Fair Trade Brands - Secrets of the Worldwide Popularity Coursework

Fair Trade Brands - Secrets of the Worldwide Popularity - Coursework Example Fairtrade mainly exists in developing countries and it targets specific areas, for instance, the Handicrafts, Coffee Industry, Tea Industry etc, it does so in order to make sure that the workers and the producers are benefitted and their economic stature improves by participating in Fairtrade. To understand the concept better, its principles should be well understood and they are as follows: â€Å"Creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers, Fairtrade is a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Its purpose is to create opportunities for producers who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalized by the conventional trading system.† The most important principle of Fairtrade is to ensure that there are ample opportunities provided to the producer, the sole aim of Fairtrade is to ensure the well being of the workers and the producers and in this process the first is to provide opportunities to the producer because only when the producer has opportunities, it can be passed on to the workers. â€Å"Transparency and accountability, Fairtrade involves transparent management and commercial relations to deal fairly and respectfully with trading partners.† Another important principle of Fairtrade is to make sure transparency exists in every activity initiated by it, in the sense that every activity initiated by Fair trade should be without any fusses and problems, fair rules and policies are followed hence ensuring the economic and financial safety of the producer. Another important principle is to make sure that the producer gets complete independence, in the sense that he/she shouldn’t have restrictions hampering their growth, it provides a very good platform for the growth of the producers and it also improves their marketing skills by giving them access to the market where they get to know so many things which they wouldn’t have learned had they not participated in Fairtrade.

There Are Black Essay Example for Free

There Are Black Essay The blacks are considered by the white society as worthless slaves who have no choice but to be a housemaid or slave. Racism has been a popular issue for many years, and has caused many blacks to suffer because of their outward appearance. Aibileen faces as a victim to racial comments in the movie â€Å"The Help† directed by Tate Taylor which took place in the 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi. Aibileen is a maid. African American housemaid who has just experienced the loss of her son and has raised about 17 children as a maid. Blacks did not have the equal rights like the white society caused many to have education for money. This essay will show to a large extent the struggles Aibileen goes through, and through camera angles, dialogue, it will provide in detail why Tate Taylor used Aibileen to communicate to the viewers the problem of racism has on our society. Racism has caused blacks to differ from the white society. The impact of racism back in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi provides the struggle of an individual name Aibileen an African American house maid through a white society. Aibileen in scene one talks about how she lost her only son and was left laying dead in front of a white hospital. As a mother their responsibility is to protect and ensure the child’s safety is their first priority. Tate Taylor uses a point of view shot on the wall in scene one which sows the picture of her son and a frame of Jesus Christ to enable the viewers to see how severe the issue about racism can lead to. The blacks are treated unfairly and the white society takes advantage of the situation by ensuring blacks would be their maid to do their dirty work. In scene two you see a mid and long shot was used on Aibileen and Mae Mobley. It allows the viewers to see the foreshadow between scene one and scene two when she loses her son, and comforting the baby girl she looks after. Tate Taylor suggests by using a long shot on them shows the sense of loss Aibileen has experienced ascertain the idea of sympathy towards Aibileen. When problems become piled up one by one you start to realize the only way through it is standing up for yourself. In the get together party in scene three a few girls all had a reunion which we see Skeeter joining in. Hilly makes a racist remark on black people carrying diseases which Aibileen can clearly hear from a distance. A point of view shot was used from Skeeter to Aibileen to see her reaction towards Hilly’s comment. This camera angle was used clearly to express the disappointment on Aibileen’s face and how racism can hurt others mentally and emotionally. As the scene went on the maids are at first reluctant to talk to Skeeter because the result of them losing their jobs and violence can affect their families. Aibileen was first to tell her stories which foreshadowed their way out to starting a new life. By the end of the film when Skeeter books are finally Alvin. S published, Aibileen loses her job and walks off. Tate Taylor uses an establishing shot while Aibileen walks off to indicate to the viewers that while she is leaving she is also starting a new life. This angle was used effectively to deliberately allow the viewers to see that a fresh new start is what Aibileen really needs. Dialogue gives the viewers a vital idea of decisions made by Aibileen. Dialogue is crucial because it provides us with tension and