text:
Home | Book Reviews
Twelve Days of Christmas for Authors
I am a huge advocate of writers. They are my heroes and rescuers, crafting worlds I can get lost in and telling stories which sooth the soul.
This Christmas consider the Twelve Days of Christmas for Authors. There are 12 simple ways you can help a published writer keep writing new worlds and keep the job they love, crafting stories you will love.
This tale is written from the viewpoint of any author who has invested hundreds of hours into a book which can get lost in a sea of a million other books. Find an author you love and adore and apply these gifts to them. You will make an impact and make their year.
On the first day of Christmas, my reader gave to me is one purchase of my book.
Libraries and half price books stores are wonderful. They allow books to be devoured and authors to be discovered. But if you love an author and want them to keep writing, buy their book. Buy it for yourself. Buy it as a gift. You would spend as much on a movie ticket or two, yet a book offers many more hours of entertainment.
On the second day of Christmas, my reader gave to me two hand sellers.
There is a special brand of angels called Hand sellers. These lovely rare creatures have their fingers on the pulse of the literary world and have read countless books. When readers enter their book store, library, or place of business, they are able to perform magical matchmaking, suggesting that specific reader would love this specific book. Make sure the hand sellers in your sphere of influence are aware of your favorite author(s). Tell them WHY you enjoy that writer so much. It will help her hand sell books to the perfect audience.
On the third day of Christmas, my reader gave to me three social media connections.
Consider following your favorite author on the trifecta of social media outlets: Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads. You will be able to connect with them on a personal level, learn about new projects they are working on, and encourage them with Likes and Retweets. Writing is lonely work. For some writers, checking in with their social media links is the carrot at the end of the stick after a long writing day.
On the fourth day of Christmas, my reader gave to me four gift purchases.
A book is always an excellent gift because it offers four advantages. The writer is read and heard, her goal when she started writing, never sure the book would sell or be read. The author and the publishing industry as a whole are bolstered by your purchase. The reader and gift recipient is transported to another world and gifted an additional life to live through the book's pages. And the gift-giver (you) has another fan to discuss the book with and a potential fellow fan.
On the fifth day of Christmas, my reader gave to me five golden stars.
Reviews on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, GoodReads and other places can help inform decisions. A five star rating is the best and depending on the system, a three star rating is actually a negative review. Not everyone is going to enjoy every book, so write your reviews and select your ratings carefully. Explain why readers like you would enjoy this book and what you enjoyed about it. Rank your very favorite books with five stars and a spoiler-free assessment of where the book succeeded. Your words are amplified and will carry to hundreds or thousands of potential readers. Your words have impact.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my reader gave to me six cover image shares.
There is a science to book cover artwork. And there is a cumulative effect of seeing a book's cover multiple times across multiple forums. Add your favorite book to Pinterest, on multiple boards. Add the cover to your favorite reads on Facebook. Share a photo of the book as seen "in the wild." Add the cover to your "Want to Read" list in GoodReads, and then mark it as "Read" when you've finished. Blog about the book along with the photo of the book cover.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my reader gave to me seven library requests.
Libraries are intensely helpful to authors. Many writers use the quiet space to write their tomes, others are on first-name basis with the librarians for research. There are so few avid readers left in the world, libraries are uniquely connected to readers and the reading lifestyle. Much like hand sellers, librarians are matchmakers and can use your input to help searching readers find their perfect book. If you request a book, librarians are made aware and will take notice.
On the eighth day of Christmas, my reader gave to me eight matches made.
Just like librarians and hand sellers, YOU, as a reader, can be a matchmaker too. When you see a movie, you instinctively know your best friend would love its off-beat humor but your mother would cringe at the sex scenes. You recommend the movie to your friend, but don't mention it to your mother. There is no difference between you and Siskel and Ebert. Be a viral sensation. Tell readers about your favorite book. Be purposeful about it.
On the ninth day of Christmas, my reader gave to me nine public exposures.
If you have purchased the book, display its pretty cover when you read it in public. Take it on the bus or train; bring it to your dentist appointment or the BMV. A book sighting in the wild can drive sales as well as open conversation with others. If you read on a device such as Kindle or your iPad, consider sharing your reading choice digitally, such as on Twitter or Facebook.
On the tenth day of Christmas, my reader gave to me ten shelf leapings.
Do you know big box bookstores are specifically assigned to face certain books face forward to increase sales? You can be a super fan by facing your favorite author's current book face forward in book stores everywhere you go. Word of warning: don't move the book to a different section (such as the front of the store) because then the staff won't be able to help customers find the book, hurting sales.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my reader gave to me eleven book club readers.
Are you part of a book club? Your reading life will be transformed when you practice reading with conversation and dissection in mind. Books are meant to be devoured in community, like a good meal. If you don't belong to a book club, consider finding or starting one. If you do belong to a book club, consider suggestion your favorite book. Many authors will happily attend your book club conversation via Skype.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my reader gave to me twelve months of mentions.
Books today have a shortened life cycle. Much like movies, their "opening weekend" (or the first few weeks of sales) is crucial for setting the book up for long range success. Lackluster initial sales result in less publicity and hand selling. Early buzz and continued momentum can push a book from midlist level to best seller. Mention your favorite book more than once. Stay faithful for its first year, suggesting it to other avid readers, to book clubs, and to your library. When a book comes out in paperback (the equivalent of the DVD release), recharge your efforts.
For your favorite books and authors, these twelve gifts are a tremendous help. Writers struggle everyday to keep ahead of the ever changing landscape. Even performing one of these acts for your favorite author will put you on the permanent "Nice" list.
Blog Posts, Book Reviews, MarketingEmail to a friend Print This Post
Flight Behavior – Discussion Questions
Barbara Kingsolver's book, The Poisonwood Bible, is one of my top five favorite books ever. The complexity in her writing is astounding, touching on religious beliefs, socioeconomic class structure, environmental concerns, and human nature. Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver is no different. It is a rich, picturesque novel about poverty, everyday miracles, and lost causes.
Set in the present day in the rural community of Feathertown, Tennessee, Flight Behavior tells the story of Dellarobia Turnbow, a petite, razor-sharp 29-year-old who nurtured worldly ambitions before becoming pregnant and marrying at seventeen. Now, after more than a decade of tending to small children on a failing farm, oppressed by poverty, isolation and her husband's antagonistic family, she has mitigated her boredom by surrendering to an obsessive flirtation with a handsome younger man.
In the opening scene, Dellarobia is headed for a secluded mountain cabin to meet this man and initiate what she expects will be a self-destructive affair. But the tryst never happens. Instead, she walks into something on the mountainside she cannot explain or understand: a forested valley filled with silent red fire that appears to her a miracle.
After years lived entirely in the confines of one small house, Dellarobia finds her path suddenly opening out, chapter by chapter, into blunt and confrontational engagement with her family, her church, her town, her continent, and finally the world at large.
-From Harper Collins
Harper Collins has a wonderful selection of brilliant questions for discussion. Consider the following additional discussion questions for your book club:
"Southern Appalachian culture, [Kingsolver] says, is "mostly derided in the world—hillbillies are one of the last ethnic groups who are routinely mocked without consequence." (Telegraph interview) Consider the focus on anti-bully messages, why do you think we still deride and ridicule cultures as adults? Is it human nature?
Did you learn anything about the Southern Appalachian culture? Did their lifestyle give you insight into challenges faced by today's American impoverished?
Dellarobia explains the culture in Feathertown to Ovid. "Sports. That's huge, a kid can shine if he's good at football or baseball. Probably get a job later on in the bank or something like that." ( page 223) Have you ever encountered thinking similar to this?
"Religion is like underwear – it's very important and you keep it next to you all the time and you don't talk about it," Kingsolver has said in interviews, yet many of her books delve deeply into religion. How do the two different factions (religion and science) view the phenomenon of the butterflies?
Why do you think Dellarobia stopped smoking?
Kingsolver writes, "Being a stay at home mom is the loneliest kind of lonely." (page 59) Have you ever been a stay at home mom? What was your biggest challenge? What is it about motherhood which can seem isolating and polarizing?
"She knew there was something wrong with her. Some insidious weakness in her heart or resolve that would let her fly off and commit to some big nothing, all of her own making." (page 80) Would Dellarobia have left if the butterflies never appeared? What kind of life would she have had?
Why did the photo of Dellarobia become a meme? Why do memes and other short attention span entertainment options keep our attention while larger, important issues (such as climate change) don't?
Eventually the butterflies become common place, or less-miraculous to the townspeople. Why do we discount miracles when we've had too much exposure to them?
Can you draw any parallels between Dellarobia's exposure to the thrift store and the butterflies?
When an activist shows Dellarobia the pamphlet on how to lower your carbon footprint, he is stunned when he finds almost nothing is applicable to her and her neighbors. It is marked contrast between the haves and the have-nots. What can each learn from each other?
Concerning global warming, Ovid has a very fatalistic view. Without encouraging contentious discussion, what are your views on climate change and global warming? What can be done? What are you doing?
Kingsolver writes "Animals behave with purpose, unlike people." (Page 42) One of the wonderful things about novels is the studied complexity of people and their interactions. In literary novels like Flight Behavior, truth and revelation can often be seen more clearly in fiction.
I will be posting the recipe for Nectarine cupcakes later this week. May words nourish your soul.
Blog Posts, Book Reviews, Readable FeastEmail to a friend Print This Post
The Round House – Discussion Questions
The Round House is Louise Erdrich's 26th book and practice has made perfect. Riveting, paradigm-shifting, and expansive, The Round House has won the National Book Award as well as many others. It delves into race, religion, socioeconomics, truth, revenge, and justice. And it makes for a compelling discussion among your next book club meeting.
One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe's life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.
While his father, who is a tribal judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own. Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning.
-From the publisher, Harper Collins
Discussion Questions for The Round House
Louise Erdrich's publisher, Harper Collins, offers a lengthy list of discussion questions. As always, consider these additional questions as well:
Why do you think the author chose to have Joe narrate the story? How did his perspective color/influence the story?
How do we struggle with reaching/helping people who are caught in the cycle of grief? Joe can't reach his mother and force her to resume living. How do we force/or drop the ball on others who need help?
Can you name an instance when you reached out to help someone struggling? Did it end well or was there an adverse reaction?
Why do you think Joe's mother wouldn't name the place where the rape occurred? Do you think she truly didn't know or is she keeping quiet? Considering the crime of rape is true, do you think it would be ethical of her to bend the facts on the location?
Joe is 13 when his mother is raped, which is a pivotal coming of age time for boys. Do you think his actions and reactions would have been different if he had been 8 or 9? What about if he was 18?
What is your definition of justice? Does perspective, relationship, time, space, etc. affect justice?
Have you ever sat on a jury? Do you think you are a good judge of character?
If Joe were to stand trial for the murder of his mother's rapist, how do you think he would be found? Guilty? Not guilty? How would you vote?
What's your opinion on the balance in the universe? His friend had to die at the end, because a death equaled a death. Do you think the universe finds equilibrium?
A few related foods will be will be featured this week, including Cranberry Bread, Faux Steak Res Sandwiches, and Triple Berry Cobbler.
May words nourish your soul.
Book Reviews, Readable FeastEmail to a friend Print This Post
Tags: discussion questions • louise erdrich • readable feast • the round house
The Language of Flowers – Discussion Questions
Word of mouth around the brilliance and beauty of The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh spread like pollen among avid readers. People were captivated by the gritty, raw look at ageing out of the foster system, yet the language and story held delicate beauty as well.
A mesmerizing, moving, and elegantly written debut novel, The Language of Flowers beautifully weaves past and present, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own troubled past.
The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it's been more useful in communicating grief, mistrust, and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.
Now eighteen and emancipated from the system, Victoria has nowhere to go and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. Soon a local florist discovers her talents, and Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But a mysterious vendor at the flower market has her questioning what's been missing in her life, and when she's forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it's worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.
From Ballantine
Discussion Questions for The Language of Flowers
Vanessa Diffenbaugh's publisher has a nice list of discussion questions at their website. For a deeper, more personal discussion, consider adding the following:
Flowers are often considered luxuries and frivolous. For this lost girl, why do flowers speak to her? Why does she put stock in something so temporary and fragile?
Were you able to connect with Victoria on the page, even with her intimacy issues? Would you like her if you met her in real life? Why or why not?
What gifts do we receive when we are flooded with early unconditional love? Can we rectify a deficit of early connections and love?
Change is necessary in life. What is the tipping point for too much change? How important is security for growth?
How does motherhood distill our thoughts on family? How do you think differently about motherhood before you had children and after?
At what age is it appropriate to be considered independent and an adult? Does this age vary for people and circumstances? At what age were you entirely independent of your parents? Are parents always considered a safety net?
What practical skills would you teach to those ageing out? (For example, cooking, taxes, self care, banking, etc.) Have you made a specific effort to teach your children these skills or do you think they pick them up through example?
Victoria learned a lost language. Much like Latin, very few people understood the language of flowers. Why then was the inaccuracy of her language so world-changing to her?
Have you ever had experiences with the foster care system? How can ageing out of the system be improved?
