Hey everyone,
I’m currently trying to join the USAF from overseas, and my experience with the recruiter has been pretty discouraging. I had my draft Dream Sheet ready with various career fields I was interested in. Still, my recruiter dismissed almost everything on my list as a "non-priority" or unavailable for new enlistments. Instead, he mostly pitched roles in aviation and flights, intelligence, and maintenance and repair.
Here’s what he told me about the AFSCs I listed, find my comments in cursive text inside parentheses:

• 4N1X1 Surgical Technologist –medical (you can only list one)
  
• 3N0X1 Public Affairs – requires application/audition
  
• 3F0X1 Personnel –not an Air Force priority
  
• 3F5X1 Administration – not an Air Force priority
  
• 3D0X1 Knowledge Operations Management – old AFSC (How can it be old if it's still listed as a career on the official Air Force website?)
  
• 6F0X1 Financial Management Controller – not an Air Force priority
  
• 1A1X8 Flight Attendant – not available for new enlistments anymore
  
• 1W0X1 Weather –(he didn’t specify anything)
  
• 4A2X1 Biomedical Equipment – medical (you can only list one) ("You can only list one"; however, it's categorized under Science and Technology on the official website)
  
• 4R0X1 Diagnostic Imaging – medical (you can only list one)
  

I’m feeling pretty frustrated and confused about my options at this point. Has anyone else had a similar experience? How did you navigate it? Any advice on how to better approach this or perhaps a way to get a second opinion on career availability?
Thanks in advance for any help or guidance you can provide!

Android 15 is on the horizon, and with that comes a few crucial questions for the future of Tasker. Here's a list of changes in the current beta 2:

• Android 15 will block users from installing apps with a target SDK version ≤ 23. Previously, Android 14 blocked apps with target SDK version ≤ 22.
  
• I previously reported, Android 15 is adding support for 16 KB page sizes. Google says devices with larger page sizes can see improved performance in memory-intensive workloads. Apps with NDK libraries will likely need to be rebuilt to work on these devices.
  
• 15 includes ANGLE as an optional layer for running OpenGL ES on top of Vulkan. The move to ANGLE will standardize the Android OpenGL implementation. Going forward, ANGLE will be shipped as the default GL system driver on more new devices with the goal for GL/ES to be only available through ANGLE.
  
• devices that don’t have a HW AV1 decoder, VideoLAN’s SW AV1 decoder (dav1d) can be utilized. As I previously reported, dav1d is a highly efficient and performant AV1 decoder. It’s included by default in Android 15 but is available on Android 11+ devices through a Play System Update. However, apps have to opt in by invoking dav1d by name for now.
  
• Improvements to the security of intents. Intents that target specific components must match the target’s intent-filter specifications. Intents without an action will no longer match any intent-filters.
  
• Foreground services that rely on the SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW permission exemption for background starts are now required to have a visible overlay when targeting Android 15.
  
• dataSync and mediaProcessing foreground service types now have a ~6 hour timeout after which the service is no longer considered a foreground service. If the service doesn’t stop itself, it’ll get stopped with a failure.
  

-, some text changes. Beta 2 includes API-related updates from ICU 74. The font file for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean is now a variable font. There’s now a font file for the Japanese Hentaigana font. TextView now allocates additional width for cursive fonts or language characters with complex shaping that may otherwise get clipped.

Source: GApps Flags & Leaks
The main issues are points 5, 6, and potentially 7(?) Could any of these changes change the way that Tasker behaves in future releases? Are any of these changes cause for concern?
u/joaomgcd
Edit: I had to remove the source url as the post was being flagged as spam.

You all. I’m even embarrassed to ask this and I’ve used my Cricut so much but I’m one of those that when I’m done I forget everything and each project is like I’m a novice again. 🙄
So I’m trying to print simple text on black vinyl to put in a shadowbox for a year end teacher gift but I’m seriously getting stuck at the san serif text and how I connect them so that when I cut it on my Cricut it’s all one piece and not letter by letter. Does that make sense? The cursive font I’ve got all connected but how do we handle that with block letters? I can’t use transfer tape bc I’m putting it on a cardboard base so it will tear the paper.
I’m sure I’m overcomplicating this. Am I? Am I just not thinking about this clearly?
Photo of what I’m trying to accomplish and the font on my design center.

From what I know, it seems like you can only use a USI 2 pen on the original Duet 3. If someone has the original Duet 3 can confirm that? I would really appreciate it.
If you're using a USI pen with your Duet 3, what has been your experience been like? What app do you use? If you use the Cursive App, how well does it work?
I've had my Duet 3 for a couple of years and have found it to be less than stellar tablet experience. I was hoping to invigorate my experience and use it for handwritten note taking and maybe some drawing.
Ultimately, I would like to take handwritten notes that can be translated to real text.
Anyway, I know I covered a lot of ground, but I'm gratefully to anyone that wants to share their insights.

Hi all, my wife is a big LOTR fan and i'm looking to get her a customised bookmark as part of an anniversary gift. I'd love for it to have a quote from LOTR on it, especially if it's related to books/reading/stories in general. Extra bonus points if it's from Gandalf!
It's space limited to the below though:
Cursive text - maximum 2 sentences 5/6 words each sentence Arial text - maximum 3-4 sentences 5/6 words each
Any suggestions or recommendations are welcome! Thank you all in advance.

