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Advances in Literary Study
2013. Vol.1, No.3, 25-30
Published Online July 2013 in SciRes (http://www.scirp.org/journal/als) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/als.2013.13007
Copyright © 2013 SciRes. 25
Into the Desert: Solitude in Culture and Literature
Svend Erik Larsen
Department of Aesthetics and Communication, Comparative Literature, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Email: litsel@hum.au.dk
Copyright © 2013 Svend Erik Larsen. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.
Most studies of solitude have focused on the modern individualized sense of solitude, located or origi-
nating in urbanized Western cultures where solitude is seen as a companion to urban modernity. In this
perspective the larger historical and cultural context goes almost unnoticed together with the fact that the
preoccupation with solitude, in various forms and functions, has been around for a longer time span than
Modernity and with a broader cross-cultural perspective. However, the basic cultural function of the vari-
ous understandings of solitude is the same across cultures: a negotiation of the boundaries of the human
life world, but in forms that are historically contextualized and differentiated. With texts from William
Shakespeare to J. M. Coetzee and with references to older mythology and its modern recycling this paper
tries to capture the broader historical development of solitude in European culture as an imagined position
on the boundary of the human life world.
Keywords: Solitude; Isolation; Desert; Monster; Boundary; Humanity; Projection; Construction
The Desert and the City
Søren Kierkegaard was once asked by the Danish king if he
needed solitude to write. In his diary he noted that he responded
affirmatively. When the king asked if Kierkegaard would then
seek the most remote part of the country, Kierkegaard answered:
No, he intended to go to Berlin—"There I am totally alone and
can work harder than ever" (Kierkegaard, 1968) Seeing the
king's amazement he continued that even in the smallest hamlet
"and incognito, I would not be able to find a hideout of 400,000
people." Here Kierkegaard, the ardent proponent of existen-
tialist individualism, echoes René Descartes, the philosopher of
solipsism. In Discours de la méthode (1637) he first thought
that complete solitude inside his lodging would serve his con-
templation best, "tout le jour enfermé seul dans un poêle"
(Descartes, 1991). But soon he came to realize that the only
way to develop his thought was to converse with others. So, he
came to the conclusion that the best site to do so, and still re-
main alone, was not a recluse, but a densely populated place
where, "sans manquer d'aucune des commodités qui sont dans
les villes les plus fréquentées, j'ai pu vivre aussi solitaire et
retiré que dans les déserts les plus écartés" (Descartes, 1991).
Here, the city would be less a space to be explored than a so-
cial paradox to be experienced: crowded modern urban life,
paradoxically and inevitably, generates solitude as in a desert.
Later, this observation has become common place in the social
critique of urban life and of urbanized Western Modernity in
general wherever it manifests itself. Just to take on example
from Sunil Gangopadhyay's historical novel, Those Days
(1981), from the 19th century booming Kolkata: "On his jour-
ney Nabin became aware that the solitude was a state of mind,
independent of environment. Here on this bajra, though sur-
rounded by people, he was alone, truly alone for the first time
in his life." (Gangopadhyay, 1997). Everywhere solitude is a
necessary companion to modern urbanity. Most studies of soli-
tude have focused on this modern individualized sense of soli-
tude, while the larger historical and cultural context goes almost
unnoticed together with the fact that the preoccupation with
solitude, in various forms and functions, has been with us for a
longer time span than Modernity and with a broader cross-
cultural perspective than individual modern sensitivity (Engel-
berg, 2001; Fergusson, 1992; Hannoun, 1993; Möhrmann, 1974;
Naudin, 1995).
However, the basic cultural function of the various under
standings of solitude is the same across cultures: a negotiation
of the boundaries of the human life world, but in forms that are
historically contextualized and differentiated. In this paper I
will try to capture the broader historical development of soli-
tude in European culture as an imagined position on the bound-
ary of the human life world.
Ontological Solitude
It is customary to think of solitude primarily in spatial terms.
From this point of view, solitude is connected to an extraordi-
nary spatial position. Some will search for it through adventur-
ous travels to remote and unknown parts of the globe like many
classical heroes or their modern counterparts: pursuing Moby
Dick, confronting the heart of darkness or venturing off on
space odysseys. Others are condemned to go there—by the
gods, by law or by fate. The spatial reference may also reach
outside the realm of human experience, as in the case of pro-
tagonists who, though still alive, embark on a katabasis into the
underworld.
The solitude of the human protagonists places them beyond
the ordinary space of their fellow humans, whereas the solitude
of the monsters and their kin places them outside the universal
categorization of things and thus outside immediate human re-
S. E. LARSEN
cognition. In an encounter between humans and non-human
phenomena, both are cut off from the natural architecture of the
world that embraces nature and culture as a whole. Solitude
means being outside this natural and recognizable order, in the
human life world or in nature at large. In other words: to be one
of a kind in an ontological solitude.
When protagonists leave their proper place within human-
kind for a solitary existence, the surrounding world also tran-
scends the categories that keep the cosmic order in place. The
interaction between these two entangled modes of solitude, the
human and the non-human, takes place in strange locations to
the effect that the boundaries of the human life world within the
natural order of things become visible (Sheenan & Sosna,
In King Lear (1606) (Shakespeare, 2001) shows how imagi-
nary language may capture this situation. Here, the classical
order of things and the great chain of being are out of joint.
Nothing belongs clearly any longer to a cultural or natural kind.
Here, at the boundary of humankind and the universal order of
things, solitude is all-pervasive. Hence, all singular events also
exemplify a universal catastrophe, and the non-human and the
unnatural merge indistinguishably with humankind and with
nature in a cataclysm of cosmic proportions.
Such an event occurs in the first act when Lear's daughter
Goneril throws him out into the night. His shock and bewil-
derment is expressed in the imaginary language of solitude,
though without first of all foregrounding his own individual
feeling of solitude in that particular moment. Instead, it turns
his rejection into a sign of the absence of valid structure of
cultural or natural species.
Darkness and devils! […]
Degenerate bastard! I'll not trouble thee:
Yet have I left a daughter. […]
Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend,
More hideous, when thou show'st thee in a child,
Than the sea-monster. […]
Hear, Nature, hear! Dear Goddess, hear!
Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend
To make this creature fruitful
[…] If she must teem,
Create her a child of spleen, that it may live
And be thwart disnatur'd torment to her.
(I, iv, v. 249ff)
Being thrown out by one's own daughter equals a collapse of
the ordered universe. In complete accordance with this situation,
the general perspective on the particular event is cast as infernal
cross-overs between, and beyond, the natural kinds. Now, they
can only be synthesized as a curse including everything that
goes against the natural order of things. It is as if "heaven's
vault should crack" (V, iii, v. 258), a crack that reverberates
throughout the drama from the smallest detail to the overall
universal breakdown of an order that used to locate humans and
things in a shared universe. This is the language of ontological
solitude. Lear's solitude is interpreted as an irrevocable univer-
sal condition, culminating later in the proto-desert landscape of
the heath.
Descartes and Kierkegaard have a different take on solitude.
As they suggest, the role of the city shows that spatial relations
continue to offer a set of useful terms with which to reflect on
boundary experiences related to solitude, on the one hand, and
to a shared social space on the other. However, what they also
point to, indirectly but importantly, is that solitude is not an
extraordinary spatial position to be sought through audacious
expeditions to the boundaries of and beyond human experience.
Instead, Descartes and Kierkegaard go right to and not beyond
the emerging new center of ordinary modern life, the crowded
city. Here, their intention is to stay within the limits of every-
day life, and by way of an individual and cultural self-reflection
they create an imaginary solitary space, an Archimedean point
of their own making, from where to consider the limits of hu-
manity. Like Paul Auster they invent their solitude, as it were
(Auster, 1982), as part of a process which took its beginning
with Petrarca in the late Middle Ages (Petrarca, 1955).
Here, solitude is not primarily identical with a particular re-
mote spatial location wherein a particular event of potentially
cosmic proportions may be staged. They take solitude to be a
basic condition for individual and cultural self-reflection as an
ongoing process, shaped as an imagined and constructed plat-
form for a creative human contemplation of la condition hu-
maine. It is available to everyone and, according to Kierkegaard,
also necessary for everyone. We move from a notion of solitude
as an extreme spatial position making the universe, and maybe
also our own place in it, visible from its margins to a notion
reflecting a cultural condition that allows us first to see our-
selves and then the entire human life world around us, but
hardly the entire cosmos.