suspense to what is going to happen. Aibileen from the beginning in scene one knew she would become a maid. She saws â€Å"my mama was a maid; my grandmamma was a house slave†. Back in 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi the blacks ever want was fair treatment towards their society. Skeeter is used by Tate Taylor to provide the viewers the perspective of Aibileen as a black house maid. For many, blacks are afraid to stand up for what they believe in but Aibileen says to Hilly â€Å"All you do scare and lie to dry and get what you want: Hilly is used by the director to be the antagonist of the film and this quote by Aibileen shows the tension and anger that was bottled up inside Aibileen. â€Å"I aint never had no white person in my house† shows the contrast between both the white and the black society. Dialogue is very crucial for communication which allows the viewers to understand and critically know the situation in the film â€Å"The Help†. At the last scene of the film Hilly persuades Elizabeth to fire Aibileen as her housemaid. The quotes â€Å"My boy Trelaw said we gonna have a writer in the family on day, I guess it’s gonna be me† This establishes the struggles of Aibileen and portrays the idea that maybe one day she could retell the painful she experience she encountered as a housemaid. Dialogues show many views and angles and establish conflict and tension to effectively show a critical issue between Aibileen and the white society that surrounds her. In conclusion: Racism is an issue that still happens to this very day and is something most people all have witnessed. Like the Film â€Å"The Help† racism has a big influence on people in our society we live in today and through dialogue and camera techniques, Tate Taylor uses it effectively to help communicate the struggles of Aibileen as an individual but with support and faith she overcomes the obstacles that society throws at her.

The profession of shipbroker

The profession of shipbroker The profession of ‘Shipbroker has been in use since the early days of commercial shipping. Originally the owner of the ship was also the trader; he bought cargoes in one place, carried it and sold it in other place. With the evolution of the international trade, the shipbroker became more specialized as it became intermediary who would find ships for the merchants; and cargoes for the ship owners. The term shipbroker means different things to different people. In Japan and Korea, for example, the term ship broker is only used for the intermediary broker. But in Europe the word ship broker is used to identify a variety of chartering functions. Chartering work is essentially a form of exchange of information. It is a business where the right information at the right moment is essential to be successful. The oxygen of any market is information. Information is what makes a market work. Gathering that information requires time, effort, people, equipment and a network of contact. The parties involved in a chartering deal are one party owns, controls or operates a ship as owner and another party who owns the cargo and looking to be carried by sea transport between two destinations The basic function of the shipbroker is to bring together the two parties concerned involving the ship and cargo owners, then start negotiation between them in order to fix the vessel. The brokers income is derived from the commission payable by the ship owner on completion and fulfilment of the contract. Another role of the shipbroker other than fixing the vessel is acting as agent for the ship owner. As such he is responsible for everything which may concern the vessel whilst she is on port such as customs formalities; matters concerning the crew; loading/discharge of vessels; bunkering and so on. Ship-brokers normally specialize in a specific part of the market; it can be dry cargo, chemical, passenger vessels, RORO vessels etc. It therefore needs a specialist at collecting information, it is no longer possible to be a general shipbroker and have knowledge about every market. Detailed specialist knowledge on certain areas, trades, sizes, commodities or charterers is always in demand as the ship owner, charterer or his representative will often need to learn about a different market depending on where his ship is or what he has to fix. Traders need to know freight rates in order to sell cargoes. All principals need up to date information on which ships are interested in what cargoes, why and at what rates, what cargoes need to be lifted in certain areas at certain times. There is huge variety of interest in the market place. While principals demand the information there is a need for someone to gather it and make sense of it  Ã‚   The Baltic Exchange, the worlds only independent source of maritime market information for the trading and settlement of physical and derivative contracts, is seeking to appoint a new freight market reporter. With the support of 69 international shipbroking companies, the Baltic Exchange publishes independent, high quality dry, wet and gas freight market information on a daily basis. The Baltic acts as a regulatory body for its members and provides a forum for shipping information to circulate amongst its members (Howe Robinson Co Ltd web site). Peter Kerr-Dineen, joint-chairman of Howe Robinson, also became Chairman of the Baltic Exchange during 2003, (Howe Robinson, 2007). Many larger shipbroking firms have separate departments specialising in Dry Cargo Chartering, Tanker Chartering, Sale Purchase and sometimes also