Conspicuous Consumption in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Conspicuous Consumption in America - Essay Example As the report declares Marx’s theories of the fetishism of the commodity informs Veblen’s ideas of possessions having the capability of conferring an abstract noun upon its owner and by the middle of the twentieth century the advertising world had perfected the ability to translate this capability to consumers; at the same time the US economy began depending ever more heavily upon consumption of non-essential goods. Veblen’s â€Å"honor† eventually transformed into something else as the economic divide between rich and poor shrank alongside the growth of the American middle class. That something is called â€Å"status† and advertising works around the clock to convince consumers that status is something they can buy. Marx almost seems to be describing contemporary advertising tactics when he describes how a commodity can be fetishized. â€Å"The mystical character of commodities does not originate, therefore, in their use-value. Just as little does it proceed from the nature of the determining factors of value† This paper stresses that the major shift in the concept of conspicuous consumption from Veblen’s time to contemporary society is that when Veblen coined the term only the wealthy engaged in it; nowadays Americans situated at every point along the economic spectrum freely and willingly engage in consumption that is purely, and all too often only, conspicuous in nature. One needn’t be an economist to figure out that economic growth will be sluggish at best if the primary driving force is a low-profit endeavor.

Key Success Factors for Supply Chain Management Excellence at the Essay

Key Success Factors for Supply Chain Management Excellence at the Textile sector (or similar) - Essay Example Efficient supply chain management holds great importance in the textile industry as excellence of the industry largely depends upon sourcing of quality raw materials and proper placement of the final goods in the shelves of retailers so that the products can be easily accessible to the targeted audience group (Yip and Hult, 2012). In this era of globalization, establishing strong supply chain has become inevitable for the global as well as national players in order to manage complexities in global sourcing of raw materials and supplying the apparels and other finished goods to the customers all over the world (Lysons and Farrington, 2012). In fact, ensuring effective supply chain management helps the market players in the industry to achieve competitive advantages over other players. The objective of the research paper is to identify the key success factors in supply chain management that leads to create excellence in the textile sectors. For the purpose of analysis, the textile indu stry of the United Kingdom will be examined. The concept of supply chain management has gained considerable attention mainly after globalization and massive trade liberalization. According to Basu and Wright (2010), as a result of rapid expansion of cross border trade, the global industries subsequently understand the importance of supply chain management as it is becoming necessary for them to procure information, capital and raw material and present their manufactured products all over the world. Such global acquisition of materials and distribution of products would not have been possible if very strong supply chain has not been incorporated. Koprulu and Albayrakoglu (2007) have defined supply chain management as the integrated process that facilitates the associated organizations to break all the barriers of resource procurement and obtain the best possible resources for the business. According to them,

Learning How To Write Well English Language Essay

Learning How To Write Well English Language Essay The desire to learn how to write and read started earlier than my preschool year. Growing up in a family where respect and education were the primary focus for their offsprings, it wasnt only a good thing for my youth but has helped me later in my life. I was taught that learning is not only obtaining skills and knowledge, but the ability to apply the new understanding, such a asking for food when I felt the pain of hunger. While, later in my life I was educated that learning is the ability to contextualize the variety of contexts which vary from region to region, institution to institution, and between groups with different social-economical backgrounds. Learning how to write well, it all started in primary school. Primary school was the place where I created my foundation for writing well. This foundation was build on by different writing exercises, such as course handbook and writing workbooks in and out of classroom. I learned to copy definitions of literary terms in my notepad and memorize them, without considering its larger meaning. This helped me learn writing skills and knowledge in multiply lesson types. Dictation exercises were another form used in school to advance my writing skills and knowledge. Being a verbal thinker, dictation was one of my preferred ways of learning how to write well. This form of writing helped me visualize the structure and grammar mistakes I made during the writing process. As my education advances, I use written feedback from professors and peers to understand the expectations which they have. Through this method, I not only become more familiar with my writing, but it helps me improve my generati ve thinking. Helps me develop ideas in writing from different points of view, and assists on improving my initial thoughts. Learning vocabulary skills in the context of writing started as early as elementary school. Completing practice workbooks and exercises on short stories I read during class. And create a dictionary with new words I came across in children