UPDATE: we tried. He stood up for me, and us, and my mom. And it was just completely shrugged off.
Denied shouldering my friend even though 4 separate people saw it. Denied being rude to my mom or grandma. He tried to talk about how she never texts or calls or bothers with us, she said everyone’s working we’re all busy. That’s just how it is. So we did our best and I think he got a little closure in knowing he tried to reason with her. Access to LO will be 1000000% supervised until she’s old enough to speak.
I had my baby shower on Saturday and it went as expected. MIL began making snide comments before I even got there.
A point of contention for the shower for her were the catered desserts. Which were phenomenal and everyone raved about. Several times to several people she said “these are not appropriate for a baby shower. These are meant for a wedding”. (She had wanted to have the desserts homemade by a cousin.)
My mom had ordered a small banner for the gift table with our last name in cursive. I’d seen it many times before the shower. None of us noticed a small spelling error. Think “ante” instead of “onte”. Very minor. MIL had a FIELD day with this. Laughing and telling anyone who’d listen “SOMEONE spelled the last name wrong did you see???? I don’t know WHO did that” - knowing full well it was my mom and just trying to shame her.
She refused to help my mom set up the table flowers or announce the games. (Though previously made a stink that she didn’t feel included enough). And still brought the pumpkin and ice cream cones she for prizes even though I asked her not to. (See previous)
She and her sisters hardly spoke to me all afternoon. She didn’t take a single photo of the room or of/with me, didn’t take any photos at all. My grandma who she’s met before and is 82 went over to say hi to her and she just said hi and walked away.
She didn’t help clean up the room after, all my friends, my mom and I tore down the room and tidied up while she sat talking to her sisters. Then she got up and said bye to me and walked out. Didn’t say bye to my mom.
On her way out 3 of my girlfriends were standing near the exit, one holding another’s 2 month old baby. MIL was carrying a laundry basket with her and essentially shoved my friend with it instead of saying excuse me. Hard enough it moved her body and she was shocked. My other friends who witnessed this were angry too.
The day was a culmination of months of poor behavior ever since we told her I’m pregnant.
Tonight we are going over to ILS house to talk about it and I could not be more anxious.
Any advice on how to calmly broach the subject and begin a dialogue about her heinous behavior the last few months?

Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXXXI

The broadcast is scheduled for 4 AM Pacific 7 AM Eastern 11 AM UTC 9 PM Australian Eastern.
This Live Letter will preview upcoming Job updates for Dawntrail!
Where to watch:

• YouTube
• Twitch
• Niconico

This Live Letter will have live audio translation from Japanese to English, and presentation slides and important information will be presented in both English and Japanese text. As always, we invite you to check out the #translations-and-liveletters channel on our subreddit's Discord for unofficial translations of past and future broadcasts.

Hi,
I have so many designs that I want to bring to life, but I don't know where to start. I want to start off small, so I'm thinking about getting a brother embroidery machine under $500, SE600 of sorts. I've seen a lot about digitization. Do I need to digitize the fonts? Is this really expensive? All I'm going for is a simple text & cursive font.

I really love english, im familiar with all the texts ive read and have tried my hardest all these years.. english comes naturally to me and i know most of everything however my biggest issue is writing speed.. it got so bad i begged for extra time instead i only recieved rest-breaks and they are literally useless (at least for me) i know im really high ability and my target grade is a whole 8.. but with essay based subjects like english history (and sometimes business studies) i can never bloody finish in time (i also naturally write neat in cursive and this may be a reason why i write slower??) This aggravates me sm and im so upset with my english literature paper 1. I knew everything but couldn’t finish in time, i had like 3 rest-breaks but as i said earlier theyre useless.. im guessing i literally got a grade 3-4 on that paper, i had component 1: macbeth and component 2: poetry anthology (exam board: Eduqas) and was wondering if i could make up for it in english literature paper 2 (20th may) or not..? Whats the highest grade i could boost up to? im really upset but i really will put effort in for this, i really underestimated english.. if you know any ways to help speed up my writing time then please send

Hi all. I would like to recommend the most interesting work by Ernst Axel Knauf. I will quote the most interesting quotes (from my point of view) here. But I still advise you to read the entire article, as it is written in a very accessible and understandable language.
author's profile at the academy: https://unibe-ch.academia.edu/ErnstAxelKnauf?swp=tc-au-28366493
read the article: https://archive.org/details/arabo-aramaic-and-arabiyya-from-ancient-arabic-to-early-standard-arabic-200-ce-600-ce
"Nabatean Arabic became some sort of standard Arabic as early as the second century bce, but it was a spoken, not a written language, and it was, in the beginning, of no interest to anyone outside the relatively small circle of Arabian international traders and shippers. It became a written language between the third and fourth century ce in post-Nabatean texts.96 500 years of Old Arabic–Ancient Arabic coexistence and/or diglossia can now be considered."
"The Nabatean script is a cursive script. It was developed for writing on “paper” or its ancient equivalents. It reflects the needs of a society of traders who had to keep accounts and set up contracts. Only secondarily, with the onset of conspicuous architectural consumption at the end of the first century bce, their utilitarian cursive script was put to lapidary, epigraphic use. Unfortunately for the perception of Nabatean society through modern eyes, it is their “luxury” (and basically non-essential) written record which dominates the data base, whereas the main output of Nabatean scribal activities, the papyri, have only survived in meager installations, like the Nabatean papyri from the Babatha archive.106"
"With the imperial crisis of the second half of the third century, Greek lost its splendor in the East: the Parthians' Sasanid successors wrote Middle Persian (and Aramaic, for that was the language of their economical powerhouse, the Iraq); Arabs ( if not Christianized) turned away from both Greek and Aramaic."
"Aramaic, no longer in use for written business transactions among the Arabs themselves, remained present in pre-Islamic Arabia from the fourth through the sixth/seventh centuries through the Jewish and Christian communities which felt no urge to translate their scriptures into Arabic; a fact which one day early in the seventh century ce would instigate a failed merchant from Mecca to give his fellow Arabs a “liturgy” or “recitation” (in Arabic: qurʾān) in plain Arabic, obviously being of the opinion that the other monotheistic religions had failed, or neglected, to do so."
"From time to time the assumption resurfaces that the Arabic script did not develop from Nabatean Aramaic but from Syriac. It can be traced back to early Muslim scholarship,128 but it has no other argument in its favor than the relationship of the written word to the line: while Nabatean is sublinear (the letters are hanging from the line), Syriac and Arabic are supralinear (the letters are standing on the line). This feature can be explained by the easier assumption that Nabatean writing (the origin of all individual letters) was influenced by a Syriac adstrate in Arabian scribal practice during the fourth and fifth centuries ce. (Hoyland, “Language and Identity,” 196, with n. 50.)"
"Cursive writing with diacritical points indicates that throughout the fourth through sixth centuries ce Arabian merchants continued to trade merchandise and to keep records of their business in the Early Standard Arabic which they had inherited from the Nabateans.144"
"The cultic origins of Poetic Old Arabic with its archaic and, in prose and everyday speech quite superfluous case-endings are, especially since the discovery of Avdat 1, no longer questionable. On the other hand, Luxenberg has reopened the question of how pagan (instead of non-standard Christian) pre-Islamic Arabic really was.151"...
I’ll stop at the most interesting point, the article is very informative, be sure to read the footnotes and bibliography. Good luck.

