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In the new Hellbent series by New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Penelope Douglas, discover six love stories–races, chases, adventure, and adrenaline. Get ready for the first book in the series, FALLS BOYS: You’ve met his father. Now meet Hawke. A standalone New Adult romance suitable for ages 18+. (Hellbent, Book 1) by Penelope Douglas Digital Originals, March 2022 (via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret) “The kids are growing up—different from their parents but the same in so many ways…” Hawken Trent. So polite. So sweet. Such an upstanding young man. A virgin, too, I hear. He never gets naughty with a girl. Probably because Jesus told him not to. And now here he is, trying to be the hero by protecting another girl from me. He calls me a bully. Irrational. Unreasonable. A criminal. He can call me anything he wants, I’ve heard worse. And he can try to stand between me and my money, but he’s never had to fight for food. That rich, clean, school boy doesn’t have what it takes. I surprised her. You should’ve seen her face. Just because I don’t have a record, honey, doesn’t mean I’m clean. It just means I’m better at not getting caught. That is until I realize I might’ve actually gone too far this time. She’s there. I’m there. The scene of the crime. It’s dark. The police show up. We have no choice. We run. Down High Street, into Quinn’s bake shop, and I pull her through the entrance to the old speakeasy that everyone forgot was here decades ago. The door locks, the cops circle the building, never knowing we’re right here, and I’m hidden in plain sight, indefinitely, with someone’s who’s awful. Mean. Rough. Dirty. A thief. A delinquent. Until one night, lost in all of these rooms together, I don’t see any of those things anymore. She’s smart. Daring. Soft. Hot… Everything’s changing. It’s this place. It does something to people. We have a silly urban legend in Shelburne Falls about mirrors. They’re a gateway. Don’t lean back into them. But we came through front first. I don’t care what the county records say. This was never a speakeasy. It’s Carnival Tower. Penelope Douglas is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Their books have been translated into nineteen languages and include The Fall Away Series, The Devil’s Night Series, and the stand-alones, Misconduct, Punk 57, Birthday Girl, Credence, and Tryst Six Venom. They live in New England with their husband and daughter.
23Jesus answered him, Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. 25 I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26But the Advocate,* the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. 28You heard me say to you, I am going away, and I am coming to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. 29And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. << \| >> \| New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org Enter another bible reference:
This is great to ask a man some questions – especially since the only thing my husband writes down is hockey scores and/or items he wants on his pizza. He doesn’t have a creative bone in his body and I would love to pick your brain just for a few minutes (or a week – we’ll see how you get along) What do you think inspired you to begin writing? What is it about literature that appeals to you – or do you consider romantic fiction to be literature? Would you say it’s harder or easier for a man to write romance? What about the sex scenes? I think it’s interesting how psychologists say women are more into feeling and men are more visual. Does this affect your writing – whether it be romantic or not? Does it make your descriptions more detailed, or more black and white? Through the eyes of a reviewer – to write must be an interesting challenge. What do you take away from reading other people’s books? Do you wish to have your books reviewed, and if so, by whom? What I mean is would you rather just a Tom Dick or Harry (or Sally, Mary, Jane, whatever) to read it, or would you want a review site? Professional reviews or volunteers? Let’s hear what you have to say because I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know anything about the writing or reviewing world – as I’ve never done either one.
To begin with I made a card on my cameo silhouette for her, in the shape of a onesie, and I used another cute cute file to make the giraffe to decorate it and the word baby - suitable coloured in neutral yellow as she doesn't yet know if she's having girl or a boy. The silhouette came into play again to make this super cute favor box which I used to hold the money we collected for her - we were going for a gift card, but given the number of stores going into liquidation we thought that the folding gift vouchers exchangeable at any store were a much safer option ;-) She didn't know what she wanted to get so at least now she can choose stuff she really needs. I stamped some decorative panels on 3 sides and on the onesie on top, stamped a sentiment on the front (Waltzingmouse Compact Sentiments) and then wrapped all around it with some dotted washi tape. Finally, with some of the collection, I made her something fun and just a little bit larger than a tiny box to make her gift presentation a little more impressive! I'd seen these nappy cakes online and thought they looked like lots of fun and not that difficult to make - here's the finished article - both in its wrapped and unwrapped form. It was quite easy to make - although rolling 130+ nappies into tight rolls took a little longer than anticipated and I had to run out for extra packs when I ran out half way through the 2nd tier! The "cake" is filled with lots of useful baby products - talc, wipes, shampoo and a few little mummy toiletries too. You simply tape your tallest items into the middle and then you need a lot of elastic bands and it's then just a case of adding lots of your rolled up nappies until you get nice round tiers of "cake" Here's an in progress shot of the bottom two tiers. I wrapped some bibs around the the baby cream to make the centre of the top 2 tiers nice and round. The "roses" which decorate the cake are actually just individual baby socks, rolled up and wrapped with a green pipe cleaner with a die cut felt leaf. The pink and green "baby" words are actually white chocolate lollies I made just by melting some white chocolate and adding food colouring into shop bought molds. And here is a shot of the happy Mum-to-Be being surprised in our reception with her cake - she loved it although was a little disappointed when she realised it wasn't entirely edible ;-)
It's all a matter of perspective mr Brown the system was vandalised before National was in power, look at facts we have being sliding down the rankings for the last twenty years it's just that that the previous government made no difference . Clearly our philosophies are different but I suspect we want to see the same result,has it ever occurred to you there is more than one way to get to the same answer . - At the risk of swimming against the tide here......oh well it's a democracy,our education system is slowly (maybe quite quickly) but surely slipping down the OECD ranks and if you keep doing the same things the same things happen. We are losing a whole lot of kids through the cracks ,yes their parents should step up first but that is not and will not happen for many kids today or tommorrow.So for Gods sake what is wrong with trying something new to try to see if there is another way to help these kids. It's not as though we are turning every school into a charter school I went to the lowest decile college and have made it out the other side but many of my mates didn't many went to jail or are not here any more.i look at them and ask if it would it have been better under a charter or partnership school program and the answer is maybe but we won't know unless we try something new.It is about time this was about the kids not the teachers or more importantly the union lets see if we can make a difference to some of those kids rather than blocking every bit of change that is introduced. No one is setting out to reduce the quality of the system I have faith that everyone is trying to get us to a better place our system is failing some kids lets try something new at least in a limited way.
Meritor Motorsports Update Paul Noakes and the Meritor Motorsports TAFC racing team continue to mix it up on the NHRA Lucas Oil Divisional trail this summer. Here is the latest on that London Ontario-based team’s standings posted by Jay Johnston…. After completing seven of our ten scheduled races for this season we are #15 in the National point standings and #7 in the Divisional points. This is not what we had expected, we ended last year on such a high note it was just assumed we would pick up where we left off. Things did start out on a positive note but as of late it has all turned south for us. The Columbus Ohio Divisional event started out with a Paul and I visiting the Newark Axle Assembly plant of Meritor for a day of meeting the employees and showing off the car. It was a great experience that reinforced the value Meritor Motor Sports brings to the brand. Over 500 tickets we distributed between the Newark and Florence facilities and if the weather cooperated the turn out at the track would be great. After packing up Paul and I headed out to the track where NHRA had saved us a great pit space which would give all the Meritor people who attended the race easy access to us. As I mentioned before it was now up to the weather to make this a great weekend for everyone connected to Meritor Motor Sports. Unfortunately mother nature was not really looking to make this anything but a weather weekend. Hot and humid along with intense thunderstorms was what we got and only the truly committed fan was willing to come out. We finally got our first of two (rain shortened) qualifiers in Friday night. We were in second place when it was all over posting a 5.85 second elapsed time at 252 m.p.h. We knew that that would not be good enough to keep us in the top half of the field but with the rain settling, in a second shot at the track was a long shot and having all three session next to impossible. The rain let up enough on Saturday to get a second session in but this did not help us as the right lane could not hold all our power. We missed on the setup of the car and the resulting shake forced Paul to abort the run. When it was all said and done our Friday number got us the #6 spot and because of it we did not have lane choice. On the bright side the car did not suffer any major injury and our evening service was very routine. Sunday rolled around again with changing weather conditions and that big question mark of could we get down the right lane. Very few good times were made in the right lane and we knew that was where we would be put by our first round opponent. Lance Van Hallen did indeed put us in the right lane, I’m sure he wanted every advantage he could get on us because if we got the tune up right, Paul and his starting line ability makes the Meritor Hotrod a tough race. Paul did his job and left first with a .023 reaction time to Lance’s .119 and for 200 feet the race was ours. 200 ft. is not a full drag race, again the car shook so hard that it deployed the fire bottles, popped the chutes and shut the car down. Another miss on the tune up, our race was over. Back to the computer to find out just what we are missing and then pack everything up for that long drive home. On a positive note Marty Hetherington (marketing manager) of Meritor joined us for the weekend and had a fine experience at the track. It was not what we wanted for his first time but now he has a very good understanding of the sport, commitment necessary and the thrillers it offers. Andy Bohl the #1 qualifier at the event ended up the winner posting the lowest elapsed time of each round of eliminations as he scored his second event win of the season. He has a firm hold on the #1 position in the North Central Division for this year. Our next event is Bowling Green Kentucky Aug 23-25 and by then we will have our answers. DragRaceCanada File Photo Posted by: Jay Johnston
Monday February 03, 2020 Movie Review: 1917 (2019) Sam Mendes’ “single shot” conceit lends a dreamlike quality to the movie, doesn’t it? That sense, in a dream, when you’re in one place and you turn and you’re in another? One setting falls away for the next without explanation. Here, because the camera follows our protagonists, Lance Corporal Schofield (George MacKay of “Captain Fantastic”) and Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman, Joffrey’s kid brother on “Game of Thrones”), in their journey to call off a British attack and save 1600 men, we’re following them every step of the way, so we don’t have the cuts and fade outs from one scene to the next. They walk 100 yards or so and they’re in the next setting. Sometimes they don’t even have to walk. When Blake is stabbed in the stomach by the German pilot, and Schofield is holding him as he dies, Schofield is alone, horribly alone. Then two soldiers suddenly appear and help him move the body. As they do this, we see more men, and then the camera pans back and we see an entire regiment. When did they arrive? How did we not hear them coming? Schofield goes with them until their vehicles can’t get past a bombed-out bridge near Ecoust-Saint-Mein; but Schofield can. He says goodbye, climbs onto the remains of the bridge, and makes it halfway across when a German sniper on the other side starts shooting at him. So the men in the regiment return fire. Kidding. Schofield has gone maybe 50 feet, in maybe 30 seconds, but the regiment is already gone. That part of the dream is over. He’s alone again. Horribly alone. A river runs through it It’s a shame the way awards season is set up. We hear about critically acclaimed movies a zillion times before we have the chance to see them, so we go in with high hopes. I saw “1917” last week with my wife, knowing it won the PGA for best film, and the DGA for best film, making it the frontrunner to the win the Oscar for best film. Afterwards, we looked at each other and went, “It’s good.” Long pause. “But...” It’s a directing feat more than anything. The nonstop quality means we’re on the edge of our seat for most of the film. There’s breathers in the dialogue but then the dialogue goes, too. Why these two for the mission? Blake is chosen because his brother is in the battalion that might get slaughtered, and he picks his mate before he knows how perilous the assignment is. Why just two for the mission? The man who sends them, Gen. Erinmore (Colin Firth), quotes Rudyard Kipling: “Down to Gehenna or up to the Throne, He travels the fastest who travels alone.” Me: But they’re not alone; they’re together. Me, a beat later: But you need two people on screen. For dialogue. Initially, in silence, they traverse the grim realities of No Man’s Land, where the unclaimed corpses of man and beast lie rotting; then they jump into the German trenches, which are abandoned, and—hey!—so much nicer than ours. The trench is also boobytrapped, which Schofield spots; but a rat, a literal rat, trips the wire, the place caves in, and Blake saves Schofield. It’s the opposite of what we think will happen. Schofield is taller, leaner and braver; he’s already got the medal that Blake envies but he thought so little of it he traded it for a bottle of wine. But here it’s Blake to the rescue. Then it’s onto the farmhouse, which after some suspense they determine to be abandoned, and where, with detached interest, they watch an aerial dogfight between two Brits and a German. The German, outnumbered, goes down smoking, and ... is it coming this way? No. YES! Inexplicably, after he barrels into a barn, they rescue the pilot and debate whether or not to mercy kill him. Why not just kill him? He's the enemy. Instead, he kills Blake while Schofield is fetching water. Me: I guess you don’t need two people on the screen for dialogue. But, of course, even as Schofield retreats into silence, an entire regiment arrives, gabbing away. Before, the mission was to save not only the 1600 but Blake’s brother. Now it’s also to make sure Blake didn’t die in vain. Is the second half of the movie a bit much? After Schofield kills the sniper but falls back down the stairs and knocks himself out? The shots of—is it a village?—are eerie, masterful, and reminiscent of the Do Lung Bridge sequence in “Apocalypse Now,” but the whole thing gets both surreal and unreal. Schofield is fired upon, ducks into a basement where he comes across a pretty Frenchwoman and a baby—but not her baby. He leaves them food. To escape a drunk German soldier, he ducks behind a pillar, only to come face-to-face with a young, sober German soldier, whom he chokes to death. The drunk tries to shoot him, several others give chase, so Schofield jumps into a raging river, down a waterfall, pulls himself up over a dozen, rotting, soggy corpses, walks in a daze through the woods, and plops himself down among a regiment listening to one of their own singing a high, plaintive, mournful song. Guess what? It’s the battalion he’s looking for. That’s how he finds them. We should all get swept along such rivers. There’s a few such false notes in the film, and the entire “single shot” (which isn’t a single shot) conceit creates a veneer of same for me. It felt too gimmicky for the surroundings. The casting of the officers was a gimmick itself. Our boys are tasked by Mr. Darcy, pointed in the right direction by the Hot Priest, given a lift by Merlin, so Schofield can deliver the message to Sherlock Holmes in order to save Robb Stark. It’s Masterpiece Theater. Nice, anyway, that the Starks and Lannisters are not only getting along, they’re now related. “1917” is based on Mendes’ recollections of the recollections of his grandfather, who fought in the Great War. I like how it begins and ends with Schofield dozing under a tree. I wanted to like it more.
Expect the unexpected! As suggested by my host in Alembon the day before, 8:00am I was downstairs for breakfast. Got to taste all the home made compote she does and home baked cake as well. After breakfast I started packing. I confess, this is one of my weak points and something I definitely need to get better at. The Camino de Santiago has taught me a few lessons last year, which I seemed to have forgotten, but the Via Francigena is being quick at reminding me of them. Before I left home I packed everything according to item type, e.g. clothes and footwear all in one pannier, electronics in another, 1st aid kit and items of personal hygiene in another and so on… The thing is, when you are on the move and need something you don’t want to be opening several different panniers to get items you may need. The lesson I learned on the Camino was to pack a pannier with the most likely things you are going to need during the day (in the case of the Camino I packed it in a rucksack, as I had only 2 panniers then, where I now have 4), so you’ll only need to open one bag during the day, unless something out of the ordinary happens, which is not uncommon. I am, therefore, attempting to change the packing accordingly and moved several items around the panniers. When I finished packing everything (took me about 25 min… yes, I am slow) brought everything downstairs, where the bike was, and started to load them in the bike. About 15 min later, when all panniers and the camping bag were loaded and fastened, I realised I was missing my Cateye cycling computer, which I thought I had placed in the handlebar bag together with the Garmin Edge 810. It wasn’t there. Went back to the room and searched everywhere as I knew I had it the day before… couldn’t find it. There was only one option left: Search in the panniers, which, as I mentioned before, were already loaded in the bike. I’ll give you one chance to guess if it was in the 1st pannier or in the last. Did you guess? Of course it was in the last. It must have fallen in the pannier as I was rearranging the packing. Altogether, I literally spend 1h looking for the damn thing. That meant I left the B&B only around 11:30am. For a pilgrim this is almost time of arrival, not time of departure. Anyway… need to give no excuses to anyone as I am alone, but it was a bit stressful. My own fault. From Alembon I rode to Licques, where I managed to get a stamp from a water park there, as everything else was closed. Then to Tournehem-sur-la-Hem, where there was also nothing open. Not to say nothing, the church was open, but there was no one in it. From Tournehem my next destination was Thérouanne, where, according to my host the day before, there was a pilgrim’s hostel, but… everything was closed. I wasn’t planning to stay there anyway, as I wanted to ride more, so I rode further to Amettes where there is another hostel with special rates for pilgrims (€13/night). Guess what? Closed! In all the villages I rode through everything was closed. Even the petrol stations were closed. if I wanted to setup camp somewhere I would have to go hungry as I couldn’t find anything open to buy food. I also couldn’t get any stamps on my Pilgrim’s credential which, upon arrival in Rome, is the document you have to show. So I decided to continue riding to Bruay-la-Buissière as I knew it was a bigger town and there was bound to be something open. As I got there I asked several people about “auberges” or hotels but I couldn’t find any near, so I turned to Google which offered me a few, with one of the cheapest being the Ibis Style in the outskirts of town. Had to ride another 4 or 5 Km to get there and the daily rate wasn’t the €53 Google suggested, but €69 with Breakfast. By that point it was late and I was too tired to go searching for something cheaper, so that is where I stayed. The room was great and the hotel was near several restaurants. Had a really good meal at the 3 Les 3 Brasseurs. When I left Alembon in the morning, the day was a bit unsettled and that made me forget to pass on the sunscreen on my skin. I live in the UK, so this is something we use very little there 🙂 The sunscreen was on the bottom of one of my panniers, which I really didn’t want to take off the bike again. The result was a really bad sun burn and fever at night which made for an uncomfortable night. I should have stopped to get the sunscreen… lesson number… ? (who’s counting anyway). Well, that was it. I’m attaching a few pictures to this “post by email” which I hope will be self-explanatory. If you have any questions, just drop me a comment. Before I close the post, have you made your donation to Mind UK, which is the charity I am sponsoring during this ride? Common, 20 quid will not be much at the end of the month and it’s all for a good cause.
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog. What happened this week? This week was okay. We’re still dealing with the mosquito issue and no progress this week, we’re still finding a few every day with some days being worse. I got my period migraine later in the week, the meds worked decently this time and I didn’t feel as bad as most months, so that was nice. Although I wish what caused it as I didn’t do anything else than normally. I had an exciting formatting task to work on this week, one of my authors asked me to format an anthology. So that was fun, it was a bit short notice so I had to get most of it done this week, but luckily I managed that. I also did some work for another author, updating her books with new covers and blurbs on Goodreads. What did I read this week? Heartwaves was a 5 star read, really good book with super realistic and real characters. Monster’s Past was a good one by a familiar author with cute banter between the couple. Back to Belfast sadly didn’t work for me and wasn’t what I had expected. This week I blogged about: What to expect next week on the blog: – Review: A Picture of Murder by T.E. Kinsey – Review: Awakenings by Claudia Arseneault – Review: A Fondant Farewell by H.Y. Hanna
I always believe happiness will be gathered if we make others happy first. Seeing others succeed in life because of ourselves, will create contentment and satisfaction in our heart. Many who asked me where I get my motivation and energy everyday to be cheerful and happy. I told them it is easy. As long as you are willing to give outwardly, the world in return will give you the happiness and energy of life back naturally. This was how I started my day to cheer a friend who is suffering from cancer and is on treatment currently. I sent Amrit a message while on the early run in my car, "My dear, how are you lately? Please be strong and have a strong mindset. I am sure you will make it. Please read my blog under this title, 'An ounce of courage to remove ton of distress'. It will help to build your strength." She replied, "Thanks uncle. By the way, I spend one hour reading your blog site. Very motivating. Thank you." I received another message from a new friend whom I still have not met yet. The telemarketing executive from Citibank whom I had motivated about two weeks ago. I pushed him an extra mile to learn something more for himself. His message, "Blessed day, Robert I sell more effectively and more confident after I've spoken with you. Thank you Sir - Daniel Citibank." I had a morning talk with our branch office. Sharing the title, 'Agent Philosophy' to some young agents I had not met before. Later in the afternoon, one of them sent me this message, "Hi Robert. Sim here. Thanks for your today great sharing with us. Many of your points are part of my life which is happening now. Hopefully I can achieve like you one day." Thank you Amrit, Daniel and Sim. Your messages gave me strength. Although they were just text message in words, they created values and hopes for me. These are the little thought and appreciation which could motivate a person, including myself. If I had not started to think for them first, these positive force would not have gathered. Their sweet words really made my day and I am sure there will be more to come tomorrow. Don't wait for something to happen, rather make something interesting happen and you would be amazed how powerful they are. I received this lovely phrase from Zarina who cares, "Sweet words are easy to say; sweet things are easy to buy; but sweet people are difficult to find."
Breastfeeding is fantastic in terms of feeding and bonding along with your child, however it takes a toll that is negative the areas you will ever have. For instance, intercourse. Exactly What had previously been an enjoyable task for both you and your partner might be feel uncomfortable or perhaps downright awful if you are breastfeeding. Before you give up sex forever (or until your kid is not breastfeeding anymore), understand that it’s completely normal and, in many instances, it could be fixed. So just why does breastfeeding make sex hurt? Blame your lovely hormones. „Breastfeeding makes your estrogen amounts plummet in the very very first 48 hours after pregnancy,“ Dr. Sherry A. Ross, composer of She-ology: The Definitive help guide to Womens Intimate wellness. Period informs Romper in a job interview. She claims it really is great deal like menopause, filled with hot flashes and drench-your-pajamas-sweat. „Hormonal chaos hot ukrainian brides has begun that reduces your estrogen amounts while elevating your prolactin amounts, (prolactin being the hormone that promotes milk production) which ready your human anatomy for breastfeeding.“ This razor-sharp plunge in estrogen after delivery straight away causes your vagina to be thinner, less elastic, inflamed, and much more susceptible to damage, in accordance with Healthline. Also, „there is less blood circulation to your vagina, causing a decrease in vaginal lubrication,“ Ross describes. „Dryness, discomfort, burning, irritation, painful urination and painful sexual intercourse are typical signs.“ once more this might seem like a terrible side effects of breastfeeding, but it is not really uncommon (nor hopeless). Lots of women encounter discomfort during sex while nursing, but as a result of social taboos this hasn’t been talked about the maximum amount of as yet. Fortunately more ladies are talking up and talking for their physicians about this. At six weeks postpartum „its reported that 50 to 60 % of females suffer with painful intercourse, and a 3rd of females continues to have signs 3 months after distribution,“ Ross claims. To repeat, this is certainly roughly 1 / 2 of postpartum ladies pain that is experiencing sex. Ross claims painful sexual intercourse, clinically referred to as dyspareunia, can occur to breastfeeding ladies and ladies who choose to not breastfeed (although on a smaller level). It is all area of the postpartum package. Numerous nursing females might find they are mostly during the mercy of haywire hormones, however, that does not suggest there is nothing they could do. Just a little lube can get a way that is long. „as time passes, persistence and only a little KY jelly, the real and emotional challenges of nursing and low estrogen will surely enhance,“ Ross states. Also, both you and your partner might consider using a rest from intercourse and attempting once again if you are experiencing better. Your spouse should comprehend if you communicate in their mind the manner in which you’re experiencing. Or, you could find pleasure in non-penetrative intercourse and brand new positions. It can not harm to explore (but you should if it hurts, stop what you’re doing making improvements). Simply because sex hurts now does not mean it shall forever. As you can plainly see, painful sex while nursing is extremely normal and absolutely nothing become ashamed of. Fundamentally, in 2010 in your life will pass and you also will manage to experience pleasure along with your partner once more. Playing the body being gentle with your self goes a considerable ways towards your real and psychological data data recovery following son or daughter delivery. How exactly to have legit phone that is good that’s not cringe It generally does not need to be like in almost every cheesy film scene. Unless you’re a real phone intercourse operator, phone intercourse may be feel just like a frightening and daunting move to make. But, it is also a fantastic and element that is fun your sex-life. Plenty of couples lose out since they don’t need to get it incorrect, which will be reasonable. It really is a fairly vulnerable place to maintain. Intercourse expert Annabelle Knight describes you could have good (rather than cringy) phone intercourse, here is how. Mobile sex recommendations 1. Clear your diary First things first, you will need to set the date. You can find fewer things even even even worse than being half means through depicting scenarios that are sexy your housemate banging from the home and asking to borrow the new top. Ensure that enough time you decide on would work both for of you, if that means needing to wait some time then have patience, the hold off will simply result in the launch even sweeter. 2. Arrange ahead As soon as you’ve set the date it is vital in order to make sure you’re ready. Zooming in from work will do absolutely nothing for the phone intercourse session. My advice would be to just simply just take some time upfront to ‘prep.’ Do whatever get’s you within the mood, candle-lit bubble bath, cup of wine, some fiction that is erotic? Do whatever it really is which makes you’re feeling sexy. 3. Dress when it comes to event Despite just getting your partner’s vocals to be on and the other way around, it is an idea that is good try together with your look, maybe not with regards to their advantage, but also for yours. Experiencing as if you look amazing provides the psychological confidence improve to get the excess mile during phone intercourse. 4. Drive the ship out Mobile intercourse may be the perfect time and energy to produce brand new and exciting situations: your imagination usually takes you all over the world. Then phone sex is the time to embrace those ideas if there’s a little sexual something that you’ve always wanted to try. Don’t be frightened to touch and talk. Possibly introduce some sex toys in to the conversation. There are many toys that are great run by apps like the We Vibe Sync, therefore you can get a handle on the way they work from reverse edges worldwide. Telling your lover just what it’s you’re doing to your self is a complete must for brain blowing phone intercourse, then practice makes perfect if that’s something that you find a little daunting. Start small and work the right path up as your self- confidence grows. 5. Dirty talk calls for dirty terms Here is the component the essential individuals fight with, utilizing language that you’dn’t normally usage can feel alien from the tongue, and that can prevent the standard of your phone sex session. It is another situation of practice makes perfect. Once more, beginning little will surely assist. Fundamentally this is actually the opportunity that is perfect one to hone your dirty talk abilities. 6. Have an orgasm Appears right that is obvious? However for a lot of partners it is an important element that\|element that is key often gets missed out. The orgasm could be the cherry from the phone intercourse dessert. It finishes down your session completely, and implies that whenever you revisit and sometimes even get once more you have got something to strive for. Follow these easy steps and you’re set for call after call of unforgettable phone intercourse going to help keep you going unless you will enjoy the deal that is real. Annabelle Knight has her very own array of intercourse toys with Lovehoney. Follow her on Twitter.
May 19, 2025 OPEN LETTER TO MEDIA RE: Our Broken System Involving Juvenile Probation I encourage the media to look into these concerns and feel free to share the information that I’m stating and the frustration with detaining juveniles and Probation detention This past weekend the Stanton County Sheriff’s office was dispatched to a disturbance call involving a 14 year old female who is on probation and caused a disturbance in the rural family home to the point that her mother was so concerned with her safety that she locked/barricaded herself into her bedroom away from her daughter. The response by the Sheriff’s office was immediate and swift and upon arrival the 14 year old was taken into custody for being an Uncontrollable Juvenile and Disturbing the Peace (A jailable offense for all adults). She was detained and transported to the Sheriff’s office where state probation was contacted and required to do an intake on the juvenile and this specific situation. Again the 14 year old is already on probation for similar behavior and her actions have led to multiple law enforcement responses by the Sheriff’s office. It should be noted that no juvenile can be incarcerated without the permission or approval of the probation office prior to an actual custodial hearing by a judge held days later. Therefore, whatever they decide we are stuck with. On this occasion it was determined the juvenile female would not be detained and therefore was to be released. At this time, she was taken home by a probation representative to the same house her mother feared for her life and called 911 for help. Our hands are tied because our Nebraska state legislature believes it knows best as to when juveniles can be detained in a juvenile facility. I would love to mention multiple incidents involving the same inability to detain and house dangerous juveniles within Stanton County and Northeast Nebraska, but I cannot because all juvenile records are sealed by the court after adjudication. The problem is simple the “System is Broken” and needs to be addressed sooner than later by those that can make a difference. Law Enforcement officers for the most part are not a trained social worker or counselor, yet we are doing the best we can with the abilities we have and then only watch with frustration as the problem is sent home to where the problem often lies. You have 11 year olds recently involved in homicides in our larger Nebraska cities and they can’t even be charged or detained and are often sent home to parents that can’t or won’t take responsibility for them. I just don’t think the public realizes this issue and how large a problem it has become for every law enforcement agency in the state, no matter the size of the agency. Someone has to be responsible and often it’s only the fear of media attention that gets things done. I have threatened many news conferences to get immediate action and it usually gets something positive done immediately. I have been doing this job for 41 plus years in Nebraska and we used to be able to detain and jail juveniles as needed and it worked. Now we have no say and most agencies don’t even call probation anymore as they know the answer and don’t want to waste more of their valuable time. Most probation officers that we deal with do a great job in a very difficult profession and they only get to play the cards dealt to them by those in Lincoln. Everyone deserves second chances, but giving problem kids and adults multiple chances and committing violation after violation before something more is done to correct their behavior is not the answer. As a steward of Stanton County funds, I don’t like to spend more than $200.00 a day sometimes to house a juvenile offender. But, sometimes you have to swallow hard to protect the community we serve. Another incident this weekend in Stanton also shows the ill-effect of Probation. A 31 year old male from Lincoln, had recently moved there from California after his prison release. He shows up in Stanton completely under the influence of methamphetamine and extremely paranoid. After contact with the Sheriff’s office he was transported by Norfolk Fire EMS to the Norfolk hospital where he refused treatment and caused another disturbance at that location. He also was on probation and when contacted about him, his PO seemed less than concerned and he wasn’t in Lincoln anymore. I believe the public needs to know these incidents happen all the time and maybe they just don’t care about that our “Broken System”! I believe from my own youth and being a parent and grandparent that kids know right from wrong at fairly early ages and that consequences occur when you don’t act appropriately or follow rules no matter the size and development of your brain. The nuns and priest in my youth had no problem getting that point across and I thank them every day for helping me realize obeying the rules and law gets you a lot farther in life. Michael S. Unger Stanton County Sheriff
Food Inc. should be on everyone’s must see list. This documentary about how our food is produced in America is as startling as it is enlightening. This is a movie that will scare you more than a Friday the 13th marathon or the prospect of sitting through a Celine Dion concert. The hypocrisy of our food producers are laid bare; they advertise “farm fresh,” but what we’re really consuming is generated at a place more akin to a factory assembly line. And the factory isn’t pretty. Cows, pigs and chickens are bred in such close quarters that they’re walking around in their own excrement. They’re cleaned at the slaughterhouse, but living a life of spending your days in their own feces seems to reveal why cases of e. coli and salmonella have risen so much over the years. If an infected cow is taking a dump at the feet of non-infected cows, it’s no surprise that infection spreads. It will also make you look at hamburgers in a while new light. According to the movie, a single hamburger patty can have the meat of 1,000 cows in it, any of which might be infected with something. 1,000 cows! This didn’t scare me into becoming a vegetarian, but I might look a little more leery at my hamburger next time I’m at 5 Guys. Another startling piece of information learned from watching Food Inc. is just how big a part corn plays in our food consumption. Corn, or a derivative of it, is used someway in about 90% of what you’ll find on your supermarket shelves. The main reason for this is that corn is subsidized to the point that it’s cheaper to buy it than it is to produce it. Corn is the main ingredient used in the feed of not only our livestock, but now also in farmed fish. When you get down to it, we’re becoming corn. Like the previous night’s movie District 9, Food Inc. shows that when left unregulated by the government, big corporations show little care for human safety or livelihood when dollars are to be made. But Food Inc. exists not to scare us, but to educate us. The producers do a good job of showing alternatives to the food-factory system. Organic yogurt giant Stonyfield and small scale more naturally oriented livestock farmers are given a chance to show their alternatives to the big, corporate system…even though Stonyfield is now part of the big, corporate system. A final reason to see Food Inc.: Bruce Springsteen’s cover of This Land is Your Land plays during the closing credits. Alright, maybe that’s not a reason to see it, but it’s a nice bonus at the end. Food Inc. continues Oscar week here at Tuesday Night Movies. It’s nominated for Best Documentary this year. I haven’t seen the other movies in that category, but this one is great, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it wins on Sunday. Go out and rent Food Inc. If you have Netflix, it’s available for instant streaming. Just eat before you watch Food Inc., because you might not want to afterwards.
Left is dinner rolls without any steam in the oven (forgot to put a cup of hot water in the preheated Right with steam, but still undercooked. Been making bread and pizza shells every day for a week and took a couple days off. This dough recipe makes a dense crumb. I have tried diff amounts of letting it rise, but it is usually the same. It is really close to sourdough in so many ways, but not sour. When I get a good crust on it it is really good. We got more books and I have gotten a bit of read on. Theresa got Alton’s one about baking. Gave up soda, but eat a lot of bread and butter now. I call it a draw.
