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HomeLBS Case Study Story
How Starbucks pulled itself out of the 2008 financial meltdown
Shezray Husain, Feroz Khan and Waqas Mirza | Delhi, Edition:Sept 28, 2014
This case study looks at how the world's largest coffee retailer achieved this turnaround by aligning its operations with customer demands through social media.
The first Starbucks outlet in India in South Mumbai
The world's largest coffee retailer, Starbucks, pulled itself out of the financial meltdown of 2008 by aligning its operations with customer demands through social media. This case study looks at what the company did right to achieve this turnaround.
Founded in 1971 in Seattle, Starbucks is present in 50 states in the US and 43 countries. It is one of the most respected brands, winning awards such as "Best Business", "Most Admired Company", "100 Best Corporate Citizens" and so on. While its quality is unquestionable, its price has always been higher than those offered by the domestic coffee houses in various countries.
This was one of the reasons why the company took a hit during the economic slowdown of 2008 as customers opted for cheaper options for their everyday coffee. Starbucks was forced to shut 600 shops that were not making profits. By March 30, 2008, its profit had fallen 28 per cent compared to the same period in 2007. In 2009, it closed another 300 stores and laid off 6,700 employees.
On January 8, 2008, Howard D. Schultz returned as CEO of Starbucks after a gap of eight years, replacing Jim Donald. Schultz had nurtured the company since 1982 when it had only four outlets. He had served as CEO from 1987 to 2000 and had presided over the companys public offering in 1992.
Branding unlimited: Starbucks cups on sale at a store.
Upon coming back, he found that apart from the worsening economic condition in the US, the company's rapid expansion had distracted it from making its cafes an inviting place with new products. In addition, Starbucks also faced competition from McDonald's, which had, in 2008, started setting up coffee bars that sold espresso.
Schultz shot off a letter to the employees on the day he took office once again as CEO. He said, "The company must shift its focus away from bureaucracy and back to customers." He made his objective very clear: "Reigniting the emotional attachment with customers.
"The previous leadership had blamed the economy and the higher cost of dairy products for the slump in business. They had also stated this as a reason to hike prices. However, Schultz took an entirely different view of the situation. He told the employees, "The company shouldn't just blame the economy; Starbucks's heavy spending to accommodate its expansion has created a bureaucracy that masked its problems."
In a departure from conventional strategies like "a redo of the store layout", Starbucks soon embarked on a technology-oriented strategy. An environment where employees could think freely about the organisation and contribute in terms of strategies and ideas was fostered. As a result, a community involvement concept was developed.
In March 2008, "My Starbucks Idea" was rolled out for customers to exchange ideas with each other and directly with the company. As part of this, customers were able to give opinions on everything such as products, services, layout, advertising, corporate social responsibility, in-store music and so on. More than 93,000 ideas were shared by about 1.3 million users on social media, and page views per month rose to 5.5 million.
After the 2007/08 crisis, Starbucks had to rebuild its customer relationships and show the world that it cared for quality and consistency. It also had to give a leg up to the altruistic component of the brand such as community building and care for the environment. Through the "My Starbucks Idea" customers had a direct link with the headquarters and of course Starbucks was listening. Soon Starbucks's ubiquity became an asset as customers from around the world had an opportunity to connect with each other, spawning like-minded communities like the 'free Wi-Fi group', 'soy group', 'comfy chair group' or 'frappuccino lovers'.
Starbucks implemented over 100 ideas. Through this initiative, the coffee retailer built a robust fan base. By giving customers a platform to voice their ideas and views on the brand and by responding to it, it was able to reignite the brand trust.
Starbucks soon realised that it had to project its 'cool' element via social media-based marketing. The organisation must never look desperate or too keen to increase its sales. So the company refrained from pushing too many products, causes or offers to its followers. The focus was more on building and engaging with the community.
One of the accidental tweets from Starbucks was just a smiley face that received a lot of admiration from the community. Tweets such as 'keep calm and make coffee' is in line with its idea of keeping a cool image and building a community. Starbucks's use of social media points to the fine balance it maintained between spontaneous and well-planned posts. The social media platforms have also helped the company swiftly mitigate and manage any information that causes harm to its global identity. In 2009, when rumours of Starbucks's profits being spent on Israel army surfaced, the company used the social media outlets effectively to refute it and restore its image of a peace-loving organisation.
The company embraced mobile apps much before its competitors. Very early in the race, Starbucks had linked its social media strategy objectives with technology channels like mobile apps. It was carefully designed to appeal to the masses and specifically to the segment that made up its online community. Through its iPhone app features like store locator, nutrition-based information and rewards programme, it integrated and enhanced its social media community fabric. The head start in technology adoption has helped the company come up with trend-setting ideas.
One of them was the move to help its customers personalise the company's offerings. The initiative, 'MyStarbucksSignature' allowed consumers to develop their own signature drinks (hot or cold coffee), name the drink and share the new flavour with the community. In this way, Starbucks informs the consumer of the wide range of product offering they have at their stores across the world. It also shows the consumer how to order this cup and what it will look like. The only modification a consumer can do in his or her signature drink is in the ingredient mix and quantity. This way the supply network is only slightly disrupted at the retail and service end. Everything else related to ingredients and distribution remains completely untouched.
In 2008, the marketing teams had started a promotion to increase customer visits to stores during breakfast hours. It included a free pastry with a coffee bought before 10:30 a.m. The initiative created traction online and over one million people across the US queued up at Starbucks outlets.
Such social media promotions were much less expensive than the companys promotions at its stores or putting up billboards across cities. The awareness and response was also more than that from promotions through traditional channels like television advertisements.
Employees and baristas too were always an integral part of Starbucks online and social media community. It has a separate page for its employees, which is used to generate and debate ideas.
An example of employees contributing to its success is its Twitter page. The chain's voice on Twitter is 28-year-old Brad Nelson, a former barista. In 2008, when the company was looking for ideas to re-engage with its customers, Nelson suggested that he could begin a Twitter handle for the brand. Today, Starbucks has 775,000 followers.
EXPERTS' VIEW
ALIGNING BUSINESS OBJECTIVES AND SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIONS IS KEY
'It is important for firms to evaluate what types of social media activities increase revenues,' says Anja Lambrecht, Assistant Professor of Marketing, LBS.
The crisis at Starbucks was as much the result of the economic recession as due to the expansion of the store network in the previous years. To reconnect with its customers, Starbucks used social media to engage individual customers with its products and brand.
'My Starbucks Idea', set up for customers to exchange ideas, helped the company understand their needs and concerns. Such a strategy could have been dangerous if the company had ignored the customers' suggestions. But Starbucks was responsive and showed that it cared about their customers.
The 'MyStarbucksSignature' initiative, where customers could create their own personalised drinks, showcased the Starbucks assortment, created an interactive experience that involved customers in product creation and taught them how to order such drinks, while making it a fun activity that can be shared with friends. Again, there could be operational pitfalls.
If customisation slows down in-store processes, such initiative can be unsuccessful. So Starbucks integrated 'customisation' into its existing processes. While in the past, Starbucks, as well as other companies, have implemented social media activities, it remains challenging for many to understand the effectiveness of individual social media activities.
Even for Starbucks it may be difficult to judge the relative effectiveness of the individual marketing activities since many were implemented at a time when it was closing down a number of stores. Going forward, it becomes important for firms to evaluate what types of social media activities actually increase revenues. Nonetheless, the case showcases how social media can be used to reignite a brand - especially if the company manages to align its operations with changes to customers' demand for products.
ANJA LAMBRECHT
Assistant Professor of Marketing, LBS
STARBUCKS HAS CREATED VALUE THROUGH SOCIAL CO-CREATION
'This strategy has led to a large online community that influences the company's product strategy'says Tripti Lochan, Chief Executive Officer, VML Qais.
Co-creation for co-creation sake has little meaning; it needs to be tightly aligned to your business objectives. For Starbucks, understanding its own challenges in the face of the downturn, and the crystallisation of its needs to innovate led to a brilliant move: social co-creation.
This strategy has established a large active online community that influences the company's product strategy, and gathers suggestions on every aspect of its operations. But just having a phenomenal community of product co-creators does not mean that all problems can be presented to, and solved by, the same community. Starbucks�?� Shared Planet�?� is the company's commitment to do business in ways that are good for people and the planet.
When Starbucks needed to tackle a specific complex problem - reducing waste generated by its disposable cups - it recognised that the same community that it was engaging with in its ideation site, My Starbucks Idea, was not helpful. Starbucks soon realised that when it comes to co-creation, the platform you need very much depends on the problem you are trying to solve.
It needed an audience that cared about the issue, a new strategy and a new technology. Eventually, Starbucks teamed up with Mutopo, a social co-creation agency that led a group of environmentally conscious, social-media savvy entrepreneurs to solve this problem.
Starbucks' ability to use technology to capture ideas, votes, and comments from its three key broad participant groups - customers, employees, and partners - has created value for the company. It is amongst names like Lego, Ford, and Verizon, who are driving innovation as a sustainable value creation strategy. Starbucks is a company to watch out for as its continues to innovate; a story where every customer is a stakeholder and very vested in the company.
TRIPTI LOCHAN
Chief Executive Officer, VML Qais
Starbucks is a great example of a brand turning around its business by returning to its roots and reconnecting directly with its customers.
While many companies are struggling to get back to pre-2007 financial figures, Starbucks has shown that people are willing to spend $5 or 3 pound every day on their latte and tweet about it too.
More from LBS Case Study