Next part from The Lost Women of NXIVM:
PRODUCER: Do you have the suicide note?
HEIDI CLIFFORD (As “Anonymous Classmate”): (Reading purported “suicide note” aloud): This is a copy of the suicide note.
“I attended a course called Executive Success Programs, aka Nexium (sic), based out of Anchorage, Alaska and Albany, New York. I was brainwashed and my emotional center of the brain was killed and turned off. I still have feeling in my external skin, but my internal organs are rotting. I’m sorry, life. I didn’t know I was already dead.”
“No need to search my body.”
Was this potential suicide letter in Kris’s car coerced?
Was it her willingly writing it?
You don’t know.
As we have discussed in previous posts, nothing about the Kristin Snyder missing person case makes any sense whatsoever, and the purported “suicide note” found in her vehicle is certainly no exception.
Before we start analyzing the “suicide note,” here are a few factors to keep in mind:
• We know through information from multiple sources that Kristin was a prolific journal writer and letter writer, so we have a plethora of writing samples to compare with this alleged “suicide note.”
• We refer to “the writer” in our discussion of the “suicide note” below. The reason for this phrasing is because the actual writer of this note is unknown. Did Kristin herself write it, either as a explanation for killing herself, or for the purpose of faking her own death? Did someone else write it to make her disappearance appear to be a suicide? Was part of the text written by Kristin and added to by another party? Was the entire note faked? Was the note written by Kristin, but under duress/coercion as Heidi pondered?
• See notes under each section below regarding clear discrepancies between Kristin’s baseline writing style based on the hundreds of writing samples we have obtained from multiple sources through varying times throughout her life.
Now, without further ado, let’s take an in-depth look at this “suicide note” – line by line.
“I attended a course called Executive Success Programs (aka Nexium) based out of Anchorage, AK + Albany, NY.”
• Who is the note intended for? There is no salutation. We have tons of samples of Kristin’s letters and there is always a salutation – AND a date. If this is really her “suicide note,” why wouldn’t she address it to her partner Heidi, friends, coworkers, and/or family – as she always had addressed people in her letters? Similarly, wouldn’t she document the date of the most significant letter of her life, as she did routinely with her letters? In fact, she often even included the specific time (for instance, 7:15 p.m.) that the letter or journal entry was written.
• In addition to a salutation and date on other writing samples, Kris also typically indented her paragraphs and she also usually wrote on each line of the paper in her letters and journal entries, unlike this “suicide note,” which does neither.
• Related to the numerous writing samples we have acquired though multiple sources, Kris also primarily wrote in cursive in both her letters and in her journal. This “suicide note” is an odd hybrid of cursive and print.
• Why would anyone start a suicide note with “I attended a course…”? Clearly, the writer of this note is directing the reader to correlate ESP with the disappearance, but it seems like a very odd place for anyone to start a suicide note. Also, Kris attended two courses, not “a course”; a fact that Kris would have clearly known.
• “aka Nexium” is another oddity. Kris did not take any NXIVM classes, not even one, despite the extensive recent propaganda linking her to NXIVM. Why? Because NXIVM did not even exist at the time of Kristin’s disappearance; it was still in the planning stages. The writer had obviously heard about these plans as evidenced by the phonetic spelling. Again, it is obvious the writer of the note is clearly directing the reader’s attention to ESP/NXIVM – but if Kris were distraught enough to write a suicide note (and as functionally incapacitated as reported by her partner), why/how would she focus on minutiae like this?
• Speaking of minutiae, it gets even more obvious in the next words: “based out of Anchorage, AK + Albany, NY.” First of all, WHO CARES where ESP was based? That is in no way pertinent to the reasoning, and apparently is another clear attempt by the writer to direct the reader toward ESP/NXIVM. Secondly, this information is actually wrong. ESP wasn’t “based out of Anchorage, AK” – they held classes in Anchorage in a rented hotel space. The home base was in NY. Furthermore, Kris knew very well that this information was wrong, having recently visited their NY headquarters herself weeks before her disappearance!
•The words “based out of” (city, state) are odd as well. None of Kristin’s other writing samples did this. Nowhere does she mention elsewhere that anything is “based out of” anywhere in any of her copious writing samples we have obtained.
• Furthermore, why would the note say “Anchorage, AK” anyway? Presumably, Alaska law enforcement would be able to deduce that Anchorage is in Alaska without this unnecessary clarification.
“I was brainwashed + my emotional center of the brain was killed/turned off. I still have feeling in my external skin but my internal organs are rotting.”
• If Kris was brainwashed, she wouldn’t know (at least at the time) that she had been brainwashed. Again, this seems to be yet another clear attempt by the writer to direct the reader to look at ESP.
• Furthermore, if Kris finally did realize that she had been brainwashed, why would she then kill herself?
• The writer switches “my” and “the” in a sentence – something Kris never did, even once, in the hundreds of pages of writing we have obtained. The sentence should read “the emotional center of my brain,” not “my emotional center of the brain.”
• Another oddity is in the redundancy of “external skin.” Again, this sort of mistake does not appear to be Kris’s style, based on other writing samples. She had a Master of Science (M.S.) in Biology and she worked as an environmental consultant to the National Guard. She was a precise, clear, scientific, and articulate writer.
• This passage clearly implies that Kris was suffering from Cotard’s syndrome; per WebMD: “People with Cotard’s syndrome (also called walking corpse syndrome or Cotard’s delusion) believe that parts of their body are missing, or that they are dying, dead, or don’t exist.” We have talked to multiple people who Kris had visited in her January 2003 trip immediately prior to her February 2003 disappearance, and nobody reported any observations of any mental health issues, suicidal ideation, depression, psychosis, nor delusions of any sort. All of the people who discussed Kris’s reported mental health decline stated that they had not personally witnessed any symptoms, but rather, they were told of a rapid decline following Kris’s disappearance.
• If Kris thought she was already dead, why would she kill herself?
“Please contact my parents Bob + Jonnie Snyder at (number redacted) in Dillon, SC if you find me or this note.”
• Why would she specify to contact her parents, who lived out-of-state? Why not her partner? Why, in fact, is Heidi, the love of her life and civil union partner not mentioned AT ALL in the entire note?
• The inclusion of Kris’s parents as the sole contacts listed in the note contradicts a specific story told at the time of the disappearance alleging that Kris had uncovered memories of abuse during the class and that these purported memories were the reason/a factor in her alleged suicide. But: if that story was true, why would she include her father in the note? It should be noted that there is no evidence whatsoever that Kris was abused. As with the alleged rapid mental health decline, people who reported that story were not told of the purported abuse by Kris themselves, but rather, they were told of the purported abuse allegations after her disappearance. In fact, we even have been given a copy of a text message exchange in which the person who spread this abuse claims refers to it as “the lie.” This is yet another example of the myriad of inconsistencies and contradictions that plague Kris’s case.
• Why mention “Dillon, SC”? There is already a phone number given, so the city/state is irrelevant, and also, it is not her typical style. Again, it seems like someone with a quirky tic to mention a city and state wrote this.
• “if you find me or this note” is similarly nonsensical. If someone found her but NOT the note, they wouldn’t see the note, would they? Again, this oddity of wording is inconsistent with Kris’s typically precise style.
“I am sorry, life, I didn’t know I was already dead. May we persist into the future. KRISTN (sic) SNYDER”
• Again, if she thought she was already dead, why would she need to kill herself?
• Why is she addressing “life”?
• “May we persist into the future” is interesting. “Persist into the future” is a phrase used in ecology, which could potentially mean a couple things: a). Kristin wrote this herself; b). Kristin wrote this phrase elsewhere and someone traced/copied it onto the “suicide note”; or c). the writer had seen a document that referred to this phrase and used it.
• WHO LEAVES A LETTER OUT OF THEIR OWN NAME???? The second “I” is missing in “KRISTN.” Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, Kris predominantly wrote in cursive and she typically signed her name in cursive as well. Why, in the most important document of her life, would she BLOCK PRINT her name, and even more bizarre, why would she leave a letter out of her own name? The writer appears to drop letters and cram letters together, but there is no evidence from other writings that Kris did these things.
“No need to search for my body”
• Why was this written on the BACK of the page on the “suicide note”? And why was the note left inside of a notebook to begin with?
• Kris was a member of the Anchorage Nordic Ski Patrol, and therefore, she was involved in search and rescue. Therefore, she would already know that THEY WOULD SEARCH FOR HER ANYWAY. Also, more importantly, why would she intentionally hide her own body and therefore put her colleagues/friends on the search and rescue team through the extensive trouble and potential dangers of conducting the search for her?
• Why write “my body” on the back of the page but write “me” on the front of the page of the note? That is yet another incongruity.
• Why the emphasis on not looking for a body? The writer clearly has a very specific reason to mention this; there is a reason the writer does not want the body found. It is very rare for a person to want to hide his/her own body, and even more rare to be able to successfully do so.

