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Spark Interview Questions
Spark Interview Questions
What is Spark?
Spark is scheduling, monitoring and distributing engine for big data.It is a cluster computing platform designed to be fast and general purpose.Spark extends the popular MapReduce model.One of the main features Spark offers for speed is the ability to run computations in memory, but the system is also more efficient than MapReduce for complex applications running on disk.
What is Standalone mode?
In standalone mode, Spark uses a Master daemon which coordinates the efforts of the Workers, which run the executors. Standalone mode is the default, but it cannot be used on secure clusters.When you submit an application, you can choose how much memory its executors will use, as well as the total number of cores across all executors.
What is YARN mode?
In YARN mode, the YARN ResourceManager performs the functions of the Spark Master. The functions of the Workers are performed by the YARN NodeManager daemons, which run the executors. YARN mode is slightly more complex to set up, but it supports security.
What is Apache Spark?
Spark is a fast, easy-to-use and flexible data processing framework. Most of the data users know only SQL and are not good at programming. Shark is a tool, developed for people who are from a database background - to access Scala MLib capabilities through Hive like SQL interface. Shark tool helps data users run Hive on Spark - offering compatibility with Hive metastore, queries and data.
Explain key features of Spark.
- Allows Integration with Hadoop and files included in HDFS.
- Spark has an interactive language shell as it has an independent Scala (the language in which Spark is written) interpreter
- Spark consists of RDD's (Resilient Distributed Datasets), which can be cached across computing nodes in a cluster.
- Spark supports multiple analytic tools that are used for interactive query analysis , real-time analysis and graph processing.
What are client mode and cluster mode?
Each application has a driver process which coordinates its execution. This process can run in the foreground (client mode) or in the background (cluster mode). Client mode is a little simpler, but cluster mode allows you to easily log out after starting a Spark application without terminating the application.
Define RDD?
RDDs (Resilient Distributed Datasets) are basic abstraction in Apache Spark that represent the data coming into the system in object format. RDDs are used for in-memory computations on large clusters, in a fault tolerant manner. RDDs are read-only portioned, collection of records, that are –
Immutable – RDDs cannot be altered.
Resilient – If a node holding the partition fails the other node takes the data.
How to run spark in Standalone client mode?
- spark-submit \
- class org.apache.spark.examples.SparkPi \
- deploy-mode client \
- master spark//$SPARK_MASTER_IP:$SPARK_MASTER_PORT \
- $SPARK_HOME/examples/lib/spark-examples_version.jar 10
How to run spark in Standalone cluster mode?
- spark-submit \
- class org.apache.spark.examples.SparkPi \
- deploy-mode cluster \
- master spark//$SPARK_MASTER_IP:$SPARK_MASTER_PORT \
- $SPARK_HOME/examples/lib/spark-examples_version.jar 10
How to run spark in YARN client mode?
- spark-submit \
- class org.apache.spark.examples.SparkPi \
- deploy-mode client \
- master yarn \
- $SPARK_HOME/examples/lib/spark-examples_version.jar 10
How to run spark in YARN cluster mode?
- spark-submit \
- class org.apache.spark.examples.SparkPi \
- deploy-mode cluster \
- master yarn \
- $SPARK_HOME/examples/lib/spark-examples_version.jar 10
What is Executor memory?
You can configure this using the –executor-memory argument to sparksubmit. Each application will have at most one executor on each worker, so this setting controls how much of that worker's memory the application will claim. By default, this setting is 1 GB—you will likely want to increase it on most servers.
What is the maximum number of total cores?
This is the total number of cores used across all executors for an application. By default, this is unlimited; that is, the application will launch executors on every available node in the cluster. For a multiuser workload, you should instead ask users to cap their usage. You can set this value through the –total-execution cores argument to spark-submit, or by configuring spark.cores.max in your Spark configuration file.
What does a Spark Engine do?
Spark Engine is responsible for scheduling, distributing and monitoring the data application across the cluster.
Define Partitions?