Last week, we looked at whether some traits are more important than others in becoming and being a leader. In this context, I promised that I will share with you a list of recommendations distilled from my own experiences. I also took into consideration suggestions received from the women that I had interviewed for my books. These are successful women in leadership positions in different fields of activity from Luxembourg and the Greater Region. You will find below the first five pieces of advice which are worthy of your attention if you wish to enhance your visibility and be appointed to leadership positions. Of course, some advice will resonate more with you and some less. It is important to note that while writing these pieces of advice I thought specifically about our challenges as women, our needs and leadership experiences, all the time taking into account the stories that I had heard during these last fifteen years. In addition, I believe that most (if not all) of this advice applies to men, too. - 1. Choose your own unique road through life and make a difference to the world. Try to become not a man of success but rather to become a man of value. (Albert Einstein) My first advice is to focus on finding out how you can make a difference in your life, your company, your family and friends’ lives, instead of just chasing one or another position within your organisation. Commit yourself to living a life that makes a real contribution - a meaningful life. Be ready to make choices, and take ownership of your choices and desires, because whether or not you succeed in your career and in your life depends on you. Take for instance, Monica Jonsson, who decided back in 2002 to leave behind a very successful twenty-year corporate career working in Sweden, Hong Kong and Luxembourg. She chose instead to be a pioneer and create the first coaching company in Luxembourg, CoachDynamix. Why? Because she wanted to make a real difference on a human level, and not only chase after quarterly revenue targets. Nowadays, she feels blessed to have a profession that she really loves doing and that gives her a sense of purpose, joy and fulfillment. This is also what Stephen R. Covey recommends in “The 8thHabit. From Effectiveness to Greatness”, when he talks about two possible roads in life: one to mediocrity and one to greatness and meaning, pointing out that each and every one of us can choose which road in life to take: starting by choosing between having a good day or having a great one. - 2. Find what makes you happy. The importance of introspection. Analyse what you want, what your ambitions are and what makes you happy. “Happiness is found through who we are and not by what we do or what we have.” Therefore, it is important as a woman to explore who you are and what you feel passionate about, which in turn will allow you to find out what makes you happy. Many women admit that they spend the majority of their lives trying to make those around them happy: children, parents, partners, colleagues, and so on. However, ensuring the happiness of those around you is also linked to your own happiness. Therefore, you need to make yourself happy first, and put yourself first in life without being constrained by feelings of guilt. Some women dream about high responsibility jobs, making a lot of money, having power and prestige, being respected and having opportunities to control budgets and resources, as well as helping others grow. Other women dream about more free time for themselves and/or their families and are ready to sacrifice opportunities for advancement or trade them in the short-term. An old Romanian proverb puts it in a very simple way: “Think twice of what you ask God for. He might give it to you…” Indeed, understanding and accepting yourself will help you plan your future the way you want and help you feel happier with your choices. When Dr. Friedman teaches his Total Leadership concept he recommends that you start by thinking and writing about your core values, your leadership vision, and the current alignment of your actions and values. He suggests that you talk to peer coaches to get the whole picture about who you truly are. “Why peer coaches? Because an outside perspective provides a sounding board for your ideas and your challenges. It gives you a fresh way to see the possibilities for innovation and helps hold you accountable to your commitments.” - 3. Find your place. To be effective in an organisation, your values must be compatible with the organisation’s values, and there should be an environment in which you feel you make a contribution; you are not just a number, but you truly contribute to a higher purpose. Find your place in your company, be part of a team that trusts you, and have a manager who believes in you. It is important to work under and with people who have strong professional ethics and are not manipulative, e.g. blocking your career progress in order to take all the credit for themselves. If you find yourself in this position and you don’t feel comfortable in your team, department and/or organisation, don’t hesitate too long in searching for new opportunities, either internally or with other companies. I have talked to numerous women, especially in the financial sector who, despite their efforts in doing their jobs very well and having the necessary skills to be promoted, felt they were stuck in the same functions for years with no real chance of being promoted to leadership positions. We do have choices in our lives and in our careers, but we also have to find the courage to make changes and be ready to take ownership of our decisions. “Control your destiny, or someone else will”, as Jack Welsh said – or as the late Edmond Israel liked to quote “I cannot predict the future, but I can create it.” - 4. Lifelong learning. “Nosce te ipsum” – This is something taught in school in Romania as part of our mandatory Latin courses and translates simply as: know yourself. It is important for us holistically, and not just in our working lives. This one statement encourages us to think about and identify our strengths and areas for improvement. Of course, as well as spending time capitalising on your strengths, don’t forget to spend some time focusing on improving your weaknesses. I try to teach this to my marketing students in Germany and used to also ask my interns to complete a SWOT analysis of themselves. This was usually not an easy exercise for most of them as they had difficulties seeing their strengths and areas for improvement. Nobody is perfect, but if you manage to identify your strengths and use them in your personal development, you have many more chances to succeed in life than if you focus on your weaknesses – which cannot by their nature build performances and will only serve as excuses not to succeed. Indeed, “Your life only gets better when you get better.” (Brian Tracy), so work on improving your strengths as well as filling in the gaps in your knowledge by acquiring new skills. Leading people or organisations requires not only technical knowledge but also soft skills such as relationship building and effective communication. If you find it difficult to identify or confirm your strengths and weaknesses, American psychologist and Harvard professor Will Schutz, suggests in his book “The Human Element” that you ask your friends and colleagues. You might be surprised to discover skills that you didn’t think of being leadership related, or to find out that what you thought of as being a weakness is actually considered a strength by people who know you. Additionally, pay close attention to how you use your strengths, because if overused they could potentially become weaknesses. Knowing yourself also involves becoming aware of the way you perform best – are you a reader or a listener? How do you learn? Do you learn by writing? By talking? By doing? Do you make connections with people easily or do you let them approach you first? Do you work better alone or in a team? Do you work better as a subordinate or as a decision maker? Do you perform well under stress or do you need a highly structured and predictable environment? Do you work best in a big organisation or in a small one? These are all questions to be given detailed thought. What is certain is that if you wish to become a leader, you will need to commit to lifelong learning! You need to follow conferences and seminars in your professional field, and attend personal development and networking events - even if you have to pay for it out of your own pocket. There is always something new to learn, and keeping your mind open to new knowledge will enable you to be more competitive. You also need to stay informed about what’s going on in the world – what events and new technologies might affect your company, the market place, and your customers’ behaviours - primarily because you need to anticipate change. Therefore, you need to read magazines and professional journals and talk to people from other fields about the changes occurring in the market and in the world (yes, networking might actually help you improve yourself). Live and act according to your values, preferences and needs. This is the route to a truly authentic life, compared with acting just to please others, or saying what you think or know that others would like to hear. Being authentic also implies being real and open in your relationships, and this is also true about the way you communicate. There are many people who we instinctively identify as “false”, mainly because they spend too much time acting and use too many words with little or no substance. Try to find the management and leadership style which corresponds to your personality and your core values without trying to copy your superior or your mentor. Learning from them is usually extremely helpful, but try not to be someone else. Not only will you fail to convince other people (within the company and externally), but also your style will not be successful, efficient or sustainable if it doesn’t really reflect who you are. Authentic people are generally more balanced, secure and self-confident and tend to be trusted more because they are seen to care and listen. Being authentic also means sharing what you stand for, and accepting yourself the way you really are without putting on a mask to please your superiors. When the issue of leadership styles is raised, men are more likely than women to describe themselves in ways some management experts refer to as “transactional” leadership i.e. job performance is viewed as a series of transactions with subordinates. So, when it comes to the style of leadership, many men recognise that their power is taken from their high position and formal authority in a traditional command-and-control style. Women are more likely than men to use transformational leadership: motivating others by transforming their self-interest into the goals of the organisation, Women, use power based around charisma, work record, and contacts (personal power) as opposed to the male approach centred on organisational position, title, and the ability to reward and punish (structural power), thus the differences between approaches to leadership are apparent. In the words of a female leader: “Throughout my career in business I have seen women practicing a masculine leadership style that focuses on authority derived from their position, and relies on rewards and punishment in order for them to climb up the career ladder.” Instead of being admired for their adjustment to an alpha male environment, most of these women were perceived as emotional, difficult to work with or for, and too aggressive. What one gender sees as a strength may be perceived by the other as a weakness, hence the need to “be yourself”. The International Women’s Forum Survey of Men and Women Leaders found that most men and women describe themselves as having an equal mix of traits that are considered “feminine” (being excitable, gentle, emotional, submissive, sentimental, understanding, compassionate, sensitive, dependent), “masculine” (dominant, aggressive, tough, assertive, autocratic, analytical, competitive, independent) and “gender-neutral” (adaptable, tactful, sincere, conscientious, reliable, predictable, systematic, efficient). However, a study of Fortune 1000 female executives by Catalyst found some more than 10 years ago that 96% of them rated as critical, or fairly important, that they develop “a style with which male managers are comfortable.” This is important because there is no need to reject the feminine side anymore, but fully accept it and embrace it. The French feminist Simone de Beauvoir wrote in her book “The Second Sex” in 1949 that “One is not born, but rather one becomes a woman.” Her objective in writing the book was most likely to defend the feminine sex by claiming that men and women are born the same way and that our more masculine side was taken away from us by societal forces. However, we now know for sure, and have substantial research to prove the fact, that men and women are born neurologically different. Aside from gender-related strengths, many characteristics of leaders such as IQ and energy seem to come naturally when we are born, while we learn leadership skills (especially self-confidence), at home and at school, in the academic world and through sport. “And you learn other things at work through interactive experience, trying something, getting it wrong and learning from it, or getting it right and gaining the self-confidence to do it again, only better”, as Jack Welsh was noting in his book “Winning”. In addition, neurologists have shown how men operate using mostly the left side of their brain; the analytical sphere, while women are able to switch between both sides; analytical and emotional, more easily than men. It is important to have the courage to be yourself, and to think outside the box, because the key to success often lies in the way you look at and deal with a certain situation. Following less traveled roads offers generally unsought possibilities and solutions. In order to leverage your strengths on your own personal journey to success, you will need to fight stereotypes about the leadership styles of women and men. Indeed, findings show that there is a certain resistance to women’s leadership, mainly a set of “widely shared conscious and unconscious mental associations about women, men, and leaders. In the language of psychologists, the clash is between two sets of associations: communal and agentic. Women are associated with communal qualities… being especially affectionate, helpful, friendly, kind, and sympathetic, along with being viewed as interpersonally sensitive, gentle, and soft-spoken. By contrast, men are associated with agentic qualities, which convey assertion and control. These include being especially aggressive, ambitious, dominant, self-confident, forceful, self-reliant and individualistic.” This difference of perception will make people call dominant women “control freaks” while men would be called “passionate”. Being aware of these stereotypes does not take away the danger of misconception; therefore, don’t be afraid of being yourself or of any obstacles to success, as they will make you stronger just as much as they will challenge you. The conclusion of today’s article is from a great Harvard Business Review article of Peter Bregman entitled “Want to keep your job? Stop trying to fit in.” which is extremely strong, clear and positive: “Face it: You’re different. And the sooner you realise it, the sooner you embrace and leverage it, the more successful you’ll be. The same goes for your business!”
This not-so-little guy has been skittering around our beach the last couple of days. It looks a lot like the smaller sand crabs on the beach, but isn't nearly as shy. They dive for their burrows as soon as they see movement near by, this guy just ambles away. Also, the sand crabs are much more sand-colored; maybe this guy is about to moult which would explain both the color and slow movement. I know how he feels, shedding one's skin is a drag (how else do you think I keep so young looking). 2 years ago
What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
Ok, I have to admit it – despite what I wrote in my blogpost the other day, I have started preparing a bit for Christmas 😉 I like to keep the Christmas decorations quite simple – both because it is easier/faster done and beacause it pleases my eyes 🙂 Greens and fresh flowers is my best tip (as for any season, actually) to achieve the Christmas look. This year I have fallen for lots of beautiful succulents– they look great in Christmas decorations! And rosemary – I will show you what I have made with them later on. The very nice stars are from We:re and are made of re-used material – a sustainable and beautiful alternative to many other Christmas stars out there. This weekend I will get a lot of Christmas inspiration and having a lot of fun with a bunch of great girls in Copenhagen – I am so looking forward to it! You can see glimps of it if you follow me on Instagram 😉 Have a great weekend!
So you have your first belly dance moves – woo hoo! Now, the next stage I want you to master is putting some of them together. This is the really fun bit! You can do this by yourself and experiment with sequencing different moves. There is no right or wrong to this, so just go for it. Hint: if your mind has gone blank thinking of moves, I have two (free) entire playlists that I think you’ll love. Take a look at my “Learn belly dance moves” list here. You might also like my “One minute belly dance moves” list here. Once you’ve had a go at free-styling with the moves, why not have a go at creating your own routine? If you’re not sure where to start, my class and assignments below will help get you started! In this sequence you will cover many belly dance fundamentals: footwork, hip drops and lifts, shoulder shimmies and hip shimmies with arm frames. Why not dive in now and follow along! Your belly dance assignment If you’ve just started your bellydance journey, your assignment is to master these moves by themselves. Then, have a go at following along with the sequence with me. If you’re an experienced belly dancer, your assignment is to learn the sequence, THEN start substituting some of the moves with your own movement ideas. This way you’ll end up with your very own sequence. Cool hey?! If you’re really keen to start developing your own choreography and improvisation skills, I think you’ll love a couple of the classes in my online studio, for instance 👇 Would you like to join my online studio? Get access to my full length, comprehensive classes, drills, choreography sequences, movement tutorials, technical preparation exercises at Santa Maria Bellydance Online. You can learn with me anywhere and any time you have internet connection at just £15 a month for the entire (growing) library. Go to www.santamariabellydanceonline.com to find out more and get started now! Thank you, as ever, for reading and watching. Love and shimmies,
What is a media company? A media company is an entity who disseminates information in various one of many possible forms including although not limited to; print, radio, television, outdoor advertising or through social support systems. For many years it cost to buy your message seem to others however with the invention with the internet and internet sites, you are able to obtain your message out without cost. With the invent from the internet we showed the world to more details but at what cost? Now anyone can be their very own media company and broadcast whatever information they need with practically no consequences. Prior to the web if a company or individual wanted to acquire their message out they can need to buy ad’ space in a newspaper, radio, television or outdoor media. The costs were too prohibitive for someone to however, these types of media so they really were not able for getting their message seem to others. A company who can afford these sorts of advertising put on the extender responsibly from when they were spending money. The media company also helped control the content by money content. They would not allow advertisers to distribute false or misleading information. So there was clearly a system of controls allowing the individual to take the advertising at face value and still have some faith in what it’s all about. Since the net and myspace, anyone can afford for getting their message in front of an individual. For virtually no cost, you can have a website with a website, web 2 . 0 page, blog, video content and live broadcasts. This is a big shift within the market that permits people like me to have my message over to people like you. This is a victory for that small people and firms but the larger companies still need their advantage of their favor. The consumers follows and see them more frequently than they’ll see me. They will have always more money to waste on advertising and SEO than I do. But it won’t mean I shouldn’t still make an effort to get my message out. With everyone obtaining the opportunity to acquire their message across we aren’t all playing with the same rules. The larger companies investing in space have to assume responsibilty and held accountable for his or her message but a person might just go ahead and post something with virtually no repercussions for message. Sure, they could lose followers or get flagged for posting racist or misleading information but which doesn’t stop them from posting it again or elsewhere. I am all for your First Amendment and Free Speech but we ought to be smarter consumers of knowledge. We can’t just say well I watched it on the world wide web so it should be true. Caveat Emptor (Buyer beware) continues to be true when we’re not buying anything. The buyer/consumer is solely liable for checking the standard and sustainability on the goods or information. I am sure a great deal of you recall the Brady Bunch episode where Greg buys an auto and his dad explains the principals of Caveat Emptor. Is it the responsibility in the media company to test all the details posted on his or her form of media or is he or she just presenting the woking platform for us to write? I guess you can say when they are paying to promote or distribute information and the working platform is receiving money they should have some accountability for what exactly is posted on the platform. In this point in time of instant information, it can be tough to figure out what exactly is accurate and was is misleading. But we’re also crossing precisely what is news and what’s advertising. Advertising has regulations on content and stipulations on false advertising like bait and switch, but news stories are very different. There are the reality of a story including who, what, when, why and where however there are opinions. These days opinions, personal beliefs and/or company priorities become part from the stories. When this happens the stories become biased and lean within a certain direction. This is where the client has to be mindful of where these are receiving their information. In the worst cases, news outlets gives alternative facts or fake news. Certain consumers believe these content articles and will spread them along in case they get enough traction people begin to believe these are true even when you’ll find clear facts to show they’re not. If you tell a lie often enough people commence to believe it for example the person telling the lie. How can we stop false information from being broadcast, be simple answer is for no reason. We do not regulate our news! It isn’t the media companies’ job to manage news and decide what exactly is fact or fiction. As consumers we should ask questions and call people and firms out when these are not telling the truth. The bottom line is we should be more educated consumers and fact check our news. We ought to find a source that’s going to be truthful and offer us together with the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where, Why & How) of journalism without bias!
I have been on a cookie-kick lately. They are just what I'm craving and since I'm still eating for two (nursing) I don't mind the extra calories! Remember my request for cookie recipes? I've tried a couple and wanted to let you know how they have turned out: This recipe from Smitten Kitchen was oh-so-good! The toasted and then chopped/powdered nuts were delicious! I also had two friends submit this recipe and they were scrumptious as well! These cookies were the fluffiest and most beautiful chocolate chip cookies I've ever made! Anyone know if you can make your own instant pudding mix - after lots of internet searching it looks like all the recipes have to be cooked. But, I wondered if you could use the mix in the cookies and have it work? I also tried M&M cookies for the first time ever and they will be a definite repeat around here! We had an abundance of M&M's from CVS sales the last month or two. I got the recipe from my friend, Amy - but here is one that looks almost identical. I did half butter and half shortening and also stirred the M&M's into the batter rather than putting them on top. This made for some very yummy cookies! Thanks to all of you who shared your recipes - I have a host of others waiting to be tried as well!
Okay, so you went to the Career fair, you collected all your prizes, you went home and sorted through all your business cards and company information and now.........the phone rings. Someone has reviewed your resume again and after talking to you at the career fair, wants to bring you in for an interview! YES! I knew that advice I gave you would pay off someday! Okay, but now what......you already wore your best clothes to the career fair. You can't possibly wear the same thing to the interview. What are you going to wear to the interview? Well, here are the things not to wear. (Well, most of them anyway, some are self explanatory and need not be listed here) The Top Ten Things Not To Wear To An Interview - Wild Nail Polish. (By the way, this goes for men and women) - Jewelry that jangles (I might add that if you are in to piercings in places that are very open, you might take them out) - Open Toed or Backless shoes (I think this is a judgement call depending on the time of year, but if you want to be safe, don't do it) - Bare Legs (this means wear stockings, even when it's 105 outside. Men, no bare legs for you period, even with stockings) - Out of date suits for Men (No lapels that are too wide or too narrow. You don't want to look like you are from the 50's or from the 70's) - Short Skirts (Even with stockings, don't be a distraction. I believe the rule is no shorter than 3 inches above the knee) - Leather jackets for men or women (This one threw me a little but I can see it. They are not professional dress) - Turtlenecks for Men (Even if you don't have a tie, at the very least wear a dress shirt) - Printed or trendy handbags (You should be conservative. Some people differ on this because they think it is an expression of themselves. Don't express too much on the first interview) - Red Briefcases (I don't know what to say. I can't remember the last time I saw one and if I did, I would definitely be distracted. Be conservative) Okay, so there you go. You made thought the Career Fair mall. You are getting dressed up for the first interview. Don't forget to do some more research. You look great!
I can't say that I had intended to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks during the month of December. Back in 2011 Susanne reviewed this book (scroll down to #32) giving it 10 out of 10 stars according to her rating system. I noted it as sounding incredibly interesting and decided that if I ever ran across a copy when browsing bookstores or something I'd pick it up. One of our neighbors has one of those free "libraries" at the end of their driveway where people are invited to take a book and/or leave a book. On a post-Thanksgiving walk we passed by this neighbor's lending library and, lo and behold, there sat a copy of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I didn't hesitate to snatch it up! Sometimes the wait in reading a book proves worth it and such was the case with this title. I will echo Susanne in saying, "Wow!" Only I'll put it in bold: WOW! This book tells the story of Henrietta Lacks who died of cervical cancer back in 1951. During the period of her treatment and hospitalization at John Hopkins Hospital, doctors took samples from her cervix and sent them to the hospital's lab. There, Dr. George Gey attempted to grow her cells using the samples provided. Up to this point in history, cells had not been able to be reproduced in a lab setting; the cells always died. In the case of Henrietta's cancerous cells, they not only grew but they did so at a prolific rate. In fact, her cells are still reproducing to this day and are known and referred to as "HeLa cells". Her cells have been used in scientific research for these many decades, being used to help identify diseases, were involved with the atomic bomb, and have even been sent into space. While other human strains of cells have been developed since 1951, none have thrived in the same manner that the HeLa cells have, making Henrietta immortal in some sense of the word. What makes the story of Henrietta's cells noteworthy? A few things. First and foremost, samples of her cervix were removed and sent to the lab without her permission. While I would say that it is remarkably unclear that Henrietta would have had any objections to this being done, she was not informed and her consent was not obtained. By today's standards, this is a deplorable situation. By 1950 standards, it was par for the course. Her children, however, were raised in our more modern society where permission must be obtained to take samples of any sort from a person's body and/or used in any form or fashion. Up until the 1970's her children (and husband!) were not even made aware of the fact that their mother's cells were growing and being used in science experiments. When they were made aware they were less than pleased. Her childrens' purpose these days is not to make money off of the HeLa cells (although I and others would argue it would be their due according to present day practices) but to let the world know who Henrietta Lacks was so that she can receive due honor and recognition for her contribution to science. The other interesting angle on this story is that while the rest of the world has been curious as to the origins of the HeLa cells, so have her children been. Henrietta died when her children were very young (her youngest being but a few months old) and so they really never knew their mother. Her daughter Deborah is featured heavily in this book as having provided much information to author/reporter Rebecca Skloot. Deborah spent most of her life wondering what it was her mother had ultimately died of as no one had ever told her; it was not talked about. Henrietta kept the diagnosis of cancer a secret and the family was left in a state of curious chaos as a result of her silence on this matter of her health. There is a prevalent opinion in the family that John Hopkins Hospital killed their mother by experimenting on her body (i.e., over radiating her, causing her abdomen to be burned black). Unfortunately there is reason for them to speculate that Hopkins mistreated and harmed their mother as back in the 1880's and first half of the 1900's surgeons and scientist routinely "stole" black people and experimented on their bodies, deeming them to be of lesser worth to society. These activities are deplorable and it is very hard for those of us with modern sensitivities to even imagine that such things occurred! Yet they did, and the issues of race and segregation also make this book a thought provoking read as well as a sickening one as it is a very painful thing to consider how white surgeons treated their black patients (that is, if they agreed to treat them at all!). I think Skloot presents the facts of Henrietta, her cells and her family in a straight forward manner which "simply" educates the reader without attempting to persuade them of something. Never at any moment did I feel that Skloot was trying to train my thoughts in any particular direction. The book reads very much as an informative explanation as to the history of HeLa cells and the person they originated from. It is an emotional read by its very nature but the emotions are not provided for you. You simply cannot help but feel something as you read along. This is the mark of a good work of non-fiction in my humble estimation. I much prefer it when non-fiction writers present the facts (tastefully) and allow me to make up my own mind on the issues. Skloot kindly allowed me the freedom to discern and I appreciate that. Now, I wouldn't peg The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks as your typical Christmas read but when some books land on your lap you make the time to read them and I'm glad to have made the time for this title. One of my friends (who is a science-y major at our local university) saw the book sitting on my couch when she came over this past weekend. She pounced on it excitedly telling me that she had just recently done some experiments in the lab using HeLa cells and had recently become aware of Henrietta Lacks and her story. I'll be passing this book along to her to read next. Her background should make this read even more fascinating than it already is! I feel kind of funny saying that I would recommend this book to other readers. Non-fiction reads either strike a chord with individuals or they do not. You'll have to make up your own mind about this book. In my case, I'm very glad for Susanne's recommendation which caused me to learn more about Henrietta Lacks. I'll not soon forget her name or contribution to science and society. Nor should I.
We spent the past weekend at River Glen Horse Trials in New Market, Tennessee. All of our horses were so wonderful! Elliot was fifth in the OP division! (His first Prelim after colic surgery, thanks Dr. Cate Mochal!) So cool to see him competing after such an involved surgery! The young horses were brave and brought their game faces to the table and our students all came home without jump penalties. Rockstars! Recently I've been teaching more children and I must admit, I'm loving it. Seeing the kids come out and trot the first time, or realize that they can jump, too. The look in their eyes is priceless. The moment we realize that a special horse opens the door to a whole new world for us...nothing compares. And only other horse people will truly understand. We love our horses, young or old, not only because of what they do for us, but because of who we are and who we can become with them. The kids we teach often bring out pictures, art projects, and letters for the horses they ride. Truth be told, a lot of them ride Tucker, my former one star horse. I think of the things Tucker has done for me, and the place he has in my heart, and I feel thankful. I think of the things Tucker is teaching others now, and feel equally thankful. He's taught my students to ride at the one star level, training level, some how to trot and some how to canter...and it's cool. He gets pictures and treats, letters and hugs like no other horse in the barn. Every horse deserves to have someone to love him, but how lucky is Tucker to have so many to love him?
I have combination skin, so in the summer months I like to switch to a lighter PM moisturizer (for my T-zone's sake). Right now I've been using EVOLOGIE's Stay Clear Cream ($62 for 1oz) to keep the acne at bay, because blackheads are loving me right now and it's just not cool. This is the sample size from their duo pack. It has 2% salicylic acid, and they don't advertise what the pH level is, but it must be somewhere around the right mark because it seems to be working. I use this everywhere else but my cheeks, since my cheeks have enough trouble staying hydrated and I never have a problem with acne there. My dry cheeks are divas and get a separate night cream. Wow, I never thought I would become the person that uses two separate night creams, but combination skin is a pain in the butt. (Read more: April Favorites, May Favorites) EVOLOGIE's Stay Clear Cream \| Something about the sweltering hot weather makes me incredibly lazy, so I use products like SOLSCENTS Angelica SPF 30 Sunscreen ($14.95 for 8oz) to combine steps in my daily routine. This is not only a sunscreen, but also a lotion and fragrance. It smells great, leaves my body feeling nice and soft, and it has SPF 30! It's affordable, too, so it pretty much fills all requirements on the checklist. (Read more: Full Review, Beach & Pool Bag Essentials) SOLSCENTS Angelica SPF 30 Sunscreen \| You may apply sunscreen to your body, but do you ever forget your lips? I use the SOLSCENTS Raspberry Dreams SPF 15 Lip Balm ($3.95) whenever I go to the beach, or even when I'm just bumming around. It goes on smoothly, leaves my lips feeling soft, and it has a great, fruity taste. (Read more: Full Review, Beach & Pool Bag Essentials) SOLSCENTS Raspberry Dreams SPF 15 Lip Balm \| There is no better time to use a setting powder than when it is 80+ degrees Fahrenheit outside. My go-to powder is the NYC Smooth Skin Loose Face Powder in Translucent ($2.79 for .7oz), because it's cheap and it works. I use this on my T-zone whenever I apply any face products, and sometimes even when I'm not wearing anything. My current AM moisturizer has SPF 30 in it, which tends to make me look a little greasy, so this clears that right up. It's really an amazing drugstore powder. It's no Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder, but it does everything a powder's supposed to do, and did I mention it's $3? (Read more: 2013 Makeup Favorites, June 2013 Makeup Routine) NYC Smooth Skin Loose Face Powder in Translucent \| I usually use my E.L.F. Studio Makeup Mist & Set ($3 for 2.02oz) to foil my eyeshadows or turn a loose eyeshadow into an eyeliner, but in the summer I use it as a setting spray. I hear it's not as good as the Skindinavia setting sprays, but for someone who doesn't need that much help or just wants that extra bit of reassurance that her makeup will last all day, this works perfectly. E.L.F. Studio Makeup Mist & Set \| Essie Come Here \| And here is a fashion category, because beauty buffs need clothes, too. An important hot weather staple to me is a cute, comfortable pair of sandals. I almost exclusively buy Sofft and Aerosoles shoes nowadays, because I have countless foot/ankle/back problems, and I don't like being any more uncomfortable than I have to be. I got these babies for $20 at Marshalls (God bless Marshall's), and they're so soft and cushiony! They're also cute, and the ankle strap really makes my feet feel secure, since I sprained my right ankle months ago. And yes, I took off the size-8 sticker before I wore them out. The world now knows what shoe size I am, rejoice. I think they might have been last season or something, since I can't find them on the website, but just check out Marshalls/TJ Maxx for discounted, comfy shoes!If you're still itching for more, check out these other lovely bloggers! - Christine at Simply Stine - Lisa at Subscription Therapy - Anne at The Anna Belle Blog - Michelle at My Beautiful Goodies - Angela at Your Beauty Whisperer What are your hot weather beauty staples? Disclaimer: All paid for by me, not sponsored or affiliated with any mentioned brands. The Evologie was sent to me for editorial consideration but I never actually wrote them a full review (oops, sorry but also not sorry). So, there. Let's be friends! Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram \| Pinterest \| Bloglovin' \| Google + \| Email Newsletter
Hi, friends! It's around that time of the month (no, not that time of the month) when I usually do my monthly favorites posts. Usually I'd talk about all the new products I tested and my favorite discoveries of that month, but things are going to work a little differently this month. For the majority of February, I was either using products I've already mentioned on the blog, or testing new products that I haven't made a decision on yet, so I'm not quite ready to share my thoughts on them so early in the game. So I figured, rather than talking about the products you guys already know I like in a redundant Favorites post, how about we start the train rolling on some new products? Here's a sneak peek to some of the products you'll see mentioned on the blog within the next month or two:
Hi, guys! Sorry that I haven't updated in a few days! I have been off at the beach relaxing, but I'm back now, so things will hopefully resume in full swing. I'm very honored to have recently done an interview with with Rachel from The Style Line, and I want to share it with you all. You can read interview below, or by clicking the image above. Hope you all enjoy! The Style Line Interview 18, DREAMER AND BLOGGER UNITED STATES. HANNAH’S STYLE: I would describe my style as eclectic, quirky, bohemian and bold, with classic pieces thrown in here and there. It all depends on whatever my mood is when I wake up and get dressed, really. INSPIRATION: My inspiration is drawn into my wardrobe and daily attire by frequently eyeing my way through street-style blogs and the latest fashion magazines. Also, I’m deeply inspired by anything vintage and antique that carries within itself a story. TOP WARDROBE STAPLES: My three wardrobe staples are a well-made leather jacket, a pair of killer, chunky shoes, and an array beautiful, antique necklaces. TRAVEL STAPLES: Traveling usually doesn’t change the way I dress, but I typically go for something comfortable, yet stylish. MOST FASHIONABLE DESTINATION: In my opinion, New York City has to be the most fashionable location in the world, which is why I plan to move to the Big Apple in two years. Just walking down the the streets and admiring the diversity and variety of the different styles of the people walking by fills me with inspiration. FAVORITE SUMMER TRENDS: Chunky sandals and mini-dresses are two trends that I adore during the summer months. SUMMER LOVIN: This summer has consisted of a little bit of traveling, as well as a great deal of relaxation. I traveled to NYC earlier this summer, and have two upcoming beach trips. This summer I’ve been listening to a lot of Florence + the Machine, The Black Keys, Dan Auerbach’s solo album, Kings of Leon, James Vincent McMorrow, Mumford & Sons, Diane Birch, Regina Spektor, Dawes, and Band of Horses. As far as what I’ve been wearing, being in the heart of the South, the main objective is to survive the ridiculous heat. So far, I’ve worn a lot of light, flowing fabrics. Chiffon is great for this time of year.
By Leigh Clifton This is the original open letter (below) I wrote to Melissa Walker in August of 2011. I wrote it on the off chance that she might see it and that it might have some impact or maybe even change her mind. Little did I know that it would ultimately have the biggest impact and perhaps saved her life. I am proud of this; not for the writing, but for the reading of it. I’m proud that common words of sense and decency transcended an almost demonic grip on a young, vibrant, beautiful woman, and made her change her mind. It’s as simple as that. But Kelly Rothwell was a young, vibrant, beautiful woman, who saw the demon too little too late. She paid the ultimate price for her loyalty and her decency. On Tuesday December 27, three days before Melissa Walker made her announcement on Fox News that she was divorcing David Perry, I received these two emails below the original letter. Because David Perry has written to me before and used aliases, I wanted to substantiate the source before I printed them. I made some calls and ultimately came to the conclusion that the one from her sister Cassandra really WAS from her; the other one from Melissa I had to conclude was genuine as well. I waited to speak to Melissa’s sister Cassandra because I wanted to give Melissa her privacy for as long as possible, knowing that once the news broke she would get no peace. Cassandra Williams is a powerhouse and she is very protective of her sister Melissa. “Melissa is a very smart girl, a personal trainer and licensed esthetician. She gets bored easily because she always likes to be on the go all the time. I mean, who hikes 20 miles before breakfast for fun?” Cassandra suggested she enter the Reserves and Melissa, in her 30’s, aced boot camp and every test they gave her. So they asked her to enlist for a year,telling her she could be stationed in Hawaii at the Army Medical Center. She had no specific interest in the psychiatry field but did so well on her trials there, they asked her to stay on for the year.” Cassandra was surprised to learn that Melissa had married David Perry; the family wasn’t told until after the summer wedding. By that time, Cassandra had read some of the stories circulating about Perry and his possible involvement in Kelly Rothwell’s disappearance. “I did wonder if he was guilty, but I and my whole family wanted to be supportive of my sister. She is a smart, beautiful and talented woman and we trusted that she would make the right decisions.” But even superior intelligence can be no match for a psychopath, not when they want to charm you and subtly gain control over you. It starts slowly and like Kelly, David had Melissa’s phone put in his name. There were other signs, small ones, but none that were glaring enough to cause Melissa any alarm, according to her sister. “I just made sure I talked to her (Melissa) every day,” Cassandra said. “We’re very close and always talk about our day, no matter where we are.” Then,last week,an immediate family member of Cassandra’s called her in tears, reading my open letter blog post over the phone. Cassandra then read it and called Melissa, who also read it. She had no idea it was even out there; David Perry had her convinced NOT to read anything about him and not to answer media requests, telling her they were “all lies”. Cassandra said Melissa was appalled and suddenly realized she had made a huge mistake in marrying David Perry. Cassandra assured her she did, because by this time Cassandra has started doing her own investigation on David Perry and was alarmed at what she found. Cassandra was also upset that it was also affecting her whole family. “My sister knew that she needed to clear her name and no longer wanted to be associated with Dave. She realized that he probably was guilty. So we talked and she decided that she should divorce him. She wants nothing more to do with him. All I want is to protect my sister. She really fell for this guy and it hurts.” One interesting note to all of this; when Perry and Melissa got married, he took her last name of Walker. He has a Hawaii driver’s license as David Walker. Coincidentally (or not) his mother’s last name was Walker too. Melissa Walker will never know how close to danger she may have been, but thankfully she will be safe and away from David Perry. Her family will love and support her through this hard time. Kelly Rothwell tried to get away from the danger, but could not. She paid with it with her life. She is still missing…… An Open Letter to Melissa Marie Walker Dear Ms. Walker, By now I’m sure you know who I am and the many others that comprise the family, friends, colleagues and advocates of Kelly Rothwell. She is the woman who has been missing since March 12th, with a high probability that it was her then-boyfriend Davis Perry who it is widely believed has killed her and moved on to you. I heard that you refused to listen to law enforcement when they initially told you how dangerous a man David Perry is and I am very surprised that you not only have maintained a relationship with him, but are actually thinking of marrying him, if you haven’t already. I can think of several reasons NOT doing this, which I will enumerate: Could it be that you and Perry already had a relationship going on behind Kelly’s back and she found out about it, wanting to confront Perry. Is that why he killed her? I would have to further suppose that you knew about it... it that true? Did the two of you plot this together or are you just a pawn in his game of lies and deceit? I find it extremely difficult to comprehend how a woman like you can NOT see what Perry is really all about. There is documented proof, in graphic detail, of how abusive Perry was to his wife Luana and their three children. Yes, the records are sealed, but CAN be opened in a military enquiry, if Law Enforcement is so compelled. There is also proof that Perry stalked Kelly, followed her around, hacked her computer and phone records, (the phone by the way, was in HIS name)… and generally exerted a gradual control over her life. He did this with Luana, and several OTHER women he was with; ask him about Ann Morris, who he left after almost 13 years when he met Kelly. He told his friends he had met a “rich bitch with money” and was moving to Florida. Ask him about another Kellie, a woman with who he had an affair AND a child while he was still married to Luana. He got fired from the Outback Steakhouse for trying to choke out a cook who didn’t cook his food right. Luana said that he would often choke her so tight that she would lose consciousness. He also told her he could kill her and they would never find her body. Doesn’t it bother you at all that he is a SUSPECT in Kelly’s disappearance AND has been charged with 2 Felony Grand Larceny counts of Work Comp fraud? Since you work in healthcare yourself, I would assume that any negative mark on his record would also reflect poorly on yours as well. I hear he’s quite the charmer… has he tried to “teach” you how to iron yet? Has he done the laundry “for you” to be nice? Has he picked out what he wants you to wear? Has he shown up with flowers at the hospital or when he comes home to your place? Has he called you MANY times a day “just to say he loves you”? Have you seen him vacuum until he can see the lines in the rug? What about his car? Or yours? Is it meticulous? Can you eat a French fry in it if you want without him getting paranoid? What about the linen closet? Has he folded everything perfectly and lined the colors up just so? What about the kitchen cabinets? All the food labels facing forward and lined up like ducks in a row? How about the bathroom? Shower curtain just so as well? I ask these things because abusers and sociopaths almost always start out like this; they make you think they are indispensable to you and little by little you lose yourself, until you are under his control and can’t get out. Then you end up like Kelly “missing” and presumed dead. Because that is what will happen to you. I could almost lay money on it. But perhaps you have some intimate knowledge of Kelly’s disappearance….Maybe you know something. Maybe you like the rush of the “bad boy” image.. Is it exciting to lay next to a man who may have killed his girlfriend, thinking there’s no way he would EVER hurt you like that… Think again... again I say there is documentable proof of his prior abuse. We heard that he applied for a marriage license… could it be to keep you quiet? So you couldn’t testify against him in a court of law? Interesting how things are working out, eh? What does your family think of all this? Do they even care about you? David Perry only thinks about himself, let’s be clear on that. It will only be a matter of time before you start to see the real abuser he is known to be… again... DOCUMENTED PROOF. Because trust me.. He WILL show his true colors and you will be blindsided by it. Be careful; you could be his next victim. Perhaps you are a nice person; I don’t know you and can’t judge your character. But I DO know that YOUR military salary is being paid for with OUR tax dollars. I don’t think I should have to pay for you to enjoy a life with a man who took one. The Rothwell Family and Friends of Kelly who Demand Justice I met Dave Perry in April. He treated me like an angel from day one, through and to the moment I told him I no longer wanted to speak with him. By the way, he has respected my request. Was it wrong of me to ignore the media? Maybe it was wrong. There was never any evidence to prove the accusations. Still there is no evidence. I wanted to believe his words that he is innocent. I pray he is. Was it stupid of me to follow my heart? Maybe it was stupid. I try to live life with an open, honest, loving, forgiving heart. Do I hope and pray that he who is responsible for the disappearance/murder of Kelly pay in full for what he has done? Yes, please, find the evidence today to put that person away. Whoever it is should pay and I have prayed for that from the beginning. Try not to be judgmental. You do not know me. By melissa on An Open Letter to Melissa Marie Walker on 12/27/11 First I want to say I am Melissa’s older sister, And I am just as disgusted as you all are, and I send my prayers to Kelly’s friends and family and I also want to say I want this case to be solved and the truth to be revealed. Then I want to say that Melissa is smart, she’s kind, she’s beautiful, she is a great sister, and a wonderful aunt to 2 little boys. She is also woman that was sucked in by Dave’s charm and his lies. She is not the only woman that has fallen for it RIGHT???? There is no way that she had any knowledge of his intentions to harm Kelly in any way, or that she even knew about Kelly until it was too late. I want to be clear one thing.... MY SISTER WOULD NEVER EVER HURT ANYONE, SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH A MAN WHO LED HER TO BELIEVE HES SOMETHING THAT HE’S NOT, DID SHE MAKE A MISTAKE? DID SHE HAVE BAD JUDGEMENT IN CHARACTER? IT SEEMS SO, BUT SHE WOULD NEVER, I MEAN NEVER, CONDONE, SUPPORT OR STAND BY SOMEONE WHO HAD DONE SOMETHING SO TERRIBLE.YES SHE HAS BEEN WARNED BY PINELLAS COUNTY DETECTIVES, BUT THERE’S THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF HORRIBLE CRIMES AND DONE YEARS IN PRISON THEN LATER RELEASED, ALL CHARGES DROPPED AND AN "IM SORRY", LIVES RUINED FOR NOTHING. WHAT I WANT IS FOR PINALLES COUNTY DETECTIVES TO GET THE EVIDENCE THEY NEED FOR A CONVICTION SO I DONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT MY SISTER, AGAIN MY PRAYERS ARE WITH KELLY AND HER FAMILY, AND I WRITE THIS IN SUPPORT OF THE TRUTH. By CASSANDRA on An Open Letter to Melissa Marie Walker on 12/27/11
It's time for "Bloomin' Blogger Sundays" again. Thanks for stopping by! Per the request of a fellow blogger, today I will show you how to add a blogroll to your blog and give you some tips on choosing the style of your blogroll. So if you're really new to blogging, you may not know....what exactly is a blogroll? A blogroll is a list of links to blogs that the blogger likes. It is usually included in the blog's sidebar. Some bloggers divide blogroll into categories. For instance, since I am a special ed teacher, I have mine divided into two categories....regular ed blogs and special ed blogs. While my blogroll makes it convenient for me to hop to my other favorite blogs quickly, it is also a great traffic driving tool. With each blogroll that your blog is listed on....is the possibility that readers will click over to your blog. I have found many great blogs by using blogrolls from my other favorite blogs. I figure if it is on their blogroll, it must be a blog worth visiting. To add your blogroll......... Step 1: From your blog webpage, go to design (located in the top right hand corner of your blog) Step 2: On the left hand side of the page, click on layout. This will open up the layout of your blog. Step 3: Choose "add a gadget" from the left or right side of your layout depending where you want your blogroll and the design of your blog. Note: If you have a 3-column layout, you can choose to add it on the left or right side. If you have a 2-column layout, you will be limited to one side. Step 4: In the "add a gadget" window that will now be open, scroll down to "Blog List" and click on it. The "Configure Blog List" window will open that looks like this. Here you will customize how you want your blogroll to look. Step 5: In this window, give your blogroll a title. Step 6: In sort, choose to display your bloglist alphabetically or by most recently updated. Step 7: Choose how you want your blogroll to show by checking the boxes of your choice. The picture above shows exactly how I have customized my bloglist. If you like the way my blogroll looks, then select the same boxes as I have above. I have displayed mine a couple of different ways and like my current display the best. As you can see..... I have checked...... title of most recent item, and date of last update. (See tips below for why I chose this display) Step 8: At the bottom of the "configure blog list" window, click on "add a blog to your list." Step 9: In this window, select "add url" to add blogs individually by their blog address. Or select "blogs I'm following." If you select "blogs I'm following," a list of the blogs you're following will appear and you will place a check mark next to each blog you want to appear in your list. Step 10: Click add. Your blogroll will now appear in your sidebar in your layout screen. You may have to hold your cursor down on the gadget (blogroll) and drag it to where you want it positioned in your sidebar. Tip 1: When choosing the way your blogroll will display, I highly suggest choosing to display the "title of most recent posts" and "date of last update" because this allows you to quickly skim your blogroll for posts that may interest you and you never miss out on linky parties, giveaways, or freebies. By choosing the date of last update, you can see how recent they made the post. I like this because for example....if the title of their post is a "giveaway" or a "linky party", but they posted it 3 months ago, then I know the giveaway or linky is most likely over and I won't waste my time visiting that post. It also indicates how long ago they last posted. Tip 2: If you don't like the way your blogroll looks, >follow steps 1 and 2 above, >scroll down to your blogroll in the sidebar > click edit. The configure blog list window will open and you can change your design. Play around with it until you get it the way you like it. Tip 3: Any time you want to add a new blog to your blogroll, follow tip #2 above to open the "configure blog list" window and follow steps 7 and 8. Tip 4: If you would like to put your blogroll into categories as I do, you will need to complete all of the steps above to create a separate blogroll for each category as each will have a different title. Enjoy your new blogroll! If you need further assistance with this, please comment below and I will try my best to assist you. If you have suggestions for future "Bloomin' Blogger Sundays," feel free to send them to me. Have a great Sunday!
Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio was the final book of 2014 for me. I read most of it on New Years Eve and hurried up to finish it that night (DORK , I KNOW!) to bump up my stat ha. It felt like the right way to end the year since I began the year reading 2 of her other books. Now I think I have only two more to catch up on and I'll have read them all, but I do want to re-read The Violets of March. I know I gave it to someone to read and now I want to read it again, #bookproblems ! Blackberry Winter, flips between present day Seattle and 1933 Seattle. At first it gave me a tad bit of anxiety because it dealt with a three year old boy that had disappeared. But I reminded myself that her books while steeped in sadness would not have had a horrible end for that poor boy so I plowed on. Like her other books I fell in love with the characters and loved the peek into the past that Vera's storyline offered. I loved reading about life in Seattle in the early 1930s and how she struggled to support her son. It was a unique insight into a time frame that really interests me. I didn't feel as connected to Claire, who was the present day main character. Like many times in books I feel I looked at her character and her husband's character and wanted to shake them both because of idiot actions on both parts. That's the chick lit part of her books that sometimes nags at me. Like her other books, I'd recommend this one in a heartbeat. However, be advised that if pregnancy loss or child kidnapping causes anxiety or are topics you need to avoid it may be best to stick to one of her others! I suggest starting with The Violets of March! Description: In 2011, Sarah Jio burst onto the fiction scene with two sensational novels--The Violets of March and The Bungalow. With Blackberry Winter--taking its title from a late-season, cold-weather phenomenon--Jio continues her rich exploration of the ways personal connections can transcend the boundaries of time. Seattle, 1933. Single mother Vera Ray kisses her three-year-old son, Daniel, goodnight and departs to work the night-shift at a local hotel. She emerges to discover that a May-Day snow has blanketed the city, and that her son has vanished. Outside, she finds his beloved teddy bear lying face-down on an icy street, the snow covering up any trace of his tracks, or the perpetrator's. Seattle, 2010. Seattle Herald reporter Claire Aldridge, assigned to cover the May 1 "blackberry winter" storm and its twin, learns of the unsolved abduction and vows to unearth the truth. In the process, she finds that she and Vera may be linked in unexpected ways... Did you read Blackberry Winter? What were your thoughts? What is your favorite book by Jio? Any other books set in the 1930s you'd recommend?
I'm checking in with my Friday Favourites on a Thursday this week because we are on holidays starting tonight! E enjoyed a golf camp this week. With his Under Armour golf shirt and Nike clubs he looked ready for the Tour. They spent each morning at the driving range and then the afternoons swimming and playing sports. Next year we'd like to try a camp at a golf course so he can get a bit more instruction. He's got a few friends in this camp and they have enjoyed their week together. Q had a bit of an upset stomach this week with resulting diaper rash, so he was a little sooky and I had to leave him crying at the day care twice this week. He would eventually perk up and have a good day, but they did send this photo of him spending some quiet time with his baby. So cute. I met my friend Janna for dinner on Tuesday night. We went to Hemingway's in Yorkville and sat on the covered patio during a huge thunderstorm. It was Extreme Patio, Yorkville Edition. I haven't gone to Hemingway's for awhile, it's simple, but reliable. I forgot to take my own photo, but picture this with the roof closed and grey skies. I got a kick out of the tweets for the hashtag #LittleKnownCanadianLaws. Some were cliched and some were ignorant, but these two cracked me up. I totally say both of these thing. In case you missed it, I blogged about E's cupcakes that he made on the weekend. He's ready to be a contestant on Sugar Rush. I will be taking a blogging break while we are away, back with you on August 7! Follow along with our travels on my Instagram @smacto. and The Blended Blog for Friday Loves.
I hate the winter. For many, many reasons. I hate snow. I hate to snow blow. I’m not a big fan of cold. It costs a fortune to heat your house through a long Maine winter. I hate losing the daylight. But most of all I hate it because starting in late fall and going through to spring, it is the dying If anyone or anything is going to leave this world, it seems they most often do so within this window. Facebook becomes one long memorial news feed. Greyhound after greyhound after greyhound crosses the bridge. Sure some go at other times of the year, but at THIS time of year it is an endless parade. Girly Girl left me during this window. And yesterday Fox joined her at the bridge. He is another in the long parade that will go dying season but to us he was special. Fox was Grammy and Charlie’s hound. If ever there was a dog who met the definition of autistic, it was Fox. He was stoic and patient. And stubborn. He wanted to be loved but on his own terms. You would never consider Fox a cuddly dog. Fox is also Blue’s half-brother. They shared the same Dam. They both raced at Raynham in the same kennel. Fox’s stubborn determination kept him on the track for quite awhile and he was one of his Dam’s top winning greyhounds. After he retired he went to the Maine Greyhound Placement Service and there his stoicism was a hindrance. Poor Fox lived in the kennel at MGPS for a year. No one was connecting with this amazing boy and he kept getting passed by. He had given up hope and even after a special article was written about him in the MGPS newsletter, he remained in the That is, until Grammy and Charlie happened along looking for their first greyhound. Once they heard Fox’s story it did not matter that he was an autistic boy. They determined to give him a real home. There was much happiness in the kennel as volunteers found out that Fox (whom they all called Foxy) was getting a forever Fox fit himself into our lives as though he’d always been there. He wasn’t much for playing with toys, but if ever there was a greyhound who loved him some dinner, it was Fox. He lived for meal times and treat times. As he got older, like most old greys that I know, he began wearing little bits of his meals on his muzzle and chin as if he were saving them for later. Even with his autism, Fox learned to seek out a connection with the humans in his life. He would wait patiently in the line of greyhounds seeking attention and then he would present his side to you, carefully looking away and politely wait for you to pet him, or scratch him or rub his belly or ears. He would stand there until your hands fell off if you let him. Fox had a funny chirp that he would use when he felt you were not hopping to it quickly enough to get him dinner. It sounded just like a little bird. He would start out almost subsonic and gradually raise the volume. When he wanted to go out he would stand and face the front door. It didn’t matter that going out meant using the sliding glass doors on the back side of the house. When he first arrived at Grammy’s outside was through the front door and by god, that’s how it would always be for Fox. Fox never got on any furniture. It terrified him. We used to joke that the best way to persuade Fox to go lay down if he was bugging you to pet him was to invite him up on the couch with you. All it took was a quick “come on buddy, get up here with me,” and he would get the whale eye and start backing up and looking for an escape route. Depending on how serious he thought you were he would retreat to his bed in the living room, or for level 1 threats he would go all the way back to the bedroom and lay down in there. As he aged, Fox was afflicted by a mysterious illness which was autoimmune in nature. He began a slow slide downward with various times of serious flare up and times of miraculous recovery. The last diagnosis we had for him was Alabama Rot. He suffered through many issues and corresponding treatments with the patience and constitution of a block of granite. It did not matter what you had to do to him. It did not matter that it sometimes involved a lot of pain. He would always stand and bear whatever had to be done. There were a number of times over the past few years where we were sure that Fox was going to leave us. That it was time to release him. But in a couple days he would make a complete turn around and be fine again. Though each of these episodes took a toll and he was never quite as good as he had been before. Still, this weekend it was a surprise when the time where we would have to say our goodbyes finally did present itself. Grammy and Charlie held off, hoping like crazy for one more of his miracle turn-arounds but that was not to be. If Fox was in pain, he never let us see it. But he lost the ability to stand. Then he didn’t pee for 36 hours and when he finally did pee, it was because he had lost all control of his bladder. When the greyhound that lived for food above all else refused to eat, the time had come. It was a gut-wrenching decision. His eyes were bright and lively to the end. His spirit continued to be willing to go on but his body would not cooperate. Fox was 12 ½ years old. He had outlived all of his littermates. He had a good run and by rights lived at least a year longer than he probably would have if he had been a dog of lesser determination. But that doesn’t make it We let him go yesterday afternoon with people who loved him holding him as he went. He went as he had come and as he lived, with stubborn determination and with love. Run fast and long Royal Foxglove. Until we meet again. Fox Royal Foxglove 6/2/2002 - 1/4/2015 \|
HUGE THANKS TO ALL WHO TOOK PART IN OUR RESEARCH! We are currently analysing our results, and will add these here as soon as they are published. The Research outline There are times when our loved ones are far away, and we wish with all our hearts that we could share a moment with them, as if by magic. Historically, jewelry was used as love tokens, mementos and keepsake as far back as ancient Mesopotamia. These objects gave a tangible presence of the loved one, and the fact that the practice still endures in modern times, speaks for its importance. However, once given, the giver lost the thread of connection, and once received, the wearer had to rely on imagination. And despite being common folklore and sci-fi fantasies, being able to communicate through objects like jewelry was inconceivable just a few years ago. In this research, we are not interested in turing sentimental jewelry into another communication device, like the the phone. Instead, we are interested in understanding what qualities are needed to preserve the tenderness of mementos and love tokens, while enchanting them through technology. Learning about these would help to devise future connected computational jewelry and prevent it from becoming just another gadget.
Opinion: The American dream of bringing the mall home When Hurricane Milton was approaching Florida last month, a mom in suburban Tampa went viral on TikTok for her refusal to obey evacuation orders. When talking about feeling safe staying in her home, she said: “My husband built this house commercial. It’s residential, but it was built commercial-grade.” She wielded the phrase like a crucifix. It’s not hard to see why commercial-grade is a balm to apocalyptic fears. The phrase evokes both the familiar landmarks of consumer life and the infrastructure built to withstand its relentless churn. Commercial-grade is the conveyor belt that delivers your airport Krispy Kreme and the system that supplies oxygen when you’re 30,000 feet in the air. Tricked-out bunkers that only the wealthy can afford speak to both senses of the term. They boast state-of-the-art air and water filtration systems, bullet- and blast-resistant walls and, nestled inside all that industrial muscle, the kind of commercial-grade fun their occupants might miss while the world burns: bowling alleys and movie theaters, lazy rivers and go-kart courses. Members of Gen Z — people from the ages of 16 to 26 — rely on in-person shopping experiences as much as online shopping, if not more, according to a report by a trade group for malls and retail centers. These last amenities reveal the aspirational side of commercial-grade. It’s classic rich-guy stuff, and when the media talk about homes such as Candy Spelling’s Los Angeles manor, it’s not the most expensive features they usually cite but the commercial ones, like its gift-wrapping room. It does feel undeniably luxe, making the commercial residential. There’s a reason that most children don’t fantasize about owning a modest ranch home. They dream of an abundance that is bulletproof, fortress-like: getting locked inside a Costco, sleeping in the Mattress Emporium, having everything you need wrapped around you like a hug. And though even a child knows you can’t live in a store forever, the fantasy becomes achievable if you bring the store home. You can have a soda machine in the kitchen and a McDonald’s in the foyer, just like Richie Rich. A certain kind of affluent adult still nurses this dream. My dad’s parents — middle-class but pathologically frugal — wouldn’t even buy him a baseball glove, and he will forever be correcting this sense of deprivation. When he finally got a house with a guest room, the first thing he did was stock it with a minibar and one of those hotel-style luggage stands. He’s got the same set of steak knives that they gave you at a Lone Star Steakhouse, the exact sheets you sleep on at a Hyatt, and attics, garages and storage spaces filled with backups of everything he needs. For him, the American dream isn’t Rolexes and Ferraris. It’s inventory. My niece was shocked when I spent $200 on made-in-L.A. jeans. She buys online from Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein, where jeans cost $10. But why is Richie Rich’s in-home McDonald’s more thrilling than an assistant who can fetch a Big Mac at any hour? Isn’t a vending machine that dispenses free soda just a refrigerator with extra steps? For many people, it’s so much more exciting to pantomime a purchase without having to pay a dollar, to cut out the transaction but keep the rest. This proposition is particularly seductive to people for whom a purchase is a fraught, wincing thing. Their dream of prosperity isn’t a store where you can buy anything you want but a store where everything is free because you already bought it. This distinction becomes especially striking in light of supply-chain shortages that continue to reverberate years after the COVID-19 lockdowns. During the pandemic, many Americans had the rattling experience of being able to afford something, but not being able to buy it. It makes sense, then, that the delight of the in-home pinball machine lies not just in unlimited gameplay but also in never having to scrounge for a quarter. Ray Oldenberg coined the term “third space” to describe the public spaces — cafes, parks, stores, churches — that are essential in fostering a sense of community outside of home (the first space) and work (the second). But as the cubicle class sees the second space fold into the first, the third space seems to be following suit. Why go to a park when you have a yard, or to a cafe when you can have barista-quality espresso in your kitchen? When anything you need can be brought to your door, there’s no need to go to a store. Essentially, we have the store at home. I want to deride this impulse as isolationist, a symptom of everything that’s wrong with America, but also, I get it. In my city, it takes me 30 minutes to walk to my favorite grocery store. Naturally, I wish it were closer. I begin to wish it were a 15-minute walk, but then I’d wish it were only five minutes away, or better, across the street, or best, on the ground floor of my building, so I wouldn’t even need to step outside. You begin with reasonable comforts: an in-unit washer and dryer, a little patch of green, a smooth commute. But if you follow this optimization to its logical end, if you design your perfect city, your perfect home, you can quickly find yourself alone in a bunker. Once Hurricane Milton had passed, more than 120 homes in its path had been leveled. Tropicana Field needed a new roof, but it had survived, as had the hospital. And, after a 10-day absence from TikTok, the Tampa mom posted a serene video from her back porch, the sun setting over the Gulf. The storm may have been biblical, and their home may have suffered some leaks, but she had been right: Commercial-grade prevailed. Emily Mester is the author of the forthcoming book “American Bulk: Essays on Excess.” A cure for the common opinion Get thought-provoking perspectives with our weekly newsletter. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
The human Race is at war with the Vicious Dalki and when they needed help more than ever, THEY started to come forward. Humans who had hidden in the shadows for hundreds of years, people with abilities. Some chose to share their knowledge to the rest of the world in hopes of winning the war, while others kept their abilities to themselves. Quinn had lost everything to the war, his home, his family and the only thing he had inherited was a crummy old book that he couldn’t even open. But when the book had finally opened, Quinn was granted a system and his whole life was turned around. He completed quest after quest and became more powerful, until one day the system gave him a quest he wasn’t sure he could complete. “It is time to feed!” “You must drink human blood within 24 hours” “Your HP will continue to decrease until the task has been completed” Chapter 1: Just an old Book “Try not to die by tripping over yourself, Quinn!” A boy shouted down the hallway, laughing uncontrollably right after. Quinn dismissed the petty mockery as he carried on walking down the school corridor. The harassment had become a daily occurrence for him, but it still bothered him just as much as it did every other day. Thus, he wasn’t able to hold back his desire to retaliate. Quinn slowed down his stride and stopped. He pushed his glasses back up onto the ridge of his nose as they had slipped down from his face. Just from looking at the glasses, it was clear that he needed a new pair – One could tell that they were heavily worn. The glasses looked crooked as he wore them, and even the temples had tape covering them. He then turned around and immediately raised his middle finger, responding to the slander, “I bet you don’t even know how many fingers I’m holding up!” Upon hearing the taunt, the boy clenched his fist and started running towards Quinn. “You level 1 piece of crap! When are you going to learn that you don’t belong in this world?” The boy placed both of his hands together, and a green ball of light started to form between them. When he was only a few meters away from Quinn, the boy threw his hands forward and a green beam shot out from the palm of his hands. Quinn had nowhere to go, and the ray of light was too fast for him to dodge. Hence, he knew that all he could do was grit his teeth and bear the pain. As the light hit him, his body was lifted into the air and sent flying backward on to the far end corridor wall. “What’s going on?” A student among the crowd said. “Are they fighting on the last day of school?” A crowd had immediately formed outside, interested in what the commotion was all about. One of the female students ran over to the wall’s damaged part to check on the assaulted student’s safety. As the dust started to settle down, Quinn’s slightly curly black hair slowly came into view. When the smoke eventually cleared up, the female student finally saw who it was. She instantly backed away and continued on with her business as if nothing happened. The moment that the female student had returned to her friends, he could see that they were laughing at her. “I can’t believe you tried to help him.” “I didn’t see who it was.” The girl retorted, her cheeks flushed. After that, Quinn stood up and lifted his glasses that were thrown on the floor. To his dismay, one of the hinges had fallen off once again. Instead of wearing the worn-out pair, he let it hang on his hand. “Damn it. Not again…” Please read the FAQ carefully for more details if you have any concerns.
Lietuvos Rytas bested Unicaja 70-65 Lietuvos Rytas notched a very important 70-65 win Thursday night at Siemens Arena over Unicaja Malaga to improve to 2-2 in Group E of the Top 16. The result tied the Lithuanian champs with Caja Laboral for second place after the latter lost to group-leader Panathinaikos in Athens. Unicaja fell to 1-3 with only two games remaining in the Top 16 stage. Both will be must-win matches in order to challenge for a spot in the Quarterfinal Playoffs. Khalid El-Amin paced the winners with 18 points and Martynas Gecevicius scored 17 to go with 6 rebounds, while Kenan Bajramovic added 12 points. Joel Freeland recorded 19-points and 8 rebounds to lead the visitors, while Berni Rodriguez and Robert Archibald added 12 points apiece. Rytas will travel next week to play Panathinaikos in Athens, while Unicaja will face a tough challenge in their visit of Caja Laboral’s Fernando Buesa Arena. The game was fast-paced, but defensive-minded in its opening quarter, with Unicaja trying to run on an alert Rytas defense that showcased its athletic ability. The first three minutes of play saw just a pair of buckets evenly split by both teams. It was only when Freeland opened things up with a triple that the offenses got going, with dynamic playmaker El-Amin leading the charge for the home side with a layup and a triple that tied the game at 9-9. Crisp ball movement and cutting at both ends made for an entertaining game throughout the quarter with plenty of good looks, but while Unicaja spread the ball in its half-court sets, El-Amin was still the main offensive catalyst for the Lithuanian champs, scoring 9 of his team’s first 13 points. Berni Rodriguez finally got on the board with a free throw for Unicaja and Gecevius did the same for Rytas, but the quarter ended pretty much the way it started: with some lock-down defense that allowed just one field goal in the final two minutes and a 17-17 standstill after one. A big-time block by Cemal Nalga hinted at a prolonged defensive battle and seemed to spark the home side, who pulled ahead on a DJ Strawberry triple before Rodriguez answered with another long-range shot that kept the visitors on top, 22-24. With the game slowing down to a halfcourt affair, Unicaja went to the pick-and-roll in an effort to get its big men involved, while Rytas got plenty of good perimeter looks, but was just not able to convert. Gecevicius finally nailed a triple that seemed to wet his scoring appetite and highlight a shooting duel with Rodriguez, who tied it at 31-31, also from beyond the arc. A Newley assist provided Bajramovic with a dunk opportunity and the forward did not pass it up, rattling the rim with a one-hander that preceded another deep ball from Gecevicius that scored it 38-33, tying the game’s maximum difference to that point and urging visiting head coach Chus Mateo to call timeout. Unicaja labored to get good looks but took long possessions to manufacture them, often settling for contested jumpers with the shot clock winding down. Again, the period ended with a defensive tone and a tight score, 39-35, that had Gecevicius surpassing El-Amin as the game´s leading scorer, with 12 points. The home point guard started the second half aggressively with a gorgeous right-handed shot over Simanovic, and Rytas was able to quickly establish the biggest lead of the game at 44-37 after a Bajramovic back-to-the-basket move. As Unicaja again struggled to get in a rhythm offensively, Mateos’s crew tried to push the ball, but it was El-Amin who burned them on the fast break with an accurate assist for a streaking Newley, who converted the three-point-play to establish the lead at 10 points. The Spanish side then went to Freeland and Archibald inside in hopes of establishing a post presence, but young center Jonas Valenciunas stood his ground on the defensive end and kept active on the boards. The hosts always seemed to be a step quicker when attacking, executing with constant motion, but Archibald was able to make it a double-digit difference again from the line and, once the visiting defense adjusted some and sealed the glass, Rodriguez narrowed the margin to 51-46 on a well-timed feed by Roderick Blakney. A buzzer beating alley-oop tap-in by Freeland allowed Unicaja to keep that difference, entering the fourth quarter at 53-48. Rytas wasted no time hitting first in the final period with a Gecevicius triple, but Freeland showed his range by answering right back with a long two-pointer. The charge kept coming by the visitors, as Rodriguez capitalized on Rytas’s soft defense to make it a one-possession game with a triple, and Archibald kept it that way, 58-55, after a nice left-handed scoop by Milko Bjelica. But just as a change of momentum seemed to creep up on the hosts, Rytas punched back with a Bjelica bank shot and a hustle play that started with a Newley steal, continued with an El-Amin assist and finished with a Bajramovic fast-break layup that made it 64-56 with just five minutes left, forcing Mateo to call timeout. But the break did little to stop the hosts’ attack, as El-Amin shook loose for a layup and Newley punctuated the 8-0 run with a powerful dunk. Unicaja clawed back with a Freeland face-up jumper at the 1:47 mark that made it a two-possession game at 68-62, but Terrell McIntyre’s first field goal of the game, a corner three that tightened the score to 68-65 with 7 second to go, was ultimately not enough. El-Amin calmly hit both ensuing free throws and Uros Tripkovic missed a late triple to give Rytas their second victory of the Top 16. Thursday, February 17, 2011
Be the first to become informed about the AFA’s mission to inform, equip, and activate individuals. The AFA Resource Center offers ministry resources, education, and family entertainment. Activate is AFA's biblical course with 18 videos and challenges to equip Christians to engage cultural issues. THE STAND Blog is the place to find personal insights and perspectives from writers who respond to current cultural topics by promoting faith and defending the family. THE STAND Magazine is AFA’s monthly publication that filters the culture’s endless stream of information through a grid of scriptural truth. It is chock-full of new stories, feature articles, commentaries, and more that encourage Christians to step out in faith and action. Sign up for a six month free trial of The Stand Magazine! Think of a balance scale. On one side is the elaborate. On the other side is the simple –and approachable. When I think of simple, I think of the American Family Association. Having grown up running down the halls of AFA, I noticed early on that the physical appearance of AFA, both inside and out, was not extravagant. It is nice but not elaborate. In fact, it was 15 or 20 years before we repainted most of the walls, and we still have some of the same carpet from 1988. My point? Although a nice new paint job brings about freshness after 15 plus years, AFA has always been very thoughtful about how it spends your money. The leadership always asks: Is this a need or want? If it’s a need, does it fit AFA’s mission? If it fits the ministry’s mission, are the funds available without borrowing the money? To be honest, I have not always appreciated the ministry’s frugality. As a teenager, I looked at AFA and thought “the more elaborate the ministry, the bigger the reach.” But my grandfather, in all his wisdom, knew better. I’m thankful that he continues to impart such wisdom to me. Now when I look at AFA and count its 190 radio stations, 900,000 email subscribers and 194,000 AFA Journal subscribers, I realize that it is the Lord’s blessings on AFA that have allowed the ministry to prosper. To Him, I am grateful. It has been a privilege and a humbling experience to watch AFA be a good financial steward of the money the Lord has entrusted to the ministry. On September 2, 2014, AFA was awarded Charity Navigator's highest, and most coveted, 4-star rating for sound fiscal management and commitment to accountability and transparency. Again, to Him, we are grateful, and for you, we are thankful. We continually need your help to resist the evil changes against the family that have taken and are taking place in America. Here are a few ways that AFA has used your money over the past year to encourage families and bring about good. AFA … Launched the Corporate Religious Liberty Index, a questionnaire that seeks to assess and publicize the importance of religious liberty to major companies. If you have already given a year-end gift to AFA, I would like to say thank you for trusting us to carry out the mission to which God has called AFA, to biblically defend and encourage the American family. If you have not yet given, please prayerfully consider partnering with us as we end 2015. No matter the evil changes that take place around us, one thing never changes … and it’s not just the carpet! Sign up for a free six-month trial of The Stand Magazine! Sign up for free to receive notable blogs delivered to your email weekly.
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During this Thanksgiving season, we commemorate the coming together of English settlers and Native-Americans at Plymouth Colony, for what historians have dubbed “The First Thanksgiving.” This signal event brought the first Plymouth settlers and their Native-American neighbors together to feast, following a harrowing year that witnessed the deaths of half of the Pilgrim population during the winter of 1620-21. Yes, the survival of the remaining Pilgrims and the establishment of a viable colony is something to celebrate. Our national holiday, however, tends to overlook the momentous event that occurred on November 11, 1620: the signing of the Mayflower Compact. Histories of the Mayflower and Plymouth Colony have portrayed the settlers who came to Plymouth as religious dissenters, Protestants who were seeking religious freedom in the New World. That is mostly true, but a number of the Mayflower passengers were not “Separatists” escaping religious persecution, but rather were “Strangers,” men who came to America seeking to make money through trade. Indeed, the establishment of Plymouth Colony was financed by a group of London “Merchant Adventurers” who were expecting the Mayflower’s passengers to send back goods (primarily furs) from which they would derive substantial profits. When the Mayflower dropped anchor near Cape Cod in November 1620, therefore, there were essentially two classes of people who, when they went ashore, would need to co-exist, and work together to fulfill their obligations to the Merchant Adventurers. The leaders of the Mayflower voyage therefore thought it wise to reach agreement over how exactly the new colony was going to be governed. What emerged was a written “Compact,” or agreement, by which the settlers agreed to be bound in the conduct of their affairs once on land. The Mayflower Compact was a truly revolutionary document—the first English legal document that authorized the creation of a “civil Body Politick” not appointed by Parliament or the Crown, but by the people of Plymouth. The Colony’s political leaders would be empowered to regulate commerce, allocate land, resolve legal disputes, negotiate treaties, and otherwise oversee life in the Colony. This was unheard of! The Compact was signed by 41 of the ship’s 101 passengers (some of whom would die that first winter). The signers included both Separatists and Strangers, as well as indentured servants (such as John Howland) and crew members. As was typical for those times, no women signed the document. Why did this diverse group of Mayflower passengers decide to do this, and what did the Compact say? Why did the Mayflower passengers draw up the Compact? We have to step back in time for a moment. Before the Mayflower ever set sail for America, the Merchant Adventurers had to obtain a royal charter from the King authorizing the voyage, much as the Jamestown founders had obtained a charter for their voyage to Virginia back in 1606. The Plymouth Colony charter set forth where the settlers were to go, what lands they were authorized to settle, and the physical boundaries of the settlement itself. In the case of the Mayflower, the charter specified “Virginia,” which at that time included the areas now encompassed parts of New York, New Jersey, and the mid-Atlantic region. The passengers of the Mayflower therefore thought that was where they were headed. But when the Mayflower approached the coast of North America, they were far north of their intended destination, where they encountered violent storms that threw them off course. The Mayflower found itself being tossed and turned on the coast of New England. Facing extreme danger in continuing the voyage south towards “Virginia,” the Mayflower instead dropped anchor at Cape Cod. And it was there that the Mayflower passengers decided to settle. The problem, however, was that the Plymouth Colony’s charter did not authorize them to settle there! They were violating the terms of their charter, and in choosing to settle at Cape Cod, they were operating outside the laws of England. For that reason, the men of the Mayflower concluded that they needed a legally binding agreement amongst themselves, while they sought to obtain a new charter from the Crown that would cover the new territory they were about to occupy in New England. It should be emphasized here that in 1620, the Mayflower passengers were subjects of King James, and answerable to the Crown, even though they were trying to escape the tyranny of the Church of England. This explains why the Compact begins with these words: “In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.” Given this circumstance, the colonists felt they needed to live by some version of English law, and operate as best they could according to English customs, even though they were about to settle down in a wild frontier, with no semblance of civilization. What did the Compact say? The Compact consisted of just two sentences, but the import of those few words was huge. Here is what the Pilgrims wrote: Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620. Below this text were the signatures of the 41 men, beginning with the man who was to be the Colony’s Governor, John Carver. He died the following April, one of many of the original 101 passengers who arrived at Plymouth but did not survive the first winter. The second signer was William Bradford, who served as Governor off and on until 1657. It was William Bradford who wrote the definitive account of the voyage of the Mayflower, entitled “Of Plymouth Plantation.” Bradford’s first-person account also documented– often in minute detail — how the colonists tried to live by the terms of the Compact, and to establish a “civil Body Politick.” Bradford’s writings also reflect the many challenges the Colony ensured, and the political strife the Colony experienced in those first few decades. Ten years after the landing of the Mayflower, Plymouth Colony faced one of its greatest challenges: a rival settlement, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, led by John Winthrop. The “Bay Colony” was mostly comprised of “Puritans,” who, like the Separatists, were religious dissenters, but who remained members of the Church of England and practiced a different form of Protestantism. Over time, it became apparent that the religious leaders of the Bay Colony were far less tolerant of those who did not abide by their strict orthodoxy, and who were quick to banish anyone who did not follow their strictures. Yet, the Bay Colony attracted thousands of immigrants, and by the 1690’s Plymouth Colony had seen its own population dwindle. In 1692, therefore, Plymouth Colony merged with the Bay Colony, and its “civil Body Politick” was no more. The courage of our Pilgrim ancestors: I end this short summary of the Mayflower Compact with William Bradford’s account of the Mayflower voyage and the landing at Plymouth—an enduring portrayal of the courage and conviction of the 101 passengers who made their way to the New World, and settled Plymouth Colony. His words capture the spirit of freedom that defines our Nation’s history: Here beginneth the chronicle of those memorable circumstances of the year 1620, as recorded by Nathaniel Morton, keeper of the records of Plymouth Colony, based on the account of William Bradford, sometime governor thereof: So they left that goodly and pleasant city of Leiden, which had been their resting-place for above eleven years, but they knew that they were pilgrims and strangers here below, and looked not much on these things, but lifted up their eyes to Heaven, their dearest country, where God hath prepared for them a city (Heb. XI, 16), and therein quieted their spirits. When they came to Delfshaven they found the ship and all things ready, and such of their friends as could not come with them followed after them, and sundry came from Amsterdam to see them shipt, and to take their leaves of them. One night was spent with little sleep with the most, but with friendly entertainment and Christian discourse, and other real expressions of true Christian love. The next day they went on board, and their friends with them, where truly doleful was the sight of that sad and mournful parting, to hear what sighs and sobs and prayers did sound amongst them; what tears did gush from every eye, and pithy speeches pierced each other’s heart, that sundry of the Dutch strangers that stood on the Key as spectators could not refrain from tears. But the tide (which stays for no man) calling them away, that were thus loath to depart, their Reverend Pastor, falling down on his knees, and they all with him, with watery cheeks commended them with the most fervent prayers unto the Lord and His blessing; and then with mutual embraces and many tears they took their leaves one of another, which proved to be the last leave to many of them. Being now passed the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before them in expectations, they had now no friends to welcome them, no inns to entertain or refresh them, no houses, or much less towns, to repair unto to seek for succour; and for the season it was winter, and they that know the winters of the country know them to be sharp and violent, subject to cruel and fierce storms, dangerous to travel to known places, much more to search unknown coasts. Besides, what could they see but a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wilde beasts and wilde men? and what multitudes of them there were, they then knew not: for which way soever they turned their eyes (save upward to Heaven) they could have but little solace or content in respect of any outward object; for summer being ended, all things stand in appearance with a weatherbeaten face, and the whole country, full of woods and thickets, represented a wild and savage hew. If they looked behind them, there was a mighty ocean which they had passed, and was now as a main bar or gulph to separate them from all the civil parts of the world.
