The residential sector currently accounts for 27% of all energy usage in Ireland and emits 10.5 million tonnes of CO2 annually, making it the single largest source of emissions after transport. Deep renovation of the existing housing stock will be required in order to meet Ireland's climate targets.
A number of potential solutions were discussed to overcome particular barriers to renovation. These include the issue of the split incentive between landlords and tenants, which discourages renovation. In particular, the meeting heard about the very poor quality of some of the Irish housing stock from the national housing organisation, Threshold, and how a well planned national renovation program could transform the lives of Ireland's fuel poor.
The meeting also explored different business models to help scale up the level and ambition of residential renovation in Ireland. Dr Ivo Opstelten, programme director of the Dutch Energiesprong scheme, led a workshop on the potential for applying their approach to Ireland's stock. This program plans to carry out a highly innovative 'zero energy bill' renovation on over 100,000 houses.
John-Mark McCafferty, head of social justice at the Society of St Vincent de Paul, added: "A renovation strategy is vital because many of the people we visit and help are in cold homes. Many families struggle to heat their house because of poor energy efficiency standards." Meanwhile Fintan Smyth, building physics manager at Saint-Gobain said: "Building an awareness among Irish citizens of deep renovation and why it's an important outcome for all of us is key for the strategy to deliver its full potential".
The event was the second of six building renovation workshops organised by the Irish Green Building Council and supported by the Department of Climate Change, Communications and Natural Resources, as part of the European Commission funded Build Upon Project.


