fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Gory snippet
By: D. P. Dawson
Tags: Creative Writing, Scenes, Short Fiction, Writing, Writers Life

Good morning! I have been wanting to hone from scene making skills, and this one is a pretty dark one. I have skirted around writing violence in a lot of my writing for years because I felt like people would think I’m not Godly enough, but I figured, a good writer needs to be proficient in most (really, every) type of scene. So, please enjoy!

The gun felt so heavy in my hands. Like a lead block, or a big rock. The decision to kill him was even heavier. He sat in the recliner — a warm smile on his lips. My tears fell form my reluctant eyes. His hand touches the gun and I cry even harder. He pulls it towards his forehead, mouthing out its okay over and over. Loud thumps come from the front door. Was it the police? The FBI? I didn’t know. I could only cry as we both touched the trigger and then, a flash. Blood leaked from his head in one, pink stream. This should’ve made me feel at peace. He’s dead now. All it did was make me feel worse.

Hi! If you like this post, check out my first post about why I started this blogging journey. :D
Hello or Goodbye?
By: Favour Emma-Nwachukwu
Tags: Writers Life, Introvert, Social Anxiety, Introspection

Image from Giphy

In a corner I observe the chatter, the rowdiness that makes me nervous but convinces me that my life is not as dull. There is a live band on the stage with a young lad that dreams of stardom, struggling to win the attention of the front tables. The rest of the restaurant is a lost cause.

My palms are sweaty from anxiety and my breath catches in my chest whenever a figure passes by my table. I look across the table to the empty space in front of me. Should I place my bag on the seat and act like I am expecting someone? I’ll have to look jolly and welcoming — No, too much stress.

Still, I have to look busy and purposeful to avoid awkward hellos and painful conversations. My mind is racing and I chew at my cuticles, punishing them in a bid to calm my wild imaginations. It seems like everyone is staring at me. Quick, you have to do something! My mind screams at me. I reach for my journal.

It is a battle with dim bulbs and faint moonlight. Still, I struggle to see the lines. I act like I have something to say, as if my words carry bars of gold dipped in honey. Instead, my ink draws blood and hot air, spilling emptiness on an already blank page. I check the time, it is 9:00 pm. I think I have done graciously for the week. Act like I have a life- check.
5 Tools To Help With Writer’s Block
By: Jorge Callaos
Tags: Writer, Writers On Medium, Writers Block, Writers On Writing, Writers Life

Writer’s block hits us all in one way or another. And very few of us know how to deal with it. Here are my 5 favorite ways to deal with writer’s block:

1. CONSTRICTION

One of the best ways to start writing is to constrict your options on how to start. Maybe you have 7 different ideas on how to start, 4 different hooks you could use, and 3 different quotes. CONSTRICT THE CHOICES. Narrow them down to just two or three and then pick from there. Choice is a paradox. The more choices you have, the harder it generally is to make a choice at all. So if you have too many options on how to begin a piece, narrow your choices and pick from there.

2. QUOTES

Sometimes, if you don’t know how to start a piece, just start it with a quote. It could a personal favorite, one you think would benefit your audience, or one you think needs to be heard more often. People LOVE quotes. Why? Who knows? It doesn’t matter. It just matters that you use it to your advantage. A quote is a GREAT hook, and once you have a quote written down, you can just begin to write from the quote (i.e. what it means, why it’s important, etc). Just put the quote down and go from there. See where it takes you

3. TRENDING NEWS

Another great way to start writing a piece is to start it off with some piece of trending news. We pay MUCH more attention to that which is currently trending, and a headline involving Kim Kardashian, Donald Trump, global warming, or anything that’s prevalent at the time is sure to get attention. You don’t actually have to write about these things. Just tie it to the value that you want to provide. For example, if you teach marketing, it wouldn’t be too hard to turn a Kim Kardashian or a Donald Trump news story into a marketing lesson. Get creative with it.

4. CHANGE YOUR STATE

Sometimes when you’re struggling to start writing, it’s not that you don’t have good content in your head, but rather than you’re not ACCESSING it. This is usually because you’re not in a good state. When we’re in a good state, the words, ideas, and metaphors seem to just flow from us. When we’re in a bad state… not as much. So if you’re having trouble writing, do something to put yourself in a heightened state. Jump. Clap. Bark. Go for a run. Do whatever works to put yourself in a better, heightened state and what the content “come out of nowhere.”

5. DON’T START :-)

Sometimes, the best thing to do is to simply NOT start. Go and do something else. Sometimes the words and the ideas aren’t coming to you. Sometimes it’s because you’re in a poor state. But sometimes you can’t figure out the reason. If that’s the case, and nothing else is working, just don’t start. Don’t feel guilty about it. Just go do something else. And by the time you come back to it you’re likely to have much more ease writing. The ideas will come much more naturally to you simply because you didn’t force it.
Gifts For People Who Like To Write
By: Christye Lynn
Tags: Gift Guide, Gifts For Writers, Writer, Gift Ideas, Writers Life

Nice Pens

Uni-Ball Jetstream RT Bold Point Pens

Walmart $4.99

Pilot G-2 Retractable Gel Ink Bold

eBay $5

I am a pen snob. I like a bold, gel-like ink. I like thick lines. I get fancy pens as gifts but the lines are too thin. I like all of my ink to match. I worked in healthcare for 6 years and we weren’t allowed to use blue pens. I solely write in black ink. If I don’t like how a pen writes, I throw it away. If a pen has a smooth flow, I will treasure it and be reluctant to let anyone else touch it.