The Language of Flowers was optioned for film in 2011 but there is no current word on production (February 2013).
The author, Vanessa Diffenbaugh, is also the founder of the Camellia Network, which supports youth transitioning from foster care into independent lives.
On Wednesday, I will share the recipe for Flowered and Sugared Shortbread Rounds for your next book club.
Until then, may words nourish your soul.
Night Circus – Discussion Questions
As a fellow participant of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), I heard Erin Morgenstern's name before she was actually published. Her debut book, The Night Circus, created a metric ton of ballyhoo prior to publication. She was touted as the next Harry Potter, even snagging the phenomenal Jim Dale to narrate the audio version of her magical book.
And like other NaNoWriMo success stories, the overnight success was preluded by years of hard work. "A very sprawling, very rough draft of The Night Circus was first written in a few different Novembers of NaNoWriMo. Almost the entire book was rewritten and revised before it got from there to the finished version. To give you an idea of how much: Celia isn't in that first sprawling draft. It is a lot of stuff about the circus but not a lot of plot, but it gave me something to work from," Erin has written on her blog.
But the professional polish and imaginative story stands alone, creating a wondrous world which will lasts long past the last page.
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.
From Random House
Erin Morgenstern's publisher, Random House, has a wonderful selection of book club discussion questions here. But as always, here at the Reader's Feast, we have a few more questions to round out your discussion.
The circus vignettes are disconnected from the narrative and written in second person, making them intimate, vivid, and memorable. Readers seldom encounter second person point of view. (Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney is one of the few notable novels written in second person.) Was it jarring to you or did it draw you in? Could you imagine yourself at the circus?
What tent or exhibition would you most want to visit? What foods would you want to taste? What feature would you avoid?
Like magic, the story is revealed through sleights of hand—juggling the past with the present, hiding pertinent information until the last moment, and providing misdirection. How was the story enhanced (or lessened) by the tricks?
Was it fair for the circus members to be pulled into a contract without their approval? Were the benefits (agelessness, travel, etc.) enough to outweigh the risks?
Prospero has a mental and magical hold on Celia, including after his "death." How can a ghost of a person be stronger than a real person?
Marco and Celia struggle with balancing the ever-expanding circus. How is this a reflection of how we overextend ourselves?
There are several pairings in The Night Circus. Marco and Celia, Poppet and Widget, Celia and Herr Thiessen, Marco and Isobel, and Tara and Lanie Burgess. Bailey is one of the few unpaired individuals. How does this make him different? Would he make a different decision about joining the circus if he was paired? Is Poppet enough for him or is she too closely paired to Widget to fully give herself to Bailey?
Have you ever been behind the scenes of a circus, a play, a restaurant, a special production, etc? What was disconcerting about the behind the scene look? What took you by surprise?
The reveurs were like followers of a cult. Today's culture offers several cult options, such as certain events, movie franchises, some stories, etc. What elements are often found in a cult? (Some ideas: a universal truth, compelling characters, likeminded individuals, common ground, etc.)
Who would you cast in the movie of The Night Circus, which is in the works?
The circus would be nothing without its audience. Why do stories need to be told and heard to release their power?
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is as magical as its many, varied tents. It is a book that invites us to visit repeatedly—studying for the sleights of hand, reimagining the character's motivations and desires, and relishing its promised delicacies.
On Wednesday, I will share the recipe for Black and White Red Velvet cookies, with a nod towards the reveurs of the Le Cirque des Rêves.
Tags: book club • discussion questions • erin morgenstern • Night Circus • the night circus
Gone Girl- Discussion Questions
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is one of the top reads in 2012 and absolutely viral in nature. Anyone who read it was anxious to pull others into its vortex, to share in the delicious, twisted secrets. It's distinctive cover was seen in airports, on newsstands, in doctor's offices, and on every subway. It was inescapable—and for good reason.
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick Dunne's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick Dunne isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but hearing from Amy through flashbacks in her diary reveal the perky perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge.
Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister Margo at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was left in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
Employing her trademark razor-sharp writing and assured psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.
LitLover's has an excellent reading guide here.
For a deeper conversation, consider these additional questions:
Flynn reveals everyone's character flaws piece by piece. How were you drawn in, not knowing all the facts right away? Were you anxious to learn more or irritated?
Amy is essentially a child celebrity. In today's fame-fueled society, do you think children are protected from or exploited for fame? Would Amy be the same person today if she wasn't featured in her parent's books?
How does marriage define a spouse's character? If you are married (or have been married), how have you been bettered by your spouse? What bad habits or character traits have you inherited?
Can you ever truly know the other person? Have you ever been blindsided by someone? What blinds us to seeing a betrayal coming?
Do you need a protagonist to root for? Most the characters are unlikeable. Did this diminish your enjoyment of the book or were you still fascinated?
Was there a moment when you stopped feeling sorry for Amy? When did you start feeling sorry for Nick?
Who would you cast in the movie roles of Nick and Amy?
Treasure hunts are typically considered romantic, yet Amy manages to make it predatory and calculating. How does Amy's preplanning make her crimes even more disturbing?
Flynn has said about the ending, I wrote the ending that was the most unsettling to me. I am a big fan of the ending of unease. To me it feels real and it feels unnerving. Because you may not know exactly what is going to happen next in Gone Girl World, but you know it's not good. What kind of endings do you like best?
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn earned its place on The New York Times best sellers list. Because of its twisted and surprising revelations, it is this decade's Sixth Sense, in literary form. On Wednesday, the Readable Feast will feature Wedding Cake Petit Fours.
Tags: discussion questions • gillian flynn • gone girl
Still Alice – Discussion Questions
Still Alice is one of my favorite book club reads ever. I have a personal tie to Alzheimer's, which slowly dissolved away my paternal grandmother, Isabelle. In an atypical disease such as this, many moments are true—even if the experience wasn't exactly the same as rendered in the book. Telling the truth in a novel is exceeding difficult.
I was deeply touched by the care and research put into this book by Genova. As a neuroscientist, novelist, and activists, the book is equal parts fiction and education.
Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph.D in neuroscience from Harvard University.
Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away. In turns heartbreaking, inspiring and terrifying, Still Alice captures in remarkable detail what's it's like to literally lose your mind…
From Simon Schuster
Lisa Genova's publishing company, Simon Schuster, has a full Reading Group's Guide here.
To add more personal questions to the conversation, consider the following discussion questions related to Still Alice.
Do you know anyone who has suffered from Alzheimer's? How did it affect their loved ones and you? How did it affect them?
What are the stages of grief family members and the patient must travel through when facing Alzheimer's? (Five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.) What stage did each family member reach? What about Alice? Can you get stuck in a phase, or repeat a phase?
To what extent are we made of our memories?
What are some of your fondest memories? Do you have a memory you would like to completely erase from your memory? Do you think your personality/self would change if a bad memory was removed?
It is rare that an Alzheimer's patient doesn't consider suicide. Were you relieved she was thwarted or gladdened that Alice survived?
Do you empathize with the idea of controlling your own death, when faced with a debilitating disease such as Alzheimer's? What about other diseases? What makes the difference for you? Where do you draw the line?
If you have children, your children often feel they have a different parent from their siblings. If you have children, due to different circumstances, how are you a different mother to each of your children?
Oldest memories are the last to go for those with dementia, along with scent. What scents bring back memories for you? What is your earliest memory?
John carries on without Alice, making decisions without her. Does this bother you or do you empathize?
How would this story have changed if told from another perspective beside Alice's?
On Wednesday, I'll share the recipe for Boston Cream Cupcakes for your book club, based on Alice's hometown. On Thursday, I'll share the recipe for a Blueberry Buckle Bundt cake, an antioxidant food.
Happy reading and discussing.
The Blessings of the Animals – Discussion Questions
We are starting off the Readable Feast with a favorite author of mine. Katrina Kittle is a local Dayton, Ohio author and even though I don't live there anymore, she has earned her place on my book shelf. I was lucky to take several writing classes with her, which did more for my writing journey than my college degree.
The Blessings of the Animals is her current women's fiction book and is a perfect book club choice. Her other books, in particular The Kindness of Strangers, are also excellent group reads. If you haven't yet discovered Katrina Kittle, please check her out.
From Katrina Kittle, critically acclaimed author of The Kindness of Strangers, comes a wry and moving story of forgiveness, flexibility, happiness, and the art of moving on.
Veterinarian Cami Anderson has hit a rough patch. Stymied by her recent divorce, she wonders if there are secret ingredients to a happy, long-lasting marriage or if the entire institution is outdated and obsolete. Couples all around her are approaching important milestones. Her parents are preparing to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary. Her brother and his partner find their marriage dreams legally blocked. Her former sister-in-law—still her best friend—is newly engaged. The youthfully exuberant romance of her teenage daughter is developing complications. And three separate men—including her ex-husband—are becoming entangled in Cami's messy post-marital love life.
But as she struggles to come to terms with her own doubts amid this chaotic circus of relationships, Cami finds strange comfort in an unexpected confidant: an angry, unpredictable horse in her care. With the help of her equine soul mate, she begins to make sense of marriage's great mysteries—and its disconnects.
Katrina's publishing company, Harper Collins, offers a comprehensive Reading Guide.
To add to the discussion, consider the following discussion questions as well:
Animals love us in a completely different way than humans. We often adopt a pet before considering children or when we face divorce or widowhood. Why did the animals in the book offering healing that Cami's loved ones could not?
Which animal did you love or relate to? How have animals played a role in your life?
Animal rescue is never ending, as is being a medical doctor. How might have Vijay's and Cami's relationship played out if they had pursued their relationship.
What are the blessings of the animals? What gift does each of the three main animals (Moonshot, Gerald, and Muriel) give to Cami? How do these rescue animals end up rescuing her? What final gift or lesson does Luna bring at the end?
How does the Bobby chapter affect your reading of the story? Without his point of view, what would be different for you? What does he think that you wish he'd tell Cami? What things do both Bobby and Cami misinterpret in each others' actions?
Would you have felt differently about Bobby if he hadn't found someone else?
How do we react as we watch people making bad decisions? ie. Bobby breaking up with Zayna and then getting married in Vegas.
Bobby doesn't tell his family and leave a message for his daughter. How is Cami the parent in their relationship? How is the balance of power in a relationship a tricky prospect?
What does a successful marriage look like? Is marriage as an institution out of date?
Why do we risk so much on something that has no guarantee? How are the rewards worth the risk?
Adoption plays a part in this book as well. How is adoption a parallel to marriage?
In what ways do the Davids epitomize the marriage vows they are not allowed to make?
Divorce almost always has collateral damage, in this case, Gabi. She said "No man is going to wreck me." Why does a personal relationship (marriage) have such outreaching tentacles—causing people to take sides, etc.
Davy refers to a cheat sheet that he could pass along to his students, to save them from their mistakes. What advice would be on your cheat sheet?
Cami regrets, but still performs euthanasia on ailing animals when necessary. How does she face hard decisions in her career but struggle with hard personal decisions?
Cami's church is the stable, in the presence of animals. Where do you feel closest to God?
Short cuts are frowned up on this book—in such things as properly cleaning the wounds and making the gajar halva (Gaa-jer Hull-wa). Why are short cuts so tempting?
On Wednesday, I'll be sharing the recipe for gajar halva for your book club.
I write because words are immortal.
Everything is falling into decay. A new house is built and immediately it begins its slow suicide. Nails pop, corners curl, and bricks crumble. Of course, it will stand for another 100 years, or perhaps more…but it is on a death march. Every physical thing works this way, following its prescribed path: birth, decline, decay, death. Trinkets rot, souvenirs perish, mementos wither, and memories rust.
But words…with their structural sturdiness and otherworldly magic endure. Words exist within me, outside of me, and without me. Once I have inscribed them to paper, they flit away, out of my reach and independent. When I die, a few sparse words will mark a tombstone but millions of my words will live in the wild, immortal and incorruptible.
This is why I write.
Blog Posts, Book ReviewsEmail to a friend Print This Post
Midwestern Dysfunction
I write almost every day of the year–either for clients or on my fiction projects. But I have been a miserable blogger. Since NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is so effective for me to complete my first drafts, I decided to give the A to Z Blogging Challenge a try.
As an aspiring fiction writer, I often write about complicated relationships, faith issues, Midwestern families and hard concepts like purpose, forgiveness, identity, etc. I can't make any promises about what topics will actually show up on this blog. I might wax eloquent about goat cheese and wine or I might share my deep seated fears of stair steps and snow. I can only promise dysfunction.
Book ReviewsEmail to a friend Print This Post
The Care and Feeding of Viral Posts
Ode to a Breeze
Gingerbread's Giveaway
The Beauty and the Beast's Mojito Mix Madness
What Her Clients Say...
"Nicole is very up-to-date on her knowledge of current marketing trends and new technologies and how they apply to the work she does for her clients. Like me she is focused on the marketing techniques that produce results, not just those that are new. Also, Nicole has the heart of a teacher, willing to take the time to educate clients or point colleagues toward helpful resources. –Rob Bunting"
"I am always impressed at how Nicole is always on top of her game. Her ability to move from one task to another while not losing sight of her goal is admirable. I appreciate her know-how and advice when it comes to a variety of topics, both personal and professional. Nicole is a talented writer, who strives to add heart, honesty, and professionalism to every piece she adorns with her name. –Darren McGarvey"
"Nicole is right on target when it comes to writing and marketing. She is innovative and tenacious not only in her design work and but getting the words just right ...all in a very timely manner. When Nicole says she will do something she does it. –Jeanne Porter"
Copyright  2020 Nicole Amsler • Copywriter by day… Fiction writer by night