text:
China's Global Aspirations
Written by Donald Teel
Since the opening of diplomatic and trade relationships with the People's Republic of China by President Richard Nixon, the assumption of the West has been a prosperous China is good for international relationships. The erroneous assumption the West makes, repeatedly, is that a prosperous nation adopts democracy. This is not true of China, yet.
That was the vision. Today the dream of a civil, restrained China is fast becoming a nightmare. The Chinese Communist Party has global aspirations backed by carefully calculated plans. Its intentions are on full display in its relationship with Hong Kong and Taiwan.
China's Two Realities
There are two demonstrative aspects to China's geopolitical ambition. First, there is a massive contribution to international trade. And secondly, China is now a military superpower, giving it the muscle necessary to back up its demands.
These two realities, economic and military dominance, mean that Nixon's vision of a tamed and compliant China has proven illusory.
Under the CCP, China has adopted a disciplined, long-term view of its future. Discounting the claims of intellectual property theft and cyber espionage, the education of China's populace and its infiltration of Western universities are giving legs to its global aspirations.
Couple all of this with massive foreign acquisitions of strategic assets, and China's vision of dominance is the world's new reality. Expansion is at the heart of China's foreign policy. An expansion requires monetary discipline to fuel the engines of growth.
The dominance of the South China Sea area, the throttling of Hong Kong's freedom movement, the taming of North Korea, and its dominance of the southeast Asia economy are frightening. China's economy is the prerequisite of its military machine.
Xi Jinping is the frontman of China's ambitions. His military expansion is Reaganesque, "Speak softly but carry a big stick." Even with Hong Kong, China tempered itself. Yes, the jailing of freedom patriots and the street battles were abhorrent and unsuitable to free people, yet the world's feared bloodbath did not occur. China's legal and administrative mechanisms were evil enough.
Hong Kong is an example of how China views its relationship with money and power. Both are essential, and the regime wields them with equal force and passion.
China's Lurking Dangers
Nonetheless, despite China's growth, dominance, and discipline, there are dangers lurking within the communist nation. More and more of its citizens are world travelers. They are increasingly exposed to the plethora of Western pleasures and the materialism of capitalism…and they like it. This taste of freedom poses internal questions about the definition of freedom in China.
Western Asians have toleration for capitalism. And why not, most of the products owned by Western citizens and utilized by Western companies come from China. The tolerance, one-of-the-other, while not being a white flag of surrender, is an acceptance of the reality of the complex global village. I need you…you need me.
Yet, there can be no doubt of the incongruities of American freedom, maintained by rugged self-reliance and individualism, and that of the iron fist of a totalitarian regime. China and America remain oil and water.
It was the CCP that defined its world ambitions with these words:
"The world needs China, as all humans are living in a community with a shared future … That creates broad strategic room for our efforts to uphold peace and development and gain an advantage."
-Communist Party "manifesto" on China's role in the world
Western democracies are forced to deal with China in new ways. Nixon's assessment of China was wrong, as he did not factor in the treachery of an unbridled totalitarian regime.
The modernization of China, under the strong hand of the CCP's central control, has altered and repositioned it within the international playground. China is a prosperous, well-equipped, and educated nation run by bad actors.
Our New Global Reality
We will all be faced with a new reality. China is here to stay, it won't be tamed, and it has the internal assets to assert itself on the global stage in ways not before realized.
One wild card remains. Will personal freedom flourish in China and bring with it new challenges to the CCP that it cannot easily control? When we see the crushing of Hong Kong and the aggression toward Taiwan, I wonder: who will stand against the People's Republic of China, to ensure global order and the advance of liberty?
Choosing one's friends is critical and typically based on mutual interests, common values, and compatibility. The China-Russia alliance on display in Ukraine fits my criteria for global comrades, aka, friends. China and Russia share a mutual interest in the demise of...
Americans on the home front are exhausted from a marathon of foreign fallout. As the Taliban cancels this semester's gender studies curriculum at the American University in Kabul, China eyes prospective control of the Bagram airbase. Instances like these embody a long...
iVoteChina and iVoteAmerica call on Chinese associations and moderate Muslims to sever ties with the Islamic Resistance Movement (also known as Hamas)—a globally renowned modern Nazi organization whose mission is to cut Gaza off from Israel, and destroy the...
Your testimonies are important and you will be cherished for having come forward with your undeserved suffering. Your experiences are not to be kept under wraps. The League Of Support and iVoteChina will catalog, express and release your recounts of the...
Is America Safe?
Why, with all the leftist chaos in North America, are you still confident in the quality and the power of a university education in the United States? I believe that the chaos in North America will not be prolonged forever. It ought to end someday in the future. For...
Understand The Impact Of Abortion
Abortion already means that one is killing a life even in the sixth week of pregnancy. The heart begins beating in the sixth week. U.S. government medicine confirms the baby's heart starts beating at these early stages, and the heart can be seen through an ultrasound....
Biden Iran Policy Changes US-Israel Relationship
Joe Biden is officially the President of the United States. He's the nation's Commander-in-Chief. He has the authority to set foreign policy, and along with that authority to obligate America and to initiate or otherwise modify US-global relationships. Typically, US...
Taiwan – America's Hong Kong
Western Colonialism, to be sure, was destined to be a defective policy. The idea of superimposing cultural thought forms, law, economics, education, and even religion upon conquered peoples seldom ends well. The saga of Hong Kong is made of heartbreak and devastation....
How Should We Then Live
Nearly 40 years have raced by since my first exposure to Roe v. Wade, abortion, and the slaughter of the innocents. In America alone, tens of millions of unborn babies have had their lives snuffed out in the free-fire zone of the womb. Globally, the body count is...
The Great Monetary Feud
The world's east-west tensions extend beyond trade, espionage, technology, and visions of national expansion. Behind the scenes, a global monetary feud rages. America is printing money (the dollar currency) furiously. With Washington, DC implementing COVID-19 relief...
Covid-19 Affects Local Singaporeans
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It is asked whether Covid-19 has affected Singaporean Chinese personally. Of course it has!...
Should China Be Saved From Her Errors?
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No, it's not just a fake rumor. China's relationship with the United Nations World Health...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: databinding datagrid's comboboxes and textboxes to staticresource list I've created a WPF vb.net form containing datagrid. Inside of datagrid I have two comboboxes and two textboxes, one combobox textbox pair for articles and another one for services. I should bind first combo to property of List(Of article) type and second to List(Of service) type where article is public class containing two public properties (articleId and articleName) and service is public class containing two public properties (serviseId and serviceName). Textboxes should display article and service names and comboboxes should display IDs. When combo selection is changed textbox text should change its value too.
List(Of article) and List(Of service) should be populated from database.
How could I do this, I know that solution is somewhere around me but can't catch it at all. There are two main problems, binding controls and populatin list from database.
If I need to post a part of code I'm gonna do this, just let me know.
Please help me to solve this situation,
thanks.