As the name suggests, partition is a smaller and logical division of data similar to 'split' in MapReduce. Partitioning is the process to derive logical units of data to speed up the processing process. Everything in Spark is a partitioned RDD.
What operations RDD support?
- Transformations
- Actions
What do you understand by Transformations in Spark?
Transformations are functions applied on RDD, resulting into another RDD. It does not execute until an action occurs. map() and filer() are examples of transformations, where the former applies the function passed to it on each element of RDD and results into another RDD. The filter() creates a new RDD by selecting elements form current RDD that pass function argument.
Define Actions.
An action helps in bringing back the data from RDD to the local machine. An action's execution is the result of all previously created transformations. reduce() is an action that implements the function passed again and again until one value if left. take() action takes all the values from RDD to local node.
Define functions of Spark Core?
Spark Core performs various important functions like memory management, monitoring jobs, fault-tolerance, job scheduling and interaction with storage systems.
What is RDD Lineage?
Spark does not support data replication in the memory and thus, if any data is lost, it is rebuild using RDD lineage. RDD lineage is a process that reconstructs lost data partitions. The best is that RDD always remembers how to build from other datasets.
What is Spark Driver?
Spark Driver is the program that runs on the master node of the machine and declares transformations and actions on data RDDs. In simple terms, driver in Spark creates SparkContext, connected to a given Spark Master. The driver also delivers the RDD graphs to Master, where the standalone cluster manager runs.
What is Hive on Spark?
Hive contains significant support for Apache Spark, wherein Hive execution is configured to Spark:
- hive> set spark.home=/location/to/sparkHome;
- hive> set hive.execution.engine=spark;
- Hive on Spark supports Spark on yarn mode by default.
Name commonly-used Spark Ecosystems?
- Spark SQL (Shark)- for developers
- Spark Streaming for processing live data streams
- GraphX for generating and computing graphs
- MLlib (Machine Learning Algorithms)
- SparkR to promote R Programming in Spark engine.
What are the main components of Spark?
- Spark Core: Spark Core contains the basic functionality of Spark, including components for task scheduling, memory management, fault recovery, interacting with storage systems, and more. Spark Core is also home to the API that defines RDDs,
- Spark SQL: Spark SQL is Spark's package for working with structured data. It allows querying data via SQL as well as the HQL.
- Spark Streaming: Spark Streaming is a Spark component that enables processing of live streams of data. Examples of data streams include logfiles generated by production web servers.
- MLlib: Spark comes with a library containing common machine learning (ML) functionality, called MLlib. MLlib provides multiple types of machine learning algorithms.
- GraphX: GraphX is a library for manipulating graphs (e.g., a social network's friend graph) and performing graph-parallel computations.
How Spark Streaming works?
Spark Streaming receives live input data streams and divides the data into batches, which are then processed by the Spark engine to generate the final stream of results in batches.Spark Streaming provides a high-level abstraction called discretized stream or DStream, which represents a continuous stream of data. DStreams can be created either from input data streams from sources such as Kafka, Flume, or by applying high-level operations on other DStreams. Internally, a DStream is represented as a sequence of RDDs.
Define Spark Streaming.Spark supports stream processing?
An extension to the Spark API , allowing stream processing of live data streams. The data from different sources like Flume, HDFS is streamed and finally processed to file systems, live dashboards and databases. It is similar tobatch processing as the input data is divided into streams like batches.
What is GraphX?
Spark uses GraphX for graph processing to build and transform interactive graphs. The GraphX component enables programmers to reason about structured data at scale.
What does MLlib do?
MLlib is scalable machine learning library provided by Spark. It aims at making machine learning easy and scalable with common learning algorithms and use cases like clustering, regression filtering, dimensional reduction, and alike.
What is Spark SQL?
SQL Spark, better known as Shark is a novel module introduced in Spark to work with structured data and perform structured data processing. Through this module, Spark executes relational SQL queries on the data. The core of the component supports an altogether different RDD called SchemaRDD, composed of rows objects and schema objects defining data type of each column in the row. It is similar to a table in relational database.
