From the junction at Woodland Junction (MP 82.4), where there are crossovers and the MoPac (now UP) line to Findlay Junction separates on the west side, the (now CSX, once L&N) Evansville line, continues on the east side, single track, CTC, maximum speed 60 mph for intermodal trains and 50 mph for other freight trains, heading just east of due south, past a grade crossing, Milford, Milford Junction, where an erstwhile branch once headed east, Cissna Junction, where an erstwhile branch from Cissna Park once trailed in from the west, a detector at MP 91.8, the 12,779 ft. east side siding at Wellington (MP 94.2), a 40 mph speed restriction from MP 98.6 to MP 100.5, Hoopeston (MP 99.2), where there was once a flat crossing with the erstwhile former Nickel Plate line from Lafayette to Bloomington, a 78-car dual-ended spur at Hoopeston (MP 99.8), and a detector at "Hoopeston" (MP 103.0).
The line turns south-southeast at the 12,475 ft. east side siding at Rossville (MP 107.1), at the south end of which there is a wye on the west side with the Brothers Branch (now truncated to Collison) and a 48-car south-facing spur, and was once a branch headed east, past a deck girder bridge over a river, south at Alvin, where there was once flat crossing with an erstwhile Illinois Central line, past Bismarck, a detector at MP 115.2, and BX Tower, where an erstwhile branch to Starr once headed southeast, and the line turns just west of due south, past West Newell and R.A. Junction (MP 120.0), where Yard Limits and Two Main Tracks start, turning just east of due south, bridging over an erstwhile New York Central line and turning south with a small yard on the east side and a 20 mph speed restriction from MP 122.8 to MP 123.6, past the resumption of single track at MP 122.9, turning south-southwest past a flat crossing with the NS (former Wabash) Lafayette to Decatur line, and then turning through south at Danville (MP 123.1), and southeast past a through girder bridge over the Conrail (former Peoria & Eastern) at MP 123.4 to head due east along the south side of that line.
There is a 50 mph speed restriction from MP 125.8, past the Oaklawn CEI Shops, on the south side, a turn south-southeast, a former flat crossing at Waltz with an erstwhile Milwaukee line and the yard on the west side at Brewer (MP 126.5), to MP 127.6, after which full line speeds prevail, the end of Yard Limits at R.B. Junction (MP 128.9), Rileysburg, the state line between Illinois and Indiana, Gessie, and Perrysville, where the line turns south past a detector at "Perrysville" (MP 134.5), a 75-car dual-ended spur at MP 137.2, the 16,000 ft. east side siding at Dickason (MP 137.6), a 30 mph speed restriction from MP 140.6 to MP 141.8, through Cayuga, a former flat crossing with the erstwhile NS (former Clover Leaf) at MP 141.2, and a 60-car east-side south-facing spur at Cayuga (MP142.1), for grain elevators to the east, turning southeast past Newport and then south again past the 9,900 ft. west side siding at Wro (MP 149.7), where a spur heads west to the Wabash River Ordnance Works.
The line continues south along the west side of the Wabash River, past Montezuma, a junction with the CSX Decatur sub. at Hillsdale (MP 154.5), once a flat crossing with the erstwhile B&O line east to Indianapolis, a detector at "Summit Grove" (MP 156.3), Locan, a 45 mph speed restriction from MP 161.4 to MP 163.0, through Clinton, the 11,509 ft. west side siding at Clinton (MP 162.9), where the erstwhile Hunts Spur once headed west and the main line turns southeast, bridging over the Wabash River to Lydford, and then turning curvily south, with a 55 mph speed restriction from MP 163.0 to MP 165.2, past Atherton to Otter Creek Junction, where it turns south-southwest, where an erstwhile PRR line from Crawfordsville and beyond once trailed in from the north-northeast, an erstwhile C&EI branch once headed east to Brazil, and the erstwhile PRR line headed south, joint with the C&EI.
There is a 40 mph speed restriction from MP 173.7 to MP 176.4, through Terre Haute, the Saxton Lead heading away west, where an erstwhile line to the former Big Four yard once headed south, the start of Yard Limits and a flat crossing with the Soo Line (now CP, former Milwaukee) at MP 174.7, the 4,896 ft. west side siding at Dewey (MP 174.8), a 30 mph speed restriction from MP 176.4 to MP 176.6 for the flat crossing with the Conrail (former Big Four) St. Louis Line at Haley (MP 176.5), the resumption of the 40 mph speed restriction from MP 176.6 to MP 180.4, through Terre Haute, a turn south, a former flat crossing at the erstwhile location of the C&EI station in Terre Haute, with the erstwhile PRR line from Indianapolis, and a flat crossing with the former Milwaukee connection from the former PRR Yard.
The line turns south-southeast and then just east of due south, with US 41 to the east, past the 13,890 ft. siding and yard on the east side at Baker (MP 179.9), with a grade crossing and dirt road to the east, within the siding, where the Riley Spur trails in from the northwest at the north end, a flat crossing with the Soo Line (now CP, former Milwaukee) at Spring Hill Belt Junction (MP 181.1), Spring Hill (MP 182.0), where a former Big Four line once crossed on the flat, and the section east of here is now operated by CSX to the Chinook Mine, a flat crossing with the Soo Line (now CP, former Milwaukee) at MP 182.1, a flat crossing with the Graham Grain Co., also at MP 182.1, and the end of Yard Limits, also at MP 182.1, as the line turns south.
There is a detector at MP 184.5, an 18-car north-facing spur at Young (MP 186.2), where there was once a line west to the Federal Penitentiary there, the 6,410 ft. east side siding at Pimento (MP 189.0), a 77-car dual-ended spur at Farmersburg (MP 192.5), an 18-car dual-ended spur at Breed (MP 196.5), where a line heads west to a power plant on the Wabash River, from a wye on the west side of the main line, Standard, where a branch once headed southeast, Hart, where a Milwaukee line once headed away southeast, a detector at "Sullivan" (MP 200.7), a turn just east of due south and then south again, the 9,390 ft. east side siding at Sullivan (MP 203.7), where there is a concrete coaling tower over both tracks, a grade crossing, an 18-car dual-ended spur, and a flat crossing with the Indiana Rail Road (former Illinois Central) at MP 204.4, with a grade crossing south of the siding.
The line passes Paxton, and a detector at MP 209.2, turning just west of due south past Carlisle, where there is a spur for ConAgra grain elevators on the east side, a 40 mph speed restriction from MP 219.8 to MP 220.7, through Oaktown, a grade crossing, elevators on tghe west side, the 9,335 ft. east side siding at Oaktown (MP 220.0), a detector at "Busseron" (MP 222.5), Emison, a 50 mph speed restriction from MP 227.6 to MP 233.7 as the line turns south, southwest past a 40-car north-facing spur at Smith (MP 229.0), south-southwest, just east of due south, and southwest where a former PRR line once trailed in from the northeast, past a 25 mph speed restriction from MP 233.7 to MP 236.3, through Vincennes, a 20-car dual-ended spur at MP 234.5, Vincennes (MP 234.6), where there are two grade crossings in the town center, there is a flat crossing with the CSX Illinois sub. (former B&O Cincinnati to St. Louis line), and the line turns just west of due south, a grade crossing, and a location where a former Big Four line once left to the southwest as the main line turns just east of due south, past the 6,972 ft. west side siding and yard at Alice (MP 236.4).
There is a grade crossing with Ramsey Road (MP 237.0), a turn just west of due south, Purcell, a detector at MP 241.0, Vollmer, where the line turns south, the 9,377 ft. east side siding at Decker (MP 246.3), a 55 mph speed restriction from MP 246.5 to MP 248.5 for the bridge over the White River, a 40 mph speed restriction from MP 248.5 to MP 249.1, through Hazleton as the line heads curvily just west of due south, a 45 mph speed restriction from MP 253.1 to MP 256.0, a detector at "Patoka" (MP 254.1), a grade crossing, Patoka, where the line turns south, a 55 mph speed restriction from MP 256.0 to MP 257.9, the 5,326 ft. east side siding at Gibson (MP 257.9), a 40 mph speed restriction from MP 257.9 to MP 260.3, through Princeton, and Princeton (MP 259.1).
The line turns south-southeast for a flat crossing with the NS (MP 260.0), former Southern line from Louisville to St. Louis, south where a connector east to that line departs on the east side, with a grade crossing across the line and the connector, past a 60-car dual-ended spur at MP 262.8, the 14,356 ft. west side siding at King (MP 265.3), an erstwhile wye on the west side where an erstwhile C&EI branch once headed west, a 40 mph speed restriction from MP 266.5 to MP 267.4, through Fort Branch, a 40 mph speed restriction from MP 269.3 to MP 270.3, through Haubstadt, with a grade crossing and streets to the east and west, a detector at MP 270.5, a 50 mph speed restriction from MP 271.5 to MP 272.1, Stacer, the 9,121 ft. east side siding at Ingle (MP 276.3), Ingleside, a 45 mph speed restriction from MP 279.3 to MP 279.6, as the line turns west, with a street alongside to the west, at the wye at By-Pass Junction, where the original main line continues south into Evansville, and a 50 mph speed restriction from MP 279.6 to MP 281.8, as the bypass turns south-southwest and then south, where an erstwhile Big Four line once trailed in from the north and today's line takes over that former Big Four route.
There is a 4,490 ft. west side siding at Harwood (MP 283.9), a former flat crossing with a former Indiana Hi-Rail (former IC) line that now trails in on the west side (and once continued on the east side) at this location (MP 285.3), where Yard Limits start, a 25 mph speed restriction at MP 285.6, in Evansville, a former flat crossing with the erstwhile Evansville Union City Lead at MP 285.9, a 25 mph speed restriction from MP 286.3 to MP 287.4, and a former flat crossing with the Evansville Belt (MP 286.5), where the CSX line west from Belt Junction on the original entry into town trails in from the north-northeast, and of the resulting two lines south, only the more westerly (the former Belt line) remains.
The line turns west at 8th Avenue (MP 287.4), where the original main line through Evansville trails in from the east, with a 20 mph speed restriction from MP 287.4 to Howell, turning southwest, west-southwest past a street to the north, the north leg of the wye on the west side, with CSX St. Louis sub. (the former L&N line to St. Louis), at Claremont Avenue, and then southwest, past a street alongside to the southeast, a street to the west, the end of Yard Limits at MP 288.7 to the south leg of that wye at North Howell (MP 288.8), where the CSX Henderson sub. continues south-southwest past Howell Yard.


