text:
After giving all their cruise ships names that are steeped
in the company's 135 year history, Holland America
Line broke with tradition by naming their latest ship
In a sun-drenched ceremony in the vessels's homeport of
Rotterdam, Holland America Line proudly showed off their largest
passenger ship to date. A ship that pushes the cruise line into the future without
compromising its unique heritage.
The weather
gods are obviously in a good mood on July 1, 2008, the day Eurodam
is named in her home port of Rotterdam. Guests for
the overnight event are welcomed in Holland America's old terminal building.
Around the corner is Hotel New York, built as Holland
America's head quarters. With so many maritime memories around
it is obvious from the very first
minute that this is going to be a very special afternoon!
Close to the
company's original head quarters the stage is set for an elaborate naming ceremony. Holland
America have pulled all stops, inviting 2,500 guests,
including many dignitaries and even some Dutch celebrities!
After some
speeches and the blessing of the ship's bell - a time honored Holland
America tradition, all eyes are set for the arrival of H.M. Queen Beatrix
of the Netherlands. And there she is, accompanied by Micky Arison and
Stein Kruse, CEO of Holland America Line.
Now in her
early seventies, Queen Beatrix officially names the ship Eurodam and
after ringing the ship's bell, a bottle of champagne crashes on her hull. Amidst
cheers, streamers and the overwhelming sounds of
Guido's Orchestra, Eurodam's Godmother is escorted on board
for a quick tour of "her" ship. And after a glass of
champagne in the terminal building, it's time for us to board Eurodam
again for cocktails, dinner and ...
With all
overnight guests back on board, Eurodam's aft Seaview Pool and
its adjoining bar quickly turns into one open air lounge area.
Basking in the afternoon sun with a drink, the appeal of this
open deck space is obvious.
While from
the outside Eurodam's "behind" may not be the prettiest, it
obviously has its advantages as the aft pool deck is
considerably larger than that of other Holland Amercia ships.
Hidden in a cabana-like construction is a wonderful pool bar
with lots of inviting tables and chairs. With the Lido
Restaurant around the corner, this is the perfect place to
have breakfast or lunch on a sunny day. And on not so sunny
days, the curtains can be closed!
Through large
sliding glass doors, you walk forward and enter the exquisite
Lido Restaurant. Sporting a fresh, light, modern, summery
feel, this is probably Holland America's most attractive Lido Restaurant.
It is also the largest Lido Restaurant in the fleet, so
prepare to walk a mile or so to discover all there is on
America Line has further refined the Lido Restaurant concept
on Eurodam and instead of picking up a tray and join the line,
you are urged to walk around the area and pick up food from
various action stations.
Although it
is extremely busy at lunch hour, both quality and
presentation of the food are very good. Being the inventors of
the Lido
Restaurant concept in the early seventies of the last century,
Holland America still does an excellent job here.
On port side,
the forward section of the Lido Restaurant sports a slightly
different look with different chairs. This is Canaletto,
Eurodam's Italian eatery. At night, this area transforms into
an Italian reservations-only trattoria, another first for
Holland America Line.
Leaving the
Lido Restaurant, we walk forward on to another eye catcher:
the beautiful Lido Pool.
With its huge
sliding glass roof and large swimming pool, this Lido Pool
reminds one of similar spaces on other Holland America ships.
But there
is a distinct difference that sets Eurodam's Lido Pool apart.
Designed by the Norwegian design team of Yran & Storbraaten,
the pool area has that fresh, contemporary feel. Instead of
the massive statues of sea lions and dolphins, there is a
single arch that sports a number of fountains and is inscribed
with the word "water" in a zillion languages.
I was quite
surprised to see trendy double lounge beds lining the Lido
Pool. With its dark faux-rattan furniture, light flooring, potted
palms and cabanas that line the port side of the Lido, the
area was really "hot and happening" during the overnight
One good
aspect of the sliding glass roof is that it can be closed in
inclement weather. Holland America makes good use of this
superb feature by arrange late-night buffets and even parties in
the Lido Pool area. Well done!
forward is the pretty Hydrotherapy Pool, part of the extensive
Greenhouse Spa, operated by -who else- Steiner's. It has
numerous therapy rooms, a large forward-facing fitness center
and a thermal suite area.
But perhaps
the best therapy on any ship is inhaling clean
sea air. To make a few extra bucks, Holland America is
following the cabana trend and introduces "The Retreat", a
semi-private open deck space that is surrounded by 10 cabanas
that can be rented for the day. Our tip: book one the two corner
was designed by two different architectural firms. Apart from
Holland America's long term partner VFD Interiors, the Norwegian design
firm of Yran & Storbraaten was also involved in many public rooms. The result of the Norwegian
involvement is a somewhat more contemporary feel and if you look
closely, you will be able to tell which room was designed by
the Dutch, and which one by the Norwegians.
High atop the
ship on deck 11 amidships you will find the Silk Den Bar and
Tamarinds, the exclusive Asian specialty restaurant. Done in a
daring color combination of greens and purples, these two room
breath the Orient and fit in so well on this Holland America
ship. After all, Eurodam's service staff is exclusively Asian.
There is a
surcharge for having dinner at
Tamarinds and reservations are required. The restaurant has a
dark, closed in feel but that is made up by the fact that
pre-dinner cocktails can be taken in the adjacent Silk Den, a
delightful bar area that comes with semi-private lounge areas
and gorgeous views.
The Norwegian
touch is very apparent in the Crow's Nest and Explorations
Café, all the way forward on deck 11. Yes, there is a hint of
the old Holland America Line, but the circular bar in the
middle of the room, the retro Scandinavian chairs, the
burgundy carpeting and beautiful wall coverings are proof that Yran & Storbraaten are taking things a little further.
The result
is, well, quite spectacular. The hodge-podge of furniture
styles might seem a little odd at first, but works very well
and helps to make the Crow's Nest feel less large than
it is.
On port side
is a beautiful little corner that is decorated in a more
traditional way. With its wood paneling and a showcase with Ryndam memorabilia, this is probably where the more
traditional Holland America fans will hang out.
I you have
read my
Rotterdam review, you will know that I really like
Holland America's Exploration Café concept.
But where the
Explorations Café on board the Rotterdam is vast, with lots of
space and quit corners, Eurodam's Exploration Café seems
more cramped. The location is brilliant of course, being up on deck 11
with walls of glass to enjoy the view. But the room could have
done with more space. Or less Internet stations!
One of the
good things of being invited as overnight guest is that you
can actually try out a stateroom! Eurodam boasts staterooms in
30 categories, varying from compact inside
cabins to two lavish Penthouse Suites.
Many staterooms feature a private verandah and it must be
said that balconies are of very generous proportions.
With one comfortable chair, an ottoman and another slightly
less elaborate chair, there is still more than enough room to
move around. The railings are all glass, which makes gazing
over the ocean all the more pleasant.
Our Deluxe
Verandah Stateroom (number 6110 - category VB) reveals a new
look for Holland America. Gone are the batiks and blonde woods. Instead, our
stateroom reveals a more Scandinavian look with browns, greens
and beiges. The seating area features a desk with flat screen
TV, mini bar and an odd moss green leather couch. It makes you
wonder if this color will come into fashion again...
Storage space
is sufficient for a cruise of up to two weeks. While not very
aesthetical, the overhead cupboards in the seating area are
actually quite useful. As on all Holland America ships, expect
a generous bathroom. Our stateroom featured a small and
shallow bathtub, more suited as large shower stall. The decor
of the bathrooms on board is plain, with off-white walls,
ceilings and even floors. That said, the shower is excellent,
with adequate water pressure and an adjustable shower head.
As evening
falls and the guests change into tuxedos and evening gowns,
the bar staff prepare for the pre dinner rush.
Dressed to
the nines, we head for the three-deck high atrium amidships.
Crowned by a glass sculpture and connected by a glass
staircase, this is one of the more successful atrium spaces of
any Holland America ship. And perfect for that pre dinner
On the lowest
level, adjacent to the Front Office and Shore Excursion Desk,
you'll find the very intimate Atrium bar - first stop when you
get back on board after a exhausting day ashore.
Crowning the
atrium is the superb Ocean Bar, probably my favorite bar on
board. Designed in traditional Holland America style by VFD
Interiors, the room surrounds the top level of the atrium.
Comfortable seating groups, wooden flooring and a very
inviting bar make the Ocean Bar the ship's social
forward from the Ocean Bar, one passes the huge Shopping
Arcade. If it's closed, it's like walking through a deserted
mall. If the shops are open, the feeling is very different and
you'll have to be strong not to have a peek at the merchandise
and ultimately give in to the lures of retail therapy.
A long
corridor heads further forward to the domain of the
intellectually anxious. There's the comfortable screening
room, a couple of meeting rooms and Eurodam's very own
computer learning center. Here you'll be taught how to make
the most of your computer.
With the
introduction of the Eurodam, Holland America Line is extending
the range of its culinary offerings. For dinner, you can choose between
Tamarind, Canaletto, the Lido Restaurant and the Pinnacle
Grill (more about that venue later). But most guests will head
for the huge 2-deck high Rembrandt restaurant.
At time of
booking, you will be asked if you prefer the traditional first
or second seating, with an assigned table throughout the
cruise. Or you could choose the newest option, As You Wish Dining. This allows you to dine when you want between the hours of
5:15 and 9:00 PM daily.
open seating guests will be accommodated on the upper level,
with the lower level of the dining room given over to fixed
seating. As in so many areas on board, the decor of the
Rembrandt Dining Room is a mix of the old and the new.
The beautiful
hand crafted chairs are very comfortable and have armrests.
Space at tables is quite good and although the design team
have done their best, it still is a big restaurant so don't
expect an intimate dining experience.
Being the day
of the naming ceremony, our formal dinner was of course top
notch. As soon as Captain Jeroen van Donselaar has proposed a toast
to HM Queen Beatrix, we study the extensive menu that was
specifically composed for this special evening.
On Eurodam,
Holland America Line sticks to its policy of employing only
male dining room waiters. Interestingly, Tamarind only
features female wait staff!
The Holland
America ships have never been known for their
extravagant nightlife, but it seems that with the arrival of
Eurodam things are changing.
Take the show
lounge. Called the Mainstage, this enormous room comfortably
holds up to 1,200 guests in theater-style leather chairs and offers
good sightlines and generous legroom. And since success is all
in the details: each armrest comes with a retractable drinks
The show we
see in The Mainstage is of the typical cruise ship standard;
highly choreographed with many costume changes and taped music
and background vocals. The sets are very hi-tech and amongst
the most impressive I have seen. And judging by the standing
ovation at the end of the show, the audience like it very
On we go,
walking aft on Lower Promenade Deck. First up is the Casino.
In fact, you can't get around it you will have to walk right
through it to reach any of the public rooms amidships.
late-night crowd is catered for by the ingenious clustering of
a couple of public rooms. There's the before mentioned Casino
and a very inviting Piano Bar directly across from it. Then
there is the great Sports Bar with its beautiful wooden
flooring, large windows, flat screen TV's and fun
So if you
have seen the show, gambled a bit, sang along in the Piano
Bar and ordered a beer in the Sports Bar, there's one last
place to discover. The Northern Lights Disco is probably
the most trendy room on any Holland America Line ship,
with its stark, minimalist interior, backlit bar and
impressive sound and light system. And let me tell you
that on naming day, the place was rocking until very, very
Eurodam would
not be a Holland America Line ship if she didn't have many
nooks and crannies. Walking around the ship, you literally
stumble from one world into the other. The best example is the
Queens Lounge. The starboard side is colorful, with large
windows, vibrant red seating groups and a very invited bar
But inside
the Queens Lounge it is if someone has turned off all lights
and put on the black and white mode. With its odd retro
plastic chairs and complete lack of any color or daylight,
this is my least favorite room on board.
Let's quickly
move to the atrium and the exclusive Pinnacle Grill. Here you
will be served the best of Pacific Northwest cuisine in a
trendy, inviting atmosphere.
The oversized
(and overweight) faux Louis XIV chairs that line the atrium
are of course in prime position and you will be hard pressed
to find a better location for your dinner party.
There are two
more watering holes where you can enjoy a nightcap.
At a stone's throw from the Pinnacle Grill is the Pinnacle Bar
with its high-back chairs and clean-cut decor. But I prefer
the relaxing, old-world charm of the Explorers Lounge, so
typical to Holland America. And here we
touch the essence of what makes Eurodam so special:
this ship is an intriguing mix of the traditional Holland
America style, with a number of nifty trends blended in.
We'd like to call it "Tradition with a twist"!
All photos
are copyrighted to the respective owners. Photos and text may
not be reproduced without permission. All information was
believed to be correct at time of publication, but may have
changed since. No responsibility is accepted for the content of
this website or any of its contributors.