text:
The Ultimate Student Guide to the University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida has only been operating under that name since 1978, but that hasn't slowed it down from becoming one of the largest universities in the nation — ranked number two in the United States since 2011. As a member of the State University System of Florida, UCF has awarded almost 270,000 degrees since its founding in over 200 degree options. While the school continues to grow each year and build upon itself, there was as time when UCF was just starting out and had a long way to go to become what it is today.
In 1962 President John F. Kennedy gave a speech in which he outlined his goal of sending a man to the moon, and higher education was promoted across Central Florida due to the proximity to Cape Canaveral. Shortly after that famed speech, a bill was passed allowing the board of regents to create a new state university in central Florida; and two years later the land that UCF sits on was purchased. Since then the school that was originally focused on technologyand science has grown to serve more than 51,000 students.
Since the founding of UCF many things have changed across the university, but student life remains largely the same. The first football program was established in 1979 and today the Knights compete with 16 varsity teams. Today students at the University of Central Florida represent all 50 states and over 140 countries around the world. We continue to honor traditions that began with the university and will continue to create new ones as we continue to grow. Join your fellow students in celebrating all that is UCF and see where you stand in comparison!
Check out petersons.com for more UCF statistics.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


In late August, The US Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) announced a program that will put $30 million over a three year period into 12-15 fusion projects using alternative approaches. Long in the planning, the new program will fund efforts that "help enable a path to economical fusion power through low-cost, high shot rate development." It will specifically be aimed at devices that produce plasma in an intermediate density range of 10^18 to 10^23 ions/cm^3, between the low densities of the tokomak and the very high ones of laser fusion.
Update, Sept. 24: ARPA-E responded favorably on their website to LPP's question about their new fusion Funding Opportunity Announcement. They had set a requirement that fusion yield be 5 times input energy—a requirement that was unnecessary for pB11 and probably impossible to meet. LPP had asked that the requirement be changed to take into account the much higher efficiency of energy conversion (and much more economical energy conversion) possible with aneutronic fuels. ARPA-E responded that we could instead use a requirement that electricity recycled back to the next pulse be no more than half the total electricity generated. (This is the same as requiring that net power be more than half of total electric power). They specifically mentioned higher efficiency with direct conversion of charged particles, typical of aneutronic fuels (although they did not mention the fuels themselves). Since Focus Fusion can meet this requirement, LPP will be applying for this grant.