I bought the Kobo Libra Colour with the Notebook Sleepcover. To save on money, I found a new Dell Active Pen PN579X Stylus on ebay for $20.
Just came in the mail today. At first I thought there might be something wrong because it didn't seem to work, but then I looked at the manual and realized the Stylus had "AES" mode and "MPP" mode and was "AES" mode by default. Switched to MPP, and now it's working.
It's not exactly paper-like, but it doesn't feel bad or awkward at all to me. My handwriting is no worse or better than pen/paper. Slight delay, but not enough to bother me or negatively impact penmanship. The handwriting convert to digital text is also better than I expected. I write with a print/cursive mix and it's picked up everything.
The big question I had was whether or not the Dell stylus pen would fit and magnetically attach to the stylus slot in Kobo Notebook SleepCover. It does not on either account. It does not stick magnetically and it's slightly too big. It will sit in the rounded slot ok, but with it nestled there, the cover doesn't close flat -- the edge of the fap sits up about 2 inches above the edge where it should be flush.
Hope this information serves useful and let me know if you have any questions.

Bonjour, je suis en première générale et depuis le début de l'année j'ai des problèmes avec un prof de français. Ils nous avait déjà prouvé qu'il était un enfoiré complet à plusieurs reprises pendant les deux premiers trimestres, mais maintenant que le bac approche c'est de pire en pire.
Pour résumer l'état d'esprit du gars (et pour éviter qu'on me réponde que "il fait de son mieux" et que "les élèves détestent toujours leurs profs"), quelques exemples :
-La première fois qu'il a abordé le sujet des lectures cursives pour la deuxième partie de l'oral du bac, c'était en mars. J'ai pas compris de quoi il parlait, donc j'ai eu l'audace de le regarder d'un air étonné. Immédiatement, il m'a humilié devant toute la classe, en mimant le cliché de la "fille stupide et timide", en me coupant la parole quand j'essayais de m'expliqué
-La moitié de la classe a un prof particulier pour compenser son incompétence. Il les déteste et pour les empêcher de travailler avec leur autre prof, il nous a donner la listes des textes de l'oral et des lectures cursives qu'on a le droit de prendre fin mars. Les autres classes les ont eu en septembre.
-J'avais pris de l'avance pour la lecture cursive, mais je savais pas qu'il pouvait nous empêcher de prendre certains des textes possibles. Quand je lui ait posé la question, il m'a replaqué l'étiquette de stupide, en me disant que j'étais "vraiment un cas" de pas savoir ce qu'il ne nous avait jamais expliquer.
Bref, je vais essayer d'eviter de transformer ce post en coup de gueule, mais je pense que vous avez compris. Ma question du coup c'est comment rattraper mon appréciation de ce troisième trimestre ? Comment lui donner une bonne image de moi malgré tout ça ? J'essaye déjà de plus participer en classe mais y'a des chances qu'il m'engueule si je me trompe. Et je peux pas poser de questions parce que la plupart du temps il refuse de répondre. Il a proposé à certains élèves de faire des plans de dissertations ou de commentaires chez eux pour qu'il les corrige et qu'ils aient une meilleure idée de leur niveau, mais je suis pas sûre qu'il accepte ça de ma part (surtout que ça lui rajoute du travail).
Vous avez d'autres tips pour remonter dans l'estime d'un prof à l'approche du conseil de classe ? Notre bulletin de première compte sur parcoursup donc j'aimerais vraiment éviter de me prendre un plomb
Edit : wow je pensais pas qu'autant de personnes repondraient, merci beaucoup pour vos réponses !

