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Struggling to write up a glowing personal statement for your UCAS application? We're here to show you how it's done!
So, you've chosen your uni course, shortlisted your five ideal universities, and now the only thing stopping you from riding your unicorn into Studentville is passing those pesky exams. Right? Wrong. Your next task is the delightful job of writing your UCAS personal statement!
I waltzed into it thinking it was easy, all I had to do was make myself sound great, how hard could it be? Turns out it's kind of difficult to big yourself up, even if you think you're pretty awesome.
You've got 47 lines (or 4000 characters) to 'sell' yourself to your chosen universities. This is your chance to shine! Here are some tips that will have the universities begging for you to join them.
Need help deciding which city to study in? Check out our great guides to some of the UK's best university cities.
Do you know how many times the people in that office are going to read "I'm Shaniqua, I'm from Manchester and I love Drama/Maths/Orienteering"? Too many times.
You want to stand out and impress the people who sort through these applications, and the best way to do that is to say something different.
If possible, try to include something to do with the course you're applying to; for example, I applied for an English and Creative Writing course, so began my statement with the line "Ever since I was a little girl, I have always been amazed by how words can paint a picture in one's mind and launch their imagination" ...or words to that effect.
I can't say it was necessarily true, but it worked, I got offers from every uni I had applied for. Obviously you don't have to be quite as flowery with your language, but it makes a nice change from the run of the mill opening sentences. Also, try not to be too cliché or over do it.
Your personal statement for university is the only part of the application that you have complete control over. It can help give you that boost you need if your grades are perhaps not ideal, and allow universities to see more of your personality, as opposed to just your academic achievements.
Include any hobbies you may enjoy (don't say 'socialising', you might as well say 'eating' or 'breathing'), and also any voluntary work you've done in your time.
This can be tied into having good timekeeping, organisation skills and being personable. Universities like to see an applicant with extra curricular activities or personal interests in something, as it shows an extra bit of who you are.
Demonstrate to the uni that you're perfect for the course you've applied to and not just their institution (warning: remember not to mention the name of any universities explicitly in your personal statement! Unless you're 100% only applying for one).
Try to keep your personal statement relevant to your course at least a little, so whilst mentioning hobbies and charity work is all well and good, you should aim to relate most of it to your chosen course.
If you've chosen English, perhaps mention a love for books; Maths - any competitions you may have entered or just why you love the subject so much. If you show a genuine interest in it, there is no doubt the university will lap your application up. They want enthusiastic students who have a passion for what they are studying.
What's more, if you are struggling to find a passion for the subject then you should ask yourself why you are applying to study it, especially with the latest rise in how much university costs.
Interested to know what the average starting salary is for someone graduating with your chosen degree? Find out here!
This was the part I had the most difficulty with. I knew I needed an introduction and conclusion, but had no idea what to put in between the two!
I would suggest starting off with an attention grabbing opening sentence, why you're interested in the subject and why you want to pursue it, followed by what you've done relating to your chosen university subject. Follow this with information on any work experience or school activities you have been involved in.
Naturally the next topic to tackle is out of school activities, particularly ones that show you are reliable and organised, and that you feel are relevant. Finish with what you hope to achieve at university and finish it off with something a bit memorable!
Some of us are gifted when it comes to writing, but personally I find it helps to read lots of examples to gather what the layout for something should be, and get a feel for tone, content and style. It can be difficult to know where to even begin with a personal statement!
You can check out personal statement examples for most subjects and universities and decide yourself what makes them good and bad. I found it helped me immensely to have a loose guide of how it should be set out.
Be wary of ending up with a personal statement that's too similar to your friends' though. Universities have seen a lot of it before and can usually tell when a UCAS personal statement is not original.
I do a joint degree, but fortunately it's in English and Creative Writing, so when writing my personal statement it was easy to mix the two together. However, writing for a joint degree in two completely unrelated subjects can be difficult.
I'd suggest dedicating a section of your UCAS personal statement to each subject, it may not flow as nicely, but it makes it easier than trying to fit them together when it clearly isn't going to work.
As for applying to different courses at different universities, you've given yourself a difficult challenge, but not an impossible one!
Just try to think about why it is that you want to do these different degrees - is it because you have so many interests and don't want to narrow your options too much? Chances are, this means you're an interesting and active person with lots to say! Fill them in.
Don't start every sentence with 'I', spice it up a bit!
Don't sound pretentious, or use words you wouldn't normally use - they'll be able to sniff that out.
Don't randomly drop quotes into your statement unless you can back up why the quote has influenced you!
Don't try to be funny (even if you are!) and litter your statement with jokes. Although a bit of subtle humour can be great if done properly.
Don't copy anything from statements you may have seen (try to change it to make it your own).
Try not to be too formal - relax a bit and let your personality shine through!
So there we have it! It might seem like a daunting thing to have to do, but once you get into the swing of it, you'll be panicking about having too many words (trust me).
Always ask for help if you feel you need it, from teachers or even other peers, don't worry about it and put it off until it's nearly too late, or you'll find yourself stressed out for no reason.
Best of luck! And if I have one more bit of advice for you, it's to head over to the Save the Student homepage to see what else there is in store to get you ready for starting uni!
You'll find everything in there from university clearing guides, to help with choosing your student accommodation and just about everything you'll ever need to know about student finance (including info on grants and scholarships!).


text:
Mogularkitektur är en typ av indo-islamisk arkitektur med influenser från persisk, turkisk och indisk arkitektur. Mogularkitekturen utvecklades i mogulriket i norra och centrala Indien.

Referenser

Arkitektur i Indien
Mogulriket

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


With these concise words, the era of television was ushered into the East Tennessee area at 12:00 noon on Friday, July 15, 1949, from the CBS affiliate's transmitter located nearly 200 miles away. Television sets were essentially nonexistent prior to then, attributable to lack of programming. Most area homes did not begin purchasing the new contrivance until after 1951.
WBTV became very prominent; it was reported that any television receiver capable of obtaining its signal became "rusted on Channel 3." The Bill Wise family became the first in our Johnson Avenue block to purchase a TV; these amicable folks were eager to share the new media with their inquisitive neighbors. Several of us routinely crowded into their small darkened living room to watch a fuzzy intermittent black and white television picture with equally poor sound quality.
Prior to the station's signing on the air, they beamed a continuous visual "test pattern" accompanied by a steady monotonous hum. This image employed a series of lines and circles, resembling bulls'-eyes, to provide viewers a means for adjusting their picture quality. Numerous patterns were used over time but the one most remembered by area folks contained the image of an Indian chief ornamented in full headgear.
About three minutes prior to the commencement of the day's late afternoon programming, the station would broadcast an American flag waving in the breeze with the National Anthem playing in the background. Surprisingly, the first network broadcast beamed from WBTV was a football game between Notre Dame and North Carolina in September 1950.
My parents bought our first set, a 17" RCA black and white floor model, in 1952. Like most new innovative devices, they were initially a bit pricey. A July 1953 Johnson City Press Chronicle advertisement showed a 17" Crosley TV selling for $199.95; a 21" model sold for $259.95. Until the new medium was fully accepted by the public, downtown merchants often placed TV sets in their store windows as an allurement to passersby.
I can still conjure up vivid images of Arthur Smith and his Crackerjacks; Fred Kirby, the Carolina Cowboy; and Clyde "Cloudy" McLean, the Carolina's first TV weatherman. Arthur Smith and his gang came on each weekday evening at eight-thirty, sponsored by Tube Rose Snuff ("If your snuff's too strong, it's wrong"). Arthur, a fantastic guitar picker, teamed up with Don Reno, an equally talented banjo player, to entertain with country, bluegrass and gospel music over the air.
The half-hour variety show concluded with a hymn by the "Crossroads Quartet," consisting of Arthur; his brother, Ralph; Tommy Faile (of "The Brown Mountain Lights" fame); and Lois Atkins.
In a future column, I will describe an anemic WBTV program guide from 1953, the same year local TV station WJHL signed on the air.


