So I thought I was going to be a little quirky in my presentation because that's how I am in real life. So this is my full name. I'm Paula Reca Morales Vargas Maenke. I actually decided to go for practical reasons by Paula Morales. This is me. I was born in Guatemala in 1983. And this is a photo of me in 1985. This is at my maternal grandparents' terrace. Not much has really changed since then. This is how I saw the world at that time and how I chose to depict it. So on the left, you can see my mother. I mean, Maria. And on the right, you can see my dad, Lionel. So fast forwarding a little bit of time. This is my aunt, Rebeca. Rebeca Onise Vargas Brajirolik. She was my mom's sister. She was disappeared during the Guatemalan War. So I decided to pursue photography because of that and continue in the realm of visual art as I started when I was three years old. So she was disappeared. And this specific image was an image that was in my grandparents' house at all times. So me and my cousin, being the older ones of the family, were starting to ask questions of, who is this image? Like, who is this person? And my grandfather was always taking photos. And so then that led me to want to become a documentary photographer. So I grabbed a camera. And essentially, I wanted to capture every story possible and depict it the best way possible, to be able to tell as many stories and create spaces of dialogue. Because coming from Guatemala and Latin America where silence prevails, you are really not supposed to talk. So I started covering different marches. Like you can see on the right, there's a march of Ijos, which is the daughters and sons of the disappeared. It's an organization. And on the left is my grandmother. It was a documentary thing that I did based on losing her older daughter. So I was also working with Red Cross International. I was working with several magazines. And I was trying to figure something out. And these are other documentary photography that I was doing at the time. So when I was doing all of these things, I was like, well, it seems like I'm really, really interested in photography. So how about I actually pursue it as an actual thing instead of just doing it as a job? So that's when I formally moved to San Francisco. And when I moved to San Francisco, I realized that if I'm going to learn photography, I kind of need to leave my purest ways aside. Because I believe that everything had to be done in camera, and you couldn't crop, and you couldn't use Photoshop, and you couldn't do any of that. And I'm like, well, if I don't do these things, the industry is going to leave me behind. And I'm going to pretty much not get a job. So then I'm like, I need to learn Photoshop. So the next thing you'll notice is that I started creating these crazy things. And I was no longer taking photographs, but I was creating these whimsical places and these stages of, you know, based on mostly on my dreams. So I was using tin types, which are a turn of the century photographs that were made on tin. And I was scanning them and trying to see how to make them a little different. So I started creating these huge, like, so these are Photoshop layers of layers of layers of layers. And it was great because then I'm like, oh my gosh, I can actually use my imagination here. And I don't have to essentially just use photographs that I take, right? So as soon as this happened, you can see the color palette here is like super dark, right? So then I was like, whoa, but then that means that I could get crazy over here. And I'm like, color. So I started using color. And I started mixing the medium, you know, and mixing using, like, always, like, different things, like older. So this is still a tin type. This is called, like, Carrie Sadness, like, a bird on my shoulder. And then I started using also old, found, anatomical book stuff, right? But then I'm like searching for something this whole time, you know, and driven by that exploration of specifically, in this case, social aspects. Again, still in that sense. I'm still exploring textures. And this is a series called Women in Society, you know? So these are a whole bunch of paper cutout dolls that have all their guts just being poured out. So I'm trying to decipher and decode my surroundings at this point, you know, and figure out, like, trying to understand my past and my place and my body, right? So I continue this journey. And I'm like, well, I did study photography. So how about I bring those elements back and bring them into the photographic stage again, right? So in this time, bringing all of those elements that I was like mixing digitally, I'm bringing them to life. And I'm actually creating these props. And I start realizing that certain common threads are emerging, right? So evidently, I am interested in color and in texture. And I attribute this to all the mercados and piñatas and all the vegetables.  So I'm like, OK, that's where my interest in color and the texture comes from, right? So slowly, I started deciding to peel back these layers of things that I literally was layering on top of each other and trying to see what was really in there, right? You know, what was in there that I was trying to explore. So essentially, I started doing these color studies. I had a really bad color photography teacher. So I started exploring color on my own. And slowly, but surely, my horror vacuum, like that fear of emptiness, started going away. And I started exploring these a little bit more empty spaces, right? So I was evidently also interested in time, you know, in space. And so then I started realizing that I was really interested in using several tools. And specifically, I was interested in the digital realm and the analog, right? Because growing up in the 80s, you know, it's cool growing up with like video games and pixel art and just like all of these things that were surrounding me. So I decided to continue exploring that, right? And I realized that there was like a deeper meaning to that, that the exploration of the analog actually was like an exploration of mortality, right? Being able to explore things that are actually evident and tangible in a while. I was exploring the digital realm. I'm exploring things that are intangible and that they're based on binary sequences, right? So I began to question the orders and the aesthetics. And I decided, well, what happens then if I break these, right? So I started working with on the left, you can see a digital patch of a synthesizer on a program called Max MSP. And on the right, you can see these video synthesizers from the 80s that these guys in Florida rebuilt. And so I was like, well, you know, it'd be cool. Not cool