Artist and designer Сhaz Hutton makes funny charts and drawings about our every day life that are totally spot on.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
How to Have More Entertaining Conversations
What if I told you that some of the best conversation exchanges are about things that never occurred and never will?
Say hello to the hypothetical statement – or hypotheticals as I affectionately refer to them. Probably the most entertaining type of statement in the conversation universe. A single hypothetical can launch a conversation into a world of fictional fun.
I was sitting in a coffee shop writing and someone came over and asked if the comfy chair next to me was available. I didn’t feel like talking because I was engrossed in my writing, but after I told him it was free, he sat down, got comfortable, and said, “If I start snoring loudly, just kick me.”
We both laughed. I responded, “I’ve got some ice left in my cup I could pour on you if that would work better.” He laughed again, and I went about my work. Either of us could have continued a conversation very naturally from there if we wanted, all about an imaginary event — falling asleep and snoring in a chair! There was nothing glamorous about the event either – but simply discussing the hypothetical possibility, within the context of a coffee shop – was very funny.
Hypothetical statements don’t require the imagination of an artist or the wit of a playwright. Many are quite simple and quick. Check out the following example:
“I’m going for a run, although I’ll probably faint in this heat.”
You could have just told your wife, “I’m going for a run,” but that wouldn’t be entertaining, would it? Adding some hypothetical scenario takes it to a whole new level. You could have added any number of hypotheticals about possibly being bitten by the neighbor’s vicious dog, chased by cops, etc.
Look at the World Without Hypothetical Statements
To quickly illustrate the power and range of hypotheticals, let’s look at some real examples WITHOUT and WITH a hypothetical component.
Obviously, you weren’t privy to the actual conversation, but my hope is you can imagine how B-O-R-I-N-G some of these statements are without hypotheticals and how they completely transform the instant the hypothetical is added:
Without Hypothetical: Yeah, I was going to call you this morning to see if you were coming in.
With Hypothetical:Yeah, I was going to call you this morning to see if you were coming in. I wanted to make sure you weren’t stuck in a ditch or something.
Without Hypothetical:
JACK: I’m so glad they finally built the café down here.
JILL: Yeah, before this I was eating fast food every day.
With Hypothetical:
JACK: I’m so glad they finally built the café down here.
JILL: Yeah, before this I was eating fast food every day. I must have gained like twenty pounds!
Without Hypothetical: I have to go give that presentation now.
With Hypothetical:I have to go give that presentation now. Anyone want to come see me embarrass myself?
The Hypothetical and the Exception
Hypotheticals often come in the form of an exception. Check out this example:
Your friend mentions the topic of making beer.
YOU: I’ve always wanted to have a home brewery in my basement. That would so cool! Except I’d probably end up throwing most of it out!
FRIEND: Maybe you should have a bakery instead. I think you would like making sweets even more than beer. Except you would probably end up eating everything before you had a chance to sell it!
What Might be a Possible Explanation?
The hypothetical can take the form of a playful explanation for why some event or behavior occurred.
For example, you are leaving a neighborhood party when someone comments about your five-year-old.
FRIEND: Your son has been so good this whole time.
YOU: Thanks. It worked out well.
The conversation could end there. Or you could add a playful reason as to why your son behaved so well.
YOU: Thanks! We got lucky. Someone probably snuck him a few beers from the fridge.
Check out another example:
Your friends are talking about hair loss.
YOU: Yeah, it sucks, I’m sure I’ll be bald in about two years.
FRIEND: Really, you look like you still have all your hair.
YOU: Yeah, well, not really.
Or you could also provide a hypothetical reason.
YOU: That’s because I’m wearing a toupee – a really good one. I glued it down.
The Almost Realm
Many great hypothetical statements exist in the realm of the “Almost” did/said/happened. This is often more interesting than the literal truth. It’s a very important technique in telling stories as well.
For a simple, but effective example, imagine someone asking: “How’d the event go?”
You reply “It was fun…the tent almost collapsed…but overall, it was a good time.” Or “It was fun…nothing burned down, so that was good.”
This gives the other person something else to connect to. “Well, I’m glad nothing burned down! That wouldn’t be good.”
Hypotheticals require a little imagination and a playfulness, which isn’t easy to replicate when you’re by yourself. Regardless, it’s a habit that doesn’t come easily unless you make some effort. See if you can finish the following statements with a hypothetical statement:
- My team is playing tonight, if they ______, I’ll ________.
- I can’t stand mushrooms…if _________.
- Your beard is getting really long, you could ________.
A lot of times, just forcing yourself to add a “if… it could…. it should… it would have… it might… I’ll probably… ” can help trigger some imaginative, entertaining statements!
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22 DIY Hacks Using the Change in Your Pocket
Have a simple DIY job but haven’t got a complete tool kit? Looking to make a cool new decoration for your home? Or simply seeking to save a bit of money in ways you’ve never thought of before? Designed to help you prevent spending money on expensive alternatives, this post covers 22 DIY hacks you can put into practice around your home. And believe it or not, spare change may just hold the answer.