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Athaliah Reigns in Judah
1 u Now when v Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. 2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took w Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and she put 1 him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they 2 hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. 3 And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land.
Joash Anointed King in Judah
4 x But in the seventh year y Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of z the Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the Lord. And he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the Lord, and he showed them the king's son. 5 And he commanded them, "This is the thing that you shall do: one third of you, a those who come off duty on the Sabbath and guard the king's house 6 ( b another third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate behind the guards) shall guard the palace. 3 7 And the two divisions of you, which come on duty in force on the Sabbath and guard the house of the Lord on behalf of the king, 8 shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever approaches the ranks is to be put to death. Be with the king c when he goes out and when he comes in."
9 The captains did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they each brought his men who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. 10 And the priest gave to the captains the spears and d shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of the Lord. 11 And the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house on behalf of the king. 12 Then he brought out the king's son and put e the crown on him and gave him f the testimony. And they proclaimed him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, g "Long live the king!"
13 When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the Lord to the people. 14 And when she looked, there was the king standing h by the pillar, according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and i blowing trumpets. And Athaliah j tore her clothes and cried, "Treason! Treason!" 15 Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, "Bring her out between the ranks, and put to death with the sword anyone who follows her." For the priest said, "Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord." 16 So they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses' entrance to the king's house, and there she was put to death.
17 And Jehoiada k made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, that they should be the Lord's people, and also l between the king and the people. 18 Then all the people of the land went to m the house of Baal and tore it down; n his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the Lord. 19 And he took the captains, o the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through p the gate of the guards to the king's house. And he took his seat on the throne of the kings. 20 So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword at the king's house.
Jehoash Reigns in Judah
21 4 q Jehoash 5 was seven years old when he began to reign.
2 Kings 11:1 - 3
Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family.
2 Chronicles 22:10 - 12
Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah.
Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah; she was a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.
Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign.
In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.
But in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of the Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the Lord. And he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the Lord, and he showed them the king's son.
2 Chronicles 23:1 - 21
But in the seventh year Jehoiada took courage and entered into a covenant with the commanders of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri.
The captains did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they each brought his men who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.
And he took the captains, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through the gate of the guards to the king's house. And he took his seat on the throne of the kings.
And their kinsmen who were in their villages were obligated to come in every seven days, in turn, to be with these.
And one third shall be at the king's house and one third at the Gate of the Foundation. And all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord.
Who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.
And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.
So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.
And you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you.
And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
Deuteronomy 17:18 - 20
And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests.
And Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people." And all the people shouted, "Long live the king!
And when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, "Long live the king! Long live the king!
There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, "Long live King Solomon!
And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.
And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.
And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet there anoint him king over Israel. Then blow the trumpet and say, 'Long live King Solomon!
Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem.
So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.
And Jehu sent throughout all Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they entered the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other.
Then Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab, and he said to the worshipers of Baal, "Search, and see that there is no servant of the Lord here among you, but only the worshipers of Baal.
And they brought out the pillar that was in the house of Baal and burned it.
You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place.
( another third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate behind the guards) shall guard the palace.
And he took the captains, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through the upper gate to the king's house. And they set the king on the royal throne.
2 Kings 11:21 - 12:15
Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.
Who was Athaliah in the old testament?
Athaliah destroyed all she knew to be akin to the crown. Jehoash, one of the king's sons, was h...
Athaliah hastened her own destruction. She herself was the greatest traitor, and yet was first ...
King and people would cleave most firmly to each other, when both had joined themselves to the ...
(Ex 12:23), the agent employed in the killing of the first-born; the destroying angel or messenge...
Athaliah
Whom God afflicts. (1.) The daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and the wife of Jehoram, king of Judah ...
And when AthaliahH6271 the motherH517 of AhaziahH274 sawH7200 that her sonH1121 was deadH4191, she aroseH6965 and destroyedH6 all the seedH2233 royal.H4467
Athaliah H6271 `athalyah
or mAthalyahuw {ath-al-yaw'-hoo}; from the sam...
Mother H517 'em
a primitive word; a mother (as the bond of the...
Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. ...
2 Kings 11:1 - 21 • 2 Votes

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


WOW has been a wonderful way for me to learn how to network with other women business owners in our community. I had been in a business for 15 years that was incredibly supportive and received all the education I could possibly need to be successful, yet I still wanted to meet other women in different businesses. I have learned so much and have been so inspired by the women I've met in WOW because they are true entrepreneurs who are making a difference for their families and the community. I especially like our 2 minute check in where we each get a chance to say who our perfect referral is, because it not only helps us to refer people, but it helps me to identify who I'm looking for each meeting. I have made friends for life and have grown my business because of my participation in WOW.
I have been a member of WOW since the group's origination. I was fairly new to being in business on my own at the time, having quit a corporate job to be an entrepreneur. Working from home was a different experience for me and it's been really nice to have that semi-monthly connection to other women who are also in business for themselves. I have not only grown my business as a result of being a member of WOW, I have formed lasting friendships with other members. The value of my WOW membership far exceeds the minimal monthly cost!
WOW has been a great way for me to connect with like-minded businesswomen to learn and become better acquainted with the local business landscape and the community. As a newcomer to the region, in an already established business, making new connections with local business people to create and sustain strong ties to the community was important to me. Because Women of Wealth is about continuing education, learning about each others' businesses, helping each other bridge challenges in our businesses and having fun while benefiting a local charity, it meets many of my personal and professional needs.


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N,N-Diethylanilin ist eine chemische Verbindung aus der Gruppe der aromatischen Aminoverbindungen (tertiäres Amin) und Anilinverbindungen.

Gewinnung und Darstellung
N,N-Diethylanilin kann durch Reaktion von Anilin mit Bromethan unter Verwendung von Tetrabutylammoniumhydroxid als Katalysator oder Reaktion von Anilin mit Ethanol mithilfe eines Katalysators gewonnen werden.

Eigenschaften
N,N-Diethylanilin besitzt eine dynamische Viskosität von 3 mPa · s und einen Flammpunkt von 88 °C.

Verwendung
N,N-Diethylanilin wird als Zwischenprodukt bei der Herstellung von Farbstoffen, Pharmazeutika und anderen chemischen Stoffen sowie als Reaktionsbeschleuniger verwendet.

Sicherheitshinweise
N,N-Diethylanilin ist giftig (wird auch über die Haut aufgenommen) und biologisch schwer abbaubar.

Einzelnachweise

N-Alkylaminobenzol


2018 Toyota RAV4 Redesign, Release - The 2018 Toyota RAV4 is generally prestige for being a standout amongst the most sensible game utility vehicles that will be introduced to the car market. This is a vehicle that will have the capacity to convey purchasers with on and rough terrain productivity. This has been fought to be the outline that will cure the absence of rough terrain ability managed by the present model variation. By and large, it is the trust of the car goliath that the prospective model will meet the constantly changing necessities of car shoppers. Also, there is industry prattle that broadcasts that the new variation will experience adjustments that are very generous.
It has been generally anticipated that the approaching variation of the 2018 Toyota RAV4 will collect its energy from an inline four, 2.5-liter force unit. The 2.5-liter unit is said to convey a most extreme yield of upwards of 176 hp and 172 pounds for every feet of torque. This unit will be combined with a programmed six-speed programmed transmission. The diminished weight of the vehicle, and additionally another air-fluid intercooler, redid deplete framework and enhanced suspension, will furnish buyers with elevated fuel effectiveness. The 2.5-liter half and half motor choice is said to gather an expected 194 hp and 205 lb-ft of torque will be mated with CVT programmed transmission.
To the extent the outside of the vehicle is concerned, the length has been reached out by 23 centimeters, to 4,57 meters. This is a vehicle that is said to embrace a pattern that was introduced by the most recent variations of Toyota vehicles. The front belt is said to have been decorated that is basically near that of the minimized Auris. The back of the vehicle gives off an impression of being less effective yet the vehicle can exhibit a more dynamic hybrid that was not beforehand display in its forerunners.
Inside the inside of the lodge, buyers will be given a lifted level of extravagance. It has been broadly expressed on informal car sites that the motivation for the new lodge was drawn from that of the car mammoth's extravagance Lexus brand. The lodge will likewise be outfitted with the extremely most recent in car advances and, except for a modest bunch of plastics, the lodge is entirely well made. Informal reports fight that more data with respect to the lodge will be introduced in the forthcoming week by the Japanese engine organization.
As indicated by various reports, the 2018 Toyota RAV4 will convey a base cost inside the area of $32,000. There are likewise reports that broadcast that the base estimating of $25,500, yet the car goliath has yet to affirm the evaluating right now. Despite the fact that the official discharge date has not been declared, industry insiders and specialists anticipate that it will land in showrooms by the center of the forthcoming year. As we close to the end of the year, it is sure that the automaker will start to discharge more indicated data.


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Bella Hadid has the sweetest things to say about boyfriend The Weeknd
May 10, 2016	 by HOLA! USA
If her man's happy, she's happy. Supermodel Bella Hadid opened up to Elle magazine about her relationship with Grammy Award-winning artist Abel Tesfaye, also known as The Weeknd.
"I love seeing him happy and passionate about his art," she told the publication. "Being able to see how he works, and put both of our workplaces together, turned out to be really beautiful."
Photo: WireImage
The gorgeous couple began dating last April. "I actually asked her to be on the artwork for Beauty Behind the Madness," The Weeknd told Rolling Stone back in October. "My motive was literally to work with her," he said, however when she couldn't he revealed, "I was like, 'All right, cool — we can meet up face-to-face.'"
The 19-year-old and her musician beau, 26, recently stepped out arm-in-arm in matching black ensembles for the annual Met Gala celebrating the opening of the exhibit "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology."
EVERY LOOK FROM THE 2016 MET GALA
Bella Instagrammed a photo of herself with her man from the evening, which she captioned: "My [red heart emoji]..." The Can't Feel My Face singer performed at the May 2 star-studded event, where his girlfriend's older sister Gigi Hadid was in attendance with her own boyfriend Zayn Malik.
Photo: Getty Images for Global Lyme Alliance
In her interview with Elle, Bella, who also has a younger brother named Anwar Hadid, admitted, "I am definitely the typical middle child." She added, "I love making sure everybody around me is happy, peaceful and satisfied."
A photo posted by Bella Hadid (@bellahadid) on May 9, 2016 at 11:45am PDT
Real Housewife of Beverly Hills star and former model Yolanda Hadid's middle child, recently scored the cover of Elle's US June cover — a feat her supermodel sister Gigi has yet to achieve.
As for Bella's secret to nailing the perfect photo, she shared, "My mom always taught me to think about something happy when I'm working, because it kind of shows through your face. I used to think about my horses, but now I think about other things."
Vanessa Hudgens can't stop gushing over boyfriend Austin Butler cast as Elvis
Inside Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner's $28k honeymoon suite
Camila Cabello on her bond with Shawn Mendes and the beauty of growing up together


text:
Samoborska gromotulja (samoborska tarica, lat. Alyssum montanum subsp. pluscanescens, sin. Alyssum samoborense, Alyssum montanum ssp. Samoborense) podvrsta sive gromotulje (Alyssum montanum), porodica krstašica. Endem u Hrvatskoj u općini Samobor. Raste jedino u dolini Lipovečke Gradne uz kamenolom Smerovišće.