What is a Parquet file?
Parquet is a columnar format file supported by many other data processing systems. Spark SQL performs both read and write operations with Parquet file and consider it be one of the best big data analytics format so far.
What file systems Spark support?
- Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS)
- Local File system
- S320.What is Yarn?Similar to Hadoop, Yarn is one of the key features in Spark, providing a central and resource management platform to deliver scalable operations across the cluster . Running Spark on Yarn necessitates a binary distribution of Spar as built on Yarn support.
List the functions of Spark SQL?
Spark SQL is capable of:
- Loading data from a variety of structured sources
- Querying data using SQL statements, both inside a Spark program and from external tools that connect to Spark SQL through standard database connectors (JDBC/ODBC). For instance, using business intelligence tools like Tableau
- Providing rich integration between SQL and regular Python/Java/Scala code, including the ability to join RDDs and SQL tables, expose custom functions in SQL, and more
What is persist()?
Spark's RDDs are by default recomputed each time you run an action on them. If you would like to reuse an RDD in multiple actions, you can ask Spark to persist it using RDD.persist().After computing it the first time, Spark will store the RDD contents in memory (partitioned across the machines in your cluster), and reuse them in future actions. Persisting RDDs on disk instead of memory is also possible.
Write common workflow of a Spark program?
Every Spark program and shell session will work as follows:
- Create some input RDDs from external data.
- Transform them to define new RDDs using transformations like filter().
- Ask Spark to persist() any intermediate RDDs that will need to be reused.
- Launch actions such as count() and first() to kick off a parallel computation, which is then optimized and executed by Spark.
Difference between cache() and persist()?
With cache(), you use only the default storage level MEMORY_ONLY. With persist(), you can specify which storage level you want.So cache() is the same as calling persist() with the default storage level.Spark has many levels of persistence to choose from based on what our goals are.The default persist() will store the data in the JVM heap as unserialized objects. When we write data out to disk, that data is also always serialized.Different levels of persistence are MEMORY_ONLY, MEMORY_ONLY_SER, MEMORY_AND_DISK, MEMORY_AND_DISK_SER, DISK_ONLY.
What is lineage graph?
As you derive new RDDs from each other using transformations, Spark keeps track of the set of dependencies between different RDDs, called the lineage graph. It uses this information to compute each RDD on demand and to recover lost data if part of a persistent RDD is lost.
Difference between map() and flatMap()?
The map() transformation takes in a function and applies it to each element in the RDD with the result of the function being the new value of each element in the resulting RDD. Sometimes we want to produce multiple output elements for each input element. The operation to do this is called flatMap(). As with map(), the function we provide to flatMap() is called individually for each element in our input RDD. Instead of returning a single element, we return an iterator with our return values.
What is reduce() action?
It takes a function that operates on two elements of the type in your RDD and returns a new element of the same type. A simple example of such a function is +, which we can use to sum our RDD. With reduce(), we can easily sum the elements of our RDD, count the number of elements, and perform other types of aggregations.
What is Pair RDD?
Spark provides special operations on RDDs containing key/value pairs. These RDDs are called pair RDDs. Pair RDDs are a useful building block in many programs, as they expose operations that allow you to act on each key in parallel.For example, pair RDDs have a reduceByKey() method that can aggregate data separately for each key, and a join() method that can merge two RDDs together by grouping elements with the same key.
What are Accumulators?
Accumulators, provides a simple syntax for aggregating values from worker nodes back to the driver program. One of the most common uses of accumulators is to count events that occur during job execution for debugging purposes.
What is Broadcast Variables?
Spark's second type of shared variable, broadcast variables, allows the program to efficiently send a large, read-only value to all the worker nodes for use in one or more Spark operations. They come in handy, for example, if your application needs to send a large, read-only lookup table to all the nodes.
What is Piping?