Nice Notebooks

I used to buy fancy leather journals with ribbon bookmarks, secret pouches, and subtle magnetic closures at Borders before it closed. Let’s take a brief moment of silence for Borders. Okay. People give me interesting journals and notebooks. Sometimes, I am reluctant to use them because I don’t want to waste something that grand. I have 2 notebook drawers, so I’m not hurting for paper but I just keep hoarding more and more. I cut myself down to only one pen drawer but I can’t bring myself to do that with the paper collection. I’m a stationery hoarder apparently but it’s a good gift nonetheless.

T-Shirts

Raygun $23

I like quirky T-shirts with a personality. I used to have a purple T-shirt that said, “I run like a pickle, so try to keep up”. I think literary T-shirts are funny. You just have to give someone a high-five when someone’s T-shirt makes you laugh. I feel smart when I am sporting a cute T-shirt that says something like, “The book was better”. I might have to collect shirts that make me smile just for all of my YouTube videos and Instagram pictures. It can be my thing.

Lap desk

Mercari $6

My stepmother always had a lap desk and my sister did too. I don’t know why I never bought my own but my sister gave me hers. You can write, draw, read, paint your nails, do word puzzles, color, eat…all from the comfort of your bed. If that’s not dead useful I don’t know what is!

Dame And Duchess Wax Melts

Etsy $7.12

These wax melts resemble graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. They are adorable. They smell terrific. This company sells a wide variety of cute wax melts. You can buy candy corn, Pop Tarts, chocolate chip cookies, muffins, cupcakes, tarts, ice cream, donuts, etc. The wax melts always look very realistic. It’s amazing how they capture the likeness and the fragrance of so many items.

Sweet Lotus Boutique Keychains

Etsy $15.95

Is there a better way to proclaim your love of writing than with a keychain?

Laptop Backpack

My father kept telling me to quit putting my laptop in my backpack but I didn’t want to carry a laptop case. He gave me a laptop backpack and it’s a lot easier to lug my laptop around. It’s safer for my laptop too.

Software Subscription

Scrivener $40

Grammarly $139.99 annually or $29.99 per month

PerfectIt $70

Pro Writing Aid $29.99

Dans Láir Du Temps Cufflinks

Etsy $10

These one of a kind quotation mark cufflinks are sure to put a smile on any writer’s face. They’re unique. They’re a conversation piece. They definitely have a flair.
Curiosity is the Inception Point of Obsession
By: Naahushi Kavuri
Tags: Journey, Curiosity, Writers Life, Obsession

He was sure that he was making an informed decision and nothing else. However, through all the discussions he had had with his parents, particularly his father, he couldn’t shake the feeling later in the future, like he had poured every last drop of his fate into someone else’s pages.

It was almost like negotiating a deal that you didn’t want to take. It was like buying something because the sales person is just so good in selling it and then you realise, you wanted a different product all along. That’s how he felt. Like someone snatched away, well, that word might sound too harsh for him, but he at-least felt like someone took away his chance of studying what he wanted and doing something he was just curious about without any ambitious goals for life.

He begged to find an answer to the question, curiosity or life’s goal? Later, few years down the lane, after he did make certain choices he wanted for life, he figured the answer — there is never one goal in life. Curiosity is the point of inception for passion and obsession. He knew it was waste of time to regret that he didn’t fight harder for. He, however, told himself that he will always choose curiosity over everything in life.

It this quote that stuck with him in life specifically, a guest on a podcast he was listening to said, “Creativity is a way of life where you’re just one percent more curious than you are scared. I have all my fears in life when I want to do something, but my curiosity is just one percent more than my fears. So I choose to go after whatever makes me curious. As long as you have that, you are living a creative life and you will be creative”

Many things seemed to make sense and nothing was bothering him since that moment. He knew that it takes longer than he imagined to earn and live the way he wants. He was comfortable with that. He did not hesitate to accept that it takes years of learning, patience and practise to become what he wants — he was determined. As determined as he was when he told himself that he was going to get his job. As determined as he was when he convinced his parents and moved out of a city he grew up in and rented an apartment to move into, all in one week, to start on something that literally had every last bit of him fired up and ready with curiosity to ask questions, make mistakes, learn and repeat.
I’m a Writer
Tags: Writer, Writers On Writing, Art, Writers Life, Artist

I don’t know when I first called myself a writer. I wish I could say it was always there inside of me because, yes, I love writing as much as I love breathing. And I know how to do this for a really long time — I mean, the first memory I can remember about my life was at 3 years old, and by that time I could already read and write by myself. Maybe I could not express myself using it, but it was a big start to learn my biggest passion so soon, anyway.