Demolition sales and Research. Major shipbroking centres include London, Piraeus, New York, Houston, Hamburg, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Major Shipbroking h ouses are ACM, Clarksons Galbraith, SSY, Braemar Seascope, Charles Weber, Gibsons, and J.E. Hyde The modern freight market is really more sophisticated. The use of super tankers and also better port equipments and the use of satellite navigation systems have improved much in the ship broking business areas. In Southampton docks, it used to take several weeks to unload an average cargo ship such as a type bulk cargo ship V Luck, 13 000 tonnes and now only takes a few days to do the same tasks. Modern ship broking is also nowadays more complicated with the new laws and regulations in regards with all necessary procedures to combat smuggling, and also environmental issues such as global warming. The Laws in this business are also expanding since there are many countries are now involved in the ship broking business. The contract between the ship owners and the cargo owners is becoming a lengthy process.   New terminology in the shipbroking business has also come up. The whole concept of the contract of this kind of business is called the volume contract of Affreightment. These contracts cover the whole concept contract from a charterers point of view and Owners point of view. It is also containing the definition in the documents and the period and the terminology they both agree to use in the contract during the contract agreements.   The European Union Commission, in their International market regulation dealing with professional qualifications is also putting regulations. Under their regulation for the Chartered Shipbroker, the European Union Commission chose the United Kingdom to be the competent authorities on the recognition of qualifications for this regulated prof ession. At present the competent authorities in the United Kingdom is the Department for Education and Employment Skills located in Moor foot, Sheffield, (Philips, A., 2006). The Ship broking business is becoming a serious task to be taken care off. New entrants into the profession do not need to hold a shipping qualification, but there are degrees courses in Maritime Studies at several British universities. The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers runs a course covering a wide range of subjects culminating in an examination to earn membership of the Institute. The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers is the professional body for those engaged in all aspects of the shipping business. A Royal Charter was granted in 1920, in recognition of the Institutes role in conferring a qualification (MICS/FICS) and maintaining professional standards. Membership is international and Institute branches have been established all over the world. There are many other institutes for shipbrokers all over the world

Essay --

Executive Summary Over the past 30 years Wal-Mart has grown into the world leader in retail and supply chain management. However, the company has faced and continues to face challenges with its stakeholders and other parties who are very critical of their business practices and ethics. Wal-Mart has established a reputation of squeezing the little guy to acquire the lowest possible price for the most earnings at the expense of some of its stakeholders as addressed in the 2005 documentary Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price by director Robert Greenwald. Various parties including community groups, religious organizations, grassroots organizations, environmental groups and Wal-Mart customers as well as current and former associates have accused Wal-Mart of engaging in unethical business practices for the Every Day Low Price (EDLP) strategy. Wal-Mart’s stakeholder issues involve racial and gender discrimination, treatment of product suppliers, product sourcing, child labor, environmental practices and the use of government subsidies. This paper will discuss some of those issues and address some solutions Wal-Mart has implement and should implement to increase their competitive advantage and enhance their reputation by taking a proactive approach to Cooperate Social Responsibility. Brief History and Business model Walmart is an American multinational retail corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. According to the Fortune Global 500 list in 2013, Walmart is the world's second largest public corporation, the world’s largest retailer, largest grocery retailer in the United States and the biggest private employer in the world with over 1.7 million worldwide. The company was founded by Sa... ..., their new CEO Mike Duke has stressed a change in the way business is done to change the negative perceptions of the company. The wages are still low and problems still exits but the recent creation of a Senior Director for Stakeholder Engagement and their new mantra â€Å"Save money, Live better† highlight their new emphasis on shared value and CSR. They have added several components to their business such as: †¢ Environmental Sustainability †¢ Increases in US manufacturing †¢ Woman’s Economic Empowerment domestic and international †¢ Hunger and Nutrition †¢ Diversity and Inclusion †¢ Veterans and Military Families †¢ Ethical Sourcing Wal-Mart is too large to fade into the night, but companies must adapt to the ever changing global changes technology and globalization bring. People have become more aware of their choices and Wal-Mart must adjust or people will shop elsewhere.