text:
India greater? Not for Pervez
Mr.President its not an "obsession" its a "Fact". And don't talk about problems in India, bigger countries do have a problems but world don't look at the problems but the way how these bigger countries deal with it. Problem in North East state are far less than you have problems with Jihadi's and problems in Kashmir is created by you and by your official terrorist but still we got far better image and respect in terms of dealing with problem in our own states. Stop worrying about problems in India, tell the truth to your own people who deserve better and help them to make Pakistan better place for human souls not the terrorist people.
Islamabad, Oct. 24 (PTI): Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf today asked India to shed its "obsession" of being a "greater nation" and its attempt to "dominate" Islamabad.
"I respect the Indian Prime Minister but it is regrettable that India wants to keep its domination in the region and wants Pakistan to be (a) weaker force. India should come out of its obsession of being a greater nation and should talk to us on an equal level," Musharraf said.
"We would not allow anyone's interference in our internal matters and neither would we tolerate such things," he said in an interview to a TV channel.
Musharraf said both countries should refrain from interfering into each other's internal affairs. India, he said, should set its own house in order before pointing fingers at Pakistan regarding terrorism on its soil and telling others what to do.
technorati tags: Pakistan, India, News, Politics, Islam, Terrorism
Categories: India, Indian Politics/Media, News, News and politics, Pakistan, Pakistan Politics, Politics, Social and Politics, South Asia, terrorist state of pakistan . . Author: ekawaaz
Comment by Cotton on October 25, 2006 2:41 pm
Now I know why the peace talks never work out…What kind of domination is Musharraf talking about? Someone take him to the hospital and get a brain check up done! hhmmppfff
@cotton-Ruhi
Hehe you right, but who will take him?
Lock him up in a mental asylum instead. What domination is he talking about???
Comment by Sajith M on October 26, 2006 6:46 am
I agree with the dear general. India should shed its "obsession" of being a "greater nation" and its attempt to "dominate" Islamabad.
Afterall how can India be a greater nation when:
1. India has an area of just 3,287,590 km² against Pakistan's 905,478 km²
2. India has a population of only 1.1 billion against Pakistan's 165 million
3. India's GDP is a mere $3.6 trillion while Pakistan's GDP is a mammoth $424 billion
4. India's per capita GDP is $3,344 and we all know that it's less than Pakistan's per capita GDP of $2,706
General, I agree with you…
Inspite of all this.. the general is shrewd – he does not have to deal with myriad politicians, elections, communists in his country.
He does deserve a closer look – he talks peace, while goes around sitting with china to plan god knows what, visits UN at the same time does not stop trouble being created out of his own backyard… hoodwinks the world about A Q Khan – now… is he not good at what he is doing?
Comment by Hiren on October 27, 2006 6:06 am
To pervez- Live and let live
Pak daily editorial rejects Musharraf's call for parity with India Dose for violent husbands: A year in jail, Rs 20,000 fine


Katherine Edoho,former Nigerian Television Authority,NTA girl,Classic/Beat Fm On Air Personality and estranged wife of the anchor of Who Wants to be a Millionaire has joined Nigerian Info FM.
A reliable source at Cool/Wazobia FM,sister stations of her current employers informed us that she officially resumed this November,while she was formerly introduced as a member of staff of Aim Group,owners of Cool/Wazobia/Info FM on Monday,November 14,2011.
Sources revealed that she joined Nigerian Info as a newscaster.
POST SEPARATION TRAUMA FRANK EDOHO'S WIFE KATHERINE SACKED BY CLASSIC FM.


text:
using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Linq;
using System.Security.Claims;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using Microsoft.AspNet.Identity;
using Microsoft.AspNet.Identity.Owin;
using Microsoft.Owin.Security;
using KarateIsere.Models;
using KarateIsere.DataAccess;
using Microsoft.AspNet.Identity.EntityFramework;

namespace KarateIsere.Controllers {
    [Authorize]
    public class AccountController : Controller {
        private ApplicationUserManager _userManager;

        public AccountController() {
        }

        public AccountController(ApplicationUserManager userManager, ApplicationSignInManager signInManager) {
            UserManager = userManager;
            SignInManager = signInManager;
        }

        public ApplicationUserManager UserManager {
            get {
                return _userManager ?? HttpContext.GetOwinContext().GetUserManager<ApplicationUserManager>();
            }
            private set {
                _userManager = value;
            }
        }

        //
        // GET: /Account/Login
        [AllowAnonymous]
        public ActionResult Login(string returnUrl) {
            ViewBag.ReturnUrl = returnUrl;
            return View();
        }

        private ApplicationSignInManager _signInManager;

        public ApplicationSignInManager SignInManager {
            get {
                return _signInManager ?? HttpContext.GetOwinContext().Get<ApplicationSignInManager>();
            }
            private set {
                _signInManager = value;
            }
        }

        //
        // POST: /Account/Login
        [HttpPost]
        [AllowAnonymous]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public async Task<ActionResult> Login(LoginViewModel model, string returnUrl) {
            if (!ModelState.IsValid) {
                return View(model);
            }

            // Ceci ne comptabilise pas les échecs de connexion pour le verrouillage du compte
            // Pour que les échecs de mot de passe déclenchent le verrouillage du compte, utilisez shouldLockout: true
            var result = await SignInManager.PasswordSignInAsync(model.Email, model.Password, model.RememberMe, shouldLockout: false);
            switch (result) {
            case SignInStatus.Success:
                ApplicationUser user = UserManager.FindByEmail(model.Email);
                Session["User"] = user;
                return RedirectToLocal(returnUrl);
            case SignInStatus.LockedOut:
                return View("Lockout");
            case SignInStatus.RequiresVerification:
                return RedirectToAction("SendCode", new {
                    ReturnUrl = returnUrl,
                    RememberMe = model.RememberMe
                });
            case SignInStatus.Failure:
            default:
                ModelState.AddModelError("", "Tentative de connexion non valide.");
                return View(model);
            }
        }

        //
        // GET: /Account/VerifyCode
        [AllowAnonymous]
        public async Task<ActionResult> VerifyCode(string provider, string returnUrl, bool rememberMe) {
            // Nécessiter que l'utilisateur soit déjà connecté via un nom d'utilisateur/mot de passe ou une connexte externe
            if (!await SignInManager.HasBeenVerifiedAsync()) {
                return View("Error");
            }
            var user = await UserManager.FindByIdAsync(await SignInManager.GetVerifiedUserIdAsync());
            if (user != null) {
                var code = await UserManager.GenerateTwoFactorTokenAsync(user.Id, provider);
            }
            return View(new VerifyCodeViewModel {
                Provider = provider,
                ReturnUrl = returnUrl,
                RememberMe = rememberMe
            });
        }

        //
        // POST: /Account/VerifyCode
        [HttpPost]
        [AllowAnonymous]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public async Task<ActionResult> VerifyCode(VerifyCodeViewModel model) {
            if (!ModelState.IsValid) {
                return View(model);
            }

            // Le code suivant protège des attaques par force brute contre les codes à 2 facteurs.
            // Si un utilisateur entre des codes incorrects pendant un certain intervalle, le compte de cet utilisateur
            // est alors verrouillé pendant une durée spécifiée.
            // Vous pouvez configurer les paramètres de verrouillage du compte dans IdentityConfig
            var result = await SignInManager.TwoFactorSignInAsync(model.Provider, model.Code, isPersistent: model.RememberMe, rememberBrowser: model.RememberBrowser);
            switch (result) {
            case SignInStatus.Success:
                return RedirectToLocal(model.ReturnUrl);
            case SignInStatus.LockedOut:
                return View("Lockout");
            case SignInStatus.Failure:
            default:
                ModelState.AddModelError("", "Code non valide.");
                return View(model);
            }
        }

        //
        // GET: /Account/Register
        [AllowAnonymous]
        public ActionResult Register() {
            return View();
        }

        //
        // POST: /Account/Register
        [HttpPost]
        [AllowAnonymous]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public async Task<ActionResult> Register(RegisterViewModel model) {
            if (ModelState.IsValid) {
                var user = new ApplicationUser {
                    UserName = model.Email,
                    Email = model.Email
                };

                user.Club = new Club {
                    NumAffiliation = model.NumAffiliation,
                    NomClub = model.NomClub,
                    Correspondant = model.Email
                };

                Club ctmp = Club.GetByNumAffiliation(user.Club.NumAffiliation);
                IdentityResult result = null;

                if (ctmp == null) {
                    Session["User"] = user;

                    result = await UserManager.CreateAsync(user, model.Password);

                    if (result.Succeeded) {
                        Role r = new Role("User");
                        r.Grant(user.Id);

                        await SignInManager.SignInAsync(user, isPersistent: false, rememberBrowser: false);