As the previous assemblage of said cabinets was almost a year past, I decided we were high time for a different dose. Not only does a file cabinet help your house office seem more professional, it enables you to organize and declutter different spaces in your residence. Even with the present trend towards the paperless office, filing cabinets continue to be extensively employed as the inescapable truth is that most offices still create large quantities of written documentation and paperwork that should be filed away. If you're tired of the filing cabinet you've got or only wish to update your house office, there are a number of stylish filing cabinets to select from. Filing cabinets are among the most used parts of equipment in the house and office today. White wood filing cabinets are among best sales.
Designing an office may be one of the most difficult spaces in your whole house. Part of our office redo involved beautifying the metallic file cabinets which are in the workplace. When you're decorating the executive office, it's necessary for you to think complete.
As an Interior Design student, you might be interested in working with commercial or company spaces. If you are in possession of a huge space and are in need of a great deal more storage then see our assortment of shelves and shelves to bring some expert organisation to your residence or workplace. In case it seems you might not have sufficient space, reconsider your layout. You may create a trendy office room to suit your taste and needs with our large collection of office filing cabinets. Again in the present state of our economy you might be able to locate a newer commercial office space at a good deal.
It's possible to store a massive quantity of files in the cabinets. You're guaranteed not to lose files on account of the sophisticated organization. A filing cabinet that stocks suspension files is a beneficial add-on to your property.
Vertical Cabinet It is a rather traditional fashion of cabinet that has been utilized in modern offices for several years. When you make a design that speaks straight to the customer's needs and wants, the company environment may become more attractive and inviting to the provider's pre-existing and possible customers. You may choose to tailor your design to the business's ideal customer.
Furniture is one particular thing that may make your house seem beautiful. If you're ready to shut away your furniture when it is not being used, for instance, if you've got a fancy close-up bed or a fold-away desk then it is a sure-fire approach to bring a little harmony to a room. Home office furniture is turning into an increasingly common part of modern-day furniture stores all around the USA. Choosing home office furniture isn't significantly different to picking any other kind of home furniture.
Cabinets can be found in various sizes, based on the range of drawers and the style of filing they're developed for. The majority of the cabinets are stylish and long-lasting. An antique cabinet combines function and form by producing a part of furniture that's beautiful and useful. Wooden cabinets also offer a wonderful appearance to the office as they arrive in different polished looks. A normal horizontal cabinet might have a 20'' depth.


The Missoula Curling Club has been working with the city, county, Glacier Ice Rink and others to explore the idea of building more ice facilities in the region, including a possible dedicated curling facility in Missoula.
Although we continue to accept responses to the survey, we thought we would share some of the initial responses from the nearly 200 current and former members as well as those interested in curling but who have not tried it.
First, the non-members. We found that most did not cite the cost of curling, but rather the times of the night we play and the general length and timing of the season.
Additionally, many of these people indicated they would be more inclined to join the league and perhaps play in multiple leagues if there were better times or a curling rink.
We also asked former members what it was that made them stop playing and, again, we heard more about timing, with most citing the game times and season schedule as the reason they left.
You can email missoulacurling [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions.


Saints are not just the well-known men, women and young people on the liturgical calendar, Pope Francis said on the feast of All Saints.
They include simple people "from next door, our relatives and acquaintances who now are part of that 'immense multitude'" in heaven, he said, which makes the Nov. 1 feast of All Saints "a family celebration".
"Saints are close to us, rather they are our truest brothers and sisters. They understand us, they love us, they know what is truly good for us, they help us and wait for us. They are happy and they want us to be happy with them in paradise," he said.
Before reciting the Angelus Nov. 1 with people gathered in St. Peter's Square, the pope talked about God's call to holiness and happiness, which entails following the beatitudes. Thousands of people braved the uncertain weather to join him as scattered showers alternated with torrential downpours.
"The Gospel says, 'Blessed are the poor,' while the world says, 'Blessed are the rich.' The Gospel says, 'Blessed are the meek, while the world says, 'Blessed are the bullies.' The Gospel says, 'Blessed are the pure of heart,' while the world says, 'Blessed are the cunning and pleasure-seekers,'" said the pope.
But those who are the true victors in the end are the saints, not the world, and the saints "exhort us to choose their side, the side of God who is holy," he said.
"Let's ask ourselves which side are we on? Heaven or earth? Do we live for the Lord or for ourselves? For eternal happiness or for some immediate gratification?" he asked.
People need to ask themselves whether they really want to be holy or are they content being Christians who believe in God and respect others, "but without going overboard."
The pope said that the Lord, "who asks everything of us," offers in return true life and the happiness for which people were created.
"Therefore, either holiness or nothing!" he added.
From their place in heaven, the saints are "cheering for us so that we choose God, humility, meekness, mercy, being pure of heart, so that we develop a passion for heaven rather than the world," he said.
The saints also want people not just to listen to the Gospel, but to put it into practice by "walking the path of the beatitudes", which does not require doing "extraordinary things, but to follow every day this path that brings us to heaven, to family, back home."
After praying the Angelus, the pope greeted the many men and women who ran in the annual 10-kilometre Race of the Saints, praising the "beautiful initiative" celebrating the feast day.


