respect, and I guess it is my job to sprinkle some magic dust on the rest of the population.

I have a couple more amusing business titles to do, just as a prequel to the bigger books. I was looking back over some posts today and it is high time I stopped procrastinating.

I will be available to the public tomorrow if anyone would like to stop by and chat. Don’t bother unless you have sorted your shit out or want to work.

health, motivation

David Wolfe, here we go again.

December 13, 2018 No Comments

Every so often I like to write a really nice post about David Wolfe. Then I like to throw a tantrum. I haven’t done one for ages on the grounds that he turned out to be very married, but I see he has paid me a visit, so here we go, let us again attempt to explain the phenomenon that is Ina Disguise and David Wolfe.

For those who are not as familiar with this topic as Wolfe and I, I used to be a super critical and very serious lady who happened to have had a very open relationship with alternative health as my early General Practice doctors had trained prior to the worship of big pharma and were not only medical doctors but homeopaths. (shock, horror)

The now normalised hatred of herbalism and homeopathy did not exist post-war. People used what worked, and doctors were unusually interested in health. This has been eroded to the point that even talking about alternative health means that you are subject to personal attack, even without the addition of positive reinforcement and entertainment as a tool to gently coaxing people to take better care of themselves generally.

Twenty years ago or so, long before I had ever heard of Wolfe, I had a stand up fight with the Senior pathologist in Glasgow, about the necessity of paying for more doctors, versus the necessity of improving public health. I had no idea I felt so strongly about it until I was red in the face arguing with him about appropriate investment and misleading information.

Anyway, with the shining example of my early doctors and my father I had always had a keen interest in alternative health alongside my interest in politics and economic history. This has now become an issue of personal freedom, especially since the NHS chose to force the issue in the case of my parents.

Prior to the radical change in my diet brought on by my taking things into my own hands via Wolfe, I suffered from anaemia, frequent depression, psoriasis and I was becoming increasingly crippled down my left side, partially due to what I suspect is a form of arthritis, my heroic use of the mouse, and some damage in a car accident when I was 24 or so. (hysterical French chef boyfriend) I was also intermittently huge. I am not particularly small now, but I am an unusually happy, creative, motivated and positive person, to the point that couch potatoes find me quite odd.

I now look deceptively young, have no pain, no depression and no psoriasis. I am not a great example of a raw foodist, I am quite scruffy about it, but my health and my diet is now managed quite carefully, and when I am not overworking I actually look after myself.

My mother also got an extra seven months thanks to my knowledge, and clearly that is a good thing. She was a happy lady eventually. I would have preferred that she was happy for a bit longer and that they had left us alone. People are disgusting.

Anyway, all that being said as a preamble:

Disliking Wolfe, disregarding Wolfe as a nut based on not liking everything that he has to say, singling out bits of the more entertaining material as evidence that you should be lazy and go to a doctor rather than look into your problems yourself is what a stupid, immature and lazy thinker does. I chose not to do that for a number of reasons:

He is very skilled at putting together information, much of the more whacky material is very carefully placed to keep you awake enough to hear more.
He is a highly intelligent individual, and if you look hard enough you will find material that you cannot find anywhere else.
If you have even half a brain, it is very simple to ignore the bits you aren’t interested in and pursue the bits you are.
Wolfe can be quite lazy, and can fail to take some elements seriously. That appears to be my job, and I am guilty of lack of self-belief, even now. He is busy marketing, and that is fine with me.
Once you consider the matter of how knowledge has been annexed for the purposes of making pharmaceutical companies the font of all belief, you cannot believe how stupid it has made even high level medical staff. I was confronted by a consultant telling me she did not believe in science that she had not even seen a year ago. This statement is in itself unscientific and evidence of dogmatic education. Thus big pharma has even infiltrated education to the point of religious mania, which is exceptionally dangerous, especially coupled with the fervor for social engineering in the form of killing entire sectors of the population in the UK. An example of this would be the deaths from Alzheimer’s in Scotland going up by 31% in one year. That is not a natural event.
Much of Wolfe’s work is given for nothing, and I cannot say that he has been at all mean about distribution. His work on motivating people to consider taking care of themselves is outstanding, and free. Any self-respecting doctor will tell you how difficult it is to motivate patients. I struggle with this side of things even with myself as an example.
If you also factor in Wolfe’s less witting work on opening you up to consider the matter of personal confidence, which is also free, you start to understand just how hard the dude has worked.

I think that’s enough. I am not weeping. (yay)

I still haven’t managed to write the thing I wanted to write today, but I hope that is a reasonably succinct snapshot of 9 years of intensive self-work that I only did because I wanted to some day be adequate. (spoke too soon, you’re an asshole, Wolfe.)

Thanks,

Ina

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