To je busenasta biljka žutih cvjetova s četiri srcolike latice unakrsno smještene, i listova prekrivenih s obje strane zvjezdastim dlačicama.

Izvori

Alysseae


text:
allison jane smith
Home/Tag: allison jane smith
What I Learned: Friendships with Cambodians Come with Asterisks
*This post is part of a series on learning from diversity called What I Learned. To contribute, contact Rachel.
Today's What I Learned post comes from Allison Jane Smith, writing about the early struggles and joys in developing cross-cultural relationships with Cambodians.
I've lived in Cambodia for over eight months, in a small city called Battambang. It feels even smaller than it is when you're limited to interacting with other expats and the Cambodians who speak English.
That's one of the appealing things about Battambang; its small size makes it easy to get to know everyone else.
Yet that doesn't mean it's easy to establish a diverse group of friends that includes Cambodians.
About a month ago I had a housewarming party in my new apartment, which overlooks a soccer pitch. We opened beers, ordered pizza and watched the game.
There were people from around the world: Australia, England, France, New Zealand, Ecuador, America, and yes, Cambodia.
The foreigners came and stayed till eleven, twelve, two. The Cambodians stayed until nine or ten. One had promised his uncle he would be home by nine, another had to get up early for university the next day, and another didn't want to be locked out of the pagoda where he lives.
They were gone before many of the foreigners, blessed with the carefree schedules that accompany lives free of responsibilities, had even arrived.
It's hard to even get us at a party together, much less to navigate the language and cultural barriers that exist when we're in the same room.
Being a single, twenty-something Canadian woman means my life is drastically different from the lives of Cambodians, and these differences get in the way of genuine friendships, the kind that come easily with Australians or Americans.
Over time, I've learned friendships with Cambodians come with asterisks.
I've got friends* where:
*we only interact during the day, usually at their place of work, because they are women. Women my age are usually married and have families, but regardless of marital status are expected to be home by 8pm.
*I don't feel I can share the problems in my life, as they are dealing with serious issues. A while ago, a friend was considering taking on a second job that pays 75 cents an hour so he could find another $30 to pay a bill; another friend is now responsible for his younger siblings, essentially becoming a father; another cares for her children while her husband is away working for three weeks every month.
*I have to be careful about how friendly I am and what I say, so as not to give men the impression I am interested when I am not. (To be fair to Cambodians, this can be an issue with men regardless of nationality.)
*certain subjects are off-topic because the cultural gap is so wide. We are not necessarily coming from the same perspective on core political concepts, like democracy, nor on social issues like prostitution or gender equality.
*we can only engage on a superficial level because their English isn't great and neither is my Khmer. However, a Cambodian friend recently commented I know many of the bad words, so I do know how to insult people.
Yet while friendships with Cambodians are different from friendships with other foreigners, and can have limitations, they are still deeply gratifying.
Cambodian friends have taken me to their home villages, where I've met their families and high school friends. They've explained political and social undercurrents I didn't understand. When I was in a moto accident last year, Cambodian friends delivered meals and first aid supplies.
Last week, I grabbed a coffee at my regular cafe before leaving Battambang for a week. Some Cambodian friends were there. They complimented my new clothes, asked about my plans for the week, and teased my poor Khmer.
Before I left, a suitcase in one hand and coffee in the other, a friend gave me a hug. Our conversations are inevitably exercises in jumbled miscommunication, but I always enjoy them. "I will miss you," she said.
"I'll miss you too," I said, and it was true.
Though my friendships with Cambodians are accompanied by asterisks, my life would be emptier without them.
Allison Jane Smith is a Canadian writer and communications professional. She is the Editor-in-Chief of whydev.org and a contributor to Beacon. Her work has been published in Killing the Buddha, Matador, and In/Words Magazine & Press. She currently lives in Cambodia, where she drinks a lot of coconut water and even more iced coffee. For more Allison, visit her website and follow her on Twitter.
By Rachel Pieh Jones|April 16th, 2014|Categories: Expat Thoughts|Tags: allison jane smith, cambodia, cross-cultural relationships, culture shock, diversity, what I learned|3 Comments


text:
Q: Error message during calculation Anyone, please take a look at my line of code.
int totalValue = 0;
    totalValue = int.Parse(Label9.Text) * int.Parse(Label6.Text);
    Label8.Text = **totalValue**;

Why I get error message?

cannot implicitly convert type int to string.

Thanks for ya help.

A: You should convert int to string. Something like this:
Label8.Text = totalValue.ToString();

Or this:
Label8.Text = totalValue + "";

A: That's because totalValue is an int.
Try this:
Label8.Text = totalValue.ToString();

A: try this:
int totalValue = 0;
totalValue = int.Parse(Label9.Text) * int.Parse(Label6.Text);
Label8.Text = totalValue.ToString();

A: Using the text directly is not a good way, what if parsing fails?
Use
int? val1=GetInt32(Label9.Text);
int? val2=GetInt32(Label6.Text);

if(val1!=null&&val2!=null)
{
int totalValue = 0;
    totalValue = val1+val2;
Label8.Text = totalValue.ToString();
}
//You can also write your own logic on the TextBoxs if they did not contain a valid value by checking if val1 or val2 are null or not

Using the function to return int value if the input can be converted.
  public  int? GetInt32(string s)
    {
        int i;
        if (Int32.TryParse(s, out i)) return i;
        return null;
    }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Dec 2006 | VOL. 31 No. 10 | View Issue
In mid-November I represented the CSEG at the semi-annual Canadian Geoscience Council (CGC) meetings, held this time in Québec City, so my comments this month will relate to the CGC.
The CGC has tried to be an effective umbrella organization for the earth sciences at the national level, but in recent years has drifted into irrelevancy. The CSEG, as a member organization, has continued to pay its dues, with each successive CSEG Executive wringing its hands over whether it was a waste of money or not. When the ongoing question of whether the CSEG should belong to the CGC fell into my lap, I found out that the CGC itself was facing an internal watershed – should it drift on into oblivion, or reinvent itself as an effective body? The CGC chose the latter; it identified its failings and weaknesses, and started to take steps to fix them and overhaul itself. I made it a personal mini-mandate for the CSEG to support this process during my presidential tenure, with the understanding that next year's executive would re-evaluate based on the progress seen to date.
After attending the November meetings I can report that I feel very positive and optimistic about the CGC and its future, although much work remains to be done. One of the first steps taken (in early 2006) was to define a new structure. One of the main purposes of a national umbrella body is to provide an effective advocacy voice for communications with the federal government. The feds, when developing industrial policy, are only interested in the economic impact a particular sector brings to the table. The CGC in the past was dominated by the academic world, and thus was unable to clearly articulate the connection between the earth sciences and the Canadian economy, and unable to establish relevancy to the government. The new CGC structure was defined to address this. The six main earth science sectors were identified (energy, minerals, academia, government, environment, and surficial); these sectors will now supply the Presidents on an annual rotating basis, with the first two coming from the two biggest sectors (in terms of employment) – energy first, then minerals.
Over the summer a very careful Presidential selection process was undertaken, with an extremely successful result – the new CGC President is Ian Young, V.P., New Ventures at EnCana, and highly respected in our sector. So that was an extremely important first step forward. The Québec meetings marked the passing of the Presidential torch from Harvey Thorleifson on to Ian. Once this was done, several motions concerned with the overhaul of the organization were discussed and voted on. A key one was the renaming of the organization – the new name is the Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences CFES (the acronym lends itself to the spoken "café"), FCST in French.
Six priority initiatives were defined, with the idea that achieving these would get the CFES off to a good start, generate credibility, and create positive momentum.
Investigate insurance for member societies (Directors / Officers liability and Field Trip insurance).
Conference Calendar – prepare and post on CFES-FCST website a list of conferences up to and including 2011.
Internal Communications – find an editor for a CFES-FCST Newsletter.
External Communications – establish a coordinating committee between member societies, and coordinate first responders of each member society.
Jobs and Recruitment – poll major employers in each sector for HQP gaps and needs, and establish a demographics snapshot for the Earth Sciences.
Set up a "Careers in the Earth Sciences" web site via CGEN.
We also had an extremely interesting and informative presentation from a representative of the American Geological Institute (AGI), a strong organization started in 1948, and most closely resembling what the CFES aspires to. The AGI aims to facilitate and coordinate communication between American earth science organizations, and to fill in the gaps between these organizations. It has built up a viable business model mainly based on textbook sales (US$6.3m in 2005!) It maintains a presence in Washington so that decision makers there are more likely to be aware of earth science issues and desires. It also plays a critical role in defending the earth sciences in the rough and tumble, and highly political world of U.S. school curricula. The way it was portrayed to us, just as the AGI helps snuff out an uprising of anti-science creationists in Texas, they get a flare up of Intelligent Design politics in Kansas, and so on! I suspect our educational world is less of a battlefield and more of a landscape, but we do have similar concerns north of the border, and the CFES hopes to address these. There has been a dramatic decline in earth science content in Canadian school curricula, notably in high schools.
In his closing Québec City remarks, Ian spoke about how each of us representing the many areas of earth science activity across Canada feels a sense of community within our respective organizations, but that we are also all members of the larger family of Canadian earth scientists. That really struck a chord in me and I felt quite inspired. Those of you that know me, and the cynical and jaded streak I possess, may be surprised by that, but it's true! Whether it's a seismic interpreter in Calgary, or a hard rock geologist working on Baffin Island, or a GSC paleontologist plugging away in an Ottawa lab, or a marine sedimentologist in Nova Scotia, or a West Coast earthquake seismologist, all of us have in common a love of the natural world, the quest to understand it better, and we all share the excitement of discovery – it could be an oil pool, a new fossil, or an ore body. All of us know the importance our science has to the Canadian economy, and we all want to see subsequent generations have access to the kind of educations and jobs afforded to us. I believe the CFES can play a large role in making that happen, and I believe each of us, via the CSEG and CFES, can be part of that process.