necessarily, but it's really interesting to try to see also what error means and how it is portrayed aesthetically and visually and how you can't really repeat the results you are getting, you know? So I essentially commenced this adventure in the world of error. And so here on the left, you can see me using these patches. And the reason there's all these TVs is because I'm emulating the same image on several TVs at once. And because some are digital and some are CRT TVs, you get different effects. And here, this is a video feedback loop on the right. So I was still kind of working just with static stuff. So I decided, well, what happens if I work with error and I manage to make error into a loop? So I started creating these loops and these gifts, exploring then repetition, color, and then also movement. And that whole journey brought me to where I am today. And it basically took me to this place of me, like instead of just showing my work and saying, this is the work I made, look at it, I'm like, what happens if I grab all of those elements that I've been exploring? And if I let the viewer actually step in and do something too, right? So by stepping back and seeing the big picture, I was then interested in then creating these stages to be able to create experiences, right? So there were these experiences still based on all of these things trying to find traces of life and let life itself step in these stages. So still, I used photo-based media to create these environments. So this is a project as a conclusion of my residency at Recology at the Dump. So it was a four-month residency where I was able to scavenge through people's trash to create art. And I decided to create the stage. So there's the monitors with feedback, not feedback, with video that goes for like 12 and 1 half minutes. And there's different headphones on the different posts so people can interact and see. And then last but not least, this one, which actually like it totally removes my hand in the sense of deciding what to show. But it leaves it all in the hands of the viewer because this becomes a feedback loop by itself. So that camera is actually pointing to the viewer and those TVs become the recipients of that feedback that is happening. So you can see yourself in the TV and nothing is being recorded, right? So people are invited to be able to express and reflect and embody this space. And this one specifically actually wraps up all of my yearning and self-discovery to this point because I was kind of bringing also the aesthetic that I had been working on for a while into actual tangible physical space. So I guess that's the conclusion. So here I am trying to disidentify with the impost and trying to inhabit my brown body by continuously performing error. Thank you very much.


We got our man Teddy Kakes that he was working through some kinks on Skype there. They got to figure it out and let's just jump into it. Teddy Kakes that good morning. Good morning, Tommy. I hope you can hear me. I can kind of hear you. OK, yeah, you do sound a little bit of soft, but I believe we can hear you. Hopefully your producer, the producer can let me know if we're good to go on the air. But I appreciate you coming on, man. As we kick it off on a pretty important week with the CPI out tomorrow. We have the dollar index chopping around a bit. We got the 10 years sitting right at about four percent. So, yeah, tell me what you're thinking about this week, Teddy. I'm looking forward to the number tomorrow. I think it's going to be kind of sideways going into that. I mean, you can see how the trade was very lackluster at a past couple of sessions. You know, I was I kind of put that out in the Tiger Forex report, too, is that we were hitting some key swing lows in highs yesterday and last week in the marketplace and interest rates and oil. Also, they're kind of going sideways right now. I even put it in. I think I make the way I put it was, yeah, it's going to be a buzz saw between $70 and $75 in the oil market. And I think it's going to remain so between that little range.  The feds can be watching that. So, you know, with the meeting that's coming up, you know, in the not too distant future, that is a number that if it comes out radically in the wrong direction or starts to track in the wrong direction, that's something you know is going to be on the table in the discussion. You know, so if it's tracking in the right direction, well, then, you know, that starts to put things more towards a dovish to halting, you know, situation with them. So, I'd be aware of that, you know, especially I would watch for the 10 year and the 30 year to, you know, probably move off of that number tomorrow. If they don't, you know, and it stays sideways, well, then I would expect to see a lot of sideways action in the currencies too. So, I'd be careful with that when it comes to volatility over the next couple of sessions. Nice. Yeah, that crude. You know, you've been calling it well, man, it is interesting. Just kind of, you wake up each day, 70 to 72 to 73, getting a little volatility, $1, $2 moves to neither direction, but kind of just chopping around for a bit. I do have two currencies that you might want to know about for some action for a trade, though. One is the yen and one is the pound, if you want to talk about one of those. I would love it, man. Let's kick it off with the yen. I was going to ask you about the yen. Always talking about the yen with you. What are you looking at for the yen right now? Okay, I just had to pull up the chart. Okay, so in the report, we had a nice little rally going on with the yen. They had a nice spike high last week. I really like where it's trading at right now, because as it is, if you look at where from the last big swing high down into last week's swing high, if you take that downward sloping channel line, we're coming right up on that this morning. If we take out last week's swing high, that's a pretty bullish sign that we're going to start to really try and make it up towards that 150 level. The only way I see that not happening is if you see a big rally in interest rates, like the 10-year and the 30-year, but I was looking at the 10-year and the 30-year and also the two and the five, and I still think you got a good like two to three handles where you could still pressure support in the 10-year. If that happens, you're looking at about four to five in the bonds, which puts that around one 16-ish area, something like that. So that's another $4 move and that would also help boost the dollar and also the US dollar yen, which could get the yen up to about that 150 mark. So I would watch interest rates. If interest rates