Emotional Solitude
The two terms, "isolation" and "solitude", can help to clarify
this apparent reduction of the spatial dimension and its horizons
and describe the nature of emotional solitude. Both are words
of Latin descent and came later to be part of the lexicography of
modern Indo-European languages, some of which, such as Eng-
lish, Spanish, Portuguese or French, became global languages.
The core of "isolation" is Lat. insula, which first of all means
island, that is to say a natural element of a spatial nature. But it
also denotes a floor of a building, a block of houses, a neigh-
borhood of a city that can be singled out as perceptibly de-
tached from its surroundings, that is to say a cultural element of
material and social nature belonging to the built environment.
The further semantic development of the term extends its mean-
ing to also include a human being completely dissociated from
the collective structure to which he or she belongs. Whereas the
first two meanings are mainly descriptive with a clear spatial
denotation, the latter reduces the spatial reference and prompts
instead psychological, ideological, ethical and existential signi-
fications.
The meaning of 'social isolation' addresses the relation be-
tween individuals or individual groups and their society in
ethical, emotional and broader social and cultural terms. John
Donne is famous for his lines: "No man is an island, entirely of
itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main"
(Donne, 1998). In the general meaning of isolation, the isolated
element is still related to what it is isolated from—island from
mainland, block from street, individual seclusion from social
collectivity. In short, isolation is a term that articulates a rela-
tion. An isolated human being still belongs to humankind.
Solitude is different and so is the solitary being. This term is
also based on a spatial reference. It means a deserted place, the
desert in particular as a specific geographical denomination. It
has always been seen as a undifferentiated and infinite space,
supposedly with no trace of the boundaries between the natural
Copyright © 2013 SciRes.
elements, the closest one could come an absolute void (χάος or
rather απειρον or Lat. vacuum). A negative epiphany, as it were:
"Dans le désert, voyez-vous, il y a tout, il y a rien … c'est Dieu
sans l'homme", Balzac's narrator aptly remarks in Une passion
dans le désert (Balzac, 1977), which for Kant was a terrifying
sublime experience (Kant, 1905).
Hence, every human being there would be in a state of soli-
tude, not surrounded by anything that could be related to the
known order of nature. Subsequently, "solitude" is a deserted
position more than a particular place became the dominant
meaning in various languages. Like ultima thule, the desert
indicated the limes of Roman civilization, which is to say, civi-
lization as such. Those who lived there were beyond civiliza-
tion, barbarians or monsters, evoking all kinds of imaginings
about their deficient humanity (Breitenfellner & Kohn-Levy,
1998; Hall, 1989; Hassig, 1995; Kappler, 1980; Larsen, 2004;
Sheehan & Sosna, 1991; Wittkower, 1977). Further, beyond the
deserts, strange and monstrous beings were imagined to exist,
as Pliny abundantly recounts in his Historia naturalis (1st cen-
tury BCE) (Pliny, 1961), which acquired a long afterlife in
European imagining of the foreign, even the Old Norse saga
world regarding peoples living even farther to the North. If
isolation primarily points to a relational position within a larger
natural or social space, solitude shows the boundary of that
space and a vision of what might lie beyond.
Thus, in contrast to isolation, solitude does not refer to urban
or other social spaces in particular, although the island and the
desert are still active parts of our imaginary language when it
comes to isolation and solitude on the edge of the world as in
modern travel writing, e.g. in Geoffrey Moorhouse: "We trav-
ersed more dunes, and again I felt the deepest fear nudging me.
[…] It was as though one were very close to the edge of the
earth. […] gain it, and one would drop off into eternal space."
(Moorhouse, 1974). Thus, in a broader sense solitude indicates
the state of being absolutely detached, not just isolated from
something specific or specifiable, but from everything in terms
of space, meaning, value and identity. Likewise, the cult of
hermits (meaning "those living in the desert", έρημία) and the
contemplative ideal of life in monasteries and convents in vari-
ous religions take solitude to equal closeness to the divinities
on the boundary of human existence.
This oscillation between solitude and isolation is depicted in
the case of Robinson Crusoe (Defoe, 1965; Engelberg, 2001).
He is "all alone on an uninhabited island". Robinson is more
than alone, he is all alone. He is not just isolated, that is to say
placed on an island, he is on an uninhabited island. As people
in this borderland or beyond it does not count as humans, so
Friday does not at the beginning of their encounter qualify as a
human inhabitant. However, to Robinson's amazement, he is
both docile and malleable, a cannibal more receptive to hu-
manization than Shakespeare's swearing and cunning Caliban,
although only fit for a subservient human position—a noble
savage, in line with ideas originating in the Renaissance. Hence,
Robinson's solitude is more than just spatial and social. At the
outset, he is just one of a kind.
This position not only belongs to a boundary space like an
uninhabited island, but also any being living there challenges
the boundary between known natural or cultural species: Rob-
inson is both a man from urbanized and imperial England and is
at the same time bound to a primitive pre-civilized life; being a
cannibal Friday is close to the savage animal world but is at the
same time an amicable human being. The status of being one of
a kind points imaginatively to the stable order of things, while
at the same time transcending this order. The basic endeavor is
to overcome solitude through an allegedly humanizing process
that makes Friday a fellow human being with whom Robinson
now shares, not solitude but isolation within the recognizable
borders of humankind, a shared fate which can then be over-
come in the novel's final social vision.
The same humanizing response to solitude can be seen when
we approach the boundary of humankind from the outside.
Frankenstein's monster sees the uninhabited and uninhabitable
"desert mountains and dreary glaciers" (Shelley, 2000) as his
proper place when he, in emotional turmoil, realizes he solitude
on human conditions:
Believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent; my soul
glowed with love and humanity: but am I not alone, mis-
erably alone? You, my creator, abhor me; what hope can I
gather from your fellow-creatures, who owe me nothing?
They spurn and hate me. The desert mountains and dreary
glaciers are my refuge. (Shelley, 2000)
He is one of a kind, both in relation to humankind and to the
natural order at large. This is so in spite of his capacity to feel
and to talk and thus to contemplate his fate and his split identity
as non-human in a proto-human disguise. He abhors his own
body that inspires horror in others when he makes a serious
attempt to approach the idyllic cottage of the De Lacey family.
But earlier on, by observing closely the life of the cottagers
from his solitary outpost in the nearby forest, he teaches him-
self to talk and to read just as Friday learned from Robinson.
However, his linguistic fluency does not compensate for his
solitude; it is only amplified. His eloquence is the touch of ac-
quired and not inborn humanity, but nevertheless it allows him
to feel compassion towards humans and to be as self-reflexive
as any human, Descartes and Kierkegaard included. But this
capacity only makes his irreducible lack of humanity clear to
him and enrages him. He is still helplessly one of a kind, but
now a humanizing emotional solitude is more important than
his ontological status. In a long and eloquently pleading solilo-
quy addressed to Frankenstein in the icy desert landscape he
pleads for a companion of his own kind:
When I looked around, I saw and heard of none like me.
Was I then a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which
all men fled, and whom all men disowned? [...] I ex-
claimed in agony: 'Cursed creator! Why did you form a
monster so hideous that even you turned from me in dis-
gust? God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after
his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours,
more horrid even from the very resemblance. Satan had
his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage
him; but I am solitary and abhorred. [...] No Eve soothed
my sorrows, nor shared my thoughts. [...] I am alone, and
miserable; man will not associate with me; but one as de-
formed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to
me. My companion must be of the same species, and have
the same defects. This being you must create. (Shelley,
However, Frankenstein refuses to produce another monster in
order to humanize the first one. So, being one of a kind, a mon-
ster, he acts like a monster in a frenzy of murder and destruct-
tion. The only difference from the old monsters is that he is a
human creation, but cannot be humanized.
The opposition between Frankenstein and his monster blurs
the pre-established boundary between the human and the non-
human, the natural and the constructed world, leaving both in a
self-created solitude where they have to reflect on their identity
as borderline individuals questioning the dissolving identity of
humankind. As solitary beings, both embody the very boundary
of humanity as it cuts through their own individual existence:
Frankenstein has created a humanoid, but loses his own human-
ity be refusing the monster's very human wishes; the monster
takes on human form and behavior, but remains nevertheless a
monster. Who is the more human is impossible to decide.