Spark provides a pipe() method on RDDs. Spark's pipe() lets us write parts of jobs using any language we want as long as it can read and write to Unix standard streams. With pipe(), you can write a transformation of an RDD that reads each RDD element from standard input as a String, manipulates that String however you like, and then writes the result(s) as Strings to standard output.
What are benefits of Spark over MapReduce?
- Due to the availability of in-memory processing, Spark implements the processing around 10-100x faster than Hadoop MapReduce. MapReduce makes use of persistence storage for any of the data processing tasks.
- Unlike Hadoop, Spark provides in-built libraries to perform multiple tasks form the same core like batch processing, Steaming, Machine learning, Interactive SQL queries. However, Hadoop only supports batch processing.
- Hadoop is highly disk-dependent whereas Spark promotes caching and in-memory data storage
- Spark is capable of performing computations multiple times on the same dataset. This is called iterative computation while there is no iterative computing implemented by Hadoop.
Is there any benefit of learning MapReduce, then?
Yes, MapReduce is a paradigm used by many big data tools including Spark as well. It is extremely relevant to use MapReduce when the data grows bigger and bigger. Most tools like Pig and Hive convert their queries into MapReduce phases to optimize them better.
What is Spark Executor?
When SparkContext connect to a cluster manager, it acquires an Executor on nodes in the cluster. Executors are Spark processes that run computations and store the data on the worker node. The final tasks by SparkContext are transferred to executors for their execution.
Name types of Cluster Managers in Spark?
The Spark framework supports three major types of Cluster Managers:
- Standalone: a basic manager to set up a cluster
- Apache Mesos: generalized/commonly-used cluster manager, also runs Hadoop MapReduce and other applications
- Yarn: responsible for resource management in Hadoop
What are Executors?
Spark executors are worker processes responsible for running the individual tasks in a given Spark job. Executors are launched once at the beginning of a Spark application and typically run for the entire lifetime of an application.Executors have two roles. First, they run the tasks that make up the application and return results to the driver.Second, they provide in-memory storage for RDDs that are cached by user programs.
What are the steps that occur when you run a Spark application on a cluster?
The user submits an application using spark-submit.
- Spark-submit launches the driver program and invokes the main() method specified by the user.
- The driver program contacts the cluster manager to ask for resources to launch executors.
- The cluster manager launches executors on behalf of the driver program.
- The driver process runs through the user application. Based on the RDD actions and transformations in the program, the driver sends work to executors in the form of tasks.
- Tasks are run on executor processes to compute and save results.
- If the driver's main() method exits or it calls SparkContext.stop(),it will terminate the executors and release resources from the cluster manager.
What is Spark SQL?
Spark SQL is a module in Apache Spark that integrates relational processing(e.g., declarative queries and optimized storage) with Spark's procedural programming API. Spark SQL makes two main additions.First, it offers much tighter integration between relational and procedural processing, through a declarative DataFrame API.Second, it includes a highly extensible optimizer, Catalyst.
Big data applications require a mix of processing techniques, data sources and storage formats. The earliest systems designed for these workloads, such as MapReduce, gave users a powerful, but low-level, procedural programming interface. Programming such systems was onerous and required manual optimization by the user to achieve high performance. As a result, multiple new systems sought to provide a more productive user experience by offering relational interfaces to big data. Systems like Pig, Hive and Shark all take advantage of declarative queries to provide richer automatic optimizations.
What is a schema RDD/DataFrame?
A SchemaRDD is an RDD composed of Row objects with additional schema information of the types in each column. Row objects are just wrappers around arrays of basic types (e.g., integers and strings).
What are Row objects?
Row objects represent records inside SchemaRDDs, and are simply fixed-length arrays of fields.Row objects have a number of getter functions to obtain the value of each field given its index. The standard getter, get (or apply in Scala), takes a column number and returns an Object type (or Any in Scala) that we are responsible for casting to the correct type. For Boolean, Byte, Double, Float, Int, Long, Short, and String, there is a getType() method, which returns that type. For example, get String(0) would return field 0 as a string.
What are DStreams?
