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Fiddlin' Around in Ireland
a Travel Essay by Linda Watanabe McFerrin
We were at Maggie's, a pub on Kiernan Street in Kilkenny, and the devil was panting at Anthony Macauley's elbow, for the Irish lads were dueling it out with the musicians from Cornwall and the fiddles were smoking.
The four musicians from Cornwall had their backs to the dark plank wall. Portraits of Yeats and Shaw frowned down on them.
"I'm going to have to number these tunes," muttered the Cornish fiddler.
"There's no point; you can't count," taunted one of the Irish lads.
And so it went with the fiddles wailing, the pennywhistle squealing, the bodhrán rumbling and a Greek bouzouki busily filling in the interstices. And the smoke crawled up the walls, and the stout got so warm it was boiling over the glasses. But, it was Anthony Macauley who held us in thrall, for he had a fiend in his bow that night and sawed at his fiddle with a fury, driving the Cornish back to the sea.
Maggie's had not been an easy find. Lawrence and I had been in Ireland for almost a week; we'd arrived the Friday before, on a lovely Spring morning, to begin a journey that would take us all over the island. Lawrence, fiddle strapped to his back, had come in quest of his musical roots. I was looking for poetry.
As soon as the doors of the tiny Aer Lingus plane closed at the Edinburgh Airport, we felt the change. We moved, in a heartbeat, from the reserved silence of strangers to somebody's kitchen table. Tongues were loosened like neckties. Voices rose from every seat on the plane. One happy fellow, returning from a golf holiday in Scotland, held his Duty Free bottle of liquor aloft, exhorting his companions to try some. The flight attendant had to yell over the din. She flushed like a barmaid in training. I remembered what a friend of mine had told me about the wedding she'd orchestrated in Ireland. She'd asked her future mother-in-law if they should plan on an open bar.
"Are you mad, darlin'?" the wise Irish woman replied. "If we do that, they'll drink till there's no one standin'."
No saintly calm had descended on Dublin, either, although it was Easter weekend. It would, we were warned, be extra-busy at all of the pubs and taverns because of the holiday, and "there'd be a buzz about town."
Wanting to waste no time we quickly checked in at the Conrad, our hotel near St . Stephen's Green, and went straight on to Grafton Street, the short musical corridor that leads to the gates of Trinity College.
Nothing buoys the spirits like a walk along Grafton Street. Gray day or sunny, it's bright with noise and laughter. Loud "hellos," babies crying, neighborly gossip, rich brogues and lilting Irish airs float up onto the breeze. Our chosen course allowed for a stroll through St. Stephen's Green. Sunlight dappled the leafy brakes. Inspired by the moment, Lawrence liberated his fiddle and sawed out a hornpipe. He was joined in his performance by a pair of amorous ducks.
On Grafton street we were immediately surrounded by music. A couple of 9 and 10-year-old boys, Donald Reagon and Paul O'Neill, were delighting passersby with smooth moves on the fiddle and concertina. College students with shaved heads played sitars. Old men played jazz. A guitarist somewhere was plucking out George Harrison tunes and singing, "Here comes the sun, little darlin' here comes the sun."
On that musical street there was only one poet—a threadbare character who, for a pound or a punt (Irish pound) or nothing at all, would recite a poem by a poet of one's choosing. I selected Yeats and was honored with "The Fiddler of Dooney":
"When I play on my fiddle in Dooney, Folk dance like a wave of the sea . . ."
and then, because I was such an avid listener, with the "Song of Wandering Angus," and finally with the poet's own creation—a poem he wrote for his barber. A crowd had gathered by the time he completed the medley which he finished in such a histrionic frenzy that he drove his audience away. I gave him a pound for his efforts.
Of course, we toured Trinity College, walking amid the ancient tomes in the Long Room, paying artistic homage to the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of stunning beauty. We had tea at the National Museum after inspecting the lovely woolen tam-o'-shanters at Cleo on Kildare Street and browsed an exhibit on Neolithic Ireland, marveling over neck torques and collars of dazzling gold. On a tip, we went to Foley's that evening, squeezing ourselves into the bar downstairs after dinner along with the rest of the Saturday night crowd to hear the Freewheelers, a group of traditional Irish musicians.
This was to be our pattern for the trip—up early to sight-see, out late at the pubs. It wasn't long before the poetry of the countryside and the lilting, turning, double-stop music of our ramblings blurred into one long song.
Down through the Wicklow Mountains we went, on roads that hugged the Irish Sea, through Arklow and Wexford, then to Waterford and up to Tipperary and Cashel. We hiked into dells and over knolls, hopped stone walls, ducked blackberry bramble, wandered through roofless castles and around churchyards remarkable with Celtic stone crosses. The crosses seem the perfect symbol of Irish spirit and passion—a crucifix haloed by a bold, pagan sun. In my mind's eye, I see our journey around the island's perimeter as a pattern like crewelwork on linen —a green line bordered in bright yellow gorse, clover-leafing into the country's heart. Then we found Kilkenny and Maggie's and Mick and the Kilkenny people, and our musical journey began in earnest.
It was Frank Salmon of Essaness Music who told us of Maggie's. There are 96 pubs in Kilkenny, and many of them alternate nights of traditional music in a nicely cooperative fashion. It was Wednesday, so things were happening at Maggie's. Pub activity commences late and ends early the next day. We crossed the street to Maggie's at around 9:00 p.m. Ordering beers, we settled back in chairs positioned on the perimeter of an imaginary half-circle
The pub started to fill up. In walked the guitar and the bodrhán. Each of them ordered a pint. The banjo came next, then a violin. Another fiddle entered, and everyone turned to stare. Then, in came the bouzouki. The bouzouki sat next to us and placed his drink on our table. Once the Irish musicians had settled into their chairs in the half-circle facing the Cornish strangers, the showdown began.
They played for two hours, non-stop, the Guinness flowing in the same manner as the music. Then, around midnight, Tommy Lanahan—head thrown back, eyes closed— roared his way through a dirgeful ballad about Irish farmers plagued by the British, and we all stood up and sang the Irish National Anthem.
The bouzouki player's name was Mick Coogan. A large man with extra short hair and gold rings in his ear, he shared the names of his favorite musical haunts.
"Oh, you'll have to go to De Barra's; that's in Clonakilty. And go to Doolin too, out near Dingle, to a place called McGann's. O'Flaherty's is in Dingle. Tell 'em you know the Kilkenny people. Tell 'em 'hello' from Mick Coogan."
We asked Mick about Kinsale, which had also been recommended.
"Not far from Clonakilty," he said. "Oh, it's fine music there, as well."
With Mick's help we plotted a course that would take us from Waterford all the way up the west coast to Derry.
De Barra's in Clonakilty in county Cork was a matchbox of a place with stone walls, plank wainscoting and mustard brown paint. On one wall, framed by several yellowing posters, was a beautiful blue Gibson Firebird guitar. The rafters were crammed with old instruments. The guys at the bar looked like permanent fixtures, and the clock on the wall had stopped on some long-ago hour. Maybe because it was early in the day or because snow was falling outside and everyone inside seemed tired and slow, De Barra's seemed like a ghost pub to us.
In Kinsale, Lawrence performed at the Shanakee with a group called Natural Gas. He used a band member's fiddle, with strings so close to the neck that he barely felt them. After his first number, a low rumble rose from the crowd. The entire audience was clapping and stomping and chanting a single request.
"Old Black Joe, Old Black Joe," they commanded. It turned out they were taking line dancing just down the street. They were dancing to "Old Black Joe."
From Kinsale we went to Blarney and Killarney and eventually on to Dingle, a magical town on Dingle Bay. Dingle is the home of O'Flaherty's, another of the pubs recommended by Mick, and nearby Doolin is the home of McGann's. There was plenty to do and see in Dingle, but Doolin, as we'd been warned, was smaller than the stop on a pennywhistle. We were through it before we even knew we'd arrived.
"I think that was Doolin, Lawrence," I observed as we raced past the few wooden buildings.
"Impossible," Lawrence assured me.
I was to be proved right, but not soon enough, for the sun was setting and backtracking, we were caught in the Doolin rush hour—twenty or so cows, tanks on full, trotting along, hogging the road ahead. Behind us, an Irish police car fell into the queue, rounding out our procession nicely.
When we finally got to Doolin we really needed a beer. So did everyone else it seemed, for there wasn't a man without a pint on the table before him except one, and he was only a few feet away.
"Look, Lawrence," I said, pointing to the bright orange drink. It was the same drink I'd seen Mick drinking before he performed. "That fellow is a musician."
"What makes you say that?" Lawrence asked.
"Well, he's the only one in here not drinking," I theorized, "that's because he's got to perform."
"Excuse me," Lawrence introduced himself, "you are a musician, aren't you?"
It turned out that he was. His name was Owen O'Neill. He played the bouzouki, and he was a friend of Mick's.
"Oh, yes, Mick Coogan," he laughed, "I taught him all he knows."
That night Lawrence played along with Owen and the other local musicians in a session in another whistlestop town called Lisdoonvarna, at a pub called the Royal Spa. The next day, too early for our stout-headed good, we drove north.
We were in Yeats country—counties Galway, Mayo and Sligo. Music and poetry seemed to flow from the landscape around us. We visited Coole Park, home of Yeats' patron, Lady Augusta Gregory, and one of the poet's favorite retreats. There we found the source of his inspiration in the hazel wood and the waters adjacent. "I went into the hazel wood, because a fire was in my head ..." We were staying in farmhouse bed and breakfasts. Lawrence, practicing like a madman, fiddled in every parlor, treating our various hosts to his music. They in turn treated us to everything fine in their larders. We were full, we thought, when we crossed the border into Northern Ireland to touch base with the large O'Kane family in Limavady.
In Limavady generations of O'Kanes greeted us like long lost kin. They took us all over the north coast —to Derry, Antrim, the Bushmills Distillery, to Dunluce Castle and to the Giant's Causeway where we could see the coast of Scotland shimmering on the horizon. Lawrence's music was as big a hit in the north as it had been in the south. The O'Kanes persuaded him to bring his fiddle with him one evening. They had a friend whose name was Ann who also played the fiddle. But Ann hadn't touched the fiddle in months. Her husband had died in an accident a few months before. She was expecting a baby. She had withdrawn into her sorrow. Wise in the way of the spirit, the O'Kanes had a plan.
That night at the family's favorite watering hole, Lawrence entertained our group with waltzes and reels. He poured his heart into hornpipes and jigs. Exhausted, he finally put his instrument down. Elderly Mrs. O'Kane ordered vodka. The pub filled up with warmth and music and a hearty camaraderie. And in the midst of the chaos a marvelous thing happened. Of course the O'Kanes had expected it would.
As our spirits rose and our group became louder, the gaiety in the room became such a force that not even Ann could resist it. Reaching over the table, a song most assuredly forming in her mind, she picked up Lawrence's fiddle and played.
Fiddlin' Around in Ireland has appeared previously in the San Francisco Examiner/Chronicle Sunday Magazine and in Travelers' Tales 365 Travel.
Linda Watanabe McFerrin has been traveling since she was two and writing about it since she was six. A poet, travel writer, novelist, and contributor to numerous journals, newspapers, magazines, anthologies and online publications including The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post, Modern Bride, Travelers' Tales, Salon.com, and Women.com; she is the author of two poetry collections, the editor of the fourth edition of Best Places Northern California from Sasquatch Books and a contributor and original publishing partner in the award-winning Wild Writing Women: Stories of World Travel. She is a winner of the Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction; her work has also appeared in Wild Places, In Search of Adventure, and American Fiction. She is the author of the novel, Namako: Sea Cucumber and the short story collection, The Hand of Buddha.
More from Linda Watanabe McFerrin
Linda Watanabe McFerrin Talks Travel and Literature on KCBX
Lost in the Okefenokee, a travel tale by Linda Watanabe McFerrin
Linda Watanabe McFerrin Shares two Poems from her Upcoming Book
Hear Linda Watanabe McFerrin Read Her Apocalyptic Poem "Sakura no Sono"
Linda Watanabe McFerrin's "This August" Ushers us into the New Month
Written by Linda Watanabe McFerrin · Categorized: Essays, home
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Welcome to Main Street Theater Co.!
 Main Street Theater Co. is bringing theater, fun and creativity to Yardley Boro. Located in the Yardley Community Center, our goal is to create an environment where children can grow and develop as both people and as students of theater. We aim to educate, inspire and enlighten through our acting classes as we expose students to various forms and methods of theater in a supportive, caring environment. Students will practice, prepare and perform to demonstrate their understanding of theatrical techniques. As well as teaching students the art of theater, students will gain confidence, poise and eloquence while learning skills of self reflection and mindfulness. Through acting classes at Main Street Theater Co., children will grow through fun and exciting theater experiences and develop Confidence Through Creativity.
A UCLA study concluded that students involved in the arts tend to have higher academic performance and better standardized test scores -- nearly 100 points better on the SAT, according to a separate study by The College Board.
Children who take theater classes develop the public speaking skills that will help them in every facet of their lives. In a digital world, kids are less likely to engage in conversation with peers and adults when communication through technology is so much easier. Theater class gives kids opportunities to enhance their verbal skills and develop the interpersonal skills that have fallen to the wasteside during this technology boom. Poise, confidence and clarity are skills essential to success but are often undertaught in a school classroom environment. Theater gives them the chance to advance their skills.
The more frequently people speak in front of groups, the less intimidated they feel. Exercising their imagination benefits them in daily situations while opening their minds to new possibilites. Improvisation skills are essential in so many life moments and situations. Above all, confidence in who they are, what they believe and what they can do creates a strong sense of self. The skills taught in the theater prepare students for so many real world situations, providing them the skills necessary to navigate even the most tricky of moments.
Students will have many opportunities to speak in front of small and large audiences. Students will constantly be using their imaginations as they navigate scene development and character exploration. Through improvisation, students must think quickly and thoughtfully to make sense of the scenarios presented. Through focus and commitment, students will prepare and present monologues, scenes, one acts and shows. Each theater class, students will recognize their skill strengths and areas they hope to continue to improve.