Krysztof Kieslowski

IntroductionKrysztof Kieslowski‘s genius germinated as a truly original and thought provoking film director was deeply influenced by the presence of Communism in Poland,. Later to join the ranks of the world’s greatest filmmakers, Krysztof was quoted as saying asking questions about our existence was more important than being concerned with political reality ; â€Å" why get up from bed ?!† – If one was not at all concerned about the metaphysics of things. In this context his fascination towards the parameters of memory and complexities of survival developed and was later manifested in his works.The land of his birth, Poland, was the background for many of his movies. He shifted his focus from documentary reality as a filmmaker working in his country. The gaze of his camera shifted from documenting reality to the probing the inner life of human beings, deeply affected by their reality in different ways.   The oeuvre of Kieslowski straddled over many conce rns. Two of his recurring themes were the persistence of memory and survival amidst the harsh realities of life. Death and violence was a feature of life in communist Poland.Every vestige of idealism was stripped away in the wake of mind numbing regimentation and the murder of freedom and humanity – almost reducing people to bare survival level.   On a spiritual level the characters in Kieslowski’s works seem to agonizingly grope their way forward out of this darkness.Each in their own way resolve a dilemma of existence, to find reunion, stark truth, even death, happiness and yet the films never work their way to some artificial conclusion – ambiguous as life is, in fact. An examination of the director’s projects will throw up evidence of these recurring themes. Yet, the films are never completely pessimistic, even if some might go deep into the dark side of human nature or seem to be concerned with erotic obsession. Thus in one hand it magnified memory or the reconstruction of memory and on the other hand he juxtaposed the manifestation and complexities of survival.However, the director was himself a very warm person who simply felt that depicting fictionalized reality was simply a better, if oblique, way to show reality. One tends to get an impression from the whole body of work that a lot is being said in the films but very subtly. Of course, helping Kieslowski was his immensely talented cast who seem to draw every shade of feeling out in films as diverse as No End and The Double life of Veronique.   On the face of it nothing very much seems to be happening in these films.   It is all subtle emotional underplay and a strongly controlled interplay of human conflicts and deeply moving responses. (Dollard, 89-92)Two of his films are representative of the aforementioned themes: Three Colors: Blue and Decalogue 2Three Colors: Blue (1993)‘Blue’ is a work of such intensity that one is eternally grateful that Juliette Binoche plays Julie Vignon De Courcy, the protagonist of the film with such a fine texture of emotions.Blue is the Polish director’s penetrating and highly involving work on loss and freedom and is also the dominant hue of his film. It is also part of a trilogy, Red, White and Blue the director made.A bluish candy wrapper in a small girl’s hand, reflects, sunlight through a car’s window; the next shot cuts to a leaking pipe, hinting at the imminent accident involving the car. Julie Vignon is the only survivor in the accident, which kills her daughter and husband. Fortunately for viewers, the car crash is heard not seen. The rest of the incident is shown in fragments and slivers of shattered glass. This reflects the state of the injured Julie in hospital.Extremely painfully she recollects the incident in fragments. The fragments hint at her life so far. She is the wife of a well known musician. The husband has been lately rumored to have run out of original ideas for composition – his scores are said to have been penned by his wife. Julie seems to fighting these memories off almost as if they cause great suffering. She seems to find it difficult to survive.Through these initial terse cuts , Kieslowski draws us wide eyed into a private world of pain and suffering mad acute by lingering memory   this is a devastated world , and very subtle action depicts this . Dialogue would be utterly contrived in this situation. A typical approach would be to take the path of resolution of this pain shown in quick recovery. True to his commitment, the director does not make it so easy. In the hospital, Julie attempts suicide by an overdose of pills but does not really go all the way – she survives.   