text:
Marriage & Relationship Educators Association Australia (MAREAA) represents and supports marriage and relationship educators and the diverse work that they do with couples, individuals and families regardless of race or gender so that they may have healthy growing, safe, loving and committed relationships.
Healthy relationships in all their diversity = healthy and safe communities.
MAREAA aims to support educators in their ongoing professional development through networking, in service training opportunities, conferences, sharing of resources plus much more. MAREAA has active members in most states and territories, see our state list for more details.
Marriage and Relationship Education is an adult education activity designed to inform and enrich relationships and individuals. Members of this association facilitate programs for individuals, couples, families and groups of all ages. Programs may include preparation for marriage, skills for strengthening relationships, school programs, parenting, stepfamilies, men's issues, workplace relationships, personal development, conflict management, rebuilding after separation or divorce.
MAREAA formerly the Marriage Educators Association of Australia (MEAA), was constituted in Melbourne in September 1995, to meet the professional needs of Marriage and Relationship Educators throughout Australia.
There is an exciting new MAREAA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE (See website for nomination details: www.mareaa.asn.au)
Actively lobbying the Minister for Social Services to assist with funding for the re-instatement of the National Marriage and Relationship Education Conference for 2015.
Ensuring every state has a representative on the National Executive.
Supporting each State to conduct or plan their professional development activities as required.
The National MAREAA Executive provides seed funding to assist state PD activities as required.
Improving access to a continually developing website that promotes activities to support Marriage and Relationship Educators (MRE's).
Being able to locate on the MAREAA website MRE contacts in any state.
Access to a directory of MRE practitioners to the general public.
Lobbying of Government and industry organisations by the MAREAA National Executive to further develop the profile of MRE.
5% discount to MAREAA members at PeopleMaking Bookshop, Camberwell Vic. Interstate members can easily order online.
Regular updates to the Marriage and Relationship Education booklist available on the MAREAA website.
Members' discount on registration fees for all MAREAA professional Development activities.
A reduced membership fee for Civil and Religious Celebrants.
Executive members are available to present at Civil Celebrants meetings and conferences, Parent Education meetings and other forums.
- To encourage and represent marriage and relationship educators
- To facilitate professional development in all areas of the field
- To disseminate, implement and uphold national standards of practice
- To facilitate networking among members
- To continue to establish and support state and regional bodies
- To recruit more members
- To form productive working partnerships with other organisations in the field of Marriage and Relationship Education
- To encourage and disseminate research in the field

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Jane Finch Minor Tennis League: Building strong families & communities
As a Community Recreation Programmer with the Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division I am able to engage and build meaningful relationships with the children and youth on a daily basis.
I had first started out as a volunteer in a children's program a couple of hours a week just to give back while I was in high school. I had always dreamt of becoming a teacher and pursued that as my first career choice, once I graduated. I quickly realized that the life of a teacher was not for me. A set academic curriculum wasn't the way to helping these future adults become better members of society. I needed those teachable moments and opportunities to help mold our future. I left college with my degree in hand and took a leap of faith with the City and the rest as they say is history. Or herstory?
I have been working at the Driftwood Community Centre located in the heart of Jane and Finch creating much needed programs and actively participating within the community. Through this position I was connected with Tennis Canada who wanted to launch a tennis program, a team tennis program. At first I had my doubts as Tennis isn't necessarily the chosen sport in this neighbourhood. In fact, it was seen as a high calibre sport which was much too expensive for anyone in this area to afford. It was for those that had countless hours to spend with an instructor feeding them balls and demanding perfection. It was definitely not for this community. It was almost certain to fail. Right?
Boy, were we wrong. Attendance has been through the roof and climbing every session and this is our 6th so far. We went from 120 in the first year to 169 this past season. We are able to offer 7 scholarships to participants to further enhance their skills, youth now have an opportunity to mentor those younger than them, volunteer and complete their school hours and all while learning valuable life skills that are transferable to any career they choose. We have also gone on to start 2 other leagues in the summer throughout the community. We were able to tear down the financial barrier, play the game of tennis not as individuals but as strong teams.
The one aspect however of this program that is not easily measurable but is the most valuable is the idea of having parent volunteers as the team leaders. I have been actively participating in sports since I was 4 and never have I seen such dedication, such commitment and such positive energy than what I've seen in this league. Parents finally have a sport that they can take part in with their child instead of screaming from the sidelines. This league has made an enormous step in the right direction to regain the family dynamic where bonds are formed between parent and child, something that was missing for a very long time around here. My son and I are living testament of that. After a long week of work, school and extracurricular lessons we are able to get some time to play. I think he enjoys it so much because he is better than me and continues to beat me with no mercy. What's Love got to do with it, right?
For the past 6 years as the convenor of the Jane Finch Minor Tennis League, I have had the honor of seeing all of these wonderful things come to pass and to be a part of what is guaranteed to be a legacy in the Jane and Finch Community.
Good People, Great Sport, Great Life. We have discovered that tennis does matter. Aren't you all glad I didn't become a teacher? I sure am!!!


text: Hi - I'm looking to build a Java-based video client using Java Media Framework (JMF). A problem with JMF as distributed is that it only supports a limited subset of codecs (it can't handle H.263 bigger than CIF, for example). But it does have a plugin mechanism to add new codecs, and they can use the Java Native Interface (JNI) to call C code. So, my plan is to add the hooks needed to libavcodec so that it can be dynamically loaded into a Java VM, which should then allow JMF to use all of libavcodec's codecs. Sounds simple and powerful. I'm looking at avcodec_sample.cpp to figure out how to do it. Assuming it works, I'd hope to include the C functions needed into libavcodec, so a second shared library would not be required. I don't expect more than a single file containing a handful of functions with mangled names like Java_pkg_Cls_f__ILjava_lang_String_2 (that's from the JNI docs) that would be wrappers around things like avcodec_open, avcodec_decode_video, and img_convert. It would of course require maintenance if the basic library calling sequence changed. If the C hooks are included in the library, then it would probably make sense to distribute (with the library source) the Java source to the plugin that should be equally simple - one or two simple classes that handoff their functions to the C code. You'd have to download a JMF implementation from Sun or IBM for it to be very useful, but if a 'hooked' version of libavcodec was already installed, using its codecs with JMF would then be no more trouble than loading a class file. The only thing I don't see how to handle portably is to query the library to see what codecs it currently supports. Can anybody suggest how to do this? I don't think libavformat will really be needed, since JMF can handle AVI files, MPEG program streams, and RTP feeds natively. Audio codecs would probably be desirable, though. Any comments or suggestions from the library developers would be welcome... -bwb Brent Baccala cosine at freesoft.org