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Our Accent's trim level is SE Auto. The SE trim brings some unexpected luxury to this humble Accent. It comes standard with a power sunroof, fog lamps, aluminum wheels, an AM/FM CD/MP3 player with a USB port and SiriusXM satellite radio, Bluetooth phone connectivity, heated front seats, steering wheel audio and cruise control, air conditioning, auto-off headlights, power windows, power door locks, and more. It comes with both Winter and Summer tires saving you extra money.
This 2016 Hyundai Accent is for sale today in Courtenay.


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RFID.sg > News & Articles > News > RFID tray return system, roaming robots at new Jurong West hawker centre
RFID tray return system, roaming robots among innovations at new Jurong West hawker centre
Roaming robots will be one of the new features of the newly-opened hawker centre at Jurong West Street 61, including an incentive to return used crockery and cutlery. Photo: Siau Ming En/TODAY
SINGAPORE – Each time a customer returns a tray of used crockery and cutlery at designated areas, the machines at the new Jurong West Hawker Centre will dispense 20 cents as an incentive.
This was one of the new features of the newly-opened hawker centre at Jurong West Street 61 on Sunday (Oct 8), including the use of three roaming tray-return robots and payment systems that accept both cash and cashless options.
The new centre houses 34 cooked food stalls, 14 market slab stalls and has a seating capacity of about 500.
It is managed by social enterprise Hawker Management – a subsidiary of food centre operator Koufu, on a not-for-profit basis. Each cooked food stall, for instance, has to provide two meals that are priced at S$2.80.
Senior Minister of State, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources & Ministry of Health, Dr Amy Khor, Member of Parliament for West Coast GRC, Mr Patrick Tay, and Member of Parliament for Pioneer Constituency, Mr Cedric Foo, jointly officiated the opening of the new hawker centre.
Mr Tay said: "This hawker centre and market is a much-awaited addition to the community. I am pleased to see that residents are enjoying the variety of stalls and the modern conveniences offered. The social initiatives that will be rolled out also makes this hawker centre a natural gathering place for residents to bond and enjoy their meals together."
Hawker Management's Chief Operating Officer David Yang said these robots and payment systems have already been used at some Koufu food courts.
"We have managed food courts for a very long time. So when we were awarded the hawker centre, we looked at the efficiencies that we have done for food courts, we adapted it and brought it over", he added. The robots for instance, helped achieve a 50-60 per cent tray-return rate, as compared to the 20-25 per cent rate in other places.
While the robots in Jurong West are there to help diners who may not be able to carry their trays to the return area, a Hawker Management spokesperson said the 20-cent incentive, which operates using radio frequency identification, was to encourage diners to return the trays on their own. No deposit by diners is required. This is the first hawker centre in Singapore to have such an incentive-based tray return system, said Hawker Management
In other hawker centres situated in One North and Yishun managed by the Timbre Group, customers are required to pay a dollar deposit when they get a tray from hawkers to carry food items to their tables. When they return the tray at the designated return point, an automated system will dispense the dollar deposit to them.
Customers at the new Jurong West hawker centre were also seen using self-payment kiosks on Sunday. The kiosks allow them to either drop cash into machines or use cashless options such as NETs and credit cards.
Hawkers new to the trade occupied six cooked food stalls at the centre as part of the Happy Hawkerpreneur Programme, set up by Hawker Management to groom aspiring hawkers.
One of them was Mr Jackson Tan, 24, who runs a stall selling vegetarian food in different culinary styles.
Previously an operations manager, he noticed there are relatively limited and traditional vegetarian choices here and decided to sell vegetarian dishes to promote these healthier options to the younger generation.
His stall offers about 10 to 12 dishes, including kimchi ramen, mock fish burger and vegetarian pizza that cost between S$2.80 and S$5.90.
Through the programme, Mr Tan said Hawker Manager waived the stall's first month rental and covered the costs of the signboard, among other things.
Another new hawker was Ms Lim Peck Ngoh, 42, made the career switch after spending more than 20 years working as a planner and buyer in the engineering industry.
She now runs a stall selling nasi lemak, which is based on her 72-year-old mother's recipe. Her mother used to operate a business in the Outram area.
"I had a plan to start up this F&B business a few years ago and I found that this was a great opportunity for me to (take) my first step – I intend to have a food chain locally and expand overseas."
Engineer Chew Han Yi, 33, said the new features at the centre were innovative but questioned if the elderly could have difficulties following the English instructions for the self-payment kiosks.
He added that while the 20 cents incentive was one of the better ideas to get Singaporeans to return their used trays, some could try to abuse the system in order to obtain the extra coins.
Source: www.TodayOnline.com
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The consideration of heritage and archaeology issues can be a thorny part of the planning process. It requires early engagement, consultation with many curatorial bodies and preparation of a number of different documents to satisfy the requirements of legislation, policy and guidance. This can be the case whether a project is a small conversion to a single property, a quarry extending over hundreds of hectares or any point between.
Understanding that the requirements of each site are different, Solstice offer a bespoke consultancy service to navigate a project through heritage issues. From project inception, through planning and beyond we aim to make the positive benefits of heritage a key part of your project.