books and other words presented by my teacher. Visual activities prepared by the teacher, were practices which I had to find in use in my children books in my local library, this meant reading a great quantity of short story books, and getting familiar with the plot concept and theme in the context of writing. To help me bring my knowledge to test, my teacher would require me to write a short story of my happiest moment during a weekend. The combination of visual and integrated activities provided ways for me to put my understanding to use in the context of larger writings. I can clearly say that this form of teaching was effective in learning how to use vocabulary in writing. What if, peer and self-evaluation were parts of activities? I believe it would have helped me improve my writing mechanics and vocabulary which could be used later in class discussions. Depending upon any other approach rather than the visual and integrated activities would not have been affective, because integrating larger goals in the context of writing would have been too much. Integrated and visual activates worked in none-linear and separated form, both were effective on making me understand the context of writing in the smaller scale. With the necessary skills and knowledge, I was ready to learn how to become reflective about my own writing performance. With skills and knowledge such as, strategies on approaching writing tasks, discussing prompts which support cognitive thinking, it was time for me to explore and extend literary understanding beyond the initial interpretation, and most importantly achieve creative thinking beyond the initial thoughts. Dictation was the answer to this stepping stone. Dictation is nothing more than a class exercise which helps students develop grammar, writing communications and improve listening comprehension. Using this learning device I have been able to diagnose and correct grammatical mistakes, learn punctuation, and develop my thoughts. This form or this learning device has helped teachers analyze and address the grammatical and comprehension weaknesses in students such as myself. The most important benefit on using this learning device is the ability to make corrections myself or my teacher. Dictation activities exercised were a combination of traditional spelling and punctuation problems to ac tivities where personal opinions were tested. Besides its benefits, dictation was a form of losing time on noticing language mistakes that are overlooked and commonly made. By reading and writing more literature these common mistakes would be improved. Dictation is not widely issued in English teaching systems, because it is considered an older technique. In comparison, most European countries still use dictation as a technique for teaching and improving students in grammatical and comprehension skills. In addition to dictation, professors feedback gives me an opportunity to improve and analyze my work. Getting the facts right is what writing well is all about. If the reader or the audience is misinformed, feedback is what the writer gets in response. If the point is not reached in writing the feedback is not a critique, but an explanation on how well the writing expectations are met, and what can be done for improvements. Receiving written feedback helps me understand the expectations of my audience, and helps me understand and meet the expectation of my own writing. This method has given the ability to improve my initial thoughts to thoughts which are expected by the audience. I expect written feedback of any form in my writing, because this puts my writing in a particular way to an end or makes me repeat it. Positive punishment (lower grade) makes me put an end to the way I write and or positive reinforcement (better grade) makes me repeat my writing in a behaviors term. Although feedback is one of the most important forms on learning how to write well, there are still problems a ssociated with this approach. First, the written feedback I receive most of the time is hard to interpret due to the illegible handwriting, including un-clear terms and symbols. In addition, the implemented time on feedback is crucial. The majority of time I receive late feedback and time doesnt permit to apply the changes to my writing. This issue can be solved if the institutions increase the time constrains available for feedbacks. Paying attention to the written feedback I receive is improving my skills in writing well. Feedback is more than often provided by experienced writers, which can have no end when learning the skill on how to write well. Therefore, learning how to write well is not only obtaining the skills and knowledge, but is the ability to apply the skills and knowledge to meet the audience expectations. However, as I have shown visual and integrated activities are used on building the foundation to writing well. Enhancing vocabulary terms and using it on writing was the main concentration of these activities. Class dictation has been the most beneficial method to my learning, as it helped me perfect my writing skills and raised awareness of problematic areas in my writing. Given that dictation activities provide the opportunity to compare written work with a professors work. As my writing advances, Im become a better writer, and the writing process is becoming less painful when I receive written feedback. The fact that this method is the most preferred way for many students including myself to achieve excellent writing; it clearly shows the importance written feedback have on students. Most of the time peer feed back indicates the type of error but not the place of error; this significantly improved my ability to find the error and help avoid the wrong initial thought. All in all, using course workbooks, dictation and feedback Ive been able achieve skills on how to write well.