text:
Virtual Ticket 6.0 & Job Manager 4.0 Targeted For Mac Os X
Monday, December 08, 2003
Press release from the issuing companyIOWA CITY, IA - December 5th, 2003. Today MetaCommunications, Inc. announced major upgrades to its Virtual Ticket(tm) and Job Manager(tm) product lines for creative, publishing, and prepress organizations. The new Virtual Ticket 6.0 and Job Manager 4.0 releases will add native support for the Mac OS X environment and include dozens of new features and improvements. Virtual Ticket 6.0 is expected to ship in early 2004 with Job Manager 4.0 following shortly thereafter. "Although our products have been optimized and run very well in Mac OS X classic, we are excited to add native support for the Mac OS X platform. In development for over a year, these new releases will offer our customers a cross platform solution running under Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, and Windows." says Robert T. Long, Executive Vice President of MetaCommunications. ABOUT VIRTUAL TICKET Virtual Ticket is a powerful integrated solution that enables organizations to centralize information, eliminate paper job tickets, manage production files, traffic and schedule jobs, notify and alert users to changes in production information, manage digital assets and automatically archive files. Used as a stand-alone system or seamlessly integrated with other management and enterprise software, Virtual Ticket is the only product available today to combine electronic job ticketing, workflow, digital asset management, and archiving in one scalable and customizable production platform. ABOUT JOB MANAGER Job Manager is an award-winning, cross-platform electronic job tracking, costing, estimating, and billing solution for the graphic arts industry. Job Manager lets organizations capture, track, and manage employee time and materials usage in real-time - allowing users to obtain instant job status, activity reports, and cost analysis; and generate invoices automatically and distribute invoice transactions to third-party accounting systems. PRICING AND AVAILABILITY Virtual Ticket 6.0 and Job Manager 4.0 will be available directly from MetaCommunications or through certified partners worldwide. Virtual Ticket 6.0 and Job Manager 4.0 will be a chargeable upgrade with costs based on the number of concurrent users licensed. Customers on Software Assurance and Support (SAS) will receive the upgrade free of charge.
Industry News
Copyright © 2019 WhatTheyThink. All Rights Reserved


text:
Here We Go Again: Congress Attempts to Outlaw Spyware
Featuring Jim Harper, Director of Information Policy Studies, Cato Institute and Orson Swindle, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission.
Without doubt, computer "spyware" is a serious problem. Just like spam, this Internet pathology frustrates consumers and costs time and money. What should the information technology industry do? What should Congress do? Though well-intentioned, proposals to outlaw spyware may be no more effective than the CAN-SPAM law. Proposed anti-spyware laws may divert attention from technological solutions, put federal bureaucrats in charge of software design, and suppress future innovation. Please join us for a briefing on Internet and software regulation, including alternatives that may be better for consumers.


text:
"Eschatological Echoes": The Psychosomatic Teleologies of Ruinous Decay in Davies' "Doomsday" and Ignatieff's "Myth and Malevolence"
That beyond the death, or dying nature, of philosophy [and all knowing within humanity], perhaps even because of it, thought still has a future, or even, as is said today, is still entirely to come because of what philosophy [and the whole human endeavour] has held in store; or, more strangely still, that the future itself has a future—all these are unanswerable questions. –Jacques Derrida, Writing and Difference, 97-98
All that we are as human beings is held within subtle progressions towards that which is death and that which is unanswerable. Is it then not unfitting that this one eternal rhythm takes the better part of our morbidly curious imaginings? Or that we may even finally have something for prosperity in our actions and thoughts? One would certainly hope so… and that is exactly why the cerebral and narrative provisions of mythology will always exist within the human experience. The term of myth comes to us from Plato, where the Greeks had the cognate muthos that represented a true story of which was nonfalsifiable and nonargumentative discourse (Brisson, 137). Recent scholarship has shown that myths are quite fundamental to the psycho-cognitive apparatus of human beings through emerging field concepts such as mythogenesis and mythopoeia (Slotkin, 7-8). These are important concepts for exploring both "Doomsday" and "Myth and Malevolence," which have largely been shaped by the historic, transdiscursive commentaries on myth. Locally, each article is teeming with their own master variant of what may be termed as psychosomatic teleology, the belief that we are driven to a purposeness and final cause from which our own psyche and physical world conforms to in self-fulfilling a script. The reason for this relation is centered in that each article presents a succinct model of forecasting [1] an eschatology [2], an apocalypse that is united under a notion of the self, a self that must face adversity and atrocity in exploring greatest truths of our being left to the mercy of ruinous decay.
Paul Davies in "Doomsday" provides a compelling account of the last days with the Swift-Tuttle comet hypothesis showing that catastrophe, if imminent, cripples humanity into the reality of one monomyth [3]. The scientific array of hard disciplines have been earnestly selected to answer a simple but necessary question: what would happen to Earth if any planetary body were to collide with it? The brutal answer is shattering from the contributions of physics, astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, meteorology, chemistry, biology, and so forth—nothing less than a mass extinction event. This answer was arranged through a complex set of computations and simulations where all the disciplines were reduced to ordinances of mathematical formula to be entered into the hardware of supercomputers. After the numbers came to tally, the brightest minds scribbled over the significance to gloss in systems analysis from each of their specialties, a picture that we could see and read in mouth-watering despair. In building this transdisciplinary unit, a likely and meaningful problem was posed to be assessed by a supplementary, unifying, and concept interdisciplinarity that became much more than any one of its parts in becoming a beautiful homeless totality (Klein, 64-65). The subtle relations of knowledge brim about like a modern day Oracle. And once this situation becomes reality, then such truthful findings makes the rest imminent: "it is only a matter of time" (Davies, 25). We are now living in the irrefutability of myth—all is despair. He explains how we are destined to bow under the weight as humanity "can only watch and wait" (Davies, 25) in suggesting how completely insignificant we are amongst the stars. Then the oldest, deepest rhetoric within Davies sweeps in to wipe our eyes as we hear the echoes of all the biblical and mystical foretellings of that one, black day spelled out to us in a thousand whispers—a great pause filled with fuzzy worry to prickling despair of the unknown.
"Myth and Malevolence" by Michael Ignatieff unwillingly invites us to the horrors of "ethnic cleansing" that madly overcame the former Yugoslavia in Eastern Europe to demonstrate humanity at its worst as harbingers of endless strife-induced bloodlust. This wave of genocidal brutalities is still something that unimaginably shocks the informed by occurring on the watch of the Western civilized world in their own communal backyard nonetheless. The million dollar question: how the hell could something like this happen in our enlightened century? Puzzled, Ignatieff was strapped to provide such a frame when he set his foot inside Bosnia charged by his political science loyalties from which he borrowed from history, sociology, anthropology, folklore, and philosophy to explain a complicated set of events. Any sign of duress, hardship, or undoing that stands to invade the wellbeing of an on-the-edge community will trigger a set of deeply embedded wrongs from past or present in order to scapegoat and press an otherness of demonization onto its neighbours. Quite clearly, Ignatieff explains his position that myths "endure because they offer repertories of moral justification. Myths turn crime into fate and murder into necessity; they both justify atrocity and perpetuate it" (84). The power of myth is indeed demonstrated here as the Serbs take on this undeniable inward truth of unmerited persecution and deserving justice; it moulds the Serbs to perform unconscionable acts towards the Muslims and Croats for this very tangible awakening is a pervasive and predominant psychological reality that demands a final end and cause within the havens of homogeneity, an ethnic nation-state. This interdisciplinary attempt at understanding a subset of myth starts with a synoptic and theoretical curio that takes on a linear, auxiliary, and border interdisciplinarity (Klein, 64-65). If anything, the words of Ignatieff make us come to terms with the fact that everyone must be very careful about which myths they let themselves believe in for there are consequences. No theoretical chain can ever master what most modern scholars would agree as the one event sanctioned by myths and personal rationalizations that put forth some of the most horrific and daimonic cruelty bent in the blindest misanthropy of the twenty century, a case for the existence of evil.
So what do we get when combing both articles? A very meticulous model of total decay and destruction of our species. To study something like an extinction event, the one studying this phenomenon cannot be anything less than interdisciplinary. Every single apocalypse or eschatological account from the beginning of time has been something so complex that nothing less than systems analysis in scale can hope to answer what is exactly happening at any given moment as one factor constantly creates ripple systems. A term for such complexity, causation, and relations is held within the term, domino ex deus [4]. The one event of the apocalypse can then be thought as a complex play of causations and fields that are in constant dialogue and influence with one another. In getting to a final consilience with the two articles, I think it would be more apt to start with the transdisciplinary model of computation and simulation from Davies than going with Ignatieff and moving on a more struggling set of connectivities and precedences without the same synoptic and practical power of integration. The truest beauty here is that both systems are complementary and distinct without any in-between conflict, but they most certainly have a common node of humanity and psychology. That being said here, the model to be created for this context would look at what the rate and mode of extinction for humanity is in terms of a comet or other devastatingly large-scale humanity killers. The Ignatieff modeling would more or less add unconsidered detailed information for how psychology and other allied disciplines could help create formula for how secondary conflict might factor in from the stresses of comet fallout or other deadly events along with the ever-present dwindling resources that would make populations shift to ends like violence in further fading into non-existence. These models themselves would now provide very important myths and accounts of all the possible futures for humanity, but as every good storyteller knows, there are always other stories that humanity could wake up to in sobriety, but this solely depends on what myths humanity is willing to accept in taking on the internal sets of psychosomatic teleologies that make futures for all the drives and desires within humanity—speak not but the truth that you will become, lay to rest all other slithering tongues.
One fixed aspect of this sort of inquiry is that myths will never be something absent from humanity and the ways of becoming known to them in narrative or otherwise. These are fundamental parts to how stories in their undeniable belief will continue to function for as long as we can breathe the word. Myths escape us—they transform into something so much more, just as the thought itself transcend the philosopher in having a future outside its origins. The words of this text will bleed to the ethereal; new eyes will find meaning in the alien rhythms of a forgotten people. The echoes of our destruction will outlast us like an eternal wave over the universe making its mark with the carvings of spiritus humanitas [5].
Works Cited
Brisson, Luc. Plato the Myth Maker. Trans. Gerard Neddaf. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2000. Trans. of Platon, les mots et les mythes. 1994.
Davies, Paul. "Doomsday." Intersections: Readings in the Sciences and Humanities. Ed. Steven Scott, Don Perkins, and Erika Rothwell. Toronto: Pearson, 2005. 24-28.
Derrida, Jacques. Writing and Difference. Trans. Alan Bass. London: Routledge, 2005. Trans. of L'écriture et la difference. 1967.
Ignatieff, Michael. "Myth and Malevolence" Intersections: Readings in the Sciences and Humanities. Ed. Steven Scott, Don Perkins, and Erika Rothwell. Toronto: Pearson, 2005. 83-86.
Klein, Julie. Interdisciplinarity: History, Theory, & Practice. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1990.
Slotkin, Richard. Regeneration through Violence: The Mythology of the American Frontier, 1600-1860. Norman: Oklahoma University Press, 2000.
[1] Myth can be typological divided under these master categories: that which originates, that which is, that which will be.
[2] Eschatology is a theological and mythographic term for the doctrines and accounts that relate to the future relations existing within the final and terminating aspects of any belief system or literary universe.
[3] A single set of coherent narratives across multiple distinct contexts in which all obey a common set of principles and patterns from which each myth derives its intelligible structure.
[4] This Latinate phrase relates to apocalyptic criticism in which the events surrounding any given destructive force is always mysteriously hidden or veiled to the point that the perceived complexity of knowing what it, the mechanisms of that in-question force within the apocalypse, is more or less unexplainable till that one point where some insight, as if by divine inspiration intercedes into history by making sense of everything, its causation, and its telos.
[5] The Latin phrase, spiritus humanitas, is translated as "the spirit of humanity." This is a reference to all the collective aspects of humanity. In essence, it refers to the genius that makes us all tick.