If you can write and you can express yourself using letters, you might call yourself a writer. But not an artist, that is the type of writer that I’m referring to here. An artist needs to feel, even if the words escape. Having the feeling, the emotion, he takes it as a hostage and the words, letterns, punctuation, turn into a beautiful tool just to pass the message on. Even when the idea is simple, it must be significant.

Before you can turn into this artistic writer, there is a baggage of emotional places you must have been through, or it will probably just not happen. You hardly will see yourself as a writer without a discomfort. And I’m not saying that I could judge what is a real deep experience, I’m just saying that without experiences, without some event in your life with an avalanche of feelings, you will hardly transcend for what’s next. We need the mess to turn all that complexity into a work of art. Inside, there are this screaming megalomania versus terrible moments of deep insecurity before you first call yourself an artist.

There are some things that can only get out of me through writing. Perhaps you can call your art therapeutic, or it could be just your demon finding a better and more palpable way to hunt you when you give life to it outside your mind. Regardless, you are already an artist, since you could take all that messy web inside to transform it into some creation outside of you.

Be real, be raw, and don’t fear about being intense. Or not, because it is not about rules. But before being the poet, you must be the poetry. That’s what artists are made of.
Why you must write
By: Connie Song
Tags: Simple Writing, Poem, Writing, Writers Life, Dr Seuss

Why you must write

Photo by Tamarcus Brown on Unsplash -Intellectual Property and All Rights Owned by Dr. Theodor Seuss

Write like it’s the reason,

the panacea, the escape.

Write like it’s the golden truth,

any common thief would take.

Write like it’s your last meal

before your untimely fate,

Write, you must write now,

Before it is too late.

If the ocean pulled me in and swallowed me whole,

I would fall into its hypnotic rhythm

and become a mermaid

buoyant on waves of green and blue

on a weekend pass from alcatraz.

And if a mysterious monster took me captive

and held me in his cave

filled with bats and spiders and crawly bugs,

I’d have no recourse but to kick him in his achille’s horse

and feed him to the sharks.

How rampant are the vile thoughts in the writer’s mind?

How juicily violent, how blatantly abhorrent,

How mischievously filthy, yet as deeply cleansing as disinfectant.

What are you waiting for?

Your laptop keys await your touch,

Write now, because you must.
Going digital during lockdown
By: Viccy Adams
Tags: Webinar Training, Team Lit Blog, Writers Life, Literature, Digital Resources

TOMORROW (Wednesday 8 April) there’s a free webinar on filming and live streaming, from The Space. This is for YOU, creative people, writers, arts organisations and performers stuck at home during lockdown and itching to think about how to keep going. Find out more and sign up here.

Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

If you work for an arts organisation and want to find inspiration in how other organisations are doing things digitally, check out Literature Alliance Scotland’s list of free online content and resources from Scotland (and beyond!) and the British Council’s Literature on Lockdown suggestions for navigating the offers of online readalongs, bookspine poetry, essays and resources.

And if you’re a writer mulling over a cancelled IRL launch, The Bookseller has some handy links to other people it the same situation who’ve decided to host online instead. Edinburgh City of Literature has joined forces with the other UNESCO Cities of Literature to set up a Facebook group for writers to discuss their works in progress.
Two Years Writing: My Journey Update
By: Esther Adeoye
Tags: Writer, Journey, Milestones, Writing, Writers Life

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

On 18th July 2020, I hit another milestone in my journey as a writer. It was my writerversary and it marked 2 years since I started this journey of consistent writing. Last year, I wrote a post about where it all started, where I was at that time, and what I hoped to achieve by my second year. I also dropped a few nuggets from my experience as a writer for people thinking of writing One Year of Poetry: The Journey so far.

This past year, was a demanding year for me. I thought the first year was challenging but gosh, the second was a lot more challenging. I worked at a great organization, finished my youth service (a compulsory national service to the nation), started running my personal Fashion brand, and reached new milestones. With so much happening in and around my life, I had to stay true to my challenge. I tried not to procrastinate and well, Yes, I procrastinated… a lot. But with all my procrastination, the Holy Spirit kept reminding and inspiring me to write, and every month unfailingly, I posted a poem or a story here on Medium.

I decided to push myself a lot more than I did the year before, even with all the distractions and I did push myself, just a little bit. I wrote my first short story which I’m really proud of and the fun fact about that story was that I wrote it at a very busy time at the office. It was my way of letting out some steam, but it turned out to be one very good story, way better than I thought it would be. You can read it here Rain, Coffee, and a Lonely Ride

As I step into my third year, I know there will be newer challenges to face and tackle but I also know that it will be a good year. A few more short stories might come up, but in all, I’ll still keep to my monthly poem writing by the grace of God.

Thank you to all of you who read my poems and stories and always support me. I appreciate you all. And a BIG thanks goes to the Holy Spirit who never let me down. Until next year, when I celebrate my third writerversary, Byeee.

~ Esther Ohifumere Adeoye
Zero to Dream Job in 90 Days!
By: Kathy Blackwell
Tags: Writers On Medium, Writers On Writing, Writers Life, Job Search

Zero to Dream Job in 90 Days!