This post was published Christmas 2009, 2010. I have added some photographs to the original for this 2011 Christmas.
José Ramon Pico, "Before the Gringo Came," San Francisco Call, December 1899.
Here are some selections of Spanish music with mandolin and guitar.
Little Bull in the far field.
We like, even love, our pickups. The vehicle in people's lives possess an almost life-like identity as we accelerate, speed and reach our destination, or for that matter, drive just to be driving — touring, it used to be called. We remember our first car we owned, the first car or pickup we drove. My first lesson in driving came in a 1950 Chevy pickup, green in color, in the sands of Sulfur Springs road, near Bend, Texas. I was ten-years-old and the year was 1952. My grandmother sat beside me and taught me clutch and foot-feed (accelerator). I stalled it one time and then, off we went! I loved that Chevy pickup, and, of course, the instructor who finally gave me a passing grade.
This month, December, I am selling my 2002 Ford F-150. Its name is Little Bull. His coat is gray.
Little Bull has carried me, my friends, my family and all things horsey and mechanical for nearly ten years. He has 260,000 plus miles and is tired and broke, his transmission needing replacement. The service department at Arrow Ford in Abilene, Texas, holds his remains and a repairman wishes to purchase Little Bull and use him for short hauls about the city. For me to repair him costs $2,500.00 and that is beyond my budget. The repairman can tend Little Bull back into health for way less than I can and he keenly wants him. Little Bull is still wanted, still admired, and so I have made the choice to sell.
Chariots, wagons and pickups have carried commerce and people through the ages. Vehicles have been spaces for conversations and monologues, carriages to weddings and funerals and platforms for hay and feed. Little Bull has pulled trailers with injured horses to the vet, pregnant mares for foaling and newly-bought furniture from Dallas.
I shan't grow maudlin about Little Bull for it is not good for me and he deserves better in his next life than to be sent away in sorrow. He's been a good boy, a fine man and now, in his later years, a helpmate for another respectful owner. Little Bull may be cannibalized for parts, his wheels and tires going one way, the headache rack another, but I have cherished his life, his dependability and his character. Like that Chevy in the sands of central Texas, I shall never forget my Little Bull.


Warsaw remains the most attractive city for businesses in Poland. As much as 28 percent of decision-makers take Warsaw into consideration as a possible destination for regional expansion. The "Warsaw's Investment Potential" survey, conducted by Antal and CBRE, shows that the Polish capital draws in investors with its abundance of qualified workers and wide availability of high-quality office space. Warsaw's average score of all indices combined was 7 out of 10.