Cyber Security concept. Cloud containing words related to Cyber Security.
Cybersecurity is a growing threat to small businesses across Australia. Results from the latest Norton SMB Cybersecurity Survey reveal that 19 per cent of the 2.1 million Australian SMEs have had their data jeopardised at some point by cyber threats.
Small businesses are more attractive targets to cyber-attacks as they are widely viewed as "sweet spots" by hackers. Why? There's a perception that small businesses are less secure than a large enterprise, and that they underestimate their level of risk.
Cybercrime is only going to become more sophisticated and disruptive. At OFX, we have vast amounts of working data that we monitor, review and adjust continuously, so that we are primed in our response to a potential breach. Small business owners need to be just as defensive and vigilant.
As a starting point, we recommend small businesses look to the advice offered by international and local industry bodies such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which offers an easy-to-follow Cybersecurity framework.
In addition, the Australian Signals Directorate's (ASD) advice is justifiably famous in security circles and is used worldwide on how to find the most effective security controls for preventing and detecting cybersecurity vulnerabilities or attacks.
We use the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, and advice from ASD, to inform our cybersecurity strategies, as they are both updated regularly to keep up with the developing tactics of cyber criminals.
Use strong passwords and a have a password manager: Follow online advice on how to make one or two long, complex and memorable passwords – one to log onto your PC, one to unlock your password manager. Have the password manager generate and store all your other passwords.
Use cloud services: The large cloud vendors like Google, Microsoft, AWS and Salesforce have excellent security records and do a far better job securing platforms than almost any company could achieve on their own.
Use a modern OS and turn on automatic updates: Windows 10 is much more secure than older versions, and Mac OS X is free to upgrade to the latest version. Both Microsoft and Apple test their updates more thoroughly than any SMB could manage, so set your systems to automatically download and apply patches.
Don't use admin accounts unless you have to: You should only log on to your admin accounts in the limited circumstances you have to use them. That way if an attacker does breach your PC, at least they're not logged on as privileged user.
A plan will outline the processes your staff need to follow in the event of a data breach. It is important to have this plan in place as it acts as an instant "how to" guide if things go wrong, and provides a level of comfort for employees. This tool will set out roles and responsibilities for managing appropriate responses, and will usually apply to all staff.
Mobile devices can be a significant challenge to security management, especially if they hold confidential data. Ensure all mobile devices have passwords to protect devices and install security applications to prevent hackers from stealing data off of an unsecure public network.
Additionally, it is vital to have a plan in place for lost or stolen devices and equipment.
A cyber attack can heavily impact the growth of your business. It is imperative that you have systems and processes in place that defend your commercial integrity.


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Stack ranking Hugo best novel finalists
August 18, 2019 August 18, 2019 ~ EMM
I've finished* reading the Hugo finalists for Best Novel. Now it's time to decide how they compare with each other and figure out which one I liked best.
These novels were so very hard to stack rank. They're all so different and so good. It's like trying to pick a favorite type of berry. All berries are awesome. Don't make me pick a favorite. I want all of them.
But, alas, one of these novels will be selected to win the Hugo later today. So, before the awards are announced, I'm going to think it through and figure out which one I'd pick.
My current ranking:
Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
Here's my rational for why I ranked these the way I did:
First off, let's talk about Space Opera vs. Record of a Spaceborn Few. One I ranked at the top of the list, and one I ranked at the bottom. Both of these novels introduce a lot of alien culture world building. From that angle, these are two of the most similar of the bunch, and therefore maybe the easiest to compare. The first main difference between them was that Space Opera focused more on the weird aliens while Spaceborn Few focused more on the evolution of humanity after humans killed their planet and fled to space. In both cases, humanity is somewhere near the bottom of the ranks of the multitude of galactic sentient species. Both books also definitely have a message to convey (more so than the other books on this list), about living in harmony with each other and with those not like us. While I enjoyed both of these, I devoured Space Opera while I merely slogged my way through Record of a Spaceborn Few. I think this is because Space Opera had a unifying plot while Spaceborn Few did not. Also, I liked the humor/voice in Space Opera better. So, I ranked Space Opera above Spaceborn Few, but why did it get ranked first on this list?
Let me first say that I'll be shocked if The Calculating Stars doesn't win the Hugo this year. That said, why did I rank Space Opera above The Calculating Stars? This may come down to me being a bit ornery. See, The Calculating Stars is a crowd pleaser of a book (which is why I think it will win). The main character is delightful. She has a loving relationship with her husband. She's fighting the good fight to get women (of all races) into space. It's a pretty straight-forward, science based, research heavy, hard sci-fi story where you can root for the underdog. It's great. I loved it.
Now, when you look at that compared to Space Opera, you realize that Space Opera is downright weird. Just look at the Goodreads reviews. They're incredibly polarizing. People love it or they DNFed it out of frustration. But somehow, comparing this to The Calculating Stars, this is the book that I'm still thinking about weeks and weeks after reading it. This is the one I want to own so I can re-read it. Meanwhile, despite having the second book in the Lady Astronaut series on my Kindle, I haven't been super motivated to start reading it. So, as much as I enjoyed The Calculating Stars, I have to rank Space Opera higher on my list.
That leaves me with three more (also great) novels that I need to decide where to place: Trail of Lightning, Spinning Silver, and Revenant Gun. These are all set in really unique worlds with excellent world-building and compelling characters. They're also all very different novels. But, because they all had plots in addition to well crafted characters and worlds, I immediately liked them all more than I liked Record of a Spaceborn Few. Sorry. Please don't think I'm dragging Record of a Spaceborn Few. I really liked it. I just also really like plot and, as good as it was, that book didn't have one. Does that make it "literary sci-fi?" Maybe? But that's not what the Hugos are about, so I'll leave that discussion to the literary experts. I'm just here to explore which ones I liked best and why.
I also didn't love any of these three books more than I enjoyed Space Opera and The Calculating Stars. That's how they all ended up in the middle of my list. But, trying to decide how to stack rank them against each other was a much more difficult task. To determine a final ranking, I decided to rate them on how much I liked them based on the three pillars of storytelling: character, world-building, and plot. Plus a bonus (tie-breaker?) fourth component: structure.
Trail of Lightning shines in the world-building department. It's a very unique take on dystopian that relies on a lot of Native American legends. Plus, it's #ownvoices. So, that's awesome. The plot and characters were good enough to make this a page turner, but I didn't love it enough to want to continue with the series. The main reason this one is getting bumped higher than the other two is because there was nothing annoying about the structure. (See, I warned you that structure was going to be a tie breaker).
The world-building in Spinning Silver is equally as good, and rooted in the Jewish culture of (I think) Eastern Europe. I really enjoyed the three female lead characters in this book. The males were well-written but universally awful until a couple of them managed to (satisfyingly) redeem themselves at the end of the book. There were a lot of characters to manage in this story, but they were all unique, well-rounded, and ended up with solid character arcs, which is saying something given the number of point of view characters.
Even though I liked the characters in Spinning Silver more than in Trail of Lightning, I had to take some points off for plot and structure. I loved the first third and the last third of Spinning Silver. The middle third is where this book fell down a bit for me. That had a little bit to do with the plot (sagging middle syndrome) and a little bit to do with the structure (too many point of view characters). It's almost as though the first third had one plot (turn silver into gold) and two primary point of view characters (Miryem and Wanda), while the last third had an entirely different plot (destroy the demon and the Staryk King), that's not really even hinted at in the first half of the book, and traded one primary point of view character for several others. Once the first plot was resolved, the book sort of floundered for me (around the part where two of the characters are hiding in a creepy "witches" cottage) until the next part of the story kicked in.
* So, that leaves Revenant Gun. In the spirit of transparency, I'm going to note that I'm just over halfway through this book. I'll update this post when I've finished reading, if my opinions have changed.
Revenant Gun is the third book in the Machineries of Empire series, which makes it even more difficult to rate it against the others which are either first in their series or stand-alone books. If you picked up this book without reading Ninefox Gambit and Raven Stratagem first, you'd probably be completely lost. Hell, when most people (myself included) pick up Ninefox Gambit (the first book in the series), they are completely lost. I LOVED Ninefox Gambit after I finally gave up trying to understand all the new world-building terminology and just let myself enjoy the story and figure it out as it went along. This is one of those series where you have to really suspend your need for info-dumps (since I hate info-dumps, I love this style of writing). Some stuff just doesn't get explained and that's totally fine.
I really love the world-building in this series. It believably incorporates food and fashion and politics and pastimes and prejudices and pop culture into a far-future, space-faring world. It's not at all "realistic" in the hard-sci-fi sense of the term. Not like Spaceborn Few or Calculating Stars. And yet, the world is rule-based and logical, birthed from the mind of a mathematician. Plus the characters are great. I love all of them. They all feel very unique and have colorful personalities. They may not have traditional character arcs, necessarily, but that's in line with this sort of military/adventure sci-fi sub-genre. The plot has plenty of satisfying twists and turns and shocking (but inevitable) reveals. Even though this final book in the series did a little weird "nine years ago" interspersed with "present day" thing with the structure, it was necessary to the story and only slightly confusing. Less confusing than Spinning Silver got, at times with all that POV switching.
As much as I enjoyed this series, how do you rank the last book in the series against a field of books that are first books or stand-alones? I was sorely tempted to just not rank it at all (especially because I'm not 100% done reading it, yet). But it's a good series, and (so far, at least), I like this last book more than I liked Spinning Silver or Trail of Lightning. So, I decided to rank this book third, behind my two faves. It's highly unlikely that Revenant Gun will take home the Hugo, but I have my fingers crossed that maybe Machineries of Empire will win the completed series award.
Now I'm going to get myself a bowl of popcorn and tune into the Hugo livestream. I am really excited to see if I'm right about which novel will win this category and to see who else will take home a Hugo this year. Best of luck to all the finalists. They are all amazing authors, and I really enjoyed reading all these books.
Let me know in the comments if you read any of these books and which one you think will win.
Posted in updates	bookshugosreading
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One thought on "Stack ranking Hugo best novel finalists"
Ooh I also should read them all and make my own list! It would be nice to compare!
So far I've only read one haha 🙈 and I own another one!