A: thanks for interesting. If you need more clarification please let me know. This is the code for one pair combobox-textbox, I'll easily apply this for another one:
XAML
...
<DataGrid Name="dgrStavke" AutoGenerateColumns="False" Height="160" Width="600" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="5" Grid.Row="7" Grid.ColumnSpan="4">
            <DataGrid.Columns>
                <DataGridTemplateColumn Header="Artikl ID">
                    <DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
                        <DataTemplate>
                            <ComboBox Name="cmbArtikli" Width="120" ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource artcls}, Path=listArtikli}" DisplayMemberPath="artiklId"></ComboBox>
                        </DataTemplate>
                    </DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
                </DataGridTemplateColumn>
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="Naziv artikla" Binding="{Binding nazivArtikla}"></DataGridTextColumn>
            </DataGrid.Columns>
        </DataGrid>

...
CODE
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Imports System.Text
Namespace MW

    Public Class artikl

        Sub New(artid As Integer, nazivart As String)
            ' TODO: Complete member initialization
            artiklId = artid
            nazivArtikla = nazivart
        End Sub

        Public Property artiklId() As Integer
        Public Property nazivArtikla() As String
    End Class

    Public Class frmDodavanjePaketa
    Public Property listArtikli() As New List(Of artikl)

    Private Sub popuniComboArtikli()
            Dim sqlConn As SqlConnection = New SqlConnection(moduleGlobal.connString)
            sqlConn.Open()
            Dim strSql As New StringBuilder
            strSql.Append("select a.artiklId, a.nazivArtikla ")
            strSql.Append(" from artikli a ")
            strSql.Append(" where isnull(a.aktivan, 0) = 1")

            Dim sqlCom As SqlCommand = New SqlCommand(strSql.ToString, sqlConn)
            Dim sqlDs As DataSet = New DataSet
            Dim sqlDa As SqlDataAdapter = New SqlDataAdapter
            sqlDa.SelectCommand = sqlCom
            sqlDa.Fill(sqlDs)

            For Each row As DataRow In sqlDs.Tables(0).Rows
                Me.listArtikli.Add(New artikl(row.ItemArray(0).ToString, row.ItemArray(1).ToString))
            Next

        End Sub
      End Class
      End Namespace

A: First of all - sorry, I am not very familiar with VB.Net, so my code is written in c#. Since I have no understanding of what you actually need, I can only offer you a following not really elegant solution.
For binding your ComboBox to the items from database you need to use a StaticResource, as I can see you did it, but maybe you defined it wrong, that's why it is not working for you. To get it work you need to have a class like this:
public class artiklsList : List<artikl>
{
    public artiklsList()
    {
        this.Add(new artikl(1, "first")); //this is dummy items, you need to do a database stuff here
        this.Add(new artikl(2, "second"));
        this.Add(new artikl(3, "third"));
    }
}

And a xaml like this:
<Window.Resources>
    <my:artiklsList x:Key="source"></my:artiklsList>
</Window.Resources>