stay flat, then it's going to probably be a little tough and this upside move might run out of steam. I wouldn't say that the bear trend is going to continue, but it may start to get choppy. So I would watch yields in that regards, especially if there's an uptick in oil. If you see oil get back above 75 and yields just stay relatively where they're at, or if they tick a little higher, then I think you'll see a little rally there. Nice. What was the second currency you had mentioned? That would be the British pound and this goes into... Perfect. I tell you, can you hang out for a second? We'll tease it, all right? Can you hang with us for the break? Perfect. We're going to talk some pound, folks. When we get back, stay tuned. We've got one more segment with our Manatee Kickstarter. Don't go away, folks. Welcome back, folks. If you get the S&Ps up by about six points right now, you trade to a high of 4807 and you see the action. A little bit of selling in the last few minutes. We're talking to our man, Teddy Kegstad. Folks, remember, you can head on over to the front page at TFNN. Check out the Newsletters tab. Check out Teddy's outstanding Tiger Forex report. He's got new issues every week on Monday, updates throughout the week. And if you have some time and you want to check out some of the webinars he's got as well, a couple of great webinars under the Services tab as well. And we're going to talk a little bit about that British pound right now. What are we looking at, Teddy? Pound. Last week, we set a nice critical swing low, OK? Now, we're hovering that low. It was just above our daily directional pivot level, which is at $125.94. So basically $1.26 even. If we take out that low, OK, that would set us up for a very nice correction that could get us down to probably that $124.30 to even $123.30. So you're looking at a good $4 move potentially. And I think that would be a very nice sell-off objective, especially if the dollar starts to have a little recoil. We'll see what that number is. Now, the key thing is I would use the range from Friday. So if we take out Friday's low, it's bearish. If we take out the high, then it's a good chance that we can make new swing highs and take out that high from about a couple of weeks and a half ago, two weeks ago, back around Christmas time. And that would, now to the upside, I don't think we have a big potential there. I think you could take out that high and maybe get up to $128.30, maybe push $129.00 even. So you're looking at maybe two points of upside potential there that's stretching it. You know, I think that you could see a nice sell-off that would be very healthy for the on relationship and that currency and then give us a nice boundary where we can start to digest numbers as we head into the first quarter and then set a trend. And another thing is people may need to get ready for some big sideways. We may be buffering up against the upper and lower boundaries of certain ranges in the currencies. So, you know, currencies, I love them because they trend most of the time but we're coming into that period where we could be into some range trading. So those long-term trends and a lot of these currencies that we've seen especially in like the yen and the yen is the only one because the BoJ could be doing stuff for the first time in a long time. But otherwise, there's a whole thing we're going to run. Teddy, that was great info, man. I appreciate the actionable info on those two trades. We'll talk to you next week. Folks, have a great day. Basil's up.


CHAPTER 38 PART 2 The day following Dona Bondeo received a visit as unexpected as it was gratifying from the senior marquee we have mentioned, a person beyond the prime of manhood whose countenance was, as it were, a seal to what report had said of him, open, benevolent, placid, humble, dignified, and with something that indicated a resigned sadness. I come," said he, to bring you the compliments of the cardinal archbishop. Ah, what condescension of you both!  His lordship wishes to have some tidings of them. Are they living, and are their affairs settled? Everything is settled. Indeed, I was intending to write about them to his eminence, but now that I have the honor, are they here? They are, and they will be man and wife as soon as possible. And I request you to be good enough to tell me if I can be of any service to them, and also to instruct me in the best way of being so. During this calamity, I have lost the only two sons I had and their mother, and have received three considerable inheritances.  May heaven bless you! Why are not all enough? I thank you most heartily in the name of these my children, and since your illustrious lordship gives me so much encouragement, it is true, my lord, that I have an expedient to suggest which perhaps may not displease your lordship. Allow me to tell you, then, that these worthy people are resolved to go and settle themselves elsewhere and to sell what little property they have here, the young man a vineyard of about nine or ten perches if I am not mistaken, but neglected and completely overgrown. Besides he also has a cottage, and his bride another, now both you will see the abode of rats. A nobleman like your lordship cannot know how the poor fare when they are all reduced to the necessity of disposing of their goods. It always ends by falling into the hands of some nave, who, if occasion offers, will make love to the place for some time, and as soon as he finds that its owner wants to sell it, draws back, and pretends not to wish for it, so that he is obliged to run after him, and give it him for a price of bread. Truly, too, in such circumstances as these, my Lord Marquis will already have seen the drift of my remarks. The best charity your most illustrious lordship can afford to these people is to relieve them of this difficulty by purchasing their little property. To say the truth, I have an eye to my own interest, my own advantage, in making this suggestion, the acquisition in my parish of a fellow ruler like my Lord Marquis, but your lordship will decide according to your own judgment. I have only spoken from obedience. The Marquis highly commended the suggestion, returned thanks for it, begged Dona Bondeo to be the judge of the price, and to charge it exorbitantly, and completed the curate's amazement by proposing to go together immediately to the bride's house, where they should probably also find the bridegroom. By the way, Dona Bondeo, in high glee as may be imagined, thought of and mentioned another proposal. Since your illustrious lordship is so inclined to benefit these poor people, there is another service which you might render them. The young man