Click here to visit the Thrift Shop webpage.
After much prayer and conversation with family, fellow clergy, and my spiritual director, I have concluded that it is now time for me to leave Holy Nativity Church. I would have you know that this has not been an easy decision as I have come to love this community of faith and have found joy in being a part of your lives. I am so very grateful for the affection and support that I and my children (and pets!) have received from so many of you.
I want you all to know that I am truly grateful for the transition package that has been made available to me and my family by your current vestry. They have worked hard to ensure our needs are met as we move forward, seeking God's plan. Your vestry members, like you, have a deep love for this church, the school, and all the other missions that have sprung from this congregation though the years. May you all move forward with a shared enthusiasm and focus, united in a common vision for Holy Nativity Parish.
Lastly, know that you are forever etched on my heart and will remain in my prayers in the months ahead as we all move forward in expectation of what God will do as we continue to love and serve Him.
Jeremiah 29:11 - " For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
On behalf of the vestry of Holy Nativity Church, we are sincerely grateful to Rev. Deb for her many contributions over these past three years. She has embraced this congregation with loving care and guidance as we have worked together to discuss, debate, and plan a future that is strong and sustainable for our church and school.
Rev. Deb has been a passionate and engaged spiritual leader for Holy Nativity Church who touched us all with her pastoral care. For this reason, we will miss her very much, but we also understand and accept her decision. We want Rev. Deb and her family to have a smooth transition and have worked with her to achieve that.
Mahalo, Rev. Deb, your contributions to Holy Nativity Church will long be remembered and we wish you and your family all the best in your next venture.
The Right Reverend Robert L. Fitzpatrick, Bishop of Hawaii, will be celebrant and preacher at both services (7:30 am and 9:30 am) at Holy Nativity Church on Sunday, April 24.
The Gospel lesson for April 24, the Fifth Sunday of Easter, includes the following: Jesus said, "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35. In keeping with the lesson, the Bishop's theme for the day will be "love."
The Bishop will join Holy Nativity vestry members in a meeting with the congregation following the 9:30 am service (see below).
Members of the Holy Nativity vestry, along with The Rt. Rev. Robert L. Fitzpatrick, Bishop of Hawaii, will meet with parishioners following the 9:30 am service on Sunday to answer questions regarding the clergy transition at Holy Nativity. All are welcome.


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The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival ties art and industry together as it celebrates its 20th year
By Nele Volbrück / November 15, 2016 November 15, 2016 / Leave a Comment / Culture
In the cold and dark Estonian November evenings, the Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF, for short, in Estonian) lends its helping hand to those who seek escapism from a world that appears to grow more unstable by the hour. From 11-27 November, the cinemas in Tallinn and Tartu screen over 200 films from more than 70 countries, as well as host talks, parties and various other events.
A hunger for film
When the Black Nights Film Festival was called to life in 1997 by Tiina Lokk, the festival's director, Estonia was a struggling country still trying to build itself from ground up after only six years of regained independence. The funds and attention of the country were placed elsewhere at the time, which made organising a film event difficult, since cinema culture was virtually dying out. The local film industry was non-existent; a lot of cinemas were shut down while only a few remained to show Hollywood blockbusters. Film was not a medium people were passionate about, especially alternative films.
The desire for a cinema culture, however, must have been bubbling somewhere under the surface, since nearly 5,000 viewers turned up for the first PÖFF event.
The 25 featured full-length films had lured such a crowd; hence it became obvious there was an actual demand that had to be catered for. From then on, the Black Nights Film Festival has steadily grown and bolstered up to be a world class film festival.
Last year, the festival had over 80,000 admissions, not to mention the 768 industry guests and journalists, to see approximately 650 films.
Official acknowledgement
Although the Black Nights Film Festival will happily celebrate turning 20 this year, by no means does that mean it can just rest on its laurels. Two years ago, the event was given an A-class festival status by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations. This official recognition means a formal right to put together a thematically and geographically unlimited film programme.
The A-class status conveys the film industry's trust, respect and recognition of the festival's quality and reputation. So far, only 15 festivals around the world have received this badge of honour. The Black Nights Film Festival is in a fine company, sharing the status with Cannes, Venice and Berlin festivals, among others.
Despite the fact that compared with Cannes, the Black Nights Film Festival imminently lacks sunshine and glamourous evenings with fancily clad film stars gracing the red carpet, the festival manages to do an amazing job on a significantly smaller budget whilst keeping the ticket prices reasonable, making films easily accessible for the filmgoers.
With recognition comes responsibility
The audience has a generous amount of productions to choose from. The crown jewel of the Black Nights Film Festival is the international "Main Competition" programme. Twelve films from established directors worldwide, selected by an international jury, compete for the Grand Prix. For the first time in the festival's history, all the films in the main competition are world or international premiers, with all the directors of these films present at the event.
It might be easy to dismiss the importance of this fact, but it really symbolises the festival's reliability and the industry professionals' trust. The premiere of a film can be a determining factor in its life and success. It is a special moment when the director puts their work into the hands of the audience and watches as it takes on a life of its own.
The Black Nights Film Festival award section includes the First Feature competition for debutant directors, the Estonian Film award, and various ceremonial titles like the audience award or lifetime achievement award.
What can you fill your black nights with?
The festival's competitions are accompanied by many programmes, all of which are meticulously thought through. For example, the Screen International Critics' Choice programme provides the local audience a chance to see the notable films that have made quite a splash in the festival circuit. The Forum programme presents issues that urge discussion, however uncomfortable the topics might be.
Similarly, Hot Topics underlines various humanitarian and social problems. The Across the Line programme deals with relevant topics in the globalised world today, wherein young storytellers use deep social analysis and allegories to reflect on the challenges European nations have to face.
Midnight Shivers, on the other hand, is a collection of the freshest and wildest films that simply demand to be viewed in the dark of the night. In addition to all this, fashion films have their own section, as do documentaries, and there are many more subcategories.
The films and programmes have all been chosen to be a part of the festival for a reason. The viewers should keep this in mind, since not all of the productions might be easy or pleasant to watch. The festival is modelled to provide the local audiences a comprehensive selection of world cinema in all its diversity.
Plentiful black nights to make room for sub-festivals
The Black Nights Film Festival programme has made way for a few sub-festivals, all of which now have a distinguished identity of their own. One of them is Just Film, a children's and youth film festival that is known for speaking to children in their language and discovering the world with them. It touches upon issues that youngsters might not be interested in sharing with their parents or are even ashamed to discuss with their peers and in that way, Just Film oftentimes helps parents and teachers understand and connect with the kids better.
The International Short Film Festival Sleepwalkers emerged as a student film festival that screened many cult films. Now, however, they have expanded and adopted the short film genre and even hold an independent competition. Sleepwalkers collaborates with light and video artists and emphasises largely on the room specifics having established itself as an atmospheric festival.
The name Animated Dreams already gives itself away – yes, it is an animated film festival. In fact, the oldest and biggest animated film festival in Baltics. It showcases the work of Estonian directors as well as foreign ones promoting animation culture through and through. Animated Dreams' special programs Late Night Comedy, and Late Night Love – which tackles desires and sexuality – can be considered fan favourites.
Introducing the Baltic film industry to the world
The focal point of the film festival naturally lies in the top-quality, diverse, bold and balanced film programme. In addition to that, however, there is a growing interest in meetings held for the film industry professionals. The Black Nights Film Festival works hand in hand with the Baltic Event co-production market, an endeavour with the sole purpose to promote the Baltic film industry.
That collaboration has taken the form of Industry@Tallinn, a week-long parallel event. Industry@Tallinn hosts panels, showcases, one-on-one mentorship sessions, consultations and a talent development camp. It aims to give the Baltic film industry a professional, clear and accessible identity by making local film and entertainment professionals visible and connecting them with the US, Asia and Europe.
The Baltic region is a hidden gem of sorts in regard to film production. There are plentiful options for picturesque nature scenery, beautiful cityscapes, including the unique old town of Tallinn, as well as kitschy reminders from the Soviet days. A group of film industry people are working together in the hopes of establishing a modern studio complex. Estonia woos foreign productions with a tax rebate scheme that can go up to 30% which could appeal to many producers and distributors who might otherwise simply be oblivious to the mere possibility of the area due to insufficient knowledge about the region.
Other previously mentioned A-class film festivals have successfully incorporated the reputation of a great film trade hub into the image of the hosting cities, in addition to boosting the economy through a blooming tourism industry. The Black Nights Film Festival might not be quite at that place yet, but with 20 years of experience and hard work, it is not naive to firmly set the sights on getting there.
Cover: The Black Nights Film Festival celebrates turning 20 this year (the festival catalogues/courtesy of the Black Nights Film Festival.)
Nele Volbrück
Nele Volbrück is a Tartu University journalism and communications alumna, currently working with old photographs at the National Archives of Estonia. She is passionate about literature and music and holds a deep appreciation for graphic design and illustration. Aside from her day job, she also loves throwing herself into project-based voluntary work, requiring organising skills, such as at the Dark Nights' Film Festival or the International Music Day nation-wide concerts programme.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