You also need update a cell with text when a ComboBox selection changed. It's not a simple task, because the easiest way to do this using Binding to the control using ElementName will not work in the DataGrid. What I did is kinda hacky anyway...
So, xaml is not very complicated:
 <DataGrid Name="dgrStavke" AutoGenerateColumns="False" Height="160" Width="600" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="5" Grid.Row="7" Grid.ColumnSpan="4" >
        <DataGrid.Columns>
            <DataGridTemplateColumn Header="Artikl ID">
                <DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
                    <DataTemplate>
                        <ComboBox SelectedIndex="{Binding selectedIndexID, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"  Name="cmbArtikli" Width="120" DisplayMemberPath="artiklId" ItemsSource="{StaticResource source}">
                        </ComboBox>
                    </DataTemplate>
                </DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
            </DataGridTemplateColumn>
            <DataGridTextColumn Header="Naziv artikla"  Binding="{Binding nazivArtikla}"/>
        </DataGrid.Columns>
    </DataGrid>

The binding of SelectedIndex and a horrible code-behind doing the trick with updating a text cell. For binding to work properly articl class have to implement INotifyPropertyChanged interface.
public class artikl: INotifyPropertyChanged
{
    public artikl(int artid, string nazivart)
    {
        artiklId = artid;
        nazivArtikla = nazivart;
    }

    public int artiklId{get;set;}

    private string _nazv;
    public string nazivArtikla
    {
        get { return _nazv; }
        set { _nazv = value; NotifyPropertyChanged("nazivArtikla"); }
    }

    //Here I think you may have questions
    private int _index;
    public int selectedIndexID
    {
        get
        {
            //To get a SelectedIndex for ComboBox in current row we look in
            //listArtikli defined in a MainWindow for a articli item with a current
            //item's Id and take the index of this item
            artikl art = MainWindow.listArtikli.Find(el => el.artiklId == this.artiklId);
            return MainWindow.listArtikli.IndexOf(art);
        }
        set
        {
            //This property is binded with SelectedIndex property of ComboBox.
            //When selected index changed, we look in listArtikli and take
            //here properties of item with this index.
            //This will change values of item binded to the current grid row
            _index = value;
            this.nazivArtikla = MainWindow.listArtikli[value].nazivArtikla;
            this.artiklId = MainWindow.listArtikli[value].artiklId;
            NotifyPropertyChanged("selectedIndexID");
        }
    }

    public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

    private void NotifyPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
    {
        if (PropertyChanged != null)
        {
            PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
        }
    }
}

And a window code-behind:
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
    public static artiklsList listArtikli = new artiklsList();
    public static artiklsList gridsource = new artiklsList();
    public MainWindow()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        dgrStavke.ItemsSource = gridsource;
    }
}

You need gridsource aside from listArtikli to fill your DataGrid with values. Also because of all this code in selectedIndexID if you use only listArtikli its values corrupting. So listArtikli contains articli items just sorted in order which they were retrieved. And gridsource contains pairs artiklId-nazivArtikla as they presented in the DataGrid.
Hope it will help you just a little.