                        // Pour plus d'informations sur l'activation de la confirmation du compte et la réinitialisation du mot de passe, consultez http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=320771
                        // Envoyer un message électronique avec ce lien
                        // string code = await UserManager.GenerateEmailConfirmationTokenAsync(user.Id);
                        // var callbackUrl = Url.Action("ConfirmEmail", "Account", new { userId = user.Id, code = code }, protocol: Request.Url.Scheme);
                        // await UserManager.SendEmailAsync(user.Id, "Confirmez votre compte", "Confirmez votre compte en cliquant ici");

                        return RedirectToAction("Index", "Home");
                    }
                }
                else {
                    string[] errors = new string[1]{"Un club avec le même numéro d'affiliation a déjà été enregistré"};
                    result = new IdentityResult(errors);
                }

                AddErrors(result);
            }

            // Si nous sommes arrivés là, un échec s'est produit. Réafficher le formulaire
            return View(model);
        }

        //
        // GET: /Account/ConfirmEmail
        [AllowAnonymous]
        public async Task<ActionResult> ConfirmEmail(string userId, string code) {
            if (userId == null || code == null) {
                return View("Error");
            }
            var result = await UserManager.ConfirmEmailAsync(userId, code);
            return View(result.Succeeded ? "ConfirmEmail" : "Error");
        }

        //
        // GET: /Account/ForgotPassword
        [AllowAnonymous]
        public ActionResult ForgotPassword() {
            return View();
        }

        //
        // POST: /Account/ForgotPassword
        [HttpPost]
        [AllowAnonymous]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public async Task<ActionResult> ForgotPassword(ForgotPasswordViewModel model) {
            if (ModelState.IsValid) {
                var user = await UserManager.FindByNameAsync(model.Email);
                if (user == null) { //|| !(await UserManager.IsEmailConfirmedAsync(user.Id))
                    // Ne révélez pas que l'utilisateur n'existe pas ou qu'il n'est pas confirmé
                    return View("ForgotPasswordConfirmation");
                }

                // Pour plus d'informations sur l'activation de la confirmation du compte et la réinitialisation du mot de passe, consultez http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=320771
                // Envoyer un message électronique avec ce lien
                string code = await UserManager.GeneratePasswordResetTokenAsync(user.Id);
                var callbackUrl = Url.Action("ResetPassword", "Account", new { userId = user.Id, code = code }, protocol: Request.Url.Scheme);
                await UserManager.SendEmailAsync(user.Id, "Réinitialiser le mot de passe", "Réinitialisez votre mot de passe en cliquant ici");

                return RedirectToAction("ForgotPasswordConfirmation", "Account");
            }

            // Si nous sommes arrivés là, un échec s'est produit. Réafficher le formulaire
            return View(model);
        }

        //
        // GET: /Account/ForgotPasswordConfirmation
        [AllowAnonymous]
        public ActionResult ForgotPasswordConfirmation() {
            return View();
        }

        //
        // GET: /Account/ResetPassword
        [AllowAnonymous]
        public ActionResult ResetPassword(string code) {
            return code == null ? View("Error") : View();
        }

        //
        // POST: /Account/ResetPassword
        [HttpPost]
        [AllowAnonymous]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public async Task<ActionResult> ResetPassword(ResetPasswordViewModel model) {
            if (!ModelState.IsValid) {
                return View(model);
            }
            var user = await UserManager.FindByNameAsync(model.Email);
            if (user == null) {
                // Ne révélez pas que l'utilisateur n'existe pas
                return RedirectToAction("ResetPasswordConfirmation", "Account");
            }
            var result = await UserManager.ResetPasswordAsync(user.Id, model.Code, model.Password);
            if (result.Succeeded) {
                return RedirectToAction("ResetPasswordConfirmation", "Account");
            }
            AddErrors(result);
            return View();
        }

        //
        // GET: /Account/ResetPasswordConfirmation
        [AllowAnonymous]
        public ActionResult ResetPasswordConfirmation() {
            return View();
        }

        //
        // POST: /Account/ExternalLogin
        [HttpPost]
        [AllowAnonymous]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public ActionResult ExternalLogin(string provider, string returnUrl) {
            // Demandez une redirection vers le fournisseur de connexions externe
            return new ChallengeResult(provider, Url.Action("ExternalLoginCallback", "Account", new {
                ReturnUrl = returnUrl
            }));
        }

        //
        // GET: /Account/SendCode
        [AllowAnonymous]
        public async Task<ActionResult> SendCode(string returnUrl, bool rememberMe) {
            var userId = await SignInManager.GetVerifiedUserIdAsync();
            if (userId == null) {
                return View("Error");
            }
            var userFactors = await UserManager.GetValidTwoFactorProvidersAsync(userId);
            var factorOptions = userFactors.Select(purpose => new SelectListItem {
                Text = purpose,
                Value = purpose
            }).ToList();
            return View(new SendCodeViewModel {
                Providers = factorOptions,
                ReturnUrl = returnUrl,
                RememberMe = rememberMe
            });
        }

        //
        // POST: /Account/SendCode
        [HttpPost]
        [AllowAnonymous]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public async Task<ActionResult> SendCode(SendCodeViewModel model) {
            if (!ModelState.IsValid) {
                return View();
            }

            // Générer le jeton et l'envoyer
            if (!await SignInManager.SendTwoFactorCodeAsync(model.SelectedProvider)) {
                return View("Error");
            }
            return RedirectToAction("VerifyCode", new {
                Provider = model.SelectedProvider,
                ReturnUrl = model.ReturnUrl,
                RememberMe = model.RememberMe
            });
        }

        //
        // GET: /Account/ExternalLoginCallback
        [AllowAnonymous]
        public async Task<ActionResult> ExternalLoginCallback(string returnUrl) {
            var loginInfo = await AuthenticationManager.GetExternalLoginInfoAsync();
            if (loginInfo == null) {
                return RedirectToAction("Login");
            }

            // Connecter cet utilisateur à ce fournisseur de connexion externe si l'utilisateur possède déjà une connexion
            var result = await SignInManager.ExternalSignInAsync(loginInfo, isPersistent: false);
            switch (result) {
            case SignInStatus.Success:
                return RedirectToLocal(returnUrl);
            case SignInStatus.LockedOut:
                return View("Lockout");
            case SignInStatus.RequiresVerification:
                return RedirectToAction("SendCode", new {
                    ReturnUrl = returnUrl,
                    RememberMe = false
                });
            case SignInStatus.Failure:
            default:
                // Si l'utilisateur n'a pas de compte, invitez alors celui-ci à créer un compte
                ViewBag.ReturnUrl = returnUrl;
                ViewBag.LoginProvider = loginInfo.Login.LoginProvider;
                return View("ExternalLoginConfirmation", new ExternalLoginConfirmationViewModel {
                    Email = loginInfo.Email
                });
            }
        }

        //
        // POST: /Account/ExternalLoginConfirmation
        [HttpPost]
        [AllowAnonymous]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public async Task<ActionResult> ExternalLoginConfirmation(ExternalLoginConfirmationViewModel model, string returnUrl) {
            if (User.Identity.IsAuthenticated) {
                return RedirectToAction("Index", "Manage");
            }

            if (ModelState.IsValid) {
                // Obtenez des informations sur l'utilisateur auprès du fournisseur de connexions externe
                var info = await AuthenticationManager.GetExternalLoginInfoAsync();
                if (info == null) {
                    return View("ExternalLoginFailure");
                }
                var user = new ApplicationUser {
                    UserName = model.Email,
                    Email = model.Email
                };
                var result = await UserManager.CreateAsync(user);
                if (result.Succeeded) {
                    result = await UserManager.AddLoginAsync(user.Id, info.Login);
                    if (result.Succeeded) {
                        await SignInManager.SignInAsync(user, isPersistent: false, rememberBrowser: false);
                        return RedirectToLocal(returnUrl);
                    }
                }
                AddErrors(result);
            }

            ViewBag.ReturnUrl = returnUrl;
            return View(model);
        }

        //
        // POST: /Account/LogOff
        [HttpPost]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public ActionResult LogOff() {
            AuthenticationManager.SignOut();
            return RedirectToAction("Index", "Home");
        }

        //
        // GET: /Account/ExternalLoginFailure
        [AllowAnonymous]
        public ActionResult ExternalLoginFailure() {
            return View();
        }