October brings Puglia's wines and oils to Italy's two capitals, Rome and Milan, with the sixth edition of Puglia Wine & EVO Road Show - a programme involving the top wine bars of the two cities in promotional events organized by the Movimento Turismo del Vino Puglia.
The 2015 edition will start with two press conferences, an indication of this event's prestige: in Milan on Monday 21st September at the Hotel Baglioni Carlton presented by sparkling "sommelier blogtrotter" Adua Villa and in Rome on Tuesday 22nd September at the Baglioni Hotel Regina with the special participation of "State sommelier" Alessandro Scorsone. These two top wine authorities and the President of the Consortium Sebastiano de Corato will present the event to the public, journalists, wine bar owners, restaurateurs and experts and tell them about Puglia's wines and the passion of the region's wine-growers. To complete the evening - "Panini di mare", a delicious aperitivo with the flavour of Puglia.
Twenty-four selected wine bars in the two cities will host the event from 1st to 31st October. In rotation they will host the wines of members of MTV Puglia and the EVOs of the oil producers belonging to Buonaterra, the oil producers' association partner of Movimento Turismo dell'Olio. All month there will be promotional corners, theme showcases and daily tasting sessions dedicated to these two giants of Puglia's agri-food sector. A discovery and re-discovery of Puglia's most illustrious wines - Nero di Troia, Primitivo, Negroamaro -, and also many new wines, as well as excellent olive oils and the typical products of the region's outstanding gastronomic traditions.
Puglia does not only mean wines, but also extra virgin olive oil, and the precious "green gold" is there to explore, taste, enhance and appreciate both on its own and in conserves. This is why in Milan, capital this year of international agri-foods with Expo 2015, the programme has been expanded. It now includes six Puglian restaurants, who will make excellent use of oils and wines, with typical menus accompanied by the wines from the participating wineries; the finishing touch to dishes will be the unmistakable flavor of Puglia's extra virgin olive oil.
Three thousand six hundred bottles from thirty producers belonging to the Consortium are ready to invade the two cities with happy hours and tasting events, and to tell wine lovers, wine bar owners, enthusiasts old and new about the two facets – tradition and innovation - of Puglia's wines from Daunia to the Salento. All participants will receive a simple but useful gadget - the "Movinclick" drop stop, an invitation to download for free six Apps to discover Puglia's culture, places, faces, passion, territory, and wine and food. And if the apps are not enough, there will also be "real" guides and promotional materials to take home and use in planning the next trip to beautiful Puglia.
All information and the latest updates about the event and other activities of the Movimento Turismo del Vino Puglia are available on the Movimento's social network profiles: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.


This cake is for a retiring librarian, her cake features an adventurous mouse sailing way on a book.
This calculator/adding machine cake was to celebrate a retirement. The cake came equipped with a flip phone.


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The {@link Ext.grid.Panel Grid Panel} is a powerful way to display tabular data. It is an ideal solution for displaying dynamic data from a database. It can also allow users to edit the data displayed in the grid. Changes to the dataset can be easily saved back to the server. This guide describes how to create this functionality using Ext's MVC application architecture. If you're not familiar with this, then I recommend you check out [the guide](#!/guide/application_architecture) for more details.  The first part of this tutorial will cover the setting up of the application on the client and server, to the point where we can read data from the database and display it in the grid. Creating, updating, and deleting the records in the grid will be covered in the second part.

We will be building a database driven application, so we will need:

1. A web server
2. A server-side programming environment
3. A database

Traditionally, this has been done with a LAMP (Linux, Apache, Mysql, PHP) stack, or (on Windows) ASP.NET. For this guide I have decided to use the new kid on the block: [Node.js](http://nodejs.org). In particular, [Express](http://expressjs.com), the Node-based web application framework, provides a quick and easy way both to host static content and a ready-made web application framework. As for the database, [MongoDB](http://mongodb.org) provides a lightweight alternative to relational databases like MySQL or Postgres, which require using SQL. All these technologies are JavaScript based.

One limitation of this toolchain is that it is currently not supported on Windows. Although Node is currently being ported to Windows, this work is not yet complete. Furthermore the Node Package Manager uses Unix features such as symbolic links, and simply does not work on Windows at present. So if you are using Windows, you will need to use a Virtual Machine running Ubuntu (or other linux distro). [VirtualBox](http://virtualbox.org) and [VMWare](https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VMware) are free virtualization solutions. If you are using Mac OS X, or Linux, you will be fine.

Express is built on [Connect](https://github.com/senchalabs/connect), which is a SenchaLabs project. This gives some assurance that it is not going to disappear tomorrow (which may be a concern with something so young). Node.js is growing very rapidly in terms of the number of users, the number of libraries (modules) available and the number of hosting providers which support it. The online documentation is excellent, and the IRC community is apparently also quite helpful. There are also a few books in the works, which should be hitting shelves later this year. It seems that MongoDB is taking off as the [most popular NoSQL database](http://css.dzone.com/news/nosql-job-trends).

### Installation

While a full guide to installation, configuration, and use of Node, NPM, and MongoDB, are beyond the scope of this guide, here are the commands which worked for me.

#### Node.js
I downloaded the latest *stable* source package, which at the time of writing was [node v0.4.11](http://nodejs.org/dist/node-v0.4.11.tar.gz). Then execute the following commands in the folder where the archive was downloaded:

      tar zxvf node-v0.4.11.tar.gz
      cd node-v0.4.11
      ./configure
      make
      sudo make install

The 'make' stage will take a few minutes.

#### NPM

The instructions on the [npm website](http://npmjs.org) say to execute this command:

    curl http://npmjs.org/install.sh | sh

For some reason this does not work for me, even when I add 'sudo' in front of it. So I break the command into the following steps:

    wget http://npmjs.org/install.sh
    chmod +x install.sh
    sudo ./install.sh

'wget' is similar to curl, but a bit simpler to use as it just downloads the URL to a local file. You can install it with 'apt-get install wget' on Ubuntu, or 'brew install wget' on the Mac, if you are using [HomeBrew](http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew/).

#### MongoDB

The installation process is well documented on [the MongoDB website](http://www.mongodb.org/display/DOCS/Quickstart). It should be available though your system package manager. The details of creating a database are covered later in this guide.

#### Express

Now we can simply use npm to install this:

    sudo npm install -g express

## Setting up the Application

### Express Yourself!

The example dataset we will be dealing with is the set of movies which computer geeks like. This is a matter of opinion, hence the editable aspect is important. So we will call the demo app 'geekflicks'. As instructed on the [express website](http://expressjs.com/guide.html), simply create your application using the 'express' command:

    express geekflicks

Which should output that it created the following files:

    create : geekflicks
    create : geekflicks/package.json
    create : geekflicks/app.js
    create : geekflicks/public/javascripts
    create : geekflicks/public/stylesheets
    create : geekflicks/public/stylesheets/style.css
    create : geekflicks/public/images
    create : geekflicks/views
    create : geekflicks/views/layout.jade
    create : geekflicks/views/index.jade

Note that the public/ directory is where the Ext JS application will live.  In order to finish setting up the Express app, we need to also execute this command from within the 'geekflicks' directory:

    npm install -d

This will install the additional Node packages which are required.  The dependencies are defined in the 'package.json' file, which by default looks like this:

    {
        "name": "application-name",
        "version": "0.0.1",
        "private": true,
        "dependencies": {
            "express": "2.4.6",
            "jade": ">= 0.0.1"
        }
    }

For accessing the MongoDB database in our NodeJS app, I've chosen to use [Mongoose](http://mongoosejs.com/) which provides a nice high-level API. Lets add that as an explicit dependency in the package.json file, and change the name of our app while we're at it:

    {
        "name": "geekflicks",
        "version": "0.0.1",
        "private": true,
        "dependencies": {
            "express": "2.4.6",
            "jade": ">= 0.0.1",
            "mongoose": ">= 2.0.0"
        }
    }

Now if we re-execute the 'npm install -d' command, we see that it picks up the additional dependency, and installs it. What actually happens here is that the dependencies are installed in a folder called 'node_modules'. They are not installed globally, which means that our app has its own copy of these modules, which is a Good Thing, as it makes it independent of the global Node modules on your system.

To run our webapp, go into the 'geekflicks' directory, and run the following command:

    node app.js

Which should say that the app is running on port 3000. If you open a browser to [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000), you should see a page with the message: 'Express' and 'Welcome to Express'. How does this work? Well, in the geekflicks/app.js file, there is a definition of a 'route' as follows:

    // Routes
    app.get('/', function (req, res) {
        res.render('index', {
            title: 'Express'
        });
    });

Which says that whenever a request is made to the root of the webserver, it should render the 'index' template in the 'views' directory, using the given data object. This uses the Jade templating system which is bundled into Express. While this is neat, what we want it to do is redirect to the index.html file inside the 'public' folder, which is where we will be building our Ext JS app. We can achieve this using a redirect:

    // Routes
    app.get('/', function (req, res) {
        res.redirect('/index.html');
    });

### Creating the Ext JS Application

Lets create a directory structure for our Ext JS application in the 'public' directory, as described in the [getting started guide](#!/guide/getting_started):

    geekflicks/
      public/
        app/
            controller/
            model/
            store/
            view/
        extjs/
      ...

The extjs/ folder has the ExtJS 4 SDK (or a symlink to it). In the GeekFlicks folder, we create a index.html file with the following:

    <!doctype html>
    <html>
    <head>
      <meta charset="utf-8">
      <title>Editable Grid</title>
      <link rel="stylesheet" href="extjs/resources/css/ext-all.css">
      <script src="extjs/ext-all-debug.js"></script>
      <script>
        Ext.Loader.setConfig({
            enabled: true
        });
      </script>
      <script type="text/javascript" src="app.js"> </script>
    </head>
    <body>

    </body>
    </html>

I'm using the HTML5 recommended syntax here, though this is not necessary. Also, note that I have included 'ext-all-debug.js' not 'ext.js'. This ensures that all the Ext JS classes are available immediately after the app is loaded, rather than loading each class file dynamically, which is what would occur if you used 'ext.js' (or ext-debug.js). The grid does require a large number of classes, and this tends to slow down the initial page load, and clutter up the class list with a bunch of classes, which makes finding your own classes harder. However the MVC Application class does require the Loader to be enabled, and it is disabled by default when you use the 'ext-all' version. So I've manually re-enabled it here.