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text:
New Episcopal Moderator and Director
The National Catholic Risk Retention Group Appoints New Episcopal
Moderator And Director
To Our National Catholic Community,
I am pleased to announce that National Catholic has appointed Bishop Robert P. Deeley, J.C.D., of the Diocese of Portland, Maine as our Episcopal Moderator. Bishop Deeley will offer our organization guidance on pastoral, practical, and moral theology issues. In addition, Bishop Deeley has also been elected as a member of National Catholic's Board of Directors. Both appointments are effective June 24, 2019. Bishop Deeley's term as a director will be for three years. Bishop Deeley will also be the liaison to bishops from dioceses that are policyholder-shareholders of National Catholic. He will be available to listen to any concerns they might have and facilitate discussions on matters of importance to them regarding their liability insurance. National Catholic is also the originator and provider of the VIRTUS© Programs, the leading child protection and safe environment program to Catholic organizations in the United States. Bishop Deeley will also be available to any of his fellow bishops on matters involving VIRTUS.
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Bishop Deeley grew up in Belmont, Massachusetts, as the fourth in a family of five sons. His parents, Michael and Mary, now deceased, were born in County Galway, Ireland. His family belonged to Sacred Heart Parish in Watertown, Massachusetts, and he attended Matignon High School in North Cambridge. Following high school, he entered Cardinal O'Connell Minor Seminary in Jamaica Plain to discern a vocation to the priesthood. After two years of college, he received a Theodore Basselin Foundation Scholarship and began philosophy studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., from which he graduated in 1968. In 1972, he earned a degree in Theology (S.T.B.) from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Following a year of continuing studies in theology, he returned to Boston and was ordained to the priesthood on July 14, 1973, at his home parish, Sacred Heart in Watertown.
His first local assignment was as associate pastor at St. Bartholomew Parish in Needham. In 1978, with his appointment as Secretary to the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Boston, Bishop Deeley began a ministry in the Tribunal which would last for over twenty years, the last ten of which he served as Judicial Vicar (1989-1999). Throughout that period, apart from his years of graduate study in Rome in Canon Law, he lived at Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Parish in Newton and St. Brigid Parish in Lexington where he was able to provide priestly presence and assistance. He was named a Prelate of Honor (Monsignor) on December 13, 1995.
Bishop Deeley was named pastor of St. Ann Parish in the Wollaston section of Quincy in 1999. He assumed the presidency of the Canon Law Society of America in 2000. He went to Rome in September 2004 to assist as an Official at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Then, he served at the Congregation until being named Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia of the Archdiocese of Boston in the summer of 2011. On January 4, 2013, he was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Boston by Cardinal Seán O'Malley.
On December 18, 2013, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Deeley as the 12th Bishop of the Diocese of Portland, Maine. Bishop Deeley was installed as bishop on February 14, 2014, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.
Bishop Deeley was named the recipient of the "Role of Law Award," the Canon Law Society of America's most prestigious honor, on October 12, 2016. The "Role of Law Award" is given to an individual who has distinguished himself in the practice of canon law, serving God's people through the use of this law of the Church. Bishop Deeley is being honored for his long record of dedication to the law of the Church in teaching, practice, administration, and pastoral assistance.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) elected Bishop Deeley as the new chairman-elect of the USCCB's Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance. The election was held as part of the USCCB Fall General Assembly on November 15, 2016, in Baltimore, Maryland. Bishop Deeley served one year as chairman-elect before beginning a three-year term at the conclusion of the 2017 USCCB Fall General Assembly.
Please join me in congratulating Bishop Deeley on his appointments within National Catholic.
Dennis H. O'Hara, ARM


By now, it's safe to say that salt nic e-liquids aren't going anywhere. The popularity of this type of juice continues to climb as the industry advances. These days, you can find a wide array of pod-based systems that are compatible with them. You can also find plenty of popular brands that are selling their most popular flavors in the form of salt nic vape juices.
However, if you're a DIY vaper who craves that hit of nicotine, you're probably wondering how you can create your own salt nicotine juice concoctions. Fortunately, making your own batches isn't that different from making conventional/freebased e-liquids that are compatible with sub-ohm systems. Thanks to the enormous popularity of nic salts, it is extremely easy to find the ingredients needed to make DIY juices that deliver that blast of pure salt-based nicotine.
What is Salt Nic E-Juice?
Up until recently, nicotine lovers who vaped had to rely on e-liquids that were made with freebase nicotine. This type of nicotine was specially created to be highly potent. The problem with freebase nicotine is that when it's vaped in high concentrations, it becomes extremely harsh due to the level of heat that the e-liquid must achieve to turn into vapor.
Now, there's salt-based nicotine. Derived from the tobacco plant, salt-based nicotine provides the vape enthusiast with a satisfying throat hit and an enjoyable nicotine buzz without any of that harshness for which freebase nicotine is known. This means that vape enthusiasts can finally enjoy vape juices that contain high levels of nicotine without hurting their throat.
Making your own DIY salt nic vape juice allows you to be in control of your flavor experience. It also saves you a lot of money. If you're already a DIY vaper who craves lots of nicotine, making salt nic juice will provide you with incredible satisfaction. Plus, you can probably find that you vape less frequently because the high nicotine concentration takes care of your cravings in a way that freebase nicotine cannot.
When making your own juice, always take safety and cleanliness into consideration. It's always suggested that you wear gloves and goggles when working with nicotine.
Step #1: Make your salt nicotine juice by blending together propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG). Typically, salt nicotine liquids have an even base because PG adds to the pleasant throat hit that nicotine lovers crave.
Step #2: Add your flavoring agents. Flavoring ingredients make up about 10 percent of a salt nic e-liquid. Be sure to use high-quality ingredients for a satisfying vaping experience.
Step #3: Add your salt nicotine base. You can find this base online at The Vape Mall. The standard amount of salt-based nicotine that's added to a juice is .5mL for every 10mL of juice.
Final Step: Pour your DIY salt nic vape juice into bottles.
As you can see, making your own DIY salt nic e-juice is a fairly easy process that can provide you with incredible satisfaction.