Here there is a further ‘hardening’ of the situation. (Lamb, 243-245)After her release from hospital, Julie wants to kill herself off psychologically by withdrawing from the world. Her grief in fact, is so intense that she can ne ither cry nor even feel.   Yet, her body language reveals that she is still in great pain. Her mouth quivers as she watches her family’s funeral on television and her daughter’s casket. She visibly goes limp as she approaches her husband’s study. This is depicted with an economy which truly emphasizes the slow build up of grief.   She withdraws herself completely from the world around her and shifts from the family’s country estate to an apartment, in her maiden name. She wipes out all traces of the past, even of her family except a few slivers of glass. Reflections in glass are a persistent device used in the film – meant to convey the distance Julie is creating for herself and her memories.But the distance Julie wants to create cannot really stave off her past, try as she might; her reaction is to further withdraw into an enigmatic silence. At this point, her husband’s business partner, Olivier, searches her out and offers to complete her husband’s unfinished symphony as a tribute to his memory. Here is the working out of a cathartic device. The audience would find it relieving to have Julie come out of the prison of grief and re attach to the world.The resolution of the film’s mesmerizing tone of grief is toward a brighter shade. Blue is the color of grief but Juliet’s slow emergence back into personal peace helps to overcome this. Olivier’s role is cathartic meant to bring a closure. Towards the end of the film, she decides to collaborate on finishing her husband’s symphony and gives off the family’s country estate to her husband’s mistress. (Fletcher, 188)Losing everything can be freedom too.DECALOGUE 2Decalogue was a series of ten I hour films, each based on one of the Ten Commandments. The work was however, no rendering of the Biblical story but a reframing of the commandments to contemporary Poland. Each sin attributed to a particular moral lapse in each of t he ten films. These films offered Kieslowski the convenience of working with some of his favorite themes and some new ones.   They obliquely refer to Kieslowski’s religious concerns but in a way totally in synch with the director’s typically understated and subtle style. They are tightly made and form a work of considerable cinematic importance.The central theme of Decalogue 2 is of the purest moral dilemma. Dorota’s husband is seriously ill and in hospital. What she needs to know from the doctor is whether he will survive or not. She is pregnant by some one else and if her husband survives, she will abort the child .If he dies, she will keep the child.The doctor denies any knowledge of her husband’s prognosis saying he doesn’t clearly know how to answer her.   The doctor’s story is then told in flashback and we find that his family has been killed in a World War 2 bombing raid.   His tragic loss in the past and his memory of it makes him conscious of another life at stake. Here we have a clear glimpse of the director’s humanity and his strong convictions as a person even when working or dealing with a lot of abstraction in his films. The doctor’s dilemma is;  Ã‚   should he tell her the husband will be well thus making Dorota abort the child? In the end the doctor‘s brilliant answer will help to save two lives (Dorota’s and the child’s).The film is embellished like the others in this collection with the many small details that help build up the situation in a one hour film – details that keep audiences involved in the story unfolding. The film reveals that the doctor lives in the same apartment block as Dorota, walks to work. There are scenes involving Dorota’s smoking which obviously increases the danger to her.The theme of survival is cleverly shown in scenes where a bee tries to draw itself out of a bottle on a table in the husband’s hospital bed, makin g the connections to the issue of the fragility of life and strong survival instincts at work both within the film and in living beings. Human beings seem to be longing for contact or withdrawing in their own private world. Meaning is ambiguous in these films: there are the sub themes to consider – violence, chance, fate, and destiny.   