The app.js has this:

    Ext.application({
        name: "GeekFlicks",
        appFolder: "app",
        launch: function () {
            Ext.create('Ext.container.Viewport', {
                layout: 'fit',
                items: [{
                    xtype: 'panel',
                    title: 'Flicks for Geeks',
                    html: 'Add your favorite geeky movies'
                }]
            });
        }
    });

So now if you stop the Express webserver (by typing Ctrl-C in the terminal where you issued the 'node app.js' command) and restarting it (by issuing the 'node app.js' command again ) and navigate to [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000) (or refresh the browser), you should see a panel with the title "Flicks for Geeks" and the text "Add your favorite geeky movies" beneath it. If not, check the console for errors.. perhaps something got misplaced. Now we still don't have a Grid panel anywhere in sight, so lets remedy that.

### The View & Viewport

Now lets setup the MVC components of our application, rather than have it all in one file. This will allow us to take advantage of the features of Ext JS 4's Application framework. Create a view for the editable data grid in the 'views' folder, called 'Movies', with the following code:

    Ext.define('GeekFlicks.view.Movies', {
        extend: 'Ext.grid.Panel',
        alias: 'widget.movieseditor',

        initComponent: function () {

            // Hardcoded store with static data:
            this.store = {
                fields: ['title', 'year'],
                data: [{
                    title: 'The Matrix',
                    year: '1999'
                }, {
                    title: 'Star Wars: Return of the Jedi',
                    year: '1983'
                }]
            };

            this.columns = [{
                header: 'Title',
                dataIndex: 'title',
                flex: 1
            }, {
                header: 'Year',
                dataIndex: 'year',
                flex: 1
            }];

            this.callParent(arguments);
        }
    });

This creates a new view class called 'Movies' which extends the grid panel and hardcodes some data in a store, which is simply declared inline. This will be refactored later, but is enough to get us going for now.  Additionally, instead of creating the Viewport manually in the app.js file when the 'launch' event fires, we can create the main viewport of our application as a separate class called 'Viewport.js' in the view/ folder. It includes the Movies view we just created, using its xtype:

    Ext.define('GeekFlicks.view.Viewport', {
        extend: 'Ext.container.Viewport',

        layout: 'fit',

        items: [{
            xtype: 'panel',
            title: 'Top Geek Flicks of All Time',
            items: [{
                xtype: 'movieseditor'
            }]
        }]
    });

In order for the Viewport to be loaded automatically when the application launches, we set the 'autoCreateViewport' property to true in app.js (see next section for a listing of it).

### The Controller

Now lets create the controller, in the 'controller' folder, as follows:

    Ext.define("GeekFlicks.controller.Movies", {
        extend: 'Ext.app.Controller',

        views: [
            'Movies'
        ],

        init: function () {
            this.control({
                'movieseditor': {
                    render: this.onEditorRender
                }
            });
        },

        onEditorRender: function () {
            console.log("Movies editor was rendered");
        }
    });

This sets up a controller for the view we just created, by including it in the `views` array.  The `init()` method is automatically called by the Application when it starts. The `{@link Ext.app.Controller#method-control control()}` method adds the `onEditorRender` event listener to the movies editor grid which was selected by the {@link Ext.ComponentQuery ComponentQuery} expression `movieseditor` (which selects components with that xtype, or 'alias'). This is nice because it means the view does not have to know anything about the Controller (or the Model) and so it can potentially be reused in more than one context.

So now we have added a view, and a controller to listen for its events. Now we need to tell the Application about it. We set the `controllers` array to contain the `Movies` controller. Our main app.js file now looks like this.

    Ext.application({

        name: "GeekFlicks",
        appFolder: "app",

        autoCreateViewport: true,

        controllers: [
            'Movies'
        ]
    });

Now, when you refresh your browser, you should see the actual grid panel show up with the data we hardcoded into the view. Next we will refactor this to make this data load dynamically.

### The Model

The Model element of the MVC trinity consists of a few classes with specific responsibilities. They are:

* The Model: defines the schema of the data (think of it as a data-model or object-model)
* The Store: stores records of data (which are defined by the Model)
* The Proxy: loads the Store from the server (or other storage) and saves changes

These are covered in more detail in the [data package guide](#!/guide/data). So lets define our data, first by creating `Movie.js` in the 'model' folder:

    Ext.define('GeekFlicks.model.Movie', {
        extend: 'Ext.data.Model',

        fields: [{
            name: 'title',
            type: 'string'
        }, {
            name: 'year',
            type: 'int'
        }]
    });

Then, in `store/Movies.js`, add the following:

    Ext.define('GeekFlicks.store.Movies', {
        extend: 'Ext.data.Store',
        model: 'GeekFlicks.model.Movie',

        data: [{
            title: 'The Matrix',
            year: '1999'
        }, {
            title: 'Star Wars: Return of the Jedi',
            year: '1983'
        }]
    });

Which is just copied from the View, where it was previously set in the `initComponent()` method. The one change is that instead on the fields being defined inline, there is a reference to the Model we just created, where they are defined. Let's now clean up the view to reference our store... change the contents of the `view/Movies.js` to:

    Ext.define('GeekFlicks.view.Movies', {
        extend: 'Ext.grid.Panel',
        alias: 'widget.movieseditor',

        store: 'Movies',

        initComponent: function () {
            // Note: store removed
            this.columns = [{
                header: 'Title',
                dataIndex: 'title',
                flex: 1
            }, {
                header: 'Year',
                dataIndex: 'year',
                flex: 1
            }];

            this.callParent(arguments);
        }
    });

Note that the `store` configuration property was set to 'Movies' which will cause an instance of the Movies store to be instantiated at run time, and assigned to the grid.

The Controller also needs to know about the Model and Store, so we tell it about them by adding a couple of config items, named (surprise!) `models` and `stores`:

    Ext.define("GeekFlicks.controller.Movies", {
        extend: 'Ext.app.Controller',

        models: ['Movie'],
        stores: ['Movies'],
        views:  ['Movies'],

        init: function () {
            this.control({
                'movieseditor': {
                    render: this.onEditorRender
                }
            });
        },

        onEditorRender: function () {
            console.log("movies editor was rendered");
        }
    });

## The Proxy and the Server

We still have hard-coded data in our Store, so lets fix that using a {@link Ext.data.proxy.Proxy Proxy}. The proxy will load the data from our Express app. Specifically, it will access the URL `/movies`. We must define this as a route in `geekflicks/app.js`. The first version of this simply echoes back a JSON representation of the current movies. Here is the new route definition:

      app.get('/movies', function (req, res) {
          res.contentType('json');
          res.json({
              success: true,
              data: [{
                  title: "The Matrix",
                  year: 1999
              }, {
                  title: "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi",
                  year: 1983
              }]
          });
      });

The format here is significant: the JSON response must be a single object, with a `success` property, and a `data` property, which is an array of records matching the definition of the Model. Actually you can customize these properties by configuring your Proxy's `{@link Ext.data.proxy.Proxy#cfg-reader reader}` differently, but the important thing is that the server sends the same names which the {@link Ext.data.reader.Reader Reader} is expecting.  Now this data is still hardcoded - just on the server-side. In the next section we will be reading this out of a database. But at least we can remove the hardcoded data from our store, and replace it with the Proxy definition:

    Ext.define('GeekFlicks.store.Movies', {
        extend: 'Ext.data.Store',

        autoLoad: true,
        fields: ['title', 'year'],

        // Data removed, instead using proxy:
        proxy: {
            type: 'ajax',
            url: '/movies',
            reader: {
                type: 'json',
                root: 'data',
                successProperty: 'success'
            }
        }
    });

If you restart the server app, and reload the page, you should see the grid with the first two movies in it.

### Setting up the Database

For our app to be truly dynamic and interactive, we'll need a database to store our movies in. Because of its simplicity and JavaScript syntax, we will be using MongoDB for this demo. If you haven't installed it as described at the start of this guide, you should do that now. Once you have the `mongodb` daemon running, typing `mongo` will put you into a MongoDB console where you can create a new database and collection (similar to a table in SQL). You can then insert the default movies using a nice JavaScript API, as follows (you just type the commands on the lines starting with '>' which is the mongo prompt.)

      $ mongo
      MongoDB shell version: 2.0.0
      connecting to: test
      > use example
      switched to db example
      > db.movies.insert({title: "The Matrix", year: 1999});
      > db.movies.insert({title: "Star Wars", year: 1977});
      > db.movies.find();
      { "_id" : ObjectId("4e7018a79abdbdfb5d235b6c"), "title" : "The Matrix", "year" : 1999 }
      { "_id" : ObjectId("4e7018dd9abdbdfb5d235b6d"), "title" : "Star Wars", "year" : 1977 }
      > quit()

The find() command is like SQL `select *`. It returns all members of the collection, which confirms that the rows were added as expected. Note that they have also been given a unique id. Now that the data is in the database, we just need to pull it out with our Node JS app. This can be done by using Mongoose to define a model, and then modifying the `/movies` route in `app.js` to query it:

    var mongoose = require('mongoose'),

    db = mongoose.connect('mongodb://127.0.0.1/example'),

    //create the movie Model using the 'movies' collection as a data-source
    movieModel = mongoose.model('movies', new mongoose.Schema({
        title: String,
        year: Number
    }));

    //...

    app.get('/movies', function (req, res) {
        movieModel.find({}, function (err, movies) {
            res.contentType('json');
            res.json({
                success: true,
                data: movies
            });
        });
    });

After restarting the server (this will need to be done to see any change to the server code, but not after changing Ext JS code only) the index page of our app will show the movies we entered into the database above. Note the change to the Star Wars film title and date. This is what the app should look like at this point:

{@img geekflicks_readonly.png}

Admittedly, it is not very exciting, as it simply displays the data from the database. However, we have set up a full web stack from the database to the UI, using NodeJS and the Ext JS 4 Application framework. Now we are in a good position to add more functionality to the app, specifically creating new movies and updating or deleting existing ones. This will be described in part two of this tutorial.