In this encounter, solitude signals a disturbing instability in
the fixed order of things, where the human and the non-human
meet and blend, and makes visible the vicarious boundary be-
tween the fixed categories we project onto the natural and the
cultural world in order to place ourselves in it as humans. What
is human and what is not, has to be redefined again and again, a
project that Descartes and Kierkegaard embarked on in the ur-
ban context which itself embodies this challenge. The inces-
sant re-establishment of this difference is therefore necessary in
order for solitude to be fashioned as an emotional self-asser-
In this modern context, the ontological state of solitude, of
being absolutely alone in the order of nature, inseparably
merges with the humanizing individual emotional state of soli-
tude. The modern solitary individual is not abandoned by the
gods but rather by his or her fellow human beings, when they
are present. The fact and the feeling of absolute aloneness are
from this point inseparable, and it is precisely their entangle-
ment that generates the self-reflection of both the monster and
his maker. "Solitude—the feeling and knowledge that one is
alone", Octavio Paz succinctly states in The Labyrinth of Soli-
tude (Paz, 1985) or, as the title of Pierre Naudin's monography
has it, "l"expérience et le sentiment de la solitude' (Naudin,
1995). Solitude is a situation, then, which cannot be interpreted
through a simple reference to a place or to a given, larger onto-
logical context, let alone a stable universal order, providing it
with a collective significance, but only through self-reflexive
embedded in an emotional state of singularity that articulates
the boundary of humanity. In this move from ontological to
emotional solitude the metaphysics of solitude vanishes and it
is entirely integrated in the human life world.
A Dialogue with the Past
There are two strategies available for this personal, self-re-
flexive negotiation of the boundary of humanity to be carried
out through a sense of solitude. First, projection as a cultural
device exploited to push what appears to us as an unbearable
foreignness, marking a limit of what is taken to be human, out
of our self-chosen cultural and individual comfort zone. We
project onto the world a meaning which is not really there. The
second strategy is construction as a cultural device by which
our own presumably self-chosen solitary separation from the
foreign is inscribed in an ongoing collective discursive narra-
tive within our culture, providing the projected meaning with a
cohesive structure by which we locate ourselves in a cultural
space as defined by the projection.
Both the projections and the constructions recycle fragments
of texts and images of the rich classical and often cross-cultural
stock of material on solitude. After classical mythologies and
religious understandings of nature have been replaced by mo-
dern scientific conceptions, the extra-human solitary position
continues to fascinate and disturb our cultural imagination, and
the old narratives and other genres are widely revitalized in new
contexts across cultures, in texts, images and other cultural
products disseminated in the global media culture.
The story I choose to discuss modern projections and con-
structions echoing a long history of images of solitude is John
Michael Coetzee's novel Waiting for the Barbarians (1980),
referring to Pedros Cavafy's poem from 1898. On the outskirts
of an unspecified empire, vaguely like South Africa during
apartheid, a middle-aged civil servant, the Magistrate, guards
the border against the Barbarians, close to the desert where he
lives in a peaceful symbiosis with them, their landscape and
their rhythm of life and also does some archaeological excava-
tions. He is the narrator. The brutal representatives of a central
power, more thugs than soldiers, are led by Colonel Joll, ruth-
less and too full of himself. They arrive to prevent an alleged
insurrection by the Barbarians, a danger no one else has ever
heard about. Some barbarians are tracked down and tortured to
reveal or rather to create a clearcut distinction between good
and bad, known and foreign, in order to legitimate the per-
secution and the ultimate reestablishment of a sociopoliti-
cal barrier between white humanity and barbarian savage-
ness.
And solitude? Nobody pays much attention to solitude in any
sense of the term. But what they do is precisely to re-activate a
host of age-old images of place, body and language by reiterat-
ing practices and discursive strategies. Since antiquity such
configurations have been so closely related to the reflection on
and creation of solitude that the characters, irresistibly and each
in their own way, lock themselves and everybody else around
them into an enclosure of solitude with no exit. There is no
language to reflect on what has happened and what it means,
and no emotional experience to help cope with it, only a spon-
taneous horror or a passive contemplative resignation. This is a
trajectory to solitude.
In the beginning Joll, together with his men, simply projects
the collective fear of the unknown onto the natives and con-
structs the identity of the humans on his own side of the border
in contrast to the savages from the desert that stretches beyond
the horizon in indeterminable infinitude. This construction is a
radicalized version of the colonial myth of 'the white man's
burden': to defend and expand civilization by suppressing or
educating the barbarian peoples. As the title of Coetzee's novel
indicates, this myth resonates with classical images of monsters
and barbarians as the embodiment of the non-human as located
in a particular marginal space where it can be identified and
wiped out.
Joll's cultural logic as described by Rüdiger Safranski in his
Das Böse oder Das Drama der Freiheit (1997) provides the
urban paradox diagnosed by Kierkegaard and Descartes with a
generalized and scaring significance in the modern world. It is
not just a paradox generating solitude to contemplate the human
condition. With an imagined insurrection as the reason for the
presence of the soldiers and surrounded by the undifferentiated
desert, there are no unquestioned structure of defining differ-
ences to identify people and objects, not even a paradoxical one.
Hence, the border has to be reestablished with repeated and
increasing insistence that eventually turns into acts of terror.
With an implicit reference to Descartes's cogito and to the fun-
damental role of difference in Kierkegaard's thinking, Safranski
compares this situation to a burning fire:
Dass ich bin, mag einem in Denken gewiss werden. Aber
was ich bin, erfahre ich nur im Unterschied zu den an-
deren. Aber auch mit der Erkenntnis des Unterschieds
allein kann man noch nicht zufrieden sein. Das intensive
Selbstgefühl erwächst aus dem Bewusstsein, dass man
sich unterschiedet, indem man sich hervortut. Es kommt
auf den Rang an. […] Diesem Verlangen nach Differenz
entspringt die grosse Gefährdung des Gesellschaftsver-
trages. Der Wettkampf um die Unterschiede kann immer
wieder neu entbrennen. (Safranski, 2008).
How does this competition for superiority materialize in the
novel? It unfolds in a self-defeating strategy that prompts a
solitude reminiscent of a Hobbesian dystopic view of human
nature which is disastrous for everyone (cf. also Stirner, 1972).
On the one hand, the projections and constructions build on the
images derived from the context of the ontological solitude.
The aim is to identify white people with the ancient heroes
placed in a solitary position that makes the border of humanity
as visible and stable as if carved in stone. On the other hand,
the conditions to realize this aim are entirely modern: there is
no clear border, only an imagined fear of the foreign that threat-
ens to deprive the whites of their unique humanness. So, the
aim and the conditions do not match and the projections and
constructions fall apart. Throughout the novel they lose their
validity and all the whites become isolated atoms in a void
without belonging anywhere, neither white heroes nor people at
home in a shared life with the natives. Panic-stricken, they enter
a state of unbearable emotional solitude similar to that of Fran-
kenstein and his monster. The images of the classical ontologi-
cal solitude have exhausted their power, and the self-sought
contemplative solitude of the early moderns and their followers
has no value.
In a fraudulent rejection of the humanity of others—other
people, other cultures—this competition for a positive self-
definition, as Safranski puts it, produces mutual solitude on
both sides. In a spiraling process of escalating terror the sol-
diers ultimately produce their own self-alienation, and the na-
tives withdraw to the desert, some in despair. Solitude becomes
the ultimate sign of defeat, not a road to humanity. This general
breakdown of the social order constitutes a modern parallel to
the cosmic upheaval in King Lear with effects of the same
magnitude. The order of the universe does not break down, only
the false projections and constructions that attempt to reinstall it.
But the emerging solitude is equally profound.
This melt-down comes out of two parallel sets of events, one
happens between the whites and the natives, the other among
the whites alone. At a certain point, Joll sets out into the desert
with a group of soldiers to hunt down the barbarians. But out
there, Joll and his men are the foreigners and the natives are at
home, the humankind of the desert: a boundless void for the
whites, a readable map for the natives, who lure the troops out
where they are helplessly lost. After three months a horse re-
turns to the frontier settlement, carrying a dead soldier mounted
on it like a monster, neither man nor beast. He is followed by
Joll totally out of his mind, as scared as if he had seen the heart
of darkness, solitary out there and also now when he is back in
the town with the Magistrate. He is terrified in his self-inflicted
emotional solitude like Frankenstein's monster who also, in a
mixture of rage and tears, realizes that he cannot by himself
transcend his solitude. Joll has been left alone in the desert by
his men, scattered in all directions, nobody knows where:
'Gone. Scattered all over the place. I don't know where
they are. We had to find our own way. It was impossible
to keep together.' […] 'Let me go!' he sobs. He is no
stronger than a child. […] 'We starved in the desert. Why
did no one tell us it would be like that? We were not
beaten—they let us out into the desert and then they vani-
shed' (Coetzee, 1982).