(Side note: This is super long. Excuse any lousy spelling and punctuation.)
I was supposed to go out on a date with a co-worker Sergio but that didn't happen. My date was planned for the same day as my cousin Isabel's wedding day. I agreed to the date last Friday because I already knew I would not be attending Isabel's wedding. However, all that changed because my Family members were very upset and would not drop it. They didn't know my part of the story and they did not want to listen to it, they only knew Isabel's part which was an entire lie. Then they all decided that I was an a**hole and being 'overly dramatic' just from hearing her side. Overall it's a mess. I only went because I wanted the family to leave me alone. From all the drama and from Isabel running her mouth I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of thinking I was still in pain. I know her invite was just to make her seem like the bigger person but I know it's all a fake. Now the reason I was not going to attend was because Isabel stole my boyfriend Anthony and is now getting married to him. Honestly, it's all insane to me because everything has happened so fast.
Back story. Back on 12/19, I came back home early in the morning about 2am(ish) from work (I work a night shift). From the outside, you'd notice that all lights were off inside, so I assumed that Anthony was not there and would most likely be back at the apartment packing up his stuff. I recently just bought this house and already had all my stuff there. I texted him, told him I left work early, and asked if he could come home, but I got no response. I assumed he was asleep. However, he is usually up and waiting for me, but since we have been moving his stuff, it's been tiring. I had decided to shower and then get ready and get some food because I didn't have the energy to dig through boxes for pans to cook something. I got out of the car and started heading towards the front door. As I approached the door, I could hear music and stuff that no person ever wanted to hear in the early morning. I froze, and my mind went blank. I started to unlock the door slowly and quietly. I turned on the light and saw Isabel and Anthony doing the nasty on the couch. I screamed and began to cry out of anger. They screamed as well, and Isabel fell off of Anthony when he pushed her off of him. He, of course, like any cheating person, would say, "It's not what It looks like." I didn't say much because I didn't know what to say; I was speechless. I told Anthony, "Get out." and told Isabel, "Get out. I don't understand how you could do this to me. Just get out." Both of them quickly grabbed their clothing and got dressed. Anthony tried to talk to me, but I wasn't listening. He tried to hug and apologize and kept telling me he was sorry and loved me. I just told him we were over and I could never forgive him and to leave. He started to cry and just stood there staring at me, then looked over at Isabel, giving her a pissed-off look. She was standing there glaring at me. I honestly was ready to throw hands with her because I was so pissed off and the same with him. I didn't want things to escalate; I didn't want to deal with cops or wake up my new neighbors. At this point, I just wanted to sleep. I had to repeat myself multiple times for them to leave my house. They both refused to go, so I did threaten to call the cops, and that's what got them out. Anthony walked out first and didn't say anything. Isabel started to walk out, but before she walked out the door, she told me something I will never forget. She told me, and I remember what she said exactly word for word. She told me,
"You ruin everything. You ruined my love life when you stole Anthony from me. I knew him first and loved him first. You just came and stole him from me, You should know better than to be stealing someone's boyfriend. I never did anything to you for you to do what you did. You don't know how much pain you put me through. Don't talk to me ever again. I never want to see you. I don't want you around me at all. I hate you so much because you f***ed up my life. Don't talk to me. I hope your epilepsy kills you because that would make me feel so much better. It would be best for you to not be around anymore. I wish we weren't related. I wish you were dead."
There were a few things I wanted to say to that, but the 'I hope your epilepsy kills you' threw me off and hurt me even more. She walked out, slamming my door behind her. Few things I want to get clear. One when I met Anthony I didn't know she was in love with him. Two, they were not dating when we met or got together; they said they were just friends. Three, she never told me how she felt about him. I don't understand why she didn't just say something because if she had said something when he asked me out, I would have told him "No." and said the reason why. And Four, I was never told anything about the so-called 'Pain' I put her through. When she told me not to talk to or be around her, I thought it was better that way because I didn't want to talk to or be around her.
Fast forward to 2/14, I'm sitting next to Sergio and I am showing him a video on Instagram. I got a message from Isabel which was weird cause we had not talked since the cheating happened. I ignored the message and continued to show the video. I didn't care about whatever it was she messaged about nor did I even want to open it. After the video was over I went in and deleted the message without looking at it. Then I got another one from Isabel. Those messages kept coming in until I went in and blocked her. I didn't block her before because she didn't bother me after everything that happened. After the blocking, I just continued to scroll through Instagram. I stopped on a post that was posted by my cousin Eliyana (She is Isabel's youngest sister.) She posted a few videos and photos with the caption reading 'Congratulations to my sister Isa and future brother-in-law Anthony on their engagement. You guys make a beautiful couple.' Scrolling through the pictures I saw a few of my family members in it, some of our mutual friends, and then of course Isabel and Anthony. I sat at the table kind of shocked but then again not really. I was only shocked because I found it surprising that they would get married so soon and I thought it was a little too fast. Then I reminded myself that they had known each other for a very long time so I guess it might make sense in their twisted minds but it's whatever. I proceeded on with my night since the bell had rung to go back to work.
Time skip to when I got out of work the next day 2/15 technically speaking. I stood outside my work building waiting for my friends to come out. I checked my phone because I had left it in my bag in the breakroom cubby-hole thingy. While checking the notifications I had seen I got missed calls and a bunch of text messages from the family. Then got an incoming call from my cousin Ryan (Isabel's oldest brother). I answered it but as soon as I answered my friends came out. I had to tell Ryan that I would call him when I got home because I was busy at work. I hung up on him but doing so he was trying to talk. I continued to talk to my friends. We stood outside the work building for a good 15 minutes or so to wait for the parking lot to clear. Everyone is so in a hurry to get home it's insane but understandable because it's early as f*** and everyone is tired. When most of the lot was cleared we started to go our separate ways. I had given Sergio are ride so he was with me. We started walking to my car and reflecting on how the rest of our shifts went after lunch. Once we got to my car I unlocked threw my phone on the seat and opened up the trunk. I started to throw my lunch box, backpack, and other stuff in the trunk while Sergio put all his stuff in the back seat and got in the car. My phone started ringing again and I told Sergio to answer it. Didn't know it was my cousin trying to call me again. When Sergio answered he didn't even get a word in because my cousin started talking saying... "Dude. I know you are busy and you are at work but I need to talk to you about Isa and I don't- who the f*** are you? where's my cousin?" Lol, I did not know it was a FaceTime call and for me, it was kind of funny. Sergio proceeded to tell my cousin I was doing something and for him to hold on. My cousin was trying to yell at Sergio asking who he was and other nonsense. I got in the car and Sergio handed me my phone and told him "You didn't tell me if was a FaceTime call. haha." He laughed and said "Dude I wasn't even paying attention. I just answered it." Then we both laughed and I got on the FaceTime call. Saw my cousin sitting with his Girlfriend but she wasn't paying attention she had her headset on and was playing a video game. "What's up?" I asked. He proceeded to spill all that went down at my cousin's party. He told me how she made a speech and practically dragged my name through the mud. He told me to ignore all messages, vm, voicemails, and other methods when it came to the family trying to contact me. I told him I didn't plan on viewing anything or hearing anything and I was not surprised she talked sh*t about me. I also told him I wouldn't have answered the phone if he called either because I didn't know if he took her side or not. He understood why I told him that but he also said he could tell that she was lying but he wanted to also get my side of the story. I told him I'd have to talk to him once I got home and I would call him back later. He agreed and apologized to Sergio because he thought he had stolen my phone or something.
Once I had gotten back home I called my cousin before I passed out. I explained to him what happened when I got home from work that day. Then told him what she said to me about my epilepsy and how that added to not wanting to be around her but mainly because she said she didn't want me around. I told him word for word about what she said. I gave him every detail he needed and I spoke the truth. Then he gave me the breakdown of the story she told the family. She told the family that we were not together anymore but we were just living together because of the bills and both our names being on the apartment lease. She also advised the family that she was staying at the apartment because she was moving in once I was out. She told the family that everything that happened was at the apartment and I did what I did was out of jealousy and because I was crazy. She claimed I was just being a bch and didn't like that I was being replaced because he dumped me. She said she did nothing wrong because we were already broken up. She claimed to have reached out to me to talk about what happened but when she called I answered and told her to fk off and that I said some other nasty things to her that 'broke her heart' because words like that aren't meant to be said to family. During her speech that she did, she talked so much sh*t about me and some of the family agreed but some of the other family didn't.
Ryan went into detail about a lot of things she said. He explained to me that from his perspective her story did not make any sense. I explained my side of the story to him and he said it made more sense to him about what happened. He believed me and told me which family members believed her side was confusing because they knew some details the other side didn't. For example, they knew I got a house and from their understanding, we were still together because of a video I posted to Facebook about being so happy we got a house together. Another thing was that Anthony tried to keep it a secret but he opened up his big mouth about wanting to propose to me soon after getting everything situated. Therefore one side knew and the other didn't and I don't understand how they didn't. Overall Ryan believed me and apologized for Isa's behavior even though he shouldn't because he's not Isa and he had nothing to do with what happened.