[Download project files](guides/editable_grid/geekflicks.zip)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Jesus calls us to a radical commitment and warns us of the cost of following him. Surely we need then to be ready to share the gospel with others. Having listened to the person and the Holy Spirit, having conversed in love the time will come when it is appropriate to share the gospel.
This video by Dave Mann of the Hope Project is referenced in the sermon - watch it at the appropriate point to learn a simple gospel presentation.
Below are the audio files of the sermon. Listen to part 1, then watch the video, then continue with part 2.


text:
From Medicine to the Movies
Even as a thriving emergency room doctor, Misan Sagay heard the rumblings of a deeper dream.
She had always loved stories and the transportive magic of movies. It was through film that the tropical breezes of Gidget Goes Hawaiian blew into her childhood home in Cambridge, England. It was film that allowed her to trade the rigors of medical school for a glamorous Roman romp in La Dolce Vita.
But Sagay never saw herself in these images. Black women were largely absent onscreen, or they were side characters, supporting someone else's story.
It was so unusual to see a black person on TV when Sagay was growing up that she remembers her whole family yelling and pointing at the screen any time it would happen.
The stories and memories made by the movies are what bind us as a human family, she says, and without representation, going to the cinema is "like looking at a family photograph album and you're not there."
All her life, Sagay yearned to see herself in the stories she loved. So, despite a hard-earned medical career, she knew she had to write them.
Though she had never written a screenplay, she was no stranger to storytelling. A creative child and lifelong reader, she'd been making up narratives since she was a kid.
"I used to write quite involved stories for my dolls, actually," Sagay says. "I invented a whole village and I would write about all the different people who live there."
Plus, she says the medical profession is built on stories.
"If you look at the life of a doctor, your whole day is telling stories. It's meeting people who tell you their story. It's you looking behind that story to know what's really going on, because you often need to do that with a diagnosis, and then it's repeating that story to somebody else in order to achieve what you want to achieve with the patient," she says.
"So people say, 'How different is medicine?' For me, telling stories and being very interested in people and the human condition was, really, what I did."
Writing them down was actually the new element. So with the discipline of a doctor, in stolen moments around work and raising her two boys, Sagay diligently crafted her first screenplay.
And in the kind of moment Hollywood dreams are made of, The Secret Laughter of Women was immediately produced and brought to the screen.
"I wrote a script and that script was made, and I thought, 'Oh wow, this is easy,'" Sagay says with a hearty laugh from her home in London.
A romance starring Nia Long as a native Nigerian (like Sagay) who falls for a British writer played by Colin Firth, the 1999 film launched Sagay's professional writing career. It caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey, who tapped Sagay to be a writer on the 2005 TV movie Their Eyes Were Watching God.
The Secret Laughter of Women (1999)
That's when Sagay hung up her scrubs to write full time. She established a strict routine that saw her rising before dawn each day.
"That's always my best writing time," she says. "I love those early mornings when no one else is awake and the wonderful moment where, as a mother, you know your children are asleep and well and breathing. There's nothing more you can do. And for those three or four hours, I can just let go. I can let go of all the daily stuff and just write."
At 8 a.m., she'd log off and take her sons to school.
Over years of thoughtful writing and painstaking research, Sagay used those early morning sessions to create the kind of rich, historic tale she'd dreamed of seeing as a kid.
The result was 2013's Belle, the story of a mixed-race girl raised as an aristocrat in 18th-century England. Based on true events, the drama was inspired by Sagay's visit to Scotland's Scone Palace while she was in medical school. She was transfixed by a painting there that depicted young, regal Lady Elizabeth Murray holding hands with an equally regal-looking black girl, identified as "Dido, the housekeeper's daughter."
Sagay discovered that the real Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray grew up as sisters in the home of Lord Mansfield, an influential British barrister.
In Sagay's story, Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is the center of the action, the author of her destiny. The powerful Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson) supports her story.
Belle was internationally acclaimed, winning widespread recognition for Sagay, Mbatha-Raw and director Amma Asante. It also brought Sagay an invitation to join the Academy, which she calls "one of the best days of my life."
But when she first pitched the idea for the film, executives didn't understand the focus on Belle.
"What people would always say is, 'Why are you making it about her when there's this amazing character Lord Mansfield, who is a giant in the legal world and he's so important?'" Sagay recalls. "It's rather as though somebody wanted to make a film about this house and chose to make it about one of the mice in the cupboard."
In other words, why focus on the black girl when it could be about the white guy, the exact cinematic imbalance Sagay set out to rectify in the first place.
Belle (2013)
But thanks to widespread efforts to raise awareness of Hollywood's overwhelming whiteness — and all the stories and talents that have been overlooked as a result — things are finally changing, she says.
It used to be that before she could pitch a project, "I would have to pitch my relevance," justifying that an audience would be interested in what happens to a black female protagonist.
"It was exhausting," she says.
Lately, though, the industry's appetite for diversity has grown. Sagay has even found herself pitching ideas to executives who look like her.
"What thrills me about the changes I've seen is that they haven't just happened organically. It's people of goodwill and decency who've said we're going to make a difference. We're going to change things. And it has made a difference."
It's not just about increasing opportunities for people of color or tapping into a wealth of unheard writers and stories. It's about reinserting diversity into humanity's shared family history as seen in film and shaping a future where all kinds of different stories and people are valued.
"It's so often that the film industry leads reality. I don't know how many black presidents I saw onscreen before there was a real one," Sagay says. "We're not followers. We're leaders. We form public perception, which is why it's such an amazing privilege but also an amazing responsibility."
Even two decades after changing careers and following her heart into storytelling, Sagay still has big dreams. She's working with artists she admires and writing stories in all genres, from biopics to fantasy, including a long-dreamed-of tale about a black princess. More than that, she's envisioning and contributing to a landscape where black writers can adapt Jane Austen and films about African kings are as beloved as those about British monarchs.
"It's terribly important that the community, that our art, reflects the world," Sagay says, "and that there's never a little girl in Cambridge who's never seen herself onscreen."
Take a look at Misan Sagay's five essential films by female directors.
Misan Sagay


For athletes and sport enthusiasts, AstroTurf has redefined the way the game is played. The company offers advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport and specialized synthetic turf systems with proprietary engineered technologies. A growing number of high schools, colleges, professional sports teams and municipalities continue to select AstroTurf-branded products for their premium quality, technical superiority, and safety. To learn more, visit www.astroturf.com.


text:
Index of Mississippi Culinary Schooling
Mississippi is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico and the great Mississippi River, so it's no surprise that seafood comprises a large portion of the state diet. In fact, Mississippi is responsible for raising 90% of the nation's catfish supply. All this mixed with traditional Southern cooking, and you get dishes like Creole Catfish Cakes, Mississippi Mud Cake, and Fried Green Tomatoes.
Degrees and Training
There are plenty of culinary schools in Mississippi that offer students the opportunity to specialize in the "back of the house" kitchen operations, "front of the house" hospitality management, and even the big picture study of food and nutrition. Depending on a student's career aspirations, they can earn a one-year certificate, two-year Associate's degree, or four-year Bachelor's degree.
Find the Right School
Copia-Lincoln Community College in Wesson offers a single Food Production and Management Associates degree covering AA both culinary arts and hospitality aspects of the industry. Students learn how to work with food and prepare dishes, as well as manage operations in a restaurant.
Other schools, such as Hinds Community College in Raymond, offer separate Associate degrees in either culinary arts or restaurant management. This gives students more time to focus on the specialties within food service. While some classes do overlap, culinary arts programs train students in the practical skills and techniques of food preparation, recipe creation, baking, and meat handling, among others. Hospitality management classes cover accounting, marketing, strategic planning, and management practices.
Some schools offer Bachelor of Science degrees where students find a broader and deeper investigation into the industry. At the University of Mississippi, or Ole Miss, as it is commonly known, students are able to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Hospitality Management or Dietetics and Nutrition. The Dietetics and Nutrition program emphasizes the science of human nutrition, and investigates the relationship between cultural and a community's eating.
Unique among culinary schools in the United States is the Culinary Arts Institute at the Mississippi College for Women (which has enrolled male students since 1982). Besides simply eating, our society is finding more and more ways to incorporate food into our daily lives. At the Culinary Arts Institute, students can earn a Bachelor of Science in Culinary Arts with the opportunity for a concentration in food journalism, entrepreneurship, food art, and nutrition and wellness.
After graduation, entry-level jobs can be found in just about any food service establishment in Mississippi. Here, the average salary of a restaurant manager is $57,000, while a chef earns an average $63,000, and a nutritionist earns an average $72,000.
On-Campus Schools
1000 ASU Drive #839
Alcorn State, MS 39096-7500
alcorn.edu
ADA Accredited
coahomacc.edu
Copia-Lincoln Community College
colin.edu
Food Production and Management
Cleveland, MS 38733
deltastate.edu
Raymond, MS 39154
hindscc.edu
www.mcc.cc.ms.us
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
2226 Switzer Road
mgccc.edu
Mississippi University for Women
1100 College Street
muw.edu
Northeast Mississippi Community College
Cunningham Blvd
www.nemcc.edu
Lenoir Hall, P.O. Box 1848
University, MS 38677-1848
olemiss.edu
The University of Southern Mississippi
118 College Drive #5172
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5172
usm.edu/nutrition
Food and Nutrition Science