RizzGPT AI APK is your messaging assistant that has been designed to generate engaging, charming, and compelling replies in response to your questions. The app has been developed to help people with low confidence to help them boost their independence and courage while interacting with the people around them. App like these enable them to chat with an AI chatbot like the way they talk to a random friend online but when it comes to a living person some of us feel hesitant to share what we are feeling about anything so this is how you will build the rigor to go out and express yourself because practice makes permanent. The bot provides you with tailored compliments and positive aspirations to lift your mood when you are having a bad day or want to listen to something romantic about yourself. Just head to the app and start chatting with it right away. You can also set your personal confidence related goals or let the app do it for you. It will keep track of how things are seeing progress and will celebrate with you after accomplishing individual goals and achievements. These achievements will allow you to work harder towards your dream of becoming a bold person in society who could share everything with the people who matter. Moreover, you will also be able to receive friendly reminders throughout the day and will be able to check some of the best motivational quotes that will push you towards getting the things done on time. About RizzGPT AI APK RizzGPT AI APK come with a revolutionary concept that brings everyone a golden chance to level up their personality and confidence. The much-appreciated feature incorporated in this app is its mood analysis. Based on the texts you input in the app, it will generate responses in a way that you will feel like it has understood what you are going through at that time. 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Sometimes we face such incidents at work or anywhere else, so we need to get ready for any situation. Features of RizzGPT AI APK It will introduce you with thousands of other users who have successfully completed the targets that the app had set for them and now they are living a happier life than they had before because everything has changed ever since they started using this app, their life has dramatically changed. - Public speaking prep You will be prepare to speak in front of many people who are there to listen to the words that you want to share with them. - Body language Apart from the speaking skills, some other skills are in primary focus, one of which is body language, which is another crucial skill that we all need to have. - Virtual high-fives The animations assist you in getting close to the finish line faster than any other method. So, these will help you in learning quicker than you expected. - Confidence boosting playlist. You can create a personalized playlist of songs consisting of tracks that lift our mood when we are feeling down. RizzGPT AI APK ensures that the users are surround by positivity no matter how or where they live. To make that a reality, it shows them positive news from around the world that could lift his mood and he could get a sense of admirable vibes. Being in a good mood when you are waking up is essential for having a good day ahead so to make sure of this, this app helps people get the best jokes in town right after they open their device early in the morning. These jokes help them refresh their bodies and light up their mental condition, so they start seeing goodness in everything. The last thing that we want to talk about here is something that no other app has offered yet. It is about being grateful to the people who have their input in assisting you reach where you are standing today. so, hit the download button right now.
The Heebie Jeebies and the Creepy Crawlies have always been banked on a lot within the video game industry. The number of really fun and scary horror games is almost endless, with classics like Silent Hill, and Resident Evil immediately coming to mind. So given our shared love of being scared senseless, what are the best of the best that 2015 had to offer? Disclaimer: Keep in mind that this list will focus on games that were originally released in 2015, so games like the 2015 PC release of Outlast, veya Alien: Isolation will not be included on this list due to their first initial release being in 2013 (Outlast) and 2014 (Alien: Isolation) respectively. Best Horror Games Released in 2015 10. Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water – (Wii U) The Fatal Frame series has always used mystery and claustrophobia really, really well. This is achieved by giving you, the player, absolutely no weapon except for a camera, which you use to capture the stray souls of ghosts. With that as your only weapon, it’s a constant battle of wills between running away, and trying to hurriedly take a shot of a ghost that kills you if it touches you. Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water, like the rest of the Fatal Frame series, is set in a town plagued by suicides and ghostly occurrences. The creepy factor in this game is really high because of that setting, and it will very likely have you trying to reach the light switch without blinking. 9. Sylvio – (PC & Mac) Following the theme of a helpless protagonist, Sylvio puts you in the shoes of a ghost hunter trapped in an abandoned theme park. Already in a creepy setting, and only armed with a potato gun and an audio recorder, you need to go and scour every inch of the park to find out clues and solve puzzles by analyzing the recordings you take. The ghostly whispers you record, will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, and trying to figure them out by fast forwarding, back masking and a host of other audio tricks will keep your mind occupied both with busy with an eerie and unsettling feeling. 8. Layers of Fear – (Multiple Platforms) This is a psychological rump through a really bad acid trip. Taking place inside a beautifully rendered mansions, you must complete your Magnum Opus as a painter. As you play through the story you discover that you have a family, weird quirks, and an unstable mind. The story and tension builds out slowly as you start, and while the tension drops off near the end of the second half, it’s still an incredibly scary experience. 7. Kholat – ( PC, PS3 & PS4) The Dyatlov Pass Incident is a real life event that happened in Russia, where 9 hikers where found dead on a snowy mountain under mysterious circumstances. It’s been over 50 years since it’s happened and yet we still don’t know what exactly happened, with a lot of files lost during the fall of the Soviet Union. Kholat attempts to tell the story of one possible explanation. Narrative by Sean Beam, this game takes you into the snowy local of the Ural Mountains, and exposes you to some of the more interesting, and ghostly, theories. 6. Darkest Dungeon – (PC) The fact that this game is a rouge-like makes it even more terrifying than usual. Set in a Cthulhu-like world, you are put in charge of closing the gate of hell with your party of intrepid and, often times, incredibly weird characters. Fighting through spiders, skeletons, anthropomorphic pigs and generally miss-shaped beings, this turn-based game pushes you to the edges of your sanity with gameplay, constantly keeping you stressed and scared from the environment around you. Tell me, do you fear the dark? 5. Until Dawn – (Playstation 4) This is a pretty interesting game mechanically, which utilizes a system called “Butterfly Effect”. This Butterfly Effect changes the world around you as you make your choices, meaning that you’ll actually have to play the game several times before getting the full story. In such a dynamic world, you are put in charge of eight characters that you have to keep alive while you explore Blackwood Pines Lodge. Hauntings, monsters and other weird things await you in this wintery scareland, so you really should only enter if you dare. 4. Dying Light – (Multiple Platforms) Taking Ubisoft’s open world games and strapping on a zombie theme has worked incredibly well for Dying Light. While you try and find the solution for a city district cut-off from the world, you will have to contend with several different types of incredibly flesh-hungry zombies. As the sun sets and the night takes over, new and much more difficult zombies come out to hunt you, so there’s a real argument to be made of sleeping cozy in bed when it’s night time. 3. Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 & 4 – (PC) You know what’s scarier than a kid’s restaurant in the middle of the night? A kid’s restaurant with homicidal animatronic mascots. In the Five Nights at Freddy’s series of games, you are the new temporary security guard charged with keeping the place safe at night. Unfortunately for you, the most dangerous things aren’t outside, they’re inside. Sitting inside your little booth, with control of nothing but a set of cameras and a couple of doors, you have to fend off these animatronics until dawn comes along. This is no easy task, as each animatronic has its own quirks and movements, and you’ll really need to be at the top of your game to survive the 5 nights of the game. 2. SOMA – (Multiple Platforms) Made by the same guys who made the incredibly popular Amnesia series, Soma is a philosophical game that explores the boundaries of life and what it is to ‘be’. Set in an underwater station in a state of disrepair, you must slowly fix it and explore the world that you’ve found yourself in to find out what exactly is going on, and why do all the machines act like humans. What’s interesting is this game doesn’t use conventional horror elements, but instead chooses to focus on psychological horror. So you better make sure your strong willed before going into this game, because if you aren’t, you might and up like one of them. 1. Bloodborne – (Playstation 4) One of the seminal works of horror to come out in 2015, Bloodborne is an incredibly punishing, incredibly scary game. Set in a strange world that is almost completely hostile to you, trying to survive in Bloodborne is like trying to survive being put through a tree chipper. The crazy monsters, disheveled humans, angry hounds, and almost certain death will very likely drive you up the wall. In fact, you might be better off playing this game with some friends and with the lights on.
If you’re looking to pull, the gym is the best place to go ‘Talking to gym strangers is easy thanks to the enforced intimacy’ Just like your grandparents met when their eyes met over a crowded room, one day you could be telling the story of how you met your partner as your gaze locked in a busy gym. Now dating experts say the gym is the ideal place for flirting and meeting your other half — or even just arranging casual hook-ups. A recent survey by Match.com found gym lovers have more sex as 33 per cent of singles who work out twice a week get laid at least once a month, compared to just 20 per cent of lonely hearts who rarely or never pump iron. But how are you supposed to thrive in the sweaty nightmare of the gym dating scene? Is your sexy look of weight-lifting determination actually just a sticky gurn? We spoke to body language guru Judi James who explains the gym is “the ultimate flirt place for the selfie generation”. She says: “People put time and effort into honing their bodies and use the gym as a showplace for all that work. “Clearly the equipment can be used to advertise your sexual appeal, either with the stretching and contorting and/or all the pseudo-sexual sweating and grunting. “It is also the perfect ice-breaker as striking up conversations with strangers is easy thanks to the enforced intimacy of the venue.” If you’re planning to join the ranks of nervous, sweaty boys offering unsolicited gym advice as a way of flirting with girls — be careful, because expert Judi says you need to read flirt signals with caution. “In the gym itself it is natural for everyone to want to stare at everyone else to compare muscles and body shape in a competitive or educational way. But that isn’t always about flirting. “In a club or pub someone staring at your body might be making their intentions obvious but in a gym it can just be professional envy or research. “In fact, you probably need to look for the person performing ‘tie signs’ with their facial expressions, like catching your eye and sending eye-signals rather than someone who appears to be admiring your biceps. “Flirting in the changing room is clearly way too obvious and might cause offence if you get too flirty. “Asking someone where the towels are kept might work but using eye contact and ogling could get you thrown out.” Top gym flirting tips • Watch out for people who are looking around the room to make eye contact with you, Judi calls it “open body language” • Respect people who don’t want to be disturbed — see if their eyes are to the ground with headphones in, focusing on their work-out • Don’t start a full-on conversation when they’re mid-lift, go for something more casual like Judi recommends • Wipe off your sweaty face before going in • Stay hydrated As for how to see who might be interested, Judi warns it can be hard to spot those dressed to pull. “You might assume the one in the sweaty old vest and grey shorts is there to work while the one in the designer lycra is there to pull. “But there is a huge narcissistic element to the gym experience for a lot of people. “This means they dress up to impress themselves more than to attract sexual interest. It can be a bit of a power thing, a bit like the guy with the really huge muscles who is pumped up to impress himself rather than to attract a mate.” The fertile ground for hook-ups offered by the gym obviously ends up attracting pick-up artist toads — which is what happened to Laura FitzPatrick, 20, a second year linguist at Manchester. Finally Judy adds with many aspects of body language, there can be primordial undercurrents to your behaviour. “You’re really mimicking a state of aggressive arousal — you’re expanding your chest and pecs, and your facial expressions can look angry like a wrestler or a boxer. “In this way concepts of flirting are more animalistic and less wine and roses. It’s almost pre-historic. “In modern times, we don’t really need to prove our mating potential for others so it’s quite odd how it’s become the new fashion.”
Been kind slow for the last 12 months in my life...So, let's see, what am I thankful for this year? ~ been an easy year, since I haven't worked for 9 months of it, now, that's kinda nice ~ arranged to have Xmas with my Dad, who I miss and rarely get to see, that's pretty nice ~ most of all, though, I ended up in the best relationship that I have ever conceived of, and it has made me extremely happy...enough so that I've already made the plans and committment that it shall be 'the one', if you dig ~ and, of course, as always, I'm thankful for my friends, and that means you guys, too. Thank you guys for you.
I had heard his story before. In fact, I had read and re-read it dozens of times already. But, as I listened to Ahmed Ustić’s Death March story, there was no way of quelling the strange paralysis that I had felt when I first read the account of this young man’s horrifying six-day journey for survival. In the far corner of the cavernous hall of the former car battery factory, there is a photograph of a man in a bright orange jacket. He has deep, kind eyes. I stood staring at his face, then at the item of clothing he held in his hands, and back into his eyes. I was rooted to the ground, listening to his story narrated in my ears. I had heard his story before. In fact, I had read and re-read it dozens of times already. But, as I listened to Ahmed Ustić’s Death March story, there was no way of quelling the strange paralysis that I had felt when I first read the account of this young man’s horrifying six-day journey for survival. About a month before that moment, I was handed the immense responsibility, along with my colleague Alexandra, of working on the English translations of the Memento exhibition stories. I say responsibility, because there is no other way to describe the feeling of being presented with such personal accounts – of painful memories, of loss and agony, of lives left devastated – to examine and edit. The responsibility of simply reading women tell of their murdered children and husbands, of the near starvation experienced as refugees, is immense. Memento is an oral history project curated by the Post-Conflict Research Center and the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Centre. It brings together personal objects and personal stories that attest to the struggle for survival that took place in Srebrenica in 1995, as a methodically-planned and swiftly-executed genocide was carried out. Large panels carry the portraits of ten women survivors – those from Srebrenica and the surrounds whose relatives were murdered in the genocide – and ten men who survived the Death March – the long journey on foot from Srebrenica to the Free Territory. Their haunting survival stories are told through audio headsets, and, along with their portraits, we see objects both belonging to the Death March survivors themselves, or left behind by murdered loved ones. Velma Šarić, PCRC’s founder and director, explains how they were able to use the Memorial Center’s database of victims’ families and survivors to find the storytellers, working closely also with associations of mothers of Srebrenica and a group of Death March survivors. With the help of fixer Enver Šehović, himself a survivor, each one of the 30 subjects were interviewed twice by Saric, the stories meticulously fact-checked and compiled with the guidance of oral history experts, before being whittled down to the final 20 stories. The objects – some of the many donated to the Memorial Center by family and survivors – were the inspiration for the multimedia exhibition. Those whose stories form the exhibition, the people who donated these precious objects, attended a private visit before the public opening. In the words of Šarić, this exhibition gives their loved ones a voice and a name, rather than being just a number and a statistic. “I think that is the most crucial part of this project,” she adds. “It was emotionally tough for the subjects to see and hear their stories told, but they were thankful that they were being told in this way.” The exhibition will be permanently displayed in the Memorial center and transferred soon to an online portal for those unable to visit the site itself. The simplicity of the portraits, taken by exhibition photographer Armin Durgut, reflects the starkness of the bare walls they border on the northern side of the old factory. Take a headset and listen, and you are stilled. Stilled by the men’s retelling of days of walking, unarmed, through forests and across rivers, under almost constant bombardment; of friends and brothers, fathers and grandfathers, killed on the way; of the gruesome horrors witnessed. Stilled by stories of women left alone in the world, faced only with the search for dismembered remains. The preservation of such stories is powerful beyond measure. Genocide scholar Dr Gregory H. Stanton, in a webinar organized by the team behind the Sto te nema commemorative monument, urged us that stories, above all, are our most useful tool against genocide denial. Narrative is how we learn about the world, both as children and adults. All the more reason for me to feel that the task of weaving a flowing narrative out of the Srebrenica survivor interviews was a huge responsibility. The exhibition will soon be available online – a crucial point of access in these difficult times of restricted movement. As a permanent exhibition, however, it carves out a precious space and moment of memorialization. Spaces dedicated solely and exclusively to the memory of a past that must not be forgotten are invaluable. Such spaces of memory, of knowledge, of reflection, are often the product of more work and struggle than we ever see. As Emir Suljagić, director of the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Centre reminds us, memorialization is an expensive endeavor. Preserving and sharing the facts and the memory of what occurred in Srebrenica, of the people who were killed as well as those who survive, is especially expensive compared to the ease and swiftness with which the genocide took place. This is a past and a reality that must never be forgotten, especially in the face of rampant denial. “If there is something that is perhaps a little closer to my heart than other segments of the commemoration, it is the Memento exhibition,” says Suljagić. Under his direction, this exhibition now means that human stories behind the everyday objects – the cigarette cases, the ID cards, the photographs – will forever be preserved. I am grateful and moved for the small contribution I could make to this work. Watching people listen to the exhibition was a privilege: the burly bikers in their Marš Mira t-shirts, mothers and grandmothers in their white headscarves, whole families, small children, the subjects themselves – the people whose lives were, and remain, directly and forever darkened by the events of 25 years ago. The responsibility I had felt as I picked apart the grammar and turns of phrase transformed into utter humility, respect, and an overwhelming sense of privilege. As one of the very few foreigners present at the 25th genocide memorial, I will forever be humbled. I will forever carry the message that the genocide in Srebrenica was avoidable, that we must not forget it, and that the people of Srebrenica must not be left behind. We must listen to their stories and learn.
Sometimes life leaves our hearts hardened like a garden plot in a drought. The surface is cracked, broken, and has no growth or beauty. God is the master gardener and there is nothing too difficult for Him to handle. When we surrender our lives to Him and seek Him with all our hearts, he removes the rocky ground and prepares our hearts for deep growth and renewal in Him. Colossians 2:7 “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” (NLT) How can God change our hearts? Let me share a story about my Papa. As a girl, I use to spend summers in Westville, Oklahoma with my grandparents. Westville is covered with ROCKY ground – yet my Papa was determined to grow the best garden ever. The first step was removing all those rocks. It was HARD work. First, he would remove the rocks by hand, throw them in a wheel barrow, and haul them away from the garden spot. He used these big rocks to create pillars held together with chicken wire around the edge of his property. These big rocks did not go to waste. They were part of the blue print of the property. They were removed from the garden plot, but transformed into a protective boundary around his land. Removing the rocks was only the beginning of the work. The ground was full of Johnson grass, a weed that is a huge PAIN to get rid of. Those weeds had to be hand pulled. If you just till the ground, they will continue to take root, grow and kill the garden. If you use weed killer – it hurts the soil. I remember at our own place in Kansas, my dad had us girls pull the Johnson grass right after a rain. The ground was muddy and easier to work. Some of those strands were a good six to twelve feet long. We got in the muddy mess and pulled those weeds out by the roots. It was hard work! Our hands where cut and blistered by the end of the day but the weeds were GONE!! Had dad made us do it when the ground was dry, we would have NOT been able to get down to the roots. The secret was working the rain soaked ground. After the ground is free of rocks and weeds, then you till the earth to mix the depleted top layer with the nutrients buried underneath. You see, the weeds have already drained this top layer of dirt from most nutrients. Any new shoots of seed would quickly use up the “left-over” nutrients in the top soil and then die out with basic starvation. However, when the ground is tilled, it blends in fresh, nutritious soil from deep under in the ground and creates a steady sustenance for new growth. This soil represents the Word of God. After Papa was done with all his work, time, sweat and blood – his garden was BEAUTIFUL!! Our hearts are a garden plot waiting to be cultivated. When we come out of a life of sin or abuse – our emotions, soul, mind, and body need time to cultivate and heal. The first step is to remove the rocky ground. It is work! We have to actively seek God and ask him to show us areas that need work, and areas that need to be removed from our garden-plot. God will transform those rocky areas into a protective border around our hearts. Next, we need to let the RAIN of the Holy Spirit flood our life through reading God’s Word, prayer and praise. As He rains down, the ground of our souls will become ready to pull out roots of sin, bitterness, unforgiveness, doubt, and anything that will destroy our faith in God. As we recognize an area that needs to be rooted OUT be willing to turn it over to God and pull it up and out of your life. I did this by confessing the area to the Lord when I recognized it; and by looking up scriptures on each area of damage in my life. When I recognized I was dealing with anger, then I looked up and wrote down all the scriptures I could find on anger. I memorized them, prayed them, and asked the Holy Spirit to convict me when needed. Eventually the anger began to subside. I did the same thing when I recognized I had fear, nightmares, doubt… on and on. One emotional damaged area at a time. Be patient with yourself. Don’t be afraid to carry the “rocks” to the Lord or to pull the weeds out. Finally, we are ready to have the depleted top soil tilled with the nutrients of the Word of God. The soil represents the whole Word of God working in our lives, developing our character in God, and feeding the fruits of the Spirit in us until we spring forth with new growth. We have the tools for change. God gives us a dose of faith, self-control and will power. He gives us strength, courage, and hope. He gives us his Word and the comfort of His Spirit. We are not abandoned. We are not alone. Yet, He does expect us to make an effort. We have to cultivate our attitudes and renew our minds, and be willing to grow and learn. We have to begin to turn all areas of our lives over to God – one rock at a time – insecurities anger, doubt, depression, and fear. When we recognize the source of our pain – we have to carry it to cross, lay it at His feet. Give it to him, fill your heart and mind with the Word of God, and your life will begin to be free from the pain. Never give up on your healing. It is hard work! Hang in there!!! Jesus loves you! ♥ Donna Wright © 2012 John 14:23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (NIV) 1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
This is an example page. It’s different from a blog post because it will stay in one place and will show up in your site navigation (in most themes). Most people start with an About page that introduces them to potential site visitors. It might say something like this: Hi there! I’m a bike messenger by day, aspiring actor by night, and this is my website. I live in Los Angeles, have a great dog named Jack, and I like piña coladas. (And gettin’ caught in the rain.) …or something like this: The XYZ Doohickey Company was founded in 1971, and has been providing quality doohickeys to the public ever since. Located in Gotham City, XYZ employs over 2,000 people and does all kinds of awesome things for the Gotham community. As a new WordPress user, you should go to your dashboard to delete this page and create new pages for your content. Have fun!
Vote For Your Favorite Animal at The Utica Zoo [POLL] It's National Zoo Lover's Day and it reminds us how lucky we are to have an amazing zoo of our own right here in Utica, NY. Every day the people at the zoo are making more and more progress in renovating old buildings, bringing in new animals, and constantly making the zoo experience even better. The toughest question is what the best animal is at The Utica Zoo? Voting for your favorite animal goes on all weekend long until 10 a.m. on Monday, April 11th, 2016. Winner will be announced at 11:15 a.m. the same morning. Your continued support of this amazing asset to our community is always appreciated and much of the success the zoo is seeing is a result of people who contribute to fund raisers, coming to the zoo, and attending one of the many great events offered there annually. Their big project going on currently is in an effort to remodel the primate building. It's a clever name too. They call it the "We Don't Like it Either!!" campaign. You can donate to that on their website.
Hello everyone, my name is Joy. I recently completed Growing Life and I’m here today to share how God has worked in my life through it.For those of you who don’t know about it, Growing Life is a 6-week life study offered for new believers who have completed Living Life. It is offered one on one, or two on one, in a mentorship style and it is meant to give new believers practical steps to live as Christians. For me, I was born into a christian family, and so I felt fairly confident about having those basic steps down. Go to church on sunday, pray before your meal, pray before you sleep, read your bible in the mornings, I’m sure a lot of you here are familiar with the drill. Because of this, I was fairly sure that I was taking this study just to re-cement these basics, and I didn’t have that many expectations.In fact, Pastor Caleb told Jeesu and I as we started the study, that rather than a lot of new epiphanies and lessons, a lot of what we learnt would be reaffirmations of what we already knew. With that the study started. We talked a lot about fundamental parts of living life as a Christian. We learnt about being a part of the body of Christ, of our conflicting natures, our salvation, our authority and the call we have received to pray for our non-christian friends.Through the weeks we spent talking, reading and praying about these topics, God moved me to look into my life. He revealed to me how blessed I am to be part of such a lively and healthy body here at The Seed and in my house church. He also reminded me of the joy of salvation. That was such a blessing. But by far the biggest way that God has moved my heart through Growing Life was with the very first lesson we learnt, about QT, spending time with Him. Have you ever heard of people refer to the Word as your daily bread? I think I saw it more as my daily multivitamin. Something that was good to have everyday, but not something I needed everyday to survive? So to be honest, a lot of the time, I would only do QT when I was feeling down about something, or was looking to God for advice. Through this study, God taught me that the word isn’t just something that is an added pick me up. Spending time with God in the mornings, on the few mornings that I did through the study, gave me sustenance, energy and life(?) to carry out the day. In order for me to grow as a Christian, it’s not enough to eat a multivitamin or a power-smoothie of a sermon or random prayer session. It’s about what I eat everyday, the quiet time I spend with God in the morning that will really allow me to flourish into a mature, intimate relationship with Him. Of course, my QT life wasn’t and isn’t perfect. Throughout the study, even though we were encouraged to do QT every morning, I wasn’t always so diligent. But I can confidently say that through Growing Life God has shown me why QT is so important. So far, after the study, I have been enjoying spending my mornings in the Word, listening to God’s voice and his promises for me. I’m excited for how my QT life will grow and I’ll grow more and more intimate with Him. There’s a really funny habit I have of approaching God thinking, yeah I know what you’re gonna say, or what you’re going to teach me. This is going to be no big deal. But God always surprises me, humbles my arrogant heart and reveals something new. So I want to conclude by thanking God and Pastor Caleb for the lessons I’ve learned through growing life and encouraging all of my brothers and sisters here to take it as well 🙂 Thank you for listening.
Has your get up and go got up and went? Do you totally fear Mondays? Get a handle on smoldered? Put off assignments any chance you can get? Provided that this is true, you are likely experiencing a normal condition called “Lack of Motivation”. By utilizing the 4 proposals beneath, you can jolt your willingness and take back control of your euphoria, benefit, and fun. Attempt these eccentric inspiration tips and check whether you don’t feel better, work better, and have an improved state of mind about practically everything! Time by Making It Work for You! In the event that you’re such as general business possessor, time feels like your grandest foe. You’ve got due dates to meet, stacks of paper to live out, telephone calls to return, gatherings to go to, shows up for the item, and there sits time, the Cheshire Cat, smiling at you as it twitches its tail like the second hand of a clock. Tic tic. Anyway, there are routes to race against time. Before leaving the workplace, scribble down 5 items you need to finish and the time you need to have them finished, with the intention that right when you get into the workplace the following day, you have an objective, a mission, a plan start an evaluation or report that is expected, however, end it in mid-sentence, or a midst a considered. Begin there, the following day and complete the venture. To Reach Goals, Set Them A golfer will picture him or herself hitting the ball. A swimmer pictures him or herself adjusting the turn. An adequate representative makes small-scale objectives for every hour of the day. These for the most part get “motivation” objectives, giving the individual a feeling of fervour about doing them and “getting” the prize at the finish. Possibly your prize is a tremendously required break, lunch out, or liking a round of golf. Perhaps you’ll leave a little early and make a go at angling, or shopping, or perhaps you’ll truly twist up and read a book by binding objectives to print, you concrete those musings and by offering motivations, you make the arriving at of the aforementioned objectives so significantly more fun. Who Says Business Isn’t a Game Considering yourself or your work excessively important can wind up consuming you, your vigour, and your mind, and who has sufficient energy or vigor for that? Rather, make everyday fun. Of course, business is a function, yet who says it must be repetitive, dragging, overpowering, or that everything must be finished by you? Delegate! Fortify the regions of your work that need upholding, for example, your vision, mission, and society proclamations, and get every living soul on the same page. Get assistance in the type of business mentor that can impart fundamental frameworks to you, sparing you hours of time and vigor. Remove those who aren’t crew players and add worth to the lives of the individuals you continue your crew. Provided that business isn’t an amusement to you, perhaps now is the ideal time to make it one What regularly happens when business possessors get a handle on smouldering is that they further confine themselves by making a casing that comes to be practically impervious, shutting them in. While a few business possessors kick and screech at this thought, the crux is to get out and blend with constructive, motivating, receptive individuals and gave some a chance to of that avidness rub off on you! As you do this, you’ll come to be more slanted to be the motivation for another person. This sort of willingness is infectious, so be watchful. You may get cheerful.It’s not difficult to get made up for lost time in the “my existence sucks” mentality, yet diverting one’s vigor into minor, doable, reachable objectives is nexus, if that is in one’s individual life or one’s business life. When those objectives begin to fall into spot, you can take a gander at the greater picture, then after that things begin to truly get electrifying. What might you picked? Shoddy quality absolutely resembles an ironic expression as doe’s quick quality. However modest, quick anything seldom keeps ticking long. My decision might be only one: quality administration.Is that what you picked? My focus is that what you concentrate on is the thing that you draw in, so make certain to keep your center extremely sharp. Quality administration draws in quality clients. Certain, sound business managers pull in certain, solid customers. As a business holder, you’re not broken. You don’t have to be altered, yet you do need viable devices, incorporating frameworks and forms institute that will help you in the territories of time, group, administration, and showcasing. That is where a business mentor can offer assistance.
I often surprise my kids by telling them exactly what's in their head. My uncanny ability to read their mind almost always shock them. "Sure I know what you're thinking. I've been watching you from birth. So, don't think you can ever fool me." insert evil grin here Mothers have very fine-tuned observation skills when it comes to their children. We know when something is not right with the kids. When they were babies, I could tell by the intensity of their cries whether they were hungry, tired, bored or unwell. Now that they're older, I could tell from their body language if they had a tiff with their friend at school or if something's troubling them. True enough, it will all start spilling out before I can even utter a word. My kids will never hide anything from me. If they're hanging around in my room, acting restless and edgy, it probably means they have a ridiculous request that I would most likely shoot down like "Can you drive out to the store to get Ben & Jerry's? or "I have a craving." "Huh! At 9.30pm? Not when I'm about to go to bed right? And, why aren't you studying for your biology test tomorrow?" They always win of course. Well, after years of practice, they have perfected the art of negotiating with mommy. During our week in Hyderabad, some of the places we visited include the Mecca Mosque, the Charminar (the icon of Hyderabad), Sufi Shrine, Bi...
Sunday, 4 July 2010 I never knew Cookie's death could make me so so sad. We've had many dogs before him but none had affected me this much. Maybe it was because I was the one who brought him home 7 years ago. It was my responsibility to give him a good life. While he wasn't as privileged as Rusty, he lead a very happy life at the farm until he developed severe skin problems recently. When he moved into my apartment, he settled in quickly and found his favourite corner in the patio. He was recovering nicely. He had a healthy appetite and was beginning to enjoy his daily walks. Suddenly, he started refusing food over the weekend. He didn't look like he was in any pain. His body felt a little warm but he was always warmer than Rusty, so I didn't think it was anything unusual. Last night, I brought him out for his last walk, a short one. He wasn't very active. While he rested, I stroked his head and spoke to him softly. His eyes looked a little teary. "Are you ok Cookie? We'll go to the vet first thing in the morning ok?" I led him slowly to his bed and that was the last time I saw him alive. When I brought him food at 7.30am this morning, I was happy to see him lying just outside our balcony door. I thought he was feeling better and had decided to crawl out of his cubby hole. But he didn't stir when I called out his name, I burst into sobs. My poor Cookie died while we were all asleep. My neighbour Evelyn called me on the phone. "Is Cookie ok? He's not moving." It has become a habit for her to look out for Cookie from her balcony above. I couldn't accept his death. He died under my care and I couldn't help feeling guilty. Was the chemical bath too toxic for him? Was he running a fever? I should have brought him to the hospital yesterday. Why didn't I see the signs earlier? Last night I had borrowed Cookie's collar and leash to use on Bodhi. I was planning to buy a new set for Cookie today. It breaks my heart that this will never happen. Then mum called to say Bodhi broke free from his leash this morning. He sprinted into the thick undergrowth by the reservoir and refused to come out. Two bad news in one morning! I had to deal with Cookie's stiff body first. The pet cremator was summoned over. They were professional and efficient. While they were packing Cookie up, Rusty suddenly ran over and sniffed at his best friend for the last time. He looked so sad and was reluctant to see Cookie go. I had to carry Rusty in my arms to comfort him. After they were gone, I knew there was someone else I had to call - Dr Bryan who treated Cookie just weeks before. He had a soft spot for Cookie. He was so shocked and sad to receive my call. After describing Cookie's symptoms to him, he suspected that Cookie could have died from pneumonia. I had to ask if Cookie died a painful death. He said, "He could have had difficulty breathing right at the very end..." Rest in Peace Cookie. May you continue to run free in doggie heaven. A place that is free from mites, ticks and illness. We will miss you forever. During our week in Hyderabad, some of the places we visited include the Mecca Mosque, the Charminar (the icon of Hyderabad), Sufi Shrine, Bi...
As their friendship grows, so does Mike’s concern. What if Beau kisses him and he doesn’t like it? Beau is too important to Mike to just be a sexual experiment. Worried if he’s even physically able to be intimate with a man—it’s one thing to imagine, but another to act on it—Mike enlists the help of Madame Eve a no-strings gay sex-ed lesson. But Mike gets far more than he bargained for with his romantic weekend getaway. Will Mike be brave enough to face his desires and dive in the deep end, or will Beau’s dark secret destroy what they could become? Comment: I got interested in reading this book after seeing the author's explanation for it on a reading group. She said she got inspired by a Reddit post or something like it, where an user shared his story: how he basically got friends with another guy at the gym, how they slowly got closer, became friends and eventually figured out they were attracted to one another. The premise does seem difficult to imagine but in fiction it could be a great story! Thus, this is the story of Mike and Beau and how they become friends over mutual interests and apparently simple things. Underneath that all, however, are Mike's fears of ruining a wonderful friendship if he dares to read more into the whole thing. When things get to a point where he can't deal with the doubt anymore to know if Beau has the same thoughts, he fears his inexperience with men might be deal breaker so he plans, through an agency, a lesson from someone who could let him test if he would be comfortable with another man, sexually speaking. Of course, in between several subjects worrying him, including family and work, could Mike really go ahead with the lesson or are his feelings for Beau much more serious than what he thought and he can't bear the idea? The premise of this book is all kinds of romantic. The possibility of something great is there, the idea of seeing a potential romance between two people who don't see themselves as a couple but who have such a strong friendship is very appealing. If I remember well, I think the original post (whether it was real or faked, there is that question now) mentioned both were straight. In this book, Beau is gay although he doesn't share that with Mike at first. I can see the unlikeliness of a GFY (gay for you) plot not being so easy to pull off but the romance and potential of it aren't impossible either. I guess my expectations were largely based on the original post and this idea, which means the author's choices, from the start, weren't that great for me. The story started quite meh immediately. That lovely premise about connecting at the gym? All that is a given because we, the reader, don't see any of it. The story starts with Mike explaining this, as if sending a letter to the agency but we don't have any sweet, poignant, funny scenes with them becoming friends. To me, this was a weak choice because part of the interest in the story is completely out of the picture for the reader. The development, therefore, sets on Mike's fears and his "experiment" and, let's wait a minute, Beau is actually aware of the letter somehow?? He pretends to be the guy waiting for Mike and they talk and become more than friends in the first chapters! What?, I thought. What is the fun of the whole thing if they do get involved so easily and without their previous connection seen on the page, this feels even less romantic than described. Being resigned to this disappointment, one could imagine characterization would still save the day. For me, it wasn't so, I'm afraid. Mike came across as very immature and even being inexperienced, his attitude towards the situation felt very silly. He is a state trooper, he must be aware of what it means to be responsible but in his personal life, he acted very insecure. We even have the secondary situation, regarding his female best friend, with whom he shared a one night stand he regrets (it just happened because of a trauma!), he didn't realize her feelings "were more serious than his" in the whole relationship definition, and she got pregnant! After she shares this, which he was certainly not expecting, he leaves for his sex-lesson getaway. Beau is described as older, hot, friendly, has a tattoo...but his thoughts about being with Mike weren't totally positive for me. He did feel rather possessive of Mike but he never told him he was gay. I can understand this, he might not have wanted to ruin their friendship, but I mean, he was aware of the little touches and connection and longing looks for what they were. Somehow it feels things were a bit one sided, as if he omitted something, even if not maliciously, but... I can't help but thinking the dynamics were rather unfair. Then another issue arises due to the subject of his job and how Mike discovers what Beau really does. This too felt like a very over the top and silly choice. The whole book by now felt like too much out of control. I had high hopes for this story. I thought this would be a sweet contemporary about an unlikely but still doable plot. I imagined the two guys would be awkward around each other but still friends, I thought we would see first the way they became friends which would help with the falling in love part. I think done well, this would be enough conflict to sustain the book, without any need of weird traumas and neglected best friends and secret job activities. Yes, one can say this is a version, this is the author's story and not that couple's story. It's true, but the plot used in this book, sadly, didn't convince me and that is why my grade for it is low.