My relationship with Anthony wasn't exactly perfect because what relationship is? However, we hardly fought and always trusted each other. When we did fight it was over the little things like washing dishes, taking trash out, and other stuff. We talked things out like we should. I thought I could trust him. Now I feel like I can't trust anyone.
Fast forward to 4/3. Time had passed and it felt like it went by quickly but as time went on I let go of everything that happened and slowly started to get over Anthony. As time passed I started to have a thing for Sergio because he was such a sweet guy. We started to spend a lot more time together outside of work as well. I also had barely spoken to the family except a few like Ryan, My grandmother, my Uncle (My Grandma's youngest son), and some of my other cousins. I also had to explain my story to the mutual friends I shared with my cousin and some of those friends believed me and others didn't so to me it was a whatever kind of thing I was over it. It's like you either believe me or you don't the choice is yours. Anyway, I went to Grandmother's house before heading to work to drop off some groceries I had gotten her and to tell her she didn't have to worry about her phone and electricity bill. When I got there I went inside and saw Isabel and Anthony sitting at the table sharing a meal with my Grandma. Just said 'Hi' and then looked away from them and looked at Grandma. I told her what I needed to tell her then was going to leave. Before I could leave she told me to sit and eat. I told her I had to get to work. She didn't take no for an answer and I of course was not going to argue with her so I sucked it up and sat down. They were talking about the wedding and I sat there in silence. Them talking about the wedding didn't bother me it was the staring coming from Anthony that bothered me. I continued to eat and ignore it but I was thinking about Sergio the whole time. My phone started ringing so I looked to see who was calling and it was Sergio. I answered my phone and they all looked at me. Sergio just wanted to know if we were going to take something for lunch or just eat whatever was at the snack area at work. I told him I could pick up a pizza or something for us before heading to work. Then we ended the call. Grandma asked me who it was that called and I told her it was one of my co-workers. We didn't talk about him after that. Once I had finished eating I told my Grandma thank you and I was going to head to get that pizza and head to work. Before I could leave my cousin gets up and heads to the counter going through a bag. She pulled out a pink envelope that had my name written on it in cursive and then handed it to me. Then tells me.
"I don't want to fight anymore. I want you to come to the wedding. I'm sorry and I want you to be there and you can bring a plus one if you want. This fighting is stressful I love you very much. Of course, I know that you know what you did was uncalled-for childish but we can overlook that."
My thoughts went elsewhere and wanted to say something but I didn't want to say anything in front of my Grandma. My Grandma didn't want anything to do with what happened and she didn't know much. She said she could never choose between her Grandchildren. I knew my cousin's apology was a fake one. I knew because she gave me a dirty look and she got away with it because she was facing away from my Grandma while I was facing towards her. I was fighting the urge to slap or punch her. I was no longer mad about her stealing Anthony from her I was mad at the fact that she said it was my fault when it wasn't, she was still going with her lies.
I grabbed the invitation anyway. I told my Grandma bye and left. I headed to get the pizza and then went to work. After doing all that I finally got to work and was sitting in the parking lot. I was frustrated and wanted to punch something. I wanted to throw and burn the invitation but I got curious and opened it up. The wedding was set for 5/10 at 4 pm till whenever I guess. I already made the decision that I would not be attending. I tore the invitation up and then got out of my car. I grabbed my stuff and then walked toward the nearest trashcan and tossed the invitation inside. I continued with my day.
Now to the present(ish). Back on 5/2, I was at work having lunch with Sergio. I've spent a lot of time in and outside of work with him and he confessed his emotions towards me and I told him how much I liked him as well. He asked me out on a date on our day off which was last Friday (The day of my cousin's wedding.) I agreed of course and I forgot about that date being my cousin's wedding but it didn't matter because I wasn't planning on going anyway. So I agreed to the date and he told me it would be a surprise what we would do and I agreed and didn't mind. I was just so happy that I was going to be going on a date with him because I had fallen so hard for this guy.
From that point on throughout the week I was getting calls and messages from the family asking if I would be attending my cousin's wedding. They knew she had given me an invitation but she was telling the family she was not sure if I was going to go. Now at the point like I had put I had forgotten about it. I told them I would not be able to attend because I had an important thing going on that I could not miss. Then I was told I needed to stop being childish and move on. Also being told I just need to be happy for Isabel and Anthony and stop being bitter. I told them I was not bitter I just had something important going on and it was not a lie. They claimed I was lying. They of course told me there was nothing more important than family and I would regret not going. I wanted to ignore them so much but they kept contacting me from so many different numbers and creating fake accounts just to message me and stuff. They even came to my house. It was getting super irritating.
Ryan even came to the house before I headed to work. Now Ryan I don't mind because we of course are getting along. He showed up a few hours before I had to go to work. I let him in knowing he was going to talk to me about going to the wedding. Our conversation wasn't bad or anything. He just told me that I should go to the wedding so it could shut the family up and prove to them I was over the situation (In which he knew I was. He even knew about Sergio because I told him about him.). He told me just like everyone else to bring a plus one and recommended I bring Sergio. (Now I didn't tell him I was going to go on a date with Sergio and of course, had not told him it was on the day of the wedding.). He told me it would prove a point to the family and I would win the war. Which made me laugh when he said that.
I knew he had a point though. If I went it would possibly shut the family up. It would be so that I could care less about them being in a relationship. However scared at the same time because anything is possible with my family it could end up being bad or good something you'd never know. I didn't even know who I could bring as a plus one that would keep me sane because I was not comfortable bringing Sergio because I didn't think he would feel comfortable. Another thing was if I decided to go then I would have to cancel things with Sergio and I don't want to. My heart broke just thinking about canceling. But then I decided that I might just go to the wedding because like my cousin said it might shut up the family. I was just disappointed I would have to cancel my plans and I hope he wouldn't be mad at me. Sergio does know everything about what happened with my family though because I vented to him about everything.
When my cousin left and I got to work I texted him that I would go. I would go to just prove a point. I was not happy at all I felt so sad. I needed to find a way fast to tell Sergio that I was not going to be able to go on a date with him. I sat in my car and Sergio tapped on my window. I opened the door and let him in. He scared me to be honest because I was in my world at that point. We sat in my car until it was time to go in. In that time I managed to find the words to tell him what I needed to tell him. I even told him how sad I was about it but also told him I wanted my family to leave me alone and they were stressing me out. He understood and told me he could understand I was under a lot of stress. I had asked if we could reschedule for the day after. I was scared he was going to say no. However, what surprised me was he asked if he could escort me just to help me prove my point but mainly because he still wanted to spend time with me. I told him only if he wanted to and if he felt comfortable and he said yeah. I told him the time and all the other stuff he needed to know.
Now wedding day rolls around 5/10. We go together and stuff feels so awkward and I'm about to lose my mind from all the awkwardness. The only one that was chill was Sergio which made me feel a little better. The family acknowledged us and was happy that I came. The other side who was still giving me problems was of course surprised and of course, talking about me being there. I was holding Sergio's hand as we walked into the venue. I talked to some of my family and introduced Sergio to them. They of course asked questions like how we met, how long we've been dating, and everything else. We sat down at a table with Ryan and his Girlfriend. We talked amongst ourselves. I started to ease up and not care about my family staring. When Ryan got up to go dance with His Girlfriend it was just me and Sergio sitting and talking up until he asked me to dance to a slow song they were playing. I told him I don't dance but he got me to dance anyway. While slow dancing I noticed my family still staring at us. Specifically, the side that was mad at me. I focused on Sergio as we danced and talked. We were laughing while dancing because I am a horrible dancer. When he spun me around I saw my cousin dancing with Anthony but as they were dancing their attention was on us the whole time. Once the song was over we went straight to the table. We honestly spent most of the night at the table talking. That was something I didn't mind because I love the times when we just sit and talk. Some of my family had come up to us and talked to us and I of course introduced Sergio to them. The night itself wasn't too bad we just kept to ourselves we only got up a few times from the table. We had left earlier than everyone else because I had proven my point and I just wanted to be alone with him and not spend so much time around the family. I said goodbye to the ones I do get along with.
Now for yesterday. Since Friday I've been continuing to get nasty messages. I swear I cannot win with my family. They told me I was being a hoe and being rude for bringing the guy that I cheated on Anthony with. I was told that I was stealing the spotlight from my cousin by bringing a more attractive guy than Anthony as my plus-one (Now that one made me laugh because I agree Sergio is more attractive but like I just found it funny that they said that because how is that even a thing?). They told me I was being petty. Told me that I embarrassed myself by coming. Told me I looked horrible. Was told that my cousin is upset I stole the spotlight from her and I did it on purpose. I was told I shouldn't have brought him with me because it was unnecessary and I was just trying to get attention. Then advised it was an a**hole move and if it was a stunt I was gonna pull I shouldn't have gone. That's just a few things that were said there was so much more.
I do not understand how I stole the spotlight or anything at all. I went and didn't do anything. I had one dance with Sergio and we stayed at the table talking. We talked to some of the family and that is all. They make it seem like I went and did something to my cousin. AITA?