text:
Q: mongodb geospatial subquery in array, how to return the array element nearest to the query? when I make a query to find the subdocument nearest to the query I make this :
The query :
       db.areas.findOne(
               { 'coordinates.geoindex' :
               { $near : [ 2.364022, 48.896606 ] }
               }
               )

It return the document containing the array having the nearest element to the query.
But I'd like to find the nearest subelement.
For example for that query I should find the second array item "Aubervilliers" first.
Do you think that's possible ?
the document style :
                {
            "_id" : ObjectId("5199335f6db079ede30000"),
            "commercial_name" : "Paris area",
            "coordinates" : [
                {
                    "long_name" : "Arcueil",
                    "short_name" : "Arcueil",
                    "geoindex" : [
                        2.334955,
                        48.80486
                    ]
                },
                {
                    "long_name" : "Aubervilliers",
                    "short_name" : "Aubervilliers",
                    "geoindex" : [
                        2.384049,
                        48.912259
                    ]
                },
                {
                    "long_name" : "Bagnolet",
                    "short_name" : "Bagnolet",
                    "geoindex" : [
                        2.4234589,
                        48.870364
                    ]
                },
                {
                    "long_name" : "Boulogne-Billancourt",
                    "short_name" : "Boulogne-Billancourt",
                    "geoindex" : [
                        2.237803,
                        48.84325
                    ]
                },
                {
                    "long_name" : "Charenton",
                    "short_name" : "Charenton-le-Pont",
                    "geoindex" : [
                        2.4158559,
                        48.819918
                    ]
                }
        ...

A: Sorry this isn't possible, the query chooses which documents to return and cannot shape how they are returned except for inclusion and exclusion of fields via projection. To do this you would need to store the data as separate documents.


The weeks before Christmas are all awash in shimmering celebrations and gatherings.
It's a big and joyful part of this chilly and cozy holiday season, one that creates warmth in our hearts and gets us into that beautiful mindset of giving and sharing.
Many of us enjoy small office parties, small neighborhood get-togethers, or festive school gatherings that implore us to get creative and offer up one another something delicious to nibble on that's both special and a little unique, and to warm our bellies and melt some of the ice crystals.
These are opportunities to share a little laughter, share a bit of our brightness, and fill ourselves with tasty little holiday-inspired finger-foods that are comforting and simple to create, and bring us together in more joyous ways.
Sweet little cookies, cozy hot chocolate or cool eggnog, and tiny, minty candy canes are all little goodies that we typically love to enjoy and munch on; but savory and warming morsels are also the perfect holiday treats to offer up, especially the light, golden and flaky kinds that can comfort us so.
Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus Puffs bring a bit of holiday color and flavor to a festive gathering, and offer a little tasty bite of salty-savory in a sea of Christmas sweets.
Light and airy, each bite has a little surprise within, a little pop of flavor from the salty prosciutto, the sweet sun-dried tomatoes, and the savory cheese; they're the perfect little two-bite treats that'll warm your tastebuds and get you into the spirit of things!
So may your holiday gatherings be as bright and merry as the twinkling stars in the chilly winter skies; and may you and your loved ones be warmed by the precious little bites, those golden morsels, as you share together and connect with cheerful hearts and willing spirits.
-Preheat the oven to 400°, and line two small baking sheets with parchment paper.
-Place one sheet of thawed puff pastry on a work surface in front of you (keep the other puff pastry sheet wrapped up and cold in the fridge), and roll out just a little bit to slightly thin out the dough.
-Cut the sheet into thirds vertically, then into fourths horizontally making 12 pieces/squares.
-Take two pieces of asparagus (a spear tip and a bottom half),and wrap them in a little piece of prosciutto; place a puff pastry square in front of you with a point towards you, and place the prosciutto-wrapped asparagus just above that point.
-Place a couple of pieces of julienned sun-dried tomatoes next to the asparagus, and sprinkle over a little of the cheese; then, fold the point over the filling and roll upwards finishing with a little egg wash to seal the seam closed; place onto one of the prepared baking sheets.
-Repeat the process with the remaining 11 squares, then place the baking sheet into the fridge to keep cold while you repeat the process with the remaining sheet of puff pastry.
-When both baking sheets are filled, brush a little of the egg wash over each of the puffs to create a golden color, and bake for 15 minutes.
-Best served while hot and fresh, but you can serve them room temp, as well.
These are so pretty! I'm betting they would disappear quickly at any holiday party! I'm always looking for appetizer ideas, and I'm pinning these to try soon!
Hi Kristine, thanks for your comments! Hope you enjoy!
These sound so good. Thank you.
Hi! These look amazing. Can I make them a night ahead of time, freeze them, and bake the next day?!
Hi Zaria, you can certainly make them ahead of time. I would just keep them well covered/wrapped with plastic in the fridge rather than in the freezer, and they should be just fine to bake the next day! Hope you enjoy.
Love this recipe so much I shared it on my roundup today! Check it out!