text:
Archive for the 'Fall' Category
Golden Snow
613 // November 16, 2009 Snow fell this past weekend in Denver – some of the aftermath.
Filed under: 365 Photos, Color, Denver, Fall, Nature, Snow | 1 Comment
Tags: Denver, Fall, leaf, Nature, photo, photography, Snow, tree, trees, weather, winter
Happy Halloween
602 // November 01, 2009 Hope everybody had a happy and safe Halloween weekend!
Filed under: 365 Photos, Color, Colorado, Fall, Food & Drink, Nature, Texture, Things | Leave a Comment
Tags: autumn, Fall, Holiday, lines, orange, photo, photography, pumpkin, strange, Texture, vegitable, white
Great Pumpkin Patch
599 // October 27, 2009 Great Pumpkin Patch, experience described a couple days ago.
Filed under: 365 Photos, Color, Colorado, Fall, Holiday, Nature, Signs | Leave a Comment
Tags: Colorado, Denver, edgewater, Fall, Halloween, Holiday, letter, orange, patch, photo, photography, pumpkin, sign, typography
Cute 'n Outcast
598 // October 26, 2009 Cute litltle pumpkin-wumpkins… …and some that are a little bit different. Anyone know how or why they might grow like this?
Filed under: 365 Photos, Color, Colorado, Denver, Fall, Food & Drink, Holiday, Nature, Texture, Things | 1 Comment
Tags: abnormal, albino, blue, Fall, grass, Halloween, orange, patch, photo, photography, Pumpkins, shapes, stems, white
597 // Octoer 25, 2009 I hope you don't mind – I took a couple days off from the blog because I've been quite busy with our house. Today me, my two sisters and niece went in search of some great pumpkins to carve. After a visit to the pumpkin corner off Wadsworth and almost […]
Filed under: 365 Photos, Art, Color, Denver, Fall, Holiday, Things | 1 Comment
Tags: Art, boo, carve, carving, dracula, fangs, Halloween, light, october, photo, photograhy, pumpkin, Pumpkins, scary
Beautiful City in the Fall
594 // October 20, 2009 Down in the city, off of Colfax Ave and (close to) Broadway.
Filed under: 365 Photos, Building, Color, Colorado, Denver, Fall, Nature | Leave a Comment
Tags: Broadway, city, colfax, Colors, Denver, downtown, Fall, golden, grass, photo, photography, pillars, SKy, structure
Fall Aspens on a Crisp Walk
586 // October 10, 2009 Some photographs of the striking aspen trees on a walk today up in the mountains. Fall is pretty much over and I was glad to capture some of these gorgeous colors.
Filed under: 365 Photos, Color, Colorado, Fall, Nature, Texture, Things, Travel | 3 Comments
Tags: aspen, blue, branch, Colorado, Colors, crisp, Fall, fire, Keystone, leaves, light, mountains, Nature, orane, photo, photography, Red, shadow, SKy, sun, trees, warm, yellow
Boulder, pumpkins, film.
356 // October 30, 2008 Pumpkins in Boulder on film.
Filed under: 365 Photos, Color, Colorado, Fall, Nature | Leave a Comment
Tags: boulder, Color, Colorado, corn husks, farm, film, Halloween, hay, light, october, orange, perspective, photo, photography, Pumpkins, Shadows
Hands-on in the Corn Maze
355 // October 29, 2008 Objects picked up by my sister – corn… ….and corn husk.
Filed under: 365 Photos, Colorado, Fall, Nature, Texture, Things | 1 Comment
Tags: Colors, corn, corn husk, corn maze, Fall, farm, Halloween, hand, hand held, holding, light, october, photo, photography, Shadows
Green Fall Leaves
342 // October 13, 2008 Why, hello! Hope you had a great weekend. I sort of… took the weekend off. I wasn't lazy, as I did do both work on the computer and around the house; however I did give myself the weekend off from Cocktail Hour. But I missed you! I've gotten so many […]
Filed under: 365 Photos, Color, Colorado, Denver, Fall, Nature, Texture | Leave a Comment
Tags: Color, Colorado, colorful stuff, Fall, Green, leaves, light, Nature, photo, photography, season, tree
Box of Crayons
341 // October 09, 2008 Hope you don't mind me showing off some more photos from the Kenosha Pass series. It's fall, the colors are beautiful here in Colorado, so why not show them off? This photo was actually taken by my digital camera, but has been post-processed in Photoshop with some Auto-levels to bring […]
Filed under: 365 Photos, Color, Colorado, Driving, Fall, Hiking, Nature, Travel | 1 Comment
Tags: 285, aspen, Colorado, colorful, Colors, Fall, Green, kenosha pass, mountains, Nature, orange, photo, photography, seasons, summit, trees, yellow
Fall in Park Hill
339 // October 07, 2008 Took Cubbie on a walk and the way the light hit this leaf…well, I just couldn't leave it undocumented. You can understand, right? The best time to take photographs in the fall is going to be in the very late afternoon (3pm to 6pm) or early in the morn (8am […]
Filed under: 365 Photos, Color, Colorado, Denver, Fall, Nature, Texture | Leave a Comment
Tags: asphault, Fall, leaf, light, Nature, photo, photograpy, road, shadow, Texture, walk, yellow
338 // October 06, 2008 The last part of my fall series from Kenosha Pass. Hope you caught one and two, I can't decide which day is my favorite yet between all three. Perhaps this whole series is my favorite on Cocktail Hour. After yesterday's post about film coming out so much better than anything […]
Filed under: 365 Photos, Animals, Color, Colorado, Fall, Hiking, Nature, Things | 3 Comments
Tags: brown, Colorado, Colors, cowboy, cowboy hats, day trip, drive, engrave, Fall, foliage, gold, hike, horse, horses, kenosha pass, mountains, orange, People, photo, photography, Red, Signs, trail, trees, walk, wood, yellow
337 // October 05, 2008 Continued photographs from yesterday's post. I'm posting four today instead of my max of three, hope you enjoy. Walking around… sometimes the marks on trees reminds me of looking at the clouds that form shapes and pictures. This one reminds me of a dog's head, can't decipher the rest. What […]
Filed under: 365 Photos, Color, Colorado, Driving, Fall, Hiking, Macro, Nature, Places, Texture, Things | 1 Comment
Tags: brown, Colorado, Colors, day trip, drive, engrave, Fall, foliage, gold, hike, kenosha pass, mountains, orange, photo, photography, Red, Signs, trail, trees, walk, wood, yellow