The author uses symbolism that contributes to the success of the text E

The author uses symbolism that contributes to the success of the text is Lamb by Bernard Mac Laverty A novel in which the author uses symbolism that contributes to the success of the text is â€Å"Lamb† by Bernard Mac Laverty. The author uses many different symbols, including the pinball machine, fish, birds, lamb and many more, to very effectively emphasise points he is trying to make and hint at how the novel will end. One of the first symbols used in the novel by the author is the symbol of the bird. Brother Benedict is described like a bird alot. The line â€Å"Benedict sat waiting with a bird like tilt of the head, sharp, owl-like† gives a very vivid description of Benedict. It gives the reader the impression that he is twitching like a bird, waiting on the right moment to pounce, the words â€Å"before he pecked† continue this idea. â€Å"A chicken eying a seed† is another line which continues the idea of looking at his mark, waiting on the right moment before he pounces. Birds also are made out to be nasty creatures who bring sadness and pain. The author refers to the â€Å"depressing screech of gulls†, which means exactly what it says, that the noise made by the gulls are depressing. Another symbol which is used throughout the novel is the symbol of the pinball machine. â€Å"His dread of the steel ball thumping hollowly into the depths of the pinball machine, the inevitability of it despite the frantic flicking of the small rubber wings unable to reach† is a line which shows that no matter how hard you try in the end you will always fail. â€Å"Funnelled towards the act he had decided upon† also shows this inevitability, that even though he had chosen to kill the boy for his own good, there was no longer any other options, ... ...choice. The myth of Daedalus and Icarus turns out to be highly symbolic in the novel. It is significant because in the myth Daedalus is responsible for his son’s death while trying to save him from the captivity the king held them in, while in the novel Michael is responsible for Owen’s death, and he is saving him from a life of deprivation and suffering that he would live when they were finally found by the police. In conclusion, Bernard Mac Laverty’s use of these symbols is very effective as it reveals alot about how the novel will end, by providing hints to what is going to happen and the reasons for the event. The way the author uses symbolism to hint at what will become is very effective as alot of it is not really noticeable until a second read of the novel. All in all the authors use of symbolism contributes highly to the success of the novel.

Explain the Way in Which You Would Establish Ground Rules with Your Learners, and Which Underpin Behaviour and Respect for Others

Having explored the three methods of setting ground rules during session 2 of PTTLS course, it is evident that for the ground rules to be effective, determining the appropriate method of ground rules setting is crucial to informing how the learners will be likely to respond to the ‘ground rules’ and how this will later affect the session or sessions to be delivered. The three methods of setting ground rules offer advantages and disadvantages depending on the context of the lesson and the dynamics of the group. For example the teacher led process provides the teacher with a clear set of uniformed rules and offers the teacher an opportunity to consider issues which may otherwise have been overlooked such as the learning environment and health and safety issues. Although rigid in approach, using this method could offer the teacher more control of the group by notion of a hierarchal order within the class. The teacher would take on an authoritarian role with the learner having to adhere to the rules set. In an ideal situation the teacher would be able to invoke the rules when the group did not behave in a way that was appropriate to outcomes expected by the teacher. Unfortunately this authoritarian approach could also result in the learner becoming disengaged and de motivated presenting the threat of the learner becoming disruptive especially as they have not had the opportunity to discuss their feelings on how they would like to have their learning environment managed. This presents the teacher with the task of having enforce a set a rules which the disruptive learner has no ownership or commitment to and consequently places the teacher in a difficult position of having to find alternative strategies to enforce boundaries which the individual feels is acceptable. The learner led method offers the students the responsibility to form their own rules and provides a forum for the learners to discuss and share their learning needs with their peers resulting in the rules being drawn based on the consensus of the group/class. The advantages of this make it easier for the teacher to enforce the rules if learners fall off track by gently revisiting the rules as and when needed without appearing a disciplinarian allowing the teacher to develop a good relationship with the learners. The learners would have no choice but to adhere to the rules as they would be bound by their own principles. This method does fail to acknowledge the teachers experience in understanding the dynamics of groups and how the teacher could provide a valuable contribution to ground rules which consider the needs of individual learners. This method may also inhibit the teacher from delivering an effective lesson as consideration may not have been applied as to whether the rules are suitable for the teaching environment. For instance taking into account the actual content of the lesson to be delivered and forgetting to include the health and safety of the learners. In establishing an effective set of ground rules for my learners, I would consider a method that offers the teacher the opportunity to create a learning environment that is safe, efficient and stimulating for the learner (Armitage, A, et al, Teaching & Training in Post Compulsory Education, OU, 2007). This would be implemented through getting the learners to negotiate their own ground rules with assistance from myself. I would take charge of facilitating the discussion to ensure all learners had an opportunity to contribute, and to ensure the inclusion of crucial rules which allow me to effectively deliver my session were also included. This would also incorporate aspects of health and safety. I would promote and encourage the learner to identify rules that would respect and value their own needs and that of their group allowing the learners to display respect for themselves, one another and the teacher. I anticipate that by adopting this approach this will provide learners with an opportunity to express their own willingness reasons for wanting to learn, resulting in increased levels of motivation and commitment to the sessions. For the learners this method would promote ownership of the rules, as they would have to adhere to their own set of principles as opposed to principles set by me, therefore allowing me the opportunity to better manage any behavioural concerns in the event that learners steered away from the agreed rules set.