You didn't notice. Neither did anyone who thought of Jackson as just another pedophile. Heavy traffic to a site brings it down til the techs add servers. An old story. That the hypster media needs to add IT to the hand wringing media circus that the death of a self-loathing, plastic surgery addicted, pain pill popping, POP star has become is just more evidence that today's 'journalists' don't really deserve the title."Oh look, another story that'll feed my laziness. Column inches for nothing and chicks for free!"-blue Well. I kind of liked "Billie Jean." Otherwise, I would say spot on. Remember, for years, I worked in the pop arts section of a major metropolitan daily. Bear in mind, when you think about the media, that the Micahel Jackson coverage reflects exactly the view they have of you, dear reader. I think the media are correct in assuming that their readers/listeners/viewers are interested in Michael Jackson's death.It is the ultimate reality program.Even intelligent news junkies are following the news reports, so I suppose it has some interest.But I don't think it is a news story as important as, say, street riots in Iran, nukes in North Korea or the murder of some non-celebrity any where in the world. And the around-the-clock TV coverage is way over the top.I stopped watching TV news because I've had enough. I think he was a talented entertainer and I like some of his music, but I also think he was a deeply troubled man - and I believe he was a serial pedophile.People should not forget that although he bribed his way out of lawsuits and criminal charges, he still, according to the evidence and his own statements, abused children.Like Elvis Presley before him, dying was a smart career move. His music is selling very well this week.
and rave about Joey Fatone. Our yard contains precisely ten red tulips. They are saying, "Tra la, it's May..." Song on May Morning by John Milton Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger, Comes dancing from the East, and leads with her The flowry May, who from her green lap throws The yellow cowslip, and the pale primrose. Hail bounteous May that dost inspire Mirth and youth, and warm desire, Woods and groves, are of thy dressing, Hill and dale, doth boast thy blessing. Thus we salute thee with our early Song, And welcome thee, and wish thee long. How delightful was Joey Fatone last night on Dancing with the Stars? His jive was fun and exciting! And well...I happen to love the jive! Did you see his kick? That boy can kick higher than a girl! I replayed it four times last night... Joey, over and over... Once for Katie and once for Patrick and twice for me :o) No linky poo on You Tube for last nights dances, yet. But, as soon as I find one, I will put it up here for all to enjoy :o) How did that get on here? Encourage one another,
Several years ago, I watched the series The Path on Hulu. Starring Aaron Paul, Michelle Monaghan, and Hugh Dancy, The Path portrays the lives of people involved with a religion called Meyerism. While Meyerism is fictional, many of its core tenets and practices mirror those found in Evangelicalism. I found myself thinking, the only difference between Meyerism — a cult — and Evangelicalism is a matter of degree. This is especially true when Meyerism is compared to the extreme Fundamentalist corner of the Evangelical tent. I am not suggesting that Meyerism is the equivalent of Evangelicalism. It’s not. As Wikipedia makes clear, Meyerism combines aspects of: New Age philosophy, shamanism, Scientology, Christian mysticism and Utopianism with a few elements from the Shakers, Sufism, Tibetan Buddhism and Freemasonry ritual. However, Meyeristic practices such as fidelity to a rigid set of commands and beliefs, obedience to leaders, progressive enlightenment, separation from the world, and the shunning of ex-Meyerists find expression in the practices of countless Evangelical churches. Eddie Lane (Aaron Paul) and Sarah Lane (Michelle Monaghan) are devoted followers of Stephen Meyer, the founder of Meyerism. Born into a Meyerist family, Sarah is what you would call a “true believer.” Eddie, on the other hand, has questions and doubts about the religious aspects of Meyerism. While Eddie embraces Meyerism’s commitment to family, environmentalism, and helping the poor and suffering, he comes to believe the rest of Meyerism is, in his words, bullshit. He has come to see that what he once considered “truth” was a lie. Eventually, Eddie’s crisis of faith leads to conflict with his wife, family, and Cal Roberts (Hugh Dancy), the leader of Meyerist community in New York. Eddie is banished from the Meyerist community. Labeled a “denier,” Eddie tries to help his teenage son Hawk, who recently took Meyerist vows. In episode three of season two, Hawk tells Eddie that he can no longer see him. Eddie desperately tries to reason with his son, to no avail. During his passionate plea to Hawk, Eddie tells his son, “it [Meyerism] only works if you believe.” Eddie goes on to explain that if you pull on that string, everything unravels and crumbles into nothing. I can’t think of a better illustration of what many of us have gone through as we walked away from Christianity. Christianity, and in particular Evangelical Christianity, only works IF you believe. Dare to pull the string, logically, rationally, and skeptically evaluating sincere beliefs and practice, and everything unravels and crumbles into nothing. Evangelicalism requires the suspension of reason. No matter how vociferously apologists and zealots argue otherwise, Evangelical faith requires belief over truth and dogma over fact. Doubt and questioning the teachings of the Bible/church/pastor is viewed as a lack of faith, a sure sign that Satan is influencing someone’s thinking. Congregants are discouraged from reading books/blogs that will cause them to doubt. Dr. Bart Ehrman is pilloried as an “enemy of the faith,” and pastors routinely warn church members to stay away from his books. Claiming that they are only watching out for their souls, these men of God know that the educated conclusions found in Ehrman’s books are kryptonite to Evangelical faith. These gatekeepers know that the only way to keep asses in the pews and money in the offering plates is to wall congregants off from exposure to the “world.” Few Evangelical leaders promote unfettered intellectual inquiry. They know that such inquiries always lead away from what Evangelicals believe is the “faith once delivered to the saints.” Pastors know that once devotees question the inerrancy of the Bible, creationism, the virgin birth, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and other cardinal beliefs, it is only a matter of time before they will lose their faith. While this loss of faith may not lead to atheism, it certainly leads to an exodus out the back doors of Evangelical churches. When truth — not religious dogma masquerading as truth — becomes the object of intellectual inquiry, it’s only a matter of time before the Evangelical house built on myth and supernatural nonsense comes tumbling down. Either science is right, or creationism is. Both can’t be right. Either virgins can have babies or they can’t. Either three-day-old dead people can come back to life and eat dinner at Taco Bell or they can’t. Take every supernatural claim in the Bible and measure it by what you know to be empirically and experientially true. Both can’t be true. Knowledge-informed thinking, and not cognitive dissonance, should always be the goal. Eddie is right: It only works if you believe. Once you stop believing and demand facts and evidence, it’s game over. Once you stop granting the Bible/churches/pastors authority over your life, you are on your way to true freedom. A letter writer asked me what was the biggest change in my life after deconverting. I told her that the biggest change was having the freedom to follow the path of life wherever it leads. Evangelicalism, with its teachings on Heaven/Hell, eternal punishment, sin, and judgment, leads to bondage. Pastors go to great lengths to convince congregants that this bondage is actually freedom; that is, if you believe the central tenets of the faith. Evangelicalism becomes a bubble of sorts where everything makes perfect sense as long as you are in the bubble. That’s why many of us were committed followers of Jesus for so many years. It all made sense to us; that is, until one day we dared to pull on the string, and then we realized that what we had really been believing was an elaborate construct of myths and lies. And at that moment, everything we believed crumbled away to nothing. If you happen to be an Evangelical, let me encourage you to pull on the string. Dare to value truth over belief. Dare to question and doubt. Dare to seek, as the Bible says. I guarantee that if you will intellectually and passionately “seek,” you most certainly will “find.” Come join countless other freethinkers as they walk the path of life. Evangelicalism taught you that life is all about your destination: Heaven or Hell. I’m here to tell you that life is all about your journey, and not where you’ll end up after you die. Embrace every day as if it is your last and humbly walk the path that is before you. If you will do that, I promise that you will end up exactly where you need to be. Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist. Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting. You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.
The drill is the same as it is each year: If you are unfamiliar, each August, starting in 1998, Beloit College in Beloit, WI presents The Mindset List, "providing a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall." It initially was meant to be a guide to the faculty to help them understand the incoming freshman class, by pointing out the things that "everybody" knows are different for the teachers as they are for those students, because times have changed. Accordingly, it's a warning to those teachers to "watch their references." Without further ado, here is The Beloit College Mindset List for 2021. THE BELOIT COLLEGE MINDSET LIST FOR THE CLASS OF 2021 Students heading into their first year of college this year are mostly 18 and were born in 1999. Among the iconic figures who have never been alive in their lifetimes are Joe DiMaggio, John F. Kennedy Jr., Walter Payton, and Dusty Springfield. - Their classmates could include Eddie Murphy’s Zola and Mel Gibson’s Tommy, or Jackie Evancho singing down the hall. - They are the last class to be born in the 1900s, the last of the Millennials -- enter next year, on cue, Generation Z! - They are the first generation for whom a “phone” has been primarily a video game, direction finder, electronic telegraph, and research library. - Electronic signatures have always been as legally binding as the pen-on-paper kind. - In college, they will often think of themselves as consumers, who’ve borrowed a lot of money to be there. - eHarmony has always offered an algorithm for happiness. - Peanuts comic strips have always been repeats. - They have largely grown up in a floppy-less world. - They have never found Mutual Broadcasting or Westinghouse Group W on the radio dial, but XM has always offered radio programming for a fee. - There have always been emojis to cheer us up. - The Panama Canal has always belonged to Panama and Macau has been part of China. - It is doubtful that they have ever used or heard the high-pitched whine of a dial-up modem. - They were never able to use a Montgomery Ward catalogue as a booster seat. - Donald Trump has always been a political figure, as a Democrat, an Independent, and a Republican. - Zappos has always meant shoes on the Internet. - They are the first generation to grow up with Watson outperforming Sherlock. - Amazon has always invited consumers to follow the arrow from A to Z. - Their folks have always been able to get reward points by paying their taxes to the IRS on plastic. - In their lifetimes, Blackberry has gone from being a wild fruit to being a communications device to becoming a wild fruit again. - They have always been searching for Pokemon. - They may choose to submit a listicle in lieu of an admissions essay. - Dora the Explorer and her pet monkey Boots helped to set them on the course of discovery. - The seat of Germany’s government has always been back in Berlin. - Jet Blue has always been a favorite travel option but the Concorde has been permanently grounded. - By the time they entered school, laptops were outselling desktops. - There has never been a Coliseum in New York, but there has always been a London Eye on the Thames. - Once on campus, they will find that college syllabi, replete with policies about disability, non-discrimination, and learning goals, might be longer than some of their reading assignments. - As toddlers they may have dined on some of that canned food hoarded in case of Y2K. - An ophthalmologist named Bashar al-Assad has always provided vision for the Syrian military. - Whatever the subject, there’s always been a blog for it. - U.S. Supreme Court decisions have always been available at its website. - Globalization has always been both a powerful fact of life and a source of incessant protest. - One out of four major league baseball players has always been born outside the United States. - Carl Sagan has always had his own crater on Mars. - A movie scene longer than two minutes has always seemed like an eternity. - The Latin music industry has always had its own Grammy Awards. - Ketchup has always come in green. - They have only seen a Checker Cab in a museum. - Men have always shared a romantic smooch on television. - They never got to see Jimmy Kimmel and Ben Stein co-host a quiz show or Dennis Miller provide commentary for the NFL. - As toddlers, they may have taught their grandparents how to Skype. - The image of Sacagawea has always adorned the dollar coin, if you can find one. - Having another child has always been a way to secure matching tissue to heal an older sibling. - There have always been Latino players on the ice in the NHL. - Napster has always been evolving. - Nolan Ryan has always worn his Texas Rangers cap in Cooperstown, while Steve Young and Dan Marino have always been watching football from the sidelines. - The BBC has always had a network in the U.S. where they speak American. - There has never been a sanctioned Texas A&M bonfire. - There has always been a Monster in their corner when looking for a job. - Wikipedia has steadily gained acceptance by their teachers. - Justin Timberlake has always been a solo act. - U.S. professional baseball teams have always played in Cuba. - Barbie and American Girl have always been sisters at Mattel. - Family Guy is the successor to the Father Knows Best they never knew. - Motorola and Nokia have always been incredibly shrinking giants. - Melissa has always been too nice a name to be attached to a computer macro virus. - The Mars Polar Lander has always been lost. - Women have always scaled both sides of Everest and rowed across the Atlantic. - Bill Clinton has always been Hillary Clinton’s aging husband. - Paleontologists have always imagined dinosaurs with colorful plumage. Copyright© 2017 Beloit College
Buy Demon Kiss on DVD! Our ‘story’ is a simple one. Crazy dude, D-Man (Vito Trabucco of Slices and Bloody, Bloody Bible Camp fame) orders a prostitute as a sacrifice to get a demon on Earth. Cool, got it. He bites it, of course (which is a shame since he was the only performer in this pile that actually brought some emotional context to their character) and the demon gets in a prostitute. A ‘prostitute therapist,’ yes, you read that correctly, played like Mel Torme on crack by writer/producer Sally Mullins is called in on the case. Her other clients include a prostitute that believes she is descended from Mary Magdalene and that is who the demon wants. The demon, in the meantime, can leap from person to person by kissing or copulation. It goes to a detective, then to a prostitute, then back to the detective, then to another prostitute, then back to the detective, then to… you get the picture. The amazing thing about it, though, is that I think the demon is the bad actor… not the nudie girls or the ineffective lawman. An equal level of crappy performance went from one person to another, which is amazing. All of this happens, of course, with varying states of undress for our young ladies. There was a cameo in there by FX guru Rich Knight, so he probably had a hand in some of the effects. That would make sense since there is a pretty effective broom handle in the arse scene, I know, and a choking on a hand scene that are quite nice… if you’re into that kind of stuff. I’m not, I’m just saying that, if someone were into that, then they would, well… uuh, yeah. Our climactic battle features the worst exorcism ever committed to film (including Leslie Nielson and Linda Blair in RePossessed) and our obligatory not-quite-a-twist-because-we-saw-it-coming-long-ago ending. Whew. Just repeat this to yourself: Demon Labia, Demon Labia, Demon Labia. I wanted to hate this, but the damn movie just wouldn’t let me! It has some so ridiculous, but sold as dramatic, elements that you have to love it. For example, three murders, in a row, are committed in the same motel room. There are investigations of each in-between, but no one seems to notice that we are in exactly the same room, every time. Locations looked to be all one house with different areas as different apartments and living rooms and such. The therapist’s office is obviously a room in an Urgent Care, or something similar… just fun stuff. The best part of the ridiculosity, though, has to be Sally Mullins. Casting herself as the ‘prostitute therapist,’ Dr. Lacey, is a stroke of genius. She is not a good actor, but she tries so damn hard you start rooting for her… hit that mark, get that line, use that prop! Demon Kiss, my friends, is an experience.
I stamped the rosette in two shades of momento blue direct to the card and masked it off (I think the stamp is jenny browlin) and stamped the fabby "No 1" from the new Waltzingmouse relations set into the centre in black. I then masked it off using a post it and took the pipe out of a spritz ink bottle to do the splatters. However, a couple of my splats landed too near to the mask and as the ink is soooo runny, it bled underneath. I added a fathers day sentiment (stampin up) to the side. Bit messy but OK for a first attempt - just a shame about the ink bleeding - I think I'd use paint and a toothbrush for the splatter next time like we used to do in nursery school ;-) I'll be back later with our new challenge for St Luke's which I hope will be a lot more popular than our month long one layer challenge has been as it seems we scared you all off with it!
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Restorative Inquiry is a way of talking with a student or students about a situation using nonjudgmental active listening (see questions below). It is a form of Restorative Practice. Restorative Practices focus on repairing harm and restoring relationships when misbehavior occurs. The fundamental unifying hypothesis of restorative practice is disarmingly simple: that human beings are happier, more cooperative and productive, and more likely to make positive changes in their behavior when those in positions of authority do things WITH them, rather than TO them or FOR them. This hypothesis maintains that the punitive and authoritarian “to” mode and the permissive and paternalistic “for” mode are not as effective as the restorative, participatory, engaging “with” mode. Restorative Questions I — To respond to challenging behavior – What happened? – What were you thinking of at the time? – What have you thought about since? – Who has been affected by what you have done? In what way? – What do you think you need to do to make things right? Restorative Questions II — To help those harmed by another’s actions – What did you think when you realized what had happened? – What impact has this incident had on your and others? – What has been the hardest thing for you? – What do you think needs to happen to make things right? CRE Calendar Usage: 2nd Edition
Twitter was beside itself last night when it was learned that the thin-skinned conservative (is there any other kind?) columnist for the New York Times had cc'd his e-mails to David Karpf to the provost at George Washington University as well. Appearing on MSNBC this morning, Stephens said there was a history of totalitarian regimes calling their enemies insects to justify his e-mailing Dr. Karpf's boss with his silliness. Stephens deactivated his twitter account but seems entirely unrepentant. Stephens also said, with a straight face, that he intended no harm by e-mailing Karpf's boss. Stephens should have been fired long ago for other transgressions (climate change is a hoax, black people are stupid, college kids are snowflakes, etc), but he also should never have been hired by the New York Times in the first place. Just a walking embarrassment. Source: Washington Post The tweet seemed harmless enough to David Karpf. The associate professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University took a story that bedbugs had infested the New York Times newsroom as an occasion to dig at his least favorite Times writer, the conservative columnist Bret Stephens. “The bedbugs are a metaphor,” Karpf wrote on Monday. “The bedbugs are Bret Stephens." The tweet got nine total likes and zero retweets, Karpf said. So the professor was surprised when an email from Stephens himself popped in a few hours later. Then, he noticed his provost at GWU was copied on the email. And Stephens was furious. “I’m often amazed about the things supposedly decent people are prepared to say about other people — people they’ve never met — on Twitter. I think you’ve set a new standard,” Stephens wrote. “I would welcome the opportunity for you to come to my home, meet my wife and kids, talk to us for a few minutes, and then call me a ‘bedbug’ to my face. That would take some genuine courage and intellectual integrity on your part.” The exchange quickly went viral after Karpf posted Stephens’ full email to Twitter, leading to waves of backlash against a columnist whose contrarian takes on climate change and race have prompted canceled subscriptions and pointed questions for his editors in the past. Here is the offensive e-mail. Please feel free to retweet at your leisure. And the reaction. Perhaps realizing the error of his ways (though I doubt it), Stephens deactivated his twitter account. most likely in an effort to try avoiding being fired. Twitter by now is entirely sick of this asshole and let him have it, both barrels.
Let me give you the context first… For what seems like forever, you and I both have been battered over the head with two different ideas. One is that Australia’s energy market is bonkers, and domestic gas suppliers are set to cash in. The second is that Aussie consumers are under the pump and retailing is down in the dumps. Both arguments have merit. The natural and obvious thing you might do in this scenario is buy BPT and sell JBH. In this case, I hope you didn’t. That’s because BPT got smacked down on its recent results…and JBH went up. This is an example of why “themes” in the market can only get you so far. Here’s what you need to know… Never – EVER – forget that each stock is subject to unique and individual pressures, catalysts, management and more. What I mean is you can have a gold boom, for example, and still have a dud gold stock. Just because gold is booming does not mean the gold share you own is making money, or lots of it. Maybe their cost of production goes too high, or something stops the operation. Believe me, it happens. As we saw with BPT, gas prices in Australia on the east coast are high. But Beach has many moving parts to its business. It keeps tripping up on some of these different components. The gas price is just one input to the share price dynamic. Let me give you a different example. Earlier this year I recommended a stock called DroneShield [ASX: DRO], for my paid subscribers. DRO was already moving up before I made that move…but by jingoes it kept going up after too. I made the recommendation in February. By June I told my readers to bank their juicy win. Some of the feedback I got was intriguing to me. A few readers told me that they WEREN’T going to sell. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that. Each subscriber can march to their own drum. I was going for the short-term double. Maybe there is a lot more in it over 3-5 years. What was interesting, however, was the reasoning I was told for holding on. The gist of their argument, as such, was that drones were clearly a “thing”, and would be for the foreseeable future. Therefore, DroneShield remained a compelling proposition. Absolutely no one that wrote to me made the case for holding on based off hard evidence via the company accounts or projected sales, margins or profits. The reasoning didn’t get far beyond news about drone attacks, war around the world and the powerful share price drive happening at the time. There is no guarantee that these “macro” factors will convert into actual sales and profits for DroneShield. That’s what led me to bank the profit. DRO’s share price moved as if it had banked many big contract wins. As it happens, for a month after my sell recommendation, DRO kept inflating higher. Then came the reckoning… Check out this massive drawdown on the chart below… Source: Google Finance \| DRO is now down over 50% from its recent peak. Why did this happen? Clearly the stock was overbought at the top. But the main crunch came from the fact that DRO went to a 2 billion dollar valuation without the profits to back it up. At the peak it was simply trading on wildly inflated expectations and the unverifiable promise of potential big contracts. DRO hasn’t been able to meet these expectations lately, and hence the big drop back toward $1 (still higher than last year, mind you). I’m not bagging DRO, by the way. As it happens, a different history could’ve seen DRO release big contract wins and my sell alert look like a shocker. They might still do so shortly. In which case, investors can buy back in now, at a much cheaper price. I’m only using this as an example to illustrate how it’s very easy to buy a “story” in the market. The danger is you end up with a simplified approach. High gas prices? Buy Beach. Tough retailing? Sell JBH. Drone attacks in Yemen? Buy Droneshield. Admittedly, this can work for a time…but the market will expose this cavalier approach eventually. Trading sentiment, instead of hard numbers, is a dangerous game. The way to give yourself the best chance is to really know your stock as much as you can. You’re much less likely to get blindsided by events…and/ or better able to see timely opportunities to buy more, or take profits. Editor, Small-Cap Systems and Australian Small-Cap Investigator
Gerrymandering - I appraised it back when most blue and Red states shared equally in this crime against democracy. Now, big changes are afoot, at long last, and reform has veered in unexpected ways. Prepare for several surprises. First a little background. Post-election, shallow rationalizations fingerpoint at California, where Democrats increased their control over the legislature to a 2/3 majority in both houses. Many Republican friends bemoan this, attributing the partisan tsunami to everything from demographic shifts away from white-male supremacy to a growing "culture of dependency." == Rule by the Takers? == Bill O'Reilly leads the sour grapes refrain -- that a majority of voters, lacking any concept of citizenship or deferred gratification, are interested only in "voting themselves stuff..." ...which is another grumbled version of the Tytler Calumny... (O'Reilly only replaces a smartypants word "largesse" with "stuff.") This slander against democracy has been dogma in grouchy circles for 90 years, even though it lacks a single actual example from all of human history. Grouches call the Tytler Calumny an iron law - that democracies are all doomed as citizens become greedy, lazy and decadent, causing collapse, followed by the inevitable return of oligarchy and tyranny. They call Abe Lincoln a fool to hope -- "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Whiney, disloyal... and wrong. Sure, demographic shifts have some effect. (Watch Jon Stewart remind O'Reilly of times when "white America" fretted about unclean immigrants called "the Irish.") But that's not the real explanation for what happened in California. There is news under the news, a political revolution that ignores the chattering caste and the lobotomizing "left-right political axis." It does bear on real differences between Red and Blue America, but not those that you think. Care to explore what really happened? == California's three-part citizen rebellion == The stunning event was a triple whammy that swept California a few years ago, when voters rose up and voted-in a trio of constitutional changes that would: (1) end gerrymandering and require impartial redistricting (2) turn the general election into a run-off between the top two vote-getting candidates in the primaries, regardless of parties (3) make those primaries open, so that all voters could pick among all candidates, choosing the pair in each race who would run-off in the fall. 2012 was the first year with clear results, which were unexpected and epochal because of how the three reforms interplay. I'll get to all that in a minute. Only first note this. The anti-gerrymandering initiative was originally authored and pushed by the Californian Republican Party (CA-GOP). An act of hypocrisy, since every Red State indulges in the foul practice far more vigorously - - from Texas to Georgia to Alaska -- to a degree that would embarrass even a Chicago ward heeler! No problem. CA-GOP figured they'd take advantage of Blue Staters' penchant for reasonableness and low levels of party loyalty, plus their ability to see how wretchedly unjust the old system was. For purely self-interested reasons, CA-GOP urged state voters to do the right and logical thing! Of course, CA-GOP's true aim was more conniving -- to rob their adversaries of an advantage in the biggest blue state. (In fairness, the Democratic Party has tried to talk Red State voters into doing this... with zero results.) Now I confess - I voted against the referendum, despite my long record inveighing about Gerrymandering! I still hoped for a multi-state deal, with California dropping the practice in exchange for (say) Texas and Indiana. That would leave neither party disadvantaged and thus... ... but of course, that never would have happened. I was wrong and the people were right. Someone had to do it first. And, in fact, California voters proved stunningly wise. == The wisdom of three == Think about those triple reforms I listed above. The combined effects of the triple whammy are stunning: 1) No longer able to arrange purely safe districts for themselves, nearly all state legislators and congressfolk now have to work harder in the general election than before. Aw. Too bad. 2) Radicals of both parties were robbed of influence because now republicans in largely democratic districts can vote in the primary, the election that matters, and vice versa in GOP majority districts. Moderation was the huge winner. (And would be in Red America, if this happened there. Think about what that would mean to the radicals in the current GOP U.S. House delegation.) 3) In many cases, the result has been a general election in which two republicans face off against each other, or two democrats! Suddenly they are interested in, and are listening to and trying to please folks who are the minority in their district. That minority transforms into tie-breakers, the king-makers. Ponder that. For the first time, if you are in the minority party of your district, someone will listen to you anyway. Your vote will actually matter. If you are a republican in a largely democratic district, you may never have a conservative representative. But you'll be able to tip the balance between two liberals. And they'll know that fact. They'll talk to you. 4) And finally, the big surprise result that no one expected. The dems picked up more seats in the Assembly, State Senate and Congress. But... but how did the democrats do even better without gerrymandering? That shouldn't happen, because the districts are now fair! I will tell you how, and it should have been obvious all along. == The surprise outcome, and what it means == Under gerrymandering, the ruling party jiggers districts to their own advantage. In Texas, not long ago, some were more than a hundred twisty miles long with necks less than one mile wide. (Be proud, you Republicans, be very proud.) They arrange boundaries so that there are a few tortuous districts with 90% or more democratic voters and a lot more districts with 65% republican voters. The result, in theory, should be more republican seats. That is the logic and it is why republican voters in the state go along with such a blatantly cynical and rapacious scheme. Out of partisan loyalty. But it's a lie! In California, the new redistricting law replaced this system (though it had never been as horrific as Texas) with sensible, compact districts... a whole lot of which happened to be merely 55% democratic. This meant that the local politicians could not take victory for granted, they had to work hard and woo some republicans... but the odds were still slightly in their favor, since CA has an overall demo-tilt. And this showed in a year when democrats were highly motivated to vote. They worked harder... and their party gained seats. Now think about this result. What it means is that gerrymandering was never what the politicians claimed it to be! A way for democrats in California or republicans in Texas to eke out a few more seats for their side. That justification, after all, might persuade your radical Tea Party voter to shrug and go along, because Fox has him so riled up he will forgive an obvious scam (gerrymandering) because it hurts the hated other side. But no, gerrymandering is not about party advantage, at all! It is about reinforcing radicalism and -- above all -- it is a job protection racket for elected politicians. Designed to preserve safe seats and ensure that the pol needn't ever fear a threat that voters might actually judge him, consider alternatives, or even fire him. Just look at the results! Congress as a whole has a national approval rating of just 9%! Yet, individual representatives in safe districts get returned again and again. This is the biggest reason. == The key come-away lesson == It is possible to do everywhere what Californians have done. Banish a foul and disgusting crime against democracy that's been committed by the entire political caste, regardless of where they stand along the largely irrelevant left-right "axis." Yes, there is a partisan tint to all this... voters have risen up against gerrymandering in several blue states but not a single red one, and this shows in the radical, never-compromise, manichean dogmatism of the Republican House. It shows in the fact that the not-gerrymandered U.S. Senate shifted left this election along with the overall electorate re-picking President Obama, while the gerried House only nudged a little, even in the face of 9% approval ratings for the institution. But the partisan tint does not matter. By any standard, gerrymandering is filth. It is crime. Its nineteenth century vileness is indefensible in the 21st. It doesn't even make logical sense in the terms used by its defenders! And we will all have a better America when it's gone. == Can we get rid of it? == Given the entrenchment of both partisanship and job-protection thinking among the politicians in some parts of the country, it's hard to see this obscenity ever being negotiated away. I am hoping that a few more blue states -- notably Maryland, New Jersey and Illinois -- will see citizen uprisings against gerrymandering. But the GOP has probably learned its lesson from the surprising way things turned out in California. They will be tepid, at best, and possibly help to oppose such reforms in states like New York. No, there is just one locus for salvation and hope -- one that should have stepped in ages ago to save us. The courts. Because gerrymandering is blatantly, despicably an outright effort to steal elections and votes - a guild-protection racket by a profession against its customers, deliberately repressing competition in restraint of fair trade. A scheme to disenfranchise 40% of the electorate in any state, denying them the chance, ever, of voting for a person they feel actually listens to them or might represent them. It has exacerbated partisan radicalism, fury and impracticality in American political life. And it does even more foul things that you can read about in my older essay on the subject. Will the courts ever throw out this blatant violation of the principle of one person, one vote? Not while Justices Scalia, Thomas, Alito, Roberts and Kennedy sit on the high bench. Which is why we may just have to wait. Maybe quite a while. Even though this whole issue has nothing to do with classic left-right, or capitalism/socialism, or liberal-conservative or any other legitimate political matter. Nor is it even about the Republican Party, whose health would likely improve a lot if California-style reforms took place across Red America. (They are currently unable to adapt to their shellacking in the 2012 elections, because gerrymandered radicalism stands in the way of pragmatic re-evaluation.) No, this Court won't rule in favor of the people because... because... ...well... I honestly can't figure any clear or logical or cogent reason why. As I've shown, only short-sighted fools believe anymore that gerrymandering is actually about partisan advantage. One can picture the clever - if biliously partisan - Justice Scalia finally realizing this. One can envision him accepting that there's no justification - not even a cynical one - for the outrageously unjustifiable, and at last voting to end the crime, bringing Thomas and Alito with him. Yes, one can picture it. Still, you know they won't do it, as sure as day. A future court, honored by posterity, will erase this felony, a crime in which history will judge this court to be complicit. And so -- we'll wait. 1. See the same California transition and realization, told interestingly from a more partisan democratic perspective. As I said, the real victor in California was moderation. Hence, although the California legislature is now 2/3 democratic, the big surge came among moderates. Don't expect compulsory Druid-worship. Or broccoli-eating mandated by Jerry Brown's denim-levi secret police. I'll take wagers on this. 2. If you live in a still-gerrymandered state, you aren't helpless! Try a lovely judo tactic. Register in whatever party "owns" your district! All democrats in republican districts should talk fellow democrats into registering republican! And vice versa for you republicans in democrat-gerried districts. Forget labels, or which party has your loyalty nationally or by doctrine. The election that matters to you is the primary! If enough of your neighbors do this, you'll be able to help a moderate republican take on the radical republican incumbent. (Or the same thing in a dem-held area.) You and others who pull this trick - you will become the swing voters, the king-makers. Your vote will matter again. 3. For more political suggestions, see: Politics for the 21st century 3. For more political suggestions, see: Politics for the 21st century
Whenever I start my layouts for CCG, I put the color swatch up on my computer screen and then search for a photo that will go with the colors. I've had this picture of my mom on my computer for a while and have wanted to scrap it, but that bright red shirt was somehow not working for me. But when I got this combo, I knew it was time to scrap it. This one is for my multi-volume album called "Book of Silly," where I have all the silly family photos documented for eternity! I pulled out lots of different papers for this one. The gray is SEI, the red polka dots is Girls' Paperie, the monsters are Sassafras Lass, the blue patterns are Scenic Route and Deja View, the red numbers are Making Memories, and I managed to use some "vintage" 7 Gypsies, too! The transparent tape measure is Teresa Collins. I was delighted to find the LOL sticker in my stash--the perfect color! This scalloped border is an old Sassafras Lass stamp. I used embossing powder to give it some pizzazz. Another little Sass monster. I cut off his body because was green and didn't go with the colors. The blue frame and the frame around the Jenni Bowlin ticket was cut out of that same Sass paper. I can't remember who, but I saw someone have these free-floating pennants, and I thought I'd give it a try. I have SO many of those old Doodlebug flowers, and I was happy to use one here. The speed limit signs are old Imagination Project stickers. One of the things I love about this challenge is that it gets me digging through my stash. The quote is another old sticker that came on a sheet by Narratives (Creative Imaginations, I think--they look like Chinese fortunes). I tucked another little monster inside a frame. I forgot to ink him. That's really bugging me, so I think I'll take him out and give him some ink and then put him back. :) Come on over to CCG and take a look at all the different ways the team did the banner challenge--so fun to see everyone's takes on the same challenge! I hope you'll play along. We have an awesome prize up for grabs from our sponsor, Unity Stamp Company. And we choose a layout to feature each day--it just might be you! Thanks for stopping by my blog and looking at my page!
Author Julie Smith writes like jazz should sound–cool, complex, and penetrating right to the heart. Don’t miss out on this great deal on books 4 and 5 in Edgar-winner Julie Smith’s series featuring funny, lively lawyer Rebecca Schwartz (plus a bonus short story) — at a very nice price! Rebecca Schwartz Mysteries 4-5 by Julie smith Vol. 4: DEAD IN THE WATER WHAT’S THE ETIQUETTE WHEN YOUR HOSTESS IS ARRESTED FOR MURDER? San Francisco lawyer Rebecca Schwartz has occasion to wonder when she and her weekend hostess, Marty Whitehead, find a body floating in the 30-foot kelp tower at the Monterey Aquarium, and Marty’s promptly dragged off to the slammer. Rebecca quickly grasps the Emily Post solution — sign on as Marty’s lawyer, try to keep her client’s two young kids out of the deep end, and somehow avoid drowning in the sea of lies gushing from Marty’s mouth–and everyone else’s. There’s a lot of intrigue among the aquarium’s oceangoing primates, as well as rumors of a pearl beyond price. Plus a new romance for our heroine! Volume 5: OTHER PEOPLE’S SKELETONS WHAT SHE’S ABOUT TO LEARN WILL ROCK HER WORLD! Rebecca Schwartz, “Jewish feminist lawyer,” as she’s fond of saying, thought she knew her best friend–and her boy friend. Not to mention her family. But everything’s about to change. Secrets spill out of these pages like hornets out of a nest, each with its own distinct sting, as author Smith weaves a thrill-packed and complicated San Francisco mystery that’s as much about how little we know about our nearest and dearest as it is about whodunit. Rebecca’s shocked when Chris Nicholson, her glamorous law partner, is arrested for murder–but not nearly so shocked as when she discovers Chris can’t come up with an alibi. What she was doing, Chris says, involves a secret so damaging she’d be drummed out of San Francisco legal circles if anyone knew. Sure enough, when Rebecca uncovers it, her world tilts on its axis — and continues to list, ever more dangerously, as the story picks up speed and this formerly rational lawyer finds her worldview threatened by things she never knew existed. At least not in her circle! And Chris is far from the only one with a skeleton in her closet. Fans of Nancy Pickard’s delicate psychological probes, Janet Evanovich’s wild romps, and Marcia Muller’s complex yarns will appreciate this one. Author Alert: I wrote these after I’d written the first book in the Skip Langdon Police Procedural Series, which is a much darker proposition than the Rebecca Schwartz books. Usually. But some readers have remarked that these two are a good deal darker than the three previous titles in the series — edgier, more realistic, and… well, just not as funny. Guilty as charged. (Sorry! They just came out that way.) DEAD IN THE WATER has some scary scenes, and some readers have been offended by the way the characters wrestle with issues of religion and lack of same in OTHER PEOPLE’S SKELETONS. Whatever you decide, we’ve got your back: if you think you’ll like it and you guess wrong, we’ll refund your money and throw in a free book! Just write me at [email protected]. –Julie Smith BONUS SHORT STORY: BLOOD TYPES This one’s absolutely shivery. If you’re a lawyer, and someone you haven’t heard from in years calls to ask how to execute a holographic will, what are you to think if he dies the next day? For all fans of Bay Area mysteries, with perhaps more appeal to readers of noir than cozies. ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °
I lost my Virginity aged only twelve to a young blonde maid, two years my senior… in a field between the motorway and Neath Abbey Ruins… wearing a ‘Kiss Me Quick’ hat I’d stolen from a stall at the Fair … with a gang of other kids sharing flagons of cider and cheering us on from close by. My eldest son was born a month before my fifteenth birthday to a pretty, raven-haired girl a school year above me… who all the older boys wanted. I learnt the value of Kinship … whilst fighting ‘Territory’ street battles in the Woodlands as a very young lad… whenever I heard a Battle-Cry erupt from my mouth upon seeing my Brother hurt … or his angry face pelting in my direction if I was faltering. I’ve not shed a single tear as a man except out of happiness or pride … but ‘Disappointment’ upon my Mother’s stern face is the only thing that brings me close … which is one of the reasons why I stay the fuck away from her, yeah. I am Pagan through and through … I feel the ‘Cords’ that connect me to what’s Important… the ‘Love’ I feel but rarely speak is a Witchcraft I hold so very deep. My ‘Memories’ are my photographs … as I Travel and Explore… Chartering my way through this Life. * this poem is dedicated to my son Michael who was taken through the veil Black September 2021… see ya when I get there, boy. ** Cymry Dewiniaeth & Paganiaeth is Welsh for ‘Welsh Witchcraft & Paganism’.
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On May 8th, several members of our leadership team took the opportunity to visit with our teams north of town at Fort Hills, Kearl and Fort McKay. We all agree it’s unfortunate that we don’t get out to visit these locations nearly enough. But there is one thing to be said – every person who makes the trip comes back with one big takeaway – the positive energy and cohesiveness of these teams is palpable. There was a comment made about how it would be nice to have the team look more official, so we hatched a plan to get them team jerseys with numbers coinciding with their seniority. There will be more to come on this story as we meet again with the team once all jerseys have been distributed and we can catch them in action. Our second stop was Kearl. It had been a while since I personally had been there to visit and certainly not since the relocation of the team. This was a wonderful way to bring everyone together and have a bit of an introduction to members of our leadership team. Some new Kearl team members had never met some of the DTL leadership group, so it was a unique opportunity for them to get an update from our President Tim Lindsay. It was great to see such a strong turnout and the level of engagement through the question period. Thank you to Walter Makey and Christie Zacher for setting the visit up for us. Our last stop prior to heading back to town was our Fort McKay shop. Once again, it had been several years since I had been out to visit the shop. It was truly impressive to see all the ‘moving parts’ and the hard work being put in by the maintenance teams to get our units ready for the Lake Louise project due to start up again on May 17th. From the efficiencies in the parts room, to the work on the floor, in the engine bay and in the paint booth the shop was buzzing with activity. This team is ensuring our equipment looks its best and doing so in an efficient and effective manner. This team is ensuring our equipment looks its best and doing so in an efficient and effective manner. Thank you, Steve Coleman, Ryan Chandler and all the techs and body shop personnel on teams 1, 2, 3 and 4 for making it all look so easy and seamless.