text:
Q: Detecting proxy server from client side I suspect my ISP is using a proxy server, though I cannot prove it.
The only evidence I've got is that incoming packets have a very high TTL > 254.
Is there a way to check it out, without calling my ISP (I don't trust the call-center to have the right answer for that kind of question)?

A: See Proxy Test. A quote from the page:

The Lagado Proxy Test shows details of
any proxy servers you are using. It is
especially useful to expose
transparent proxies. These are proxies
inserted between your browser and the
web, typically by your ISP, and often
without you knowing.


If you play cards for money, you risk being cheated. Cheats... It's a captivating subject with its own slang and customs. Perhaps you're simply fascinated by the amazing underground world of cardsharps, perhaps you practice some moves for magic purposes or just for fun?
Anyway, what do you know about card cheating is all what this little quiz is all about.
PS: Deep thanks to kcg5, splice, Doc and Jason England.


Thank you for your question, I agree it is good to prepare and talk about death, though we know it's an inevitable part of life, talking about death is something most of us aren't really good at because the subject is so painful.
As many of us know, death occurs in many ways. It may be sudden, expected, prolonged or accidental. Part of the experience is finding ways to express what has happened to a child, helping them to make sense of what's happened, and finally, to accept what's happened. Also, honesty and being truthful gives an explanation for adult's tears and pain. Being open and emotional can help a child learn how to mourn.
There can be nothing more painful for a child than the death of a parent. It is natural to want to protect them in these situations, possibly keeping from them what has happened and trying to hide our own feelings. Children tell us that sometimes this protection is not what they want as it can leave them feeling left out and confused. They need information and explanations that are honest, simple and in a language, they understand. What they don't know they will tend to make up. They need to be included and to be able to trust the adults around them. Keeping as far as possible to familiar routines, which increases a child's feelings of security and maintains a sense of continuity. Children make more sense of what has happened than we tend to realise.
Child Bereavement UK have an excellent website, with lots of resources including information sheets, downloadable foc, for example Building resilience in bereaved children, and When-Someone-Special-Dies For-Young-People, and the CBUK - APP developed for 11 – 25 year olds who have been bereaved of someone special to them.
Many thanks . I will follow up your suggestions.


Metrolux Measurement systems are employed worldwide in many markets.
Optical metrology is used for the analysis of laser raw beams, foci, line foci, wave fronts and caustics. Metrolux measurement systems set the benchmarks internationally and are widely used in the display, automotive and laser industries as well as by systems integrators.