Day #9 Job Search

We all have our own idea of what a dream job is. You might be wondering what mine might be?

I have been asking myself that question every day since I have begun writing this blog and will share some of my thoughts. The ideal position I had in mind started out as traveling all over the world to visit and write about programs that work with children and families. Sort of like a news reporter that gets sent on assignments, interviews the people involved and writes the story. This kind of position would fulfill my dreams of traveling, spreading good news and working with children.

As I delve into this search more and I read hundreds of job descriptions, I realize there are many levels of writing people do and I have widened the possibilities of types I am qualified for. There are researchers, grant writers, philanthropic organizations who need people to communicate with their donors, staff writers for journals and many, many content and content strategist writers. Sometimes I am exhausted just reading the description of the job. There are multiple paragraphs of descriptions of so many duties the job sounds like it is for five people!

I list my job search categories in as many ways as I can possibly think of to focus on the type of “Good news” writing I am looking to do. Yesterday the perfect job was sent to my inbox! It involved many of my top criteria, including writing for a non profit organization that is trying to improve the world, remotely! I read it twice, and then began looking for the salary. I found it. It was a volunteer position. Full time. Ugh. Back to the drawing board.

81 Days to go!
Live To Write Or Write To Live?
By: Sushmita Pedaprolu
Tags: Obsessions, Writers On Writing, Writing, Writers Life, Life

Live To Write Or Write To Live?

Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash

Whether we are writing professionally or not, there is one question that always baffles those who love writing: Do we treat writing as a means to an end (Meaningful Life) or do we treat life itself as a means to an end (Writing)? In other words, do we use writing to create a life filled with purpose and happiness? Or do we use all of your life experiences to serve our writing? Perhaps, the best writers are those who do a bit of both.

Being a creative profession, writing requires us to go deep within and get inspired from our personal lives. And when we love writing too much, it is natural for us to start using our life experiences as the material for our craft. A lot of times, this approach helps us survive — we might be stuck at a toxic workplace but the very thought of using this bad phase in our writing helps us cope the worst that the workplace might have to offer.

Looking at all of life experiences as a means to an end can help us get through life with a reasonable amount of hope and purpose.

However, the problem with the above approach is this — we cannot make a powerful impact as writers if all we do is cleverly use our life experiences for writing. The blood boiling in our veins might not flow through our ink if our motive is to game life for the sake of becoming a great writer. When it comes to emotions, we cannot trick them because being manipulative defeats the whole purpose of writing. Let’s say we are finding the sunset beautiful — it is okay and natural for us, writers, to think about how we can express our awe in words. However, we need to first genuinely appreciate the sunset. Merely using the sunset to score brownie points as a writer might not work and even if does, it might not move our readers. At the same time, the desire to express our awe is also important — it is okay to feel the need to express everything we feel through writing but we need to be careful to fall into the trap of manipulation.

It is important to remember that while all life experiences can be the material for our writing, we need to honor them and not merely ‘use’ them to write. In other words — writers cannot avoid feeling painful things just because those painful things can be the material for their next book.

Knowing that we can turn our pain into a meaningful piece of writing doesn’t make us immune from the pain.

So, writers should absolutely obsess about writing and thinking about how they can channel various emotions through writing. But great writers don’t outsmart their emotions. They befriend them.
Former creative director writes novel during first lockdown
By: Ronny Simon
Tags: Writers Life, Authors, Roman

All assignments were canceled within a week during the first lockdown, so what do you do? Panic? No, you’re writing your first novel. And of course you use your eventful life as a source of inspiration. It has just not become an autobiography, but a nice book where fiction and non-fiction intertwine. https://www.oudvet.nl

It was the first lockdown that made me decide to write a book. I talked about it with my friends. I often told them the most bizarre stories, to which they sometimes had a good laugh or reacted very surprised. In a month’s time — during the first lockdown — all my marketing assignments were canceled, so I decided to write.

But how do you start? Especially if you have no experience at all. So I did a lot of research on the internet and I have read all the classics, and so on.

And then you just have to start. Define a structure in outline, of course, but don’t let that stop you. Getting started is the most important step. I ended up writing every day for almost a year, rereading everything at least three times a day, and correcting every day. And, of course, looking for co-readers within your circle of acquaintances for the so important ‘input’.

After a year I had my ‘puke version’ ready. Now it was time to find an editor and that was still a ‘thing’. The average quote was 1500 Euros, a large amount for a beginning writer. Finally I managed to find an editor who did it for free. Just searched my network and found it. I couldn’t believe my luck. It took him a month and a lot of gray hair for me, and in that month I aged at least two years. But together we were happy with the end result.

In the year that I was working on my book, I also looked into what was the best solution for me, whether or not to find a publisher. After much research, I decided to self-publish the book. I am very happy with that now. At a later stage I may be able to work with a publisher. But now I find it exciting and extremely educational to do it myself. I also have the promotion in my own hands. I built the website myself, set up the crowdfunding campaign, sent out the press releases and am now working on the follow-up.

