The High Art of Handling Problem People

The High Art of Handling Problem People

Find yourself acting crazy when you're really a very nice person?
Manipulation comes in many forms:
There are whiners.
There are bullies.
There are the short-fused
Not to forget the highly judgmental.
Or the out-and-out sociopath.
But they often have one thing in common:
Their MO is to provoke, then make you feel you have no reason to react
Experience motivates most of us to avoid or minimize interacting with such people
managing the relationship by distancing yourself or cutting it off altogether is impossible or undesirable

The goal, in such cases, is to prepare in advance for an encounter, knowing it will take a special effort to hold onto your own sense of self, and to stay calm

Although it is typically disturbing to be in the presence of such people, remaining composed in the face of unreasonableness helps you figure out exactly what species of difficulty you're dealing with
It allows you to predict the specific emotional trap being set for you,

Handling difficult people at work is not quite the same as coping with problem people in family life.
The goal is to get the work done, and that requires great caution and considerable strategizing.
"It's not like a marriage, where the dailiness of living will allow you to repair a lot of interactions gone wrong,

In a marriage, she says, it's often advisable to exit a conversation



http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201204/the-high-art-handling-problem-people

What your Facebook picture says about your cultural background

What your Facebook picture says about your cultural background

What kind of profile picture do you have on Facebook?
Is it a close-up shot of your lovely face with little background visible?
Or is it zoomed out, so that you appear against a wider context?
The answer, according to a new study by psychologists in the USA, likely depends in part on your cultural ancestry.
Regardless of their current location, there was a significant association between cultural background and style of Facebook picture
Facebook users originally hailing from Taiwan were more likely to have a zoomed-out picture in which they were seen against a background context.
Users from the USA, by contrast, were more likely to have a close-up picture in which their face filled up more of the frame.


http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2012/05/what-your-facebook-picture-says-about.html

How Much Do You ‘Zone Out’ While Reading?

How Much Do You ‘Zone Out’ While Reading?

Everyone zones out from time-to-time while reading, but how much is normal?
Everyone has had the experience of reading a few pages of a book and then suddenly noticing none of it has gone in
So we are often unaware that our minds are wandering from what we are reading, even when it's a gripping Amazon bestseller rather than a boring textbook
The only time their minds weren't wandering was when they were having sex
If our minds wander only 13% of the time when we're reading, that's actually pretty good compared to an average of 50% for everyday life

http://www.spring.org.uk/2012/06/how-much-do-you-zone-out-while-reading.php

David Garnett's Lady into Fox

Mr Tebrick is surprised by his wife Silvia's sudden transformation into a vixen, and slowly has to acclimatise to her new dressing and eating habits
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00cmz8y

Episode 1
sylvia fox marries richard tebrick
one day they see a fox outside of the house
when richard sees her eyes in the fox's eyes her wife turns into fox
richard shoots dogs to protect her and sends the servants away
his wife eating habits change
he lets the bird in the cage go
he catches his wife eating a rabbit
one of the servant comes back



episode 2
vixen lying
garden door is open
vixen gone
vixen bits his hand
vixen gets wild
vixen is savaga because she wants her freedom
mr tebrick does not want to stand between sylvia and his freedom
hunters?
servant explains to two hunters
mr tebrick mistakes other foxes his wife
his vixen does not return
vixen makes herself a family,husband and kids
mr tebrick starts living with his new family in the wild life
hounds chase vixen
vixen comes back to find refuge with mr tebrick
hounds attack them
vixen is dead

"ne" without "pas" - "ne" explétif et "ne" littéraire

 certain verbs and constructions need ne but not pas in order to be negative
The use of pas in these constructions is not prohibited, simply optional.
The ne littéraire is used with seven verbs:
Cesser, oser, and pouvoir never need pas.


Il ne cesse de parler.
He never stops talking.




The ne explétif is used after certain verbs and conjunctions. I call it a "non-negative ne" because it has no negative value in and of itself. It is used in situations where the main clause has a negative (either negative-bad or negative-negated) meaning, such as expressions of fear, warning, doubt, and negation.


Elle a peur qu'il ne soit malade.
She's afraid that he is sick.


Reference:
http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/negation_form_3.htm
http://www86.homepage.villanova.edu/seth.whidden/nesanspas.html
http://www.personal.psu.edu/aas195/blogs/french_402y_spring_2009/2009/02/french-grammar-arcana-ne-litteraire-ne-expletif.html

Leaves of the Dead

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007wltd
Feisty DI Julie Enfield probes a murder at London's British Library. Nick Fisher thriller with Imelda Staunton.

• Stacks and Baps and Amulets

Feisty DI Julie Enfield probes a murder at London's British Library. Nick Fisher thriller with Imelda Staunton

handwriting investigation
arnold is the suspect,now under inquiry
superintendent tries to figure out motive
egyptian book of the death
prof baker is dead and eliminated as suspect

• Proverbs and Punctures from Hell

injected needles,yet there's another murder at the museum

• Welcome to the Nightmare
• Pyramids In The Spider

Can DI Julie Enfield escape before she becomes the next murder victim? Stars Imelda Staunton and Geoffrey Matthews.