You can now order your stickers on the front page http://ecoboostperformanceforum.com via the paypal link. Pat is working to be able to let you order multiples via the button, as soon as that happens I'll update the button. Have made extensive use of the window sticker function on first page. Searched dealer stock of many dealerships for 2013 Escape-with 2.0l EB. Was able to see exactly what was on various automobiles. Drove new one home on Sat-Dealt almost entirely online-except for finalize and of course several test drives at 3-4 dealers. 2003 Tahoe is gone. Wife's new daily driver. now i can get back to getting back on mine-my way. Hmmm-any tuners cracked that 2.0 yet. Couldn't quite see my way clear on the 2013 tricolor white demo at excellent price point-advertised. Think it could have been had in low 30s.
Hello! My name is 10Claws, and I give discord templates and alterhuman related post. Today's post is about alterhuman journals! Alterhuman journals are technically considered gear, but don't have to be considered gear. Often referred to as "therian journals", these journals can be used to document things like phantom shifts, your therotypes, etc. Heres some things you can add to one! · List animalistic traits you have. These traits could be traits you share with your thereotype/kintype, or just animalistic behaviors in general. I recommend using different symbols or colors to differentiate said traits and behaviors. · Log your shifts and thoughts. This one is kind of easy to follow, but let me try and explain anyways. Basically, list any type of shift you have, whether it be a phantom shift or mental shift, it's still good to write down. Make sure to write the shifts in detail too. It'll help if you are trying to find your thereotype or kintype. ·List your thereo/kintypes. If you already know what your thereotype and/or kintype is, I recommend listing it. List things like what animal/ creature it is, how it looks (if you have had a dream as said type before, if you are a cladotherian you don't have to label this), memories, etc. · Make a reflection page every month or two. List the things you may feel different about. For example, if you listed a thereotype that you were kind of unsure about in the past, you could write about how you finally found out what that thereotype was. You could also write about the actual species of your thereotype. (Optional) Make a gear wishlist :3
In August last year, Trey Lance was traded from the San Francisco 49ers to the Dallas Cowboys as a backup behind starting quarterback Dak Prescott. The move also sparked interest in the 24-year-old’s personal life, especially who he is currently dating. Lance does have a long-term girlfriend: Brynn Chandler - the couple have been together for about three years. Who is Brynn Chandler? Trey Lance and Brynn Chandler are quite private about their relationship, but made it public in 2021. Since then, Chandler has been seen supporting him at his games with the Niners and now posts her love for the Cowboys on her social media. Chandler is originally from San Diego, California and is presently living and working in Los Angeles as an account executive for Flip CX. Chandler graduated from the University of Georgia in 2020 and is an athlete herself, having played volleyball in both high school and college. In fact, she helped lead the Bulldogs to three straight league titles. — Georgia Volleyball (@UGAVolleyball) December 3, 2019 Athleticism in Chandler’s genes She also comes from a family of athletes, two of whom just happen to have been NFL quarterbacks themselves. Her father, Chris Chandler, was a quarterback in the NFL for 17 years, from 1988 to 2004, playing for several teams during his tenure. He was a two-time Pro Bowler and even led the Atlanta Falcons to the Super Bowl in 1998, although they lost to the Denver Broncos. Chandler’s grandfather on her mother’s side, John Brodie, also happened to be a quarterback in the NFL, for Trey Lance’s former team, the San Francisco 49ers. Like Chandler’s father, Brodie also played in the league for 17 years, from 1957 to 1973, winning the league MVP title in 1970. He is now in the San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame. He also played golf professionally on the Senior PGA Tour for more than a decade. The women in Chandler’s family are athletes as well. Her mother, Diane Brodie, played collegiate tennis for the University of Southern California, and her sister, Ryann, played volleyball at UCLA. Despite living in different cities, Chandler made sure she made it to several of Lance’s games to support him, even if it meant 6 a.m. flights and a 24-hour turnaround. — FamedFace.com (@famedface) August 26, 2023 Despite spending the preseason as the starting QB, Lance could get his first start in the last game of the 2024 season. He has made just one appearance this season - in the 34-6 defeat to Philadelphia last month in which he completed four of six passes for 21 yards and one interception. Earlier this year, the Cowboys decided against triggering the fifth-year option in Lance’s contract which means that he will be a free agent at the end of the campaign.
This is the beginning of ‘Early Modern Britain’. It was a time of Renaissance, English and Scottish Reformation and the debilitating English Civil War. And as always, to the victor goes the spoils. It was a time of rulers who were vain, greedy and downright corrupt. It was a time of adulterers, swindlers and cowards. And it was a time in British history when war would tear the country apart. At the time of Elizabeth I’s death, England was changing dramatically. Let’s take a quick walk around London in this era. Imagine it’s been a rainy day and you’re out for a walk. Water puddles in dark alleys and the drains have overflowed down the middle of the cobbled streets as people huddle in their bedraggled hats and cloaks under dripping eaves. A horse-drawn carriage with clattering wheels speeds past on the uneven stones and carelessly splashes water on anyone who has braved the inclement weather. Normally the streets are packed with people and carriages and most days a blanket of smoke hangs over the city. The pollution gets in your eyes and the stonework of every building is blackened with it. Many of the houses are hundreds of years old and their timbers are deeply scarred with rat holes teaming with life. The houses are so close in the narrow alleys that occupants can reach out and touch hands with their neighbours if they chose to. London Bridge 1616 - public domain image \| But there is a reason you’re out and about on this day. After a downpour, you get the clearest view of the city with the sky washed clean of smog although the city air still smells of coal smoke. But it’s not just the burning coal that affects your nostrils. There are noxious fumes coming from the parts of the city where tanning is taking place and aromatic horse dung still lies in piles in the streets. As the day wears on, the smells are intensified by the stench from cesspits in cellars and from the carts filled with dung-pots left in the streets by rakers, whose business it is to empty private cesspits. Pigeons fly out from under the eaves of the old houses and their dropping leave white streaks on everything below. Rats scavenge behind crates avoiding the rubbish collectors in their horse-drawn carts collecting rotting matter from kitchens. You will be able to smell the flocks of sheep and herds of cattle driven by hoof to the abattoirs where their dung and blood add to the aroma on the streets. Very soon, the streets will fill, not just with permanent residents who contribute to the overcrowding feeling, but hundreds of thousands of people who come to town daily to go to markets, fairs and to do business in the city. Very soon there will be crowds of people and animals everywhere so you know not to linger. And then you listen to the sounds of London. Oxen are led into the city and slaughtered every day and the squeals and bellows they make in their pens is considerable and disturbing. There is the sound of iron wheels of coaches grinding over the cobbles and the hammering of blacksmiths and candlestick makers. There are the bells of rakers driving their dung-carts, the yelling of those gathering around a cockfight, the shouting of vendors pushing their carts, householders leaning out their windows and shouting to neighbours and you would hear the hourly chimes of more than a hundred churches. This London is so crowded, smelly and noisy you will barely be able to hear yourself think. Map of London 1593 - public domain image \| With the increase in population, diseases lurked around every corner and in every shadow. Everyday life meant being aware of the flu, dysentery, typhoid and smallpox and then there were always outbreaks of plague to be aware of. If you had a swelling in your armpits, if you were exceedingly thirsty, had a headache and if you were vomiting, you knew you were in serious trouble. You also knew to air your bedding in case there were fleas. You were certainly aware that fleas caused the disease but if you found any or you had been bitten, it was already too late because nobody had any idea how to treat it. Plague broke out in London in 1603, 1636 and in 1665. Each time it killed a significant part of the population but each time London recovered. Of course, other towns as well as London were also periodically devastated by the plague. However, the plague of 1665, which affected London and other towns, was the last recorded outbreak and no one is very sure why because rats still scurried through the dark streets and people were still throwing dirty water and other rubbish from their windows into those same streets. Great Plague - public domain image \| 17th century London was a dangerous place to live if you were poor but if you were rich, you were lucky. Transportation was no problem for you. You could easily walk from one street to another or you could travel by boat along the Thames. You could even hire a horse-drawn carriage called a ‘hackney carriage’ to take you around London if you desired. The streets were lit for the first time and an oil lamp was hung outside every tenth house. Not that the oil lamps gave you much light but they were certainly better than nothing at all, which was a fact of life on the other side of town. The poor lived in houses east of the city where the streets were narrow and dark, well away from the wealthy people. Unfortunately, in these overcrowded, heavily populated areas, crime and danger was ever present and in a place where so many had so little, it’s not so surprising. Tempers and alcohol produced volatile situations and you made sure you kept a dagger close by to protect yourself. You learnt to keep your wits about you on the way home from the local pub especially as ale was the only available liquid to drink due to the unsanitary condition of the water. Looking at the rivers running with excrement, they had a good point. London Bridge over the Thames 1632 - public domain image \| However, improvements were on the way and a piped water supply was being created. Water from a reservoir travelled along elm pipes through the streets then along lead pipes to individual houses. Unfortunately, you had to pay to be connected to the supply and it was not cheap. Because of the state of the water, keeping yourself clean wasn’t an easy task. You did that, not by washing, but by rubbing linen cloths over your body and through your hair to soak up the sweat. To take care of our body odour, you used perfume to improve the smell of your clothes. After taking care of your body odours, you had to take care of your breath. Thankfully, the Chinese had invented the toothbrush in 17th century and it had been introduced to England so there wasn’t as much need to chew cumin seeds or aniseed anymore. However, after brushing, you still rinsed out your mouth with white wine. In the Middle Ages, ordinary people's homes were usually made of wood. Most of the poor lived in huts of two or three rooms while some families managed to survive in just one room. Your furniture, such as it was, remained very plain and basic because enhancements in furniture were not a part of your life. But there were some more improvements on the horizon. In the 16th century, chimneys had been a luxury only the well-off could afford. Windows however took a little longer to become commonplace. Glass was definitely a luxury so those who could not afford it made do with linen soaked in linseed oil. However, during the 17th century glass became cheaper and by the late 17th century everyone had glass windows, sometimes casement windows (ones that opened on hinges). Later on, sash windows that slid up and down vertically to open and shut, were being introduced. In the early 17th century people began eating with forks for the first time. New foods were being introduced into England such as bananas and pineapples and new drinks such as chocolate, tea and coffee had arrived. By late 17th century, coffee houses had popped up all around town and merchants and professional men alike could meet to read newspapers and talk shop. 17th Century coffee house - public domain image \| But not everyone was so lucky. Ordinary people existed on food like bread, cheese and onions and they ate pottage each and every day. This kind of strew was made by boiling grain in water to make a kind of porridge to which you added vegetables and pieces of meat or fish, if you could afford it. Everyday life was a challenge and a hazard so it’s not surprising that the average life span in the 17th century was considerably shorter than today. Average life expectancy at birth was only 35 and many people died while they were still children. Out of all the people born, between one third and one half died before the age of about 16. However, if you could survive to your mid-teens you would probably live to your 50s or early 60s. Stagecoaches were running regularly between the major English towns from the middle of the 17th century although the wealthy were still being carried around in sedan chairs while out and about in town. You paid dearly for the luxury of a stagecoach, and to top it off, they were very uncomfortable on the rough roads because none of them had springs. And of course, there was always the danger of highwaymen. Dick Turpin - public domain image \| The word ‘highwaymen’ conjures up characters like Dirk Turpin but these men were not so polite. If you were unlucky enough to come across these ruffians, there would also be another group cutting off your retreat. They would not only take your money and jewels, they took your clothes as well. Some killed their victims but most were left tied up in the forest in such a way that you could work yourself lose in an hour or two and make your way to the nearest inn or town in your underwear. If you survived the trip, you would be grateful to arrive unharmed but even these establishments housed thieves and unsavoury characters. Heaven help you if you needed to see a doctor because barber-surgeons were still performing operations. Their knowledge of anatomy was improving but still left a lot to be desired. In 1628 William Harvey published his discovery of how blood circulates around the body and doctors had discovered how to treat malaria with bark from the cinchona tree. William Harvey - public domain image \| But even with these improvements, medicine was still handicapped by wrong ideas about the human body. Most doctors still thought that there were four fluids or 'humors' in the body - blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. Illness resulted when you had too much of one humor. When that happened, you needed to be bled. Nevertheless, during the 17th century, a more scientific approach to medicine emerged and some doctors thankfully began to question traditional ideas. The 17th century would contain the most religious decade Britain had ever seen since the Middle Ages and society would be dominated by Christian beliefs and a willingness to severely punish people for ungodly behaviour. Puritanism was on the horizon Trisha Hughes is an Australian author living in Hong Kong. She is the author of her memoir ‘Daughters of Nazareth’ and she has completed the first two books in her V2V trilogy, ‘Vikings to Virgin - The Hazards of being King’ and ‘Virgin to Victoria - The Queen is dead. Long live the Queen’. This second in the series is due for release on 28th April this year. You can contact Trisha via her websites: www.trishahughesauthor.com www.vikingstovirgin.com or via
The Beauty of Simple I’m a fan of Simon Sinek, primarily because he has made a massive impact by keeping things incredibly simple. Although he can sometimes come across as too simplistic, it’s then your role as a leader to apply his ideas to your context. His Golden Circle concept is brilliant in its simplicity and an inspiration for many purpose-driven companies. Starting with Why has become common knowledge in the leadership development jungle. When you examine the concept more closely, you may be amazed at its simplicity. Like so many things in life, you could ask yourself, “Why did I not think of that?” Another perfect example of simplicity is Barnett Newman’s painting “Who’s afraid of red, yellow, and blue?” It features a lot of red, bordered by a thin blue line and an even thinner yellow line. We, human beings, are attracted to simplicity. We like it when people keep things simple. It’s the success of many politicians, business executives, and companies with simple and understandable messages. Which they keep repeating over and over again. - I have a dream - Yes, we can - Think different - Just do it
These rules are disclosed to clarify the various responsibilities of all community members here on Escapers Zone. They shall be adhered to by everyone to ensure that our board runs smoothly and provides a fun and productive experience for all of our community members and visitors. Compiled stuffs not allowed. - Clearly you are not allowed to post any compiled plugin/module that's because our work is open source and all things open, there is nothing to hide. So please make sure don't upload these extensions without it's source code (.amxx/.dll/.so). Posting compiled things without source for any reason will lead to BAN. # Just to understand more see with me. 1-Re-HLDS - Open Source 2-Re-GameDLL - Open Source 3-Metamod-P - Open Source 4-AMXMODX - Open Source 5-Re-API - Open Source 6-Zombie Escape Mod - Open Source Then your little unknown code that will make much difference? Just ask your self. # Respect all members. - This rule not need much explaining, You need to respect all members so they can respect you. Insult or speaking with bad language with others will lead you to BAN. # - You should also thanks people who helped you for free. They wasted their time helping you so please thank them. By the nature if someone helped you or make you favor you should thanks him if you good person. # No Religious/Politician discussion. - Discussion about religion or politics not allowed for many reasons, So please keep your opinions to yourself and you can discuss it anywhere but not here if you break this rule your result is to BAN. # - Currently you need to post in English so we can understand you, We will do our best to add your language you can ask us to open you new Forum and you can support your country people with your language. You need to understand that we respect all languages but the simplest language is English and many people understand it, We don't like to be like some people who run in their own language so many people won't understand anything if we do like them you won't be able to even translate as we are use Arabic language which very hard to learn/translate. This project for all not some countries and others no. Make sure now to post in English so you can supported. #
The republican party, led by Donald trump, have hijacked our democracy, at least for the time being. Can you imagine actively trying to disenfranchise millions of African American voters because they didn't vote the way you wanted them to? That's exactly what has been happening over the past couple of weeks. Us black folks have to deal with voter suppression before and after we vote. Fortunately the courts have been seeing through this lame attempt by Mr. trump and his minions to change the out come of the election, and he has been taking one loss after another in the court of law. Apparently all those Judges that he appointed to do his bidding did not work out for him quite like he wanted them to. Here is the thing with the courts: unlike when you are on FOX News or conservative talk radio, you actually have to bring real proof and evidence of what you are alleging to prove your point. Mr. trump's lawyers have yet to do that. And, sadly for Mr. trump and his followers, Joe Biden's lead is actually widening as these ridiculous lawsuits play themselves out. Meanwhile, Donald trump isn't even pretending to be president anymore. Instead, he golfs all day and tweets about how the evil media and 79 million Americans stole the election from him. He fails to realize, of course, that his mishandling of a pandemic that has cost over 250,000 Americans their lives might have something to do with it. Anyway, now might be a good time to consider why we elected Donald trump in the first place, and consider where we are as Americans when it comes to electing those who lead us. The following article from Zeynep Tufekci, writing in the The Atlantic, is a good place to start. "Now that Joe Biden has won the presidency, we can expect debates over whether Donald Trump was an aberration (“not who we are!”) or another instantiation of America’s pathologies and sins. One can reasonably make a case for his deep-rootedness in American traditions, while also noticing the anomalies: the early-morning tweeting, the fondness for mixing personal and government business, the obsession with ratings befitting a reality-TV star—the one job he was good at. From an international perspective, though, Trump is just one more example of the many populists on the right who have risen to power around the world: Narendra Modi in India, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Vladimir Putin in Russia, Jarosław Kaczyński in Poland, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, my home country. These people win elections but subvert democratic norms: by criminalizing dissent, suppressing or demonizing the media, harassing the opposition, and deploying extra-legal mechanisms whenever possible (Putin’s opponents have a penchant for meeting tragic accidents). Orbán proudly uses the phrase illiberal democracy to describe the populism practiced by these men; Trump has many similarities to them, both rhetorically and policy-wise. He campaigned like they did, too, railing against the particular form of globalization that dominates this era and brings benefit to many, but disproportionately to the wealthy, leaving behind large numbers of people, especially in wealthier countries. He relied on the traditional herrenvolk idea of ethnonationalist populism: supporting a kind of welfare state, but only for the “right” people rather than the undeserving others (the immigrants, the minorities) who allegedly usurp those benefits. He channeled and fueled the widespread mistrust of many centrist-liberal democratic institutions (the press, most notably) —just like the other populists. And so on. But there’s one key difference between Trump and everyone else on that list. The others are all talented politicians who win elections again and again. In contrast, Trump is a reality-TV star who stumbled his way into an ongoing realignment in American politics, aided by a series of events peculiar to 2016 that were fortunate for him: The Democrats chose a polarizing nominee who didn’t have the requisite political touch that can come from surviving tough elections; social media was, by that point, deeply entrenched in the country’s politics, but its corrosive effects were largely unchecked; multiple players—such as then–FBI Director James Comey—took consequential actions fueled by their misplaced confidence in Hillary Clinton’s win; and Trump’s rivals in the Republican primaries underestimated him. He drew a royal flush. It’s not that he is completely without talent. His rallies effectively let him bond with his base, and test out various messages with the crowd that he would then amplify everywhere. He has an intuitive understanding of the power of attention, and he played the traditional media like a fiddle—they benefited from his antics, which they boosted. He also clearly sensed the political moment in 2016, and managed to navigate his way into the presidency, though that probably had more to do with instinct than with deep planning. Luck aside, though, Trump is not good at his job. He doesn’t even seem to like it much. He is too undisciplined and thin-skinned to be effective at politics over a sustained period, which involves winning repeated elections. He seems to have been as surprised as anyone else that he won in 2016. While he hates the loser branding that will follow him now, he’s probably fine with the outcome—especially since he can blame it on fantastical conspiracies involving theft or ballot-stuffing or the courts—as long as he can figure out how to escape the criminal trials that are certainly coming his way. (A self-pardon? A negotiated pardon? He will try something.)...... ......Make no mistake: The attempt to harness Trumpism—without Trump, but with calculated, refined, and smarter political talent—is coming. And it won’t be easy to make the next Trumpist a one-term president. He will not be so clumsy or vulnerable. He will get into office less by luck than by skill. Perhaps it will be Senator Josh Hawley, who is writing a book against Big Tech because he knows that will be the next chapter in the culture wars, with social-media companies joining “fake news” as the enemy. Perhaps it will be Senator Tom Cotton, running as a law-and-order leader with a populist bent. Maybe it will be another media figure: Tucker Carlson or Joe Rogan, both men with talent and followings. Perhaps it will be another Sarah Palin—she was a prototype—with the charisma and appeal but without the baggage and the need for a presidential candidate to pluck her out of the blue. Perhaps someone like the QAnon-supporting Representative-elect Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who first beat the traditional Republican representative in the primary and then ran her race with guns blazing, mask off, and won against the Democratic candidate, a retired professor who avoided campaigning in person. Indeed, a self-made charismatic person coming out of nowhere probably has a better chance than many establishment figures in the party. [More here] Good article, but the author is wrong with one of his assertions. It's not populism, but racism that drove trump to power. And it's racism that will bring others who are more talented politicians (see politicians who are better at hiding their racism) to the forefront. Mr. trump is gone for now, but others who think like him saw his playbook, and they know that they just have to tweak it a little bit to get the right result in the future
Telugu superstar Vijay Deverakonda, actor and producer who is famous for his works right since his debut film in Ravi Babu’s romantic comedy Nuvvila (2011) and created a milestone with his supporting role in the coming-of-age drama Yevade Subramanyam (2015) is a down-to-earth celebrity by heart. The national sensation Vijay Deverakonda has donned his Santa Cap for the fourth time as he turned DeveraSanta to celebrate Christmas with kids from special homes for children. The young hero shared a video recapping his Christmas celebrations from 2017 as he began the tradition on DeveraSanta, also giving an insight into the adorable and noble celebrations this year. In 2017, Vijay turned Deverasanta by distributing gifts in JNTU Hyderabad as a token of gratitude for making a massive sized painting of Arjun Reddy. Post which the actor has made it an annual tradition to embrace his ‘DeveraSanta’ mode by spreading happiness amongst his fans and family. In 2018, Vijay surprised his family on Christmas and urged his fans to spend time with their family by hugging them and saying ‘I Love You’ to them. Last year the young hero made Christmas special for his fans by asking his followers across social media their wishlist and surprised his 50 ‘rowdy boys and girls’ from his fan-base with customised gifts that he had handpicked amongst their requests. This year on Christmas, Vijay Deverakonda took DeveraSanta a step ahead and virtually interacted with 600 kids across 7 homes in and around Hyderabad. The actor enjoyed quality time with the kids and his team shared ‘Rowdy’ goodies with the kids post the celebration. Vijay Deverakonda ensured all safety protocols, sanitised the goods, his team also met the kids with utmost care and precautions. Talking about the same, Vijay Deverakonda said, “This Deverasanta and We went to 7 homes in and around Hyderabad – To surprise 600 little angels 🙂 We sang with them, We danced with them, We laughed with them. , I virtually hugged and blew them kisses, Our Santas brought them Goodies and Rowdy clothes and We loved making their day and giving them this memory” We would love to spread this love and cheer to a 1000 more kids, so send us details with Deverasanta of any homes you would like us to send new clothes to and we shall 🙂 Bollywood Retro Gem Movies – Guide was a path breaking film released on 6th December 1965 almost 55 years ago but whenever it is shown on TV one can still be found glued to the Television to see this movie. The film is based on the novel by R.K. Narayan the novelist brother of the famous common man cartoonist R.K. Laxman.
So I was chatting with my wife who is not really an advocate of the FIRE lifestyle. Her reasoning is as such: There is no point saving up so much if you can't enjoy it in the end. She cited the example of an uncle who suffered from dementia and died with $1 million in his bank account. It seems that this uncle worked hard his entire life but was not able to enjoy the fruits of his labour. He also has no offsprings who can inherit his wealth. This story to me, is the perfect example why we need to pursue the FIRE lifestyle. With the FIRE lifestyle, one can retire much earlier e.g. 40, 45, 50, or 55 and enjoy the fruits of his labour. Undeterred, she raised another point. There is nothing much to enjoy about the FIRE lifestyle. You cannot eat at restaurants, you cannot travel, so what is the point even if you are able to achieve FIRE? Do not be mistaken, actually FIRE does allow one to eat at restaurants and travel. But you have to build this into your budget, so it simply means you will need a bigger sum of money to achieve FIRE, which in turn means it will take longer for you to FIRE. There is nothing wrong with that, it is simply a matter of choice. Nobody is saying you have to FIRE by 40. The retirement age in Singapore is currently 63, you can FIRE at 62 if you want. Imagine! You have earned yourself an opportunity to retire and escape from your soul-sapping work one year earlier. Is this not a worthwhile pursuit in itself? Is this not worth fighting for? In a span of a few days, CNA published another article about FIRE: From the article, here are some crtifcisms of FIRE: Despite achieving FIRE, these individuals “found no satisfaction in their accumulated wealth”, suggesting that “frugality can diminish the joys of life greatly”, he noted. You have to understand what your priorities are. If you plan to travel to far-flung places yearly, then probably FIRE is not for you. On the other hand, if you are fine with travelling to nearby countries, and yet have the time to pursue your passions, then FIRE is worth it. “The most common criticism I get is that life is uncertain, and one should enjoy what money can do, while you still can,” he said. This is the typical YOLO mindset which got a lot of youngsters into trouble later on in life. There is uncertainty, but life is a game of probabilities. You have to plan for the scenario with the highest probability for you. For most, it is living to your 80s. “But what you cannot get back is time. What you are giving up to save the money … is hours with your children, with your friends, with yourself. If you are willing to give up that time, then I think it’s a perfectly sound decision. For most people, it depends on what their priorities are.” This is nonsense! The whole purpose of FIRE is to allow yourself more time to pursue what you have always wanted to do. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
“Time is not infinite,” offers Blur’s Damon Albarn in the opening scene of new documentary film, To The End. Born of the Britpop age that promised so much, the band now in their 36th year and on their second comeback seem acutely aware that they aren’t, as their gobby rivals once promised a generation, going to “live forever”. We begin with Albarn enjoying a pastoral existence on the rural Devon coast; getting cut up by Land Rovers on winding roads, celebrating the first egg from his beloved pet chicken and living in a very big house in the country. But all’s not well. Shattered by the split from his partner of 25 years, the self-confessed workaholic turns his heartache into song – and can only do it with his oldest friends around him. As guitarist Graham Coxon puts it, “a boulder is dislodged” within his pal – with two decades of pent up emotion pouring out. That frank and honest storyline alone (we often see the frontman struggling and in tears) would have made for a must-see film, but the stakes are higher. As well as charting the indie legends’ recording of their immaculate comeback album ‘The Ballad Of Darren’, To The End also follows them on the road to a pair of shows at London’s Wembley Stadium. Directed by Transgressive Records founder Toby L, To The End is a joyful and touching tale of a band crawling out of their Last Of The Summer Wine years to get all Spinal Tap once more. Each member has a challenge to beat: bassist turned cheesemonger Alex James savours the party lifestyle while remaining fearful of his old problems with alcohol, Coxon wrestles with the notion of being a stadium band when he only ever wanted to be a punk, and drummer turned politician Dave Rowntree goes and breaks his bloody leg weeks before curtain-up. Still, the highs are higher; it’s wonderful to see the band retrace their friendship right back to school, the live footage from their intimate warm-up shows and the Wembley gig itself put you right in the beer-soaked mosh-pit, and Coxon gets a laugh by doing something pretty gross with a can of Diet Coke. No Spoilers. They bicker, they hug, they call each other c**ts, they get the job done. While Blur’s last doc and accompanying live movie No Distance Left To Run was a portrait of a band celebrating their legacy and giving a nostalgia-hungry world exactly what they craved, this spiritual sequel shows a band simply supporting each other. Whether they return again or not remains to be seen. But even if they don’t, this was one hell of a final fling. - Director: Toby L - Release date: July 19 (in cinemas) The post Blur – ‘To The End’ review: Britpop legends prove love and friendship outlasts all appeared first on NME.
I was listening to the Gourds cover of Snoop Dogg’s Gin & Juice as I wrote this post. Unfortunately Friday’s weather did not follow into Saturday. The day was cold, blustery, and overcast. I drove up the road that runs along the Guadalupe until I came to the Lazy L campground, site of GRTU’s Troutfest. Pulled in the gravel lot and was directed by volunteers where to park. Cutting across the field towards the event tents, I saw many of the vendors with outdoor booths struggling to keep it all on the ground. The wind was howling and extra hands and weight were needed to hold everything in place. It didn’t help that temps were in the 40’s, even lower with wind chill. Despite the weather, the event was outstanding. The speaker lineup, which ranged from local guides to nationally known flyfishing personalities, kept attendees in the presenter hall for most of the day. The fly tyers booth was relatively small compared to other shows, but what it lacked in size, it made up for in quality. The tyers covered, trout, bass, saltwater, panfish and other species. They were very open to questions and happy to share knowledge and tips. The main exhibition hall carried the usual suspects of brands, outfitters and organizations. The longest line was to buy GRTU swag, which speaks to the strength of the organization and the event. Outside, the midway was filled with vendors showcasing products ranging from camping gear and rafts to home furnishings and distilled spirits. A few broke out portable firepits to help deal with the cold. Before leaving Connecticut, I bought a ticket to the sold-out 2024 Fly Fishing Film Festival, aka IF4. As in past years, it was a series of short films, covering bonefish, the amazon (river not the company), western waters, and even a story about a car with flyfishing history. GRTU provided dinner and drinks, a nice touch and helped round out the night. And, as an added surprise, my ticket was the first called in the pre-show raffle. Won a nice pair of Smith Optics sunglasses. Not bad. I returned briefly for the Sunday session. The weather was better and crowds thinner. I mainly came back to see a panel talk by George Daniel, Pat Dorsey and Landon Mayer. If you don’t know these names, click the links. They are all flyfishing experts, with differing perspectives on how to get fish to hand. Growing up, I visited Texas frequently on family vacations. Big Red was a staple on those trips. Nice to see it’s still around. This event was well organized and worth the visit, despite the weather. While Texas may not be your first thought when it comes to trout, put this one on your list. You won’t be disappointed. Enjoy!
Produced by Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Hidenaga Katakami, Don McGowan, Greg Baxter, Cliff Lanning, Ali Mendes Screenplay by Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Rob Letterman, Derek Connolly Story by Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Nicole Perlman Based on Detective Pikachu by The Pokémon Company Directed by Rob Letterman Starring Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Suki Waterhouse, Omar Chaparro, Chris Geere, Ken Watanabe, Bill Nighy Based on the hit video game for the Nintendo 3DS, Pokémon Detective Pikachu is about as good as a video game movie has ever been. One time Pokémon wannabe trainer Tim Goodman is drawn into a mystery involving the disappearance of his father when a case he is on goes bad. Estranged from his dad and resentful of his father’s seeming obsession with the little Pokémon creatures, Tim has reluctantly picked up the trail of his dad’s case with a new partner, an amnesiac Pikachu. This partnership is even more unique as Tim can actually understand Pikachu, whereas most humans only hear Pokémons saying their own name incessantly. With the help of Lucy, an intern at the CNN-like news company, they dig deep and discover more than they bargained for; a megalomaniac, a conspiracy, genetic tampering and a whole lot more. This movie was fun and pretty hilarious. Having Ryan Reynolds as the voice of Pikachu was sublime. He brought a level of ridiculousness that the film needed. Fans of the game, and Pokémon in general, are going to love seeing all their favorites living in harmony alongside the humans of Ryme City, a city where Pokémon battles are illegal. Tim, played by Justice Smith, and Pikachu goes deeper and deeper into the dark underbelly of this seemingly peaceful city they discover all is not what it seems on the surface and this leads to some really great moments for fans and non-fans alike. Like the original Muppet Show, there were some jokes and visual hilarity that were definitely for adults and I, for one, was really happy that they pushed the threshold of the humor so that both kids and adults can enjoy the film. With the plethora of Pokémon and Pokémon jokes stuffed in this film it is all you could want and more. Fans will most assuredly get more out of this than non-fans or the casual Poké Trainer. The story itself is your standard boy searches for understanding and closure with his estranged father while uncovering the mystery of his supposed murder. However, with the addition of Ryan Reynolds’ Pikachu, some brilliant moments with Mr. Mime, Psyduck, and Mewtwo, the film pulls itself out of the cliché enough to be enjoyable. The ending is pretty obvious, but enjoyable anyway. I donʼt want to give too much away because for fans of the Pokémon franchise, they will be super happy with what they watch. Pokémon Detective Pikachu will definitely NOT be for everyone. But it will make fans happy and I personally enjoyed the heck out of it.