Much like Spark is built on the concept of RDDs, Spark Streaming provides an abstraction called DStreams, or discretized streams. A DStream is a sequence of data arriving over time. Internally, each DStream is represented as a sequence of RDDs arriving at each time step. DStreams can be created from various input sources, such as Flume, Kafka, or HDFS. Once built, they offer two types of operations: transformations, which yield a new DStream, and output operations, which write data to an external system.
Explain Spark Streaming Architecture?
Spark Streaming uses a "micro-batch" architecture, where Spark Streaming receives data from various input sources and groups it into small batches. New batches are created at regular time intervals. At the beginning of each time interval a new batch is created, and any data that arrives during that interval gets added to that batch. At the end of the time interval the batch is done growing. The size of the time intervals is determined by a parameter called the batch interval. Each input batch forms an RDD, and is processed using Spark jobs to create other RDDs. The processed results can then be pushed out to external systems in batches.
What are the types of Transformations on DStreams?
- In stateless transformations the processing of each batch does not depend on the data of its previous batches. They include the common RDD transformations like map(), filter(), and reduceByKey().
• Stateful transformations, in contrast, use data or intermediate results from previous batches to compute the results of the current batch. They include transformations based on sliding windows and on tracking state across time.
What is Receiver in Spark Streaming?
Every input DStream is associated with a Receiver object which receives the data from a source and stores it in Spark's memory for processing.
How Spark achieves fault tolerance?
Spark stores data in-memory whereas Hadoop stores data on disk. Hadoop uses replication to achieve fault tolerance whereas Spark uses different data storage model, RDD. RDDs achieve fault tolerance through a notion of lineage: if a partition of an RDD is lost, the RDD has enough information to rebuild just that partition.This removes the need for replication to achieve fault tolerance.
What are Spark's main features?
- Speed : Spark enables applications in Hadoop clusters to run up to 100x faster in memory, and 10x faster even when running on disk. Spark makes it possible by reducing number of read/write to disc. It stores this intermediate processing data in-memory. It uses the concept of an Resilient Distributed Dataset (RDD), which allows it to transparently store data on memory and persist it to disc only it's needed. This helps to reduce most of the disc read and write – the main time consuming factors – of data processing.
- Combines SQL, streaming, and complex analytics: In addition to simple "map" and "reduce" operations, Spark supports SQL queries, streaming data, and complex analytics such as machine learning and graph algorithms out-of-the-box. Not only that, users can combine all these capabilities seamlessly in a single workflow.
- Ease of Use:Spark lets you quickly write applications in Java, Scala, or Python. This helps developers to create and run their applications on their familiar programming languages and easy to build parallel apps.
- Runs Everywhere: Spark runs on Hadoop, Mesos, standalone, or in the cloud. It can access diverse data sources including HDFS, Cassandra, HBase, S3.
Explain about the popular use cases of Apache Spark?
- Apache Spark is mainly used for
- Iterative machine learning.
- Interactive data analytics and processing.
- Stream processing
- Sensor data processing
Is Apache Spark a good fit for Reinforcement learning?
No. Apache Spark works well only for simple machine learning algorithms like clustering, regression, classification.
What is Spark Core?
It has all the basic functionalities of Spark, like - memory management, fault recovery, interacting with storage systems, scheduling tasks, etc.
How can you remove the elements with a key present in any other RDD?
Use the subtractByKey () function
What is the difference between persist() and cache()
persist () allows the user to specify the storage level whereas cache () uses the default storage level.
What are the various levels of persistence in Apache Spark?
Apache Spark automatically persists the intermediary data from various shuffle operations, however it is often suggested that users call persist () method on the RDD in case they plan to reuse it. Spark has various persistence levels to store the RDDs on disk or in memory or as a combination of both with different replication levels.
The various storage/persistence levels in Spark are -
How Spark handles monitoring and logging in Standalone mode?
Spark has a web based user interface for monitoring the cluster in standalone mode that shows the cluster and job statistics. The log output for each job is written to the work directory of the slave nodes.