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text:
Top Ten Tuesday: Couples I Did NOT Root For
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! This week, we've got a "love freebie" in honor of Valentine's Day coming up tomorrow. I'm going to twist this a bit to talk about the couples that a book tried to make happen but I never really bought.
Anna Steele and Christian Grey (50 Shades of Grey): Yes, I read these books. Yes, all three of them. And I never quite figured out what was supposed to be especially romantically compelling about them. I think most of us have had enough good sex with bad partners to know that just banging alone doesn't make a relationship.
Tess Durbeyfield and Angel Clare (Tess of the d'Urbervilles): It's supposed to be tragic when he learns about her past, and instead of understanding because his own past isn't spotless, ditches her. But he basically never saw her as an actual person in the first place. She was always an object. Not romantic.
Romeo and Juliet (Romeo and Juliet): Two teenagers who've known each other for like a second and a half but then of course they get married and then kill themselves over each other. That's not love it's hormones.
Madeline and Leonard (The Marriage Plot): The love triangle in this book has a weak third leg, but honestly even the central relationship didn't really work for me. They never seem suited to each other at all...I know that early-20s-mistaking-drama-for-passion but I couldn't understand what either of them thought they were getting out of their relationship.
Sookie Stackhouse and Quinn (All Together Dead): Sookie has plenty of boyfriends over the course of the Southern Vampire Mysteries, but Quinn was my least favorite. Maybe because their relationship never really gets off the ground? I'm not sure, it just never really worked for me.
Marianne Dashwood and Colonel Brandon (Sense and Sensibility): I love this book for the relationship between the sisters, but it felt kind of crappy for the lively, intense Marianne to end up with this much-older, buttoned-up dude. It felt like he was a better match for Elinor, actually.
Rachel Chu and Nick Young (Crazy Rich Asians): For two people super-in-love, they barely seemed to talk about anything important. How can you be dating someone seriously enough to be living together and just never really talked about your family?
Elise Perez and Jamey Hyde (White Fur): Despite some good quality prose, this book fell flat for me because I never really bought into the desperate, crazy, take-no-prisoners love affair that's supposed to hold everything together.
Anne Welles and Lyon Burke (The Valley of the Dolls): These two just want such different things out of life. Also they're both pretty boring.
Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov (War and Peace): Pierre is such a nerd and Natasha is such a delight and she can do so much better than him I hate that they end up together.
Labels: 50 shades of grey, all together dead, crazy rich asians, romeo and juliet, sense and sensibility, tess of the d'urbervilles, the marriage plot, top ten tuesday, war and peace, white fur
Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads February 13, 2018 at 11:12 AM
I unfortunately also read all three 50 shades book and I never got what people see in this 'romance'... Also so agree with Romeo and Juliet - it's just ridiculous, not romantic. :)
My excuse to myself is that I was studying for my legal bar exam at the time, so I needed something that required as little thinking from me as possible to read!
Catherine February 13, 2018 at 3:36 PM
In defence of Colonel Brandon and Marianne - I think they kind of suit because they're both such drama queens. Brandon's a real romantic, more so than Willoughby who ended up just going after the money, and he likes music and poetry and things. I think he would have been lively enough once he was married to Marianne :) Totally agree about Romeo and Juliet though, and fifty shades. And I HATE Angel Clare, haha
My TTT: https://basedonthebook.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/top-ten-tuesday-love-freebie-favourite_13.html
That's a good point...now that I'm thinking about it in a long-term kind of way, I could see them maturing into a solid partnership. She definitely needed someone more grounded than she was, but I wanted someone younger and more "fun" for her. We can all agree that Angel was the wooooooorst, though!
iloveheartlandX February 13, 2018 at 4:01 PM
Ha ha thank you for putting how I feel about Romeo and Juliet into words! Why do people think that play is romantic? It's a flippin' tragedy!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/13/top-ten-tuesday-146/
Maybe so many of us read it when we're teenagers so we think it makes sense? Thinking about it as an adult, though, yikes
Sarah (Sarah's Book Shelves) February 14, 2018 at 9:14 AM
Bahaha - love your 50 Shades comment!! I never bought that either. How she'd all of a sudden tolerate S&M and how he'd be attracted to someone apparently so average. He seemed way to egotistical for that. But, I do think the guy playing him in the movie is hot!
I did buy White Fur though...the whole "wrong side of the tracks" attraction thing.
Jamie Dornan is pretty fine, but I watched the first movie and he had NO chemistry with Dakota Johnson (who I thought did really good work making Ana into a character worth watching because the script gave her NOTHING)
YES to Romeo and Juliet. I've never seen the romantic appeal of that story, even though so many people adore it. It's weird. Quinn was also my least favorite Sookie boyfriend. Or maybe Bill, to be honest. I can't quite remember from the books, but the TV show fostered my dislike for Bill. Love your list!
Bill was THE WORST in the show, but he basically faded out after the first couple books so he wasn't that bad?
A Month In The Life: February 2018
Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Could Re-Read Forever
Book 117: Americanah
Top Ten Tuesday: Books I've Decided I'm No Longer ...
Book 116: American Heiress
Book 115: The King Must Die
Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Have Been On My TBR th...
Book 114: Where'd You Go, Bernadette?