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Trains from High Street (Glasgow) to Singer
High Street (Glasgow)
Home Destinations Singer Trains from High Street (Glasgow) to Singer
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Train journey information from High Street (Glasgow) to Singer
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Trains from High Street (Glasgow) to Singer start at £2.05 one-way based on a return fare. Plan your journey online to see the cheapest train tickets to Singer for your chosen travel times.
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The average journey time from High Street (Glasgow) to Singer is 33 minutes. Journey times might be slightly longer on weekends and Bank Holidays. Use our online journey planner or download a timetable for more details.
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There are up to 68 trains per day from High Street (Glasgow) to Singer.
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Yes! You can take the train from High Street (Glasgow) to Singer without needing to change. Find direct trains to Singer with our online journey Planner.
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The first train leaves at 05:59 from High Street (Glasgow) to Singer. Buy your tickets in advance online or from our app and you'll have one less thing to do before you board.
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The last train from High Street (Glasgow) to Singer leaves at 00:07.
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Yes, we offer Passenger Assist services at the station and on-board between High Street (Glasgow) and Singer. You'll need to book at least 2 hours before you travel, or before 22:00 if you're travelling early next day. You can book assistance online or by calling our Assisted Travel team on 0800 912 2901.
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I saw this recipe on Pinterest and decided to make it for my kids. They were easy to make but next time I will make it with them because they would have fun cutting out the shapes. They ate them all up in one day. Don't judge. It happens.
Anyone else see a smiley face in the above pic? After boiling for one minute immediately pour into the cold 9 x 13 pan. It will have the white foaming looking stuff on top which is fine. Refrigerate until firm (2-3 hours).
Now comes the only tricky part. You need to invert this onto a cutting board or wax paper that is covered with sugar. It will not just pop out of the pan so I peeled it up by hand and plopped it on the cutting board upside down. It's really sticky and didn't fall apart or tear during this step. Couldn't take a pic of this process because I don't have three arms so this is the after picture.
Now comes the kid friendly part. Cut out the gumdrops with cookie cutters. Place the cut out gumdrops on a piece of wax paper that has been covered in sugar. You want sugar on both sides so place the side down that did not get sugar from the cutting board.
Let dry for 8 hours or until slightly sticky. My experience was that they were exactly the same 8 hours later. If the kids make these with you they will not want to wait 8 hours so let them eat them right away! Any leftovers store in an airtight container.
Since I gave my kids such a sugary, gonna pay for this later in dental bills, treat I decided to give them this little gift.
I give you once guess which gift they liked best. Have a great Valentine's Day everyone!


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Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort celebrates 3 decades as top resort destination in Cebu
Marc Cosep 08/25/2019
It was a night of glitz and glamour as Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort celebrated its 30th anniversary in the business. Colorful was the celebration with a fabulous Filipiniana-inspired theme. A fresh and tasty dinner paired with a…
Pilot whales strand on Iceland beach in group of 50 or more
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Tourists and a pilot on a helicopter sightseeing tour of Iceland have found dozens of dead whales on a remote beach in Iceland. David Schwarzhans, a pilot for Reykjavík Helicopters, said he and his…
Rondina-Pons tandem beats Japanese duo in FIVB beach volley world tour
Jonas N. Panerio 05/24/2019
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebuana volleyball sensation Sisi Rondina teamed up with Bernadeth Pons to down Japan's Shinako Tanaka and Miyuki Matsumura, 21-14, 21-8, and make their way into the Round of 12 in the FIVB Beach…
Tan, Rodriguez rule Cebu leg of Beach Volleyball Republic on Tour
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Perlas' Bea Tan and Dij Rodriguez defeated NU-Boysen's Roma Joy and Roma Mae Doromal, 21-18, 21-16, to reign in the Beach Volleyball Republic On Tour Santa Fe Open on Sunday, March 24, in…
USPF retains Cesafi Boys Beach Volleyball title
Ray Charlie Diaz 12/22/2018
The University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers successfully defended their title in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) Boys division. The Panthers, composed of rookies Ian Kym Jumandos and Amil Pacinio Jr., defeated Southwestern…
USPF clinches 2018 Cesafi Women's Beach Volleyball title
The University of Southern Philippines Foundation's (USPF) pair of Crisley Ann Sucalit and Iris Tito handed the Lady Panthers the 2018 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) Women's Beach Volleyball title. USPF ruled over the University of…
USJ-R is the Cesafi Girls Beach Volleyball champion
The University of San Jose- Recoletos' (USJ-R) sister duo of Krizzia and Chriszelle Anne Caasi handed the Baby Jaguars the back-to-back titles in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) Girls Beach Volleyball title. USJ-R retained its…
Lady Jaguars breeze through Cesafi beach volley semis
THE UNIVERSITY of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars women's and girls beach volleyball teams advanced to the semifinals of the 18th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) beach volleyball tournament after winning their games yesterday at the sand…
Panthers extend winning streak to 3 in Cesafi beach volleyball
THE UNIVERSITY of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) remains undefeated in the third day of the preliminary round of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) Secondary Beach Volleyball tournament. The Boys division defending champion USPF drew its…
Defending champs USPF looking good in Cesafi boys beach volley
The University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers are on a roll in the preliminary round of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) boys beach volleyball tournament. The defending champion USPF defeated the Ateneo Magis…
UV, USPF draw blood in Cesafi beach volleyball
THE defending champions in the men's and boys divisions opened their campaign with victories as the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) Beach Volleyball competition came off wraps yesterday at the Fort San Pedro sand court. Men's…
USC to field in all-rookie women's beach volley trio
Brian J. Ochoa, Mars G. Alison, Ray Charlie Diaz 11/29/2018
Fresh off a title conquest in the Cesafi women's volleyball tournament, University of San Carlos (USC) women's volleyball team head coach Grace Antigua will once again get down to business as she prepares her Lady Warriors for…


Graves S. The Introduction of New Technology into Orthopaedic Practices. Podium presentation at AAOS, 12-16 March 2019; Las Vegas, Nevada, US.
Harris I, Cuthbert A, de Steiger R, Lewis PL, Graves S. Surgeon and Hospital Variation in Revision Rates for Primary Hip and Knee Replacement Surgery. Poster presented at AAOS, 12-16 March 2019; Las Vegas, Nevada, US.
Harris I, Hatton A, Lewis PL, de Steiger R, Graves S. The effect of year of surgery (period effect) on mortality after joint replacement surgery. Podium presentation at AAOS, 12-16 March 2019; Las Vegas, Nevada, US.
Hoskins W, Bingham R, Lorimer M, de Steiger R. Early Complications of THR Surgery: AOANJRR analysis of surgical approaches. Podium presentation at AAOS, 12-16 March 2019; Las Vegas, Nevada, US.
Page RS, Graves S, de Steiger R, Lewis PL, Turner CK, Rainbird S, Cuthbert A, Lorimer M. Cross-Linked Polyethylene in Conventional Shoulder Arthroplasty for Osteoarthritis: A Registry perspective on revision surgery. Poster presented at AAOS, 12-16 March 2019; Las Vegas, Nevada, US.
Vertullo C, Lewis PL, Peng Y, Graves S. What is the Cumulative Effect of Low Revision Risk Design Options in Total Knee Replacement? Podium presentation at AAOS, 12-16 March 2019; Las Vegas, Nevada, US.


Sometimes a Super Bowl victory is not enough.
USUALLY, I write opinion pieces on political issues. This is no exception. The New England Patriots' Super Bowl victory Feb. 3 got me thinking about one of the most important aspects of American politics: the enduring divide between North and South.
I got back to the old Bostonian roots that night as the Patriots won the most exciting Super Bowl ever. I ran outside, bellowed to the moon, called my dad, my brother, my buddy in the upper peninsula of Michigan, my college roommate and just yelled for joy. Called my brother back and barked some more. But it was not good enough (talk about pathetic).
If you find a native Bostonian (or New Englander) nearby, look him or her in the eye. You'll see that this Super Bowl victory was magnificent, fantastic, blessed, just, awesome (uh, for you New Englanders, that would be wicked), incredible, redeeming and absolutely not enough in the face of the Curse of the Bambino.
Yup. That's it. It does not matter what happens. Boston bleeds for the Red Sox. Until Tom Brady suits up for the Sox, and pitches their way to a World Series victory (only after beating the Yankees in the playoffs), no true Bostonian (or New Englander for that matter) will be able to sleep at night, shave or walk out to get the paper in the morning without getting irritated.
To the gentle Southern reader, this may seem incomprehensible. How much do you Bostonians want? How could the Sox get me down when the Patriots won the Super Bowl?
What do Northerners know about pain? When I first came to teach at Washington and Lee, it was pointed out to me that the difference between a Southerner and everyone else is that everyone else can go 10 minutes without feeling pained about the Civil War. Every Southern boy, it was explained to me, shares the same passion that rose with Pickett's charge on the way to the high point of the Confederacy at Gettysburg.
Well, I've been to the high point at Gettysburg and it does not compare to the spirit of agony that haunts Fenway Park. The Patriots' victory proves the one fact that will horrify Southerners and Bostonians alike: They are equally tormented.
Dallas has won a couple of Super Bowls, and the Atlanta Braves have won the World Series. Did this make up for coming in second in the recent unpleasantness? Apparently no. So there.
This apparent bond is bound to cause consternation in Dixie: The torment suffered by Red Sox fans is actually worse than that suffered by the South. The South came in second only once. The torment of the South is finite. Boston agony renews itself annually.
The South came in second to the likes of Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman. How many Confederate generals (or, for that manner, self-respecting privates) were called Bucky? Buddy, maybe. Bubba, possibly. But Bucky? There is no dignity losing to a Bucky.
Bostonians suffer the sort of ongoing torment that is nurtured by hope. As long as baseball seasons begin after they end, there remains the hope that this year we can win the Series. Bostonians know real pain. We are the sports Prometheus. Every year, the Red Sox buzzard comes back and takes another bite out of us. We are the sports Tantalus. Just when we think we'll drink the World Series water, it disappears from our lips.
So, the Patriots won the Super Bowl and the Red Sox still have not delivered. But at least Boston provides solace to those achy Southerners. No matter how bad their pain is, Bostonians suffer worse.
The last time the Sox won the World Series was against the Chicago Cubs. Their fans have suffered longer than those of the Sox! We are saved. Go Patriots! – and take the Curse of the Babe with you.