The change in your pocket can surprisingly provide a free alternative to a tool when doing jobs such as hanging a cabinet door or sorting out a wobbly table. Meanwhile, in the garden, coins can be used as a repellent against slugs and flies, while a 20p piece is an excellent indicator for checking the treads of your tyres. When it comes to homeware and decorations, a few coins can provide the answer too – make yourself a new button for your jacket, or construct yourself some drinks coasters simply from spare change and cork.
It’s worth examining your coppers out from time to time as well – you might have one that is worth a fortune. A ‘fake’ 2p coin made of silver was recently found and estimated to be worth around £2,000 due to its minting error. So you never know, you might have something particularly valuable hidden in your pot of small change.
Our infographic below demonstrates the wide range of situations in which you can you put your loose change to use. There are some really straightforward tips for saving money too, from your electricity bills to planning a holiday!
Featured photo credit: toolsfromjapan.com via toolsfromjapan.com
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5 Home Appliances That You Can’t Live Without
Owning your own home is the loveliest experience in your life. After owning your home, you start collecting the day to day essentials that you will require throughout your life and will make your living easy and convenient.
There is an old saying that “family begins at kitchen”, so your kitchen must equip all the essential appliances that you require to make exotic dishes for your family and then sit together to share love and feelings with each other on a dining table.
If you belong to a middle-class family, you will not be prone to purchasing unnecessary kitchen appliances. However, there are some appliances which are highly useful and helps completes your kitchen set up. So, let’s have a look at the most important gadgets that you can’t live without in your newly built home.
1. Mixer Grinder
Mixer grinder has been used since it was invented by Herbert Johnson in 1908. It is one of the home appliances which has not been replaced even till today.
From mixing a cooking powder to making fruit juice, there is nothing that can’t be mixed by the mixer grinder. At present, there are a number of brands that manufacture mixer grinders with tough and strong motors, stainless steel titanium blades, powerful metallic coating, etc which are now being provided in the latest models.
2. OTG (Oven Toaster Grill)
Most of you might have heard of Microwave but have rarely heard about the OTG. Actually, OTG is a type of oven which is primarily used for baking, toaster and grilling the good items along with the capability to warm up the food.
The OTG comes on a low budget as compared to Microwave oven. The heat in OTG is generated via heating rods whereas Microwave makes use of rays to cook the food items.
3. Induction Cooktop:
In the process to protect the ozone layer from depletion, the use of induction is being promoted. With the invention of induction cooktop, the heat is directly transferred to the liquids in the pan; resulting in saving of electricity and preventing pollution. The induction cooktop is highly convenient to use and can be relocated to any place within your home or surroundings.
Induction is being manufactured by different brands and is also gaining more popularity nowadays. It can be used to fulfill almost all the cooking requirements in a home.
4. Fridge
This is a must to maintain the freshness of your staple foods like vegetables and fruits, to keep the ice cream frozen and so much more. For every class of family, the fridge will always be required to store your eatables and drinks safely.
The importance of the fridge is felt more during the summer season when everybody lives with an unquenchable thirst and search for chilled water bottles. Today, fridges are being made available in single door, double door and even the Haier fridges which are getting popularity due to its change in the ice cream doors.
5. Electric Toaster
Most of you are having toasted bread as their daily breakfast. There are different types of toasters i.e. electric toasters that run on electricity and other ones in the traditional format which run on the gas.
With the use of an electric toaster, you can make your family happy and healthy. Different toasters are featured with different traits that you can take advantage of along with the ordinary toaster. This appliance is easy to handle and to shift to wherever you want.
Conclusion
The above-mentioned electronic items are very useful for every family whenever you are going to setup your new home.
The experience of having your own home is incomparable and when it is blessed with essential electronic items, all your effort become easier and convenient. So, read the article thoroughly and finalize which appliances are important for your home and which ones you should avoid.
Featured photo credit: www.aliexpress.com via ae01.alicdn.com
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Top 5 Small Business Ideas for Homemakers
Raising a family is an important responsibility for a homemaker. You spend your mornings preparing breakfast, packing lunches and driving to carpool, and then coming back to do household chores. You spend your days tending to the younger ones and running errands such as grocery shopping and picking dry cleaning.
After your last child starts schooling, you may find yourself with plenty of free time in your hands. What do you do with this? Should you go back to school? Should you volunteer at the local shelter? How about revisiting that catering idea you had in college? All these and more are typical questions that a homemaker will ponder at this stage in their life. In this article, we explore 5 small business ideas that you may want to consider.
1. Beauty Salon
After going to the same hairdresser for many years, the thought of starting a beauty salon may have crossed your mind once or twice. If you have a passion for hairdressing, take a short course at your local college and obtain certification in less than twelve months. Alternatively, you could find talented hairdressers and hire them as staffs.