text:
Cookies are enabled on this website to help give you the best possible experience. By using this website you agree to receive cookies from us.
Continue | Find out more
"One mum in a family with three generations of Boltonian men said, 'You can't better this school - it's belting', and we are inclined to agree.
"Good Schools Guide Review
"One mum in a family with three generations of Boltonian men said, 'You can't better this school - it's belting', and we are inclined to agree.
Read more testimonials
I Am Looking For
How to Join Us
Open Days and School Dates
Contact Us and Find Us
School Services
Boys' Division
Boys' Junior School
Boys' Senior School
Boys' Sixth Form
Girls' Division
Girls' Junior School
Girls' Senior School
Girls' Sixth Form
View more News
Wednesday, 30 September 2015
On 13 October, Bolton School will once again host the Careers and Higher Education Convention, which is one of the largest of its kind held in the North West. The event will offer young people in Years 9 to 13 the opportunity to talk about their options with representatives from Higher Education, apprenticeships, and various career paths.
More than 40 stands will be set up in the two Great Halls with delegates from a diverse range of companies and businesses, including KPMG, Cowgill Holloway, the BBC, The Bolton News, MBDA Missile Systems, and many more. The Army and the RAF will be on hand to discuss the options available, as will the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and Greater Manchester Police. A number of dental and medical professionals will be able to talk to young people about these challenging and rewarding career paths.
30 different Higher Education providers from across the UK will also be in attendance, including representatives from the University of Manchester, the University of Salford, the University of Law, Durham University, the University of Edinburgh, and Study Medicine Europe. They will be able to provide application advice for those considering university.
Many training providers will be present at the Convention, and some of the attending companies will be able to discuss the apprenticeships they offer. Students attending the event will also able to talk about their options with apprenticeships and the potential for working at 18 with representatives from GMLPN's Apprenticeship Ambassador Programme, the National Careers Service Manchester Growth Company and Careers & Education Services, a company based in London.
In addition to the stands, seminars will be available between 6.45pm and 8.15pm, offering insight into a variety of topics. These include applying to dental and medical schools, the Oxbridge system, studying abroad, student finance and 'how to improve your employability'.
The Careers and Higher Education Convention gives students the change to explore careers they may not have previously considered, explore gap year and apprenticeship options, and make useful work experience contacts for the future.
The Convention will take place on Tuesday 13 October from 6.45pm to 8.45pm and is open to all pupils from Years 9 to 13.
Share or bookmark with:
Hundreds of young people attended the Convention in 2013
Representatives from a wide variety of careers, apprenticeships and Higher Education providers will be available to talk to pupils
RT @BoltonSchAlumni: Michael Griffiths has retired as Chairman of the Governing Body at Bolton School. Old Boy and former School Captain Mr Griffiths served as a governor for an incredible 33 years and took over as Chairman in 2007 from Sir Alan Cockshaw.
Read more here: https://t.co/z1iLBxMtLa https://t.co/zoDbhMxood


text:
I haven't written in awhile so let me catch you up. Over the last year I have worked with a therapist on issues relating to my physically abusive mother and my bipolar disorder; I had my first frightening episode of disassociation caused by my worsening dementia; and my garden won an award.
My mother was both physically and verbally abusive. Because of this abuse I have problems dealing with women. I was able to control those problems until HIV damaged those parts of my brain that filter responses to stimuli. As far as my therapist and my psychiatrist can determine this damage first became apparent in 1995 at which time I was HIV positive for eleven years.
In 1995, I switched from a very social person to a defensive and suspicious person. I began to question the motivations of people in making comments about me. For instance, if someone asked me why I hadn't been to church in a while, I would lash out at them as if they were insulting me rather than see the comment as a concern about my well being. I began to see people engaging in elaborate plots against me. I became irritable. Eventually, I left the church I had been active in for over ten years because I felt they had plotted against me to deny me what I considered my due reward for my church work.
My behavior continued to worsen and was complicated by depression. I began to drink heavily. I continued to excel at my work and was promoted to a senior management position in part due to my energetic work ethic. Only later did I learn this energy was the manic phase of my bipolar disorder.
In 2002, I lightly touched a woman on the face during an argument over a neighborhood zoning issue. She never reported the incident to the police; nonetheless, she sued me for damages. I won the suit because the woman alleged I was threatening her with guns, a false allegation as I had no guns. She told my neighbors about this threat which caused my neighbors to misconstrue the many times I had called the police to deal with a neighbor who was taunting me and my partner with gay epithets from their deck which overlooked our back yard, a felony in San Francisco. That neighbor's behavior was not a fantasy of mine but a fact supported by sound recordings. I had a security clearance that would have been compromised by gun violence and I countersued on that basis. Our suits were settled without prejudice. It was sheer luck that I survived without financial loss. The incident with that woman stemmed both from psychological issues with my abusive mother and the developing loss of mental filters.
Working with my therapist, I now understand that my problems with women are caused by my experience of the physical and verbal abuse of my mother. My mother beat me herself until I got too big for her to dominate. She then brought a man into the house who beat me; strangled me to the point of passing out; tortured me physically; raped me; and verbally abused me in front of people by calling me a fag and a useless piece of shit. I escaped that horror by running away from home several times. My mother would have me arrested each time I ran away. After each arrest, I was put into juvenile detention where I was raped and beaten both by the guards and the inmates.
Finally in 1972 when I was seventeen, I met a man who offered me a plane ticket and the offer to live with him. I quit high school, left home for good and began a period of my life in which I was passed from one man to another. In 1976, I broke from that life, earned a GED and started college. I earned a degree in accounting, met my partner of 33 years, Jim, and began a successful life. I thought I had left all the horror of my early years behind. I had not.
Working with my therapist, I learned to recognize when I was behaving because of experiences in my youth and the loss of my mental filters caused by the damage of HIV to my brain, and then to modify my reactions to more acceptable modes of behavior. The medications prescribed by my psychiatrist also help. But, in addition to issues arising from experiences in my youth, I have the rollercoaster ride of bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder runs in my family. My father and brother had it and one way or another it killed both of them. My brother's bipolar was very bad. He became delusional and would go on wild sprees of spending and gambling. Thank god his wife was a nurse who noticed the signs of bipolar early so that my brother could get treatment. As those who saw the movie, Silver Linings Playbook, know, the drugs used to treat bipolar can be very sedating and can cause weight gain. On the bipolar drugs, my brother became somnambulant and gained 150 pounds.
My bipolar began quite slowly. I had long periods of intense activity followed by a more normal period. I never made the connection to my brother's behavior. Slowly, the periods of hyperactivity began to be followed by brief periods of mild depression. The manic periods of bipolar are very pleasurable and make you forget the depression, for a while. As my bipolar developed, however, the highs of mania became higher and the lows of depression became lower. Before I retired on disability due to AIDS in 2008, my manic highs were so high that my employees would look at each other in astonishment as if a foreign being inhabited my body. The depression that followed the mania became so bad that I would lock my office door and stare at a wall for hours unable to do anything.
Working with my therapist and my psychiatrist I am learning to live with bipolar. I am no longer afraid I will become my father or my brother. My psychiatrist and I have worked out a medication regimen that just knocks off the top and the bottom of the bipolar swings so that I am not dopey. My therapist and I are working on the remaining manic highs and depression lows. As I said, periods of mania are very pleasant, at least, until after days of hyperactivity, you become a physical wreck. If I am not self-aware, I feed the mania with alcohol, which for me is a stimulant, seeking a greater manic high. If I am self aware, I use the mania to do useful things like cleaning out closets or washing walls. If necessary, I take extra tranquilizers to control the mania. For the most part, depression is not an issue. If I do experience depression, I run the danger of slipping into inactivity, resulting in even more depression.
Deep depression is painful in way that surpasses physical pain. If I am not self-aware, I am not able to take medications for the worsening depression and instead prefer to wallow in anguish and thoughts of suicide. The threat of suicide is the reason serious depression is life threatening. If I am self aware as I have learned from my therapist, I realize my condition and take medication.
As many of you may know, I was diagnosed with the initial stages of HIV dementia or what is called HIV Associated Neurological Disease (HAND), in early 2008. Before my diagnosis my thinking was slow and fuzzy. I had trouble remembering, becoming so confused that during a speech in front of 200 people on a subject on which I was very familiar, I became so confused I was unable to continue. Some of those problems usually can be attributed to depression. I also had auditory and visual hallucinations that usually can be attributed to mania. Only through intensive testing over a three day period by a qualified and highly respected HIV experienced psychologist, Dr. Charles Hinkin, and an equally respected HIV experienced neurologist, Dr. Elyse Singer, was I diagnosed with HAND. Those doctors were able to isolate the effects of depression and mania from the damage of HIV. Most of the damage was in the left of my brain. I was found to have significant damage to the executive function of my brain that processes reactions to unique or new experiences, an important function for a senior manager. Since that initial testing, my condition has worsened and I now have problems with learning as well.
I was advised to retire on disability and to seek the help of a psychiatrist experienced with dementia. I retired and began to work with Dr. Alan Karme, a recognized expert on the psychiatric problems of dementia.
Working with Dr. Karme, I have come to realize that I am not hearing people's thoughts. This was a bitter disappointment to me as I had convinced myself that hearing people's thoughts made me psychic. The visual hallucinations of ghostly shapes, mainly in my peripheral vision, were not dead people communicating with me (I often heard these shapes talking to me). Again, a bitter disappointment, as I thought I could talk to dead people. Both visual, especially those in peripheral vision, and auditory hallucinations are hallmarks of dementia. Initially, Dr. Karme treated these hallucinations with Resperdol. Working with my therapist, I have learned to be self-aware of these hallucinations and to discount them, and I have quit taking Resperdol.
The problems with my executive function and my increasing inability to learn continue to be issues. I get so nervous in public, that I get panic attacks that cause my body to shut down. For this reason, I use a motorized wheelchair when I am out in public without the support of my partner, Jim. I take Lexapro for the panic attacks but refuse to take so much that I am drugged so I still run the risk of a panic attack. I am unable to handle the multiple inputs one has when driving and can no longer drive myself, a bear as I have to depend on others to go anywhere. I get lost reading novels and I lose the train of thought reading histories, my personal passion. I still read the financial and international news in the Financial Times and can glean the gist of articles even if I can't remember the details. Everything was going fine with handling my dementia until one morning a few months ago I had my first experience of disassociation.
I spent the morning by myself watching old movies on TCM. My partner Jim gets up later than I do. When he came downstairs for the morning, I was in the kitchen. He said, "Good morning, pumpkin". I did not know who he was and I didn't know what he was doing with my mother. My mother has been dead for eleven years. I was seized with dread. Until this experience, I never understood how mentally painful dementia is. I became afraid and confused, but I had sufficient self awareness to keep telling myself "This isn't real, this isn't real." I didn't respond to Jim's good morning; but, he was so sleepy he didn't care. After what seemed an eternity, I realized who Jim was and the fear and confusion passed. I remembered the episode in exact detail.
I described the incident to my psychiatrist during our next session. He was concerned, but assured me I shouldn't worry about it. Yet, the memory of the fear and confusion I experienced with that period of disassociation continues to haunt me.
My advice to anyone who is experiencing HIV dementia in whatever form is to first be in the moment. Do not let the trap of future tripping make you blind to the beauty and potential of the present moment. One never knows how life will turn out so don't worry about it. It is better to stay in the present and seize the day.
Second, do not go gently into that good night. Learn to be self aware of the issues caused by dementia and how to deal with them. Stay calm. Take tranquilizers, if you have to, there is no shame in needing the help of meds to cope with life. However, do not allow yourself to become so drugged that you lose the ability to lead a full and meaningful life. Doctors want foremost for the illness to go away and will prescribe as many drugs as necessary to do that. Work with a therapist on recognizing issues through self awareness and learn how to deal with them without the use of heavy medication. Work with your psychiatrist on the medication mix that best allows you to be both self aware and knock the points from your symptoms.
Third, stay active. I garden and read. Gardening is a good hobby for me. I stay in the moment while working in the garden. I concentrate on the task at hand, like a Zen monk. I have learned when reading to concentrate on the beauty of the flow of words even if I cannot remember what I just read. I am reading Richard Price's novel, Lush Life, which is hard going for me as he jumps around in place and time in his book; but, even if I have trouble comprehending the story line, I can enjoy his beautiful prose. I you have a hard time understanding a newspaper article don't be afraid to study it.
Fourth, to repeat myself on an important issue, become self aware. Try writing in a journal and taking a walk every morning. Try using the lessons in Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way and The Vein of Gold to develop your self-awareness. Work with a therapist. Meditate. Talk to a friend or loved one. Go to the theater, the opera, a concert. At Epidaurus, the ancient Greeks used theater to bring about a catharsis in the belief a healing would occur. They were right. Sometimes at a performance, one sees oneself as never before. A priest once told me that redemption was a journey in which we traveled to ourselves and saw ourselves for the first time. The root word, redeem, means to buy back. In traveling to ourselves, we buy back the self awareness we lost.
Enough with dreary memories and advice. My garden this year won award as a heritage garden that adds to the livability of the neighborhood. I have worked on the garden for ten years and finally I seem to have gotten it right. My neighbors nominated me for the award by which I am thrilled and humbled. I may have done a lot of work; but, in the end it is Nature that did the greater part.
All the best and I promise to write more often.