Nadaf SJ, Killedar SG. Method Development and Validation for Estimation of Curcumin in Fabricated Nano-Sized Formulation: Inter-Laboratory Comparison, Capability and Statistical Analysis. Pharmaceutical Methods. 2018;9(2):56-63.


Eight junior golfers were crowned champions at the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals, Aug. 7, at Augusta National Golf Club.
To celebrate International Women's Day, we sat down with PGA President Suzy Whaley to find out what the power of women means to the PGA.
Diversity and inclusion is positioned as a foundational principle in the PGA of America's Long-Term Strategic Plan.
Marilynn Smith, whose pioneering spirit broke down barriers for women professionals, passed away April 9 in Phoenix.
Four boys and four girls were crowned champions at the sixth annual Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals at Augusta National.
Carly Grenfell has turned her passion for women's sports into a fulfilling career.
A lifelong golfer, Morgan kickstarted her dream of working in the golf industry by turning her passion into a career.
PGA Chief People Officer Sandy Cross explains the paths a person can take for a career in the business of golf.
Laura Miller serves as the lead for PGA HOPE, the military outreach program of PGA REACH.
Local qualifying will be conducted throughout May, June, July and August.
Jasmin Cunningham hopes to inspire more people of color to get involved in the game of golf.
Roberto Aguayo is working at PGA Headquarters in support of the the 501(c)(3) charitable foundation of the PGA of America.
Get Golf Ready programming is available to all PGA Professionals and Apprentices.
Marriott Golf raised a record of more than $65,000 for PGA REACH in 2018.
Download and Print PGA Jr. League posters to help you recruit for your team or league.
Watch these video explanations provided by PGA Master Professional and PGA TOUR Champions Rules Official Tom Carpus.
Download and print your own PGA Jr. League flyer to help recruit for your team.


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Exciting games abound the antepenultimate round of the GRENKE Chess Classic as full-blooded battles were witnessed on every board. A welcome change this time was that Magnus Carlsen got to take a break from his long battles and was, in fact, the first one to finish his game in the seventh round. With this, he retained his one point lead while the list of his pursuers dropped from six to one. After the dust of the battles had settled, Caruana was the only one to keep the one point distance with his win over Arkadij Naiditsch.
Levon Aronian had a very tough day at the office against the reigning world champion, Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen, who was playing with the white pieces in the game, had reached a pleasant position out of a Queen's Gambit Ragozin. After the game, he himself pointed out that while the position remained objectively equal, it was tough to play as black as he struggled to find a plan. Trying to find the best way to address the position, Aronian had gone down to a minute on his clock while just around 25 moves were played in the game.
"It's very, very strange. You make all these natural moves but then you are somehow stuck. I am sure that objectively the position is still okay for black but my play is so simple. I know what my moves are going to be and it's much more difficult for him. You see everywhere some little problems," Carlsen explained.
In the eyes of the silicon monsters, a key moment came on the 26th move when Aronian finally decided to try and generate some play with 26…f5. In a few moves following this, Carlsen had established one of his rooks on the seventh rank and was in a dominating position. It didn't take long after this for him to convert.
Carlsen played the shortest game of the day against Aronian in round 7 | Photo: Maria Emelianova
While Carlsen and Aronian played the shortest game in terms of time, Caruana and Naiditsch played the shortest game of the day in terms of the number of moves. Both players were sharing the second spot, a point behind Magnus, going into the round. However, in only 33 moves, the former world championship challenger had managed to clinch the full point.
The game had opened with a sharp Open Catalan where Naiditsch had found himself in severe time trouble getting out of the opening phase. Caruana's provocative 9.b3 had won him a pawn while the position remained complicated. By the 19th move, Naiditsch found his minor pieces tripping on each other's toes while the white queen wreaked havoc attacking all of them at the same time. Naiditsch was forced to give up the bishop pair at this point and it turned out to be the beginning of the end. Caruana won a couple of more pawns and soon his position was overwhelming.
Caruana was the only one to retain his second place after round 7 | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
Viswanathan Anand was playing Georg Meier with the white pieces. Interestingly, while Anand is a heavy favourite on paper, he hadn't won a single one of their previous three classical encounters, which were all played in GRENKE.
In their last two clashes, Meier had discussed the Rubinstein French with the former five-time world champion with the black pieces. This time was no exception. Anand went for the same line he had essayed against the German grandmaster back in 2013 edition of the tournament. Players castled on opposite wings and an exciting duel seemed to be on the cards.
About thirty moves into the game, Anand was walking on thin ice. Having gobbled a pawn on b4, he had let Meier unleash his rooks along the 'b' file while his 'e' pawn march down the centre of the board. Anand did manage to catch the 'e' pawn with his counterplay against Meier's f7 point but Meier's rooks had breached into the white camp in the interim. Following an exchange of queens, the position looked like it had stabilized but a blunder by the Indian number one on the 36th turn ended the game on the spot.
Vishy Anand suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of the local GM Georg Meier | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
Vincent Keymer, who has been on a roll since the last two rounds scoring 1½ points in his last two games, played audaciously in the opening against eight-time Russian Champion, Peter Svidler. In a Queen's Indian Defence game, the fourteen-year-old offered a pawn after 11 moves, establishing his knight on e4.
Talking about Vincent's play in the opening, GM Peter Leko, the prodigy's current trainer said, "Vincent has gained a lot of confidence after his last two games. He does not mind going into complicated lines against these top players."
Svidler correctly declined the offered pawn sacrifice but was unable to create much play of his own either. Twenty-six moves into the game, a queen and rook endgame was reached wherein Keymer had little problems holding ground.
Vincent Keymer managed to hold Peter Svidler rather comfortably to a draw | Photo: Maria Emelianova
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave versus Francisco Vallejo Pons was the longest game of the day. As black, Vallejo had essayed a French Defence – quite befittingly, if you will – against the top French Grandmaster. 'MVL' chose the advance variation of the opening, which he had already been seen deploying at the London Chess Classic, last year.
Vallejo's choice of closing the position with 6…c4 eventually led to a closed game full of maneuvres. In fact, even for the first exchange to occur, it took a good twenty-five moves and believe it or not, that was the only exchange of the game. Players went on with the struggle until the 43rd move but neither side was ever in any danger and eventually, peace was signed.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave versus Francisco Vallejo Pons saw only one capture in the whole game! | Photo: Maria Emelianova
With two more rounds to go, Magnus Carlsen is the heavy favourite to win the event. Round 8 will begin at 15:00 CEST on April 28, 2019, at the Kulturhaus in Baden Baden. Pairings for the same can be found below.