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Little Reunions by Eileen Chang
I wish I had a better visual frame of reference when it comes to China, particularly WWII-era China. I have a vague idea in mind, but I have no background when it comes to film or even Chinese literature really. Reading books like Little Reunions by Eileen Chang (Xiao tuan yuan translated from the Chinese by Jane Weizhan Pan and Martin Merz) always makes me feel not only ambitious but a little proud when I have tackled them, even if I've not fully grasped what Chang was doing. I can tell I am in the presence of a literary master but feel only on the periphery of appreciating and understanding her writing.
Little Reunions is not exactly a hard read, but it is a dense and challenging one thanks to its structure. For me it required perseverance and disciplined daily reading to get through it. It's such a lush, rich read, but I don't think my own mental visual library was sufficient to match it. So very much happened, yet I am not sure I can explain it except in wide overarching swathes. I can generally explain but I think the beauty is in the small details and descriptions. The story is told in these, what for me seems, flashes of memory. She moves from place to place and scene to scene, and while the switches are almost seamless, you almost don't realize time has passed or where she is in her storytelling. There is not really a proper beginning, middle and end as you expect in novels, and the cast of characters is huge. Like a Russian novel the names or honorifics vary, making that eight-page character list very helpful in orienting yourself. One character might be referred to just once or twice and another many times but by more than one name.
A little background--From what I have read Little Reunions is Chang's most autobiographical novel. She was born in Shanghai to an aristocratic family. Her mother was educated abroad and preferred to live there rather than China. Her father, on the other hand, was an opium addict with conservative views that clashed with Eileen. Her literary career began early and she enjoyed great success until the mid-1950s when she fell out of favor with the government. At that point she emigrated to California where she worked as a researcher in Berkeley and continued to write. Little Reunions was written in 1976 and published in China in 2009, but this is the first English translation. Apparently her executors were given a 600-page handwritten manuscript, but I am not sure how much editing was involved to create the final work.
The translator's note mentions the English title of the novel is meant to reflect "Chang's musings on her life". The story centers around Julie, who at the start is a schoolgirl in Hong Kong just before war breaks out. Born in Shanghai, her mother and father have separated. Her mother seems to be out of her life more than in it, and it's obvious that their relationship is fraught with tension. Her father is an opium addict living with his concubine. Julie has been instructed to call them Second Uncle and Second Aunt (Rachel). She has one brother, Julian, who makes numerous appearances yet it feels he is off stage most of the time. The narrative is 'stories' (I'm not sure what to call them since the narrative flows even if the scenes are constantly moving around in time) of her life and of her family and relationships with two men, but in particular her first husband Chih-Yung. She is so often separated from her mother and husband and family, hence the "little reunions" when their lives reconnect again and again.
I have some very vivid images in my mind from this book, and some very visceral responses to her relationships (Chih-Yung mostly had other wives and lovers scattered all over China, and Julie's mother could verge on cruel), yet at the same time this is a story that is also very elusive. It follows Julie over the course of years as she lives in Hong Kong and returns to Shanghai during the war. She goes to school and embarks on a writing career with one of her books even being adapted to a movie. There is a very deep connection with her family and her ancestors. And there is her trials with lovers. The descriptions are amazing, but I feel my attention was focused too much on trying to make sense of the narrative--seeing the trees for the forest sort of situation. Read once for story and then again for the parts that make it up?
It is not, perhaps, the best place to start with her work, but it is certainly very compelling at the same time. I'm going to pick up her short story collection, Love in a Fallen City, next. In a review I read, her writing was compared to that of Eve Babitz Anais Nin and Eileen Myles (I have the first two writers' books on my TBR piles and now will look at Myles as well)--"Chang draws the reader into her inner realm with direct, yet lyrical, prose that allow events, scenery, and characters to mod the story." (Los Angeles Review of Books). That same review mentions a collection of essays by Chang, Written on the Water, that the reviewer calls "something of a blueprint for Little Reunions", so it seems a natural next step (along with the short stories) for me to get into and understand Chang's life and work. The book was a tease into her world, and now I want to know more. Maybe after I am more familiar with her, it will be time to revisit Little Reunions and I will have a firmer mental idea and better visuals for really seeing into her writing. As expected NYRB has started off the year with a very provocative and amazing work.
Posted on February 28, 2018 in 2018 Read, Books, Books in Translation, Contemporary Fiction, Mid 20th C. Fiction, NYRB Classics | Permalink | Comments (8)
My library holds list has been maxed out all year and there are no signs of it waning as there are so many great-sounding books coming out. It is a constant shuffle of moving books on and off (and adding titles to my 'virtual later shelf'). How to whittle it down to just ten? But here are ten forthcoming books (what better way to start the week off) I can't wait to read.
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje -- "From the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author of The English Patient: a mesmerizing new novel that tells a dramatic story set in the decade after World War II through the lives of a small group of unexpected characters and two teenagers whose lives are indelibly shaped by their unwitting involvement." (May 8).
Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman -- "'Stage four. Surgery. Recovering.' While those are the simple words that once described Dr. Francine Burk's situation, the reality is much more complex. Her new reality is bacon rinds for breakfast and feeling unduly thrilled by her increasing ability to walk across a room without assistance. And it's being offered a placement at a prestigious research institute where she can put to good use her recent award money. With the Foundation's advanced technological resources and a group of fascinating primates, Francine can begin to verify her subversive scientific discovery, which has challenged the foundations of history―her Theory of Bastards. (April 24).
Basic Black with Pearls by Helen Weinzweig -- "Shirley and Coenraad's affair has been going on for decades, but her longing for him is as desperate as ever. She is a Toronto housewife; he works for an international organization known only as the Agency. Their rendezvous take place in Tangier, in Hong Kong, in Rome and are arranged by an intricate code based on notes slipped into issues of National Geographic. He recognizes her by her costume: a respectable black dress and string of pearls; his appearance is changeable. But something has happened, the code has been discovered, and Coenraad leads Shirley (who prefers to be known as "Lola Montez") to the last place she wants to go: her home city, the city of her impoverished immigrant childhood. In Toronto, Shirley will seek her lover in a series of locations that echo back to her the trauma of the origins she's long since left behind in her life of upper-bourgeois stability. Eventually, her wanderings lead her back to her own house, where she discards her pearls, and trades in her basic black for a dress of vibrant multicolored silk." A lost feminist classic--I am hoping it might be my April NYRB selection! (April 17).
Orchid and the Wasp by Caoilinn Hughes -- "In this dazzlingly original debut novel, award-winning Irish writer Caoilinn Hughes introduces a heroine of mythic proportions in the form of one Gael Foess. A tough, thoughtful, and savvy opportunist, Gael is determined to live life on her own terms. Raised in Dublin by single-minded, careerist parents, Gael learns early how a person's ambitions and ideals can be compromised— and she refuses to let her vulnerable, unwell younger brother, Guthrie, suffer such sacrifices." (july 10).
All the Beautiful Girls by Elizabeth J. Church -- "A powerful novel about a gutsy showgirl who tries to conquer her past amongst the glamour of 1960s Las Vegas—and finds unexpected fortune, friendship, and love." (March 6).
Straying by Molly McCloskey -- "From "an extravagantly gifted writer who deserves to be widely read" (Rachel Cusk, The Telegraph), this intimate, quietly stunning novel tells the story of a young American expat who settles in Ireland in the late 1980s, marries, and lives through the consequences of an affair." (February 20).
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James -- "Vermont, 1950. There's a place for the girls whom no one wants--the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It's called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it's located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming--until one of them mysteriously disappears. . . . Vermont, 2014. As much as she's tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister's death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister's boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can't shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case." (March 20).
The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman -- "Conceived while his father, Bear, cavorted around Rome in the 1950s, Pinch learns quickly that Bear's genius trumps all. After Bear abandons his family, Pinch strives to make himself worthy of his father's attention--first trying to be a painter himself; then resolving to write his father's biography; eventually settling, disillusioned, into a job as an Italian teacher in London. But when Bear dies, Pinch hatches a scheme to secure his father's legacy--and make his own mark on the world." (March 20).
The Balcony by Jane Delury -- "What if our homes could tell the stories of others who lived there before us? Set in a small village near Paris, The Balcony follows the inhabitants of a single estate-including a manor and a servants' cottage-over the course of several generations, from the Belle Époque to the present day, introducing us to a fascinating cast of characters. A young American au pair develops a crush on her brilliant employer. An ex-courtesan shocks the servants, a Jewish couple in hiding from the Gestapo attract the curiosity of the neighbors, and a housewife begins an affair while renovating her downstairs. Rich and poor, young and old, powerful and persecuted, all of these people are seeking something: meaning, love, a new beginning, or merely survival." (March 27).
The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager -- "The Last Time I Lied follows a young woman as she returns to her childhood summer camp to uncover the truth about a tragedy that happened there fifteen years ago." Why do I love these 'cold case' dipping into the past sorts of stories . . . ? (July 10).
Posted on February 26, 2018 in New & Forthcoming Books, New Books | Permalink | Comments (6)
State of the Nightstand: February 25
Not much movement in the pile. Maybe this is not a good idea to look at it every weekend and see how the reading is progressing. I'm not sure whether this is spurring me on to accomplish more or depress me to see how little I am finishing. To be fair the Chang is slow going and I am dedicating lots of reading time to it. I am determined to finish this month and I am looking forward to it not being in next week's pile and for the Kempowski to float up to the top. Sara Moss should also be making an exit and a new prompt book (as yet not much thought has occurred for the next possible read) taking its place. Do you spot two newcomers? The 'sad' thing is my library pile almost rivals these. And just today on a whim I pulled two books from my own piles, both books by Spanish authors, that I am contemplating reading . . . soon. I guess you will have to check back to see what happens.
Posted on February 25, 2018 in Books, Night Stand Piles, State of the Nightstand | Permalink | Comments (6)
Tired of Winter Weekend Reading Notes