        #region Applications auxiliaires
        // Utilisé(e) pour la protection XSRF lors de l'ajout de connexions externes
        private const string XsrfKey = "XsrfId";

        private IAuthenticationManager AuthenticationManager {
            get {
                return HttpContext.GetOwinContext().Authentication;
            }
        }

        private void AddErrors(IdentityResult result) {
            foreach (var error in result.Errors) {
                ModelState.AddModelError("", error);
            }
        }

        private ActionResult RedirectToLocal(string returnUrl) {
            if (Url.IsLocalUrl(returnUrl)) {
                return Redirect(returnUrl);
            }
            return RedirectToAction("Index", "Home");
        }

        internal class ChallengeResult : HttpUnauthorizedResult {
            public ChallengeResult(string provider, string redirectUri)
                : this(provider, redirectUri, null) {
            }

            public ChallengeResult(string provider, string redirectUri, string userId) {
                LoginProvider = provider;
                RedirectUri = redirectUri;
                UserId = userId;
            }

            public string LoginProvider {
                get;
                set;
            }
            public string RedirectUri {
                get;
                set;
            }
            public string UserId {
                get;
                set;
            }

            public override void ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context) {
                var properties = new AuthenticationProperties {
                    RedirectUri = RedirectUri
                };
                if (UserId != null) {
                    properties.Dictionary[XsrfKey] = UserId;
                }
                context.HttpContext.GetOwinContext().Authentication.Challenge(properties, LoginProvider);
            }
        }
        #endregion
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
YG Affiliate Slim 400 Shot & Killed In L.A.
by Andy Bustard
Inglewood, CA – Slim 400, a close associate of YG, passed away on Wednesday (December 8) after being shot and killed in Los Angeles, California. He was 33 years old.
According to TMZ, Slim was gunned down in Inglewood on Wednesday night, although further details remain scarce. His death was first reported by local sources including Power 106, No Jumper and L.A.-based journalist Jeff Weiss.
"RIP Slim 400," Weiss wrote on Twitter. "A Compton gangsta rap prototype, an ambassador for a tradition, lineage, and history — who made a whole lot of hard-as-hell rap songs full of sober gravity and blunt force."
RIP Slim 400. A Compton gangsta rap prototype, an ambassador for a tradition, lineage, and history — who made a whole lot of hard-as-hell rap songs full of sober gravity and blunt force. pic.twitter.com/ZgI1AVPmz4
— Otto Von Biz Markie (@Passionweiss) December 9, 2021
Slim 400 was best known for his long-running affiliation with YG, having appeared on tracks such as "Twist My Fingaz," "When I Was Gone" and "Word Is Bond." He also released several solo projects including 2016's All Blassik, 2019's High Off TTreez and this year's BompTTon.
The Compton-bred rapper previously survived an attempt on his life when he was shot eight times in a drive-by shooting in his hometown in June 2018.
Multiple masked gunmen reportedly opened fire on Slim from a moving vehicle, before jumping out and firing more shots into him. He was struck in his upper and lower back, jaw and head.
A post shared by blim Foe 🤐 (@slim400blk)
Slim was rushed to St. Francis Medical Center in L.A. and underwent multiple surgeries before making a full recovery. "I thank whoeva was poppin 4 buyn them shells at walmart," he joked on Instagram following the shooting.
"He is a family man, a father, a community man, and a uniquely talented artist with a greater purpose," Slim's family and team said in a statement as the rapper made his recovery.
Slim 400 Shows Off 'Fuck 69' Tattoo After Tekashi 6ix9ine's Denial Of Nipsey Hussle Disrespect
As news of Slim 400's death sinks in, tributes continue to pour in from peers and collaborators including Ty Dolla $ign, Juicy J, Zoey Dollaz and more. HipHopDX sends our condolences to Slim 400's friends and family.
Longlive$lim❤🤲🏾 pic.twitter.com/UlsmTD9Bwz
— Ty Dolla $ign (@tydollasign) December 9, 2021
I tell a bitch nigga holllldddd upppppp… 🗣 RIP SLIM 400.. rest in heaven to my dawg!
— zoey dollaz (@ZoeyDollaz) December 9, 2021
Slim400 randomly pulled me to the side, and told me until I do my own thing, these niggas ain't gon respect me. I took that advice and ran wit it. Luv u Slim! Rip to another fallen soldier
— TRON A (@DJA_Tron) December 9, 2021
R.I.P. 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿 https://t.co/9nmF0pqNvD
— juicy j (@therealjuicyj) December 9, 2021
Damn RIP Slim 400 smh I remember him being mad hella nice to me when I opened for YG 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿
— Michael Christmas (@MickeyChristmas) December 9, 2021


At the heart of the one-room rural school was the Teacher. This was what life was like for someone interested in the job.
Teachers trained at the nearest Normal School. A Normal School was a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose was to establish teaching standards or "norms." Most such schools are now called teachers' colleges. The first Normal Schools were established in Massachusetts in 1839. Here in Michigan a decade later the legislature chose what would become Eastern Michigan University to be the first Normal School west of the Allegheny Mountains. It wasn't until 1892 the second Normal School at what became Central Michigan University was created. By this time Michigan was behind nearby states, so more were soon added, ultimately becoming Northern Michigan and Western Michigan Universities. Promising teenagers went from being students themselves to the Normal and then became teachers in their own or a new community. That first Normal in Ypsilanti offered a two-year "English Course" for $3 per term to students at least 14 years old wanting to teach in primary schools and a three-year "Classical Course" for $4 per term to students at least 13 years old wanting to teach at the secondary level or go on to college.
Teachers were certified by either a county official's exam, State Board of Education exam or by city systems to teach in their schools for a limited duration. In the 1890s, numerous efforts were made to raise qualification standards by creating tougher tests. The State Board of Education raised exam standards under Superintendent Henry Pattengill's administration.
While this is from another state, by 1886 this Teachers Examination would have been comparable to such examinations nationally.
Define Grammar. How is it usually divided?
What is tense? Name and define the tenses.
Name the classes of pronouns. Decline a personal pronoun.
- Who did you send you for?
- They that help us we should reward.
6. Classify sentences according to structure and give an example of each class.
7. Write a sentence having for its predicate the potential, present perfect, third plural form of the verb write.
8. What parts of speech admit of comparison? Compare a word from each.
9. Give five rules for the use of capital letters.
10. Write a sentence containing an adjective clause.
And that's just the test for Grammar! There also were courses in the Three Rs, geography, and even art and music because the ability to play an instrument or teach drawing helped students more readily get a job.
Classroom Management was not a specific course, but must have been implied. Discipline and order were the hallmarks of 19th century education. All children were required to write with their right hands, so many students were forced to work with their left arms tied behind their backs. One student remembers, "Corporal punishment was very much a part of school discipline for noisy or unruly students. Boys got licked. If a girl was real bad, she might get whacked on the palm with a ruler." A hickory stick, birch rod, or switch was commonly kept available. A dunce cap and stool was also a method that could be used. Another form of punishment was being put in the schoolroom closet for misdeeds. The sound of a ruler could easily get a class's attention.
Throughout much of Michigan's past virtually anyone was allowed to teach, particularly in rural schools. Normal Schools represented an important and eventually dominant trend in teacher education, but throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth century substantial numbers of teachers entered the teaching profession without the benefit of a normal school education. Low teacher salaries made it economically difficult for many future teachers to expend large sums of money obtaining teacher education.
The two most common alternatives to attendance at a Normal were Teacher Institutes and "County Normals." Institutes were frequently sponsored by the Normals themselves during the summer months. Institutes offered short, intensive periods of study in which rural teachers could obtain or refine their skills. Although some Normal School faculty frowned on these "quick courses," through the 1920s they offered prospective teachers a quicker, less expensive way to begin their career. Typically a teacher had 25 hours of training.
County Normals were similar to Institutes but were usually organized by the county school commissioner with the assistance of the school districts in the county and the state. County Normals were organized annually during the summer. They were ad hoc creations that offered very short courses focused on practical skills. County Normals were often taught by only two "faculty members," an individual who delivered the "academic" instruction deemed necessary and a "master teacher" who offered practical advice. Because the courses were short, close to home, and often free if the student promised to teach the next year in the county, many young persons who could not afford to attend even a summer Institute at a Normal School gained entry into the teaching profession through the County Normal. County Normal graduates were authorized to teach only in the county which had sponsored the normal, however in at least some instances counties recognized each others Normal School as acceptable training and allowed graduates from one county to teach in another.
By 1880, Michigan schools employed 13,949 teachers. Of these, 9,877 were women; 4,072 were men. Pay for men averaged $37.28 per month. The average for women teachers was $25.73. Teachers often boarded in homes of residents near the schools. They did their share of the household chores and tutored, too. The arrangements for each situation was different and some teachers stayed where they had to pay room and board. Schools with graded systems paid the teachers considerably more than ungraded (one-room) schools.
Marriage was seen as a critical event that many local school boards tried to discourage until at least the end of the academic year. Many school boards required teachers to sign a contract granting the board authority to discharge a female teacher who married during the school year. Some contracts regulated the teacher's social life, required that she be at home by 8:00 p.m. unless later hours were explicitly approved by the school board and forbidding her from attending social functions other than those sponsored by the school itself or a church.
1. Teachers each day will fill lamps, clean chimneys, & trim wicks.
2. Each teacher will bring a bucket of water & a scuttle of coal for the day's sessions.
3. Make your pens carefully, you may whittle nibs to the individual tastes of the pupils.
4. Men teachers may take 1 evening each week for courting purposes, or 2 evenings a week if they go to church regularly.
5. After 10 hours in school, the teachers spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books.
6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemingly conduct will be dismissed.
8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool or public halls or gets shaved in a barber shop will have good reason to suspect his worth, intentions, integrity, & honesty.
9. The teacher who performs his labors faithfully & without fault for 5 years will be given an increase of 25 cents per week in his pay providing the board of education approves.
Even that list takes for granted many of the teacher's duties like arriving early to get the stove warm enough to heat the classroom, sweep the floor, and, a chore often given at day's end as a reward to good students, cleaning the blackboards and erasers.
For more on schools of the past, this post ends this series. The previous four posts were on the various Resources about the schools of the past, the Buildings, the Curriculum, and a Typical School Day.