has an order of arrest out against him, a kind of sentence of outlawry for some trifling fault he committed in Milan two years ago on that day of the great insurrection, in which he chanced to be implicated without any malicious intentions, indeed quite ignorantly, like a mouse caught in a trap. Nothing serious I assure you, mere boyish tricks mischievous pranks. Indeed he is quite incapable of committing an actual crime. I may say so, for I baptized him, and have seen him grow up under my eyes. Besides, if your lordship would take any pleasure in it, as gentlemen sometimes do in hearing these poor people's rude language, you can make him relate the account himself, and you will hear. At present, as it refers to old matters, no one gives him any molestation, and as I have said, he thinks of leaving the state. But in the course of time, or in case of returning here or going elsewhere, sometime or other, you will agree with me that it is always better to find oneself clear. My Lord Marquis has influence in Milan, as is just, both as a noble cavalier and as the great man he really is. No, no, allow me to say it, for the truth will have its way. A recommendation, a word from a person like yourself, is more than is necessary to obtain a ready acquittal. Were there not heavy charges against this young man? Sha, sha, I would not believe them. They made a great stir about it at the moment, but I don't think there's anything now beyond the mere formalities. If so, the thing will be easy, and I willingly take it upon me. And yet you will not let it be said that you are a great man. I say it, and I will say it. In spite of your lordship, I will say it. And even if I were to be silent, it would be to no purpose, because everybody says so, and vokes populi vokes dey. They found Renso and the three women together as they expected. How these felt, we leave the reader to imagine. But for my part, I think the very rough and bare walls and the windows and the tables and the kitchen utensils must have marveled at receiving among them so extraordinary a guest. He encouraged the conversation by talking of the cardinal and their other matters with unreserved cordiality, and at the same time with a great delicacy. By and by he came to the proposal. Dona Bondeo, being requested by him to name the prize, came forward. And after a few gestures and apologies, that it wasn't in his line and that he could only guess at random, and that he spoke out of obedience, and that he left it to him, mentioned what he thought a most extravagant sum. The purchaser said that for his part he was extremely well satisfied, and if he had misunderstood, repeated double the amount. He would not hear of rectifying the mistake and cut short and concluded all further conversation by inviting the party to dinner at his palace the day after the wedding, when the deeds should be properly drawn out. Ah, said Dona Bondeo afterwards to himself, when he had returned home. If the plague did things in this way always and everywhere, it would really be a sin to speak ill of it. We might almost wish for one every generation, and be content that people should be in league to produce a malady. The dispensation arrived, the acquittal arrived, that blessed day arrived. The bride and bridegroom went in triumphal security to that very church where, with Dona Bondeo's own mouth, they were declared man and wife. Another and far more singular triumph was the going next day to the palace, and I leave my readers to conjecture the thoughts which must have passed through their minds on ascending that eclivity, on entering that doorway, and the observations that each must have made according to his or her natural disposition. I only mention that, in the midst of their rejoicing, one or other more than once made the remark that poor father Christophoro was still wanting to complete their happiness. Yet for himself, added they, he is assuredly better off than we are. The nobleman received them with great kindness, conducted them into a fine large servant's hall, and seated the bride and bridegroom at table with Agnese and their Milanese friend. And before withdrawing to Dain elsewhere with Dona Bondeo, wished to assist a little at this first banquet, and even helped to wait upon them. I hope it will enter into no one's head to say that it would have been a more simple plan to have made it once but one table. I have described him as an excellent man, but not as an original, as it would nowadays be called. I have said that he was humble, but not that he was a prodigy of humility. He possessed enough of this virtue to put himself beneath these good people, but not on an equality with them. After the two dinners, the contract was drawn out by the hands of a lawyer, not, however, Azeka Garbugli. He, I mean his outward man, was and still is at Cantoralli, and for those who are unacquainted with that neighborhood, I suppose some explanation of this information is here necessary. A little higher up than Lekko, perhaps half a mile or so, and almost on the confines of another country named Castello, is a place called Cantoralli, where two ways cross. At one corner of the square space is seen in eminence, like an artificial hillock with a cross on the summit. There is nothing else but a heap of the bodies of those who died in this contagion. Tradition, it is true, simply says, died of the contagion, but it must be this one and none other, as it was the last and most destructive of which any memory remains. And we know that unassisted traditions always say too little by themselves. They felt no inconvenience on their return, except that Renzo was rather incommodated by the weight of the money he carried away with him. But as the reader knows, he had had far greater troubles in his life than this. I say nothing of the disquiet of his mind, which was by no means trifling, in deciding upon the best means of employing it. To have seen the different projects that passed through that mind, the fancies, the debates, to have heard the pros and cons for agriculture or business, it was as if two academies of the last century had there met together. And the affair was to Renzo far more overwhelming and perplexing, because, since he was but a solitary individual, it could not be said to him, why need you choose it all, both one and the other, each in its own turn? For in substance, they are the same. And, like one's legs, they are two things which go better together than one alone. Nothing was now thought of but packing up and setting off on their journey. The Traumaglino family to their new country and the widow to Milan. The tears, the thanks, the promises of going to see each other were