If I didn't already have far too many books in reading progress at the moment I would look for the book on my shelf that had the hottest, most sultry, sunshiny setting I could find. Let's just visualize that for a second. A beach, the hot sun shining down, sweat on the brow but the ocean just feet away. We're under a beach umbrella maybe, with just our toes poking out, but we can hear the waves coming languidly in. We have a cool refreshing drink nearby and a book in hand--maybe a book with an icy setting since it is so hot out we need to feel the coolness in our minds (only in our minds). Let's just soak up some of that sun and heat for a moment.
Ah. I needed that. It has been a wintry-mix-every-other-day sort of week. I have had to put those yaktrax on the bottom of my shoes on several mornings to avoid falling on the ice. I can handle cold and I can work with snow, but ice is a problem. It just keeps coming every other day as we seem to be right in the middle of colder north winds and warmer south winds. One more day tomorrow of it and then nothing until mid week when another burst arrives. February has been a sloppy, messy, cold month and I am sorry to even talk about it, so let's move on to a far more interesting topic--books.
Although I was hoping to accomplish more reading, I am still determined to finish three more books this month, including my first NYRB of my 2018 subscription. Fewer books than last month, but then February is a short month. I was probably a little too enthusiastic in my starts and might have to reassess the reading pile and be more realistic in what I can actually manage and what I want to read most at the moment. I definitely need some quiet hours in a coffee shop maybe to sit and read without distractions!
Lots of interesting--good and bad--bookishness this week. Like the nasty weather, let's get the bad over with first.
I am shaking my head in disbelief and chagrin over this. I truly think this country's leaders have lost their way and certainly the more important priorities these days. But when "we" choose a leader who does not even read, then I guess we all have suffer the fallout.
And we definitely need this kind of wake-up call, too!
Here's a list of books you might not often see (maybe it needs to go up above under the 'bad news' section?).
Check out these great and iconic New Yorker covers. Someday I want to choose one of their covers to order from their print shop and have framed for my wall.
If you are in London in March, please check this out for me and tell me what it's like--a bookstore after my own heart! I wonder which books they are going to stock?
Here's a list of the "greatest living crime novelists' favorite crime novels.
Along with reading and maybe finishing a few books this weekend, I plan on writing a few postcards, too (I have even started once again with Postcrossing). So I will leave you with these very cool literary postcards I came across this week (and I even ordered a few of them!).
Despite the cold and ice, the sun is shining today, so I will at least imagine warmth. Happy reading and writing or sunshining (as in sitting by a sunny window with a book and warm beverage in hand) this weekend everyone!
Posted on February 23, 2018 in Books, Reading Notes, Weekend Reading | Permalink | Comments (14)
Baker's Dozen of Jack Reacher Readalikes
Lee Child is coming to give a lecture at my university in April. I already have my ticket and a copy of Gone Tomorrow on my bedside reading pile to read (very soon) in anticipation. I have never read any Jack Reacher novels, though I know they are hugely popular. Knowing how often I reach for women authors it is not surprising really, but I am looking forward to finally making his acquaintance. I am working on putting together a display of Jack Reacher-like stories at the library where I work and have a pile of books to include in the case, but male authors and protagonists seem to dominate the genre. So I have been looking for women writers to add to the mix and I have come up with a few that look like worthy additions to the mix. If you are a keen reader of this subgenre, do let me know how close I have come to picking books/writers that offer the same reading thrill as Lee Child. (And suggestions are always welcome, of course).
Legal Tender: A Rosato & Associates Novel, Lisa Scottoline - "In the second thrilling novel in New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline's Rosato & Associates series, a successful lawyer now finds herself on the opposite side of the bench when she's framed for murder."
Touch & Go (Tessa Leoni), Lisa Gardner -- "Ten minutes after walking the elite Back Bay townhouse and investigator Tessa Leoni already doesn't like what she sees. Signs of an abduction. Clearly the work of professionals. At best, the entire family has been kidnapped. At worst…"
The Neighbor: A Detective D.D. Warren Novel, Lisa Gardner -- "A young mother, blond and pretty, vanishes from her South Boston home, leaving behind only one witness—her four-year-old daughter—and one suspect—her handsome, secretive husband."
The Jump, Martina Cole -- "You might break out, but you'll never be free.Donna Brunos will do anything for her husband. Including breaking him out of prison.She believes her beloved Georgio when he tells her he's been framed for armed robbery. But planning the jump opens Donna's eyes to a shocking world where the man she married is not who he seems. Now Donna is in danger - and in serious need of an escape of her own..."
A Place of Execution, Val McDermid -- "On a freezing day in December 1963, Alison Carter vanishes from her rural village, an insular community that distrusts the outside world. For the young George Bennett, a newly promoted inspector, it is the beginning of his most difficult and harrowing case--a suspected murder with no body, an investigation with more dead ends and closed faces than he'd have found in the anonymity of the inner city, and an outcome that reverberates through the years."
Postmortem, Patricia Cornwell -- "Under cover of night in Richmond, Virginia, a monster strikes, leaving a gruesome trail of stranglings that has paralyzed the city. Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta suspects the worst: a deliberate campaign by a brilliant serial killer whose signature offers precious few clues. With an unerring eye, she calls on the latest advances in forensic research to unmask the madman. But this investigation will test Kay like no other, because it's being sabotaged from within—and someone wants her dead."
If Only She Knew, Lisa Jackson -- "It begins on a dark stretch of highway in northern California. Caught in a blinding glare of headlights, two vehicles swerve and crash—leaving one woman dead, and another in a coma. When the surviving woman awakens, her memory is gone and her face has been reconstructed. Her family tells her that her name is Marla Cahill—but they're all strangers to her. "
Cop Town, Karin Slaughter -- "...an epic story of a city in the midst of seismic upheaval a serial killer targeting cops and a divided police force tasked with bringing a madman to justice Atlanta 1974 As a brutal murder and a furious manhunt rock the city's police department. Kate Murphy wonders if her first day on the job will also be her last She s determined to defy her privileged background by making her own way wearing a badge and carrying a gun But for a beautiful young woman life will be anything but easy in the macho world of the Atlanta PD where even the female cops have little mercy for rookies."
A Dark and Twisted Tide, Sharon Bolton -- "Award-winning author Sharon Bolton has once again crafted a tightly plotted, utterly unpredictable thriller around one of the most compelling characters in crime fiction today, intensely private London police officer Lacey Flint, whose penchant for keeping secrets is only matched by her determination to uncover those of others."
Mean Streak, Sandra Brown -- "Dr. Emory Charbonneau, a pediatrician and marathon runner, disappears on a mountain road in North Carolina. By the time her husband Jeff, miffed over a recent argument, reports her missing, the trail has grown cold. Literally. Fog and ice encapsulate the mountainous wilderness and paralyze the search for her."
Birdman, Mo Hayder -- "In his first case as lead investigator with London's crack murder squad, Detective Inspector Jack Caffery is called on to investigate the murder of a young woman whose body has been discovered near the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, south-east London. Brutalized, mutilated beyond recognition, the victim is soon joined by four others discovered in the same area—all female and all ritualistically murdered. And when the post-mortem examination reveals a gruesome signature connecting the victims, Caffery realizes exactly what he's dealing with—a dangerous serial killer."
Fragile, Lisa Unger -- "Everybody knows everybody in The Hollows, a quaint, charming town outside of New York City. It's a place where neighbors keep an eye on one another's kids, where people say hello in the grocery store, and where high school cliques and antics are never quite forgotten. As a child, Maggie found living under the microscope of small-town life stifling. But as a wife and mother, she has happily returned to The Hollows's insular embrace. As a psychologist, her knowledge of family histories provides powerful insights into her patients' lives. So when the girlfriend of her teenage son, Rick, disappears, Maggie's intuitive gift proves useful to the case--and also dangerous."
Breaking Creed, Alex Kava -- "Ryder Creed and his dogs have been making national headlines. They've intercepted several major drug stashes smuggled through Atlanta's airport. But their newfound celebrity has also garnered some unwanted attention. When Creed and one of his dogs are called in to search a commercial fishing vessel off the coast of Pensacola Beach, they discover a secret compartment. But the Colombian cartel's latest shipment isn't drugs. It's human…"
I have read a few books by a couple of the authors, but I have not read any of these particular titles! A whole swathe of fiction that is completely open to me. Maybe a new discovery here?
Posted on February 22, 2018 in Books, Suspense/Thriller, Thursday Thirteen | Permalink | Comments (4)
Three Floors Up by Eshkol Nevo
In an interview with author Eshkol Nevo, he notes that as he was writing Three Floors Up (published in Hebrew as Shalosh Komot in 2015 and translated by Sondra Silverstein), a book he wrote in "five explosive months", he was not in love with his characters, that they were flawed and as he wrote he found himself resenting them. Resenting them, yet also "understanding them deeply." I found Nevo's earlier novel, Homesick, utterly engaging, yet I struggled with his latest book. Stylistically it reads quite smoothly, but I found it hard to engage with his characters and briefly thought of setting the book aside. Life is messy and their lives are at times very messy, and I could not quite connect with them.
Time and again, however, I have learned that a little perseverance with a 'difficult' text (or difficult characters) will in the end offer its own rewards. Although I never quite warmed up to the people living in this apartment building in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, I was impressed by the way the story was created and told and the interconnectedness of lives so independent of each other yet also so aware--like planets orbiting each other and sometimes crossing paths and shedding light and then bouncing off back into their own worlds none the wiser.
The novel is made up of three stories, literally and figuratively--each one set on a different floor of the apartment complex. Each story is told in a confessional style, which I found intriguing. Each character narrating his or her story to someone we never meet. There is no judgement and no conversation between the 'confessor' and the 'listener' (maybe the reader is more than just a reader/observer but literally the listener and maybe even 'judge'?), so the reader never hears a response, but must connect the dots from listening to these inner monologues and hints that other characters on other floors might drop in their story.
It wasn't until the third story where things began to fall into place and the structure of the story came into focus and gave me that little moment of enlightenment and appreciation. The last narrator brings Freud into her internal conversation and mentions the id and the ego and superego "containing all our impulses and urges". Freud and his theories dividing the psyche into three floors much like this apartment complex mirror each other nicely. No worries, as Freud only offers a hint or nudge, and then the action moves on. With each new story and as the reader moves up each floor, things become more clear and in the end there is a satisfying resolution. So, while the narratives are only loosely connected, each new one moves things along creating a whole picture. There is something nicely satisfying in the symmetrical telling of the story and the progress towards a tidy ending that gave me a better appreciation of the struggles of the characters.