frq from the 2021 exam : https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap21-frq-english-language.pdf?course=ap-english-language-and-composition
note : i’m self studying for the exam and this is my first ap lang essay ( and my first essay in a long damn time in general ) . i know it’s crazy that it’s my first with the exam being so soon, but it is what it is. i tried to get chat gpt to grade it based on the rubric, but it gave me a 5 and to me that’s unbelievable. anyways, i’m open to constructive criticism to improve my skills with the time i have left.
here is the essay itself :
Thesis :
While cursive in the presence of digital technology is not necessary, hand written instruction, such as print, should still have a place in schooling because of the cognitive benefits; relevance to daily activities ( specifically in schools ); and the use of it in scenarios where the use of technology is not available or an option.
P1 Concession
To begin with, it is easy to admit that handwritten instruction in schools is not necessary in the digital age.
In the classroom, traditional writing has been “swapped for keyboards” and “blocking cursors” while “some teachers believe that cursive is archaic and that students should be prepared for more contemporary communication” ( Source A ) so that they may “ become better writers as handwritten instruction takes up less of their education ( Source C ), for this type of instruction is only emphasized inside the classroom and “the move outside our schools, and in innovative schools, is toward technology.” ( Source A )
This evidence confirms that cursive is not necessary in today’s educational programs because of the need to instead prioritize how the majority of our communication is done.
However, since handwritten instruction is not just made up of cursive, and benefits of it can still be achieved without having to dedicate the time to learning cursive, handwritten instruction should still have a place in school.
P2
Unlike the former point, handwritten instruction ( such as print ) has a place in schooling because of the cognitive benefits developed when taught compared to fully transitioning to only teaching forms of modern communication. When it comes to the opposition of handwritten instruction, most people focus on the cursive part of the argument as if handwriting consisted of just cursive and not the printed word as well. Both give cognitive benefits to whomever is taught it, but only one is necessary to be taught to receive the enhancements.
For example, “ Because handwriting is a complex skill that involves both cognitive and fine motor skills, direct instruction is required to learn handwriting ( it is not good enough to just give a workbook to students and hope for the best. However, the result of good instruction is that students are benefited in their cognitive development and fine motor skills.” Specifically, when taking handwritten notes students more effectively retain information, comprehend the content, and have more focus during lectures compared to students who took notes on a computer. They are also less likely to “...have problems retrieving letters from memory; spelling accurately, extracting meaning from a text or lecture, and interpreting the context of words and phrases.” As well as expressing more ideas and writing longer compositions. ( Source D )
This evidence supports that handwritten instruction should still have a place in schooling due to the cognitive benefits because it illustrates what benefits are present in students when they are exposed to handwritten instruction as opposed to disadvantages when they are not.
Consequently, since students are put in an advantageous position in contrast to those who rely on writing on keyboards, educators should consider whether prioritizing the focus on the digital age is actually hindering the educational progression of their students. Therefore, Handwritten instruction should be a part of the learning experience due to the fact that its absence would decrease the quality of their education.
P3
In a similar manner, the relevance of handwritten instruction in daily activities ( specifically in schooling ), has made it necessary to still be taught in school. The data “of a 2013 survey of 450 elementary school teachers that asked how much of their time students spent on writing on paper and how much of their time they spent using technology” concluded students spent the majority of their time writing on paper compared to using technology and as you move up in the education system you see that over time they use less and less of technology in contrast to using paper. ( Source D )
This evidence proves that handwritten instruction is relevant enough to be taught because of how much students still use it. Consequently, since the usage of handwritten instruction is still relevant in the lives of students, it should not be removed from their education. Therefore, due to its relevance in education it is evident that handwritten instruction still has a place in education.
P4 ( maybe i should’ve removed this… it’s outside evidence )
Equally important is the usage of handwriting where technology isn’t accessible or an option. Solar flares, simply not having access to an internet connection due to circumstance, or even knowing that technology is not inherently secure ( data can be sold, obtained, or silenced ) can make it so that you cannot type what you want to express. Having the ability to write on paper allows you to have access to a written of communication even in these scenarios. Therefore, being taught how to write by hand gives you an alternative in an ever-changing world where you cannot control or know what will happen next.
another note : i know it’s pretty bad. my commentary should be more developed and link back to my thesis, but i would like someone’s advice on what and how i could do better.