Dream sequences are an extension of memory giving us a glimpse of the depth of anguish or obsession which different in the human beings. (Kar, 145)Rather, as his other creation like The Double Life of Và ©ronique, the films take on a life of their own with individuals in a society, in a state, in a family. More is happening to these characters than the films makes apparent. The director does not observe from the wings but probes deep in to what makes human conflict, what goes on in their minds. Thus the aspects of memory and complexities of survival become evident again and again.ConclusionThroughout the latter part of his career, Kieslowsk i reveals a streak of pessimistic humanism. The works show a fascination for the inner life of human beings and a spiritual quest for the meaning of existence, with carefully structured camera compositions and an almost sparse narrative. The deeper truths lie beneath the surface of reality and the unraveling of it is as unpredictable as life – the creator does not contrive situations to fit his view. However, he remained loyal towards his belief of greater truth regarding memory and complexities of survival. (King, 126)Works Cited:Dollard, John; Krysztof Kieslowski looks into Tomorrow. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 2006) pp 89-92Fletcher, R; Art: Beliefs and Knowledge; Believing and Knowing. (Mangalore: Howard & Price. 2006) pp 188Kar, P; History of Cinema & Market Applications (Kolkata: Dasgupta & Chatterjee 2005) pp 145King, H; Art Today (Dunedin: HBT & Brooks Ltd. 2005) pp 126Lamb, Davis; Cult to Culture; (Wellington: National Book Trust. 2004) pp 243-245

You Suck: A Love Story Chapter 1

For my readers, by request ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks, again, to the usual suspects: my agent, Nick Ellison, and Sarah Dickman, Arija Weddle, and Marissa Matteo at Nicholas Ellison, Inc.; Jennifer Brehl, Kate Nintzel, Lisa Gallagher, Michael Morrison, Mike Spradlin, Jack Womack, Debbie Stier, Lynn Grady, and all my friends at William Morrow; and, of course, to Charlee Rodgers, for putting up with the frozen turkey bowling. Chapter One Get Over It, a Lot of People Are Dead â€Å"You bitch, you killed me! You suck!† Tommy had just awakened for the first time as a vampire. He was nineteen, thin, and had spent his entire life between states of amazement and confusion. â€Å"I wanted us to be together.† Jody: pale, pretty, long red hair hanging in her face, cute swoop of a nose in search of a lost spray of freckles, a big lipstick-smeared grin. She'd only been undead herself for a couple of months, and was still learning to be spooky. â€Å"Yeah, that's why you spent the night with him.† Tommy pointed across the loft to the life-sized bronze statue of a man in a tattered suit. Inside the bronze shell was the ancient vampire who had turned Jody. Another bronze of Jody stood next to him. When the two of them had gone out at sunrise, into the sleep of the dead, Tommy had taken them to the sculptors who lived on the ground floor of his building and had the vampires bronzed. He'd thought it would give him time to think of what to do, and keep Jody from running off with the old vampire. Tommy's mistake had been drilling ear holes in Jody's sculpture so she could hear him. Somehow, during the night, before the bronzing, the old vampire had taught her to turn to mist, and she'd streamed out of the ear holes into the room, and – well – here they were: dead, in love, and angry. â€Å"I needed to know about what I am, Tommy. Who else was going to tell me if not him?† â€Å"Yeah, but you should have asked me before you did this,† Tommy said. â€Å"You shouldn't just kill a guy without asking. It's inconsiderate.† Tommy was from Indiana, and his mother had raised him to have good manners and to be considerate of other people's feelings. â€Å"You had sex with me while I was unconscious,† Jody said. â€Å"That's not the same,† Tommy said. â€Å"I was just being friendly, like when you put a quarter in someone else's parking meter when they aren't there – you know they appreciate it later, even if they don't thank you personally.† â€Å"Yeah, wait until you go out in your jammies and wake up all sticky in a cheerleader outfit and see how grateful you are. You know, Tommy, when I'm out, technically, I'm dead. Guess what that makes you?† â€Å"Well – uh – yeah, but you're not even human. You're just some foul dead thing.† Tommy immediately regretted saying it. It was hurtful and mean, and although Jody was, indeed, dead, he didn't find her foul at all – in fact, he was pretty sure he was in love with her, he was just a little embarrassed about the whole necrophilia/cheerleader thing. Back in the Midwest people didn't mention that sort of thing unless a dog dug up a pom-pom in some guy's backyard and the police eventually discovered the whole human pyramid buried under the swing set. Jody sniffled, completely for effect. Actually she was relieved that Tommy was now on the defensive. â€Å"Well, welcome to the Foul, Dead Thing Club, Mr. Flood.