Does Apache Spark provide checkpointing?
Lineage graphs are always useful to recover RDDs from a failure but this is generally time consuming if the RDDs have long lineage chains. Spark has an API for check pointing i.e. a REPLICATE flag to persist. However, the decision on which data to checkpoint - is decided by the user. Checkpoints are useful when the lineage graphs are long and have wide dependencies.
How can you launch Spark jobs inside Hadoop MapReduce?
Using SIMR (Spark in MapReduce) users can run any spark job inside MapReduce without requiring any admin rights.
How Spark uses Akka?
Spark uses Akka basically for scheduling. All the workers request for a task to master after registering. The master just assigns the task. Here Spark uses Akka for messaging between the workers and masters.
How can you achieve high availability in Apache Spark?
Implementing single node recovery with local file system Using StandBy Masters with Apache ZooKeeper.
Hadoop uses replication to achieve fault tolerance. How is this achieved in Apache Spark?
Data storage model in Apache Spark is based on RDDs. RDDs help achieve fault tolerance through lineage. RDD always has the information on how to build from other datasets. If any partition of a RDD is lost due to failure, lineage helps build only that particular lost partition.
Explain about the core components of a distributed Spark application.
- Driver- The process that runs the main () method of the program to create RDDs and perform transformations and actions on them.
- Executor –The worker processes that run the individual tasks of a Spark job.
Cluster Manager-A pluggable component in Spark, to launch Executors and Drivers. The cluster manager allows Spark to run on top of other external managers like Apache Mesos or YARN.
What do you understand by Lazy Evaluation?
Spark is intellectual in the manner in which it operates on data. When you tell Spark to operate on a given dataset, it heeds the instructions and makes a note of it, so that it does not forget - but it does nothing, unless asked for the final result. When a transformation like map () is called on a RDD-the operation is not performed immediately. Transformations in Spark are not evaluated till you perform an action. This helps optimize the overall data processing workflow.
Define a worker node?
A node that can run the Spark application code in a cluster can be called as a worker node. A worker node can have more than one worker which is configured by setting the SPARK_ WORKER_INSTANCES property in the spark-env.sh file. Only one worker is started if the SPARK_ WORKER_INSTANCES property is not defined.
What do you understand by SchemaRDD?
An RDD that consists of row objects (wrappers around basic string or integer arrays) with schema information about the type of data in each column.
We invite the big data community to share the most frequently asked Apache Spark Interview questions and answers, in the comments below - to ease big data job interviews for all prospective analytics professionals.


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Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology
Print version ISSN 1516-8913
Braz. arch. biol. technol. vol.55 no.1 Curitiba Jan./Feb. 2012
Effect of freezing and processing technologies on the antioxidant capacity of fruit pulp and jelly
Cristine Maso Jeusti BofI; Roselei Claudete FontanaII; Luciani Tatsch Piemolini-BarretoI; Ivana Greice SandriI,*
ICentro de Ciências Exatas e Tecnologias; Curso de Engenharia de Alimentos; Universidade de Caxias do Sul; Rua Francisco Getúlio Vargas, 1130;. C. P.: 1352; 95070-560; Caxias do Sul -RS -Brasil
IIInstituto de Biotecnologia; Universidade de Caxias do Sul; Rua Francisco Getúlio Vargas, 1130; 95070-560; Caxias do Sul -RS -Brasil
The effect of freezing and processing technology on the antioxidant capacity of grape (Vitis vinifera), apple (Malus domestica), strawberry (Fragaria x Anassa), pear (Pyrus communis L.), guava (Psidium guajava L.), and fig (Ficus carica L.) was evaluated for 90 days. Under a storage temperature of -15 º C, there was no significant difference in the antioxidant capacity of grape and fig pulp, and a higher antioxidant capacity was found for guava pulp (27 µmol/g). While the technological processing did not affect the antioxidant capacity of pear and apple jellies, all other jellies studied showed a reduced antioxidant capacity. The processing reduced the antioxidant capacity of grapes in 45%. Among the fruit products, the highest antioxidant activities were found for guava pulp and jelly (27 and 25 µmol/g, respectively), followed by grape pulp (22 µmol/g).