The boundary of humankind does not separate the whites
from the natives, but becomes visible as a split within the indi-
vidual human experiencing his desperate solitude.
The second dismantling of unsubstantiated projections and
constructions happens in the barracks while Joll is away. The
soldiers remaining in town have nothing to do but to maintain a
distance to the natives and demonstrate their own superiority.
The sadistic deputy commander, Mandel, brings cruelty to a
new level of ferociousness with the soldiers as rampant ma-
rauders. But, as Safranski states, in a world of mutual indiffer-
ence human identity can only be established by the creation of a
non-human showing that the monstrous belongs to others. This
becomes clear when the Magistrate is repeatedly tortured by the
soldiers, mostly to entertain themselves to avoid being more
terrified than they already are, face to face with an unknown
social and geographical territory around them. He is a friend of
the Barbarians, they say; he is the barbarian within and must be
removed by being turned into a non-human. At the end he is
dressed up as a woman before they haul him up, backwards
with his arms tied across his back, and make him swing, a fly-
ing human, a true species-crossing monster, crying out in pain.
The soldiers laugh: "He calls his barbarian friends. It is barbar-
ian language we hear" (Coetzee, 1982).
Taken down, the Magistrate is left to himself, still a monster:
here he sees himself like a dog licking his food, unable to move
arms and legs. His solitude is as profound as Joll's on his return,
both of them with a weakened body and a reduced language.
Joll is the victim of his own projections of fear of the foreign on
the natives, the Magistrate the victim of the soldiers' need to con-
stantly assert themselves by constructing the monstrous as being
outside themselves. When Joll comes back alone, the remaining
soldiers disappear as scattered individuals and, as in the begin-
ning, the Magistrate is left with the natives, but now as a soli-
tary being left with his remorseful ruminations. Any tacit, mu-
tual understanding between him and the natives has disappeared.
He slowly realizes that he has just been another manifestation of
the imperial power, soft power in contrast to Joll's tough power,
but in the end two sides of the same coin (Coetzee, 1982).
Constructions and projections of the monstrous and the bar-
barian have come back with a vengeance, producing a deep
solitude shared by torturers and victims alike. "The crime that
is latent in us we must inflict on ourselves," the Magistrate spe-
culates, realizing that in his complacent negligence he has been
as oppressive as Joll (Coetzee, 1982). If Frankenstein pro-
duced the proto-human monster outside himself, here it is
unleashed inside the characters. The boundlessness of the desert
rubs off on everyone with no projections or constructions to
rely on, but as a story for us to contemplate.
Negotiating Humanity
Solitude, historical and contemporary, still represents a the-
me for a reflection on this cultural mechanism of identity for-
mation in a permanent negotiation between need for the other
and opposition to the other. Solitude is a construction embed-
ded in and determined by the narratives of a collective social
universe that turns solitude into a readable sign we can interpret.
I know no better medium than literature for that purpose. It
reworks our language by inventing forms of expression that
highlight the process, showing the complexity of multiple per-
spectives, the dynamics of cultural boundaries and the dia-
logues across the history of creative thinking and imaginative
Literature does not create monsters, but it may give them a
name. It does not warn us of the wrath of the gods through the
solitary characters at the boundary of humankind, but reminds
us of our responsibility for keeping the borders open and dy-
namic, not a rigid opposition between us and them, turning
people on both sides of the dividing line into monstrous bar-
barians. Literature cannot prevent monsters occurring. But via a
reflection on solitude it can make us aware of how they lurk in
the underworld of our identity formation and reach the surface
the moment we stop renegotiating the boundaries of humankind,
but take them for granted.
Auster, P. (1982/1989). The inventio n of solitude. London: Penguin.
Balzac, H. (1977/1832). Une passion dans le désert. La comédie hu-
maine VIII. Paris: Gallimard/La Pleïade, 1221-1232.
Breitenfellner, K., & Kohn-Levy, C. (1998). Wie ein monster entsteht.
Bodenheim: Philo.
Cavafy, P. (1898). Waiting for the Barbarians.
http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/jod/texts/cavafy.html
Coetzee, J. M. (1982/1980). Waiting for the Barbarians. Harmonds-
worth: Penguin.
Defoe, D. (1965/1719). Robinson Crusoe. London: Penguin.
Descartes, R. (1991/1637). Discours de la méthode suivi de la diop-
trique. Paris: Gallimard.
Donne, J. (1998/1634). Meditation 17. In M. H. Abrams, & S. Green-
blatt, (Eds.), The Norton anthology of English literature 1 (pp. 1277-
1278). London/New York: Norton.
Engelberg, E. (2001). Solitude and its ambiguities in modernist fiction.
New York: Palgrave.
Fergusson, F. (1992). Solitude and the sublime. The romantic aesthe-
tics of individuation. London: Routledge.
Gangopadhyay, S. (1997/1981). Those days. New Delhi: Penguin India.
Hall, Edith (1989). Inventing the Barbarian. Greek self-definition
through tragedy. Oxford: Clarendon.
Hannoun, M. (1993). Solitudes et sociétés. Paris: Presses Universitaires
Françaises.
Hassig, D. (1995). Medieval bestiaries: text, image, ideology. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kant, I. (1905/1764). Beobachtungen über das gefühl des schönen und
erhabenen. Kant's gesammelte schriften II. Berlin: Königliche
Preuβische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Kappler, C. (1980). Monstres, démons et merveilles à la fin du moyen
age. Paris: Payot.
Kierkegaard, S. (1968). Søren kierkegaards papirer. Copenhagen: Gyl-
dendal.
Larsen, S. E. (2004). Mostri et incontri culturali. In O. Innocenti, (Ed.),
Incontri (= Quaderni di synapsi s III) (pp. 24-37). Firenze: Monnier.
Moorhouse, G. (1974). The fearful void. London: Hodder and Stough-
ton.
Möhrmann, R. (1974). Der vereinsamte mensch: Studien zum wandel
des einsamkeitsmotivs im Roman von rabe bis musil. Bonn: Bouvier.
Naudin, P. (1995). L'expérience et le sentiment de la solitude dans la
littérature française de l'aube des lumières à la révolution. Paris:
Klincksieck.
Paz, O. (1985). The labyrinth of solitude and other writings. New York:
Grove.
Petrarca, F. (1955/c. 1350). De vita solitaria (Italian/Latin). Milano:
Ricciardi.
Pliny the Elder (1961/1st Century BCE). Naturalis historia. London:
Safranski, R. (2008/1997). Das böse oder das drama der freiheit.
Frankfurt a.M.: Fischer.
Shakespeare, W. (2001/1606). King Lear (Arden ed.). London: Thomas
Sheehan, J., & Sosna, M. (1991). The boundaries of humanity. Berke-
ley: University of California Press.
Shelley, M. (2000/1817). Frankenstein. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Stirner, M. (1972/1845). Der einsame und sein eigentum. Stuttgart: Re-
clam.
Wittkower, R. (1977). Marvels of the east: A study in the history of
monsters. In R. Wittkower (Ed.), Allegory and the migration of sym-
bols (pp. 46-74). London: Thames and Hudson.


We will remember this summer of 2010 as our earliest and shortest season on record. There are two reasons for this- damage from winter moths (see Links under more...) was extensive- 40% of the crop was lost- and the early, excessive, and prolonged heat and humidity pushed the ripening too quickly to stagger over several weeks. For those of us who work the land, no year is ever quite like another and we have learned to be flexible and tolerant, grateful, for all we have, and still hopeful for better years ahead.
We thank all of you once again for your patronage of Hokum Rock Farm. We hope you and your family enjoyed your visits and all the blueberries and memories you brought home with you. We also extend thanks to our many loyal helpers- M.J., John, Harry, Evangeline, Leo, Jack, Sandra, Deb, Barb, Liz, Owen, and finally, Janice, our web master and co-editor and publisher of our sold out recipe book, and of course- Audrey, Stella, Buddy and Cobie. Until next summer- visit us here on the web!


Hi guys, first post here. I have installed the MHD back end flash on my 07 335i and for some reason it causes the car to rev limit at 4.5k rpm. It's driving me nuts. No codes. I've installed it before and sometimes it doesn't do this. I've tried different DCAN cables, same thing. Used both race and pump flash, same thing. Installed stock map first and then completely reinstalled the BEF, no change. Fully charged battery with charger hooked up during install. Let the car go to sleep after the install. WTF!!! Any ideas guys?