Succubus on Top CHAPTER 19

The dealer's house sat away from the road, just like all sinister houses should, I suppose. My biased perceptions aside, there was actually little else about the house that was all that creepy. It was big and expensive-looking, spreading out lazily on beautifully manicured lawns, visible to me even at night. In a region where yards were at a premium, that much land signified a great deal of money. Unlike Bastien's place, this house had no similarly well-to-do neighbors. This house was in a class of its own; it could not be part of a mere suburban neighborhood. â€Å"Where are we?† I asked, because it seemed like the kind of naive, starry-eyed question I should be asking. Alec had met me downtown and then driven me out to this place in his own car. We were about twenty minutes outside the city. â€Å"This is where the guy lives,† he told me happily. His mood improved as we got closer to the house. â€Å"He'll hook you up.† The car followed the long, sinuous driveway and came to a stop by the garage. In an oddly chivalrous way, he opened the car door for me and gestured that I follow him inside. Glancing back at his beat-up Ford Topaz, I couldn't help thinking that being an immortal drug lord's lackey should pay better. Alec led us through a side door in the house, and even I was taken aback at what I found inside. The first word that came to mind was lush. And not the drunk kind either. I meant in the opulent sense, the kind of lush you sink your teeth into. The walls, floor, and ceilings consisted of gleaming dark hardwood, almost like we were inside a lodge – say, a lodge that cost seven figures. Beams of that beautiful wood crisscrossed the open, cathedral ceiling. Jewel-toned oil paintings in gilt frames hung on the walls, and I had enough of a sense for the value of art to recognize they had not come from Bed Bath & Beyond. We crossed out of the foyer and found more of the same in a large living room. Its focal point was an enormous fireplace whose brick faà §ade stretched to the ceiling. A multicolored stained-glass landscape hung above the fireplace's opening, and flames from the roaring fire – along with several strategically placed candles – cast the only light in the room. Nothing electrical. In that dim, flickering lighting, I sensed the man before I saw him. The same unfamiliar immortal signature from the concert carried to me, coupled with something else. This close to him, I noticed how much he felt like the crystals. Or rather, how much the crystals felt like him, as if they were pale, fractured versions of the masterpiece. The whole vibe from him felt weird but not quite as discordant as the crystals themselves had. â€Å"Alec,† said a creamy voice, â€Å"who is your lovely friend?† The man unfolded from the couch, standing in one fluid motion. I now saw the same features as before: flawless tanned skin, long black hair, high cheekbones. He also wore the same hot Victorian couture, complete with another of those gorgeous silk shirts that billowed around his arms and showed smooth skin through the V-neck. â€Å"This is Georgina,† said Alec, voice quaking with nervousness and excitement. â€Å"Just like I said.† The man glided to us and took my hand in both of his. â€Å"Georgina. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman.† He drew my hand to his lips – which were full and pink – and kissed my skin. He held my hand a moment, letting his dark eyes bore into mine, and then he slowly straightened up and released me. â€Å"My name is Sol.† I turned off all my impulses to make snappy jokes and/or maul this guy, instead opting for stunned innocence mingled with a little fear. â€Å"H-hello.† I swallowed nervously and looked down at my feet. â€Å"You've done well,† Sol told Alec. â€Å"Very well.† I didn't have to see Alec to tell he was practically melting with relief. â€Å"So†¦does that mean†¦I can, you know†¦?† â€Å"Yes, yes.† Unless I was mistaken, a slight note of irritation underscored that pleasant voice. â€Å"Afterward. Go upstairs now. I'll summon you when I'm ready. â€Å" Alec started to leave, and I grabbed his sleeve, still playing frightened maiden. â€Å"Wait – where are you going?† He smiled at me. â€Å"I'll be right back. It's okay. You wanted more, right? Sol's going to get it for you.† I must have truly looked terrified because he squeezed my arm reassuringly. â€Å"It's okay. Really.