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Rough chaos generators of high and ultrahigh frequencies
Grant of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research 16-02-00135
The project is being implemented in 2016-2018
in Kotelnikov Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics of Russian Academy of Sciences
(Saratov Branch)
Project supervisor:
Kuznetsov S.P.
Participants of the project:
Isaeva O.B.
Kruglov V.P.
Kuznetsov A.P.
Kuptsov P.V.
Ponomarenko V.I.
Popova E.S.
Sataev I.R.
Sedova Yu.V.
Stankevich N.V.
Erofeev V.S.
Jalnine A.Yu.
Rough chaos, characterized by low sensitivity to parameter variations, manufacturing imperfections, interferences that is essential for possible information and communication applications, takes place in nonlinear systems in which the attractors responsible for the chaotic dynamics relate to the category of hyperbolic or pseudohyperbolic. In the first case, we talk about systems where perturbations of the phase trajectories are represented by vectors belonging to a subspace stretching these vectors, and a subspace where the vectors undergo compression. Such systems are rough in the sense of structural stability, that is, with variation of parameters, the dynamics remain the same in the strict mathematical sense up to a change of variables. In the case of a pseudo-hyperbolic attractor there is a subspace stretching the phase volume and a subspace compressing the phase volume, and this situation corresponds to a weaker property of robustness when chaos is not destroyed with a small variation of parameters, but, in general, there is no structural stability. An alternative to rough and robust chaos is situation of quasi-attractor, when chaos can disappear with variations of parameters, being transformed into modes of regular dynamics; that is highly undesirable from the point of view of applications. The content of the study in the frame of the Project consisted in elaboration of ways for implementation of electronic devices with hyperbolic and pseudohyperbolic attractors, allowing advancement into the range of high and ultrahigh frequencies. The program of work meant testing verification methods for these types of dynamic behavior, conducting circuit simulations of the proposed devices, implementing demonstration experimental laboratory models, evaluating prospects for using the proposed schemes in secure communication, bearing in mind their advantages due to the inherent robustness.
Main results 2016
Three new versions of systems are considered, the rough chaos in which is due to the presence of hyperbolic attractors such as the Smale-Williams solenoid in the Poincaré map. The first system is made up of two oscillatory elements, one of which is self-oscillating, and its operation is based on the use of the effect of oscillation death. The second system is autonomous, and is designed by modifying the model proposed by Yu.I. Neumark; in the phase plane it has a separatrix in the form of a figure eight. Our system is made up of two Neumark subsystems, characterized by generalized coordinates x and y, and is described by equations where terms are added, because of which the system becomes self-oscillating, and at the same time the rotation angle of the vector (x, y) undergoes tripling when returning to the neighborhood of the origin at successive rounds near the separatrix. The third approach is to consider a family of autonomous systems, where the emergence of hyperbolic chaos is associated with the blue sky catastrophe, the variants of which were discussed (without presentation of concrete examples) in [Turaev D.V., Shilnikov L.P., Dokl. Akad. Nauk, 342, 1995, 596].
Departing from the problem of a geodesic flow on a surface of negative curvature, where chaotic dynamics of Anosov is realized, an electronic circuit for the generator of rough chaos has been developed. A study was carried out with a use of the NI Multisim circuit simulation package, as well as by numerically solving equations delivering varying degrees of accuracy in description of the dynamics of the system. Portraits of attractors, time dependences of generated oscillations, Lyapunov exponents, and spectra are presented, and a good correspondence of the observed dynamics of the chaos generator with the Anosov hyperbolic dynamics of the initial geodesic flow is demonstrated. Using the criterion based on statistics of the intersection angles of stable and unstable subspaces of the perturbation vectors of the reference phase trajectory on the attractor, it is shown that the hyperbolic nature of the dynamics is preserved when the parameters vary in a certain range.
Within the framework of the project, computer verification of the hyperbolicity of attractors was carried out for the first time for time-delayed systems. We used a method based on calculating distributions for the angles between expanding, contracting, and neutral manifolds for trajectories on an attractor. Three specific examples are outlined. For two of them, the previously assumed hyperbolicity was confirmed. [S.P. Kuznetsov, V.I. Ponomarenko, Tech. Phys. Lett., 34, 2008, No 9, 771; S.P.Kuznetsov, A.Pikovsky, peprint nlin. arXiv: 1011.5972.] The third example [J.D.Farmer, Physica D, 1982, 4 (3), 366] corresponds to nonhyperbolic chaos.
Techniques that are useful for recognizing the types of complex dynamical behavior and allow one to distinguish a strange nonchaotic attractor from quasiperiodic and chaotic oscillations are developed and tested.
A laboratory stand has been prepared for working with electronic devices in the high and ultrahigh frequency range, including oscilloscopes C1-104, MSO8104A (up to 1 GHz), Agilent DSOX4034A (up to 350 MHz), VSWR panoramic P2-102 (up to 2 GHz) digital converter NI 6355, multichannel digital-to-analog converter of DAC NI PXI-6723, spectrum analyzer Agilent N9320A (9kHz-3GHz).
A scheme was developed and a laboratory prototype of a rough hyperbolic chaos generator based on two alternately excited self-oscillating elements on field-effect transistors for a frequency range of 5-10 MHz was compiled. The scheme of the "electronic rotator" - a system similar in the equation form to the mathematical pendulum on a basis of the available components for the laboratory design, was implemented, and circuit simulation in the Multisim environment was povided.
In 2016 the participant of the project V.P. Kruglov defended the thesis "Finite-dimensional and distributed systems of ring structure that generate rough chaos" for the scientific degree of candidate of physical and mathematical sciences (supervisor S.P. Kuznetsov, specialty 01.04.03 - radiophysics), which partially presents the results obtained in the course of the project.
A research was performed within the framework of numerical and circuit modeling of the electronic scheme proposed at the previous stage of the project, where the Anosov dynamics on the surface of negative curvature is reproduced on the attractor of the system. As elements of the electronic circuit, the phase-locked loop chains are used, which are analogs of rotators in mechanics, in which the states are characterized by a variable defined modulo 2pi and its derivative, which is a phase of the voltage-controlled generators with respect to the reference signal at fixed frequency. A comparative analysis of the dynamic behavior of models delivering different degrees of accuracy of the description is carried out.
Schemes of alternately excited oscillating elements based on field-effect transistors (lambda-diode) and on tunnel diodes, for which, as expected, it will be possible to select parameters providing hyperbolic dynamics, are developed.
A new simple scheme of chaos generator is proposed, realizing a pseudo-hyperbolic attractor of the Lorentz type, and its functioning was demonstrated through modeling in the Multisim environment. The scheme is based on an equivalent representation of the Lorentz equations in the form of a nonlinear oscillator with the help of the variable change of Yudovich (Kuznetsov S.P., Dynamical chaos, M: 2001). In the current version, the circuit uses an operational amplifier and two analog multipliers, but they can apparently be replaced by elements on transistors reproducing their properties. On the basis of the criterion of angles, for the scheme with the Lorenz attractor, the property of pseudohyperbolicity is checked, which ensures robustness of chaos and consists in the fact that one invariant subspace is compressive and the other is characterized by an exponential extension of the volume for perturbation vectors of trajectories on the attractor.
A bibliographic list was compiled on electronic chaos oscillators. In the Multisim environment, the circuits were reproduced, and chaotic dynamics were simulated providing phase portraits and spectra for a number of chaos generators described in the literature. These results are supposed to be used as a encouragement for construction of modified circuits that provide generation of rough chaos.
We have considerd ensembles of three and four oscillatory elements with a nonlinearity of sine, which can be realized, in particular, on the basis of non-identical Josephson junctions. Numerical modeling of the dynamics is carried out; areas of various behaviors in the parameter space are revealed, including quasiperiodic dynamics on tori of different dimensions and chaos.
As schemes promising for realization of complex dynamics, systems composed of van der Pol oscillators are analyzed, namely, a system of five ring-connected oscillators and a spatially developed network of star-like type. For the first system, variants with different types of connection were studied: dissipative, active, and dissipative/active with inversion of the sign of the coupling. The bifurcations observed during the transition from the five-frequency torus to the four-frequency torus are considered. A possibility of a quasi-periodic Hopf bifurcation is discovered. For the second system, non-trivial scenarios for emergence and development of the cluster synchronization are identified and described when parameters are varied.
On the basis of a method of checking transversality of the intersection of manifolds of trajectories on a chaotic attractor (the criterion of angles), the hyperbolic nature of chaotic dynamics for several time-delay systems implementable as electronic devices has been confirmed. (Kuznetsov S.P. and Pikovsky A.S., EPL, 84, 2008, 10013; Baranov S.V., Kuznetsov S.P., Ponomarenko V.I., Izvestiya VUZ. Applied Nonlinear Dynamics, 18, 2010, No 1, 11-23; Arzhanuzhina D.S., Kuznetsov S.P., Izvestiya VUZ. Applied Nonlinear Dynamics, 22, 2014, No 2, 36-49.)
For a generalized model with a bifurcation associated with a blue sky catastrophe, the hyperbolicity of attractors arising at values of the index responsible for the angle of twist of the beam of trajectories when returning to the Poincaré section, greater than or equal to 2, is confirmed on the basis of the angle criterion.
Dynamical characteristics of signasl produced by microwave oscillators of chaos in the form of gyroklistron and gyro-TWT with delayed feedback were considered. It is shown that in the regime of large supercriticality, generation of the chaotic oscillation in the millimeter wave band is possible belonging to the category of hyperchaos characterized by the presence of two or more positive Lyapunov exponents, and the spectrum has a relative width of up to 10%.
A model of a multi-loop generator with a common control scheme has been developed. Numerical simulation and laboratory experiments demonstrated a possibility of formation of chaos and hyperchaos as a result of destruction of the multifrequency quasiperiodic dynamics.
Communication schemes based on the use of generators of rough (hyperbolic) chaos are considered, their functioning is demonstrated in the framework of numerical simulation. Also in these schemes, a new efficient and noise-immune method for nonlinear intermixing of information based on phase modulation of a carrier chaotic signal is proposed. The efficiency of the schemes is demonstrated by examples of three basic systems generating robust chaos. For all these systems, methods are described for how to achieve a complete chaotic synchronization of the transmitter and receiver, and the characteristics of synchronous chaotic regimes essential for information transfer (Lyapunov exponents, phase diffusion coefficients) are calculated. Numerical simulations of the transmission of information signals with a wide spectrum were carried out.
An electronic oscillator circuit with delayed feedback is proposed, in which attractor produces pseudohyperbolic chaos being similar in properties to the Lorenz attractor embedded in the infinite-dimensional phase space. A circuit simulation in the Multisim environment was carried out with demonstration of the portrait of the attractor in projection from the infinite-dimensional state space onto the phase plane. The fact that the attractor nature is similar to the Lorenz attractor is confirmed by plotting a map for consecutive maxima of one of the variables from data recorded in the process of circuit simulation. The pseudohyperbolicity property was also verified and validated for the mathematical model of the device using the angle criterion. The spectra of signals generated by the system and obtained using a virtual spectrum analyzer are continuous, which reflects the chaotic nature of the dynamics; irregularity of the spectral power density is rather small, which is an advantage of this variant of the electronic chaos generator.
A new scheme is proposed that generates hyperbolic chaos, where alternately activated self-oscillating elements are used, the excitation transfer between which is carried out in a resonant manner, due to the difference between the frequencies of small and large (relaxation) oscillations by an integer number of times, which is accompanied by phase transformation in accordance with an expanding circle map. The scheme is implemented in the Multisim environment based on two LC-circuits, each of which contains a nonlinear element in the form of a diode and an element of negative resistance on the operational amplifier, where the magnitude of the negative resistance is modulated due to the periodic variation of the drain-source conductivity of the field-effect transistor by applying control voltage to its gate. The device demonstrates chaotic dynamics corresponding to the Smale-Williams hyperbolic attractor in the stroboscopic map corresponding to the modulation period, and quasi-periodic dynamics, depending on the parameters. The advantage of the scheme is its simplicity - no need to use nonlinear elements in the connection circuit between the oscillators.