Why do you ride: I ride because I enjoy the freedom of shredding trails with my mates and training hard to achieve what I have set out to.
What/who started you racing: Dad got me riding bikes and entered me into my first race in u/7s. Since then I've loved the thrill of racing and being competitive.
Most important people in your life and career: Dad, my coach Donna Dall and the rest of my family.
Best part of racing: Having a clear trail in front of you and the feeling you get when crossing the finish line in first. Hardest part: Pushing through the pain when it is in the most important part of the race.
Worst moment in career: Pulling my back out at the Oceania Championships, just a week before the National Championships in March 2017.
Favourite music: Almost any, but more EDM.
Best idea of having good time: Riding bikes with mates, and building trails.
Most respected mountain bike riders: Burry Stander, Nino Schurter, Julien Absalon, Jaroslav Kulhavy.
Favourite riding spots and courses: Cairns (AUS), Rotorua (NZL) and Cascades in Pietermaritzburg (RSA) Advice to beginners: Enjoy what you're doing!
Win National and Continental Championships.


text:
295 Cancer is Not a Death Sentence! Discover the Most Effective Ways to Prevent and Beat Cancer From 131 of the World's Top Experts with Today's Guests Charlene and Ty Bollinger, The Truth About Cancer: A Global Quest, Ashley James, Learn True Health 0
Discover The Truth About Cancer
Truth About Cancer
http://learntruehealth.com/the-truth-about-cancer
The Truth About Cancer video documentary has been instrumental in educating a lot of people about cancer. The documentary is filled with so many interviews with experts. It is the brainchild of Ty and Charlene Bollinger who are my guests today and will talk more about the Truth About Cancer in this episode.
Starting October 8, the Truth About Cancer will be streaming each episode daily wherein you can watch for free within 24 hours. To watch the Truth About Cancer episodes, link to www.learntruehealth.com/cancer.
Ty and Charlene Bollinger are also the ones behind the Truth About Vaccines video documentary. And like many other movers and shakers in the health space, their advocacy to spread the truth about cancer started from a series of family tragedies.
First of all, Charlene Bollinger says everything great has a strong core and a foundation at the beginning. Her strong foundation started when she was a little girl who dreamed of marrying her knight in shining armor. Ty Bollinger turned out to be her dream guy. They married six months after their first date.
It was also around this time that Ty Bollinger's father was diagnosed with cancer. He was in extreme pain and had to undergo surgery. But two and a half hours into the surgery, the doctors came out and told the newlyweds that his cancer was so advanced. Twenty-five days later, Ty Bollinger's father died.
But Charlene Bollinger says it was actually because of a botched surgery which led Ty Bollinger's father to bleed to death. The doctors did not sew him up properly.
"Six months after that tragedy, we experienced the loss of his father's father. And six months later his father's brother, then his cousin Glenn. Then a few years later his mother's mother, his mother's father and finally his mother," said Charlene Bollinger.
Charlene Bollinger adds that along the way from 1996 to 2004 when Ty Bollinger lost his mother, they did a lot of research. They realized there were many better ways than the one that they knew. Looking back, Charlene Bollinger says that if only they knew those things in the beginning, their family members would most likely still be alive today.
"We knew we had to get info out. In 2006, we published a book called Cancer: Step Outside the Box. There are options," said Charlene Bollinger. "Cancer does not have to be a death sentence. In 2014, we started our documentary. Now we reach millions of people, and we meet people regularly now."
Doing The Research
Ty Bollinger says that some of the most shocking statistics that they discovered were the inefficacy of chemo and radiation. They not only didn't work very well but they were the only option. And they were only thing doctors were taught about.
"I was angry I lost my parents because they didn't know there were other options outside of chemo and radiation surgery. People die because of lack of knowledge," said Ty Bollinger.
Ty Bollinger laments that doctors who prescribed something out of the ordinary, are sometimes mocked by their peers. Sometimes they lose their medical license and even get kicked out of a country. Those doctors are forced to practice somewhere else because they use something that wasn't core approved by the FDA.
"Cancer is not a death sentence. It's very preventable. There are lots of building blocks to being healthy. If you participate in those building blocks, then you have a very good chance of not getting cancer and never dying from cancer," said Ty Bollinger.
He adds, "The best treatments are also the best preventions. I think if I knew all these things that I know and have learned from the doctors over the years, and didn't practice on them, I'd be a hypocrite."
When it comes to diet, Charlene Bollinger says clean food means non-GMO, organic, and real foods. She says most of the foods that Americans are eating aren't even real foods. They are so processed and synthetic. That's why the body starts attacking itself because it doesn't know what to do with the stuff because it's not food.
Charlene Bollinger advises people that the first thing they should do is educate themselves. They need to understand the options. And they need to understand the body. Furthermore, she says they need to understand what's good for the body and the immune system. They also need to understand that the full body approach is mind spirit and body.
"We have toxicity that we need to detox. Every doctor in Asia said something that we did not know before. Every case of cancer there was directly related to something in mind," Ty Bollinger said. "There was a connection to bitterness and eating into their body physically. Forgiveness goes a long way to break free from these bitter roots."
Ty Bollinger says different diets work for different people. The ketogenic diet has worked for some people but not for others. Same with raw food or vegan. As a result, the Bollingers try to become agnostic when it comes to diets.
"Eat as close to nature as you can and eat organic. For meats, make sure meats are raised humanely," advises Ty Bollinger. "Cancer cells are fermenting sugar for energy. So by going through a ketogenic diet, you're taking away the fuel for cancer."
Metronomic Chemotherapy
Metronomic chemotherapy is a repeated administration of anti-neoplastic drugs in frequent and comparatively low doses. It also doesn't have a long drug-free period.
On the other hand, Ty Bollinger says insulin potentiation therapy low dose targeted chemo is similar to metronomic chemotherapy. It's used in about anywhere from a 5th to the 10th of a normal dose of chemo. And its coupling that with insulin to be able to target the cancer cells.
"It's been effective in many parts of the world. And very effective in killing cancer cells. It does not typically have any side effects because the dose of chemo is so low and its very targeted," said Ty Bollinger. "But they are using this with other treatments as well like dietary changes, exercise, and detoxification."
Root Causes of Cancer
Ty Bollinger says that if we look at cancer that's a disease, it is not only a result of nutritional deficiency but also overburden of toxicity. Hence, we need to look at the toxins that we're exposed to today.
Factors include toxins in the water, in the air, food, and invisible toxins like electromagnetic fields or EMFs. And because EMFs have proven to be harmful, Charlene Bollinger suggests getting a device to block the EMFs. Otherwise, it's best to turn off gadgets when not in use.
"The American Cancer Society reports that 80% of cancers are due to environmental toxicity and lifestyle choices. That's why our immune system is compromised because of toxicity," said Ty Bollinger.
Aside from exercising three to four times a week, I'm thrilled to find out that Ty Bollinger is also a big fan of Sunlighten Saunas. He makes it a habit of sitting in the sauna to sweat daily. He also jumps on a rebounder to stimulate the lymphatic flow. Because according to him, that's an excellent way to carry nutrients to the cells, as well as detox the cells.
Stop Buying Harmful Products
One reason why companies like Monsanto, Bayer, and pharma companies are still in business is because of consumers. Ty Bollinger says that they continue producing harmful products because people are still buying it.
"Don't buy their stuff. If people stop buying, they will stop producing it," Ty Bollinger said. "Educate people. Make decisions based on truth and facts. Stop buying the poison and put them out of business."
On the other hand, Charlene Bollinger says that laughter is one of the best medicines to curb cancer. Laughter along with exercise significantly improves health. The same goes for thoughts filled with love, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control.
"Think about everything you touch, taste, everything that you think about needs to be as clean as you can get it to be—organic or GMO-free," said Charlene Bollinger. "If there's a little bitterness there, do whatever it takes to forgive. Work through that to a better place to where there is freedom in our mind and soul so there could be healthy in the body."
Ty M. Bollinger is a Christian, happily married husband and father, health freedom advocate, cancer researcher, former competitive bodybuilder, documentary film producer, radio show host, and author.
Ty M. Bollinger first brought his discoveries to the public in the best-selling book Cancer: Step Outside the Box. He has also co-authored other books on alternatives to conventional medicine. The two groundbreaking documentary series on cancer treatment he has produced–The Quest for the Cures (2014) and The Truth about Cancer: A Global Quest (2015)–have been viewed by more than 10 million people worldwide. He is married to Charlene Bollinger.
Get Connected With Ty Bollinger:
The Truth About Cancer – Facebook