† I bit my lip and gave him a hesitant nod. His eyes held mine for a moment, and something very like regret flickered across them. Then he left. â€Å"Come sit with me,† intoned Sol, taking my hand again. He led me to a sumptuous couch by the fire. Warmth from that orange glow spilled over me, and the flames were reflected in his dark eyes. I sat down gingerly, scooting back because the cushions were so big. We sat there quietly. He smiled expectantly, and I gave him a faltering smile back. â€Å"Alec said you could give me more†¦you know†¦of that stuff.† â€Å"You enjoyed it then?† â€Å"Yes. Oh yes. It made me feel†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Immortal?† â€Å"Y-yes, that's it. Please. I need more. I can pay you†¦whatever you want.† He waved a hand carelessly. â€Å"We'll discuss such mundane matters later. For now, let's see if we can't satiate your hunger.† He leaned over to a small table and lifted up two goblets. Goblets. How quaint. â€Å"This should tide you over until we can arrange a larger batch.† I took the cup from him. It felt heavy, like gold. Nothing but the best if you were going to drink the food of the gods, I thought. They held a dark red liquid. If the crystals felt like a weak approximation of Sol, the aura radiating off of this cup felt like mega-Sol. It was intense and strong, making the vibe from the crystals seem like a total nonevent. Maybe that was what happened when ambrosia liquefied. I realized then he'd been waiting for me while I pondered. â€Å"Drink up.† I hesitated, not having to feign apprehension this time. Drink up? What should I do? If I didn't drink, my cover might be blown, and I still hadn't had â€Å"provocation† to smite this bastard or whatever one did to someone with a dart-arrowhead-thing. Carter and Jerome had said ambrosia wouldn't hurt an immortal; they'd even said an immortal could resist its nasty effects to a certain extent, much longer than humans. That didn't necessarily make me feel better, though. I preferred to be in my normal range of skills to deal with this, but it looked like I didn't have that luxury. I couldn't delay any longer. Smiling shyly, I brought the cup to my lips and drank. He did the same. Who could tell? Maybe personality amplification would help me out here. Maybe I had a secret Amazonian alter ego lurking within me who was dying to jump out via the ambrosia and bludgeon this guy with a goblet. Once Sol started drinking, he didn't stop. He tipped the cup back until he'd consumed it all. I followed suit. The stuff really didn't taste so bad. In fact, it tasted sweet, almost sickeningly so. Weirdest of all was its consistency. Thick. Almost viscous. â€Å"There,† he said, taking my empty cup. â€Å"You'll feel better soon, and then we can talk reasonably.† He shifted into a more comfortable position, long legs stretched out and relaxed. He had a slim build and delicate features. His narrow fingers wound one of his black curls around it. â€Å"Tell me about yourself, Georgina. What do you do?† â€Å"I, uh, work in a bookstore.† â€Å"Ah, you're a reader then.† â€Å"I try to be.† He inclined his head toward a wall covered in books. â€Å"I'm a reader myself. There's no greater pursuit than improving one's mind. â€Å" He started talking to me about some of his favorite books, and I smiled and commented as appropriate. As we talked, I began to feel†¦well, for lack of a more descriptive term, good. Really good. Almost like I was buzzed from an excellent liqueur. My limbs tingled a little, and a warm sense of euphoria burned through me. I heard myself laughing at one of his jokes. I almost sounded genuine. â€Å"You're very beautiful,† he suddenly said, and I wondered when he'd moved so close to me. I had to blink to stay focused. The room spun slightly, and my hands and feet kept delaying in obeying my orders. Sol reached out and touched my cheek, trailing those graceful fingers down my neck. â€Å"Your beauty is a gift.† I tried to move, mainly to see if I could actually manage it, not to avoid his touch. Honestly, his touch was pleasant – extremely pleasant. It made my pulse pick up a little. I could, I soon discovered, still move. I was just a little sluggish. â€Å"Shhh,† he crooned, placing a restraining hand on my wrist. â€Å"Don't be afraid. Everything will be all right.† â€Å"W-what are you doing?