No two lives are ever the same and each floor, each story was different and compelling. On the first floor lives Arnon, a retired officer who served in the First Intifada, and his family. He is obsessed with the idea that one of his neighbors has abused one of his daughters. The obsession begins to take over his life and affect his relationships with those around him. "Talking about this stuff is unpleasant" he tells his friend, a writer, so he will just spill it out as long as it doesn't end up in a book. There is no happy ending for Arnon, and his life and relationships are in left in a muddle. He wants his friend to give him a happy ending, to sort out his life and the reader is left wondering what will happen to Arnon and his family.
Up a flight of stairs and we meet Hani whose husband travels frequently abroad leaving her alone with their young family. You can feel the tension in Hani's narration. She has no one to talk to. While her husband's world is broad, Hani's seems to become increasingly narrow being always at home with no one to talk to. Her story is told through installments in a letter she is writing to a friend who is living in the US. It feels real, and maybe for Hani it is, but as her story is revealed the reader questions if what she is telling her about her life is actually happening. There are glimpses of Hani's life in the third story through vague interactions, but it's never quite resolved if what she thought happened really did.
Finally it is Devora, a recently widowed retired judge, who will bring the story full circle. She had a strong relationship with her husband who was also a court judge, but one that perhaps needed all her effort and energy and which suffered in their disagreements over their only son. One day she comes across an old answering machine from earlier in their life together that has his voice on the outgoing message. A link to him and their happy life, she begins talking into the machine, as if to him. Through her short messages the reader finds that their life was perhaps not so happy and comes to understand why her son severed all ties with his parents. She finds peace and resolution through political activism, through the rallies and protests happening outside her windows.
For me, this is a novel that I have come to appreciate more after finishing and allowing time to let it percolate. I love Nevo's storytelling style, even if some of the reading was a bit uneven. It's very cleverly presented and quite rich in retrospect. He is a writer I will definitely be revisiting.
Posted on February 21, 2018 in 2018 Read, Books, Books in Translation, Contemporary Fiction, Epistolary Novels, Israeli Literature | Permalink | Comments (4)
Teaser Tuesday: The Extra
Ever since I took a couple of Israeli Literature classes a few years back I have been interested in reading books by Israeli/Jewish writers. I have accumulated a stack (still growing) of new books by authors I was introduced to in class but had gotten away from reading (not a lack of desire, of course, just a case of too many books and too many interests and never enough reading time). I've just finished a novel by Eshkol Nevo (must write about it soon) and decided I will keep reading books from that part of the world this year. One of the nice things about having a particular interest ad plans to read further in a particular area is that I always have a stack of suitable reading material, and knowing those books are at arm's reach means I have incentive to stay on track and finish books in a timely manner.
I'd been thinking of my choice for some time and while I had a stack of several really good books, one of which was a recent award winner, I loved A.B. Yehoshua's The Lover and have been keen to read more of his work. His newest novel, The Extra (Nitzevet translated by Stuart Schoffman), came out in 2014 and was translated from Hebrew into English in 2016 and is now handily in paperback.
The story concerns a forty-ish woman, a harpist, now living in the Netherlands who must return home to Jerusalem after the death of her father. Noga's decision to remain childless caused a rift in her marriage that ended in divorce, so returning home to her old life will cause a stir in her settled world. During her stay in Israel she finds work as an extra in movies, television and opera. "These new identities undermine the firm boundaries of behavior heretofore protected by the music she plays, and Noga, always an extra in someone else's story, takes charge of the plot."
This sounds wonderfully appealing to me and I am curious how this "wrinkle" in her life will redefine her. Women reinventing themselves at later stages in their lives is a theme I have been immensely interested in, and this should be an interesting take (and not that it matters, but always is something of a curiosity) Yehoshua is a male writer so I wonder how he will handle the story.
As I have literally only picked up the book to start reading, the teaser is as much for me and the novel opens:
"At four in the morning the cell phone rings, its alarm forgotten from the day before, yet she doesn't turn off the wistful melody planted in the gadget by an elderly flutist who wanted to be remembered during her long visit to Israel. Nor, when quiet is restored, does she curl up under her parents' warm quilt to resume her interrupted sleep. Instead she tugs lightly on the levers of the electric bed and elevates its head, so that while still lying down she can scan the dawning Jerusalem sky, in search of the planet for which she was named."
There is nothing like the promise of a new story, is there?!
Posted on February 20, 2018 in Books, Books in Translation, Contemporary Fiction, Israeli Literature , Teaser Tuesday | Permalink | Comments (4)
Hmm. They've grown it seems. Maybe time to reassess? Lots of progress but only one novel finished, and another one very close. A new NYRB added, an ARC added. Nothing reshuffled out but need to spend time with those books that have been sitting and waiting so patiently. I could use a little time off to spend with my books!
A Few Bits & Bobs for the Weekend
Just a few odds and ends to start the weekend off with. I had hoped to catch up on writing about a few books I recently finished but the week has been busy and not only has my reading time been a little wonky but I've not been online much either.
I am not a big fan of Valentine's Day, and curiously this year seemed even more lowkey than normal (maybe because it landed on Ash Wednesday?), but I did indulge in a litle Valentine for myself. Did you see the t-shirt version of this tote bag? I bought one as a treat for myself. I love their t-shirts and might have to get another one soon, but sheesh (be warned) they run small--talk about 'slim fit'!
Back when it was first released I read Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows's The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society (but apparently never wrote about it properly). It has been made into a movie and is due to be released in April and the trailer looks absolutely charming. I can't wait to see it and think I might reread it if I can find my copy. Oh, and I didn't know Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop was also being made into a movie!
And I had no idea Rosamund Pilcher's Coming Home (another favorite, very favorite, comfort read) was also adapted to the smaller screen. I love the story so much, do I dare watch the movie? (Look how young Keira Knightley looks!).
Have you heard about the newly created Staunch Book Prize? It is "the hunt for original thrillers"--an award for a book in the thriller genre in which "no woman is beaten, staled, sexually exploited or raped". It does sound refreshing and I can't wait to see which books make their shortlist, which will be announced in the fall.
I listened to the Audible teaser for the true crime original West Cork and I think I am hooked. It is free at the moment, so I am off to download it to play while out walking (and maybe the weather will soon cooperate and make it more pleasant to walk outside--one can dream anyway!).
Here's a list of just ten books to read for Black History Month (I've only read the Toni Morrison). Now that I think of it, I really should pick up a book to read in honor of the month. Something to think about this weekend.
And in honor of St. Valentine's Day, there is this list of romance novels based on other novels you know and love. I have the novel by Amanda Quick that I really need to get to sometime soon--it looks like a good distraction from the cold!
I should probably not be thinking of any new books (and a number of them landed in my mailbox this week, and then there are at least four holds at the library to pick up this weekend, too) considering how my night table is literally groaning under the weight of in progress books, but we'll see later this weekend how things shake down.
Stay warm (or maybe in your part of the world, stay cool!) and happy reading this weekend.
February NYRB: All for Nothing
Time for a little fanfare as my newest NYRB subscription book came in the mail yesterday. I knew I would not be finished with the January selection, Eileen Chang's Little Reunions, but I am actually quite pleased with my progress in it. I was a little apprehensive about the book, as it seemed a little formidable when I first picked it up. The story comes with an eight page index of characters and while not especially chunky, those 320 or so odd pages are filled with dense print. It is a novel that requires, for me at least, steady concentration and is not a book that is especially dippable--one to read a little and set down for a few days.
To that end I have very religiously been reading about six pages daily. I realize that sounds like very little effort, but that is what has made it so manageable. Sometimes facing a difficult or long text makes me not want to pick it up until 'I know I will have a chunk of time to spend with it'. As my reading is done mostly in small daily doses here and there throughout the day, there never seems to be a time where I get unlimited free reading. So six pages is eminently manageable. And now I am nearing the halfway mark. Often I want to spend even more time with the story and look forward to the next six pages, so with continued dedication I will finish it (even if it takes me longer than the month between NYRB books that arrive in the mail).
I am hoping that works the same with Walter Kempowski's All for Nothing (Alles Umsonst, translated from the German by Anthea Bell). Actually I have the UK edition of this book, which I started to read a couple of years ago for Caroline's Literature and War Readalong. I quite liked what I read, but it was a case of too many books and not enough time. I meant to get back to it, and now I will. In length it is about the same as the Chang (but with no extensive character list), but there are shorter chapters and lots of text breaks so I hope to read more in each sitting and will be starting today.
All for Nothing was Kapowski's last book and was only published in 2006, so a fairly recent one compared to many other NYRB selections.
"In East Prussia, January 1945, the German forces are in retreat and the Red Army is approaching. The von Globig family's manor house, the Georgenhof, is falling into disrepair. Auntie runs the estate as best she can since Eberhard von Globig, a special officer in the German army, went to war, leaving behind his beautiful but vague wife, Katharina, and her bookish twelve-year-old son, Peter. As the road fills with Germans fleeing the occupied territories, the Georgenhof begins to receive strange visitors—a Nazi violinist, a dissident painter, a Baltic baron, even a Jewish refugee. Yet in the main, life continues as banal, wondrous, and complicit as ever for the family, until their caution, their hedged bets, and their denial are answered by the wholly expected events they haven't allowed themselves to imagine."
Walter Kempowski was a boy of fifteen when he witnessed this mass exodus of German population in 1945. His own father had been conscripted by then and died in battle on the Baltic coast. It sounds as though Kempowski used autobiographical material in his writings. He had spent eight years in prison for being found guilty of collaborating with American intelligence and when he was released he was deported to the west as by then the Iron Curtain had fallen. In her introduction Jenny Erpenbeck writes, "he developed an unsentimental, strikingly precise style that leaves it up to the reader to assess and evaluate what is presented."
I'm really looking forward to reading this. He sounds like an important writer who was quite prolific, though I don't think much of his writing has been translated into English. Hopefully there will be more to come.
If I accomplish one reading 'goal' this year it is to get through all my NYRBs! They can be substantial reads, but they are worth all the time and effort and in the end the most rewarding, too.
Posted on February 14, 2018 in 2018 Read, Books, Books in Translation, NYRB Classics | Permalink | Comments (12)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