text:
The promotional code:
has been applied.
You have no items in your Shopping Basket.
Contact Us
Dobies Growing Guides
Vegetable Garden Planner
Violet-streaked skin with white cloves and a mild flavour, easily stored and split for cooking. Softneck variety. RHS Award of Garden Merit winner. 250g pack (10-11 cloves per bulb).
Virus-free French variety - bulbs come from virus-free stock, ensuring that they'll grow into healthier plants and produce larger harvests! Softneck types – the majority of modern varieties. This type, despite its name, stores for longer and has more numerous but smaller cloves.
It doesn't matter whether you're growing htem in pots on the patio or in a half-acre vegetable patch - either way the rewards are great! Now an essential part of so many kitchen gardens, with excellent health benefits (lowering blood pressure, fat and cholesterol levels and combating infections). And they couldn't be easier to grow - simply plant the garlic cloves in autumn, and they'll be ready to lift and dry next July!
Hardiness:-15 degrees
Aftercare - Easy:True
Aftercare - Moderate:False
Aftercare - High:False
Edible Flower:False
RHS Award of Garden Merit:True
Likes Acidic Soil:False
Beds & Borders:True
Prefers Full Sun:True
F1 Variety:False
The sections, or cloves of each bulb should be separated and planted just below the soil surface. Space rows 15-20cm (6-8") apart and allow 10cm (4") between cloves. Lift the crop in mid summer, and store in bunches hung in a dry, airy shed for use in winter.
All Dobies products should reach you in perfect condition, just as they left us. If you are dissatisfied in any way with their condition on arrival, please let us know within 14 days. We are only liable for the cost of the goods as quoted on the website plus the cost of delivery if the goods are faulty.
Order online or call 0344 967 0303 - 24hrs a day, 7 days a week For product or any other queries, please email Customer Services Customer Services call 0333 240 5933 - 8:30am - 5pm, Mon-Fri
Dobies, Long Road, Paignton, Devon TQ4 7SX


text:
Whats Your Intention In Living
Article main features of canadian studies writing is generally completed tallying with the expectations of the customer and data formatting is typically completed suitably. The writers normally follow the instructions that were supplied by the client when they're composing politics composition so this to meet the requirements the consumer. The principal object about composing a Article is actually to determine a regular yourself, a possibility to investigate your gifts and help it to become visible to our planet around you. A specialist independent composing service is found in all kinds of subjects. Custom article composing has developed into remarkably popular undertaking during the last several years. Hence, they should constantly appear at seeking aid from custom writing solutions with the intent to find outstanding perform, alongside a well-timed submission. Composing and editing firms do not do each one of the rough function which goes into writing an exceptional document (i.eudy, composing, etc.). Creating skills are more often than not essential in any sort of authorship. All these sorts of essay writing services must be outstanding and can ensure customer satisfaction.
" and too often, people use coffee as an alternative for sleep," says gomez.
These providers give various benefits and drawbacks which are outlined in this composition. In online marketing, ghostwriting services are amazingly crucial and an essential piece of the entire sector. Most online writing assistance promise to produce excellent aid, but fail since they don't have professional authors to help students. Definitely, custom paper writing services aren't free. Also check whether the dissertation writing business provides changes free of cost of cost. You could easily get tired with a lot of custom homework papers organizations which promise they could give you finest high quality essay but wind up in providing you lousy high quality documents that incorporate plagiarism statement. The next factor is about fresh or plagiarization totally free contents. Writing research papers isn't as simple as 1 2 3 but you can constantly understand the principles of research paper writing so as to come out with a excellent paper.
It is a free way to course which advertisements are currently taking people in and which aren???t.
Biology documents are extremely complicated, and pupils must be relatively learned when writing these papers. Students are continuously looking for valid, trustworthy and genuine type of writing solutions who deliver non plagiarized, vital quality specialist documents predicated on their requirements and desires. Usually, practically all of the documents are written in a variety of writing. As a result of this, it is usually advised to be imaginative and first whilst composing an essay. In addition, the essays must be creatively compiled by skilled writers which might be highly specialist. There are not really many custom essay writing firms supplying free plagiarized essays. Writing a political article isn't constantly easy. Note-taking is, in addition, critical allow a writer recall the crucial stage and suggestions to guide the primary essay debate.
He desires a while to himself and a few room to consider how he feels.
Continue reading to understand why you mustn't actually spend cash for an article on line. Thus, be aware of what it truly is you're writing. Using your own phrases is nevertheless the best method to stop plagiarism and it's tremendously encouraged. It's essential to mention sources to prevent plagiarism. It's not so difficult to liberate with plagiarism since it truly is therefore difficult to discover and prove. Consequently, if you're writing in these very same areas you'll always have your own bibliography for a research. That is where pupils can seek the assistance of entities that focus on custom- created essays. The following phase will comprise the key body of the essay.


text:
Prison Guard Tobacco Smuggler Sentenced
A former Jefferson County federal prison guard was sentenced Tuesday to a year in prison after pleading guilty to taking bribes to smuggle loose tobacco and rolling papers to inmates.
James D. Caban, 48, of Northglenn, was sentenced to a year and one day in prison for accepting more than $5,000 of bribes during the scheme at the Federal Correctional Institute in unincorporated Jefferson County.
Upon release from prison, Caban must serve three years of supervised probation.


text:
Due to my impingement syndrome in my right shoulder my physiotheraphist told me to draw more with my lefthand. Ehh ok well, that could be fun was my reaction so here we go. I made this practice into my 100days project so I will #100daysoflefthanddrawing on instagram. You can also se a short film of me drawing HERE. I start with drawing in ink with natural found sticks from the garden. Now lets see if I can do this for 100 days or I get impingement in my leftshoulder to!
Category Archives: Inspiration
Ok, I am so thrilled and happy and also a bit shy to be in the top 50 in the Global talent search!
A big thank you!
I know I have not take care of this blog, sorry little blog I have not all forgot about you it is just that it is much easier to share on Instagram. You can find me here: annabergerdesign
Have a nice weekend ( I know what I will do, dive into the next really fun assignment)!
Mats bootcamp gallery
Here is my little Hierophant I made to our last assignment in Bootcamp. The assignment was to make a Tarotcard (that also could be used as wallart if you like) out from the starsign you have.
I am an taurus and well my tarotcard was the Hierophant. I have no clue about tarotcard, more than I think they are beautiful and mystic.
First we should draw and look at mideval art and strange animals, wow they are wierd! Here are some out of millons that I found on pinterest.
Go have a look at the fun and great bootcamp gallery here. You can see alot of beautiful art.
Lumberjack ornaments
Some new paintings made to the Mats Bootcamp. You can read more and watch th hole gallery och fun Lumberjack ornaments here.
Gelliplate printing
Inktober day 5-9
"I can still not reach them, think we need to get…"
" Almost, think you need to help me."
"Yes I think i can get one, but who is holding the ladder?"
To be continued… every day I post the story on instagram so pop in there if you like to know what happends.