So I bought a physical copy of Batman: Year one to read after reading it first online last year. I found originally reading it online it was quite difficult to read the cursive text of Bruce's notes but reading it physically I didn't really have an issue outside of a few words.
Does anybody else find comics easier and more enjoyable to read physically as opposed to digitally?

I'm helping to care for a relative, age 76, who has been on disability for over thirty years. I'm her sole heir. She has created a hand-written will, as in "last will and testament." She wrote it in "cursive" and the text of it reads as follows:
February 6, 2015
I, Her Name, hereby appoint my cousin, My Name, as independent executor of my entire estate to serve without bond.
I leave my entire estate to my cousin, My Name.
This is my holographic will. This has been done in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas.
"Signed Her Name"
February 6, 2015
My question is, after she has passed away, how readily will the legal system accept this will? Are they going to want some kind of proof that it was in fact she who wrote it? I'm debating getting a "real" will made. The only two things she owns that have any significant value are a house that is paid for, and three cemetery-plots. She has no siblings, no children, no nieces or nephews; both of her parents are dead. She does have other cousins. They know I'm helping to take care of her and I'm reasonably certain that they wouldn't contest the will.
I've spoken with an attorney I've done business with about getting a "real" will made. He said it would take 8-10 hours at $350 an hour. Given how straight forward and uncomplicated the situation is, that seems excessive. Surely, he has a "boiler-plated" will that's mainly just fill-in-the-blank. "A penny for your thoughts," fellow Redditors. Thanks.

Asian parents love spanking their kids. Now as an adult considering kids myself, I realized that my mom and her generation just got fed up and acted out when they hit me. It'll be for not doing tasks that they assigned to me good enough.
Those tasks were boring, dumb repetitibe things such as reading a book out loud from cover to cover. If I pronounced a word wrong, it'll be a spank. Or copying text from a book to paper by hand in a cursive font that they got from the computer's font library (which isn't even a real human's handwriting). If my penmanship wasn't like that artificial font, I'd get spanked.
My mom believed in spanking so much, that she even hired our family's roommate to spank me for her. He'd assign tasks for me and inspect it once a week. If it wasn't to his liking, he'll spank me. He was an inspector at the factory and came up with this system. Now as an adult, I think it was him coping with factory life and giving himself power. He also bullied me at home and no one said anything to support me. He didn't even want to stop hitting me, even after my mom asked him to stop.
He only stopped, when my mom thought he was trying to indocitrinate me into buddhism. She wanted to indoctrinate me into the Jehovah's Witnesses and stopped it. Then I was told to go to the Jehovah's Witness church, where they told me if I had sex or question the religion, they'll all shun me. I was so afraid of them rejecting me and I was doubly afraid that my mom would hire hieu to hit me again.
Aparently, Hieu did hit me againa few years later when I was in high school. I don't even remember that time. I had aboslutely no self esteem growing up and was ashamed of who I was. When I left the house, I was totally lost in the world and picked on and abused.
Now I suffer from fear of punishment for doing any mistake, due to how I was raised. I've cut them off from my life. I'm slowly getting better.
So, how were you spanked? What did it do to you? How did you feel? For me, I felt afraid.