† â€Å"Yeah, you drank my blood,† Tommy said. â€Å"A lot.† Damn, she should have pretended to cry. â€Å"You let me.† â€Å"Again, being considerate,† Tommy said. He stood up and shrugged. â€Å"You just let me because of the sex.† â€Å"That's not true, it was because you needed me.† He was lying, it was because of the sex. â€Å"Yes, I did,† Jody said. â€Å"I still do.† She held her arms out to him. â€Å"I really do.† He walked into her arms and held her. She felt amazing to him, even more amazing than she had before. It was as if his nerves had been dialed up to eleven. â€Å"Okay, it was because of the sex.† Great, she thought, in control once again. She kissed his neck. â€Å"How do you feel about it now?† â€Å"Maybe in a minute, I'm starving.† He let go of her and stormed across the loft to the kitchen, where he pulled a burrito out of the freezer, threw it into the microwave, and hit the button, all in one smooth motion. â€Å"You don't want to eat that,† Jody said. â€Å"Nonsense, it smells great. It's like every little bean and pork piece is sending out its own delicious miasma of flavor vapor.† Tommy used words like ;miasma; because he wanted to be a writer. That's why he'd come to San Francisco in the first place – to take life in big bites and write about it. Oh, and to find a girlfriend. â€Å"Put the burrito down, and back away, Tommy,† Jody said. â€Å"I don't want you to get hurt.† â€Å"Ha, that's cute.† He took a big bite and grinned at her as he chewed. Five minutes later, because she felt responsible, Jody was helping him clean bits of masticated burrito off the kitchen wall and the front of the refrigerator. â€Å"It's like every bean was storming the gates of repressive digestion to escape.† â€Å"Yeah, well, being refried will do that to you,† Jody said, stroking his hair. â€Å"You okay?† â€Å"I'm starving. I need to eat.† â€Å"Not so much eat,† Jody said. â€Å"Oh my God! It's the hunger. I feel like my insides are caving in on themselves. You should have told me about this.† She knew how he felt – actually, she had felt worse when it happened to her. At least he knew what was happening to him. â€Å"Yeah, sweetie, we're going to have to make a few adjustments.† â€Å"Well, what do I do? What did you do?† â€Å"I mostly fed off of you, remember?† â€Å"You should have thought this through before you killed me. I'm fucked.† â€Å"We're fucked. Together. Like Romeo and Juliet, only we get to be in a sequel. Very literary, Tommy.† â€Å"Oh, that's a comfort. I can't believe you just killed me like that.† â€Å"And turned you into a superbeing, thank you very much.† â€Å"Oh, crap, there's burrito spooge all over my new sneakers.† â€Å"You can see in the dark, now,† Jody said cheerfully. â€Å"Wanna try it? I'll get naked. You can look at me in the dark. Naked. You'll like it.† â€Å"Jody, I'm starving over here.† She couldn't believe that he didn't respond to the naked persuasion. What kind of monster had she created? â€Å"Okay, I'll find you a bug or something.† â€Å"A bug?! A bug!? I'm not eating a bug.† â€Å"I said there'd have to be some adjustments.† Tommy had been dealing with more than a few adjustments since he'd come west from his hometown of Incontinence, Indiana – not the least of which had been finding a girlfriend, who, while smart, sexy, and quick-witted, drank his blood and tended to fall unconscious at the exact moment of sunrise. He'd always suspected that she might have just picked him because he worked nights and could walk around during the day, especially since she'd once said, â€Å"I need someone who works nights and can walk around during the day,† but now that he was a vampire, he could close the door on that insecurity and open another onto a whole new world of insecurities he'd never even considered before. The appropriate age for a vampire is four hundred years old – he should be a world-weary and sophisticated creature, his human anxieties long since overcome or evolved into macabre perversions. The problem with a nineteen-year-old vampire is that he drags all of his adolescent insecur ities into the dark with him. â€Å"I'm really pale,† Tommy said, staring at himself in the bathroom mirror. They'd figured out early on that vampires do, indeed, cast a reflection in a mirror, just like they could tolerate proximity to crucifixes and garlic. (Tommy had run experiments on Jody while she slept, including many involving cheerleader outfits and personal lubricants.) â€Å"And not just winter in Indiana pale. I'm, like, pale like you.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Jody, â€Å"I thought you liked the pale.† â€Å"Sure, it looks good on you, but I look ill.