The books are already being sold and I am very happy about that. Mobilize my network now. Fortunately, there are also celebrities that I can possibly use for the promotion.
A ‘Blog’ on writer’s block
Tags: Writers Block, Writers On Writing, Writing Life, Blog, Writers Life

A blog on writer’s block, ironic isn’t it? But, that’s where it sprouted, and who am I to curb the fluidity of creativity. Today, I was given a topic to write an interesting blog, meta, am I right?

As a writer, one often wheels like a white wall of nothingness out of nowhere, and for some godforsaken reason, it occurs to me in the middle of a sentence. Luckily, it didn’t hit me while I was writing this, or you would have a hard time thinking about what am I writing, or if I am even capable of thinking.

For me, writer’s block hits me when I am supposed to be meeting a deadline, that’s when the electrical firings in my mind decide to play dead. So, what do you do then? Can’t give up now, you’ve come halfway and already made a promise. I go for walks and stare at everything insignificant trying to find meaning, sort of like a philosopher trying to find his answers. But, that’s the thing. Philosophers cannot reason life with hard facts, it’s all conditional, and that’s what I do. I think deeper but from different angles and scenarios of the most minute things. If in case I find a parallel, Voila! I have my content. If I don’t, then there’s always another day, and always another tree to look at to find answers while on walks.
My Hands Betrayed Me
Tags: Life Lessons, Software Testing, People, Betrayal, Writers Life

Today I write about the unfaithfulness of my hands. The lethargic style they adopted and the faulty impact on my brain. I will just go straight to the point.

I have lost it, or let’s say I’m losing it. I’m losing the friendship, companionship, trust, love, and everything amazing relationship that my pen has with my note. And all thanks to my hands

How did I get here, the point to which my note and pen are unlovable?

To which my pen lies unproductive in the leaves of my plain notes

To which my pen no longer calls my note comforting and my note no longer calls my pen Smart.

They swore to be together forever Comfort & Smart forever.

At what point did they lose interest in each other

Who would have thought that my pen would see my note and not crave to design it with letters from its heart or that my note would rather stay plain than be graced by the intelligent words of my pen?

Who would have thought that they’d go days, weeks, months without craving each other’s presence?

How did I miss not writing in a day, now two days, a week now a month and counting..

I’m not aware of the fight between my pen and note

I do not know the day they disagreed and chose to be apart

I can’t tell if they’ve been unfaithful to each other.

But I know my hands knew and kept it from me. I don’t even have an excuse but my hands knew all along and they didn’t tell me.

From the pinching of my right fingers around my pen to my lazy left palm relaxing on my notebook to the movement of my wrist and arms, I couldn’t have been more disappointed.

Today my hands choose to reconcile by the way. I understand that my note will not pick my pen and write by itself, it would take the effort of my hand. That effort is “ me being deliberate”

Perhaps, I haven’t been deliberate about writing hence I am my hand, my hand is me.

This rant is to many years of writing again.

Cheers!
Is the legalization of marijuana really a good thing?
By: Jeremy Cheung
Tags: Humanity, Thinking, Plants, Life

As you all know, cannabis is legalized in more and more areas, and many people are growing cannabis indoors, but can we really figure out what it means behind this?

We all know that marijuana is prohibited in most areas. It is illegal for anyone to possess and grow marijuana, and many people have smoked marijuana. According to them, the feeling is very refreshing. No one knows that this will cause addiction, and no one will tell these people that they will gradually be corroded by marijuana and gradually lose their senses.

There are also people who hold different views, because cannabis is also an item that exists as a prescription drug. Many doctors have the right to prescribe cannabis to patients as medicines, but this is only from a medical point of view. If you ask me, these People are just looking for a fig leaf for the act of smoking marijuana.

With the legalization of marijuana, many people have grown marijuana indoors. Although this has promoted many ancillary industries, such as LED plant growth lights, coolers, fertilizers and other industries, in fact, this is very important in the long run. Morbid.

Imagine that if marijuana is legalized, in the future, our children will see us growing these so-called weeds at home, and then they can see us to smoke these weeds. They have seen these since they were young, which affects them, and they too Try it out because of curiosity, and continue to cycle like this, not to mention that pregnant women ingesting marijuana will affect their babies.

Although marijuana has been disguised as a harmless product, it is actually the drug. It cannibalize people’s minds, destroy people’s will, and make those who absorb it become his slaves. In the end, they smoke more and more. , Marijuana is not enough to make them happy, they will look for more exciting drugs to replace.

Although marijuana is legalized, we should not participate in this pathological carnival.
New Barrackpur Municipality plants saplings to reinstate Amphan damage.
By: S. Ganguly
Tags: Planning, Cyclone, Plants, Amphan, Trees

New Barrackpur Municipality plants saplings to reinstate Amphan damage.

Local activists opined that planting saplings would have a better impact than replanting an uprooted tree.

Photo by Kasturi Laxmi Mohit on Unsplash

New Barrackpur Municipality has recently planted over 300 saplings of various tree species to restore the green cover that has been badly affected by Amphan. The severe super cyclone that hit West Bengal on May 2020 brought unmanageable destructions and made households suffer tremendously.