text:
Crafting Wilderness Maps
As you might remember from my much earlier article about creating homemade dungeon tiles, I love to find ways to combine art playtime with gaming. Over the past couple of years, I've been spending a bunch of time watching papercraft and art journal YouTube videos and recently had the time and supplies to try out something new, papercraft wilderness maps.
D&D wilderness maps tend to be hex based instead of the squares typically used for dungeon/battle maps. Hex maps have a long history in war games as well as a number of board games and computer/video games.
I had been trying to figure out a way to create hex maps using some of the mixed media techniques I learned. Recently I've been able to dig out my Gelli Plate for the first time and I had a bit of a eureka moment. For those who are unfamiliar, Gelli Plates are a gel printing surface used to create monoprints, essentially one time prints. Every print from the plate will be unique. While a variety of media can be used on the plates, I've been using craft acrylic paint. You can also use a wide variety of print surfaces.
The key about Gelli plate based monoprinting is creating layers. In its simplest form, this is done by applying thin coats of paint to the surface of the plate and then putting down the surface to be printed. The paint will transfer from the plate to the paper. While this will provide some visual texture, there are other ways to add texture including using soft tools to make marks in the paint, or as you'll see in the examples, using stencils.
One of the reasons I decided to use this particular technique is that the variances in the print can provide visual interest while reducing the possibility of overthinking things or seeking perfection. Most of the time the plate is a rather blunt instrument.
For this example, I decided to use the pages from a law textbook a neighbor threw away. I decided to create green (for forest), blue (for water), and yellow (for developed land).
I used stencils to provide some patterns on the pages, doing two presses per stencil use. The first press got the paint not covered by the stencil. After removing the stencil, I took a second print which got everything left behind. Here's an example of both pulls on the same piece of tissue paper.
The printing process took about half an hour. I then let them dry. The next day I had some time to test out cutting the hexes. It's possible to cut them out using scissors after drawing a grid, but I recently got a craft die cutting machine and wanted to test it out. I bought a hex die (affiliate link) that fit the machine and cut the pages down to size. Here are some example hexes I cut out:
The top image in the collage are the hexes cut out of the monoprint examples. Notice how some of the text still shows through and the variations in the color, whether through variations in coverage or through the application of the stencil, produce some visual interest. However, given how lightweight the paper is, I might suggest adhering the paper to something thicker before cutting out or cutting out and then gluing down to a thicker medium. I also give some examples of using card stock (in this case, just manilla) and foam sheets (the material I used in the original homemade dungeon tiles post).
In this case, the die is a 1/2 inch one, the smallest I could find during my quick search. However, they do make larger ones. I saw 3/4 inch, 1 inch, and 2 1/4 inch. It looks like they are commonly used by quilters.
One thing to note is that I just did this particular round of examples as a test of how it might come out. This means I didn't concentrate too much on how to make a more "natural" map. So each hex is only one color. In the future I'd love to explore how to do hexes where the colors meet within the hex. I'm also interested in looking into how I can use some of my other dies to perhaps mimic that by cutting the hexes into smaller pieces but not in a straight line.
If you're interested in trying this out but don't have the supplies, talk to your friends to see who likes to scrapbook, quilt, art journal, create mixed media, or create cards. They may have a die cutting machine such as a Sizzix BigShot (what I used) and/or the Gelli Plate. Who knows, if they don't already play, you might be able to convince them to experience the map you create first hand, as a player.
More Like This: The Hidden Halls of Hazakor
I recently backed the Kickstarter campaign, The Hidden Halls of Hazakor, and had the opportunity to interview the designer behind the adventure. I'm enjoying the previews thus far and wanted to share with all of you. At the moment, the campaign has 5 days to go and is almost 95% funded.
What is The Hidden Halls of Hazakor?
This is a starter adventure for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, covering a lot of the same "beginner Dungeon Master" ground as most starter adventures do. But it's also written specifically with a focus on young beginner Dungeon Masters (an age-12-and-up kind of thing), with the intent of helping those young DMs not got overwhelmed by the experience of running their first games.
Why did you pick 5e D&D?
I went with D&D partly because it's my go-to game for both work and play. But also partly because as a ruleset, I think 5e has a pretty solid foundation of being welcoming to new players. I love a lot of other games as much as I love 5e, but as part of the idea of doing an adventure to help get young DMs and young players into the game, one wants those DMs and players to then be able to easily keep going with the game. I find that fifth edition has a pretty optimal sense of being self-contained and approachable, and I think that makes it a good fit for younger players.
Why concentrate on writing an adventure for young DMs?
When I first wrote the adventure that has since morphed into "Hidden Halls of Hazakor," I did it for the RPG club I was running at my daughters' middle school a few years back. So at the time, it was a reaction to seeing kids in the club trying their hand at running games for the first time. I saw a lot of the same sorts of problems, and the same sorts of questions coming up — but I also saw pretty much every kid dealing with the same general anxiety about how running a game should feel, and how to keep the other players entertained, and what to do if things went off the rails. I remembered how those were all the same uncertainties I experienced when I ran my first D&D games, so I put the initial version of the adventure together quickly as a response to that. I wanted something that would be easy for a first-time DM to get a handle on, and that could incorporate advice for dealing with the broad range of issues that the young DMs in the club were dealing with.
What are some of the areas you want to concentrate on for new DMs?
In a general sense, I wanted to front-load an adventure with as much of the information and tips that come from the experience of running games as I could. So much of being a good DM comes down to the experience of having run games. It's very much a learn-by-doing scenario on many levels. And that's daunting enough when you're a teenager (as I was when I first started gaming) or even as an adult. But when you're a kid of a certain age, it can be downright scary to suddenly find yourself in a position when you're responsible for making sure four other people are having fun for three hours a week. And judging from my own experience, at least, that fear can get downright existential when you're a kid coming from that feeling-like-an-outsider/not-really-that-confident mindset that draws a lot of us into gaming in the first place.
So "Hazakor" first and foremost tries to provide an adventure framework that's relatively straightforward — a good old-fashioned dungeon crawl. Then as that adventure unfolds and things happen, the book explains to the young DM "Here's how to think about what's happening." Talking about different ways to improvise comes up a lot, both in the performance sense of playing NPCs and the more esoteric sense of dealing with the players doing things that are unexpected. Because for a lot of DMs (first-time or otherwise), that remains the hardest thing to get a handle on. And that sense of how to deal with things changing in mid-game extends into a lot of the specific advice any DM can get or give, from thinking about how the environment can alter the conditions of combat, to how to deal with players intentionally trying to wreck the fun for other people, to how to deal with characters dying.
Halls of Hazakor Sketches
I love the artwork you've released so far for the game, but I may have noticed a theme with it. Want to talk about your philosophy behind the art?
Thank you, and you're in good company. There's been a ton of positive feedback about the project so far, and pretty much everyone who's commented leads off by talking about how much they love Jackie Musto's illustrations. The underlying idea for the art was first and foremost to provide the main entry point to making running a game feel accessible for a young DM, and to make the adventure feel as welcoming as possible. There's a fair bit of humor in the adventure, and I approached Jackie initially on the basis of knowing that her style would really suit that tone. I wanted the characters to look young because I wanted young DMs and players to be able to feel a sense of connection to them. And I wanted them to represent a balanced mix of genders and a broad range of ethnicities and cultures because that's what I want to see in the fantasy I play and read. And though I certainly expected that Jackie would be on board with that, I couldn't have predicted how amazingly her art would bring all those different parameters to life.
I'm extremely privileged, both in a general socio-cultural sense and in the more specific sense of being a person who gets to work in tabletop games and in fantasy fiction for a living. And I'm finding that the older I get, the less patience I have with fantasy that refuses to break out of the faux-European-Medieval tropes that have driven the genre for way too long. Now, I'm not saying that there isn't a lot of amazing non-Eurocentric fantasy out there, because that clearly isn't the case. But I think that fantasy in general, and gaming in particular, has a real "fallback position" problem, wherein our first instinct as readers, as players, and as creators is to think about fantasy in terms of the fantasy we already know. And there's an undeniable bit of a white-male feedback loop in the fantasy that many of us already know, and I'd really like to see that broken.
Where can people find out more about The Hidden Halls of Hazakor?
The Kickstarter campaign page has pretty much all the info on the project, its background, and the questions people have been asking about it. And for anybody who wants any more information, I'm on Facebook and Twitter pretty much anytime.
Game Journaling: Towns
One of the things I'm looking forward to with the gaming journal is the ability to plan my campaign anywhere and anytime, something that is particularly important with a little one. A key part of planning for me has to do with locations, particularly towns.
Here's an example spread for town planning. For the town map, I printed Dyson Logo's New Cresthill map onto a shipping label (Avery 8168) and placed it into my gaming journal. I then figured out a few key elements to be filled out at a future date (when I have some time) and an area for an index. I also colored in the map with some colored pencils.
Example Town
Some notes for future iterations:
I tried both watercolors and alcohol markers on a duplicate of the map but neither worked great. The paper soaks up the wakly to move watercolors around and it seemed to be really thirsty when it came to alcohol markers and it was often causing them to run dry for a moment with any extended coloring.
If I want the effect of alcohol markers, I think I would print these on marker paper, color them in, and then use an adhesive such as the Tombow Adhesive Tape Runner.
Adding a lot of maps will cause the journal to get wider in that area. I might try to change up where I put the maps so the top of journal doesn't get wider than the bottom or put two maps on one page and use the facing page for the notes.
Putting maps in the journal without any information would be a great way to seed future brainstorming sessions.
Some sources for maps:
The Library of Gaming Maps (G+)
Fantastic Maps (G+)
Map-Making in Games (G+)
S. John Ross (G+)
Dyson's Map Archive
Cartographer's Guild
Game Journaling: Character Sheets for D&D 5e and BubbleGumshoe
In my last post, I talked about the basics of bullet journals and the utility of the concept when it comes to gaming. I even showed examples of how to layout helper charts for running a BubbleGumshoe game. This time, let's explore how we can use any dot grid journal for keeping character sheets.
Just a quick reminder, I use the Rhodia Webnotebook. Each journal manufacturer may have different page measurements as well as placement and spacing on the page.
One challenge I want to set for myself soon is to make a bunch of characters. I want to make a portfolio of these, so keeping them in a gaming journal makes a ton of sense. If I didn't have a separate journal for gaming, I'd be tempted to keep them in my primary bullet journal because I would have it handy whenever I wanted (no more "where did I put that sheet?" as I look at a pile of at least dozens of sheets).
For the first one, especially since it's meant to be an example, I largely just reworked the character sheet presented in the back of the player's handbook.
D&D Character Sheet Stats
D&D Character Sheet Character Info
D&D Character Sheet Spellcasting
Watercolors (Van Gogh student set)
Sakura Pigma Micron pens (.005, .01, .02, .05)
Copic Multiliner in Cool Gray
White Gelly Pen
Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen
Prismacolor Color Pencils
Scotch Washi Tape
Tombow Adhesive Tape Runner
One key is that the washi tape on the right hand side can make it super easy to find your character sheet in the future and gives you an additional opportunity to customize for your character.