Start by understanding your own needs.
Don't give up—this is a learned skill.
Have you ever felt uncertain about whether you needed to draw a line with someone? Or felt unsure about how to do it?
For some, speaking up comes easily; for others it takes practice. The ability to confidently draw the line around our needs is called setting boundaries. Setting boundaries is important for healthy relationships.
"A boundary is a personal line drawn defining who we are, and what we will or will not do. It defines what we are responsible for," explains Laura Bokar, a marriage and family therapist and Founder of Fox Valley Institute for Growth and Wellness.
Imagine a yard with a fence around it. The fence is the boundary, and what is within the fence belongs to you. Inside the fence are your emotions, reactions, and behaviors; they are yours and you are responsible for them. A boundary is about protecting your own needs and is not intended to change other people.
If you are not used to purposefully setting boundaries, it may be helpful to spend time thinking about what is most important to you. When do you feel disrespected? When do you feel taken advantage of? How much space do you need? When do you want to be alone? Understanding yourself and your own needs makes it easier to communicate that to someone else. Think about these and plan your desired outcome.
Most things are learned through practice, and boundary setting is no different. Creating boundaries may feel uncomfortable at first, and friends and family may react unfavorably if they are not used to you standing your ground. That's OK. Start with simple things, and it will get easier.
That may seem simple, but we don't always respond that way and we may then feel resentment. Do not give up. State what you want or don't want, and be consistent. Boundaries are an important tool in order to protect your time, your space and your feelings.
Be clear in communicating what your expectations are, or what is offensive or unacceptable to you.
Be honest and respectful in your tone.
Be specific in order to minimize confusion.
Do not blame or criticize others. Remember, boundaries are for you, not for changing others.
It is important to respect the boundaries that other people set too. For example, if a family member sets a boundary for how willing she is to be involved with something and it doesn't meet what you think her boundary should be, remember to think about this person's decision and accept the boundary that she has set.
Think again about the fence analogy. A boundary would be crossed when someone comes crashing through your fence and tramples all over your yard. Allowing that would be indicating that you didn't really mean anything by creating the boundary in the first place.
"Keep your boundaries strong and clear," reminds Bokar. "Do not become fearful of hurting feelings, or fearful of the other person's anger, or fearful of being abandoned." That may mean reminding others of your boundaries, creating firmer boundaries, or enforcing consequences. If possible, state those consequences up front when you create the boundary, and then follow through. This is not easy, but it is very important. If necessary, review again what your goals and desired outcomes are. Consider your purpose, what you are comfortable with, and keep your boundaries strong.
On the other hand, communicate your appreciation when someone does respect your boundary. That reinforces the boundary.
You may be surprised to realize that with practice, boundary setting will become an extension of your own self-respect and will come naturally.