text:
Mike "Scooter" McGruder is a former NFL player. Over his 12-year career, Mike has played in championship games for the Miami Dolphins, the San Francisco 49ers, and in Super Bowl XXXI with the New England Patriots.
During Mike's tenure in San Francisco, he became the team captain and led them in interceptions. He also tied for 3rd in the NFC for most interceptions and was selected as an alternate for the NFL Pro Bowl. In 1998, he announced his retirement.
Mike was once voted as one of the best names in the NFL and received a True Value Award in 1995 and a Generation Excellence Award in 1997, which was given by United Way because of his impact in the lives of others. He also received an NFL Extra Effort Award and was a finalist in the Bar Starr Award in 1997—this is an award that is voted by NFL players for leading a life that models a high moral character. His former teammate, Steve Young, won this award.
Mike's business knowledge and success, has made him a sought after speaker for corporate functions. He was a partner with the Trinity Entertainment Group for more than 10 years, which won the Blockbuster Video Franchise Award twice. He was also a partner of Trinity Properties, a Texas real estate management company.
Raised in the inner city of Cleveland, Mike witnessed the devastating effects the streets can have on our youth. Heavily involved in charity work and passionate about improving the lives of others, Mike founded Platinum Charities Foundation (PCF). The 501(c)(3) provides positive change to underserved communities through scholarship initiatives, football camps, and other youth-based programs. In addition, PCF developed a campaign that brings awareness about domestic violence and provides homes in each of the 32 NFL cities for abused women and their children.


text:
The Press
Center/Gallery: Feminist Legacy, Feminist Future
THE CARRACK MODERN ART—Sometimes a gallery is just a gallery; other times, it's a game-changing hub. The Carrack has emerged as one such multi-use performance and art crucible over the last two years. It connects with a similar space from the Triangle's past in this group show featuring many original members of Center/Gallery, as well as younger artists whom they have mentored. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Center/Gallery was a Chapel Hill/Carrboro-based co-op where member artists such as Barbara Tyroler, Beatrice Schall, Bryant Holsenbeck (whose work is currently on view at Cassilhaus in Chapel Hill), Edie Cohn, Barbara Kazanis, Emily Eve Weinstein and many others showed. Through workshops, lectures, informal gatherings and visits from nationally noted critics, they energized a community, establishing a reputation up and down the East Coast as an important node of multi-generational feminist activity. The night after this opening reception, Kate Dobbs Ariail (a sometime INDY contributor) leads a panel discussion at 4 p.m., and the show runs through March 28, 6 to 9 pm, free, 111 W. Parrish St., Durham, 704-213-6666, www.thecarrack.org.
—Chris Vitiello
Art show at Durham's Carack
celebrates feminist gallery's legacy
Women across Triangle found community in Center/Gallery
In 1978, Center/Gallery opened in a two-room space on Ransom Street in Chapel Hill.
Founded by 13 women who wanted to create a space where women artists could show contemporary work and inspire each other, as well as the community, the gallery thrived for several years until it closed in 1987.
But it has lived on in spirit, with its members continuing to support each other in their art and personal lives, though often the two are indivisible.
"Center/Gallery: Feminist Legacy/Feminist Future," on exhibit at Durham's The Carrack Modern Art, 111 W. Parrish St., features work by members of the Center/Gallery and women who have been mentored by these members.
A reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 20, during Third Friday Durham. At 4 p.m. Saturday, March 21, the public is also invited to a panel discussion that will include art critic Kate Dobbs Ariail, feminist commentators, art historians and Center/Gallery presidents and board members.
Virginia Tyler, who came up with the idea for the show and coordinated it, said that Center/Gallery has had an immeasurable impact on her life.
"I feel that the members of Center/Gallery need to be heard and remembered," Tyler said. Even some of the founders who have died, like Sally Prange and Nan Gressman, will have work in the show. "I was honored to have known these people and been a part of the group," Tyler said. "I want to thank them."
When Tyler joined Center/Gallery in 1982, she had just graduated from Duke University where she studied public policy and art.
"But I didn't believe that a woman could become an artist," said Tyler, who teaches art at Raleigh's St. Augustine's University. "Women artists were invisible then. I had lovely art professors at Duke, but none of them were women."
"I would go once a month to the gallery, and it changed my world," Tyler said. "Center/Gallery gave me the confidence to say 'yes.' They were telling the truth about their life and selves, and that is what I wanted to do."
One of the founders of Center/Gallery, Carol Adamec, now lives in New Mexico, but in 1976, she had just landed in Chapel Hill, newly graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago.
"Center/Gallery ended up being like graduate school for me," she said. "The members shared their creative excellence, expertise, enthusiasm, drive and vision that provided me with crucial encouragement and support I needed for my own art making, art consciousness, professional growth, and artistic self-respect."
Adamec's painting in the exhibit is of a lily in the great outdoors, expressing the strength, beauty and resilience of nature.
"At the time, I was a wife and mother, and teaching art classes at the Art School in Carrboro," she said. "I had a painting accepted into a juried show at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. With a new baby, a full schedule and no car, I wasn't going to be able to meet the museum delivery schedule. It was Center/Gallery member Bea Schall who drove my artwork over to Raleigh so I could be in the exhibit. I can't even imagine how or where my art or life would be without my Center/Gallery experiences."
A fire usually starts with one spark, and here that would be Hollie Taylor. In 1977 Taylor attended a talk at UNC by Lucy Lippard, an internationally known artist and feminist.
"I was amazed at how many women artists there were in the audience," Taylor said. This discovery led her to send out a call to Triangle women artists. With little effort, a group of women coalesced. "I think other artists in the audience were at the same place as me," she said.
Participants gathered for discussions in people's homes until the house on Ransom Street was rented.
"We did not set out to make a gallery, but decided after months of meeting that this was a step we wanted to take. We were primed to make a feminist gallery happen," Taylor said. "Center/Gallery became the North Carolina nucleus to a huge and important women's art movement."
Her mixed-media piece in the show, "Apex and High Point," portrays Taylor's parents at the peak of their lives.
"I depicted my mother during her 40s when her art and her art organizational leadership were both strong," Taylor said. "Her power stance fed my feminism, which developed in me in the late 70s."
Hunter Levinsohn was at one of those first meetings.
"The room was stuffed full of women, all excited and very interested," she recalled. "There was a wonderful, palpable enthusiasm."
Levinsohn's work in the show is "Au Pear Shrug, Congressional Wear by K Street Designs, Launder with Care." The mixed media piece uses many Styrofoam pears.
Being pregnant and having a toddler kept Levinsohn from being able initially to be a part of the electricity of that group but in January of 1978, she ran into Schall who encouraged her to return. "I went to the next meeting. Funny thing, it was at the home of a woman who wasn't even an artist. The group just had such amazing and positive energy. It excited everyone," said Levinsohn.
The show, full of powerful art from artists whose reputations are valued not only in the Triangle but throughout the country, ends March 28.
Tyler's installation in the show is a sterling silver chain that hangs from the ceiling, and attached to it is a needle with a few tufts of milkweed seed pod fluff glued to it.
"The variety of work that you are seeing in the gallery would not have existed without Center/Gallery," she said. "I would not have made most of my pieces if I had not been inspired by these women."
"Center/Gallery: Feminist Legacy/Feminist Future," on exhibit at Durham's The Carrack Modern Art, 111 W. Parrish St., features work by members of the Center/Gallery and women who have been mentored by these members.


text:
You wouldn't buy a pair of jeans without checking the size. Why would you buy an air conditioning unit without knowing whether it will fit the needs of your home?
All too often, homeowners buy a new AC unit without a complete understanding of whether their new unit is exactly right for their needs. How do you know if an AC unit is right? Ask the experts! We will perform a load calculation that takes into account complex factors like ductwork and building materials, and we'll help you select just the right new Trane unit.
When we perform our load calculation, we often discover that an air conditioning unit recommended by another HVAC supplier is oversized for the home. We don't want you to spend a penny more than you need to, so we're careful to recommend exactly what your home requires…no more, no less.
Don't rely on companies who aren't trained to perform Manual J load calculations. You can trust All Year Heating & Cooling not to oversell you when you're purchasing a new unit. If you're in the Austin, Round Rock, Lakeway, Bee Caves, or Liberty Hill area, call us for a free estimate for your perfect AC unit.


text:
Dear Lukas,
Five months ago you were born on the early hour of a Saturday morning. I will never forget that day because I have permanently imprinted it in my heart, mind and soul. The next morning you earned your angel wings, and I will never forget that day as well. I have never felt so much sadness filled with so much love at the same time. When I held you in my arms as you took your last breath it felt like the world had collapsed around me but yet it was such a peaceful and gentle moment. I like to think that the tears I cried at that moment blessed you with my eternal love for you. I wish that my love for you could have healed you and saved you.
Five months on and here we are. I still think about you everyday, I still miss you everyday, and I wonder about you all the time. Five months on and my love for you grows by the second. I never knew this kind of love existed. The kind of airy love that floats around spiritually. Its a love that is alive, a love that is yours.
Love Mummy
Cassandra writes about her journey of grief, love, hope and trying to find peace after the unexpected loss of Lukas, who died at 26 hours old, on her blog Lukas in the Stars.