Doesn't add up so post a log!
Just guessing here but seems like u have misfires not rev limiter. Common symptom after installing a bef or JB4 is chronic misfires. Mileage? Mods? Logs?? Without u posting the basic info necessary I'm just assuming ur relatively new to the platform/tuner and should start with the basics before assuming more complicated that the obvious. Is auto delete on? Did u get the tuner brand new or second hand?
Are you using the right BEF?
Take a good look at your JB4 settings. Me thinks you may be in valet mode.
I'm reading that some people are saying 4/2 and 4/3 are to toggle transport mode on and off? Was this on some old jb4 models? If so, which one turns the BEF on and off on my car if I have this old jb4?
ok looks like I had old firmware where 4/3 and 4/2 were to toggle transport mode on/off, I thought it was for turning the BEF on and off like the latest firmware. Updating it now.
Don't leave TRA on it will cut out regardless of flash.
If TRA shows in dash you need to turn it off!
Then you must have a other issue. 2step installed?
Then log issue coming up.


text:
Winter Counts
Author: David Heska Wanbli Weiden
An addictive and groundbreaking debut thriller set on a Native American reservationVirgil Wounded Horse is the local enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When justice is denied by the American legal system or the tribal council, Virgil is hired to deliver his own punishment, the kind that's hard to forget. But when heroin makes its way into the reservation and finds Virgil's own nephew, his vigilantism suddenly becomes personal. He enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend and sets out to learn where the drugs are coming from, and how to make them stop. They follow a lead to Denver and find that drug cartels are rapidly expanding and forming new and terrifying alliances. And back on the reservation, a new tribal council initiative raises uncomfortable questions about money and power. As Virgil starts to link the pieces together, he must face his own demons and reclaim his Native identity. He realizes that being a Native American in the twenty-first century comes at an incredible cost. Winter Counts is a tour-de-force of crime fiction, a bracingly honest look at a long-ignored part of American life, and a twisting, turning story that's as deeply rendered as it is thrilling.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Promote safe practice to minimise risks, protecting & safeguarding all children. To enable staff to fulfil their responsibilities as defined in "Working Together to Safeguard Children 2000" & "Safeguarding Children - Working Together for Positive Outcome.
The "All Wales Child Protection Procedures"


text:
Buffalo drafted Brett Murray in 2016. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
Sabres prospect Brett Murray thrilled to make NHL debut: 'At a loss for words'
Buffalo Sabres rookie Brett Murray experienced an unconventional path to the NHL, moving backwards before taking small steps forward.
Three years ago, Murray, who made his NHL debut in Thursday's 8-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, left Penn State and returned to junior. Before last season, after making a stronger commitment to his conditioning, he received an AHL contract.
Murray, a fourth-round pick in 2016, 99th overall, parlayed a solid rookie campaign with the Rochester Americans into an entry-level NHL contract.
This year, the 6-foot-5, 228-pound Murray, 22, has morphed into the Amerks' leading scorer, compiling nine goals and 19 points in 23 games.
Then on Thursday morning, Murray, who earned a recall to the taxi squad Tuesday, spotted his name on the Sabres' line chart during the pregame meeting inside PPG Paints Arena.
"I'm at a loss for words," Murray said on a Zoom call. "It's honestly something that you work for, every player has worked for their entire life. To finally see your name on a line chart in the NHL is just one of the coolest things in the world."
Murray said his journey to the big leagues "might be a little different than the guy sitting next to me."
"Yeah, it was different, but I think I came to the rink every day wanting to compete and wanting to move up, wanting to make it to where I am today," he said. "It was a weird journey but I'm here now and now my goal is to stay here."
Murray's size and skill make him an intriguing prospect. He skated at left wing beside center Riley Sheahan and Drake Caggiula on the fourth line against the Penguins.
"I'm really excited to see him," interim Sabres coach Don Granato said. "I watched him in training camp and there were a lot of things he did in training camp that were impressive with his size and frame, intelligence around the net, intelligence and awareness of what's around him linemate-wise and situation-wise, opposition."
Murray has worked with Amerks coach Seth Appert to utilize his size and mold himself into an asset that would be attractive to the Sabres.
"I'm a bigger player, that means using my size to create space, not only for myself, but for my linemates down low," Murray said of his style. "Just reliable at both ends of the ice, getting to the front of the net and, again, using my size just to … create turnovers and get the puck back to our stick and hopefully to the back of the net."
Granato said Murray was consistently effective and "impactful" in that role.
"He earned it," he said of Murray's NHL debut.
Murray became the seventh Sabre to play his first NHL game this season.
The rookie replaced Cody Eakin, who has "got some soreness," Granato said. The Sabres recalled Murray from the taxi squad prior to the game and assigned forward Jean-Sebastien Dea to the practice group.
Meanwhile, defenseman Will Borgen missed his second straight game. Granato said Borgen is probable for Saturday's season finale in Pittsburgh.
"He's still dealing with some minor injury issue," Granato said.
Granato left open the possibility Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark could play Saturday, although it appears unlikely. The Swede has missed the last 13 games recovering from a lower-body injury.
Ullmark, 27, started skating with his teammates again Monday.
"He has to tell us that he's comfortable and can do what he needs to do," Granato said. "He knows the standard and our expectations of when we go in the net. … I would say it's not probable, but if he comes to me and says he's ready to go, I would probably make room for him."
Author Bill HoppePosted on 05.07.21 05.08.21 Categories Appert, Borgen, Caggiula, Dea, Eakin, Granato, Houser, Murray, Pittsburgh Penguins, Rochester Americans, Sheahan, Ullmark
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text:
HSA FEBRUARY 2022 SONG OF THE MONTH COMMENTS CLOSED/ VOTING FOR SONG OF THE MONTH CONTEST /ETC.
Attention HSA Members,
The HSA February 2022 Song of the Month Comments Area is now closed. A special thanks to all of the members who reviewed and commented on the songs posted. Your fellow songwriters appreciate your participation and feedback on their songs. If a songwriter wants to make a copy of their song comments, they should be able to print out a copy of the page from their Edit area section.
FEBRUARY VOTING - Voting for the February Song of the Month Contest is scheduled to open on February 21 through February 28, 2022.
MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL – If you haven't already done so, please renew your HSA 2022 Yearly Membership Dues by February 28, 2022 to keep your membership active. You can renew them on-line through PayPal on the Home Page or Members Area of the website.
HSA FEBRUARY ZOOM MEETING – A special thanks to the 14 members for joining the Zoom Meeting on Sunday, February 13. 8 songs received verbal comments from the attending members.
KPFT 90.1 FM Songwriters Studio - HSA Interview with David Hanshaw – We are so grateful to Tom Tranchilla and Lloyd Daniel for their generosity in featuring the Houston Songwriters Association as their February 13, 2022 Sunday Topic on their 5:00PM radio station. HSA's, Vice President and guest member, David Hanshaw, did an excellent interview on the history of HSA and 10 songs created by HSA members were played on the radio. If you missed the 5:00 show, click on the link at the bottom of the Home Page of our HSA website at www.houstonsongwriters.net, or Lloyd Daniel's YouTube page at Songwriter Studio and All About the Houston Songwriters Association - YouTube .
Thank you for your membership and participation in the Song of the Month Contest.
Houston Songwriters Association


Most Legii is located in Prague. It couldn't be easier to arrange your visit to Most Legii and many more Prague attractions: make an itinerary online using Inspirock's Prague road trip planning tool .
Guidebook described Kardashian bridge. I was surprised to run across somehow Manes bridge 22 and 23-across the bridge during the Prague visit was mainly moving tram is a tram, runs along the Vltava River 17 tram routes. That is a destination at the time was the Vice flood 17 tram transfer on the way and had no problems. Is a tram route changed because the event is being Kardashian bridge on the bridge had been closed. See the event landscape from the tram, and found the reason for the change. Sometimes, even then, trams ran way route map. Caution is required when you ride a tram in Prague.
People think of Charles Bridge when they think about Prague but this one is a great one. The view is amazing. Everything about this bridge is amazing.
Amazing views, so beautiful and peaceful. We found going down at 6am-8am is the best time to beat the crowds and take in the view fully.