many. Not less tender, even to tears, was the separation of Renzo and the family from his hospitable friend. Nor let it be thought that matters went on coldly even with Dona Bondio. The three poor creatures had always preserved a certain respectful attachment to their curate. And he, in the bottom of his heart, had always wished them well. Such happy circumstances as these entangle the affections. Should anyone ask if there was no grief felt in thus tearing themselves from their native country, from their beloved mountains, it may be answered that there was. For sorrow, I venture to say, is mingled more or less with everything. We must, however, believe that it was not very profound, since they might have spared themselves from it by remaining at home now that the two great obstacles, Don Rodrigo and the order for Renzo's apprehension, were both taken away. But all three had been for some time accustomed to look upon the country to which they were going as their own. Renzo had recommended it to the women by telling them of the facilities which it afforded to artificers and a hundred things about the fine way in which they could live there. Besides, they had all experienced some very bitter moments in that home upon which they were now turning their backs. And mournful recollections always end in spoiling to the mind the places which recall them. And if these should be its native home, there is perhaps in such recollections something still more keen and poignant. Even an infant, says our manuscript, reclines willingly on his nurse's bosom and seeks with confidence and avidity the breast which has hitherto sweetly nourished him. But if, in order to wean him, she tinctures it with wormwood, the babe withdraws the lip then returns to try it once more, but at length after all refuses it, weeping indeed but still refusing it. What, however, will the reader now say on hearing that they had scarcely arrived and settled themselves in their adopted country before Renzo found their annoyances all prepared for him? Do you pity him? But so little serves to disturb a state of happiness. This is a short sketch of the matter. The talk that had been there made about Lucia for some time before her arrival, the knowledge that Renzo had suffered so much for her sake and had always been constant and faithful, perhaps a word or two from some friend who was partial to him and all belonging to him had created a kind of curiosity to see the young girl and a kind of expectation of seeing her very beautiful. Now we know what expectation is, imaginative, credulous, confident. Afterwards, when the trial comes, difficult to satisfy, disdainful. Never finding what she had counted upon because, in fact, she knew not her own mind, and pitilessly exacting severe payment for the loveliness so unmeaningly lavished on her object. When this Lucia appeared, many who had perhaps thought that she must certainly have golden locks and cheeks blushing like the rose and a pair of eyes one more beautiful than the other and what not besides began to shrug their shoulders, turn up their noses and say, Is this she? After such a time, after so much talk, one expected something better. What is she after all? A peasant like hundreds more. Why, there are plenty everywhere as good as she is and far better, too. Then, descending to particulars, one remarks one defect and another another, nor were there wanting some who considered her perfectly ugly. As, however, no one thought of telling Renzo these things to his face, so far there was no great harm done. They who really did harm, they who widened the breach, were some persons who reported them to him. And Renzo, what else could be expected, took them very much to heart. He began to muse upon them and to make them matters of discussion, both with those who talked to him on the subject and more at length in his own mind. What does it matter to you and who told you to expect anything? Did I ever talk to you about her? Did I ever tell you she was beautiful? And when you asked me if she was, did I ever say anything in answer but that she was a good girl? She's a peasant. Did I ever tell you that I would bring you here a princess? She displeases you. Don't look at her, then. You have some beautiful women, look at them. Only look how a trifle may sometimes suffice to decide a man's state for his whole life. Had Renzo been obliged to spend his in that neighborhood agreeably to his first intentions, he would have got on but very badly. From being himself displeased, he had now become displeasing. He was on bad terms with everybody, because everybody might be one of Lucia's criticizers. Not that he actually offended against civility, but we know how many sly things may be done without transgressing the rules of common politeness, quite sufficient to give vent to one's spleen. There was something sardonic in his whole behavior. He, too, found something to criticize in everything. If only there were two successive days of bad weather, he would immediately say, I indeed, in this country. In short, I may say he was already only born with by a certain number of persons, even by those who had at first wished him well. And in course of time, from one thing to another, he would have gone on till he had found himself, so to say, in a state of hostility with almost the whole population, without being able, probably himself, to assign the primary cause or ascertain the root which such an evil had sprung. But it might be said that the plague had undertaken to amend all Renzow's errors. That scourge had carried off the owner of another silk mill situated almost at the gates of Baragmo. And the heir, a disillute young fellow, finding nothing in this edifice that could afford him any diversion, proposed, or rather was anxious, to dispose of it, even at half its value. But he wanted the money down upon the spot, that he might instantly expend it with unproductive prodigality. The matter having come to Bortolo's ears, he immediately went to see it, tried to treat about it. A more advantageous bargain could not have been hoped for. But that condition of ready money spoiled all, because his whole property, slowly made up out of his savings, was still far from reaching the required sum. Leaving the question therefore still open, he returned in haste, communicated the affair to his cousin, and proposed to take it in partnership. So capital and agreement cut short all Renzow's economical dubitations, so that he quickly decided upon business, and complied with the proposal. They went together, and the bargain was concluded. When, then, the new owners came to live upon their own possessions, Lucia, who was here expected by no one, not only did not go thither subjected to criticisms, but, we may say, was not displeasing to anybody, and Renzow found out that it had been said by more than one, have you seen that pretty she blockhead who has come hither? The substantive was allowed to pass in the epithet. And even from the annoyance he had experienced in the other country, he derived some useful instruction. Before that time, he had been rather inconsiderate in criticizing other people's wives, and all belonging to them. Now he understood that words make one impression in the mouth, and another in the ear. And he accustomed himself rather more to listen within to his own, before uttering them. We must not, however, suppose that he had no little vaccinations even here. Man, says our anonymous author, and we already know by experience that he had rather a strange pleasure in drawing similes, but bear with it this once for it is likely to be the last time.  