Of course, this is just the basic character sheet. One of the benefits of the dot journal is that you can customize however you wish. For instance, I might rework this to do the spell casting sheet as the second page if I had a spell caster. I also would come up with trackers for various character classes, such as anything that is limited to a certain number of times between rests or tracking consumables.
After I shared my work in progress, my friend, Chelsea Kerr, rushed to create a version of her own. Here's her version.
D&D Character Sheet by Chelsea
You can find Chelsea online on Twitter @chelseachan.
BubbleGumshoe Character Sheet
After I made the D&D character sheet, I had a cute (to me at least) idea for how to do a BubbleGumshoe character sheet. I thought about some of the items that a high schooler might have in their backpack. (I couldn't find a plain old ballpoint pen in my bag of tricks, but it would have been a great addition).
BubbleGumshoe Character Sheet Secrets
Small colored notepaper
Sharpie Art pens (from the set of 12)
Where to get inspiration
If you're looking for more inspiration on how to draw your character sheet, here are some great resources:
Dyson Logos has links to download a bunch of interesting character sheets as well as his hand drawn 5e version.
I found another 5e character sheet drawn in a dot grid journal. They also made class specific versions.
If you create your own, feel free to share them with me via Twitter, Instagram, or via the contact form on this site.
Character art:
D&D: "Half-Elf Paladin" © 2012 Brian Patterson, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ http://www.prismaticart.com/collection/half-elf-paladin
BubbleGumshoe: From example character sheet available on Evil Hat's website. https://www.evilhat.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Sleuth-Amanda-Ba...
Game Journaling: BubbleGumshoe
In an earlier post, I talked about the ways in which I was incorporating gaming elements into my bullet journal. In this post, I'd like to start looking at ways to integrating journaling into your gaming. This first post will show an obvious use case, putting some of the charts recommended by the game BubbleGumshoe into a journal (whether it's your normal bullet journal or a separate gaming journal).
First, a bit about bullet journals. The system was created by Ryder Carroll. The predominant format for the journals are dot-pages, which are like the grid pages typically used by gamers for drawing maps, but only the intersections are visible, not the lines. I use the Rhodia black webnotebook (Amazon Affiliate Link) but Leuchtturm1917 and Moleskine are two other popular brands. A nice thing I like about the dot grid is that it makes it easy to do layout without being too distracting.
In addition to the choice of journal, a key element of the bullet journal system is numbering all of the pages and creating an index. Here for each topic, you list the pages the topic appears on. This helps you not only quickly find the information in your journal but also is incredibly agile. Did you create an NPC a month ago and realize you don't have enough room to add notes related to the NPC's appearance in last night's session? Create a new page and just add the page number to the index.
BubbleGumshoe
BubbleGumshoe is an RPG that adapts the Gumshoe ruleset to the genre of teenagers solving mysteries. Think Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Veronica Mars, and the like. The book presents a few charts to help the GM run the game and they seemed obvious elements to add to a gaming journal.
Sleuth Ability Matrix
BubbleGumshoe - Sleuth Ability Matrix
Knowing which sleuths have which skills can be important for the GM to keep the game going since sleuths who show up to the scene with a clue and have the correct investigative ability get the clue without rolling or spending. Additionally, an ability matrix can be useful for the group to understand if they have enough abilities covered and that the spotlight can be divided between all sleuths.
For this chart, I used Sakura Pigma Micron pens including a brush pen (for the black colored in areas). The white text was done with a white gel pen and the light coloring for rows was done with Prismacolor color pencils.
Supporting Cast Checklist
BubbleGumshoe - Supporting Cast Checklist
Another example is the supporting cast checklist which is intended to help the Game Master ensure that they are spreading around the spotlight when it comes to NPCs in the game. Here I did this as one page, but it is a bit space constrained given that choice. It would be easy to convert it to a multi-page spread and give more area for notes.
For this chart, I again used the Sakura Pigma Micron pens and Prismacolor color pencils.
These are just two examples of how a journal could be used for the game and there are many other elements to incorporate.
D&D Rules for Pregnancy: Why the hate?
Yeah, it's been awhile since my first post. Right after I finished it, little dude started to get his 12 month molars in and boy are they a doozy. After a number of low sleep nights and then Gen Con, we're here. Last time we talked about what motivations folks might have for roleplaying pregnancy in RPGs, now I'd like to talk a bit why the thought makes some of us want to run away as fast as possible.
One of the big reasons, society (at least society in the US), isn't always great in regards to pregnancy. We have the worst maternal death rate of the "developed world." We lack all manner of assistance for new parents, including dismal parental leave policies and child care assistance (for instance, I pay more than my rent for day care). We have a weird fetishization of fetuses, to the point where it often feels like the pregnant person is no longer a person but rather just a womb. While it's changing in some circles, there's a huge amount of pressure to not talk about pregnancy loss, especially miscarriages or abortions, and many folks who are having infertility issues suffer in silence. We still don't have great terminology for talking about pregnancy in a world where we acknowledge the existence of people who are trans, non-binary, agender, and the like, not to mention same-sex households. And this is just the beginning of the issues that can come up.
So, when one introduces pregnancy into a D&D game, they are walking into a minefield and not only does the game not offer any tools to help address this issue, the way D&D works can exacerbate issues. Why? Because D&D grew out of war gaming, and both are attempts to simulate/model a world, applying the average to the individual. Thus, what we often get then when folks attempt to bring pregnancy into a D&D game is a bunch of random roll tables (some of which may be based on how actual human pregnancy works on average, but many are instead based on pure fiction, superstition, and the outdated views of human reproduction), stereotypes, and something that acts as salt in the wounds (at best) if not causing hurt and trauma while often not even addressing the motivations of folks at the table who want to have pregnancy in their games.
So, what's a person to do?
First and foremost, if you know that the topic is likely to come up in the game, talk to your players, preferably individually and in an empathetic manner, about how they feel about it. If your group tends to veer towards riskier topics, perhaps set up a system (such as the X card) where people can say that they are uncomfortable in a manner that feels safe to them and everyone agrees to accept). If you think it might come up in a con(vention) game, use something like the X card from the start. Find out what boundaries folks have, e.g. pregnancy is fine but can we not deal with miscarriage, etc. If these sorts of conversations seem unnecessary to you, consider if you are the right kind of GM for this type of content.
If there's consent for the topic (enthusiastic consent would be great here), then consider how your and/or the table's plan for simulating pregnancy might come across to folks. Is one of your players or their significant others someone who has been (or is) pregnant and is tired of everyone analyzing everything they eat to the point where they can't even get a small coffee without getting epic side eye? (Yes, moderate amounts of caffeine are now considered ok again for many pregnant folks.) Are they or someone they know tired of morning sickness jokes or of how we treat pregnancy as a disability? Have you considered that many pregnant folks are quite active well into their pregnancy and that the guidelines for activity level are tied to how active they were before pregnancy (complications notwithstanding)?
Also, please run what you plan to do past more than you significant other. I have lost count of the number of times I've resisted doing anything more than glare when I shared how I felt about something and had to hear about how their significant other was totally ok with what I just objected to so I should be ok with it too. The fact that some are ok with something doesn't override someone else's objection, especially when that something is happening to the character of the person objecting.
In addition, remember that the averages of a bunch of discrete measurements (existence of morning sickness, appearance of the linea nigra, etc) taken together is not the same as the average pregnancy and every pregnancy is unique. I think this is probably one of the hardest things for everyone involved in pregnancy (including doctors), because we tend to publicize and judge ourselves and other people's pregnancies based on averages. The number of questions where someone is obviously stressed because they have not developed a particular symptom of pregnancy or met an average milestone is so heartbreaking. And it's one of the largest issues I have with attempting to portray pregnancy in D&D because it often can't help but reinforce it.
Along those lines, try to be conscious of how your rules for pregnancy in D&D might reinforce other things that you may not expect. For instance, fifth edition did a great job in making explicit that there are many variations of characters, especially in regards to gender and sexuality. Are your rules heteronormative? How do they handle trans characters? Do you only ever mention intercourse as a means for conception? How do you refer to the pregnant person? The partner? Do your rules potentially force players to out their trans characters?
There's a lot to unpack here and often not a lot of good examples for discussion because sadly, it's often at the cutting edge of where we're trying to go as a society. For instance, I have listened to a fair number of trans people discuss how poor medicine is at properly treating them. Everything from getting misgendered when needing gynecological services to not getting proper medical care due to assumptions, not to mention the issues with attempting to keep up a sex versus a gender classification system, where trans men are told that they have female bodies and vice versa. Many now believe that trans men have male bodies regardless of their plumbing just as trans women have female bodies (not to mention intersex, non-binary, and agender) and any medical attention that should be based on the existence of certain organs should be specific to that organ and not tied up in notions of an artificial sex/gender binary.
If I could do a tl;dr of this article, it would be this. If you want to have pregnancy in your D&D game, then try to be kind and listen to one another.
D&D Rules for Pregnancy: Motivations
I have taken part in conversations regarding pregnancy in D&D for about as long as I have been talking about D&D. My general guideline about it is this, any subject that is incredibly difficult to have a conversation about in real life is likely to be nigh impossible to create rules for within D&D.
At this point, someone is likely to pipe in, "But it's hard to have a discussion about killing goblins in real life but the game handles that just fine," to which I'd reply that 1) clearly you don't have enough fantasy and gaming nerds as friends and 2) if goblins existed in real life such discussions would likely be a lot harder (but not impossible as ongoing bigotry demonstrates).
A more apt follow up question might be, "If it's so hard, why are you here talking about it?" And in some ways it's a really good point. It is likely that at some point in the following paragraphs I will mess something up. I will offend someone. At the same time, if I were to stay silent, what then will be the result? It's not like my silence will silence others.
Besides, as some of you may know, I've spent the past 18 months or so being pregnant and then taking care of a small human. And all parents have a need to give unsolicited advice to strangers. ;)
I spent a lot of the time over the past 18 months thinking about pregnancy and parenthood in games, especially D&D. I planned to write about those thoughts anyway but at some future date when I didn't have to steal 5 minutes at a time to write a thing. But then two things happened. First, I realized that that future date was likely years away and, second, someone posted their homebrew pregnancy rules to a Pathfinder group and I realized I had things to say.
Before anything, I'd like to give a bit of a disclaimer. Any criticism and/or critique I give here is not intended to be a blanket banishment or condemnation of D&D rules regarding pregnancy in general or in specific. Also I will keep my conversation to D&D (including Pathfinder) in contrast to games with more narrative focused rules. I do not intend to suggest that pregnancy in D&D should be forbidden or that people who include it are bad because they include the topic of pregnancy.
With that out of the way. Let's start at the beginning.
Why do some people want pregnancy related rules in D&D?
There are plenty of motivations here.
Some folks live in cultures that are family and child focused and they can't imagine a world without pregnancy and children.
Some can't get pregnant and want the chance to experience something in game that they will never be able to experience in life.
Some want to be pregnant at some point in their lives and use games like D&D (a form of play) to process and understand their feelings, fears, etc regarding pregnancy.
Some people would like to use the safety of a game to deal experiencing a infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, or the death of a child.