text:
Sorry if you are already experiencing overload. I have distant relatives in Okinawa, which I quickly learned was minimally affected by the tsunami. However, in searching for that info online, I found these:
First, via the NY Times, some unbelievable satellite photos showing before and after of several stricken areas in NE Japan. Also, the NY Times seems to have the best coverage of the earthquake and tsunami among US media sources.
Second, here is the major Japanese online news source (in English). They have breaking news and some stories are more in-depth. From this site, it appears there will be over 10,000 souls lost in the tsunami area alone. And there is the continuing threat of meltdown at several nuclear reactors. This link was passed on from a commenter to a post about the tsunami from Just Hungry - this blog's author is from Japan, so she has relatives there.
Finally, I belong to an email listserv (this one disperses information on reference services provided via email and chat to its members). Via this listserv, I read that a Japanese librarian is asking QuestionPoint, a US (paid) service that is used by many academic and public libraries, if Japanese librarians can use QP free as a means for transmittal of basic information for the duration of the emergency, as well as help his library and the one other QP user in Japan, via librarians in the US if necessary.
Yes, libraries usually provide information for people wanting their reference questions answered, but it's obvious that in Japan, they need to know the answers to more basic questions at the moment - who in their own larger communities need help, and the scope of that.
They have a website documenting libraries in the affected areas - and I admit libraries don't come to my mind immediately when a disaster occurs, even though I've been personally involved in this type of recovery. The website has been Google-translated from Japanese into English, so it's a bit wonky. This site documents what's working - or not, damage and what needs to be done at libraries in the region. What's heartbreaking is if you click on "Miyagi", the hardest hit region - much of that is unknown, including "Damage to user personnel: Unknown"
There is this Google Crisis Response website, but QP utilizes chat interaction, which could provide communication with more information possible than tweets, as well as faster than email. So, this librarian's rationale for asking QP to help is that power supply is intermittent in Japan now, and Twitter - presently the only means of communication - is insufficient. If you've ever experienced rolling blackouts - and Hawaii has when the monopoly power company here was trying to restore service after an earthquake - you might have an idea of what this librarian, his colleagues and countrymen are going through. If this can be done, what spirit of cooperation this would show!
I am continuing to hold the victims and survivors of the Sendai earthquake and tsunami in my thoughts and hopes.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Tsunami news you may not have heard
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Grief when you're looking for love
Posted on 12th April 2019 at 11:36
Alone on your birthday? Valentine's Day? New Year's Eve?
Some special days and events are powerful reminders of the fact that someone very important is missing from our life. Valentine's Day, like birthdays and anniversaries, is one of those very special days that can create an immense amount of painful emotional energy.
For those of us who have lost a partner, are looking for love, are divorced, or may not have the relationship of our dreams, the flood of images and sentimental relationship posts on social media may be overwhelming and exacerbate our feelings of loneliness.


text:
Goldman Sachs analyst Bill Shope is upping his estimates for Apple's holiday quarter.
- He thinks it sells 31 million iPhones versus his previous estimate of 30.2 million.
- He thinks revenue comes in at $38.18 billion versus a previous estimate of $37.06 billion. (The Street is calling for $38.18 billion.)
- EPS will be $9.94 versus prior estimate of $9.44. (Street estimates are at $9.87.)
If Apple hits his number, it will be 82% growth on a quarterly basis and 91% growth on annual basis. (In other words, holy crap! That's just sick growth.)
Goldman rates Apple's stock a "conviction buy," meaning it thinks it's a top choice.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-updates-apple-2012-1#ixzz1ikv0CmRf


text:
The Collegiate Summit: Catalyst to a Marketing Career
Jennifer Silver | Associate Strategic Consultant | Epsilon | 2017 Collegiate Summit | Call for Applications
Each year, Marketing EDGE provides inspiration to hundreds of young people like Jennifer Silver, whose experience at our 2013 Collegiate Summit at marketing leader Epsilon led her to pursue a marketing career.
Today, Jennifer works as an Associate Strategic Consultant in Epsilon's New York office, supporting clients in planning digital messaging and strategy across all channels. "If it weren't for Marketing EDGE, I would not be where I am today," she says. "Marketing EDGE was the catalyst that got my career started."
The generous individuals and corporations who make Marketing EDGE's work possible can be proud of helping thousands of successful marketing professionals like Jennifer get their start.
We look forward to welcoming 80 students to the Collegiate Summit, a 4-day, highly competitive summer boot camp to be held in New York City from June 4-7. Applications for this program are being accepted now:


text:
working away, writing away
August 8, 2011
Bridget and I are working on gallery proposals for a show. It's interesting communicating through blog posts and cell phone conversations. I guess that's what normal people do everyday. Anyway, here's a look at what we've got so far. We'll be looking for third parties to read it and do some editing and constructive criticism soon, so if you're willing, let me know.
Notes of what a proposal should explain….
1. what is the project? 2. why this project? 3. why this exhibition? How? 4. What it means to others?
Alana's edit of Bridget's editing of Alana's Edit of Bridget's most recent posting.
Shit. I forgot to copy and paste so the last one that you did is now lost. No biggie? Big Biggie?
It's looking pretty damn good. Did a bit more tweaking. Now have we filled all the criteria above? Kind of, but not explicitly. I say we do one more edit and have other people give it a read. So this sucker can be whatever length we like now.
Working together in a communal space is both challenging and inspiring but what happens when you collaborate yet are each in isolation? Alana Wilson and Bridget Fairbank met whilst whittling away at plaster in the cold studios of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design ceramics department in winter of 2009. Since then they have corroborated (i'm not sure this is the right word, but … what else? A shared experience…?) as fire tower observers in Alberta, a seasonal job which holds them in solitude and isolates them in the wild.
Solitude- a state or situation of being alone.
Isolate- to be or remain apart from others.
Solitude and isolation both occur either physically or cognitively. In both cases it is our sentiments and psyche that are effected. Solitude tends to amplify our thoughts and can foster great growth. In this time of narrowing frontiers and ever expanding modes of transport and communication, physical isolation is rare but an isolation constructed by society is becoming more and more common.
With the past exodus from farm to city, anonymity is more prevalent than ever in history. Often, we isolate ourselves by way of routine or cultural faux-pas. Bridget and Alana tell a story of a physical isolation akin to that of the pioneers before us and the emotional isolation felt by most in modernity. Their isolation has resulted in the contemplation of self, of society, of what solitude means, of how it functions and of how it effects us all. By being physically isolated, the two grapple with cultural solitude through individual artistic explorations. The Isolation Project exhibits each artist's manifestation of solitude and in turn invites the viewer to acknowledge their personal story of isolation and solitude.
Alana Wilson's inspiration for this work began with the work of artists such as Margaret Kilgallen and Barry McGee, the availability of materials in a remote situation, and the idea of attempting to capture her scattered thoughts in an esthetically pleasing way. For her, the fire tower season is always a time of deep personal contemplation and questioning. Her contribution to The Isolation Project is a look at some of the ideas and pressures she ruminates on and feels as an isolated female in her early thirties. Even in this post-feminist era where establishing a career for herself is important, she still feels a societal and parental pressure to settle down and have babies, and often questions her desire to do, or not do, so. This has become a seemingly more common place perspective in a time when more women are remaining independent for a longer period of time, and attempting to find strength and fulfillment in themselves.
A constant struggle has presented itself in her choices and dualities such as Career vs. Family and Love vs. Ambition are manifested in words and phrases like Independence; Follow your heart; Freedom; and Selfish. These examples and many others are then embroidered and presented in frames, clustered together on the wall in no particular order, a visual representation of the way thoughts and ideas can come and go during time spent thinking alone in the forest or walking the streets of a city. Embroidery was chosen due to its portable nature and lightweight materials. The fact that embroidery was traditionally done by school age girls and unmarried women has also been something that Alana could identify with. The act of embroidering in itself provides time for reflection and contemplation on the story she is creating. She often feels that though solitude is necessary for growth and should be taken seriously and even cherished, perhaps the most human desire is to have someone bear witness to our lives and tell our story. The Isolation Project is an illustration of this concept.
Bridget Fairbank's inspiration came as she traveled across Canada collecting plates and contemplating time. She regarded the extensive highway lines thinking of the solitary summer regimented by routine that lay ahead as a fire tower observer. What would happen if the rhythm in which the day occurred was represented by space and line?
Time never passes at an uniform pace. Each interval of action is different. When a collection of lines is made the thickness, the uniformity and the space between each line all speak to us visually as a concept of speed and pace. By making lines in overglaze pigments fired onto those found side plates from her journey, a plate for each day of isolation at tower, the juice and anxiety, the calm and serenity, the business and revelry of daily time is thus visually communicated. Why make lines on plates? The varied forms and surfaces of pre-owned dishes as an ensemble create a complex narrative. Through the recording of Bridget's daily routines the existing imagery is slashed and distorted, eluding to the forgotten story of the day, the week, the decade and the place in which the plates were once relevant cared for dishes. The collection represents the blatantly varied nature of Canadian culture. By altering each dish Bridget's personal tale of daily isolation by way of routine is imposed upon each plate: a metaphor for the individual's daily chaotic and isolated contribution in our multifaceted culture. Her project is a celebration of everyday solitary experience in a Canadian context. When presented on the wall in calendar format the rhetoric of four months alone in the forest with one's thoughts is indicated by space and line, evoking emotion and sparking contemplation of one's individual life in relation to daily routine, time and culture.
The Isolation Project is a recording of two lives spent in the seclusion of the Canadian wilderness and the urban environment. Whether experienced physically or emotionally, isolation is felt by everyone at one time or another during this busy modern existence. The Isolation Project exemplifies that though solitude and seclusion can be a reprieve from ordinary life, it is seldom a reprieve from oneself.