It been a busy day, full of fun and color. I been preparing my little digital art creations to sell in my Etsy shop. They are now "dressed up" with their pretty little matts, foam core backing, and cellophane sleeves, ready to be shipped off, to provide a little color to someone's home.
These are 5 x 7 prints, in 8 x 10 inch mats…ready to pop into a frame. Here are the first five that I am offering, but will be adding more in the next week. I am so excited to be sharing these vibrant prints! These colors make me happy…and I hope they make you happy too!
Previous Post: Altered Art and a Sale!


0 Can use kiln to bake clay items.
Can make charcoal from hardwood billets.
60 Can make glass bottles.
Can craft load of items at once.
90 Can make alchemical glassware.
100 Permanent +10 bonus to luck during the use of Kilning abilities. Luck affects the probability of reducing the duration of Kilning abilities by 20%.
Kilning is one of the seven tier 1 crafting skill tree branches. It allows to use the kiln. Kilning branch unlocks tier 2 skill: Forging. There is no prerequisite to this skill.
This page was last edited on 10 March 2019, at 20:17.


Reusable beverage bottles with integrated infusion elements. Add fruits, veggies, or herbs to flavor water.
I bought this for a gal who loves her water and is excited to start experimenting with flavor enhancements. What a great idea!


I witnessed something on Election Day that shook my faith in the political process. I saw lies win out over truth and I was angry with our elected officials for their lies and the media for allowing them to go largely unchallenged.No, I'm not talking about the race for President; I've already made my feelings on that subject pretty well known. I'm speaking of the vote to authorize slot machines via the Maryland Constitution, a document with a heritage dating back to the year our nation declared its independence from England, and which is now forever sullied with a gambling provision. Not only was amending the constitution with such a statute inappropriate, it won on the basis of several falsehoods, all of which a small but vocal and dedicated group of concerned citizens tried to counter without success.
The lies started with the language of the ballot question itself which left the impression that virtually all the money raised by slots would go to education. In fact, the horse racing industry, gambling interests and local governments get their cut, leaving about half the money, most of which won't be available until 2013, for education.
Another lie was the claim that passing this bill would keep us from raising taxes or making harmful budget cuts. And what is all we're hearing about these days? How government in Maryland at all levels is cutting back and preparing for the worst. The impact on the "structural deficit?" Another lie - the revenue from slots doesn't even come into play until 2011, two budget cycles from now. The revenue projections? Another lie - the University of Maryland Baltimore County projects slots will raise about half of what the politicians told us, and the social costs will offset most of what is raised.
Even now, Governor O'Malley acknowledges they may have to adjust the law so gambling interests who are balking at the cost of bringing slots to Maryland make more money. Want to bet their share goes up and the share for education goes down?
For those of us who fought and lost, we will dust ourselves off and continue the fight by other means. When their revenue projections are revealed to be the fantasy they've always been, we will be there to educate Marylanders about the duplicity of their elected officials. When our taxes are raised and budgets cut anyway because slots revenue is too little, too late or doesn't come in at all because the gambling industry demands a better deal before putting a single machine in Maryland, we will be there to remind people who lied to them. When families who can least afford to spend their meager salaries on gambling lose their rent, food, medicine or gas money, we will lift them up with the helping hand of a neighbor and give the backs of our hands to our so-called public servants for preying on the weaknesses of their constituents, especially the working poor enticed by the hope of a miracle windfall.


We ran out of time to do a full third round of testing. I ran a few usability tests, and the feedback was mostly positive.
Skipping the paper prototyping step almost doomed this project. I spent so much time fleshing out every feature and interaction before ever showing it to a real user. As a result, it became difficult to make changes later on.
In my childhood, I loved creating origami. I remembered that if you skip any step along the way, your final model will not come out right. You'll have to trash it and start all over.
The beautify of paper. Origami mobile I made for mom's 50th birthday. Many of the first attempts at making origami fish were trashed before I perfected the process.
Most people don't get it 100% the first time through. So don't perfect something you'll probably throw away later.
Users feel more comfortable giving brutally honest feedback if it's just paper.
Using paper, pencil and scissors makes it accessible for all team members to get involved in the prototyping process.
Despite everything, this was an opportunity to get involved with digital prototypes. And now I can call myself an expert at it. And as for that contest?
Our team's presentation + my killer prototype = Contest Winners!
– Doug Pederson — Head Coach, Philadelphia Eagles, 2016.
Pederson said this in 2016 when the Eagles would finish the season with 7 wins, 9 losses, and miss the playoffs. The following year they would beat Tom Brady in the Superbowl and win their first championship.
I now see every problem I need to solve from this mantra.


text:
Opinion: 'Gamers' Will Never Die, So Stop Trying to Demonize Us
by Brandon Orselli | @brandonorselli on September 5, 2018 at 11:00 PM, EDT
This is an editorial piece. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of, and should not be attributed to, Niche Gamer as an organization.
When I started Niche Gamer years ago, it was basically the fever dream that came from a hot and miserable summer night. That night, I stopped myself from posting breaking gaming news to social media.
"What am I doing?", I said to myself. I realized how tired I was with the majority of gaming sites, and I wanted to make a gaming site run by gamers, for gamers. Simple, right?
Traffic for Niche Gamer steadily picked up, we started growing a regular audience, and then #GamerGate happened.
It was a massive fissure in the pop-gaming culture universe, and at first glance, both myself and our staff weren't immediately sure what "side" to take.
A thorough investigation confirmed to us that at its core, it was a pro-consumer movement, people that were also tired of the lazy and or embarrassing mainstream gaming media.
An entire industry built around the simple concept of being enthusiast journalists and critics – and they took that power for granted, shoving figurines up anuses for easy shock clicks. It made no sense.
The vast majority of mainstream gaming websites pushed a concentrated, highly focused campaign against this consumer revolt – the "Gamers Are Dead" statement.
This, in essence, was a strawman argument to remove the longstanding concept of a video game hobbyist identifying simply as a "gamer." Despite us covering GamerGate before this in numerous ways, I've never made this kind of statement:
Gamers will never "die," they were and still are both sick and tired of your bullshit attempts to demonize them. Just stop it, and stop embarrassing yourselves.
Journalists didn't like being called out, and they framed their accusers as misogynists, neo-nazis, harassers, and so on.
The irony was I met tons of women and or people of color from GamerGate, and regardless of their background – everyone was tired of the bullshit mainstream gaming journalists were pushing.
The widespread response from gaming journalists and critics to a call for better standards solidified the bullshit into iron turd nuggets.
If anything, since then we've only seen these failed journalism major graduates and cultural bloggers double down on their nonsense. Discussion of these clear problems has ceased, and folks in the industry simply want it to go away.
Here's the problem: the embarrassing journalists and critics that were revealed and confirmed to have an axe to grind, on their opponents, still have venues to post hit pieces.
They still have columns to fart out the latest "Top 10 Amiibos For Anal Expansion" features. They can still go wild and no one will truly call them into question.
There have been attempts to provide more ethical alternatives to industry practices or services that have raised concerns, like Open Critic for better game review aggregation.
There's also DeepFreeze, a database that aggregates confirmed or possible ethical concerns or breaches of ethics from gaming journalists and or critics.
Ultimately, I don't think anything will majorly change in the industry coming from what GamerGate tried to accomplish. Gamers were largely ignored by the mainstream journalists and critics save when they needed some easy clicks, and the industry chugged along as if nothing happened.
However, a large swath of gamers are now extremely mindful of where they browse for content.
It's this shift in audiences that has made some mainstream websites lose huge chunks of traffic and therefore, income. Some of these websites have even laid off numerous staff, and others have shut their doors entirely.
An awakening happened, with the majority of gamers refusing to browse sites that push for those outrage clicks. Oddly enough, most gamers just want to have fun.
I've long championed the concept that the ultimate goal of any video game is to just be "fun," something that is easily grounds for another editorial.
What you find to be fun is inherently subjective, however, most gamers just want the folks reporting on or critiquing games to be knowledgeable, professional, fun, and of course – gamers themselves.
To recall my previous editorial, I made a pretty firm statement that most of these armchair warriors don't actually play video games themselves, nor do they really care about them or the industry.
A good example of this is Kotaku getting blacklisted from game developers because they regularly fart out leaked, embargoed materials. They rely on shock clicks and not solid, ongoing, reporting.
We all make mistakes in the world of games journalism or critiquing – however, it's clear who the usual suspects are when it comes to the reliance on yellow journalism.
From now on, you're making a massive difference by supporting other websites that regularly put out good content that bridges that gap between game dev and gamer. That's all we're here for, but some forget that.
Lastly, there's a regular thing in politics or mainstream, non-gaming media, where the moment a person who plays video games does bad things, they immediately default to video games being the vehicle that brought about their madness.
This is another strawman. When you consider video games are so popular now (they earn more in revenue than movies and music do combined) it simply makes zero sense to conflate a harmless hobby with say, murder.
When you combine outsiders scapegoating video games and gamers for an easy target in the wake of tragedy with people who clearly don't want to work in video games yet get stuck writing about them, the consumer – the gamer – is the victim.
Whether you identify as a "gamer" or not, you have rights as consumers and you should take your business only to places worth your time and your views.
I don't want to tout our horn too much, however, know that we continuously strive to be better, write better, and cover games better. We do this by listening to you and learning as we go.
None of us went to school for journalism, all of us simply love video games and want to write about them. We have no desire outside making the games industry better, to find those fun and "good" games.
Senran Kagura: Peach Ball Review