Schematic designs of rough chaos generators of ring structure with Smale-Williams attractors are proposed. One of the options is a circuit containing two oscillatory circuits, with their natural frequencies being in ratio 1:2. The circuit includes a nonlinear element on diodes and an operational amplifier, which has a quadratic characteristic at small amplitudes and saturated due to the limiting parameters of the operational amplifier. The second nonlinear element is an analog multiplier that mixes the main signal and the auxiliary one, which is a periodic sequence of radio-pulses with a rectangular envelope. The system generates a sequence of radio-pulses, in which the filling phases varies chaotically, in accordance with the Bernoulli map.
A possibility of constructing electronic chaos generators is shown whose dynamics on attractors correspond to geodesic flows on curved manifolds of dimension K=2,3,4. The system can be thought of as a set of K+1 rotators, on which a constraint is imposed, given by the algebraic relation cos Φ(1)+cos Φ(2)+ ... +cos Φ(K+1)=0. The electronic circuit is composed of elements, each of which is represented by a phase-locked loop, acting as an analogue of the rotator. In the case of K=2, the geodesic flow takes place on the Schwarz surface, which has almost everywhere negative curvature, which ensures the dynamics of the Anosov type. For the cases K=3 and 4, the corresponding geodesic flows on the three-dimensional and the four-dimensional curved manifolds, as it turned out, cannot be categorized as Anosov's hyperbolic dynamics, since the sectional curvatures of the Riemannian manifold at the points of the trajectories take both negative and positive values [ Kuznetsov S.P., Preprint arXiv: 1810.08002 ]. However, schemes based on four and five phase locked loops have also been implemented and studied. Their functioning as generators of hyperchaos characterized by several positive Lyapunov exponents with good spectral properties was demonstrated, but the requirement of structural stability is not fulfilled for them.
Variants of circuits for chaos generators reproducing dynamics on the Lorenz pseudo-hyperbolic attractor are considered. There are circuits containing two operational amplifiers and two analog multipliers, and a circuit implementing an oscillator with inertial nonlinearity, where the Lorenz attractor takes place. The pseudo-hyperbolic nature of the generated chaos in these schemes is confirmed by the method of constructing the Lorenz map for successive maxima in the time dependence of one of the variables. In addition, a scheme is proposed that allows one to realize a four-dimensional analog of the Lorenz model, where a pseudo-hyperbolic attractor also occurs. For the mathematical model of this system, the pseudo-hyperbolic nature of the attractor is confirmed using the angle criterion. The good spectral properties of the generated chaos are demonstrated for all the mentioned variants of the schemes - a smooth dependence of the spectral power density, which has no pronounced irregularity.
To observe the hyperbolic chaos and analyze scenarios of its onset in a radio-engineering experiment, a laboratory prototype was created of a rough chaos generator. The circuit consists of two subsystems containing LC-circuits with frequencies of 24.5 and 49 kHz, supplemented with elements of negative resistance on operational amplifiers. The quadratic nonlinear connection responsible for the transfer of excitation from the first subsystem to the second is provided by an element on the analog multiplier. The impact of the second subsystem on the first one was provided by an element containing a multiplier with a product of the signal and the reference sinusoidal signal from a generator of frequency close to the natural frequency of the first LC-circuit. The modulation of the activity in the subsystems in counter-phase was ensured by varying the resistances of two field-effect transistors controlled by a signal from the frequency divider, which produced a sinusoidal voltage of period eight times longer than that of the reference signal. The types of dynamic modes were detected by observing a stroboscopic section with the modulation period on the oscilloscope screen, followed by analysis of digitized time series (phase portraits, iterative diagrams for the angular variable, power spectra, Lyapunov exponents). In the stroboscopic section, a chaotic hyperbolic attractor of the Smale – Williams type was observed, while the phase of the oscillations behaved in accordance with the Bernoulli map. A multiparameter analysis of the dynamics of the laboratory device allowed us to describe scenarios of the transition to hyperbolicity in the electronic experiment.
A hyperbolic chaos generator is designed and implemented in the radio band as a laboratory model, the circuit of which is similar in structure to the low-frequency generator taken as a prototype, as described above, but uses high-frequency analog multipliers (operating frequency up to 250 MHz) and operational amplifiers (operating frequency up to 1 GHz) . The natural frequencies of the oscillators, on the basis of which the scheme was built, were 10 MHz and 20 MHz, and the modulation frequency of the parameters of one and the other subsystem was 1.25 MHz. Diagrams are obtained for the oscillation phases at successive modulation periods, the form of which indicates the hyperbolic nature of the chaotic attractor, which is the Smale-Williams solenoid.
• Kuptsov P.V., Kuznetsov S.P. Numerical test for hyperbolicity of chaotic dynamics in time-delay systems. Phys. Rev. E , 2016, 94, No 1, 010201.
• Jalnine A.Yu., Kuznetsov S.P. Strange nonchaotic self-oscillator. Europhysics Letters , 2016, 115, No 3, 30004.
• Kuznetsov S.P. From Anosov's Dynamics on a Surface of Negative Curvature to Electronic Generator of Robust Chaos. Izv. Saratov Univ. (N.S.), Ser. Physics,, 2016, 16, No 3, 131–144. (In Russian.)
• Kuznetsov S.P. From Geodesic Flow on a Surface of Negative Curvature to Electronic Generator of Robust Chaos. International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos, 2016, 26, No 14, 1650232.
• Kuptsov P.V., Kuptsova A.V. Radial and circular synchronization clusters in extended starlike network of van der Pol oscillators. Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, 2017, 50, 115-127.
• Jalnine A.Yu., Kuznetsov S.P. Autonomous Strange Nonchaotic Oscillations in a System of Mechanical Rotators. Regular and Chaotic Dynamics, 2017, 22, No 3, 210–225.
• Kuptsov P.V., Kuznetsov S.P., Stankevich N.V. A Family of Models with Blue Sky Catastrophes of Different Classes. Regular and Chaotic Dynamics, 2017, 22, No 5, 551–565.
• Stankevich N.V., Kuznetsov A.P., Seleznev E.P. Quasi-Periodic Bifurcations of Four-Frequency Tori in the Ring of Five Coupled van der Pol Oscillators with Different Types of Dissipative Coupling. Technical Physics, 2017, 62, No 6, 971–974.
• Kuznetsov S.P. Chaos in three coupled rotators: From Anosov dynamics to hyperbolic attractors. Indian Academy of Sciences Conference Series, 2017, 1, No 1, 117-132.
• Rozental R.M., Ginzburg N.S., Zotova I.V., Rozhnev A.G., Isaeva O.B., Sergeev A.S. Regimes of devepoled chaos in gyrotrons and gyro-ampilifiers with delayed feedback. Memoirs of the Faculty of Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2017, No 6, 1760102. (In Russian.)
• Kuptsov P.V., Kuznetsov S.P. Numerical test for hyperbolicity in chaotic systems with multiple time delays. Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, 2018, 56, 227-239.
• Isaeva O.B., Jalnine A.Yu., Kuznetsov S.P. Chaotic Communication with Robust Hyperbolic Transmitter and Receiver. Progress In Electromagnetics Research Symposium. Proceedings: St Petersburg, Russia, 22–25 May 2017, 3129-3136. Preprint.
• Doroshenko V.M., Kruglov V.P., Pozdnyakov M.V. Robust chaos in systems of circular geometry. Progress In Electromagnetics Research Symposium. Proceedings: St Petersburg, Russia, 22–25 May 2017, 3122-3128.
• Isaeva O.B., Savin D.V., Seleznev E.P., Stankevich N.V. Hyperbolic chaos and quasiperiodic dynamics in experimental nonautonomous systems of coupled oscillators. Progress In Electromagnetics Research Symposium. Proceedings: St Petersburg, Russia, 22–25 May 2017, 3109-3113.
• Kuznetsov A.P., Sataev I.R., Sedova Yu.V. Dynamics of Three and Four Non-identical Josephson Junctions. Journal of Applied Nonlinear Dynamics, 2018, 7, No 1, 105-110.
• Kuznetsov S.P. Simple electronic chaos generators and their circuit simulation. Izvestiya VUZ, Applied Nonlinear Dynamics, 2018, 26, no. 3, 35–61. (In Russian.)
• Kuptsov P.V., Kuznetsov S.P. Lyapunov analysis of strange pseudohyperbolic attractors: angles between tangent subspaces, local volume expansion and contraction //Regular and Chaotic Dynamics, 23, 2018, Nos 7-8, 908–932.
• Doroshenko V.M., Kruglov V.P., Kuznetsov S.P. Smale-Williams Solenoids in a System of Coupled Bonhoeffer-van der Pol Oscillators. Russian Journal of Nonlinear Dynamics, 2018, 14, no. 4, 435-451.
• Rozental R.M., Isaeva O.B., Ginzburg N.S., Zotova I.V., Sergeev A.S., Rozhnev A.G., Tarakanov V.P. Automodulation and chaotic regimes of generation in a two-resonator gyroklystron with delayed feedback. Известия вузов. Прикладная нелинейная динамика, 2018, 26, no. 3, 78–98. (In Russian.)
• Kuznetsov S.P., Kuptsov P.V. Lorenz Attractor in a System with Delay: an Example of Pseudogyperbolic Chaos. // Izv. Saratov Univ. (N. S.), Ser. Physics, 16, 2018, iss. 3, 162-176.
• Kuznetsov S.P., Sedova Yu.V. Hyperbolic chaos in the Bonhoeffer - van der Pol oscillator with additional delayed feedback and periodically modulated excitation parameter //Izvestiya VUZ. Applied Nonlinear Dynamics, 2019, 27, iss.1. 77-95. (In Russian.)
• Arzhanukhina D.S., Kuznetsov S.P. Schematic simulating systems of ring structure with chaotic dynamics corresponding to the Smale-Williams attractor. Nanoelectronics, nanophotonics and nonlinear physics. Proceedings of the XI All-Russian Conference of Young Scientists. "Techno-Decor", Saratov, 2016, p.9-10. (In Russian.)
• Doroshenko V.M., Kuznetsov S.P. Chaos generator with Smale-Williams attractor on the basis of the oscillation death effect. Nanoelectronics, nanophotonics and nonlinear physics. Proceedings of the XI All-Russian Conference of Young Scientists. "Techno-Decor", Saratov, 2016, p.39-40. (In Russian.)
• Kuznetsov A.P., Kuznetsov S.P., Stankevich N.V. A family of models with the blue sky catastrophes. Nanoelectronics, nanophotonics and nonlinear physics. Proceedings of the XI All-Russian Conference of Young Scientists. "Techno-Decor", Saratov, 2016, p.188-189. (In Russian.)
• Khadzhieva L.M., Kruglov V.P., Kuznetsov S.P. Smale-Williams attractor in an autonomous system with a "figure-eight" homoclinic. Nanoelectronics, nanophotonics and nonlinear physics. Proceedings of the XI All-Russian Conference of Young Scientists. "Techno-Decor", Saratov, 2016, p.259-260. (In Russian.)
• Zakharov S.A., Kuznetsov A.P., Stankevich N.V. Mutual synchronization of quasiperiodic oscillations. Materials of the XI International School-Conference "Chaotic self-oscillation and formation of structures" (CHAOS-2016), October 3-8, 2016, Saratov. Saratov: OOO "Publishing Center" Nauka", p.87. (In Russian.)
• Kruglov V.P., Kuznetsov S.P., Khadzhieva L.M. Smale-Williams solenoid in a system of two coupled oscillators with a homoclinic "figure-eight". Materials of the XI International School-Conference "Chaotic self-oscillation and formation of structures" (CHAOS-2016), October 3-8, 2016, Saratov. Saratov: OOO "Publishing Center" Nauka ", 2016, p.93-94. (In Russian.)
• Kuptsov P.V., Kuznetsov S.P. Hyperbolic chaos in system with multiple delays: numerical test via angle criterion. The International Scientific Workshop "Recent Advances in Hamiltonian and Nonholonomic Dynamics" (Moscow, Dolgoprudny, Russia, 15-18 June 2017). Book of Abstracts. Moscow – Izhevsk: Publishing Center "Institute of Computer Sciences", 2017, p.49-50.
• Erofeev V.S., Kuznetsov S.P., Seleznev E.P. HF hyperbolic chaos generator. Proceedings of the XII All-Russian Conference of Young Scientists. "Techno-Decor", Saratov, 2017, p.57-58. (In Russian.)
• Kuptsov P.V., Kuznetsov S.P. Lyapunov analysis of hyperbolic chaos in systems with several delays. Nanoelectronics, nanophotonics and nonlinear physics. Proceedings of the XII All-Russian Conference of Young Scientists. "Techno-Decor", Saratov, 2017, p.146-147. (In Russian.)
• Kuznetsov A.P., Sataev I.R., Sedova Yu.V. Dynamics of small-dimensional ensembles of Josephson related contacts. Nanoelectronics, nanophotonics and nonlinear physics. Proceedings of the XII All-Russian Conference of Young Scientists. "Techno-Decor", Saratov, 2017, p.241-242. (In Russian.)
• Kuznetsov S.P. Generation of hyperbolic, pseudo-hyperbolic and quasi-hyperbolic chaos. Nanoelectronics, nanophotonics and nonlinear physics. Proceedings of the XIII All-Russian Conference of Young Scientists. "Techno-Decor", Saratov, 2018, p.153-154.(In Russian.)
• Stankevich N.V., Kuznetsov A.P., Schegoleva N.A. Coupled quasi-periodic oscillators: Chaos generation. Nanoelectronics, nanophotonics and nonlinear physics. Proceedings of the XIII All-Russian Conference of Young Scientists. "Techno-Decor", Saratov, 2018, p.300-301.
• Isaeva O.B., Rozental R.M., Ginzburg N.S., Zotova I.V., Sergeev A.S., Rozhnev A.G. Dynamics of a distributed gyroclystron model with delayed feedback. Proceedings of the XVII Winter School-Workshop on Radiophysics and Microwave Electronics, February 5–10, 2018, Saratov. Publishing Center "Science". P.27-28. (In Russian.)
• Isaeva O.B., Savin D.V., Seleznev E.P. Analysis of the dynamics of rough chaos generators in time series. Proceedings of the XVII Winter School-Workshop on Radiophysics and Microwave Electronics, February 5–10, 2018, Saratov. Publishing Center "Science". P.44. (In Russian.)