Some people have been pregnant, loved it, and would love to recreate those feelings within a game.
Some people think pregnancy should be in the game but it feels less real to them if there aren't mechanics (crunch) that accompanies the story.
Some people desire a fuller model of the world so if their game has sex, they feel it should also have pregnancy.
Some people can't think of women without thinking of pregnancy and want to bring their real world baggage regarding female sexuality into the game.
Some of these motivations, to me at least, are more positive than others. The first five in particular show compelling positive reasons for including pregnancy in D&D and show that it can be a positive experience. The last three, however, tend to be the more common drivers and why a lot of D&D rules for pregnancy make some people, such as myself, want to run away from any discussion involving the topic.
More importantly, it's nearly impossible to design rules that meet all of these motivations and it's the last three that make it particularly hard to do so. For example, in order to have pregnancy mechanics, there often has to be an oversimplification of pregnancy. In movies and literature in the US, for instance, we often "show" early pregnancy by portraying a woman throwing up right after waking, commonly known as "morning sickness."
This oversimplification, however, is a common issue because while nausea is a common sign of pregnancy, it is not universal and for many pregnant people, it comes at a different time of the day. Most pregnancy mechanics that can fit on one piece of paper are likely to insufficiently recreate the experience for people who love being pregnant and want their characters to have the same experience. They are also unlikely to help a person prepare for pregnancy or to help them really understand what it is like to be pregnant. They might work ok for someone who can't be pregnant and wants to experience something like it in a game since it might feel "right" to them if most of their experience of pregnant people has come through fiction. For those that come from more family focused cultures, whether or not the mechanics feel "right" comes down to what the pregnant people in their life have experienced.
Now that we have a bit of understanding of the motivations, next time I'd like to explore prioritizing them, especially when it comes to conflicts between them. In the meantime, here's something real about pregnancy.
Pregnancy Fact:
A common test, at least in the US, for newborns is called the Apgar score. The test is done to measure the physical condition of a newborn child based on 5 criteria: Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration. It is also named after the person who developed it, Dr. Virginia Apgar, an anesthesiologist. More info on the Apgar score
Visit to Capital City
Last week we were in Washington D.C. for our first vacation as a family. One of the things that struck me about the city is just how many groups have offices of various types within the city. Obviously the various lawmakers, government officials, and their staff need to have face time within the city, but I did not realize the diversity and extent of such offices until I visited.
Let's start with a rather obvious one. Our hotel was in an area known as Embassy Row. It was interesting seeing all the various embassies, especially comparing their relative sizes. A fair number had sculptures outside, sometimes commemorating famous immigrants or just celebrating their culture.
The presence (or not) of an embassy can suggest a fair bit of how relations are between the powers. What is the size of the embassy? Is the building old or new? Do they house all of their staff (possibly due to safety) or do they allow their staff to live, work, and play among the capital's residents? May diplomats and other foreign staff bring their children?
Labor and Trade Unions
Another common occupant type I saw were unions. Laws often have various effects on labor and trade, both planned and unplanned. Groups often form to protect and advocate for their interests and just as with foreign powers, it helps to have your own space to do so. Not only does the space give your group a place to meet and work, it could also house permanent staff and/or provide temporary housing to visitors who are members of your union. The building itself can also be a form of advertisement for the group. Which unions have permanent space in the city? Did they decorate their facade? If so, how?
Social and Civic Groups
I found it rather interesting that the Daughters of the American Revolution has a large building facing The Ellipse. On each street I visited, it seemed like I found yet another social or civic group. One whose building caught my eye is called "Defenders of Wildlife."
What social and/or civic groups might have representation? What do their buildings look like?
Statues, Memorials, and Monuments
Everywhere we walked we came across another statue, memorial, and/or monument. Many were either former civil government officials or military leaders. Some were relatively small; a stone bench with some nice plants and a small plaque. Other times they were large, such as the Jefferson memorial. What statues, memorials, and/or monuments might exist? Who built them? What people and/or events do they commemorate? How do other groups feel about them? Are there groups that consistently aren't the subject of such commemoration?
Washington, D.C. is home to an abundance of museums. Part of this is due to the natural accumulation of governments of artifacts (think the Tower of London), but a large part is due to a conscious decision to build important collections and make them available to everyone (Smithsonian museums are free for instance). Museums can hold all sorts of items and which subjects are catered to as well as their proximity to common traffic tells us a fair bit about parts of that culture. Which collections exist? Whose life is enshrined in the exhibits? Which communities are often left out?
There's more that I experienced on my vacation than I can do justice in this blog post. But inspiration for your setting can come from anywhere, including something as simple as your family vacation.
D&D and Bullet Journal Mashup
Over the past year, I've been watching a lot of art videos on YouTube. Originally I started with videos about art journaling but over time the algorithms started adding in bullet journalling as well. At first I wasn't sure that the videos were for me but as I saw more examples of what people were doing with them, I got hooked and decided to give it a try this year.
Here's the description of what bullet journaling is from the website, BulletJournal.com:
The Bullet Journal is a customizable and forgiving organization system. It can be your to-do list, sketchbook, notebook, and diary, but most likely, it will be all of the above. It will teach you to do more with less.
One of the keys is to number each of your pages and to leave a few pages at the start of the journal to use as a table of contents. What you decide to put on each page is up to you. Also key is that you never go too far in advance. This allows you to experiment with new ways of recording and presenting information as well as figuring out what your style is.
At first, I did some really basic page setups, drawing boxes for the three types of daily items: tasks, events, and notes. For example, here's a Sunday from January.
Attempt at BuJo Dungeon
Drawing these boxes reminded me of creating dungeon maps, so the next week, I decided to draw a dungeon instead.
First, I decided the path through the "rooms," the various sections on the page that I will later do my planning within. All of the lines are done with Pigma Micron pens in black ink and various nib widths.
Next I went through and added the typical journal information, in this case the days and dates of the week. I also started some of the decoration, such as creating the chessboard pattern room. The days of the week were written with a Pigma Micron pen and the dates, headers, and coloring were done with Faber Castell Pitt Artist brush pens.
Finally, I decided to add some stamping to the page. I used Tombow markers to "ink" the stamps and then applied them to the page. Most of the stamps were from the Lawn Fawn Critters Ever After set (affiliate link).
BuJo Resort Town
The next week I decided to go with a town map instead of a dungeon. I wanted to do a resort town with a large hotel with attendant stables and carriage house. First, I drew in the corners of the planning boxes and penciled in the town map.
Next I went through and started inking the buildings and environment. For this I used Staedtler Triplus Fineliner pens, trying to keep to colors that would be easy to write over without interfering with readability.
Finally, I colored in with colored pencil the areas that I had inked with the Fineliner pens. I also used stamps inked with my Tombow markers to add some additional features and added dates and headers with Pitt artist brush pens.
BuJo Cliffside Town
This week, I went with a town map again, but this time I decided to explore a cliffside town. Again I only drew the corners of my planning areas. I had an idea of a society where people built octagonal houses. When their children were old enough to start a family, they built off of one of the walls of their home, so that the homes were interconnected. My inspiration for this was spending last week with my parents with my little one. While I worked during the day in the garage, they took care of little dude in their home, which gave me the idea of what if we could live in separate but connected homes that made this sort of community care easier.
I didn't have as much time to spend on this map as I had my previous ones, so it's a bit simpler. All of the map inking is done with the Fineliner pens and instead of coloring in areas, I drew lines to delineate areas such as woods, water, and beach.
So why do this? I've found that as I spent more time designing my bullet journal pages, I've been more likely to use it to plan and record information. Also, this is a good way to get in map design practice. Finally, much like coloring, I find it relaxing and a nice creative outlet while not requiring a ton of time, important when I'm taking care of a seven-month old in addition to working full time.
While I've concentrated on my weekly/daily spread, there are many other ways that a bullet journal could be useful for someone who likes to play tabletop roleplaying games. I could just as easily use a page or two to create random tables or plan my next campaign. Having the table of contents at the front makes it easier to not lose that information.
What happens when you engage - Epilogue
I debated intensely whether or not to write this but I think it's important to point out the full ramifications of what happens when people, especially those from marginalized groups, speak up.
For those of you who don't know, I spent pretty much all of 2016 out of gaming due to my pregnancy and then being one of two primary caregivers of a little person. In 2015, I had a few things going on when combined with the stress of what happened in 2014 meant it made more sense for me to take a step back from writing about gaming and doing other fun things, like coloring or reading. Most if not all of it still had a tabletop RPG angle to it and I continued on with the Tome Show although at a reduced frequency in 2016 because, well, pregnancy and then caring for a little one.
However, now that the little one is nearing 6 months, I'd like to get back into writing about games and maybe even designing again. I decide to poke my head out a bit and what do I find but this.
Content: I could also really understand how even women on this side of the insanity spectrum from Tracey Hurley would still find some of this material offensive. Not that I think "offensive" is a valid reason for "should not exist". Just, I could get people thinking some of the material here is really stupid, be it or practical or personal reasons.
Which is a pity, because the parts that aren't just smut for its own sake are usually pretty creative.
Not only is the quoted part in the review of a product I had nothing to do with and had not said anything about (I didn't even know of its existence), he used it to publicize his post in a number of gaming groups on social media, at least on G+. He falsely attributes opinions to me and then uses those false attributions to make the claim that I'm on the other "side of the insanity spectrum," whatever that's supposed to mean. At this point it's no longer about my opinions, but about me.
And all of this happened about a year and a half after my last "What happens when you engage post." And with the exception of my recent post highlighting someone I think draws pretty awesome maps, over a year since my last blog post. I also haven't been on G+ or Twitter much given everything going on.
I bring this up because many people said if I just ignored him, that it would stop. They said that it wasn't abuse because he was just responding to my current posts and it being the internet, what did I expect? But he has continued well past then. At what point will we see him for who he truly is? I get that he could just be baiting me into another fight that does nothing but feed his ego, but I think it's also important to point out that regardless of his motivations, this abuse is happening. And I'm far from the only one he targets.
This isn't someone trying to refute my ideas. This is someone who is convinced that I am "[a] person trying to put extreme ideological demands on this hobby." More specifically, he believes I serve some sort of threat to the existence of OSR. Even though I have highlighted and will continue to highlight OSR blogs and products that I personally find useful or interesting. Even though the community appears to be thriving. Even though I talk up some OSR community members in my gaming friend groups. All the things he falsely claims that I am doing, he actually does.
I'm heartened to see people stand up to him, especially people who are no fans of what I write. If you want to disagree with me, that's great. But this abuse needs to stop.