Tuesday, May 31, 2022 Monday, May 30, 2022 It seems that this figure went through many machinations before the actual production figure was settled upon. Early in the development stages of the Anti-Venom set, the figures were to be cast in a dark blue hue. This color was too close to Cobra's traditional look. But, of the figures that were designed in that design, the Lifeline figure had the head from the 2002 Side Track instead of the Stretcher head. From this design, the Anti-Venom morphed to a lighter blue color scheme. This was less traditionally Cobra, but wasn't a great color on most of the figures. In this set, though, Lifeline had an African-American Stretcher head and may have been planned to be Stretcher instead of Lifeline. Finally, Hasbro settled on the tan and green version for production. The head was painted in caucasian skin tones and made Sgt. Lifeline instead of Stretcher. Sadly, the production head was painted in flesh paint instead of molded in flesh colored plastic like the pre-production figures were. With the plastic heads available in different colors, you really see how much better they are than painted skin tones on a figure's head. The Stretcher mold saw a bit of use in the modern Joe line. Despite only appearing in 1990 during the vintage years, Hasbro liked the mold and brought it back in the 2000's. In 2002, the entire body and full accessory complement was used on the Side Track figure from Wave V of the A Real American Hero Collection. This figure, though, featured a new, caucasian head and got a different name. This version of the mold with another character change and the caucasian head was released in 2004. At the end of 2004, the head appeared again, only modified for a desert theme, in the Toys R Us exclusive Desert Patrol set. Sadly, we never got a proper Stretcher repaint. And, it seems a bit out of place to have Lifeline wearing his uniform and using his gear. I didn't like that Stretcher was erased as his character was strong and there was simply no reason for Side Track to exist in 2002 nor was there any reason that this Lifeline could not have used the full 1994 Lifeline mold. Saturday, May 28, 2022 Python Officer Profile Python Officer vs. Vibora Cart Artwork Python Officer by thedustinmccoy Tuesday, May 24, 2022 I don't really know what to think about Thrasher. He was among the first 1986 figures I acquired. And, he was terrible. His design, head and accessory were such a drastic departure from 1985 that I thought he must have been an early figure and the later releases that year would be better. Alas, as far as vehicle drivers go, I was wrong. And, Thrasher was perfectly exemplary of the quality that the 1986 vehicle drivers would feature. Most of them had overly large noses and heads. None came with cool gear like the '85's. And, none of the them really stood out as a figure that deserved a single carded release. All these years later, my opinion of Thrasher remains unchanged. And, for a figure that entered my collection at the height of my Joe world building, he is conspicuously absent from my stories. There are people who love Thrasher. While Road Pig gets the most association with Mad Max, Thrasher's look is also out of derivative post apocalyptic fiction. The oddball armor, bare midriff and green streak in his coiffed hair, though, don't create a particularly compelling design. The paint applications and colors used for Thrasher, though, are pretty good. And, it's a shame that he's one of the more adorned 1986 vehicle driver figures. He features layers of color and painted details that do tie him more to the 1985 releases than the spotty paint mask drivers who would follow through the year. In addition to his grey and black motif, Thrasher features green, brown and silver. It's a solid array of color that bring life to the mold's details. If Thrasher's shirt was not torn off, the figure would probably be more amenable to me. The 1985 vehicle drivers are known for their accessories. The figures included amazing weapons that were the envy of several single carded figures. 1986, though, did not follow this path. Most of the drivers did not include any accessories at all, further downgrading them from the previous brethren. Thrasher, though, was one of the few who did include an accessory. Sadly, though, it's an oddball lacrosse stick with a spiked ball instead of a net. It's a silly weapon. Though, it's made worse by the fact that the handle is incredibly thick and did not feature a natural grip. To this day, I have never successfully put the stick into Thrasher's hand. Others have done it. But, I can't bring myself to risk it. Especially for a weapon that's simply useless. As my only Cobra land vehicle available as 1986 started was my old Hiss Tank, Cobra found themselves at the mercy of Joe's superior mechanized capabilities. So, with the introduction of the Thunder Machine, it made no sense to have it be a one off vehicle that was manned by a named crew. So, in short order, the Thunder Machine was driven by old, beat up Cobras and was an army building, anti-infantry vehicle that rode in support of the Hiss battalions. When the STUN entered my collection later in the year, it simply joined a now formidable Cobra force. But, the Thunder Machine was not part of the Dreadnoks. It was Cobra. Of course, this left Thrasher as the odd man out. And, I had no use for the figure. But, he was part of the inspiration for the bands of "punks" that inhabited my Joe world. These were people who lived in the ruins and debris fields left by the massive battles between Joe and Cobra. They were not affiliated with either faction and they were dangerous to each. They survived by salvaging machines and weapons from the discarded battlefields. They sold these to 3rd party merchants who sold them back to Joe or Cobra. The punks were based on a throwaway line in an issue of Savage Tails that was passed around my classroom. I only remember that the good guys blasted their way through a nuclear winter wasteland. The "punks" became my wild card. Often, Joes or Cobras would have to scrounge debris fields for missing comrades or lost intelligence. Here, they'd run into punks. The punks were savage and could be formidable fighters. They had access to large caches of weapons. And, they'd use them to soften up their quarry before they'd finish the job in brutal, face to face combat. I built an entire society for these people. Some of them were runaways from the cities and towns surrounding the battlefields. Others were born into the life. And, some, like Buzzer, were disaffected intellectuals who found the allure of such raw brutality too much to resist. So, Thrasher would embody some of the punks. It was rare that they would win a skirmish. Even if they killed a few Joes, a larger force would come in and annihilate them. But, it was a way to get some use out of poor figures like Thrasher and also liven up the Joe vs. Cobra dynamic and provide diversions from the standard story. Thrasher had just the one release in the vintage line. As the Thunder Machine made its journey around the world and was released in various countries, Thrasher didn't follow. He was completely MIA until 2004 when he appeared in a convention exclusive attendee set with Zanzibar. This red Thrasher repaint showed that there wasn't much redemption for the mold. And, it sat unsold, for years...only selling out when it was offered on clearance. On the heels of the convention figure, though, Thrasher showed up in the first series of DTC Comic Packs in 2005. This figure got a new head. It also got blue pants which discolor worse than the plastic used in 1985 on the original 3 Dreadnoks. He was an odd choice and that Dreadnok Comic Pack was also clearanced for $3 after it had sat around, collecting dust in the warehouse for a few years. So, Thrasher got way more than he deserved. I'm not alone in disliking Thrasher. He is one of the few cheap Joe figures left. High quality figures can be had with no effort for $10. And, mint and complete with filecard versions top out at $15. In this market, that's about as cheap as figures come. Honestly, though, I'd avoid Thrasher even at those prices. He just offers nothing. But, for Dreadnok fans, he is one of the few members of the team. So, that alone makes him somewhat desirable. And, the Thunder Machine is a staple of any Dreadnok collection. So, you need a Thrasher for that. But, the overall package of the figure is just off from the original design of the Dreadnoks. But, again, my opinion of the figure is not shared by all. So, your personal value from the figure may vary from mine. Saturday, May 21, 2022 Back in the summer of 2019, I profile Sgt. Misha from the 2005 Comic Pack. At the time, you could get a carded version of the figure for $20. And, loose, mint and complete figures were under $10...if you could find them. Now, Misha's a $50 loose figure! That seems just absolutely nuts to me. But, at the same time, Misha is a really well done release that is unique, well colored and includes both the newly sculpted, high quality head and accessories. The Hasbro production quality from that era does leave something to be desired since the figure has small hands and will break if not handled carefully. Misha, though, represents much of what was great about the Comic Packs. It took Hasbro too long to find a recipe for good releases among those sets. But, when they did, Hasbro was capable of making some great looking figures. But, Misha also represents much that was wrong with the sets as his globby hands, brittle plastic, reused parts and useless rifle attest to. In the end, I think he's a pretty solid figure. But, certainly not worth $50 and is an easy skip at that price. As pretty much all the Misha's produced went into collector hands, there's a decent amount of content on him out there. Some of the reviews from the time that this Comic Pack was released are still out there and it's interesting to see how sentiment towards this figure was at the time of his release versus how we view it now. Tuesday, May 17, 2022 Confession time. I kind of like the Cobra Pogo. 1987 was the last year I played with Joes as a kid. And, the Pogo was one of those weirdo vehicles that I could incorporate into my world with a little imagination. In short order, it was a rather effective weapon against the Joes of the day. At least, until the Joes were able to start recognizing its movement patterns and were better able to swat them from the sky. But, I had a lot of fun with the Pogo for several of my final months of toy-using childhood. So, when I found a repaint of the Pogo sitting on the shelves of a local Big Lots at some point in the mid-1990s, I was interested in it. However, as I still had my childhood Pogo (a bit worse for wear, though) and the new repaint did not include a pilot figure, I simply couldn't pull the trigger to actually buy this new version. That was unfortunate. As, the 1993 Star Brigade Invader is not a bad toy at all. Even in 1987, I recognized the Pogo as a take on the classic Star Wars escape pod that C-3PO and R2-D2 used to crash on Tatooine. That connection to the sci-fi saga helps carry the design over into Star Brigade where the Invader is no longer a terrestrial weapon. But, instead, something that Cobra can use in space. As a kid, the prime feature of the Pogo that was so valuable was the rotating and elevating dual gun that's attached to the rocket booster's rotating base. It was rare for a Joe vehicle to have a gun mounted with such an array of movement. And, the 1987 Cobra Commander became an expert at maneuvering the weapon to hit pretty much any target once the Pogo was off the ground. This feature carries over the Invader and offers it the same flexibility that made the Pogo valuable. The Invader was among the final vehicles from the Joe line that I would see at retail. It, the 1994 Manta Ray and the Armor Bot hung around local Big Lots stores well into 1995. (It's possible the Razor Blade did, too. But, since I bought one of those, I may have blocked it from memory since I already owned one.) I didn't buy the Manta Ray or the Invader because they didn't include figures. And, as my money was stretched thin, I wasn't about to waste it on vehicles with no driver. I skipped the Armor Bot because I still think giant robots are boring and the figure was Armor Tech which was another line I had no interest in at the time. In the ensuing years, I had ample opportunity to acquire all of these vehicles. Even the massive Armor Bot was available sealed in the box for below retail price for more than a decade after I left it sitting at retail. This Invader, though, is the first of those small, driverless late vehicles I've acquired. I still don't find them all that interesting. And, were it not for a cheap, local find, I'd not have this Invader. In my hands, though, I'm now happy to own it. Cobra has precious few vehicles that look decent with the 1993 Star Brigade figures. But, the Invader's colors somewhat blend with both the Astro Viper and TARGAT from that year. As a kid, the Pogo was a quick strike weapon, usually helmed by Cobra Commander. It would hop into a battle, shoot a bunch of Joes, fire off a missile or two and then fire off the rockets on the underside to quickly slip away. It wouldn't win a battle on its own. But, it would soften up a Joe defense and create general chaos while the main Cobra attack force bore down on the target. From time to time, the Joes would shoot down the Pogo. Cobra Commander's armor kept him alive and suddenly the Cobra objective would shift from destroying the Joe base to rescuing Cobra Commander. In the end, they'd always rescue him and he's go off to plan another assault. I originally had the Pogo be unique to the Commander. But, in time, others would operate it. And, they'd often meet their doom as the Joes were better able to take them out. The original Pogo from 1987 was relatively well made. The basic design, though, lent itself to the toy's legs falling off, especially as you mimicked the jumping movements that defined the device. The 1993 Invader, though, is worse. First, it uses gold plastic. (Well, it's kind of a copper/gold color.) Gold plastic from the 1990s is notorious in how brittle it becomes over time. As such, Invaders tend to feel somewhat flimsy. And, I'm extra cautious in using it. The legs are much less stable than the those of the Pogo. But, I have to wonder if that's a feature of my sample versus a universal problem. But, in total, the Invader feels like it will fall apart if used too rigorously. And, even the neon hoses feel like they could snap under the smallest amount of pressure. As we're at a point where most collectors either display their toys or keep them packed away, the lower quality probably isn't as much of an issue. But, it's definitely something you notice with the Invader. Hasbro was all about saving money in 1993 and 1994. So, their use of an existing vehicle mold was that surprising. The fact that the Pogo, of all things, got a repaint while the Mauler did not really doesn't seem fair. But, the Pogo mold fit into the Star Brigade motif. So, we got this second paint job six years after the original release. The Invader was also released in Europe. The most notable thing about this release, though, is that it did include a pilot figure. A 1993 green and black Payload figure was included with the Euro pogo. He was made a Cobra to match the affiliation of the Invader. But, the figure is the same as the US release. The Invader didn't make it to India and never appeared again. But, for such an oddball item, you can't say that it wasn't properly used. Invaders remain available and cheap. The Pogo isn't popular. And, a brittle gold and neon green version is less so. You can get boxed samples between $20 and $30. Dealers will sell a lot of mint and complete loose versions in the $20-$25 range, too. If you can find one at market prices, it will run you $10-$15. The upside is that there are a lot of replacement parts for the Invader available. So, if you get an incomplete version for cheap, it's possible to complete it. Cheap Joe items are getting harder and harder to find. So, it's definitely worth seeking out an Invader before they inexplicably also get expensive. Saturday, May 14, 2022 The 1993 Payload was my first exposure to this figure mold. I found him on clearance at a KB Toy Works that used to be at Lafayette Square Mall in Indianapolis. Once in hand, he better filled a role that I had devised from my final childhood days. So, in time, I army built the figure. His gear is bright pink and kind of sucks. But, I gave him the dark blue versions of his weapon tree that came with the 1993 Muskrat. Since then, I've changed is weapon out quite a bit. But, the 1987 Psyche Out pack remains a constant. I consider this the best paint job of this mold. Part of that is nostalgia tainted glasses and the other part is just pure enjoyment of the simplicity of the colors. Oddly, pretty much all the 1993 Payload visors have yellowed. Yet, the clear visors on the 1994 Black and Blue figure remain crystal clear. At this point, I can't recall if maybe Payload's visor was supposed to be an off color. But, finding a clear one is now pretty much impossible. Being Star Brigade, there's not a ton of content on this figure out there. But, what does exist is pretty good. So, explore the links below and leave comments for the creators if you like their work. Tuesday, May 10, 2022 Saturday, May 7, 2022 SAW Viper Profile European SAW Viper Weapon Variant SAW Viper by gi_joe_85 SAW Viper by thedragonfortress
I recently competed in the 7 Day Rogue Like/Lite game jam. For it I created a Battle Royale style top down shooter that utilizes procedural map generation. This was my first time attempting to do such a thing and I think it turned out reasonably well. The game contains: - 3 Different Biomes - 14 Weapons - Enemy AI that battle the player and each other - The AI is buggy and loves to get stuck on walls. - Sometimes the game will end while 1 enemy still remains alive. - No tutorial. All things considered, I really enjoyed working on it and will hopefully get a more polished version up after the game jam ratings are over. If you have any feedback, I’d love to hear it!
I get most of my groceries from larger supermarkets, and I do not remember having any bad food from them. The most that I have run into has been potato chips that heve been stale, they are usually from a smaller convenience store. I think that supermarkets want to keep their reputations intact and therefore try to make sure their food is fresh, so that their customers keep coming back to their store. I was shopping in the supermarket section of Walmart and I saw a cockroach crawling on the bags of tortillas. It's weird to see roaches in public in well known national stores because roaches are usually something you see in private in old apartment buildings. Anyway, I wonder what kinds of things crawl on the food at Walmart at night when they close. Basically anyone who bought one of those bags of tortillas got bad food and didn't know it. (I did say something about the roach to a Walmart employee ,but they didn't seem too concerned.) Yeah, this has happened quite a lot in the past year. I bought a big bag of limes a few weeks ago, they looked like normal limes but they were dry as a bone, hardly any juice at all. I've also had issues with garlic and onions, they look fine until you peel the skin and see that it is not fit for eating. I have had this more than once i got some raviolis for my daughter her favorite ones which are the abc ones and they were all bad i couldn't believe it i was so mad so i complained to the company they gave me coupons for three free ones but couldn't give me more for the others that were bad cause i didn't have the barcode number or my receipt so i just stopped buying those kind. This has happened once or twice. The last time it was meat from the store, we took it right back and got our money back. It was not a problem. I smell the meat before I decide on the purchase to make sure it is still fresh. We have purchased cheese that had mold on it. Which also was returned to the store.
Just guessing Jimmy as I have never owned a diesel but would think around 10 to 12 MPg if you dont have a lead foot.. MPG with toad would be determined by weight of toad. Small toad would probably not affect the 350 that much. Maybe some of the DP owners will jump in If you on the flat no toad maybe close to 10 if you keep the speed down, with the toad 8-9. Mountains or a heavy foot minus 1 to 1.5 mpg. Toad will not make a great difference. I tow toad most of the time with a CAT and get between got 7.4 to 9.4 depending on wind and mountains. MY question is??? If you can afford a 42' Phaeton why are you worried about fuel cost or MPG? Gee look at what you are buying. It not a hybird and you will be sucking up fuel every time you start it up. I say just enjoy your toy and have some fun sight seeing on the road. Good Luck Now Nash are you saying that RVers will tell a whopper. I did get 13.6 out of mine once, but I was going down a very long hill in New Mexico, and the worst I got was 4.3 going up the other side of that hill. So the average I got was 8.95 MPG on the hill, but real time I get 7-8 MPG on a good road. When I was towing my 20' TT with my Chevy van I got 9 miles to the gallon - uphill, downhill or falling off a cliff - 9 MPG. With the MH and that gas-gulping V10 I hope for 8, but take whatever I get. Like I said before - You gotta buy it to get it - You gotta burn it to get there. Otherwise, you camp in your back yard. But I'll buy enough to get us to Alaska and back to the M&G - so I'll see you there. Well since he was telling good milage I had to tell him I got 13 MPG on the V10 Ford MH. What I didn't tell him that one time was coming back across the flat part of Texas with a 40 MPH ailwind :laugh: I didn't lie :laugh: just didn't tell the rest of the story :bleh:
Since upgrading from 4.10 to 4.11.2 I am unable to compile my PlayerController blueprint. The editor hangs indefinitely and starts leaking memory, while also using a constant 1.5Mbps of network (editor uses 1.2GB memory before compile, after letting it hang for 10 minutes it climbed steadily to ~8GB). - The project is blueprint-only, and I use Perforce on a LAN server. - The project was upgraded using the “open a copy” method on a clean 4.11.2 installation - The PlayerController is the child of another custom playercontroller blueprint (the parent compiles fine if I delete the child) - The project has been running fine on 4.11 for a couple of days and every other class compiles OK - I only noticed the problem once I needed to modify this PlayerController, so now I’m blocked. - On 4.10/4.9/4.8, the PlayerController compiled without issues (~2 sec). I am happy to send a project link privately if someone can debug it (it’s under 20MB zipped). Things I’ve tried: - Compiling all blueprints it references (and all blueprints that reference it), before compiling it - Disconnecting from source control - Deleting all temp data (Intermediate folder, Build folder, DerivedDataCache) - Removing the blueprint from the project, then compiling it’s parent, then re-adding the blueprint to the project - Removing a reference to an old interface class it was using Possibly related - since the 4.11 upgrade I’ve also started getting the “Files need check-out!” popup spam, as bugged in this thread. Any help appreciated. Before discovering the bug I’d done a couple of full days work since upgrading to 4.11, so I’d hate to have to roll back to 4.10 and lose it all. After deleting things one by one I have narrowed it down to an input event, however it’s still unclear why it’s causing a hang in my PlayerController and I can’t find a workaround (other than not using an input event). Having this in my PlayerController (PS_PlayerController), causes the hang: I have tried making a new blank playercontroller and placing it in there, no hang. I also tried placing it in a new blank child BP of the blank playercontroller (since in my case, the playercontroller is a child of another class), no hang. I tried deleting and re-creating the input binding, creating fresh nodes etc, no luck. So there is something special about my PlayerController still, that is causing a problem with the basic input event, in 4.11.2. I was able to reproduce the compile hange, but I cannot find the event you are speaking about. Is it named something other than EscapeKey in the version you sent me? I have entered a bug report, UE-30063, to be assessed by the development staff. Sorry yes, I had renamed it from “InGameMenu” to “EscapeKey” while reproducing (because I had a function named “InGameMenu” as well, so I was making sure that wasn’t the cause of the problem ). Also, the custom playercontroller blueprint keeps crashing on almost every compile if there is any change in the nodes or connectors. Saving before compiling helps a lot. In our case, there was a lot of suspicion on two custom events getting fired from a custom AI controller, because it compiles fine with just the Tick event. But Event BeginPlay also caused the same issue. That sounds like a separate error and should be made into a new bug report so we can assist you more in depth. Please make a new post in the bug reports section. In the post, please include what is occurring, what steps we can take to reproduce the error on our end, your crash logs and callstack, and whether or not you have reproduced this in a clean, blank project with no additional content or if it is limited to one project. Hmmm. I can’t reproduce this for some reason. Neither in a blank project nor in the project converted from 4.8.3 to 4.11.2. Perhaps it was a one time thing and the computer needed a good old hard . I will continue to monitor and do the needful as you requested, . I was able to reproduce this today in my project 4.11. I compiled my PlayerController Blueprint multiple times today with success. The Controller in question has a “Key B” event since a few git revisions and also compiled without problems until just a moment ago. Now, every time I hit “compile” the editor freezes. I’ve tried all the things did and also re-renamed a lot of functions parameters to make sure it is not the invisible rename bug where the name displayed in the blueprint is not the actual name that compiles. After coming across this post I removed the “Key B” event node, now it compiles again. Also: when it freezes it seems leak memory is leeking and it rose from 800MB RAM (which is about what it usually has) up to 5GB at which point I just termiated the task. This is marked as fixed in 4.13 - but in case there’s anyone looking for a workaround in a prior engine version - I put the input key events in my PlayerController’s parent class, and had those fire Custom Events which I then used in the child PlayerController. The hang doesn’t happen then.
Personally, I found Cold Mountain to be a surprisingly enjoyable book. I had picked it out randomly and purely because the title intrigued me a little bit. Before I began reading, I did some research, so I could understand the gist of what the book was about and what kind of book I was about to read. When I saw it was a romance novel, I began to worry that I was about to read another boring and predictable book about two people who fall in love and must fight some kind of force that is keeping them apart. While technically this is the skeleton of the novel’s plot, I was more so worried about the novel being so cliché and nuanced that it would feel like I have already read it several times before and a repeat story. I figured that I would hate the book if it ended up being like all those other romance books, but I read it anyway. Much to my surprise, Cold Mountain was not the stereotypical romance novel I had imagined. It had twists and turns in it that I did not see coming and the way the material was presented to me surprised me greatly, but what astounded me the most was how the novel kept its two main characters separate for a majority of the story. This made the novel very different to me and led to me enjoying it a great deal. As I kept reading, I enjoyed the novel more and more and I even began to connect with the two main characters. Despite its American Civil War setting, I was able to relate elements of my own life to events in the novel. When Charles Frazier wrote this book, I believe that he wanted to create a story that had relatable messages for the readers and their own lives. In my own life, I connected to Cold Mountain through the decisions of the main characters and the obstacles facing their lives, and I believe that it was Charles Frazier’s intention to write the novel in this way where it can be symbolically applied to several aspects of life, from one’s birth to their death. While reading Cold Mountain, I realized how much the main character, Inman, had in common with myself. This came as a genuine shock to me because I did not realize it until I was nearing the end of the book, and because Inman is a Confederate soldier and a deserter. Being a Confederate has obvious negative connotations due to the Confederacy’s fight to keep slavery in the United States and being a deserter was just as worse, because it meant that Inman was a traitor and possibly a weak-willed main character. After finishing the book, I felt surprisingly connected to Inman because we both share a feeling of humanity in being very small in the grand scheme of things. “Inman did not consider himself to be a superstitious person, but he did believe that there is a world invisible to us,” Frazier writes (New 11). In general, Inman does not believe in anything that is considered supernatural or irrational, however he does believe that there are things we cannot see in life because they are beyond the abilities of human understanding. Personally, I am not superstitious at all and agree to the human brain limits us to what we can and cannot see or understand. It is impossible for humans to explain certain concepts and ideas because we are not capable of comprehension. I mostly apply this to my religious beliefs and understanding of God, or lack thereof. Similar to Inman, I feel like I really cannot see an entire world when it comes to God. Both Inman and I feel like there is something that we do not know about what is effecting our lives, like how God effects our lives with both good and bad things. In addition to believing certain concepts are unknowable to humans, I also feel like humanity in itself is a very small part of a much larger universe. Frazier illustrates Inman as he, “walked on, marked as the butt of the celestial realm,” (New 35). Inman feels very small compared to the rest of the universe, as if he’s the lowest point since he is merely a human. I agree with this sentiment, not because I think humanity is irrelevant, but because it is a humbling thought and forces me to look at the bigger picture. Like Inman, I do not see myself as being more important than others. This connection I have with the main character made me feel invested in the novel, as Inman became someone I could relate with and support as the novel progressed. This drastically improved my opinion on the novel as my love for the main character grew. Another way I connected to Cold Mountain was with Inman’s entire journey back home and his search for finding happiness again. The reason Inman deserts the army is because he needs to help his wife run the farm and that his close encounter with death led to him realizing that he wants to be happy and with his wife, not dying for a cause he does not support. Ultimately, Inman choses to be happy, even though this takes him several months to do as he goes home. Inman realizes, “contentment is largely a matter of talking yourself into believing that God will not strike you too hard for leaning in the direction of your hungers,” (New 77). Inman struggles with his decision to desert the army, thinking about how God will probably look down on him for choosing his wife. Essentially, Inman decides that his wife is worth leaving the army for and that God will not punish him too much for his choice. Inman becomes content with his choice through this logic, which is a logical thought process I share. I see situations where I need to make a choice for my personal benefit and look at them from a moral standpoint like Inman. This line from the novel really connected with me, because it related to my personal ideology when it comes to decision making. It also connected me with Inman more, as seeing his reasoning for why he left the army was something I managed to understand on a personal level. Additionally, Inman’s lessons he learns on the road home are also relatable to me, specifically the lesson from the goatwoman. The goatwoman says to Inman, “Our minds aren’t made to hold on to the particulars of pain the way we do bliss. It’s a gift God gives us, a sign of his care for us,” (New 144). The goatwoman tells Inman that the feelings of happiness and bliss we experience overshadow the feelings of pain and suffering and that this is a gift from God. I interpreted this lesson as saying that I should focus on the good in my life over the bad, and that these good parts of our lives are things we can be thankful for from God. For me personally, I focus on the good parts on my life and stay optimistic. Similar to what the goatwoman told Inman, I see the world as a “glass half full” kind of person. This helps me be happy in my life and realize how fortunate I am. As I came across these familiar ideas of happiness in life, I connected with the novel’s many characters and messages. A major theme in Cold Mountain is consequences from the decisions made by characters. I am a cautious person, try to look at the consequences of my decisions and evaluate if I think the rewards are justified by the risk. I also acknowledge that any decision I make will have consequences that effect me, and this is something Inman realizes as well. Inman thinks as he is reunited with his wife, “What you have lost will not be returned to you. It will always be lost. You’re left with only your scars to mark the void. All you can choose to do is go on or not. But if you go on, it’s knowing you carry your scars with you,” (New 218). On his journey home, Inman has lost friends, blood, hope, and more and is left scarred and changed. However, he recognizes that he cannot be held back by the past and must keep moving on, no matter what kind of damages he experiences. Inman knows that he cannot allow the past to negatively effect his life, especially now that he has returned home and to his wife, Ada. I try to live in the present like Inman, but I do try and learn from my past. Like Inman, I think it is important that we know the mistakes and decisions form the past, so we can avoid repeating mistakes. Choices I have made in the past have formed me into certain habits and have been learning experiences for me. Another thing I can relate to is trusting my gut instinct, which is something Inman does throughout the novel. Whenever Inman does things that are morally questionable, they are often due to his gut instinct. It is caused by a bit of a survival instinct he has, where he has to overcome obstacles in nature and people (Glucksman 106). In Cold Mountain, Inman breaks the law several times. He deserts the army, threatens to kill several people, and kills many other people. No matter how justified the actions seem, there is still some part of Inman that reacts on a gut instinct to survive and take action to keep oneself from losing anything. While I myself have not done anything nearly as severe as Inman has, I do have that gut feeling telling me how to act at times and it helps me. My gut feeling has influenced my choices several times, most commonly decisions involving what I need to say to make someone feel better or when I am between two answers on a test. My gut tells me to go with a certain option, and that is usually the one I circle. It does not exactly mean life or death survival like Inman, but my gut helps me when it comes to things I care about, like school and people. Personally, I connect with Inman’s feelings of being a small part of a big picture, how he views and struggles to find happiness, and how he faces his actions and consequences in Cold Mountain. Both Inman and I feel like humanity is small and incapable of comprehending certain things, and that the species as a whole is a small part of an equally important universe. Similar to Inman, I also view happiness as something that we must make sacrifices for, and that all the obstacles we have to go through to achieve it will ultimately be worth it. Finally, Inman and I both have a drive to succeed while also weighing the effects of our choices with the consequences of making them. All these connections to Inman made me really feel like I could relate with the book, and drastically improved my enjoyment of Inman’s journey back home and the results of it.
As an American living abroad, I have been shielded from a lot of the insanity of this year’s election, but even sitting here in Tokyo, halfway across the world, the vitriol and frustration is palpable. Sure, the Presidential Election in the United States is always charged with emotion, but as almost anyone who has voted in multiple election cycles would agree, this year is particularly heated. People have said harsh goodbyes to friends, unable to empathise with their choices. Families have lost touch, fearful of the difficult conversations that would ensue if the topic of politics were to be broached (I’m sad to say I speak from personal experience on that one). The very foundation of the Two Party System has been irrevocably damaged. The question of what it really means to be an American remains up for debate. One thing is clear: Shit is broken. The world we lived in previously has changed. The American Dream used to be: work hard in school, get good grades, go to college, get a good job, find a wife who will take care of your house, buy a house, work hard, rise in the ranks, save your money, provide your children with a better life than you had, rinse, repeat. Sorry guys (yes, I mean guys), no can do. For most people, that is no longer an option. College doesn’t guarantee you a job anymore (trust me, even a Harvard degree is worth less than it used to be). And even if it does get you a job, your job has probably started to be replaced by technology. Entire companies are being dismantled, so the idea of a long-term career at one company is rare. Most women don’t want to be just wives anymore, nor do they have to be. As the Great Financial Crisis taught us so painfully, houses don’t always go up in value, so they are not a safe investment anymore. Interest rates are zero, so saving doesn’t do you much good either. So… yeah, shit is broken. The promises we were sold have turned out to be empty, and it’s not really anyone’s fault, either. It just is. Sure, we can try to put it all back together again. Go ahead and try. Even if that were possible, it still wouldn’t work again. Why, you ask? But why, can’t we just go back to the glory days? One word: technology. Technology has not only changed the world, but it has changed how fast the world changes. As our most recent Nobel Prize winner, Bob Dylan, so eloquently pointed out… “The times they are a’changing.” And they’re changing faster than ever before. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the Black Swan, wrote a fantastic book called Antifragile. I have a short attention span, so I’m not going to lie to you, I only read half of it. But the takeaway is this; Fragility is when you break something, and you cannot repair it. Resilience is when you break something, and it can return to its previous state. Antifragility (the best way to be), is when you break something, and it returns to an even better state, more powerful and strong than before it was broken. I can only hope that part of what makes America great is that we are the definition of antifragile. We need to have faith in our ability to heal these rifts that emerged from the US election, to face the difficult conversations that must take place, and to emerge a stronger, more informed, more creative, and more antifragile nation than we were before. Doing that, however, requires us to take a step back, to set aside our emotions, and to take a deep look at the incredibly valuable and previously unseen information revealed by this election. So let’s remove the emotion, take a quick look at the facts brought to light by this year’s Presidential Saga, and dedicate ourselves to building something better in its wake. What have we learned? Technology has forever changed how we, as individuals, make decisions. We used to live in a world where information was difficult to access, and we relied on key institutions like the political parties, the media (newspapers, TV personalities), academic and religious institutions to tell us what we needed to know to make an informed decision. Now, we get our information from the internet. Anyone can read about the candidates online, anyone can publish their opinion, anyone can state a “fact”, or share their emotional reactions. We have become infinite information consumers and producers. As a result, it has been shown that our grip on the truth is loosening. Our willingness to hear arguments counter to our own beliefs is weakening. Our strength to overcome our own biases is diminishing. The systems that have kept our world stable have not gotten the memo. The key systems and infrastructure which shape our lives were all created in a time before technology existed. The idea that we would be meeting our mates on Tinder, sharing our momentary thoughts and emotions on Facebook, carpooling to work in a stranger’s car, or tracking our daily food intake and steps on an app were completely unfathomable at the time of their creation. So, where does it all break down? Jobs. The systems that support the world as we know it can be broken down as follows: corporations that provide us with jobs, education which prepares us for those jobs, the government which protects those jobs and protects us if we don’t have jobs. (Ben Thompson writes brilliantly on this system here, if you’re interested in learning more how this system was created and why.) As technology accelerates, companies are being forced to adapt to increase margins, productivity, and profits for investors. As a result, jobs are being automated. Because technology evolves faster than we can learn, or the education system can provide us with relevant skills, we are losing our jobs. People without jobs are angry, disappointed, disenchanted, and scared. Not a good equation for an election, or for anything for that matter. It is up to us to rebuild those systems in a way that will last. Technology is not a trend. It is not a sector. It is an inevitable force redefining the world in every way. This will not change, it will only accelerate. As outlined by the concept of singularity, the rate of change of technology will only get faster and faster. This unleashes unfathomable potential, but can also be disastrous if we don’t create a system that can keep up. This brings us back to the concept of antifragility. We can’t simply repair our broken systems. We can’t simply aim for resilience. The only option is to imagine and re-build the world on a foundation that gains from change, and as a result, actually gets stronger over time. Okay, fine. But what can we do about it now? First, we have to stop wishing for “the way things were” and start taking a deep look at how we can start rebuilding a world that fits today’s reality. Because of technology, we are living in a world where we have unprecedented power as individuals. Yes, that is terrifying. But it’s also fucking awesome, because it means we all matter and we all have a role to play. I continue to believe the only way for each of us to start making a difference is through education. Whether this is in K-12, universities, corporate training, online platforms, whatever. A few ideas: - Educate individuals on how to find, assess, and synthesize what is valid information and what is not. - Encourage empathy so that we have the discipline and intellectual strength to accommodate the views of others. - Raise awareness around our inherent biases so we know how to truly listen and learn. - Create ways that professionals can continually learn new skills, quickly and efficiently, so we can always find jobs. - Provide access to information about what jobs are available, and what we need to be get them. The list goes on and on. Everyone needs to play their part, but first they need the tools that empower them to do so. I am personally dedicated to doing whatever I can to help rebuild the systems that shape our world (not just America). That’s why we created Fresco Capital, where we are investing in the technology transforming these very sectors that need serious upgrades: education technology, work technology, digital healthcare. But that’s just one small part of a much bigger, more important picture of creating a new future. So… let’s stop whining about this fucking disaster of an election and get started.
So I did end up springing for $25 (plus 8.3 percent tax, for a total of $27.06) to buy the yearned-after mineral make-up from Costco. Pretty nice stuff. I like it. However… Take a look at this: That large flat chunk of annealed plastic and cardboard is what Costco deemed necessary to deliver five small plastic vials, a tube of lip gloss, and four small makeup brushes to the unwashed and thieving masses. By way of perspective, each of those floor tiles is 13 inches square. Up at the top, you see the tools required to get into the thing: a box-cutter, a wrench, and a no-longer-sharp knife. Yes. To get at a few ounces of colored face powder, I had to spend a good fifteen minutes hacking away at thick, almost impenetrable plastic. You’ll notice that no amount of struggling removed the entire plastic bubble from the hard cardboard backing to which it was sealed. No. I had to carve out every. single. separate. piece in this kit. To do so, I risked injury and infection: all the edges where the box-cutter sliced through the plastic are sharp as a razor. And so is the box-cutter itself. I wonder how Costco would like the lawsuit that would have descended upon its management had I cut my hand and then gotten one of those flesh-eating bacterial infections in the wound? Once I’d removed the plastic vials of make-up, I still couldn’t open the goddamned things! No. Each one was sealed shut with a strip of plastic that could not be lifted with the fingernails and peeled off. Now I had to go and get a kitchen knife and slice each of the five vials along the seam where the lid meets the jar. Besides taking forever (by now I was running late to choir), this of course wrecked the edge on my knife. Why is it necessary to seal every flicking piece of merchandise individually in consumer-proof packaging? Industry estimates suggest that 43 percent of “shrinkage” comes from employee theft, as opposed to 36 percent for shoplifting. “Whatever method employees use to steal,” the New York Times reports, “their take is more substantial than that of the average shoplifter. [Researcher Joshua] Bamfield’s global study of retail theft found that larcenous employees averaged $1,890 in theft, compared with $438 for shoplifters.” So is there really a good reason to put customers at risk of injury and to pack the landfills with vast piles of excess plastic packaging that will litter the planet for the eons? Speaking of littering the planet for the eons, now get an eyeballful of this! The last time I bought toilet paper at Costco, I absent-mindedly picked up the Kirkland brand instead of my usual Charmin’. I hate Kirkland’s toilet paper. Not because the TP itself isn’t perfectly fine—it’s quite good, comparable to Charmin’, which IMHO is the best toilet paper on the market. But when you peel off the plastic sealed around a lifetime supply of Kirkland TP, what comes out is a big bundle of individual rolls…every. single. one. of. them. wrapped. individually. in. plastic. Because I like to keep several rolls in a straw basket in the bathroom, every time I pad out to the garage to refill the basket, I have to unwrap a half-dozen rolls of over-packaged toilet paper. I just hate that! WHY? WHY, WHY, WHY????????? Why on earth is it necessary to double-wrap every single roll of flicking toilet paper, adding a bushel of plastic to the landfill for every package of Kirkland TP you buy at Costco? Answer: it’s not. Charmin’ wraps its entire lifetime-supply package in one sheet of plastic. Even that is undesirable, but at least it’s better than Kirkland’s strategy. According to Discover Magazine, 63 pounds of plastic packaging per person ends up in America’s landfills each year. Ninety-three percent of people six years of age and older excrete bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in the manufacture of plastic, in their urine. What do you bet about 62 of those pounds comes from overpackaging like this? It abuses the customer on both ends of the retail cycle: in delivery and merchandising, and in clean-up after the mess produced. If you complain to Costco about its absurd overpackaging (as I’ve been known to do in person), you’ll be told that it’s not their fault! It’s the suppliers who just insist on packaging products in consumer-proof plastic. And that is about as specious as it gets. Costco has every bit as much clout as Walmart, an outfit infamous for its bullying of suppliers. All Costco has to do is tell Borghese it can’t sell its pricey products to the vast market that is the Costco membership unless it packages said products sanely. Borghese’s marketing people know that they’re reaching a large group of people who would not otherwise buy that company’s products. Most Costco consumers are savvy enough to know that the expensive stuff you buy in department stores (where Borghese is normally marketed) is really just the same darn stuff you can get in a drugstore at much lower cost. Threatened with a Costco boycott, Borghese will package the product in more responsible wrapping. This make-up I bought: Costco sells a lot of it. In addition to the starter kit you see above (along with the tool kit required to get into it), Costco also sells individual packages of mineral powder foundation and eyeshadow. I like it. The effect is much nicer than the L’Oréal I’ve been using. But I probably will not buy it from Costco again. That’s how much this annoys me. I won’t buy it at Dillard’s or Saks, either, for reasons of common sense: department-store cosmetics are obscenely overpriced. Probably I’ll look at Whole Foods, which carries eco-faddish products like “mineral make-up”; failing that, I’ll check the beauty supply store next door to the WF where I shop. I’d rather pay a few bucks more and not risk slicing my hands, and I deeply resent being forced against my will to add 63 pounds of plastic to the landfill. When is Costco going to get with the program?