† He had an arm around my waist now and was moving his mouth toward the spot where my neck met my shoulder. His lips, when they touched flesh, were warm and full of promise. I trembled a little under that kiss and tried to figure out what was going on here. The short answer, obviously, was that something had gone wrong. I felt dizzy and disoriented enough to be at a frat party over at U.W. On top of that, this immortal – this strange immortal I barely knew – suddenly seemed more alluring than I'd imagined possible. Hadn't I come here to kick his ass? Why was I making out with him? Was this what ambrosia did to me? Were these my core traits – the power to get buzzed and take pleasure in sex? To become even easier than I already was? His hands moved down and unbuttoned my shirt so they could slide down and cup my breasts, which were just barely covered by the black mesh bra I'd bought with Dana. He kissed me directly now, his mouth pressing against mine. As his tongue delicately slipped between my lips, I tasted a sweetness akin to the ambrosia. Bottom line: it needs to be self-defense. So Carter had said, but suddenly I didn't really need much defending – unless it was from myself. My own hands were moving without my conscious knowledge to unfasten his pants, and our bodies were becoming entwined together on the soft cushions. Self-defense. Self-defense. Why self-defense? What was I forgetting here? Ah, of course. The dart. I pushed through the red haze muddling my senses, forcing clarity. The dart. The dart would stop Sol somehow, stop him from continuing to spread the poison of ambrosia. It would stop him from hurting people†¦like Doug. I battled through my disorientation and pulled my mouth away from Sol's, attempting to squirm the rest of the way out of his grasp. I won a little room but not much. He was still close. â€Å"No†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I gasped out. â€Å"Don't do this. Stop.† Sol, regarding me with surprised amusement, shushed me. â€Å"You don't know what you're saying.† â€Å"I do. Stop.† I wriggled one arm free, one arm that then snaked to the pocket containing Carter's pouch. I needed the other arm free too, but Sol was holding it. Looking down, I suddenly saw that his wrist was bleeding. How had that happened? I hadn't caused it. â€Å"Georgina, you are about to be honored above all mortal women. Lay back. Stop struggling. No harm will come to you. You will enjoy this night, I promise.† He moved his mouth back to mine, and again that blazing euphoria swelled within me. A traitorous moan of pleasure caught in my throat. Taking this as submission, Sol's grip on my restrained arm lessened, and I shifted it away just enough that both of my hands now touched the pouch. Yet, it was a hard battle. My motor control still wasn't all it should be. Kissing him, in that moment, seemed much more important than some silly pouch. My mind didn't want to focus on anything else. But I forced it to. Through sheer strength of will, I pushed the physical pleasure out of my head and instead replayed every consequence of the ambrosia I'd seen: Casey's devastation, Doug's wild swings from darkly frenetic exuberance to even darker depression, and finally his limp body in the hospital. Mortals are fragile things. Very fragile. And Sol played with them as if they were nothing. The smoldering coal of my anger began to burn again. He's a stronger immortal than you. Preying on you – especially when you belong to Jerome, so to speak – is a big no-no. You would be justified in protecting yourself. Again, I pulled my mouth away. â€Å"Stop,† I said again more firmly. â€Å"I want you to stop. Stop doing this.† â€Å"I'm not going to stop,† Sol snapped. Anger marred his honeyed tone. His breath was heavy, and his chest heaved with exertion. He – or I – had removed his shirt, and I had a perfect view of that unprotected skin. â€Å"I'm not going to stop, and believe me, once I start, you won't want me to stop either.† My fingers moved to open the pouch; the other hand slowly readied itself to reach inside. The ambrosia in my system dulled my reflexes, but I kept battling through it and sized up where in his chest his heart would be. â€Å"I've asked you three times to stop. Once should have been enough. No means no.† â€Å"No means nothing from someone like you.† He laughed a little, still not taking me seriously. â€Å"What's wrong with you? I thought you wanted to be immortal.† My hand was inside the pouch, pulling the dart out. Sol and I both felt its power at the same time, just as he realized what I was. His eyes widened, but I didn't give him time to react. I didn't think or falter. Just as Carter had ordered, I simply took action – well, with a cheesy punch line, of course. â€Å"Been there, done that,† I said, slamming the dart into his heart. For half a beat, Sol froze, unable to believe this was happening. And that's when things got messy.