He succeeds in making an exchange, but barely is he placed in another before he begins, as he presses it down to feel in one place a sharp point pricking him in another a hard lump. In short, we come to almost the same story over again. And for this reason, adds he, we ought to aim rather at doing well than being well. And thus we should come in the end even to be better. This sketch, though somewhat parabolic and in the style of the 17th century, is in substance true. However, continues he again, our good friends had no longer any sorrows and troubles of similar kind and severity to those we have related. Their life was, from this time forward, one of the calmest, happiest, and most enviable of lives. So that, were I obliged to give an account of it, it would tire the reader to death. Business went on capitally. At the beginning, there was a little difficulty from the scarcity of workmen and from the ill conduct and pretensions of the few that still remained. Orders were published, which limited the price of labor. In spite of this help, things rallied again. Because after all, how could it be otherwise? Another rather more judicious order arrived from Venice, exemption for 10 years from all charges, civil and personal, for foreigners who would come to reside in the state. To our friends, this was another advantage. Before the first year of their marriage was completed, a beautiful little creature came to light. And as if it had been made on purpose to give Renzo an early opportunity of fulfilling that magnanimous promise of his, it was a little girl. It may be believed that it was named Maria. Afterwards, in the course of time, came I know not how many others of both sexes. And Agnese was busy enough in carrying them about, one after the other, calling them little robes, and imprinting upon their faces hardy kisses, which left a white mark for ever so long afterwards. They were all very well inclined, and Renzo would have them all learn to read and write, saying that since this amusement was in fashion, they ought at least to take advantage of it. The finest thing was to hear him relate his adventures, and he always finished by enumerating the great things he had learned from them for the better government of himself in future. I've learned, he would say, not to meddle in disturbances. I've learned not to make speeches in the street. I've learned not to drink more than I want. I've learned not to hold the knocker of a door in my hand when crazy-headed people are about. And I've learned not to buckle a little bell to my foot before thinking of the consequences, and a hundred other things. Lucia did not find fault with the doctrine itself, but she was not satisfied with it. It seemed to her in a confused way that something was still wanting to it, by dint of hearing the same song over and over again and meditating on it every time. And I, said she one day to her moralizer, what ought I to have learned? I did not go to look for troubles. It was they that came to look for me. Though you wouldn't say, added she, smiling sweetly, that my error was in wishing you well and promising myself to you. So at first was quite puzzled. After a long discussion and inquiry together, they concluded that troubles certainly often arise from occasion afforded by ourselves, but that the most cautious and blameless conduct cannot secure us from them, and that, when they come, whether by our own fault or not, confidence in God alleviates them and makes them conducive to a better life. This conclusion, though come to by poor people, seemed to us so just and right that we have resolved to put it here as the moral of our whole story. If this same story has given the reader any pleasure, he must thank the anonymous author and in some measure his reviser for the gratification. But if instead we have only succeeded in rearing him, he may rest assured that we did not do so on purpose. End of Chapter 38 Part 2 End of The Betrothed by Alessandro Monsoni


How's everybody doing? How are you? I'm great. A little warm. But they're not great. Coach, we saw a little bit in the first game of you all coming from everywhere. How's everything going with the installation of the defense? The installation is going well. The guys were really kind of bought in.  You know, with the Zoom meetings back in phase one and then with the OTAs, we had a great attendance. So that really helped especially being a new system and new staff. My hat's off to the players being here for that. And then it's going well. You know, the practice organization that Coach Smith is unbelievable. And so we've been able to get a lot of stuff in and get a lot of work done.  I just want to go from the front to the linebacker to the secondary if you could. Well, I mean, they're all tight in. I mean, in all these things, everybody's got a job to do and they're multiple. They're multiple stuff up front that those guys got to know and there's multiple things in the back end. What makes it really multiple is the fact that sometimes you can do the same thing in the front and change. Do the same thing with two or three different coverages. And then there's also some things where you can do a bunch of things up front different and keep the same coverage. So sometimes when we talk about multiple, it's not everything multiple. It's not every time you make a call. Okay, the defense is the front is this and the secondary is this. And then when you change another call, we can run two or three different pressures up front but play the same coverage or we can run the same pressure up front and run two or three different coverages. So that's what really makes the thing multiple. Where does your philosophy on pressure come from? Where did that evolve for you throughout your career? It's just, it's really what's happened in football. I mean, obviously I've been around it a very long time. And 25 years ago, teams weren't throwing the ball 50 times a game. And everybody geared up to stop the run. There weren't a lot of different formations. There weren't all these jet motions. There wasn't RPOs. There wasn't all that stuff. So basically your defense was a lot simpler because the offenses were a lot simpler. So everybody's got to always play catch up and when the offense has changed and really started opening things up and all the motions and stuff like that, then all of a sudden you've got to change your defense.  