Hundreds of trees were uprooted in the area by the storm that mostly included coconut, neem, and betel. “No less than 15 trees have been uprooted in ward number 5 alone”, said the local councilor.

The officials decided to be very cautious while planting the saplings this time since it has been found that the destroyed trees were not sturdy enough to resist strong winds. In one local interview, the councilor said, “We have focused on planting banyan, peepal, crape myrtle and some fruit trees as well.”

These trees have got a preference as they hold the soil firmly, thereby prevent soil erosion. On June 5, World Environment Day, the municipality officials successfully conducted the tree planting campaign in collaboration with 100 workers.
BEST TOWERING INDOOR PLANTS TO GROW IN YOUR HOME
Tags: Decor, Plants, Indoor Plants, Interior, Home Decor

BEST TOWERING INDOOR PLANTS TO GROW IN YOUR HOME CarbonKraft Jun 17·3 min read

Tall indoor plants have a spot in every house, whether they’re utilized to load up vacant spaces or tall columns, or merely to create a big impression. These plants can be indoor that have reached a specific maturity phase. The plants can be exhibited on their own or in a group to obtain a verdant space in your house.

Depending on your interior design style, you can purchase a variety of indoor tall plants.

If you’d like to give your compact city flat a tropical atmosphere, for example, you should acquire palm trees or Birds of Paradise Plants.

You’d seek for tall cacti, like Euphorbias, if you reside in a modern house and prefer an intuitive design.

Given below are some of the tall indoor plants that are resilient, attractive, and require low maintenance:

● Madagascar Dragon Tree :

Dracaenas, or Dragon Trees, are tall indoor plants that are relatively easy to grow. They are ideal for both plant novices and those who are extremely busy. These plants prefer daylight that is moderate to low. Its leaves will be scorched if exposed to direct sunlight.

Dracaenas are drought resilient, therefore they don’t require much watering. Overwatering is one of the most common causes of plant mortality. This plant can be watered up to every 3 weeks, based on how much sunshine it obtains.

Realize that Dracaenas are fluoride-sensitive, so if your water supply has high amounts of fluoride, it’s better to hydrate them with distilled water. This plant is a powerful air cleaner, eliminating formaldehyde, xylene, and trichloroethylene from the air.

● Norfolk Island Pine :

Norfolk Pines are lovely, towering indoor plants with a luscious appearance. We’ve grown accustomed to seeing these plants throughout the holiday season when they’re dressed out with little Christmas decorations and a sprinkling of glitter. The majority of people are unaware that Norfolk Pines are tropical plants that are sensitive to cold temperatures and need high amounts of moisture to survive.

Bright light environments are ideal for Norfolk Pines. They thrive in direct sunshine for many hours, but they also thrive in brilliant artificial lighting.

These plants thrive in halls and windows that face south. Hydrate them when the topsoil seems dry to the touch, but don’t let them dry out during waterings.

● Fiddle Leaf Fig :

Fiddle Leaf is a type sold as little or tall indoor plants. While smaller plants are readily available, towering trees are more difficult to come by and more expensive than Palms, Birds of Paradise, or other tall plants.

Fiddle Leaf Figs are simple to cultivate and maintain for once you’ve found the right site for them and nailed down the watering plan.

These plants require a huge amount of bright light to thrive.

If you are interested to know more about towering plants.
INDOOR PLANTING: THE COMPLETE GUIDE
Tags: Gardening, Plants, Indoor Plants, Indoor Gardening, Planting

Indoor plants must be an integral part of any home interior scheme. Flora lights up indoor environments and is found to improve one’s spirit.

Indoor plants are prominent because they are simple to handle and can be used to complement several interior design concepts.

Indoor plants are a fantastic option for those who don’t have enough square footage for an outdoor garden or who live in areas where the winters are bitterly cold.

So, if you’re new to looking for indoor plants, this comprehensive guide will arm you with the knowledge you need to help your green buddies grow.

What are indoor plants, exactly?

Plants that thrive indoors are known as indoor plants. Palms, for example, are among the tropical plants that flourish in indoor conditions.

How is it done?

Indoor plants are typically present already in pots, hence there’s no need to plant them. Growing an indoor plant is usually necessary for the following reasons :

● You’ll need to relocate the plant into a bigger container if it grows too huge.

● You’ll have to put the bulbs yourself if you’d like to nurture them indoors.

Lighting requirements of indoor plants

Cacti and succulents require constant sunshine on a daily basis. Foliage plants require about 8 hours of daylight regularly. Because the intensity of daylight required varies depending on the plants you’re growing, we recommend conducting some study on the plants you’re going to grow.

What characteristics distinguish a better indoor plant?

When choosing an indoor plant, there are various characteristics to consider.

● An extensive root system When selecting a plant, this is crucial. Taking a plant out of its container to examine its roots is not feasible, but it can be handled if it is a tiny plant. Healthy roots are robust and pale in color.

● Look for illness White specks, adhesive residue on the leaflets, and an unpleasant odor are all symptoms of a plant with bugs or sickness.