Having experienced staff to do the job will free you up for managerial duties. Learn from your experiences of visiting different salons over the years and create solutions for any concerns you may have ever had; for example, making separate appointments for waxing, hair styling, and massages probably irked you more times than you could count.
Diversify your beauty salon with different services such as waxing, eyebrow threading, manicure, and pedicure, and so on. Promote your beauty salon as one-stop-shop for all things beauty and you will have clients lining up around the block.
2. Car Hire
Recall your first job in high school where you handed out flyers at the local dealership. You continued to work at the same dealership through college, moving from one department to the next. During this time, you learned a lot about car selling and car leasing business. You may have even developed a passion for the trade; but this flame burnt out when you graduated college, and after a couple of years in the job market, you decided to pause on your career goals and prioritize family instead.
Well done. Now, you can resume that dream and try your hand at car leasing. Discuss with your spouse about this business and draft a budget for used and old car options. Run your credit score and apply for financing to get the fund. Give little effort and watch your small business grow.
3. Graphic Designer
Graphic design is another field that might work well for you. As a homemaker, you still need to take care of your home and your children after they return from school. If your college major was not graphic design at the first place, no worries. You can enroll for a professional course to get the training you need.
Try to find freelance jobs in this field; consider working as an infographic designer for few months to dip your toes in this field and get valuable working experience. Being an Infographic Designer comes with few perks; you get to work online, and of course, this job pays a significant income!
4. Catering Business
After attending numerous birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, weddings, and any other events, you must have been familiar with the catering business for social and corporate functions. Spending plenty of time in the kitchen comes with the territory of being a homemaker. You have had a chance to experiment with local cuisines from around the world, baked your fair share of cookies for the elementary class, and cooked up a storm during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
If anything great came from that intensive holiday cooking, it must be the respect you commanded each time you served that knish at the holiday party. You are clearly talented, why not channel this talent and experience into a business?
5. Design & Decor
Your keen eyes to see ‘design’ is evident in the meticulous décor that adorns your home. Friends and family alike agree that you are a natural when it comes to decorating a home. It’s fairly simple; you are good at decorating, so what about starting an interior décor business? Knock on those doors and ask your neighbors to inform their friends. The phone will start ringing soon enough.
Putting your career goals on hold to raise a family is not a death sentence. Roll up your sleeves and share your talents with the world. Make sure to inform your network of the new venture.
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Easy Ways to Transfer Android Files to Mac
You may have plugged your android phone into your Mac and nothing happens. This is familiar, right?
That shouldn’t be a problem anymore. Here’s how you can transfer files easily between Android and OSX- Desktop operation system and Earth’s best mobiles.
You can plug in your android phone and explore your files on windows just like any other hard drive. However, Macs are different and sometimes can be just so annoying but there is an authentic fix. Also, there are third party solutions that while having issues with Mac in some areas, they could be even better afterwards.
The easy way to Android File Transfer
There are many free Mac applications developed by the android team. When this is installed, you will see a window pop up menu anytime you plug your device to your Mac. From this pop up window, you can locate your device and transfer what you need. Isn’t that easy?
This is pointed out of the pop up window menu because there isn’t really much options here on the pop up. Copy and paste don’t work on this pop up, you can’t use quick search to preview your files. All there is and you can do on this pop up is to delete and transfer files. Nothing more!
For the quick and easy transfer of files, this is the best choice. If there is a need for complete combination with your Mac’s locator/finder or any of its alternatives, there will be a need to use a third-party tool.
Using the Wi-Fi-alternative: DROIDNAS
While intending to browse Android files using finder, there won’t be any USB option. However, you can get your files through the network with a program known as “DROIDNAS” which is the easiest way to make this set up. This is one of the ways you can get your device wireless access.
With this, you can get all your Android folders including the SD Card shared on the network with just a few taps. This will give a direct access to all your files from Finder, assuming that both your devices are on the same network.
Test results showed that, browsing folders with this was a bit slow but everything worked perfectly. You can transfer half a gig or more of files to your android device with no problems whatsoever.
DroidNAS, in theory is supposed to make your device visible from Finder, all you need do is click an icon and start your files browsing. But, this may not work if using Mavericks.
This may be a little difficult to set up, but once it’s set up, you are off the glitch totally. Also, this may not be a perfect solution and may be a little slower than Android File Transfer with a bad connection. However, if you would rather do a wireless file transfer, it’s the best you can try.
You can try other solutions
Have you tested any of those and it worked for you? There are yet many other options that may work better too.
Air Droid:
This enables file sharing between Macs and Android, and precisely one of the seven tools that will help great functionality of your Android and Mac.
Dukto:
This lets easy file transfer between two operating systems, and works efficiently for easy distribution of single files. Here, browsing the system is not possible but you can send files quickly from one device to another.
The Cloud and Synchronizing services:
Functions like the Drop box can make file transfer much faster. All you need do is drop a file into a synchronized folder and then download it with the help of the Android client.
These are all great choices for Android Files Transfer and lots more. However, when talking about simplicity, a USB cable and Android files transfer could be the best option.
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