And so you've got a choice. You can play vanilla coverage or you can try to get after them a little bit and start pressuring. And sometimes if you can pressure it can, you know, they got their set of issues over on offense too. They got to figure it all out too when the ball snapped. So it's a little bit just over time. The game's changed and it's just changed a lot. And so it's the old days of lining up an I-pro with two tight ends. Those days are gone. So you got to evolve with it. And I think part of that is pressure on defense along with a lot of multiple coverages. When you made the decision to retire for the second time, what was that conversation like? Not necessarily with Arthur Dutton, you said January and Arthur Dutton. What was that conversation like with your family saying, hey, I know I'd said I was going to do this, but now I'm going back. It wasn't difficult at all. I think number one is everything, when it comes to family, it's all basically I'm talking to my wife about what she thinks. And I think she knew how much I missed it. I was doing a little radio for the Titans on Friday afternoons during that off week.  I went to the Titans and I asked them if I could watch film and during the week and be kind of up to snuff on the offense that we were playing. I never talked about the Titans ever, offense or defense, nothing. I didn't think that was fair, but I would talk about the upcoming opponent's offense and what they were like and what was good, what was bad, what to look for, these kind of things. So the more film I watched, the more I missed it. I think my wife knew that I really kind of really wasn't ready and I kind of wanted to get back into it, but at the same time I was not... I wasn't going to go out there and make some phone calls or tell anybody necessarily that that's what I wanted to do. She knew it, but that was about it. And then I got a couple calls from a couple people that were going to interview for jobs. I really kind of told them I wasn't interested and then it was different when talking to Art. I mean, because I knew Art, I knew what Art's like, our relationship, and I wanted to work for somebody that I knew, totally trusted, believed in, and so I said, yeah. And I asked my wife first, like always, and she says, I know you want to do it and then it's fine with me. And she was on board totally. The other thing is that I don't think sometimes people quite really realize what a family affair this whole occupation is. I mean, I've been doing it for 48 years and I remember my grandson when I retired, looked at me, one of them, I got nine of them, one of them looked at me and said, I'm going to go to grandpa, whom I'm going to root for. And I didn't really realize how much they, it's a part of their life too. And my daughters and I got my son, I got five daughters and they all were kind of like, what Jersey do we wear now? Do we wear New England? Do we wear Baltimore? Do we wear Tennessee? Who we root for now? So it was good for them to put on a Falcon's Jersey. Who last year? I don't know. I don't know who they root for.  And I think some of them went back to rooting for the team they rooted for when they were little. So I don't know. We just, but I think they're all excited to be back. It's family. It really is, it's just been such a big part of our life. And the fact that they, you know, they get to meet the players and get to know these guys. And I said, you know, they're just living in a little different world.  So they think that's pretty big. Tori Vinchels? Yeah. Kind of wanted to get into the weeks a little bit. We were talking to Eric Harris a couple of weeks ago. He was saying he went into this whole big field about how you were teaching concepts, not necessarily positions. And I was hoping you could kind of speak a little bit to that and maybe go into more depth as to maybe what he was talking about. Well, yeah. I want to be careful going into too much depth on that thing. But what I will tell you is that a lot of times corners learn how to just play corner out there on the edge. Our corners learn how to play rolled up corner. They learn how to play half safety. They learn how to play the curl. They learn how to play the hook. They learn all the different spots in coverage. Man coverage is easy. I mean, I got my man, you know, I'm not saying it's easy. I'm just saying it's relatively easy. I know who I got. But what we do is we teach all the defensive backs, all the positions like in zone coverage. So they got to know them all. And the reason we do that is two reasons. One, I went through a year one time in the NFL where we started eight different corners during the season. And we won Super Bowl. The key was is that every corner can't play man to man. Every corner can't play his own. Every corner can't do certain things. They can do certain things well, certain things not well. It's up to us as coaches to make them do the things that they do well for us to put them in those positions to do that. Well, you got to change a lot every week. And so it was that along with the fact if you want to be multiple, then you can move guys all over the place and people don't really know, you know, if I got a corner standing out here in the half field or all of a sudden now he's a corner and he's Blitzen or now he's a corner and he's playing the curl, you know, the offense has to try to figure it out. So it's that kind of conceptually. Same way with the linebackers, you know, inside linebackers know how to play outside linebackers. Outside know how to play inside. All the defensive line know how to play all three positions. You can move guys all over the place. And so you learn instead of memorizing your position, you learn the concept of the defense. It also helps you understand the problems the other guy might have. So if I'm a corner and I'm playing cover two and I'm close to jam the receiver so he can't get deep on the safety. Well, once you put the corner back there in a half field, he now knows what it's like if you don't