Last Friday, I had some time in between classes and went to scout for new locations. It was bright and sunny and no sign of fog or clouds anywhere, but I have some portrait sessions coming up and wanted to check out if I could find any new spots.
As soon as I drove up to the mountains, there was a beautiful, thick fog covering the forest and I quickly stopped at one of my favorite spots. The sun was trying to get through the trees, creating some stunning sun rays through the forest. Everything was in silence, and the only noise you could hear were my foot steps. There is nothing better than being surprised like this. I didn't have any person to photograph but the atmosphere was so special that I forgot all about my location scouting plan and started shooting with my little Fuji X100T.
After this first stop, I drove to my next spot, which is another forest, where I've previously taken some of my favorite photographs. There is a dam right next to it, and the last time I came here it was half empty. So I wanted to check how high the water was now and if there were any possibilities there. I was really grateful for that thick fog, it completely changed the scenery in front of me. The atmosphere was really moody and mysterious and I was having so much fun! I walked down towards the dam and turns out that the rain we've had in the last few months, had helped fill the muddy empty dam a bit more and was now looking much better.
It only took me less than two hours to shoot some of my favorite photos I've taken lately. My feet were cold and my working boots a little muddy. But, I didn't care. I wasn't expecting any photographs from that morning and I definitely came back home with a handful of favorites.
*All these photographs have been taken with the Fujifilm X100T and post processed in Lightroom with my new presets and workflow.


text:
Helping More People
We help almost 19,000 people in Wales each year. We have set ourselves a strategic goal of increasing the number of households we help by 50% by 2020. Thus far, we have achieved an increase of 29% and to reach our target, we need to raise an additional £399,119 per annum.
October 2017 - September 2020
Charity information: Shelter Cymru
At Shelter Cymru, we face a very real challenge in that we need to raise significantly more money if we are to be there for everyone in Wales that needs us – both now and in the future. We know that more people need our help:
1 in 5 calls to our Shelter Cymru Live helpline go unanswered.
The demand on our support from rough sleepers has increased by 60% in the last year alone.
107,648 individual users (3.5% of the population of Wales ) visited the 'Get Advice' section of our website in 2016.
Affordable and safe accommodation brings stability and security, providing a gateway to access health services/ GPs. It enhances social and community inclusion and provides the basis for the right to a private and family life. Put simply, a home is vital for good mental and physical health, allowing people to live in safety, security, peace and dignity. Our frontline services are available to all and our free, independent support is highly effective - we avert homelessness in 92% of our cases.
Help 50% more households by 2020.
» Build a core foundation service and increase our frontline services.
» Create user-led projects, placing people at the heart of our work.
» Develop partnerships which support service delivery.
By 2020, we will help 11,189 households (and tens of thousands of people) facing homelessness and living in poor housing each year.
The homeless population currently struggle to access healthcare and tend to rely on A&E at crisis point, which costs £85 million a year. Homelessness increases the risk of poor mental health, severe ill health and disability, lower educational attainment, long-term unemployment and poverty. People cannot, and should not, be expected to make the journey out of homelessness without the right treatment and support.
In order to invest in the growth of our services and help more people, our fundraised income is vital. Whilst Shelter Cymru has been extremely successful in attracting grants from statutory sources, funding reductions mean that we are no longer in a position to be as reliant upon the public purse. The economics of providing our support to those who need us in the long term is complex and without philanthropic support, the breadth of our services will not reach its full potential.
Donors will play a key part in the success of this project and we will continue to let them know how they have helped, the difference they have made and the future they have helped to create for individuals and families.
Budget - Project Cost: £399,199
£344,197 Salaries FCR. Includes expenses, pensions, NI and Life Assurance. Face to face/ telephone advisors/ support.
£4,500 Training & Recruitment Staff and volunteers. Much training can be delivered in-house.
£50,502 Office/ Management Costs Also includes HR, Finance, IT and Project Management.
We provide free, independent, expert housing advice and support on the phone, online and face to face in 75 advice surgeries across all 22 unitary authorities in Wales; our frontline services are available to all.
Anyone in Wales who is living in poor housing or facing homelessness, regardless of their age, background or circumstance.
When Shelter Cymru was founded, there was little or no specialist housing advice available to people in Wales; problems of homelessness were largely overlooked or not fully acknowledged. Despite Britain undergoing a long period of affluence/ economic growth in years that followed, poor housing and homelessness has continued. We've made a huge impact in Wales over the past 35 years, helping over half a million people in need and bringing about policy/ legislative changes helping countless more.
JJ Costello
Head of Housing Services - JJ will directly oversee the service delivery of the project.


Long time no see! I offer the gift of a Procreate doodle!
It's been a while since anything sparked my interest photo-wise so I decided to doodle for a bit today and wound up with this.
This entry was posted in Photography & Art, random and tagged 4 hours, doodle, iPad, Procreate, sketch by ageroyalty. Bookmark the permalink.


I'm having some serious trouble deciding on a rehearsal dinner dress and I need your help.
I've ordered all the dresses above (including #3 in pink) and have tried them all on except #3 (crossing my fingers Shopbop delivers today).
I just assumed I would wear an ivory dress to my rehearsal dinner, but now I'm leaning against it. I have no idea if that's breaking a really important wedding law, but hear me out. How likely am I going to wear an ivory dress again over something with color? Not to mention, I already own an amazing BB Dakota ivory crochet dress (now $29!) that I wore to my bridal shower.
Pros: Great fit and impeccably made. Looks way better on than on the hanger or in this photo. It's super flattering and can we worn to anything. Its also 60% off!
Cons: This is the same shape of almost every dress in my closet.
Pros: The faux wrap look is super elegant and perfect for a rehearsal dinner. I also don't have anything like it in my closet.
Cons: Doubtful it's as flattering on as #1 and the color is oyster (an ivory-grayish color). It could wash you out depending on skin tone.
Pros: Vibrant and beautiful while still formal enough for a rehearsal dinner. This could also be worn again and in so many different ways.
Cons: Is it too bold for a rehearsal dinner? Also can't tell if the slit is too risque.
I like #2 and #3. You're the bride, if you want to wear pink then I think you should! #1 is nice but it's a safe choice.
I wore white to my rehearsal dinner and wouldn't have had it any other way. But now I'm left with a white dress I'll probably rarely wear or even worse never wear again. So aside from a white dress, I like the Kate Spade dress. It's classically pretty!
I love one! It's so classic and evening perfect. I also love 3 and think it would be so pretty in pink. I have decided to part with white for my rehearsal so my white on the wedding day really stands out and I think there is nothing wrong with wearing color prior to the day itself:)! Good luck choosing!!
I don't think you can go wrong with any of those! My vote is for #1 - it's beautiful!
I love #2 and think it will look bangin on you. Congrats on the big day!! You will be a beautiful bride!!