May 30, 2022 by George Laughlin For those not in-the-know, Harry Styles is one of the biggest artists in pop music, having launched a successful solo career after exploding as part of the One Direction phenomenon. And while his albums have reached the top of the charts and his singles have received tons of radio airplay, streams and play on YouTube, it’s his new tour that I’d like to talk about. This fall in the US he’s not doing the traditional 30-50 city tour. He’s visiting 4. Yes, four. New York, Chicago, Austin and LA. He’ll have 15 shows in NYC, 5 in Austin, 5 in Chicago and 15 in LA. Why does this make perfect sense? Logistics. Concerts today are more of an experience than ever. Setting up and taking down these intricate stages take longer and have more technology than ever. You can do bigger and better things if you give yourself more than a few hour and leave it set up for days. And it’s easier to add additional dates if tickets sell out. Popularity. Not every artist is big enough that fans will fly to see them. Harry is. Taylor Swift is. Bruno Mars is. Adele is. You’ve seen some of those doing a Vegas residency, but do you really want to bring your kids to Vegas? Or fly from the east coast to Vegas? Having regional concerts also makes it a short drive for a large portion of the country. Negotiation. I don’t have any insider information here, but I guarantee if you rent Madison Square Garden for a month, you’ll get a deal versus a 1 or 2 night show. And the label would be smart to also work with cities to get incentives to bring these shows as it will drive tourism, hotel rooms, and sales tax revenue. Rest. Many people think being on tour is a fun party for the artist every night. They work for 90 minutes, everyone loves them and they make a ton of money. But if you ask any artist and they will all tell you, it’s exhausting. Having to travel every day and not sleeping in your own bed is something that gets old, fast. (I’m assuming Harry has places in the NYC and LA area). Will you see more stars doing this type of tour? Time will tell. But I’m betting this will be the case.
Presented by Communion One, with support from Lauren Dejey Eden Rain captivated her audience last night with an emotionally rich performance, blending her evocative lyrics with a grounded yet ethereal stage presence. Her recent single Taking set the tone for the night, expressing a melancholy reflective of past experiences yet with a hopeful undercurrent. Hailing from Yorkshire and now immersed in London’s music scene, Eden brings a unique sound that feels both nostalgic and refreshingly modern. Her voice—smoky and warm, akin to Amy Winehouse—held the crowd’s attention, especially during Terry and Julie, a song that feels like it could be a lost Back to Black track. Live, Eden’s music takes on a rawness and vulnerability, enhanced by the candid moments she shared between songs. These moments humanized her performance, allowing the audience to connect beyond the music. Unafraid to take her time, she didn’t rush through her set, embodying a refreshing authenticity on stage. Her music reflects a wide array of influences, drawing from Carole King’s soft-rock storytelling and the edgy sounds of Big Thief, Wolf Alice, and Clairo. Her fashion sense—layered tees over long sleeves, a black tutu-like skirt, and punk-inspired platform boots—paid homage to 90s grunge and emo rock, aligning with her music’s emotional depth. The outfit captured an Avril Lavigne-inspired aesthetic that complements her introspective lyrics and slightly rebellious energy. Oh God stood out with its bluntly honest lyrics, like “Maybe I should take more drugs / Maybe I should loosen up,” delivered with seductive energy and a touch of self-awareness. Backed by additional vocalists, this song’s fuller texture added excitement and intensity. However, Closer was the night’s highlight, its delicate falsetto creating an intimate atmosphere that felt made for solitary 2 a.m. drives. Eden’s balance of classic and contemporary influences sets her apart in the London indie scene. Her powerful yet understated presence, coupled with her willingness to be vulnerable onstage, resonated with the audience. In a bustling city of emerging talent, Eden Rain stands out as a captivating artist crafting her own space in indie music. Tune in to BBC Radio 1 on the 20th November from 7PM, where Eden’s performance will be broadcast live as part of Radio 1’s New Music Live in Halifax. Her new EP is out on Friday, so make sure to give it a spin!
Octaros are a race of diminutive, subterranean goblinoids, each about 4' tall. They have eight fingers on each hand and eight toes on each foot. They each have 1 eye. They are born, live, and (usually) die in groups of eight. The octaros call these sibling groups families. To them, parents and offspring are not family. Only your seven other brothers and sisters are family. Or actually brothers and sister. Each octaro family is made up of one female and seven males. Octaros have fleshy faces and lips, but no external ears. Their teeth aren't individuated, but are instead fused together in a bony ridge of needles. These teeth-arcs make natural bracelets, and are frequently used as such by the octaros themselves. They have no bones, and are instead supported by cartilage. This makes them weak and wobbly--they nearly fall over every time they attempt to run. However, this flexibility is sometimes a boon--octaros can usually recover when they are crushed by cave-ins (and dug out by their family). Combined with their small size, they can easily survive long falls. Combined with their grippy hands and excellent climbing ability, they are well-suited for the wet caves in which they live. They live in squalid villages, and wear rags. They have an inexplicable attraction for fish skeletons, and use them to ornament everything imaginable. Although the female will only mate with males from outside her family, they largely shun normal relationships outside the family (no marriages, no institutions, no inter-family friends). Instead, all of their social functions take place within the family. Octaros are constantly babbling and chattering amongst themselves. They have a complex language, and when one octaro family speaks to another octaro family, they all speak simultaneously. Although this language isn't fully understood, it seems that full expression of it requires several simultaneous speakers. In personality, they are curious and shy. They react well to gifts of shiny objects, spears, or interesting fish bones. When they are fond of you (always a transient emotion) they will all give you a simultaneous hug. They are also utterly amoral, and will not hesitate to kill and eat a traveler if they think they can get away with it. However, their favor and displeasure is short-lived, and by the next day their attitude towards you will have "reset". Short memories, I guess. Like many of the deep subterranean races, they worship some alien pseudo-deity called "The Watcher Behind the World". Despite the ominous name, this deity is supposed to reside in the deepest trenches in the blackest ocean. They sacrifice fish to it, but not sentient creatures. Honestly, compared to other chaotic gods of madness and void, the Watcher is downright friendly. This is where it gets weird. In addition to the way they constantly talk to one another, they also seem to have low-level telepathy. If one octaro is startled by something, the whole family all jump simultaneously. If one is hurt, they all seem to feel pain. If one is told something, the others will soon learn it too, even when they are prevented from talking to each other. It goes deeper. If one octaro is starved while the rest of his family is fed, the starving octaro will not die. He may grow a bit skinnier, but his overall health is remarkable. Similarly, as long as most of an octaro family can breath, the ones who cannot breathe will not drown or suffocate. (They use this ability to survive cave-ins, as well as to forage for food on the bottom of subterranean lakes.) If several octaros of a family are killed, the remaining ones (who shared the pain) will also die. Experiments have shown that this number is usually 3-5 of the octaros. When one is infected with a disease, the others will soon share it. All of these things are true even when the family is separated by lead walls. A family can even survive with 2-3 of its members missing, although this causes them tremendous psychological trauma. It's almost enough to make you feel bad for the little hellspawn. Among the noble wizards who have investigated these little beasts in the name of enlightenment, the reigning consensus is that octaros are an offshoot of goblins that have developed an intense psychic link. A supernatural degree of empathy, if you will. So it should come as no surprise that octaros have some minor psychic powers. Octaros can telekinetically lift one another. It's not a true telekinesis; the opposing force is distributed across the rest of the family. If a 70 lb octaro is telekinetically lifted off the ground, the remaining seven will each weigh an additional 10 lbs. They can even lift a dead family member this way. Likewise, if an octaro's family use their telekinesis to pull a family member back out of a fire, they will be pulled forward a slight amount. Momentum is conserved. Attempts to teach octaros to harness their psychic powers more broadly have failed, even under the threat of the most severe punishments. The octaros claim that they are unable to lift anything except for members of their own family. If this is true, it's the first instance where telekinesis has manifested in such a limited extent. Octaros cannot be separated more than 30' from their family. If the removal of one octaro is attempted, the remaining octaros will restrain it. It's as if there is an invisible rope tied between them. However, if you pull hard enough, the psychic rope will rip, and the separated octaro will spasm, vomit blood, and die, presumably all symptoms of the psychic trauma it endured. The remaining octaros will be very upset, of course. They literally cannot live without each other. It's an absolutely unprecedented level of sibling co-dependence. Treat them as goblins that always travel in packs of 8, but with the following changes. Octaros cannot be separated more than 30' from their family members (at least, not without superhuman strength or a good block and tackle). This persists into death, for at least several months. Octaros can "telekinetically grab" each other. This prevents them from falling into holes or being tripped (unless it happens to the whole group) as well as reach things that are 30' up on the ceiling. They share thoughts. One isn't surprised unless they all are. Mind-affecting effects (like charm) have no effect unless they affect the whole family. If one is poisoned, they all are. A family of octaros dies when 3-5 of them are killed. Three (25% chance), Four (50% chance), or Five (25% chance). All those wizards in the previous paragraphs are wrong of course. Bags of holding have a dark twin known as bags of devouring. These appear to be normal bags of holding, but when objects are placed inside it, the objects are devoured, presumably to be swallowed into some connected, extradimensional organism. The bags of devouring are just mouths in our world that connect to some greater creature outside it. Octaros are the same way. Each is the "tentacle" for an "octopus" that exists outside of our dimension. Through this central body they share nourishment and thought. Each octaro is a fingerpuppet on the same hand. It's curious that octaro families seem to have forgotten that they are part of a singular organism, and have taken to imitating the cultures of other underdark civilizations, especially goblins. (Does their mind reside in each octaro, or in the central, unseen mass?) Their constant chattering to each other might have its roots in imitation, or it may be a way to sooth a ragged soul. Even more troubling are their old tales. They speak of the old cities, buried deeper down. So deep in the earth that fire runs through the walls. Where octaros lead armies as slave-takers and master lobotomists. Levitating shieldbearers lead the armies, while the ranks are filled out by larger beasts--carnivores--of a similar physiology.
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The only hedge I’ve planted is forsythia. It’s dead easy to grow around here, it’s pretty early in the spring, when a little horticultural excitement is welcome, and it makes a nice dense hedge pretty quickly. Oh, and while it will propagate vegetatively if you let it, it doesn’t seem to spread much by seed, and I’ve never heard of anyone having real trouble managing it – that is, it doesn’t appear to be terribly invasive, despite how easy it is to grow. Mine is taller than I am, but not vastly taller than a person. I’m after something that is “horse-high, bull-strong, and pig-tight.” Still, the downsides of hedge/Osage orange are being heard. My thought is to keep,it tightly corralled with brush hogging young trees that won’t pose a threat to tractor or personal health. As for using the wood that gets culled, Osage orange has one of the highest, if not outright highest energy contents of any North American wood (it has roughly 33% more energy than white oak.) As someone who heats with wood, this would be highly welcome! I’m leaning towards a blend of hedge and locust to start, then filling in gaps with wild plum and an assortment of shrubs that will feed critters and fill in the gaps. Once the trees get a decent base, I’d lay down a good layer of trees and pray for in impenetrable tangled mess of thorns. My mind says I should steer clear of evergreens. They’d be great for a wind break, but as the trees get larger, the understory will open, providing cover and safe passage for horned rats spying the trees I’d like to protect. If I go down his path, I’ll be prepping the ground this spring/summer and seeding next fall. I’m more than open to being told I’m thinking foolishly, but hope some have done this successfully and will chime in. I’ve heard the same about black/ honey locust. supposedly some of the best burning woods out there. all 3 are popular for woodworking because they are so durable though osage doesn’t have many strait sections of logs. When my husband’s uncle died, we visiting his house in the catskills one last time. And the entire lawn was covered with small black locust trees, with an incredibly dense number of them next to the rock wall lining his front walk. I realized they were all root-suckers from the large tree in the corner of the property, and not having been mowed that spring, they were taking over. They don’t stay bushy and in place. They SPREAD. And they are covered in nasty thorns, making it more difficult to control them. Note that there weren’t any sprouts NEAR the tree. No, it knew it had that territory covered. I really don’t think it’s suitable for hedging. When I was a kid, we had 9 large black locust trees…(maybe not quite as big as a 5-gallon bucket)…in the yard as our ‘shade’. I went barefoot from April to October…stepping on a few thorns, but my feet were tough. The sprouts were somewhat a problem, but only if you didn’t mow them down or grub them out. They were definitely better than no shade! And honeybees loved them in spring, bumble bees too. I think there were only 5 left when I went away to college and the folks moved to another place. A couple of the logs were laying in the bushes un-rotten 30 years later! If I recall correctly, the mature trees have far fewer thorns than the young growth. They are beautiful in full bloom and bees loved them. At one point maybe 30 years ago a north neighbor planted a Purple Robe black locust in their yard. Now, there are literally hundreds of the little buggers popping up 100s of yards away from the long dead parent tree. The younger guy who bought the farm from his parents is out there every year spraying the suckers with herbicide. My wife wanted to dig some of them up and transplant them here That was a lengthy discussion as to why such a thing would never happen under my watch. The blossoms also smell nice. There are several by my train station (hey, remember when we did things like go to an office!) and I always enjoy them in the spring. And most of the nearby ground is paved, so they don’t really have anywhere to spread. I do not know. It took me quite awhile to figure out what I was seeing. I had not seen that variety (is it a variety, a cultivar, or what?) before. From the growth pattern, I would assume they are suckers being sent up from the roots of larger specimens. The suckers we see are on the edge of a patch of spruce, the larger trees are on the inside edge of those spruces. I don’t think they’d be seedlings as our prevailing winds are westerly and the larger specimens are east of the suckers. Where I grew up in NJ farmland, there are extensive informal mixed-species hedgerows. These are anything but tight. In fact, they are excellent habitat and corridors for deer. If you want something that matches your quoted description, you’re probably going to have to start with a traditional laid hedge of hawthorne or similar, and then manage it intensively to keep it tight. I have come to really love hawthorn here. I go out of my way to promote their expansion on my acreage. Birds of all sorts seem to enjoy the fruit and when a thick stand exists, deer movement is impacted. Yes, Osage Orange will burn … under controlled circumstances. Where I come from, people use bulldozers to push it into piles and give up having the use of the space under the piles for three or four years. For one thing, you can’t compact it because you can’t cut it into logs at any reasonable return on effort and wear and tear on equipment. You have to let it dry a year before you can hope to pour on enough accellerants to sustain a blaze, but it doesn’t all burn then. You have to push several small piles together and try to burn them again the second year and repeat the third year. Finally, you wind up digging a trench with a backhoe to bury the remains. Unless you’ve been exposed to the extended eyesore of eradicating hedge, you can’t imagine how tough and springy the wood is and how difficult it is to get rid of. I’ve wondered about how generous the z4-5 hardiness estimates have been. With already observed changes in hardiness zones and projected continuation, I’m going to guess that Hedge would do okayish here now, but get better as the climate issue worsens. My original post was titled on the safe side for living in the boundary of 4b-5a. The bigger issue is whether I want to risk ignoring the warnings of all the good people who’ve offered advice here. Seeds are cheap and experimenting is fun.
There is no containing a star of Belinda’s caliber. In the making of her fifth studio album “Indómita,” the Mexican singer and actor began to understand that what made her hard to contain — in life, in love and in her career — was worth writing an album about. “I was reading a book and all of a sudden the word ‘indómita’ appeared,” says Belinda in an audio call from her home in Mexico City. “For two days, I kept dreaming of that word. ‘Indómita, Indómita,’” says Belinda during a recent audio call from her home in Mexico City. Out on June 5, “Indómita” is an assortment of corridos tumbados, reggaeton, rock and pop ballads with exciting collaborations — ranging from the American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars to Latin stars like Tokischa and Tito Double P. “This album is very special, not just for women but for everyone who feels untameable, who feels strong, who feels like a warrior,” she explains. The title directly translates to indomitable, or untameable, a term that seems to perfectly suit the 35-year-old artist, whose long and prosperous career made her an international household name. Born in Madrid, Spain, as Belinda Peregrín Schüll, but known widely by her mononym, Belinda began her legacy in Mexican television, taking on lead roles in early 2000’s childhood telenovelas like “Amigos x siempre,” “Aventuras en el tiempo,” and “Cómplices Al Rescate,” where she played a set of twins who has been separated at birth. She also broke through the Disney sphere, appearing in the popular 2006 sequel of “The Cheetah Girls 2” as Marisol, a Spanish pop star and competitor of the titular girl band. Belinda’s music career has been equally as fruitful, including a stint as a singing coach on the TV competition “La Voz” and dozens of hit singles, such as the popular “Amor a Primera Vista,” a 2020 collaboration with Los ?ngeles Azules and Lalo Ebratt. Her previous studio albums, 2003’s “Belinda,” 2006’s “Utopía,” 2010’s “Carpe Diem” and 2013’s “Catarsis” have all graced Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart. Her new LP marks a personal artistic triumph for the artist, given its unique regional Mexican edge. “300 Noches,” her 2024 corrido track with Natanael Cano, made No. 4 on the Mexican Billboard pop chart and appeared on the Billboard Global 200, making it Belinda’s first appearance on the chart. Other corridos tumbados, like the rugged “La Cuadrada” featuring Tito Double P and the blistering “Mírame Feliz” with Xavi, unleash a new alter ego of the famed singer known as “Beli bélica,” the latter of which means “warrior” in Spanish. “With this album, I’d like to open up the door to more women to sing corridos tumbados of heartache,” says Belinda. The record is already scorching hot, with songs like “Cactus” making a subtle, prickly nod to her past relationship with Mexican crooner Christian Nodal, who famously tattooed her eyes on his chest. There’s also the reggaeton-corrido fusion called “La Mala,” which coyly addresses the rumors that Belinda is a cold, calculated lover — which heightened in the wake of her high-profile relationship. “This album was made up of things that we live every day,” says Belinda. “Someone breaks our heart, we feel better, we fall in love, they break our heart again and so forth. Life is like that.” But “Indómita” is much more than Belinda’s foray into regional Mexican music; there’s also “Jackpot,” a dazzling club alongside Kenia Os, a tribute to lightning-fast cars in “Rayo McQueen” — and even her love of anime in “Death Note.” “I’m a versatile artist and this record reflects that,” says Belinda. This interview has been edited and shortened for clarity. What motivated you to release this album over a decade after your last one, “Catarsis”? I know it might seem like it’s been a long time, but I never left. I’ve always been involved in music. I’ve done collaborations with Los ?ngeles Azules, “Amor a Primera Vista,” that was super popular, with Ana Mena in “Las 12,” Lola Indigo and Tiny in “La Ni?a de la Escuela,” with Juan Magán and Lapiz Conciente in “Si No Te Quisiera.” I’ve made a lot of music, but obviously this record means so much to me. It’s not the same to work on collaborations and music for other artists as it is to do it for myself. The album is full of collaborations with Thirty Seconds to Mars, who are one of my favorite bands of all time. It also has Kenia Os, Tito Double P, Neton Vega, who’s a hard-hitting act in the world of reggaeton and corridos tumbados, and Natanael Cano, who I can’t forget either. It’s a complete album, with lots of different styles. Many of the songs on this album are corridos tumbados. Why did you dive into that style of music? It’s a really stigmatized genre, and a genre that is specifically for men and for certain kinds of lyrics. I wanted to break that [idea] and say that instruments used — like the trombone, the alto horn, tololoche — aren’t just for men or for specific lyrics or a specific market. There can be more romantic lyrics, a mixing of sounds like pop with urban music. The challenge was also getting my collaborators to believe in this too, since they are used to other topics, but everyone trusted me and believed in the song[s] since the beginning and it was organic. Tell me more about your collaborations. What did you learn from them and what did you teach them? They’re so talented and play instruments very well, especially Natanael Cano — you can tell him to play any instrument. He’s very talented. We were in the studio and he started to play a Metallica song and I was like, “Wow!” Although we might pigeonhole them into this genre, they’re very versatile and talented. I admire them. One of the singles of this album, “Cactus,” talks about your feelings toward an ex. How did it feel to release your emotions? And would you say that it helped you heal, as the song suggests? I love healing through music. The first phrase of the song goes: “Therapy helps, but music heals more bad-ass.” Perhaps I couldn’t express with words what I can through music. As a composer we express our emotions through our lyrics. But it’s also important that people remember that not everything is based on experiences. It’s music so that people can identify themselves in love or heartache. I never mention anyone by name, but people can make their own conclusions or deductions. At the end of the day, I make music for people who can relate to the lyrics. You’ve been in the spotlight for so many years. Do you believe there are two Belindas that exist? As in, one that is for the public and one that’s just for close family members? Of course, I can guarantee it. There’s also a song where I express that idea that many times people have categorized me as a bad character, “La Mala.” At the end of the day, I know who I am and the people around me know the heart that I have — my feelings and intentions, my day-to-day. That’s what counts for me. If I paid attention to every comment [people made of me], my God, I’d be locked up in a room without an exit, which sometimes does happen to me. How do you tune out those outside critics? I try not to see these things. Sometimes it’s inevitable but I’m also not going deep into the web to find what people are saying. I do other more productive things that nourish me. Obviously it hurts, because even if certain comments are not true, they still hurt because they carry negative energy. I don’t want to give into these comments as truth, but that energy of negativity or insult or humiliation or anything that comes from a negative side, obviously has a consequence. So one has to be careful about how they express themselves, because there’s so much negativity that exists, so it would be nice if we could just throw a bit more of love. I heard you’re a big anime fan, and you show that in your song “Death Note.” Why was it important to include that? I’m [an] otaku, even if people don’t believe it. I really like anime. I’m a fan of “One Piece,” “Death Note,” everything, “Attack on Titan,” but “Death Note” is my favorite. It’s pretty dark, but Ryuk is one of my favorite characters in life. I’ve always been a fan of terror, because within the darkness, there’s always some light. You were born in Spain but were raised in Mexico. How have you navigated both identities? I can’t pick one or the other, but I’ve always considered myself Mexican, because I was raised in Mexico and my accent is Mexican. I’m very, very much Latina. What advice would you give your younger self? Don’t take everything so personally and enjoy life. When I was little, I would think too much about what the world thought. I was always like, “do you like it? Oh you don’t, why?” and I would suffer. And now if I like it, OK, and if no one else likes it, then too bad, I like it! The Latinx experience chronicled Get the Latinx Files newsletter for stories that capture the multitudes within our communities. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
Near Field Communication (NFC) is something we take for granted these days. Nearly all smartphones have it. We even have NFC interfaces for all our favorite development boards. NFC’s history goes back all the way to 1997, when an early version was used in Star Wars special edition toys. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), which NFC builds on, goes back even further. The patent citation trail leads all the way back to 1983 in a patent awarded to [Charles Walton]. NFC is much more than RFID though. The idea of two way communication between devices opens up tons of possibilities for projects and hacks. This week on the Hacklet we’re checking out some of the best NFC projects on Hackaday.io! We start with [Patrick] and Ctrl-O. Somewhere in the hackerspace bible there is a clause that states “Thou shalt build an electronic access control system”. In [Patrick’s] case, a door lock became a complex membership subscription management database. Members who have paid can use an NFC tag to gain access to the hackerspace. The system consists of a Raspberry Pi with an NFC interface. A relay allows the Pi to control the door lock. The Pi can be manually configured through a web interface. It connects to Paypal to verify that each user’s membership has actually been paid. Of course a project like this is never done. The last we heard from [Patrick], he was planning future upgrades such as startup company memberships with multiple people. Next up is [Pierre Charlier] and KeyDuino. KeyDuino is an Arduino compatible board with all the NFC hardware baked right in. The board is based upon the Arduino Leonardo, with an ATmega32u4 processor. [Pierre] must be on to something, because the KeyDuino had a successful Kickstarter back in 2015. It’s also open source hardware, so you can build your own whenever you want. The real gem is checking out [Pierre’s] other projects. He’s documented all his KeyDuino example projects right on Hackaday.io. These include an NFC Controlled infinity mirror coffee table, a locking wooden gift box, and NFC controlled car door locks, just to name a few. Next we have [John McLear] with 2016 NFC Ring. [John] jumped into wearable technology with one of the toughest form factors imaginable – a ring. Between the tiny amount of space and the lack of batteries, you might think there isn’t much you can do with a ring. Undaunted, [John] managed to fit two NXP NFC chips and their antennas inside a standard ring. This is the upgraded 2016 version of the ring. [John] was nice enough to supply several hundred of the earlier models to hackers at the Hackaday Supercon back in 2015. [John’s] rings would be hard for the average hacker to reproduce. [Sean Hodgins] comes to the rescue here with his own project, DIY NFC Bentwood Ring. Finally, we have [CaptMcAllister] with RFID air pressure sensor. As the name implies, this sensor measures air pressure. It could be in open air, a tire, or even a football used by the New England Patriots. Sure, cars all have Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) sensors which do something similar. [CaptMcAllister’s] design has one important difference – it has no batteries. The heart of the system is a Texas Instruments RF430FRL15X, a device with the NFC radio and a low power MSP430 microcontroller in one chip. The system is energy harvesting, being powered by an external reader. As you can imagine, tuning the antenna was critical to this design. You can read all about it in [CaptMcAllister’s] 24 project logs. If you want to see more NFC projects and hacks, check out our new near field communication projects list. See a project I might have missed? Don’t be shy, just drop me a message on Hackaday.io. That’s it for this week’s Hacklet, As always, see you next week. Same hack time, same hack channel, bringing you the best of Hackaday.io!
As a Canberran, I can never decide if I’m glad to see the back of winter or if I’ll miss the tailored jackets and cute beanies. Either way, as a 20-year travel industry veteran, there’s one thing I know for sure: when the end of winter rolls around, it’s time to start thinking about your travel plans for the following year. “Wait….what?” I hear you say. “I can’t possibly think that far ahead!” If you can get your head around planning for a 2025 holiday, I can guarantee you’ll reap the benefits. Lock down those airfares and save Booking your travel in advance has always been a sound tactic for securing a well-priced airfare. But since COVID that has never been so true. If you’ve booked a flight since the pandemic, you’ll have noticed that airfares have remained inflated. Airfare pricing is governed by a mysterious faction of the dully named airline employees called the Yield Control Department. These guys practice a dark art that ensures an airline maximises profitability on every flight. It makes understanding airfare pricing tantamount to watching the stock market…confusing and frustrating at the same time. Whilst the Yield Control Department will move prices up and down as a flight sells or doesn’t sell, the general trend is that prices go up. So when should you book? Seat availability and fares are released 11 months in advance. I recommend looking at the prices then and if you are comfortable with that figure, go ahead and book. If you want to get a better feel for prices, set a Google flight alert for your chosen date and watch it for a couple of months until you feel informed about your options. Just don’t make the mistake of waiting too long for a sale, it may never come. Early Bird Cruise and Tour Sales Just as the saying suggests…the early bird catches the worm. Or in this case, the early bird catches the travel deals. Almost all tour and cruise companies offer discounts for booking well in advance. They want to secure your commitment to travel and are willing to discount to do so. When those sales come out will vary depending on the company. Traditionally, early bird deals for European tours come out in October and November but there are already discounts in the market for 2025 right now. If you fancy a jaunt around Europe with Trafalgar Tours, you can currently save up to 10 percent if you deposit now for 2025. Insight Vacations has the same parent company and the same offer for 2025 tours. If you want to keep on top of when the deals are coming, have a chat with your local travel agent or sign up for the email newsletters of your favourite travel companies. Far from spam, it’s a great way to know when a deal is coming and how to nab it. Where should you go in 2025? As you’ll see in my top five tips below… be flexible and go where the deals are. But if the thought of leaving your holiday decision-making to the whims of the all-powerful Yield Control Department freaks you out, then I’ve got a few tips. Japan is super on trend and will be again in 2025. You can’t go wrong with a destination that offers such a deep cultural experience as Japan but if you’re worried about the masses of crowds then may try somewhere new. Taiwan is a great alternative, and I hear the Stinky Tofu is quite the culinary experience. Italy is a perennial fave for Australians, and you’ll never regret an Italian food coma but if you’ve been there, done that then try something new. Malta is packed full of gorgeous architecture and history or maybe check out Montenegro in the Balkans – it’s got UNESCO heritage towns, gorgeous mountains and a stunning coastline (all 293 kilometres of it). Phuket Thailand has beautiful beaches and is wall-to-wall with resorts that will take care of your every need but if you’re looking for an alternative to crowded Thailand, then look no further than El Nido in the Philippines. It’s a little more low-key in terms of resorts but the limestone cliffs and bathtub warm turquoise waters will imprint themselves in your memory. Feeling a bit strapped for cash? You can still book a holiday without access to all the funds. Generally, airfares will be payable upfront but cruises, tours, and many hotels will allow you to deposit and pay later. Always read the booking and cancellation conditions before you commit to anything and ensure that as soon as you commit to anything with money, that you take out your travel insurance at the same time. Most travel insurance claims are based around unforeseen cancellations and are made before people even leave the country. Top five quick tips for securing a deal - Be flexible. If you are open to travelling when a deal is on offer or going to a destination based on a killer deal, you stand to save thousands. - Read your emails. Don’t be afraid of the spam, most marketing emails are there to inform you and quite often, stand to save you a fortune. So, sign on up! - Call the hotel. When selling online, hotels and their resellers are governed by a system that ensures rate parity, which means rates don’t vary wildly. But offline, these rules don’t count which means, you may pick up a better deal if you call or email the hotel direct. - Consider low season travel. Once I broke the seal on travelling during winters in Europe, I never looked back. It’s considerably cheaper and less crowded. And as Canberrans, we are already primed for the weather! - Look at the packages. It can be easy to get excited \ when you start booking your trip. But slow down and have a look at all the offers out there. Travel wholesalers like Viva Holidays, Luxury Escapes or Webjet often package up flights, tours and hotels which can discount the costs of the individual components.
While Freddie Gibbs may not have a whole lot of kind words to say about Benny The Butcher, he managed to shout out someone who helped him in his early career beginnings. On a track called “Rabbit Vision” from his new album, Soul Sold Seperately, Gibbs recalled wisdom shared to him by Jeezy. On the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League-produced track, Gibbs raps “Me and Jeezy still ain’t spoke in years / But I got love for him / Could’ve talked it out, but I spoke out, I let it get to me / Showed me I could be a fcking boss, best thing he did for me.” Gibbs and Jeezy had been publicly beefing for nearly a decade, following Gibbs decision to leave Jeezy’s CTE imprint, however, Gibbs has long been open to repairing their relationship. In 2020, Jeezy addressed Gibbs on “Therapy For My Soul,” a track from his album, The Recession 2, on which he said, “When that sht went down with Gibbs, I couldn’t trust him / Invested my hard earned money, tied up my bread / But he gon’ try to tell you I’m flawed, that’s in his head.” At the time of writing, Jeezy had yet to respond to Gibbs’ words. Check out “Rabbit Vision” above. Soul Sold Separately is out now via Warner Records. Stream it here. Freddie Gibbs is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
OK, so I kept a journal. So what? I've learned several things from all this journal-writing and I've discovered that not only has it made me a better writer, it's also made me a better thinker. If you don't keep a journal, I highly recommend you start, but before you do, read on to find out more about what you'll gain from it. What does keeping a journal entail? 1) A journal can be whatever you want it to be. There's no law that says you have to keep a daily diary or that a journal must record your deepest, secretest thoughts. The truth is, you can write whatever you want in your journal. I write a lot of lists: to-do lists, lists of post topics for my blog, lists of character names or story ideas. You name it... there's probably a list like that in one of my notebooks. I take my notebook with me when I go to talks or conferences and jot down notes or interesting quotes from the speakers. I often find that seeing my notes on paper helps me better understand the concepts at hand. Tip: Make journal-writing fun. Draw cartoons or doodles--iggi started out as a random doodle in one of my journals. Clip funny pictures and paste them in your notebook. Oh, and don't forget... Stickers! 2) Verbal spillage is OK. Sometimes you just need your journal to be a catch-all for the junk that's in your head. Julia Cameron, of The Artist's Way, advocates writing 3 pages longhand every morning (she calls them Morning Pages) to get all those mundane ideas out of our heads and onto paper. Then once we've cleared our brains of the clutter, we're ready to be creative. I agree with her thinking, though I've loosened the requirements for myself. I don't always write 3 pages and I rarely do it in the morning because I'm just not functional until I've had my coffee. But I think it's a great idea to put your nagging thoughts and worries on paper to clear them from your mind. Once I've written in my notebook, my thinking feels sharper, clearer, more focused. I think that's why I write so many lists... to get all those pesky ideas out of my head so I can think straight. Tip: Try not to let your inner censor interfere with your journal writing. Toss the words on the page, then shut the notebook and trap them in there so your inner censor can't judge. 3) Longhand. While some people might prefer keeping a journal on their computer or iPad or iPhone or what have you, I am a firm believer in writing longhand. There are two reasons for this. First, writing longhand allows your brain time to mull things over between when the thought leaves your mind and when it travels all the way down your arm to your pen. Typing is more immediate and it's a lot easier to type without thinking. If the purpose of keeping a journal is to improve one's thinking then it stands to reason that longhand would better serve the writer than typing would because longhand forces you to think things over. Second, I find that handwriting is a great diagnostic tool. My handwriting changes drastically depending on my mood and state of mind. Even writers whose handwriting stays pretty stable will see subtle shifts in their print and script over time. Looking through a notebook, I can quickly tell what mood I was in during a given time period based on how messy the writing is, how big the lettering is or how hard I pressed the pen. These are all diagnostic clues that tell me what was going on between the lines when I was writing those words. Tip: If you use different colored pens, that's another great insight to what your mood was. After all, you must've chosen that color pen for a reason. 4) Write something every day. One of the great things about Julia Cameron's Morning Pages concept is that by the time you're done, you've already written 3 whole pages and it's only the morning. Granted, those pages may be nothing more than lists or gripes or worries but at least you've been writing. I feel the same way about my notebook. When I feel stressed out or intimidated by the computer, I pull out my notebook and start writing there. I find it much easier to approach the computer if I already have something written. If I'm just typing it up, it's a lot less scary than having to face that blank-screen-of-death. Writing in a notebook where I can be messy and make mistakes makes writing "no big deal" and the less of a big deal I make my writing, the more of it actually gets done. Tip: I used to keep my notebook on the floor right next to my bed so that when I woke up, I would literally trip over it and remember to do some writing. Today's Task: If you don't keep a journal, go to a store and pick out a notebook that you love, one that will be inviting and fun to write in. Make your journal writing festive so invest in a pretty-colored pen or some stickers. If you have old magazines lying around, clip some pretty pictures and paste them on the cover or in your journal.
Katie Couric is opening up about getting breast cancer after keeping it under wraps all summer. The former Today show anchor announced in a blog post that she was diagnosed on July 21 -- the same day as her 8th wedding anniversary. After getting her annual pap smear in May, her gynecologist told her that she was due for a mammogram as well. The following month her mammogram was done. Her doctor told her that she needed to do a biopsy because there's "something here that I'd like to check out. It could be scar tissue." "A text came in: ‘Please call me in the office to discuss biopsy results. I tried calling you on your cell. Your mailbox is full,'" Couric wrote. "When I called back, Dr. Drossman picked up right away. ‘Your biopsy came back. It's cancer. You're going to be fine, but we need to make a plan.'" Couric said she "felt sick and the room started to spin." She went to a corner and began thinking of a million questions regarding the next steps that she has to take. She then thought about her family's history with cancer, including her former husband Jay Monahan, who died from colon cancer in 1998. "My sister Emily's pancreatic cancer, which would later kill her at 54, just as her political career was really taking off," she wrote. "My mother-in-law Carol's ovarian cancer, which she was fighting as she buried her son, a year and nine months before she herself was laid to rest." However, Couric said there "were better outcomes" for some of her other family members, including her parents who were both treated for their cancer. Couric acted quickly with her doctor and decided that she would have "'breast conservation' surgery, aka a lumpectomy." She wrote, "She would make an incision right around my areola. She said she'd try to make sure any scars would be covered by my bathing suit — the furthest thing from my mind." Couric said the July 14 surgery would then be followed by radiation and medication that she would need to take for five years. After the surgery, Couric, 65, said that the pathology results came back and her lymph nodes were clean, but would then start radiation. Amid her journey, Couric is now using her story to urge other women to get their annual mammograms done. "I can't tell you how many times during this experience I thanked God that it was 2022," she wrote. "And how many times I silently thanked all the dedicated scientists who have been working their asses off to develop better ways to analyze and treat breast cancer. But to reap the benefits of modern medicine, we need to stay on top of our screenings, advocate for ourselves, and make sure everyone has access to the diagnostic tools that could very well save their life."
Dear Friends Of Improbable People Ministries and A Tour Of Roses, Who is that singing on the outdoor baby Grand? Who just plopped down on the stool in the middle of Hostage Square in Tel Aviv and started belting out a worship set without fear of condemnation or reprisal? Why, it’s our very own Fearless Leader–Sally Klein O’Connor, that’s who! You thought maybe it was Sophie Tucker? Oy! How this happened will become apparent in just a few minutes. Meantime, back at the ranch, we have some long and meaty testimonies today. So let’s get right to them: I just want to give you a little praise report about our day yesterday. It really was a glorious day. We had some misgivings about things and some wonderings about things when we first started out because we went to Holocaust Square yesterday and our first outreach was there.

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