null He says stories about his former pastor and his relationship with Tony Rezko slowed the momentum of his campaign. But Obama believes he has turned the tide. And his campaign got a boost Friday from a former foe.
The nation's only Hispanic governor, former presidential candidate and super-delegate Bill Richardson, has a long relationship with the Clintons. But he is endorsing Obama, calling this a "once in a lifetime" opportunity to change business as usual. The impact of the endorsement on the voters and the other super-delegates may be minimal. But it could be a morale boost to a candidate battered by some major controversies.
"Look, there's no doubt that we've had a turbulent couple of weeks. But we've had turbulent weeks in the past. People just didn't remember them," said Obama.
The turbulence that might've required a political air bag includes Obama's admission a week ago that his personal and financial relationship with indicted businessman Tony Rezko was more extensive than he previously acknowledged. And the inflammatory anti-American comments of his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, sparked a firestorm of protest that prompted an unprecedented speech on race in America on Tuesday.
Support from Richardson, who held two jobs in the Clinton administration, had to feel like the welcome calm after the political storm.
"I decided on this endorsement because I think he's something special that the country needs right now, somebody that can bring the country together," said Richardson.
The endorsement comes as a new poll indicates that Obama's speech on race may have minimized the damage of his relationship with Reverend Wright. But he is still trailing Hillary Clinton by more than 20 points in the latest Pennsylvania poll. And Clinton allies like Chicago Alderman Danny Solis say the controversies will overshadow the Richardson endorsement.
"You can say Rezko was just one individual, but now with Reverend Wright and I think the issue of his wife and some of the thoughts that she had, I think judgment becomes a more prominent issue," Solis said.
Clinton is unlikely to catch Obama in the race for delegates, votes and number of states won, especially without do-overs in Michigan and Florida. And Obama is still leading in the latest national polls.
But Clinton's campaign said it believes that if she wins seven of the remaining 10 primaries convincingly, starting with Pennsylvania next month, and if Obama can't shake the questions about Rezko and Wright, and if the polls indicate then that she has a better chance of beating John McCain than Obama, super delegates may give her the nomination. But that's an awful lot of ifs, and at the moment, he is still the frontrunner.
The endorsement in Oregon kicked off a two-day campaign swing for Obama. He scheduled stops in Salem, Eugene and Medford after the Portland appearance, which drew a crowd that packed the Memorial Coliseum. Supporters grabbed the 12,000 tickets within hours after they were available online and at Portland campaign headquarters.
Richardson dropped his own bid for the nomination in January. Richardson was relentlessly courted by both candidates and his support for Obama represents a potential counterweight to Clinton's strength among Hispanic voters.
It wasn't the first time racial concerns had helped to drive a prominent backer to Obama. Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy was moved to drop his neutrality and side with Obama in part because of what he saw as Bill Clinton's racially tinged criticisms of the senator.
Richardson backed Obama despite his earlier statements that superdelegates, of which he's one, should pick sides based on the votes of their state or constituency. By that reasoning, he might have been expected to support Clinton because she won the New Mexico contest.
As a Democratic superdelegate, the governor plays a part in the tight race for nominating votes and could bring other superdelegates to Obama's side. He also had been mentioned as a potential running mate for either candidate.
No primaries are scheduled until Pennsylvania's on April 22, a gap Obama hopes to use for such announcements to assert that he is the front-runner for the nomination. Oregonians begin primary voting in early May, and the ballots are counted May 20.
Richardson served as ambassador to the U.N. and as secretary of the Energy Department during the Clinton administration. Last month, Richardson and former President Clinton watched the Super Bowl together at the governor's residence in Santa Fe.
Richardson praised Hillary Clinton as a "distinguished leader with vast experience." But the governor said Obama "will be a historic and great president, who can bring us the change we so desperately need by bringing us together as a nation here at home and with our allies abroad."
The Clinton campaign was publicly dismissive of the endorsement, after the New York senator failed to win it for herself.
Citing Clinton's victory in New Mexico in February, senior strategist Mark Penn said, "Perhaps the time when he could have been most effective has long since past."
Richardson was a roving diplomatic troubleshooter when he was a congressman from New Mexico, negotiating the release of U.S. hostages in several countries and meeting with a rogue's gallery of U.S. adversaries, including Saddam Hussein and Fidel Castro.
"There is no doubt in my mind that Barack Obama has the judgment and courage we need in a commander in chief when our nation's security is on the line," Richardson said. "He showed this judgment by opposing the Iraq war from the start, and he has shown it during this campaign by standing up for a new era in American leadership internationally."
Obama said "I can't be more honored" to have Richardson's support.


Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is one of the most preferred boards in India. It follows the fundamental national curriculum along with the subject materials. Campion International School follows CBSE curriculum from Kids Care to class VIII. General awareness including development of Fine and Gross motor skills along with subjects like English, Number Work form an integral part of learning at the Kids Care level. We believe Co- scholastic activities along with academics are essential and hence classes I to VIII are exposed to all kinds of activities like music, games, art and craft, swimming, dance, cookery, martial arts and so on. We have well qualified and efficient teachers to guide, motivate and nurture the holistic development of the students.
Subjects like English, SST, Mathematics, Science, Computer Science, Language, and General Knowledge re taught in school following NCERT books and syllabus prescribed by CBSE board. Our teachers inculcate in their students not only through bookish language but also through interactive oriented classes like extempore, recitation, practical based self learning classes and projects. This enables the students to develop team work spirit, a relation with their peer group and also form a close bonding with the teachers, making them more inquisitive to experiment, create and innovate.