I predict history will conclude the Election of 2008 was decided when Obama unwisely chose Biden as his running mate and McCain brilliantly chose Palin. There are few more revealing tests of a candidate's judgment than his personnel choices, and for a presidential candidate the main such choice is the vice-presidential candidate.
Palin has much to learn on constitutional construction, but she is a quick study and we can work on trying to get her to attend to that.
I am not yet prepared to vote Republican myself, partly because there is still a need to move public policy in a constitutionalist direction and there is no better way to do that than by having the Libertarian Party get a lot of votes, but also because I vote in Texas which is safely Republican, so a Libertarian vote here will help libertarians, such as our friends in the Republican Liberty Caucus, take control of the Texas Republican Party, and even move the Texas Democratic Party our way.
Palin is being groomed as an eventual president, and while we might like a president to be a constitutional scholar of world repute, it is more important to be an inspiring leader, choose good advisers, and make appropriate nominations to the Supreme Court.
Sarah Palin may have an "ordinary" middle-class background and chosen lifestyle (until her selection for VP Friday), but she obviously has a natural talent for leadership and good judgment that is worth more than years in public office. That talent has now brought her to the center of power, and as she learns and grows, she will be doing things that are well beyond the capabilities of ordinary people. We can hope that she will not be corrupted by power the way so many others have, and I suspect she won't be. Whether that will cripple her prospects for ascending to the presidency, because the Establishment doesn't like people they can't corrupt, will remain to be seen.
During the weeks until the election, and afterwards if her ticket wins, she will be coached in policy issues to prepare her for campaigning and debate. We can hope that part of that will be on constitutional compliance. Now if she will break away from the Republican Convention to speak to the Campaign for Liberty rally nearby, she can solidify hopes for her as an emerging libertarian constitutionalist. We can speculate whether one of the factors causing McCain to pick her may not have been the growing strength of the Libertarian Party in the polls. If so, then the Libertarians will have moved public policy in their direction before the election even takes place.
[The Alaska Constitution is] my bible in governing. I try to keep it so simple by reading the thing and believing in it and living it. It's providential. Some of the crafters of the Constitution are still alive. They're my mentors, my advisers. I get to meet with these folks and ask, 'What did you mean by this?' And it makes so much sense.
As several have noted, I think we see the first female president, and it is likely the lineup in 2012 will be Palin/Jindal, which will be as close to a libertarian, if not constitutionalist, dream ticket as we are likely to see in this generation.


text:
Book of Abstract
Sub - Themes
ASA Conference 2022 @ Curtin
ASA Conference 2022
Climate emergency, global pandemic, clean and renewable energy sources, all of these are part of the discussion taking place in this year's ASA conference. Architectural science has a pivotal point to play in informing innovative sustainable and resilient outcomes.
Current technology development and trends in architectural education show an increasing interest in highly efficient solutions that closely integrate users' need and their quality of life as an intrinsic part of the design equation. This approach goes beyond building physics and shows how health, social and environmental science are shaping architectural responses. These are some of the topics explored during the ASA conference 2022 at Curtin University.
The conference includes posters, video presentations concerning the following sub-themes:
Urban Environments
Building Science Principles
Architectural Education
Beyond Building Physics.
What is ASA?
The Architectural Science Association (ASA) is an international organization, the objective of which is to promote architectural science, theory and practice primarily in relation to teaching and research in institutions of higher education.
It has a membership of several thousand professionals, academics and students from many countries. This Association was formerly known as the Australian and New Zealand Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA). ANZAScA was formed on the initiative of Professor Henry (Jack) Cowan, Derrick Kendrick and other architectural science academics to enable them to meet, discuss, and exchange information about their research and teaching. The membership was drawn from architecture schools in Australia and New Zealand and was open to students and professionals who contributed to the teaching of technical subjects.
www.anzasca.net
Curtin University is a future oriented, innovative, and global university known for its engagement with industry and community, high-impact research, and commitment to reconciliation. We are ranked in the top one percent of the universities worldwide according to ARWU (2021) and are counted among the top 200 universities according to the QS World University Rankings 2022.
The School of DBE focuses on sustainable design and built environment and the ways in which they improve the quality of life, advance community wellbeing and enhance settlements of all sizes from rural villages to mega-cities. Through research, teaching and community engagement, the school is recognised as a global leader in fostering a sustainable, equitable and inclusive future. We strive to lead in action research, activity-based pedagogy and authentic learning.
Our practice-based cognate disciplines focussed on impact including, Architecture; Construction Management; Design; Geography; Interior Architecture; Project Management; and Urban and Regional Planning. The quality of our learning and student experience, our creative response to emerging pedagogical and technological changes and our focus on innovative solutions ensure that we are sought out as the leading provider of design and built environment education and research.
Our emphasis on collaborative partnerships and engagement with industry, government and our local communities will ensure that our research and teaching is recognised as salient, contemporary and of the highest quality. Building on both our disciplinary strengths and cross-disciplinary collaboration we are sought after as a partner of choice both globally and locally.
www.curtin.edu.au
Extended to May 15th
Extended to June 5th
Abstract acceptance notification
Extended to August 8th
Full paper submission deadline
October 3rd
Paper acceptance notification & camera-ready papers and poster submission open
Early bird registration closing
Camera-ready papers and poster submission closing
Registration and payment deadline
Proud to bring inspirational speakers from across the globe
Nader Tehrani
Dean of The Cooper Union's Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture in New York
For his contributions to architecture as an art, Nader Tehrani is the recipient of the 2020 Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize from The American Academy of Arts and Letters, to which he was also elected as a Member in 2021, the highest form of recognition of artistic merit in The United States.
Nader Tehrani is founding principal of NADAAA and Dean of The Cooper Union's Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture. His research focuses on the transformation of the building industry, innovative material applications, and the development of new means and methods of construction, especially through digital fabrication. Tehrani's work has received many prestigious awards, including the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Architecture Award, and eighteen Progressive Architecture Awards.
Prior to becoming Dean at the Cooper Union, he taught at RISD, Harvard GSD, Georgia Institute of Technology, and MIT. His office, NADAAA, for the past seven years in a row, has ranked in the Top eleven design firms in Architect Magazine's Top 50 Firms in the United States, ranking as First three years in a row.
Liz Brogden
Dr Liz Brogden is a Lecturer in Design at The University of Queensland who works to advance climate action in architecture, focusing on the role of architecture education within sector-scale sustainability transitions. She believes that education research is needed to develop climate literacy in architecture, not only through university program development, but also to inform degree accreditation standards, pathways to registration as an architect, and continuing professional development requirements. Liz leads a cross-institutional Climate Action and Literacy in Architecture Education project, jointly funded by the Association of Architecture Schools Australasia (AASA) and the Australian Institute of Architects. She is a 2022 Churchill Fellow (AV Jennings) and in 2023 will undertake an international travel fellowship to examine world-leading programs and industry frameworks, and interview architects pioneering climate action to help build climate literacy for the profession in our region.
Ross Donaldson was CEO and Chairman of Woods Bagot from 2006-2016, leading its growth internationally to become the world's 6th largest practice in 2014 and in 2016 named the 7th "Most Admired" firm (WA100).
He is a champion of sustainable development and has lectured throughout Australia, China, United Kingdom and United States on sustainable models for cities and their liveability.
He established partnerships with Stanford and Columbia Universities and with international engineering firm Buro Happold.
He sits on the AIA Climate and Sustainability Taskforce, has prepared Zero Carbon Design CPD modules and was lead author of the AIA Report on the decarbonisation of the construction industry by 2030.
He consults with professional services firms on strategy, is an Adjunct Professor at UWA, teaches at Curtin and also mentors mid career professionals.
Dr. Tanja Glusac (Co-Chair)
Dr. Francesco Mancini (Co-Chair)
Executive Scientific Committee
Dr. Parisa Idazpanahi (Chair)
Dr. Tanja Glusac
Dr. Francesca Perugia
Dr. Francesco Mancini
ASA Conference
Kent St, Bentley
email: asaconference2022@curtin.edu.au
ASA Conference 2022 @ Curtin University


As you will probably know, the law on workplace pensions has changed and now every employer with at least one member of staff will have new pensions duties. This means that employers must automatically enrol eligible staff into a workplace pension scheme and make contributions towards it.
To view an introduction to automatic enrolment click here.
Companies with no staff other than directors may not have any automatic enrolment duties. Click here for guidance on what to do if you don't have any staff, including what sole directors can do if they believe automatic enrolment duties do not apply to them. This guidance also contains further information to help husband and wife companies and family businesses.
To view The Pension Regulator's online step-by-step guide to automatic enrolment click here.


text:
package devsepark.javapractice.tcp.chat;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.Socket;

//클라이언트 클래스, 접속할 서버 아이피와 포트를 가지고 소켓을 연결한 후, sender, receiver를 실행한다.
public class TcpChatClient implements Runnable{
	String ip = "127.0.0.1";
	int port = 0;
	Socket socket = null;

	public TcpChatClient(String ip, int port) {
		this.ip = ip;
		this.port = port;
	}

	@Override
	public void run() {
		try {
			socket = new Socket(ip, port);
		} catch (IOException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		}

		Thread sender = new Thread(new TcpChatClientSender(socket));
		sender.start();