We have over 40 years of experience navigating clients through personal injury cases. At Scherline & Associates, we know the devastating impact an injury can have on you and your family. We want to make sure you have the representation you need in order to recover just compensation and get you back to your life.
A very common injury we see in personal injury cases occurs on someone else's property. This is also known as premises liability. This type of injury occurs when you are injured on someone else's property because there is a dangerous or defective condition. Many common premises liability cases includes a slip-and-fall, trip-and-fall or something hitting a person's head.
Premises liability cases can be complicated by certain facts in the case, including the type of property, your reason for being on the property and other conditions. It is critical that you have an experienced attorney review your case to determine what strategy is appropriate.
If you are not able to take care of some or all of these, we understand. As with any personal injury case, however, it is important that you speak with an attorney before you speak with any insurance company.
Slip-and-fall injuries can affect your entire life. Call us today at 484-268-1175 for a free, no-obligation consultation. We charge a fee only when we make a financial recovery for you.
If your injuries prevent you from coming into the office to meet with us, we will travel to your home or the hospital at your convenience.
Our office is located in Allentown, and we serve clients throughout Lehigh Valley and eastern Pennsylvania.


The trials are being undertaken over 40 miles of the M40, M42, A45 and A46 over a five month period, with Siemens ITS having supplied and installed its ESCoS roadside units (RSUs), which provide the technical platform for real-time data exchange between vehicles and traffic control equipment. The RSUs communicate with enabled vehicles over short-range communications (ITS-G5).
By connecting cars to each other and their environment, they are able to communicate with other road users and network infrastructure, providing a higher degree of predictability and safety for both manual and autonomous driving. This phase of the trial programme will include testing of a number of connected features, including emergency electronic brake light warning (EEBL), road works warning (RWW), emergency vehicle warning (EVW), traffic condition warning (TCW) and virtual gantry signs.
Siemens' Stratos hosted traffic management system has been installed as the back office for all communications to and from the vehicles.
Siemens has installed 35 RSUs across the M42 and M40 trial area, connected through Highways England's National Road Telecommunications Services (NRTS) network, as well as 18 RSUs on the arterial routes – connected through a wireless mesh network.
The on-road trial covers the installation and verification of the roadside infrastructure in readiness for wider scale infrastructure to vehicle (I2V) communication and will help to inform road operators of the potential benefits of both the ITS-G5 and LTE 4G mobile network vehicle communications methods.
The UK CITE programme will create the UK's first fully connected infrastructure, using a globally unique combination of wireless technologies, which can enable real-world testing in a safe and managed way. The project is funded by the Government's £100 million Connected and Autonomous Vehicle fund, delivered by Innovate UK. The project is worth a total of £7.1 million including investment from the Government and Highways England.


CHRISTIAN QUOTES ON Hypocrisy. Part of a large selection of Christian quotes and sayings in a variety of topics by famous people, authors, theologians, pastors, preachers, teachers, and other notable Christians.
Man can hardly even recognize the devils of his own creation.
With their doctrine they build, and with their lives they destroy.
They made pretenses to very superior sanctity when they had a mind to disturb everything.
How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts!
If there is no Hell, a good many preachers are obtaining money under false pretenses.
There are individuals who have never done anything for Jesus Christ, and I have no doubt there are preachers as well, who have never done anything for the God Almighty.
When flatterers meet, the devil goes to dinner.
This year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practise ourselves the kind of behaviour we expect from other people.
An Ulster Scot may come to disbelieve in God, but not to wear his weekday clothes on the Sabbath.
Of all bad men religious bad men are the worst.
The dangers of apparent self-sufficiency explain why Our Lord regards the vices of the feckless and dissipated so much more leniently than the vices that lead to worldly success.
I believe there are too many practitioners in the church who are not believers.


text:
Go To Blazes – Lakeside Lounge (New York City, NY)
Archive Posted On July 1, 2001
Set up without much publicity as a public trial-run before a mini-reunion stand at several European alt-country festivals, this show (followed by another in their native Philadelphia the next night) was the first public appearance by Go To Blazes in the U.S. since 1996.
One of the most capable twang-influenced rock 'n' roll bands of the '88-'96 period, Go To Blazes reconvened with all four key members — lead singer and co-songwriter Ed Warren, lead guitarist and co-writer Tom Heyman, bassist Ted Pappadapoulos, and drummer Keith Donnellan — in the friendly (even cozy) confines of the East Village venue co-owned and managed by their onetime producer and bonus instrumentalist Eric "Roscoe" Ambel.
Go To Blazes was a fairly classic case of a good band that fell a bit between the waves. At once part of the Southern rock (from above the Mason-Dixon line), '80s cowpunk and early alt-country scenes, they weren't really able to ride any of those waves all that far, despite their sheer capability as twang-influenced rockers. The most obvious comparisons may have been the Beat Farmers then (with whom they sometimes played) and Blue Mountain now.
I'd argue (and they apparently agree) that their best recorded work was the atypically restrained, limited-edition disc And Other Crimes that surfaced at the very end of their run and has been quietly selling ever since. It's dominated by surprising turns on everything from Kinky Friedman's "Sold American" to Lee Hazlewood's "Love And Other Crimes" and even Blue Mountain's "Jimmy Carter". Transformed numbers from Charlie Rich or Neil Young or Gordon Lightfoot were also a regular feature of their live act.
But most of their five albums were built on chugging rock originals, and that was the focus of this reunion (though we were offered their spirited version of Lou Reed's "Underneath The Bottle"). With a dozen-plus Warren/Heyman originals delivered in rapid if slightly haphazard succession, the band's strengths and the situation's limitations were both in evidence. Warren's straightforward lead vocals allow the audience to make out what they're singing about, even over those ascending Neil Young-influenced guitar leads of Heyman's and the band's pleasingly loud, choogling rhythms. They sang about everything from lost love to (in "Bloody Sam") the travails and triumphs of Sam Peckinpah.
Go To Blazes' polished, riff-based, midtempo rockers were as effective as head-bobbers on a number-by-number bass as ever — which is something in itself for guys who aren't exactly young punks on the make anymore. But the succession of 14 numbers of similar tempo and construction tended to cause interest to flag over time. Pacing we did not get.
These guys have recorded a wide variety of solid twang rock, of different tones and themes, volumes and speeds, but like so many bands have often stuck slavishly to the standby midtempo crunch in live performance. The absence of mandolin and organ and dobro and steel on this night may have made variation problematic.
It was great, in any case, to see this talented band back and at it. They should not be forgotten. But it would have been greater to see them sneak the full range of their material onstage, while hardly anybody was looking.


text:
Q: Populate a dropdown inside an include PHP I have an index.php which calls the DB connection and populates the page.
If a condition is met an include will be called upon with a dropdown list.
I am unable to populate this dropdown, it gives me no error just a blank screen.
index.php:
<?php
require_once('db_connection.php');
if($_GET["cat"] === "contact"){
        include ('includes/contact.php');
    }
    else{
        include ('includes/route.php');
    }
?>

contact.php:
<?php
$sql = "SELECT * FROM dropdown_town";
$result = $dbhandle->query($sql);
$town = $result->fetch_assoc();

while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($town)) {
 echo "<option value='" . $row['zip'] . "'>" . $row['townname'] . " </option>";
 }
?>

My DB has a table called dropdown_town with the columns ID, zip and townname
I only posted the PHP code here as the rest of the page runs ok

A: Do the following changes in your contact.php
You forgot yo write select and directly write option because of that you got the blank page.
<?php
$sql = "SELECT * FROM dropdown_town";
$result = $dbhandle->query($sql);
echo "<select name="selectboxname">";
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
     echo "<option value='" . $row['zip'] . "'>" . $row['townname'] . " </option>";
 }
 echo "</select>";
?>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Take in the lay of the land— all Approx 16 ACRES of it— you can bet the farm that this converted barn HOME is great for living quarters, seasonal use, vacation getaway home, small family or even a hunting cabin. This location has a pond loaded with catfish and is cross fenced to hold cattle on this breath taking pasture ground. A deer stand is included for all the fantastic deer hunting that takes place on this ground. The home contains electric and gas heat and window air, it is all you need! You get the antique rustic feel with simple modern touches through out ! The home will include tv, all appliances, couch, and kitchen dish wear. It has one bedroom and one bath a small den spot that could be used as a guest bed. Screened in porch already plumbed for kitchen and has a gas heater. Barely used septic and falls in the sweet boundaries of clay county. Great sized barn sets up against home with easy access from porch. A chicken coop is also included !


text:
Mr. James J. Burke, Owner/CEO has been in the architectural /construction industry as a professional for over 30 years. He has held jobs such as, Designer with DeLeuw-Cather and Company; Coca Cola; and Georgia Power-(Plant Vogtle). He has been with Parsons Brinkerhoff / Tudor (PBT) consultant engineers to Marta holding positions such as, Project Estimator and Construction Scheduler. He has also held a position of Field Engineer with MCI Telecommunication Corporation.
From 1986 until 1996 Mr. Burke held the position of Architectural Review Officer within the Governor's Office and The Department of Defence , conducting inspections in all 159 counties in Georgia . Duties included designing and drafting the Emergency Operations Center (E.O.C.) in Early County, Georgia and helping multiple other jurisdictions throughout the state design and remodel their EOC's. As the only Engineer in Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) (Now known as Homeland Security) numerous other duties were performed in relation to construction projects. Early on duties were to determine and analyze all Fallout shelters in the State of Georgia. After over 10 years in government work with excellent ratings throughout his tenure, Mr. Burke decided to start his own business.
Mr. Burke has had his Home Inspection business for over 20 years and is certified with Southern Building Code Congress International (SBCCI) Member # 37074 and with International Code Council, Inc (ICC) Member # 5231394. Mr. Burke successully passed the examination of the National Society of Real Estate Appraisers, Inc. Has completed HQS & REAC inspection Training In Washington, DC. He has his OSHA 30 Hour Safety Training for the Construction Safety and Health - #36-600964691. And has been on call for FEMA Disaster Inspections.
Mr. Burke has his Associates in Science in Drafting and Design from Connelley Voc.-Tech. in Pittsburgh , his Bachelor of Science in Architecture / Industrial Technology from Cheyney State University in Philadelphia and did his Graduate work in Advance Building Studies (MS in ABS) from Carnegie-Mellon University ,Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . While in Graduate School Mr. Burke taught Construction and Drafting & Design at several schools in Pittsburgh.