† â€Å"Keep looking,† Jody said. She was leaning against the door frame, dressed in tight black jeans and a half shirt, her hair tied back and streaming down her back like a flaccid red comet tail. She was trying not to appear too amused. â€Å"Something's missing,† Tommy said. â€Å"Something besides color.† â€Å"Uh-huh.† Jody grinned. â€Å"My skin cleared up! I don't have a single zit.† â€Å"Ding, ding, ding,† Jody onomatopeed, signaling that Tommy had hit on the correct answer. â€Å"If I had known my skin would clear up, I'd have asked you to change me a long time ago.† â€Å"I didn't know how to a long time ago,† Jody said. â€Å"That's not all, take off your shoes.† â€Å"I don't understand, I – â€Å" â€Å"Just take off your shoes.; Tommy sat on the edge of the tub and took off his sneakers and socks. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Look at your toes.† â€Å"They're straight. My little toe isn't bent anymore. It's like I've never worn shoes.† â€Å"You're perfect,† Jody said. She remembered finding out this condition of vampirism and being both delighted and horrified because now she felt that she'd always need to lose five pounds – five pounds that were preserved for eternity. Tommy pulled up the leg of his jeans and studied his shin. â€Å"The scar where I hit myself with a hatchet, it's gone.† â€Å"And it always will be,† Jody said. â€Å"You'll always be perfect, just like you are now. My split ends even went away.† â€Å"I'll always be the same?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Just like I am now.† â€Å"As far as I know,† Jody said. â€Å"But I was going to start working out. I was going to be buff. I was going to have abs of steel.† â€Å"No, you weren't.† â€Å"I was. I was going to be an awesome hunk of muscular man-meat.† â€Å"No, you weren't. You wanted to be a writer. You were going to have little stick arms and get winded when you hit the back-space key more than three times consecutively. You're in great shape from working in the grocery store. Wait until you see how you can run.† â€Å"You really think I'm in great shape?† â€Å"Yes, I thought I made that clear.† Tommy flexed his chest in the mirror, which showed not at all through his flannel shirt. He unbuttoned his shirt and tried it again, with little effect, then shrugged. â€Å"What about the writer thing? Will my brain always be like this? I mean, will I get any smarter, or is that stuck in time, too?† â€Å"Well, yeah, but that's because you're a man, not because you're a vampire.† â€Å"You spiteful harpy.† â€Å"I think I've made my point,† Jody said. Jody had put on a red leather jacket, even though she could no longer feel discomfort from the cold fog coming in off the Bay. She liked the way it looked with her black jeans and a low-cut black lace camisole she'd rescued from a Nordstrom Rack Store before some slut got hold of it. â€Å"Come on, Tommy, we need to go find something for you to eat before we run out of night.† â€Å"I know, but I have something I have to do. Give me a minute.† He was in the bathroom again, this time with the door shut. Jody heard the zipper of his jeans go down, then a slightly breathless man-scream. The bathroom door flew open and Tommy, his pants and underwear around his ankles, bunny-hopped in two great leaps across the bedroom. â€Å"Look at this. What's happening to me. Look at this!† He was pointing furiously to his penis. â€Å"It's like I'm some radioactive mutant freak.† Jody went to him and grabbed his hands – held him steady, looked him in the eyes. â€Å"Tommy, calm down. It's just your foreskin.† â€Å"I don't have a foreskin. I'm circumcised.† â€Å"Not anymore,† Jody said. â€Å"Evidently, when you turned, it grew back, just like your toes straightened and your scars all went away.† â€Å"Oh. You don't find it creepy, then?† â€Å"No. It's fine.† â€Å"You want to touch it?† â€Å"Thanks. Maybe later.† â€Å"Oh, sorry, I freaked. Didn't realize. I – uh – I still feel like I have to finish what I was going to do.† â€Å"That's fine,† Jody said. â€Å"You're fine. You go finish up. I'll wait.† â€Å"You're sure you don't want to give it a quick fondle?† â€Å"If I do, can we get out of here?† â€Å"Probably not.† â€Å"Well then, back in the bathroom you go.† She spun him around and gave him a gentle shove. He bunny-hopped his newly recovered foreskin back into the bathroom and closed the door. Jody shuddered at the sound of the door closing. She hadn't thought about whether or not Tommy would retain his incessant horniness after he turned, she had just wanted a companion who could understand what she was, what she felt, what the world looked like through vampire eyes. If it turned out that he was going to be nineteen forever, she might end up having to kill him for real.