text:
package ch.usi.dag.disl.util;

public final class Constants {

    final public static String STATIC_CONTEXT_METHOD_DELIM = ".";

    final public static char PACKAGE_STD_DELIM = '.';
    final public static char PACKAGE_INTERN_DELIM = '/';

    final public static String CLASS_DELIM = ".";

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This was my first foray into cooking decorating. Seemed like a fun thing to do, and my friend Christy was teaching a class. Who knew I would get HOOKED??? So now over $100 in supplies later, I will be attempting to make some summer themed ones, on my own, without Christy's help. Maybe later this week!! Wish me luck!
Lately my hubby has been on this whole "let's try new recipes" thing. I'm fine with this, because any night that he's cooking is one less night that I have to try to either cobble something together or hit the drive through.
Let's get something straight – I can cook. I'm just currently in a phase where I choose not to. I used to cook a lot – think hand-stuffed manicotti with homemade meat sauce, garlic seasoned pastry pockets stuffed with four types of mushrooms, homemade eggrolls with (also) homemade fried rice. There was no end to my culinary wizardry, nor to the time I was willing to expend to put an elegant and delicious dinner on the table. Now? Not so much. I don't know what has changed, but right now I just can't work up the enthusiasm for spending hours in the kitchen.
So that brings us to now. A few months ago, Perry decided that twice a week he would whip up something inventive from one of his many, many cookbooks that up until this point have mostly gone unused. Most of the time, the things he comes up with are pretty good. There was a yummy mushroom soup a couple weeks ago that I could easily have eaten nightly, for example. Also several interesting salads, and various concoctions of cheese and meat that have been pretty palatable.
Last night, Perry took things a bit too far. He prepared duck. Duck. Quack quack. Duck. Now, I do the shopping, and so I purchased said duck. So it's not like he sprung it on me. I knew it was coming. But yet when it was actually time to eat it, I honestly couldn't get the image of the little feathered dudes down the street in the pond out of my head. I did not enjoy the duck. I plan to abstain from duck in the future. I may even have to go take a loaf of bread to the pond as penance.
Coming up this week, we have lamb. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that, but I think I feel a little bit better about it than duck. At least I don't drive by the little lambs every single day when I leave my neighborhood. Not sure what little woodland creatures will be on the menu next week, but if it comes down to it, I might have to take up cooking again. Maybe that's all part of his plan.
"Time is like money, the less we have of it to spare the further we make it go."
I kind of find it funny how true that is. For example, my day was insane today (hence why you're getting a 10pm Wednesday Wisdom!) - a lot of running around for a variety of stuff, and then back to back to back kid's activities this evening. If you had given me a list on Monday of everything I was going to get done today, I would have said "no way, something's gotta go." Yet somehow it all got done. How does that happen? I personally think it's because I didn't sit down and analyze everything on my list - I just got started and did it. Maybe it's when we over think things that we become stagnant, overwhelmed, and afraid to move forward.
If you have tasks you're putting off because you're afraid of what the outcome will be, or overwhelmed because they seem like too large of a task to manage, I would suggest setting a timer for just 15 minutes and starting. When that timer goes off, you stop. Even if you're not done. Even if you're nowhere NEAR done. Just stop. Because when you are giving yourself permission ahead of time to only focus on that big scary thing for 15 minutes, it becomes so much more bearable. You've taken that internal pressure off, the little voice in your brain that's been telling you "if you start this, you better be prepared to finish it." You will finish it, eventually, just nothing says you have to do it all at once. Keep repeating those 15 minute segments daily until you've tackled the task. And I promise, after awhile, it'll get easier each time.
These are words to live by if ever there were any. Life is too short to live with the regret of "what if". Things move so quickly, you have to reach out and grab life and LIVE it while you can. Today I had to go buy a pair of shoes for my son, who is 10. I discovered that he is now in the largest kid's size - size 6. Next time I shop for shoes for him, I'll have to shop in the men's section. MEN'S! Where did my little baby boy go? Time has simply FLOWN by since I became a mom. I feel so blessed to know that I am in the position to be there for my kid's activities, their (endless) sporting events, their school functions. Thanks to Thirty-One and taking a leap of faith in myself, believing in myself that I COULD build a business, I can be there for them when they need me, and even when they think they don't. What if I had never taken that leap of faith? What if I had listened to people who told me "you're never going to make a living selling purses"? This isn't the career that I imagined for myself when I was a child, but that doesn't mean that I'm not exactly where I'm supposed to be.
Don't be afraid to dream big. It's from the biggest dreams that amazing futures can be made.
Woohoo for a good mail day!
Not sure yet which is my new favorite, but I am leaning towards Awesome Blossom or Lotsa Dots! Yay! So ready for an amazing Spring!
Yes, it is tough being a woman.
So I've been reading this book, Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman by Beth Moore. Admittedly not my typical reading material (nary a vampire or witch in the whole book!) but I cannot believe how much I'm enjoying it! Beth Moore does an amazing job of making the Bible accessible, understandable, AND entertaining! The way Esther is set up, you do a little study section each day, and I'm definitely finding myself looking forward to it daily. I'll be working through this one for awhile, but I'm already looking forward to finding a similar book to tackle other parts of the Bible. Any suggestions?
Happy New Year! I hope the first few days of the year have been fabulous thus far! I love January - more than any other time of the year, it's a time when it seems the whole world is reflecting on where they've come from, and where they want to go. Many of you have probably done the same. I know some of you have been setting your goals for 2012 - THANK YOU to those of you who have shared them with me already. I LOVE reading your goals and working with you on how to achieve them!


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