jam the receiver. So he's all of a sudden has a different respect for the guy that's behind him. And same way with the linebackers. So that's kind of what it is conceptually. We were talking, I was talking to Marlon Davidson the other day, he made a comment that he was like one of the things that Coach Pease comes up and says to me all the time is that we want you to be, I want to see the guy who we've seen on film. Can you speak to what that comment means for his development? It means it's the guy that does the things right. You know, I don't want to see the guy on film that did something wrong. But I've seen things. I told like, you know, somebody asked me in the introductory press conference when I first got here, you know, what I thought of the defense. And so what I saw the defense is what they did against Kansas City last year. That's what the expectation is. They played the heck out of Kansas City last year. As good as anybody did. Well, there's some other games that wasn't the case. That's not, I'm not looking for the other cases. I'm looking for the one, you already showed me you can do it. So now you just got to be consistent in doing it. That's what he's saying with Marlon. I know what you can do, do it. And that's what it is really from everybody. You know, the expectation when you do something, that's what the expectation is. That's why you should be able to do it every time. And why wouldn't you? So that's kind of it. And you know, it's not realistic to think that the guy, everybody's going to play a perfect game every time. They're going to make mistakes. And the other team's darn good. You know, everybody's got good players. But you can't let your expectations down. So that's all I'm doing for him. It's just like everybody else, we just want you to, the guy that I saw do stuff right, this is the guy I want to see out there every day. You were talking earlier about your scheme, your scheme and pressure. Great jersey guy who from the time he came into the league shows his shown ability to pressure from the inside. Almost could have been, obviously, going to be a super ball. How does that sort of make him a bit, for your defense? Well, the reason Gray is a good fit is two reasons. One, well, three reasons. He's tough. He's a good athlete. He gives effort. And he's smart. And so those three things you ask for in all defensive players and Grady's epitome, epitome of that, he's really understands football. I mean, but add on to that talent, which he has tremendous talent. He fits into our scheme very, very well. I knew a lot because he's great friends with Ray Lewis. And so, and I say in touch with Ray all the time. And so I already knew watching him on film and stuff. But as soon as I got the job, I called Ray. And that was the first thing I wanted to find out about, you know, Grady the man and all good. That's my business. But I just said it was all good. All good. There's a lot of athletes in sports who haven't butted in yet. Maybe they've done a lot of talent. Maybe they don't get everything out of that talent. Any of guys like Grady who's barely recruited to Clemson who just, you know, has seen people achieve because he's kind of had that at the end for years. When you ask a hallfamer about somebody and you get a good answer, I'd say that's pretty legit. I can't recall if it was Grady or AJ, but somebody had called your defensive scheme user-friendly. And how important is it to be user-friendly, even if it looks complicated to the quarterback or to people who aren't actually operating? Well, I would hope, I would think everybody's offensive and defensive user-friendly.   You know, that's something they have to speak to. We just do, we're trying to put guys, try to evaluate guys' talents and what they do well and try to put them in positions so they can utilize those talents. That's, it's, it's not rocket science. It really is. I mean, if you got a quarterback that can run like heck, why would you make him a drop-back quarterback? If you got a drop-back quarterback, why would you make him run? RPOs and Zone Reap. It's not rocket science. If we got a bunch of guys that can run and pressure, then run them pressure.  Well, I'm not going to really move them a lot. I'm going to let them just pile it back a little bit.  And it's just, to me, user-friendly. It's just taking the talent and putting it in positions so they can be successful. I'm just curious. I know you have a history, obviously, working with Archie Schmidt, but what's it like working with a now as a head coach of a team? What have you seen in him as being a head coach without him? Fantastic. Everything that I expected it would be, it is. The thing about Arthur is that he has, there's some guys, and you know what, I haven't been around too many. Really, the only rookie head coach I was with was Raebel, because everybody else was, Belichick, Sabin, all the old guys. And Harbaugh had been there a long time, you know, but he was kind of a young coach, but not, he had been going. I've never seen a young coach like Coach Smith already have thought out every structure of practice, of meetings, of all the stuff that he does.  I mean, I've been with some pretty good ones, and he's right, he's right. I'm just shocked that it's not like, it's like we've been doing this for a while. I'm just super impressed.  Attacking. That's what I want. If we can get it done, that's what we're shooting for, being an attacking defense. And thank you. You guys good? One more coach we didn't ask you about, Dante Fowler, how he's been coming along and how does he fit in this, you know, your defense? Coming along, coming along great. It's been, since he's been back from that COVID thing, it's just gotten better and better and better every day, and he fits great in this defense. Anybody can rush a passer, it's gonna fit great in this defense.  He's, you know, he's, you guys get it. We really got a group of guys, you know, who knows how anybody's ever going to be. But I'll tell you what, we got a group of guys that are bought in and are working hard and they get it. And I mean, they want to be good. And so that's half the battle. Right down on Zach here. So we can give him his back. Okay, what is it? Okay, just real quick. With your attacking style defense, this season, Brady said that his goal is to have 10 sacks. Do you think that that's possible in your scheme of defense? Got no idea. I've never, I've never put that on anybody and never put a number on anybody. You know, I'll tell you this, somebody mentioned it the other night, I'll just tell you, two years ago, the team that lived the NFL in sacks was 31st on defense. Which would you rather be? No?