● Foliage When it refers to growing foliage, a fair thumb rule is that if you can’t see through it, it’s dense enough.

Are you interested to know more about indoor planting?
Gift Plants Tips — 3 Reasons Why Gift Plants Make a Good Gift
Tags: Plants

Gift Plants Tips — 3 Reasons Why Gift Plants Make a Good Gift Teeningapalmen Apr 27, 2019·2 min read

In this modern society, people often purchase things that are not useful and have no meaning whatsoever as gifts to their friends and family members. Gift plants have been around for quite some time. They are quite popular recently due to the reasons that we are going to discuss later in this article.

If you are thinking that you have to go through the hassle of growing a plant in order to give away a gift plant, you are terribly outdated. There are a lot of online stores and florists that helps to send the gift plant of your choice to someone with a modest fee. Gift plants are not limited to just flowers, they can be cactus and container plants. Without further ado, let us look at some of the reasons why your next gift should be a plant.

Affordable and Time Saving

Plants are not as expensive as watches, wallets and sneakers. If you visit some of the gift plant stores on the Internet, you will find that with a low $20 budget, you can actually have a plant with your card sent directly to someone. Also, with all the online facilities, you can save a lot of time. You will not need to visit florists or plant nurseries to purchase a gift plant for an upcoming event.

Everlasting Gift

How many gifts that people gave you in the past that you keep until this very moment? Most people don’t keep their gifts for long. However, this is different when you give them a winterharde palmbomen kopen. Why? They will start caring for it and it is difficult to part with something that you have put in effort to care for, right?

Also, if someone really takes the effort to care for the plant, it shows that he or she treasures your gift. With this, plants are actually much meaningful than other gifts.

Wide Variety of Choices

Hop over to any online gift plant stores now. Most of the time, their wide variety of plants will be grouped by occasions, which will again save you a lot of time if you are going to buy plants as a gift for certain events. These stores will help out a lot if you have no idea what a plant means when given out as a gift.
Franklin tree
Tags: Arboretum, Plants, Extinction, Plants400, Franklinia Alatamaha

Franklinia alatamaha is a small, deciduous tree or shrub that can reach ten metres tall. It has glossy, dark green, simple leaves up to 18 cm long and oblong in shape. The crimson autumn colour can develop when the plant is still in flower. The tree has flowers like those of camellias, that is, they are large, snowy-white and cup shaped with a large boss of yellow stamens. The seeds can take 12 to 14 months to mature. It can be a difficult tree to grow in cultivation and prefers sandy, acidic soil. Franklinia alatamaha is the only species in the genus and is also classified by the IUCN as being extinct in the wild; it only exists in cultivation.

This plant was first observed in 1765 by the Philadelphia plant collectors John and William Bartram, alongside the Altamaha River in Georgia, USA; the river after which the species in named. On an extended collecting trip to the southern states of the American colonies, between 1773 and 1776, which was funded by the English physician and gardener John Fothergill, William Bartram collected seed of Franklinia alatamaha. The seeds were returned to Philadelphia in 1777, and grown in Bartram’s Garden; today, it is the oldest surviving botanic garden in North America. All Franklinia specimens alive today are descendants of the individuals originally collected by Bartram himself.

The plant was assigned to a new monotypic genus, Franklinia, by William Bartram, in order to honour Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, who was a close friend of his father, John. As well as being the first to observe and collect the species, William also first described its very limited distribution. In 1803, the English plant collector John Lyon was the last person to verify the tree’s existence in the wild. Numerous expeditions to relocate the plant since the early nineteenth century have proven fruitless.

One theory about the species demise in the wild is the clearance of land along the Altamaha River for the cotton plantations in the early nineteenth century. Other potential causes are the introduction of fungal pathogens, to the area of the river, with the arrival of cotton, or simply over collection by people eager to sell specimens into a horticultural trade eager for novelties.

One of the descendants of Bartram’s original collection can be seen at the Harcourt Arboretum, along the Threatened Tree Trail.

Luke Rowland

Arboretum Arborist

Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum

Oxford Plants 400

Twitter: Plants400
Enduring is a Vibe….
By: Author, Saidat Ibrahim
Tags: Love, Endure, Plants, Marriage, Couples

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

In the last couple of years, I have heard the word “enduring” over and over again. I even heard it in my local dialect-“fo ri ti.” The dictionary definition of enduring is: “to bear without resistance or with patience. It also means to tolerate.”

One known fact is we have all endured at a certain time in our lives. We endure in school and at work. We endure certain kinds of relationships. Most remarkably, people are expected to endure in marriage.

I did not quite like the idea of enduring or maybe I just did not get it then. In my head it was like: suffer through it all; take it all in; don’t complain; and loads of similar things.

Enduring comes easy if the foundation of marriage is built on a strong friendship. If this is the case, one would not even consider enduring in any negative way. The enduring love will just flow naturally; basically, enduring with love at the core of it all. Once you begin to enjoy the marriage make sure you put in all the work to maintain it.