Beautiful bridge with great views all around , but I do recommend waking up 7-8am if you want to take a nice photo . Later on it becomes way crowded and hard to capture a good angle .
The Legion Bridge (Most Legií) is a granite bridge between the National Theatre and Újezd. From the bridge you can get to Střelecký Island, an island in the middle of the Vltava river at this place. The bridge was built between 1899 – 1901 and replaced the earlier Francis I Chain Bridge (built in 1841). It was built from the innitiative of a businessman Vojtěch Lana and designed by Antonín Balšánek. It was famously opened on 14th June 1901, Franz Joseph, after whom the bridge was originally called (until 1919) presided over the opening. The bridge 345,5 m long and 16 wide and is divided into 9 elliptical arches. The architectural details are the done in a combination of neo-Baroque and Art Nouveau styles.
second best bridge after Charles bridge in Prague.. this bridge is situated above a park with seating areas. best to go during the sunset and enjoy the beauty of Prague shining in gold light.
Every day, we help thousands of travelers plan great vacations. Here are some tips on how to use your Listing Page to attract more travelers to your business - Most Legii.
Promote your permanent link - https://www.inspirock.com/czech-republic/prague/most-legii-a6534859083 - on your website, your blog, and social media. When a traveler builds a plan from this page, the itinerary automatically includes Most Legii. This is a great way for travelers looking for a great vacation in your city or country to also experience Most Legii. Promoting your link also lets your audience know that you are featured on a rapidly growing travel site. In addition, the more this page is used, the more we will promote Most Legii to other Inspirock users.
For best results, use the customized Trip Planning Widget for Most Legii on your website. It has all the advantages mentioned above, plus users to your site can conveniently access it directly on your site. Visitors to your site will appreciate you offering them help with planning their vacation. Setting this up takes just a few minutes - Click here for instructions.


Ruminants—those that graze on grass and fibrous plant, partially digest them, and then re-chew the cud—rely on a host of naturally occurring bacteria to aid in the digestion of their meal. One group of microbes that helps this process is known as the hyper-ammonia-producing bacteria (HABs). These HABs produce ammonia, though, which reduces the animal's ability to turn amino acids into fresh, tasty muscle tissue.
To make up for these lost amino acids, cattle growers add expensive yet inefficient high-protein additives to the animal's feed stock. According to Agricultural Research Service (ARS)—the scientific research agency of the USDA—scientist Michael Flythe, this problem can be addressed by adding a key ingredient from the brewer's toolkit: hops. His work shows that hops can reduce the HAB populations, which makes sense, as hops were originally added to beer to limit bacterial growth.
The experiments added either dried hops flowers or hops extract into either a culture of pure HABs, or a mixture of bacteria collected from a living cow's rumen (its first of four stomachs). Both types of hops inhibited the growth of HABs and reduced the amount of ammonia they produced. While the work may not immediately result in tastier beef, hopefully it can represent the first step in allowing me to get a steak in the US as good as the steaks I have had in Alberta, Canada.
We went with the USDA's announcement of the results here because, with a name like ARS, how could we not?


And so we come to the end of another world year. It's not exactly my favourite time, but well, what can you do?
As usual, I'll be spending New Year's Eve alone. I'll be in Second Life I suppose, with anyone who'll hang out with me. We'll see. I've been told I could go out and track down a party, and yes, I suppose that's right, but I don't think I will. I've not had the best of years, to be honest. Freya's been a really bright spot, as have other friends, both in Second Life and other worlds, and I'm working again, which can't be bad.
But I've had some emotional setbacks lately – mostly due to myself of course. I'm still alone in that world people call Real, and that doesn't look like changing any time soon. Perhaps it's fate (No Damien, not you). At least I do have some wonderful friends on-line and I just want to thank them today for being there for me. You're the best I could hope for, and I love you all.
May the New Year, 2006, bring you all health, happiness and prosperity. May your wishes come true, and above all, may it be a better one than the last few have been.
Freedom of speech or Freedom to leave?
Why is it that while some people get banned or suspended for innocuous quips (and indeed threads locked wholesale for less), some people, usually some of the most hate filled, grief spewing bigots are allowed to get away with anything they like?
Now I might be wrong – correct me if I am – but when one person can post that another has written nothing of interest whatever in almost 10,000 posts, and then follow up causing the victim to want to leave the forums altogether, then something is most certainly wrong.
Now don't take my word for it. On the one hand, we have Willow Zander, a girl who (apart from quarrels with ex-lovers) has never said a bad word against anyone. On the other, we have Ulrika Zugzwang, a vicious self centred pseudo intellectual who'll pull out all the stops to insult and degrade anyone who holds an opinion different to hers. If one of these could be described as never having written anything worth reading, it wouldn't be Willow.
The very fact that Ulrika is still allowed to post to the SL Forums is little short of a travesty. She even seems to believe the nonsensical waffle she spews forth. She's worse than Prokofy ever was!


For most travelers who hardly keep up with their exact points balances or know how to transfer points and what not, the program is easier. There's one chart to tell you how many points you'll need, there's one points currency that covers all Marriott, Ritz and Starwood Hotels and you can use your points on almost any date, with greater ease. And if you don't to use your points for hotels, you can use them for other things.
For most travelers, this is the most important, or only important factor. You can now use your points on virtually any night whatsoever, so long as a standard room is available. This is an improvement on the previous Marriott program.
If you had 10,000 SPG points, you'll soon have 30,000 Marriott points. Just multiply by three. If you have 30,000 Marriott – you'll still have 30,000 Marriott Rewards points. Going forward, basic members will earn 10 points per dollar on hotel stays. Frequent guests will earn up to 17.5! Nice….
Staying 10 nights in a year in just Starwood or just Marriott hotels was a bit tricky for many. Now that both groups count together as one, getting to Silver status after 10 nights at any Marriott, Starwood or Ritz property is essentially 3x less difficult.
For 95% of Starwood and Marriott fans, a major shrug is the future of their credit card earnings. It appears the Starwood credit cards will now earn at less effective rates than before, at least if you hoped to use points for flights. Marriott will be largely unchanged. New cards are being launched over the next couple months, so keep an eye out for better ways to earn – and some huge sign up bonuses.
Free wifi is one of the few things the world can agree on. Marriott and SPG's new combined program will offer free wifi to all guests who join the free Marriott Rewards loyalty program, so long as they book direct with Marriott. This is simple and easy and you'd honestly be crazy not to join the program. Did you know you can get a free night after two stays when you join?
From a simple city attraction to VIP tickets at top sporting events, concerts and festivals all the way to crazy private Michelin star chef dinners featuring cooking lessons from Michelin starred chefs, Moments are a big part of the new program. You can now use points to acquire anything from a ferris wheel ride to an afternoon tea. And yes, the crazy cool VIP experiences, like traveling with the Bayern Munich football team still exist too.
Starwood Gold and Marriott Gold become Marriott Platinum – unless you acquired either by the Amex Platinum credit card. If you did, you will remain Gold. Be sure to link your accounts so you'll keep lounge access and 4PM late check out. Going forward these cards will only offer Marriott Gold status, aka no lounge access.
35,000 SPG points was the max per night a top luxe hotel would cost under the previous Starwood program. In the newly combined Marriott Rewards program, the highest end hotels currently max out at 60,000 points per standard night, the equivalent of 20,000 SPG points under the present programs. For current Marriott members, this isn't the most exciting news, but for SPG members this is great as they'll save almost 30,000 points per night in the new program. There's even talk of the crazy exclusive luxury hotels being offered at 60,000 points!
Many very frequent guests were worried that "suite night certificates", where certain members can book a basic room and instantly upgrade to a suite for free would go away. They haven't, and there's now more opportunity to use them since they can now be used at almost triple the hotels. At 50 nights Platinum members will receive 5 suite upgrades. At each threshold thereafter they can earn even more.
If you've been feverishly building up SPG balances to transfer your points for an amazing flight, you still can. Nothing has changed. The points will feel different, since they will multiply by three, but any points you have will have the same value, and transferring them will have the same value. If you stay at hotels, you'll now earn more points per night than Starwood previously received, so you'll acquire your future airline points with more ease when staying at hotels.
It's hard to beat a great hotel breakfast. Marriott Platinum and above members in the newly combined loyalty program will have the choice of bonus points or a free breakfast on stays at more brands. It would've been nice to see Ritz Carlton join the free breakfast game, but an improvement is an improvement.