text:
Odyssey Opera glows in belated Boston premiere of Korngold's "Die tote Stadt"
Erich Wolfgang Korngold's opera "Die tote Stadt" was performed Saturday night in a concert version by Odyssey Opera.
Entering its second season, the aptly-named Odyssey Opera looked over the horizon for ambitious musical adventure on Saturday night, and brought back the Boston premiere of an opera that was once the toast of the world, Korngold's Die tote Stadt.
They say that classical music is for gray-haired people, so it must have been gratifying for many in Saturday night's audience at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall to hear a sliver-topped tenor perform almost unimaginable feats of vocal stamina as the death-obsessed protagonist in Korngold's grandly Romantic masterpiece.
The energetic and colorful concert performance under the organization's musical director Gil Rose starred Jay Hunter Morris as Paul, a morose citizen of Bruges, Belgium, whose unhealthy attachment to the memory of his dead wife Marie ends up annoying everyone else in the cast. Sung well, as Morris did Saturday, his unremittingly high and intense vocal part can have a similar effect on the listener.
Morris was making his Boston debut Saturday night, as was soprano Meagan Miller in the opera's other principal role, the dancer Marietta doubling as a vision of the dead Marie.
The 23-year-old Wunder who composed this portrait of a man with one foot stubbornly planted in the grave was hailed at the time (1920) as the next Richard Strauss or the next Puccini, but eventually went to Hollywood and became the one and only Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
Korngold's lush movie scores of the 1930s and '40s, which illuminated every twitch of mood in Errol Flynn swashbucklers and drawing-room dramas, were amply prefigured in Die tote Stadt, whose simple plot—man misses his late wife, sees a woman who looks like her, can't decide what to do about it—really had no right to be so interesting for three hours in a theater.
It was Korngold's music that made the difference, ripely Romantic one moment and starkly dissonant the next, as Paul's state of mind went from rapturous to (as other characters called him) verwirrt, bewildered. Death's appeal twined around him in seductive falling chromatic scales, while dancing, leaping motives tried to beckon him to life.
Happily, except for the title, the opera's libretto—written under a pseudonym by the composer and his father, a prominent music critic—retained only vestiges of the urban symbolism of its source material, a novel titled Bruges la morte that found a metaphor for death in that Belgian city's chilly fog, murky canals, and glum piety.
Instead, the Korngolds emphasized the playable character conflict and gorgeous vocalism, richly supported, that made this opera a favorite of European opera houses throughout the 1920s, and a frequent revival since.
In the opera Paul was saved, in the best Freudian fashion, by a dream, in which he pursued the Marie-lookalike, possessed her, and, tormented by his infidelity, murdered her. All of Act II and most of the third and final act took place in the dream, whose illogical logic gave the young composer—who wrote the libretto—license to reach deep into his bag of musical imagery, throwing together a profusion of musical symbols, including a children's chorus, monks in procession, and street revelers outside the window of Paul's claustrophobic apartment/shrine to Marie.
To achieve these effects, Korngold expertly wielded every Straussian device of orchestration and invented quite a few of his own, using the large orchestra discreetly but colorfully in the opening scenes, then building it in the climactic dream scenes to a roar capable of covering even so redoubtable a tenor as Morris, who has recently earned praise for his Siegfried at the Met.
Musical characterization was everywhere in evidence, as when the horns glowed under the lines of Paul's faithful friend Frank, then emitted Mahlerian whoops under Paul's agitated answers.
Rose's and the orchestra's rendering of this brilliant score was a model of precision, force, and tone chemistry. In opera, the orchestra isn't supposed to be the show, but in a concert version like Saturday's it inevitably is, and so one was a little too aware of the players' constant busyness, an effect increased by a certain un-Viennese rigor in the performance. An opera that poked fun at a German character, Fritz, for his stiffness had a touch of that itself on Saturday.
As Paul, Morris might be accused of oversinging in this intimate hall with his armor-piercing tenor, but if the goal was to convey the character's obstinacy in the face of the other characters' good sense, he did all that and more. And on the too-rare occasions when the composer called for it, Morris demonstrated that he could dial back vocally to mezzo voce or a near-whisper to capture an emotional nuance.
And just to say it again, Morris's voice never let him down, even though he was onstage in full cry for most of the opera's three long acts.
With its earnest overall tone, this performance didn't always find the right note for its lighter, more life-affirming material, the counterweight to Paul's dark obsessions. Soprano Miller, as the dancer whom Paul fixates on for her resemblance to Marie, seemed at first to play the ditzy chick a bit too much, and in a cast of substantial operatic voices the touch of breathiness in her sound seemed like a deficiency.
But as the character eventually locked horns with Paul, standing up for her right to party, Miller's singing became more grounded too, and expression flowered in her part's ecstatic upward leaps. As the vision of Marie, standing dramatically side-lit in a doorway behind the orchestra, Miller subtly changed character to sing affectingly of love for her spouse and the opera's central message to choose life, with all its imperfections, over death.
Weston Hurt pleasingly sang the Horatio-like role of Frank, whose job much of the time is to stand a little awkwardly and look concerned for his friend Paul, in a forward yet rich-sounding baritone. As an actor, he might have made his engagement with Paul, both as a friend in real life and as an amorous rival in the dream, a little more emotionally convincing.
The role of Brigitta, Paul's housekeeper, is present largely for plot exposition in the first scene, and thereafter as a bit of an anchor to reality for her verwirrt employer. Mezzo-soprano Erica Brookhyser sang it feelingly in a clear, bell-toned voice, phrasing naturally yet also dealing easily with sudden leaps in the melody.
Doing their best to bring a little levity to the dead city was a sextet of Marietta's friends and theatrical types, sung amusingly by Thomas Meglioranza, Frank Kelley, Sara Heaton, Janna Baty, Alan Schneider, and Jonas Budris. Meglioranza was affecting as the shy German Fritz, venturing a nostalgic love song about the Rhine, and Budris showed a pleasing tenor in a few snatches of serenade.
Like Mahler, Korngold turned to scenes from folk life for grounding in times of social and psychological stress. Portraying the religious festival outside Paul's window, singers arrayed around the Jordan Hall balcony included youngsters from the Boston City Singers and the Cambridge Children's Chorus chirping a pious ditty, and members of the New World Chorale as the chanting monks.
And although moments of high drama, such as Act II's final duet with its daring accompaniment of sharp staccato chords, gave this work its modern edge, the emotional heart of the evening was the folksong-like, deeply nostalgic Gluck, das mir verblieb, introduced by Marietta and answered by Paul as their love began to flower. Morris, Miller and Rose gently stopped the show with that one, and Morris did so again near the opera's end, reprising the tune after Paul wakes from his dream.
As Paul left the scene to go out and rejoin life without Marie or Marietta, the opera closed on a note of quiet acceptance. The acceptance by the audience of this boldly ambitious performance was, however, anything but quiet.
The performance will not be repeated. The next presentation of Odyssey Opera will be a double bill of fully-staged one-act operas by Dominick Argento, A Water Bird Talk and Miss Havisham's Wedding Night, 8 p.m., Nov. 22, and 3 p.m., Nov. 23, at Suffolk University's Modern Theatre. odysseyopera.org; 617-826-1626.
3 Responses to "Odyssey Opera glows in belated Boston premiere of Korngold's "Die tote Stadt""
Posted Sep 15, 2014 at 1:10 pm by Stephen Owades
I'm puzzled by the reference to Jay Hunter Morris as a "sliver-topped tenor." Given the context of the sentence, that presumably was meant to read "silver-topped," but Mr. Morris is blond and not grey- (or silver-)haired. Heldentenors don't tend to be young, and Mr. Morris–who is emerging as one of the best in this fach today, thanks to his debut in the Met's Ring as Siegfried–is 51 years old. Not exactly a geezer!
Posted Sep 15, 2014 at 7:52 pm by Robin Kaplan
Jay Morris' performance was the best thing about Odyssey Opera's concert version of Die Tote Stadt. The role of Paul is unbelievably demanding. The high tessitura and the fact that Paul is onstage for most of the opera together make this one of the most demanding tenor roles in all of opera. Just listen to two of the most well-known recordings of Die Tote Stadt (the Leinsdorf/Kollo/Neblett premiere recording, and the Segerstam/Dalayman version), and it will be immediately clear how well Morris sang the role. There was no strain evident is his performance, no harshness at all. His sound was beautiful throughout, an amazing achievement. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Miller's Marie/Marietta. Her voice is too small for this role, and in some of the higher reaches she was nearly inaudible. This is a dramatic soprano role, though not necessarily Wagnerian is scope. Carol Neblett's performance as Marie/Marietta is a demonstration of how a singer can deploy her instrument to maximum benefit, and remains the definitive Marietta performance. If Neblett and Morris (or better yet, Kaufmann!) could be cast together, that would be a Die Tote Stadt for the ages…
Posted Sep 16, 2014 at 9:04 am by Brendan G Carroll
Thank you David Wright! For once, a considered and insightful review of Korngold and this opera in particular. I hope this performance was recorded for wider enjoyment by those not able to attend. Thank you for taking such trouble over your review and for getting the facts correct – a rare thing nowadays.