		Thread receiver = new Thread(new TcpChatClientReceiver(socket));
		receiver.start();
	}
}


text:
Dwelling in Possibility
Paradox runs through a couple of the following essays and expands how we talk about "possibility" — including how we understand "newness" and how a therapist understands reactions to change.
In the next pages, you will find essays by rabbis, activists, and scholars, as well as paragraphs from an author and a scientist exploring what possibility means in their fields.
And we asked three writers to dream up first sentences for stories that feature the notion of possibility (we invite you to imagine how these stories might possibly end!).
If you liked this content, please complete this survey.
Debaters
/ Debaters
A Life Never Lived BeforeDavid Kasher
Faith in NewnessSam Fleischacker
Wide-Angle JudaismRachel Brodie
Core StoriesElie Kaunfer
Cultivating OptimismMelanie Weiner
Change One ThingSusan Goldberg
Diagnosis — ImpossibleDenise Wiesner-Berks
Embodied OptimismRachel Jacoby Rosenfield
Embodied Optimism
By Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield
Every year around Rosh Hashanah, I purchase tickets to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Company in December. It's as much a ritual for me as cleaning for Passover or building a sukkah.
Having grown up taking dance lessons, I'm drawn to the way movement allows for freedom and expressiveness, and although I will never move as the Ailey dancers do, I resonate with how these dancers stretch the outer reaches of possible human movement. Their muscles contract and extend, their arms move and their hips sway; as if I possess a phantom body, my synapses are firing, echoing the movement. I know this is the sensation of fully realized possibility. This awareness becomes a benchmark for my own sense of what's humanly possible, of the feeling that I aspire to in all areas of my work and life.
Over the past decade I have worked in the social justice arena focusing on climate change, human rights, and now the North American-Israel relationship. There are no short cuts to addressing any of these issues. Oftentimes, they feel overwhelming. Over the years, I've learned that the antidote to apathy or ignorance, or, worse, destructive behaviors is radical human creativity.
Sometimes when I've despaired, I've been surprised to find nuggets of creativity — creative moments when I shift from a passive position of being acted upon to acting. For example, watching the final credits of Al Gore's film, "An Inconvenient Truth," I felt truly daunted by the cataclysmic issue of climate change. And yet, it was during this exact moment that I imagined how I could help my own Jewish community address this issue. These efforts ultimately yielded the Jewish Greening Fellowship. Another example: After witnessing the profound pain caused by the verse in Leviticus (18:22) about homosexuality, I resolved to address the issues of LGBT inclusion in my community. I began to imagine an inclusive community that would test and challenge communal norms, pushing past limiting boundaries toward a new realm of possibility.
In the face of despair, an initial spark of empathy and imagination can fuel creative action and make change possible. While the steps may seem simple—listening with curiosity, pushing at "boundaries" to test their malleability, holding engaging meetings and programs, learning new skills and ideas — these steps toward change take the form of art; the inspired embodiment of an Ailey dance.
The realm of possibility opens up when we transform a series of small movements into unexpected and extraordinary outcomes. These moments often occur after years of slow and unrecognizable change; they offer optimism and inspire us to believe in our potential to make change. At other times, it seems painfully obvious that creativity and perseverance — even political power — are not enough to solve the immense problems we face. But we cannot default to cynicism, hopelessness, or passivity; if we do, we utterly surrender our power to be change-makers.
Rosh Hashanah celebrates the creation of the world; it celebrates our aspirational capacity. We are curious, playful, rule breaking seekers of knowledge. On Rosh Hashanah we can ask ourselves: Have I fully accessed my powers of creativity? Have I nurtured them adequately? Have I deployed them against the world's greatest challenges? And have I inspired others to use creative means to address human ills? Am I moving through the world and my life reaching for the outer limits of human possibility?
Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield is National Director of iEngage at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. Previously, as Director of Experiential Education at American Jewish World Service, she led the team that developed and implemented innovative educational programs to inspire and train American Jews to support AJWS's global justice work. She was founding director of the Jewish Greening Fellowship, an initiative that cultivates environmental change leadership among Jewish communal professionals and generates meaningful responses to global climate change.
READ: All the Sh'ma stories
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1. Have you read and do you agree to play within our Guild Rules? Yes, I understand and agree to follow the rules. 2. Have you been a member of SNOW before? If so when and why did you leave? Ages ago yes, i left as i quit Guild Wars, but i am now returning. I wasn't a very well known player, but nontheless i was in SNOW :) 3. Have you been a member of another guild in the same Alliance as SNOW? If so, which guild and why did you leave? N/A read above 4. How long have you been playing GW for? (type /age in-game for hours played) 1232 hours over 23 months. I had a large portion of time when i didnt play Guild wars, so the proper time would be over around 12 months. 5. How regularly do you play? (Which days / hours per week) When i used to play guild wars i was on everyday, as 1 or 2 members would be able to vouch for. i am returning to the game and would continue that level of activity. 6 List the In-Game Names (IGN's) and classes of ALL your LEVEL 20 characters. The more character classes you have which are able to play HM the better the chance of your application succeeding. ;) Assassin Pedro - Assassin Concrete Pete - Necromancer I conrete I - Elementalist Concrete Healing - Monk Concrete Paragon- Paragon Concrete Mesmer - Mesmer 7. Which of these characters have completed any or all of the 4 campaigns \ expansions in Normal Mode? (Protector title) Concrete Pete and Assassin Pedro 8. How many fully runed, skilled and equipped heroes does each character have? (26 maximum per character) I have all the skills unlocked for all characters and fully runed and equipped heroes, assassin pedro has 10 fully runed and equipped and im planning on runing several other characters heroes. 9. How many and which MAX titles does each of your characters have? I dont have any max titles but alot close to max. When i played i did Elite Areas activities such as the underworld and Fissure of Woe and never really focused on Titles, although i would be interested in leveling them, as i would like to be seen as a high, respected and respectful player. 10. Which titles are you working on at the moment? N/A 11. What can YOU do for [SNOW]? I can provide a lot of knowledge of Guild wars as i kept reading up on updates after i quit, i am also a good team player and would help anyone who needs help. 12. Anything else you think we should know? I have ventrilo and a mic.
Which members do you remember in SNOW? It's a yes from me with a trial.
Good app - focus on titles, and you'll benefit from the stuff we do together. Yes, trial.
Yes from me. (thats 4 yeses) Contact an officer in-game for a trial.


Ely, 16 miles north of Cambridge, has one of England's finest cathedrals. In 1284, Hugo de Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded Peterhouse, the oldest college at Cambridge. He is buried in the Cathedral. An unidentified tomb slab has sometimes been identified as his, but this identification is not secure.
George Peacock, the algebraist and member of the Analytical Society, was Dean of Ely from 1839, and is commemorated in the Cathedral.
When the Cathedral was restored c. 1870, the architect, Sir Gilbert Scott, installed a pavement maze of his own design under the west tower, the only cathedral maze in Britain.


text:
By JessicaMay 28, 2015CrossFit, Exercise, Jessica
No not me, I'm not going anywhere. However, today I say "see ya later" to my coach and one of my closest friends, Nate. You might remember I wrote a little training update a few weeks ago about my barbell now living at home and things were feeling really convoluted. I wrote that soon after he accepted a position in Colorado.
This move didn't come as a surprise, it's been in the works for the past year or so. I even helped him refine his resume and apply for jobs. But I don't think I was really prepared for how I'd feel once everything fell into place for him and he'd really be leaving.
I joined CrossFit in 2011 at a really pivotal time in my life. I was about to finish grad school, my closest friends were all in the process of trying to start families, and I felt powerless and abandoned — like I was being left behind. Things were changing. What was I to do next? Who was I going to become now?
The latter is something I'd always struggled with. Who was Jessica? Having moved around a lot, I never felt like I'd developed that base of core values and strengths I now feel are central to someone's overall well-being. You could have pushed me over where I stood, because I really stood for nothing, let alone myself.
So that September, with the goal to at least look more confident, Neil and I walked into an old meat-packing warehouse to a fresh-faced, excitable kid who said he was the head trainer of this thing called "CrossFit." I didn't know what that was, but he led Neil and I through some exercises, and I was hooked.
I didn't know what I was doing for at least a year, but Nate made me feel like I was making progress, and that I had potential. That's really an oversimplification, let me rephrase. Nate never made me feel like I was anything less than a Games athlete. Someone who was capable of just as much as anyone, and that everything I needed, I already possessed.
So I kept coming.
Over time, I understood the what, then the how, and finally the why of what I was doing. We were such a ragtag group, but I couldn't help but feel I would do anything for these people. We suffered, celebrated, mourned. We were constantly moving forward through time that somehow felt it had more meaning because of what we were doing. In it all I forged what I thought at the time was this "new" me, all thanks to CrossFit.
Through thick and thin, and sometimes resisting the urge to smack him, I've watched both he and the gym change and flourish. He's the same age as my baby brother, so part of me feels like I've watched him grow up, even though for the most part he's always been the adult voice of reason in our friendship.
To that end, I couldn't tell you when I feel like we even became friends. There was a point in which we just started talking every day. About anything, everything, and in between. I'm the first to admit that I don't have a lot of acquaintances or close friends. There's a level of trust that I haven't been able to give as freely as I probably should — I definitely have some hang-ups. While my other two closest friendships have grown and strengthened with years, my friendship with Nate has the feeling of having always been there. The only other person I've experienced that level of trust with is Neil.
With this all said, knowing this day was coming has been somewhat foreboding. I am so excited for him, and at the same time, feeling so sorry for myself — and then guilty about feeling bad for myself. I keep reminding myself that he's not leaving the planet, he's not gone forever, but there is this lump in the back of my throat at the mere thought of it being any different from it is now. And the thought of him not being in that gym when I walk through the doors is almost unbearable. Because the truth is that CrossFit might have had a part in changing my life, but Nate's been the glue.
I still plan on doing CrossFit, of course. Nate better be ready for all the YouTube coaching work he's about to get from me. But just like the point at which I discovered CrossFit, I have a feeling some change is in the wings for me as well. I only hope, that as a coach myself, that I can pay forward even an iota of what I feel I've received from my coach.
Opening and Closing Doors
A coffee date of sorts
<3 this post.


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