Photo by Amy on Unsplash

With a strong conviction, I knew marriage was meant to be enjoyed rather than endured. In life, we enjoy the things we like and we endure the things we don’t like. Marriage should be liked, better still, loved. This is something you vowed to be in for the rest of your life. Marriage goes from easy to hard real quick and a lot of work is required to make you enjoy it; I believe this is where enduring comes in. When your marriage is built on a strong foundation, enduring will be easy.

Photo by Filipe Almeida on Unsplash

One needs to endure the work necessary to keep the marriage interesting so it can be enjoyed. Hence, I understand the saying that you have to endure to enjoy. Same with almost everything in life, you have to put in the effort to get positive results. Remember, it is two people from two completely different backgrounds, starting a whole new life together. Different ideas that will build your own happy home.

Photo by Natalia Y on Unsplash

This quote from Professor Karl Pillemer was essential in growing my belief in marriage

“Rather than seeing marriage as a voluntary partnership that lasts only as long as the passion does, the elders propose a mindset in which it is a profound commitment to be respected, even if things go sour over the short term. Many struggled through dry and unhappy periods and found ways to resolve them — giving them the reward of a fulfilling, intact marriage in later life.”

Photo by Gabby Orcutt on Unsplash

If you see marriage as a plant, and you protect the plant, water it, feed it, weed it, and take care of it, that plant will forever be a beauty. If you do otherwise, it’s going to die or be in such a state that you don’t admire it any longer. That’s how marriage should work. One should constantly be ready to put in the work to make it blossom. There will be hard days but with so much understanding, it will be a walk in the park.
Durbin, Bustos call Trump administration’s new ethanol production rules ‘complete failure’
By: Shawn Genzone
Tags: Donald Trump, Plants, Production, Illinois News, Illinois

Two members of the Illinois congressional delegation criticized the Trump administration’s new rules on ethanol production. They called the new rules “watered-down” and “complete failure” for farmers. The new regulations have been issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency last week. US Sen. Dick Durbin and US Rep. Cheri Bustos released their statements in response to the new regulations.

They said that the Trump Administration was selling out farmers by issuing waivers on biofuel production to major refineries. Farmer alleged the Trump administration of being responsible for a production cut of ethanol by 2.6 billion gallons. They said that the refinery waivers were the reason behind the production cut of ethanol.

Farmers also criticized the ongoing trade war between Trump and China. The EPA was criticized by Bustos in August when it granted 31 new refinery waivers. According to Durbin, the trump administration has granted 85 refinery waivers so far. Durbin said in a statement, “President Trump has single-handedly delivered one crippling blow after another to everyone who invested decades in building the biofuels industry.”

Durbin added that he was confused about whether they would ever see a biofuels industry under Trump like they once had. Trump said that he loved ethanol and biodiesel. Durbin said, “After the issuance of new regulations, I say I will believe it when I see it”. Bustos said that the administration failed to meet the needs of farmers and biofuel producers.

Robin Hanna, the project manager for the Rural Economic Technical Assistance Center for the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, conducted a study on the ethanol industry of Illinois. Hanna delivered the report at the annual meeting of the Illinois Farm Bureau this month. Hanna said while talking to the FarmWeekNow.com, “There are big numbers. And the downstream effects are huge.”

Source: https://chicagomorningstar.com/durbin-bustos-call-trump-administrations-new-ethanol-production-rules-complete-failure

See Also: Illinois News
Why Aloe Vera Is Good For Men’s Health And The Super Effects
By: Brent Phillips
Tags: Mens Health, Plants, Aloe Vera, Health

We are all mostly aware of the profound healing properties of the Aloe Plant. got a cut, bruise, infection, burn, skin irritation, digestive upset, aloe vera has got you covered. What most people do not know is that it is enriched with vitamin B which in turn helps regulate sexual hormones and improves sperm quality. Trying to get pregnant? It is worth a try and easy to use as it can also be used as a natural lubricant!

Photo by Stephanie Harvey on Unsplash

Outside of that there are several other benefits directly related to male enhancement. Here are the top 3 male benefits that have been consistently shown to cause a positive effect.

Maintain Genital Skin Health

Also enriched with vitamin E which is known to be powerful in softening the skin, this enables the skin to absorb other beneficial components easier. Natural Vasodilator

Erectile dysfunction? One of the best ways to overcome this is by increasing NO2 production in the body which most of the time resorts in better blood flow to the penile region. The idea is that a natural vasodialator will loosen the blood vessel allowing for better blood flow and in turn having a greater erection. Improves Cardiovascular Health

This directly ties into being a natural vasodialator, as it helps improve blood flow to all of the bodies organs which in turn provides many benefits to the overall health and function. As men get older one of the most common issues is poor blood circulation that causes an onslaught of problems such as erectile dysfunction, low libido, and low energy.

Besides the fact that this plant has endless benefits to the human anatomy, it is probably one of the most resilient plants that is able to grow in almost any type of condition. So if you do not already own aloe vera plants it is well worth the investment as you can be sure that even with neglect it will grow. I would even say it has some reptile capabilities like being able to regrow faster as it gets attacked. Have you ever noticed that when you take a leaf off the plant it seems like two or three grow back in place?