Marriott clarified to us that roughly 60% of the year will be available at the new standard rates, 20% will be at peak rates and 20% will also be off peak. These dates will vary by region and though you may pay more for select "peak" hotels, you'll effectively pay somewhere around 20% less than previously for off peak hotels.
Tech and travel are a lovely pairing. Marriott is investing heavily in mobile check in, mobile check out and phones that can open doors. As the new programs combine, we'll see increased ways that our phone can do most of the things that usually require time, effort, phone calls or stress.
Travelers who spent the ridiculous amount of time in hotels required to achieve lifetime status will be transitioned into the new Marriott program. SPG Lifetime Platinum was easier to attain, so these travelers will receive Platinum for life. Marriott Lifetime Platinums will receive the new, slightly upgraded Platinum Premier for life.
I'm absolutely one of the losers with the new program. While there are a few bright spots, these changes drop the value proposition a lot for me.
Currently I'm SPG Platinum from 53 nights last year plus another 10 from Amex SPG night credits. Under current plans, I will have 43 nights when the programs consolidate. I've never stayed in a Marriott, so my status there is all from matches. While IMO a six tier system is wildly over complicated, it is what it is. Where I take umbrage is in the fact that I will be unlikely to reach 50, and absolutely will not reach 75 nights next year. The removal of the second and third room is an active disincentive for me. Now instead of choosing SPG/Marriott hotels specifically to earn more qualifying nights while traveling with my family, I'm more inclined to choose elsewhere because I know that I'm unlikely to requalify anyway.
On the earning front, I put around 10K/month of general spending on my SPG business card. While things stay as they are, I'll continue to do so, but when you cut down earnings by 1/3, it becomes much less valuable. With the reduced earnings, transfers to airlines become pretty much a 1:1 from each Starpoint, which really guts the value. There will still presumably be a ton of airline transfer partners, which makes this slightly more palatable, but it's just really bad. My SPG business card may be cancelled. Should Amex offer a premium business card with truly valuable benefits, I may product change or apply to the new card.
As to redemptions, the seasonal rates sound fine, but does anyone really believe that this will allow members to get more value, rather than less from the program? Me neither. I also am skeptical that the high season will remain for only 20% of the year. Additionally, Marriott has become known for substantial devalutions. Even for next year, there's already a new top category. Just look at how the credit card free night became worth less and less every year due to category creep. This just seems like more of the same from Marriott, just in a nice new package.
To round out the areas that trouble me, I've been working toward lifetime status with SPG, but Marriott's move to make existing lifetime status for Marriott members considerably more valuable than similar SPG members shows that they don't think as highly of the Starwood customers. This difference just speaks ill of Marriott. Devaluing the suite benefit for 50 night customers from 10 nights to 5 doesn't do much to burnish their tarnished reputation either, not to mention the devaulations they're doing to the upper tiers as well. Oh, and breakfast and club access should not depend on the chain within the company. Why are Ritz-Carlton hotels exempt from providing elite benefits? One other thing that's more of a lurking suspicion than a gripe so far is whether hotels will be -required- to upgrade members into suites. Marriott's wording seems to leave a lot of wiggle room, where SPG's did not, so this is unlikely to be a mistake.
With all of these points put together, I just don't think that the new program will be for me. There absolutely are some benefits compared to the old program. The free breakfast at Courtyard hotels is probably the most tangible, at least for elite members. The problem is that that's more than counterbalanced by much tougher requalification standards, weaker benefits, and considerably less value on my general spending. Of course, for all I know, Marriott doesn't even want me as an elite level customer. With them, it's often tough to tell.


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when I was that age, too.
I think that this is my all-time favourite picture book. It works for any child because of its short, poetic text where every word counts, but it's the illustrations that really tell the story. It's perfect for a child who is sitting on your lap looking at the pictures as you read.
Frances is a young badger and she's a delightful, quirky character, but can be a bit obstinate and goes through a stage where she won't eat anything more adventurous than bread and jam. Illustrations by Lillian Hoban.
A book of rhymes with wonderful, quirky illustrations by Harold Jones. I remember we got it out of the library and liked it so much that I went out and bought a copy. I feel it's important for children to learn nursery rhymes.
It tells the story of three very different sisters who are sent to stage school. I have read a few Streatfeild stories aloud because they're easy, entertaining books, but they are quite long, so for a young child, it's perhaps best to read just a few chapters at a time. They really are lovely, engaging tales.
This is a warm story about a tomboy called Katy. She falls from a swing and is confined to her bed for a year and no one knows whether she'll walk again. And there's the saintly cousin, Helen, who got on my nerves terribly, but my daughter thought she was wonderful.
Instead of a rags to riches story, this is a riches to rags story. It's about a rich, but not spoilt, little girl who's left at a boarding school when her father loses all his money. Here she has to be a maid and live in the attic, where she has a pet rat as a friend. It ends happily and is a good, girly read.
Nesbit wrote in Edwardian times so her books are a little dated, but she has a lively style and they're particularly good to read aloud because each chapter finishes the story within it. All her books are wonderful, but this one with the irritable sand fairy, the Psammead, is a particular favourite.
I try to get every girly girl to read this one because those four sisters are so real. Everybody's favourite is Jo, the tomboy who wants to be a writer. Emma loved it and we had a wonderful holiday in New England where we went to Louisa May Alcott's house.
Technically this is an adult book, but I read it to Emma when she was about 10. She particularly enjoyed the first few chapters when Jane is a little girl and she's treated badly by her aunts and her cousins and then packed off to a terrible boarding school.


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A blog providing news, analysis, insight, and commentary on the war in Afghanistan.
Northern Afghanistan. The winter season has slowed down the Taliban offensive during recent months in the north of Afghanistan. However, some observers think that the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) should press home the fight before the spring offensive begins by the Taliban. Read more in "The Winter Storms of Northern Afghanistan", Radio Free Europe, February 14, 2016.
Taliban Fighting in Ghazni. The Nawa district is seeing some fighting between different Taliban factions (Mullah Mansoor vs. Mullah Mohammad Rasool). There also seems to be some discontent among Taliban groups in Paktika province as well. Read "Deadly clashes erupting between rival Taliban groups in Ghazni", Khaama Press, February 16, 2016.
Scores Killed in Helmand. The fighting in Helmand province goes on. The districts of Sangin and Marjah are heavily contested - and we are just talking about the district government compound; not the outlying areas of the district away from the district center - those areas being under the control of the Taliban. There is concern among observers that the provincial capital may be threatened. Read more in "Dozens of Afghan soldiers and police killed in Helmand", Reuters, February 16, 2016.
Ghost Soldiers. One of the persistent problems of the ANDSF is the "Ghost" soldier or policeman. The salaries are being paid but they are not present for duty since they 1) don't report to work, 2) don't exist, 3) have been killed, 4) etc., etc., and etc. Read more in "Pentagon scrambles to account for Afghan 'ghost' troops", Military Times, February 16, 2016.
Bergdahl Trade. Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says that the U.S. may have paid too heavy a price for the deserter. (Business Insider, Feb 18, 2016).
ANDSF Completes Anti-ISIS Opn. In this 30-second long video we learn that the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces have completed an anti-ISIS operation in Achin district, Nangarhar province. (Radio Free Europe, Feb 15, 2016). In addition, the U.S. is bombing ISIS and the Taliban are also fighting ISIS. Hmmmm.
Swedish-run Med Clinic Attacked. The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) says that the ANDSF conducted a raid on its health clinic in Wardak province in the village of Tangi Saidan. The village is reported to be under the control of the Taliban. Government sources say three Taliban fighters in the clinic were killed. Read more in "Afghanistan: Three killed in raid on Swedish-run clinic", BBC News, February 18, 2015.
ICRC Workers Kidnapped. Five aid workers belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were kidnapped and then released in southeastern Ghazni province. The ICRC has been operating in Afghanistan since 1987. (Khaama Press, Feb 19, 2016.)
Power Restored? Kabul has experienced an electrical power shortage due to transmission lines north of the city being interdicted by the Taliban. It appears that, after one month, the lights will soon come back on in the big city.
AAF Needs More Support. The National Security Advisor for Afghanistan, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, says that the Afghan Air Force needs more support from the United States. (Khamma Press, Feb 16, 2016).
AAF and CIVCAS. One news report indicates that civilian casualties caused by the Afghan Air Force is rising. See "The U.S.-funded Afghan air force is growing. So are civilian casualties it causes", The Washington Post, February 17, 2016.
BG Hicks to NATO Air Training Command - Afghanistan. BG David Hicks is heading to Afghanistan. See "Five officers to change roles, Air Force announces", Air Force Times, February 19, 2016.
About that MoD HQs Building. The Special Inspector General for the Reconstruction of Afghanistan (SIGAR) never seems to run out of bad news to report to the U.S. Congress on how badly things are going in Afghanistan. One of their latest reports tells us of the waste of money and construction problems associated with the new MoD headquarters building in Kabul. Read more in the SIGAR report dated February, 2016.
Drones for ANA. The Afghan army will receive their first unmanned aircraft in March according to a U.S. official. The U.S. will provide the remotely piloted ScanEagle and train up Afghan soldiers to operate the system. Afghans are currently being trained in the United States. A training period of three years will also take place in Afghanistan for about three years. Some of the initial training will take place in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif. The ANA will receive 8 systems with each system having six drones. (Reuters, Feb 18, 2016).
Poor ANDSF Leadership. "General John Campbell, the outgoing commander of Resolute support Mission and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, has said that poor leadership within the ranks of the Afghan security forces is their biggest hurdle and called on the country's leaders to bring reforms". Read more in a news report - "Poor Leadership A Major Issue for Afghan Troops: Campbell", Tolo News, February 13, 2016.
Posted by Afghan War Blog at 3:00 AM
Labels: leadership, security-news
A retired military officer and security professional provides news, insight, and comments about the war in Afghanistan.
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Going undercover with a marine biologist
Sure, everybody wants to be a marine biologist. It's a glamorous job: working on the ocean, diving off coral reefs, discovering a new species here, saving an endangered species there. It's definitely a profession that would have you as the talk of the table at dinners and family barbeques.
But what you don't often hear about is the behind the scenes work – the endless report writing, the rigorous trip planning, getting the smell of fish off your hands. Being a marine biologist is, at times, a thankless task.
Luckily for you, today we're going to focus on the glamorous part.
Marine biologists from our Wealth from Oceans Flagship and The University of Western Australia recently took a trip to the coral reefs of the Pilbara region, in north Western Australia, where they were scouting survey sites for the Pilbara Marine Conservation Partnership.
Platygyra coral form intricate patterns on a reef off the Southern Barrow Shoals, West Pilbara.
This five year project is taking a snap-shot of the health of the marine ecosystems in this biodiversity hotspot, compiling a baseline of research data that will inform environmental and industrial monitoring programs. This data will underpin the Pilbara's marine management and ensure long-term commercial and conservation sustainability in the region.
The Partnership is all about providing the science for sound decision making, and this research trip has put the process into practice.
Unfortunately, on the trip the research team found evidence of coral bleaching in the region due to some recent marine heatwaves, including the bleaching of a pocket of ancient coral heads – many up to 400 years old – that have provided an important record of reef health.
"We suspect this bleaching event was due to marine heatwaves that occurred in the region over the past few summers, and to see it up so close was sobering," said our lead scientist on the project, Dr Russ Babcock.
"But to offset this loss, some reefs only a short distance north showed much less damage and will continue to contribute to a healthy ecosystem. By studying these sorts of variations and why they occur, we can improve our overall understanding of the marine environment in the region, and how we can best preserve it".
"For myself and the research team, the greatest challenge for the Pilbara Marine Conservation Partnership will be to understand how the unique coral reefs in the Pilbara have adapted to such a diverse range of conditions, and how they will survive into the future. We want to make sure that the region's ecosystem is better understood and appreciated on an international scale," says Russ.
Find out more about the Partnership here.
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Administrators are the leaders in schools and in some buildings have been rebranded as lead learners, program directors, chief storytellers or some other trendy term. Now, some of these leaders are leading in title only but not through their actions. They wield their authority in a dictatorial manner which does little to help the teachers or students. However, some truly are leaders through the way in which they perform the duties of their job, regardless of their title. Interestingly, I have started to notice administrators who are effective and good at their job just simply act like good teachers.
Good teachers know the importance of building a classroom culture. In fact, they know this is the most important aspect of their job. They work to make sure every child feels valued and an important part of their classroom. An effective administrator does the same thing. When an administrator creates a positive culture, people want to work for them. Teachers are willing to go through some of the tough work because they know their administrator cares about them and has their back. Culture trumps all in the classroom as well as the building.
Good teachers don't punish a class for the actions of one child. They know the ineffectiveness of this method and deal with problems on a case by case basis. This too is seen with effective administrators. If one teacher or a small group of teachers are not following a school mandate or expectation, an effective administrator works with them personally. They know an all staff email is as pointless as a teacher yelling at the whole class for the actions of one student.
Good teachers know that not every student learns in the same way or on the same time frame. These teachers differentiate and provide individual instruction as well as support where and when needed. They have an intimate knowledge of their student's strengths and weaknesses.This too is a hallmark of good administrators. They do not subscribe to the one size fits all or sit and get model of professional development. In fact, it is hypocritical for an administrator to expect their teachers to differentiate for students when they won't for their own staff. Good administrators create professional development opportunities geared toward to individual needs of their teachers built upon individual need, interest, and choice.


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Q: How do multimedia players calculate framerate? What are some common or unusual ways that multimedia players like wmplayer.exe, realplayer.exe and vlc.exe use to calculate frame rate? I have read in some books that multimedia players usually rely on windows api like timeGetTime, QueryPerformanceCount, GeTickCount to calculate frame rate but is it practical to use SetTimer to do it? If not, what others ways do they use to calculate frame rate? I want to write universal playback speed controller for these players but not sure how wmplayer or realplayer does it.
p.s: I found out through trial and error that vlc.exe uses timeGetTime().

A: Players that stream media content don't normally need to calculate frame rate because it is defined by the input signal. Video input is typically a stream of timestamped video frames and the player's responsibility is to present an individual video frame right on time.
There is no frame rate in this equation, the player needs to match an individual frame time to current clock time. Reference clock might be either system time, or hardware device clock. It is typical to use audio output device as a reference clock, or video output device (if it is not a display).
If the input rate is variable or you otherwise want to get effective presentation frame rate, you don't need much of an accuracy for this because all you want is a running average of frames presented during last N seconds (GetTickCount accurancy is more than sufficient for this, no need in timeGetTime even though its use is okay as well; QueryPerformanceCounter is going to give the worst accuracy because it is not designed/expected to stay exactly realtime on long time intervals).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


This dress has been probably close to 3 months in the making!
I initially planned it to be my entry for the Little Red Dress challenge in December but never got around to finishing it. I then planned to have it done in time for Chinese New Year (cause red is always lucky!) but was caught up making pyjamas for me and my sisters instead!
So I missed all the deadlines I set myself but I persevered and managed to get it done anyway!
Enough of the chitchat – let's get down to what I made!
I picked up the 70s frill dress from Trend Patterns when it was released last year (I always try to get the PDF versions when there's a sale and then get them printed as they're quite expensive patterns). It's a full length, long sleeve dress with as many ruffles and gathers as could be fitted in! If you want to see how over the top it can look, check out this sample version that Trend made!
I wanted a more pared down version so I opted to do a short sleeved mini-ish dress instead!
The pattern itself is really interesting. The cap sleeve is grown onto the shoulder in an almost cape-like styled yoke. Because of that it's very fitted across the shoulder with potential for restricted upwards arm dancing… A frill is then sandwiched between the yoke and bodice. I opted to leave out the sleeve and instead finished my armhole edge by overlooking then turning the seam allowance. This allows the frill to act as a "sleeve" and makes it into a short sleeve style!
I used a dark red poly satin that I picked up at the 50p shop in Walthamstow. Beautiful fabric but a nightmare to work with!
It moved like crazy whilst cutting and pressed terribly. I had to whip out my clapper in order to get any of the seams and hems to lie flat!
It was frustrating to say the least but I'm glad I finished it!
It's a lot of fun to wear. I constantly feel the need to twirl whilst wearing it, just to see the frill flare out!
I hope it doesn't restrict your arms too much in practice because it looks PERFECT to dance in!


After that storm last night I can only imagine how beautiful Yosemite will be this morning if it got snow. I really, really want to take a drive there. We can't on Saturday and I'm not sure I can convince Dave to miss the football playoffs on Sunday.
These pictures were taken a few years ago when we visited Yosemite the day after a snow storm. They remain some of my favorites.
WOW!!! Judy you need to submit your photos to a postcard company or just print and frame and do an art show!!!!