Key words: functional foods, pulps, jellies, free radicals, storage
Natural antioxidants, particularly those found in the fruits and vegetables, have attracted the interest of consumers and the scientific community. Epidemiological studies have shown that there is a positive association between the intake of both vegetables and fruits and a reduction in cardiovascular diseases (Hu 2003; Bonerz et al. 2006; Ikram et al. 2009; Labiós et al. 2011), certain cancers (Ikram et al. 2009; Riboli and Norat 2003), immune system problems, arthritis, inflammation and brain dysfunction (Leong and Shui 2002; Greenspan et al. 2005), and risk of Alzheimer's disease (Dai et al. 2006).
Antioxidants are substances that, if present in low concentrations, significantly prevent the oxidation of a substrate. Among the antioxidants, there are enzyme systems such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione reductase, while vitamins, uric acid, glutathione, melatonin, polyphenols, amongst others, are non-enzymatic antioxidants (Packer and Colman 1999; Kim and Chung 2002; Halliwell and Gutteridge 2007).
Human body produces reactive species of carbon, sulfur, nitrogen and oxygen, but the most important due to their reactivity and damage they can cause are the reactive oxygen species, such as superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl radical (WHO 2003).
The presence of phenolic compounds, such as flavonoids, phenolic acids, and anthocyanins, in addition to those already known, such as vitamins C and E, and carotenoids, contributes to the beneficial effects of these foods (Silva et al. 2004; Ajaikumar et al. 2005). In recent years, there is a growing interest in determining the total phenolic contents and antioxidant capacities of vegetables and fruits (Ayala-Zavalaa et al. 2004; Zheng et al. 2007; Çelik et al. 2008; Rui et al. 2011; Prasad et al. 2011).
Phenolic compounds content can be influenced by the factors such as maturity, species, type of cultivation, geographic origin, level of growth, harvest conditions and storage process (Kim et al. 2003). In addition, the bioactive compounds are susceptible to oxidation reactions during the processing and storage of food (Robards et al. 1999), because some of these compounds are unstable under thermal processing (Samaniego-Sánchez et al. 2011), cold storage (Cilla et al. 2011; Ibrahim et al. 2011). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of freezing and processing technologies on the antioxidant capacity of the pulp and jelly of fruits (grape, apple, strawberry, pear, guava, and fig).
Raw materials
The fruits used in this study were grape (Vitis vinifera) Isabela variety, apple (Malus domestica) Gala variety, strawberry (Fragaria x Anassa) Diamante and Oso Grande varieties in equal proportions, pear (Pyrus communis L.) Williams variety, guava (Psidium guajava L.) Rica and Século XXI varieties, in equal proportions, and fig (Ficus carica, L.) Roxo de Valinhos variety. They were acquired from a market at Caxias do Sul, RS, Brazil. All the fruits were harvested during the summer 2009-2010. They were first selected and washed with tap water, before being processed.
In order to obtain the pulp, the fresh fruits were processed in a horizontal pulp-processing machine (Tomasi, Brazil). Pulp (1000g) of each type of fruit was frozen and stored at -15ºC for three months. To obtain the jelly, 45% of fruit pulp and 55% of sugar were taken as follows. The pH of the fruit was adjusted to 3.2 by adding citric acid (Merck, Germany). The fruit pulp was transferred to a jacketed steam kettle, mixed with cane sugar and citrus pectin (CP Kelco S.A., Brazil). The mixture was heated until boiling and reaching 68 Brix. The finished product was pasteurized in 100-mL jars with lids. Afterwards, the jars were inverted for 3 min to pasteurize the lids, allowed to cool, and then stored in an upright position at room temperature. Jelly (1000 g) of each type of fruit was stored at room temperature (25 ± 2 ºC) for three months.
The antioxidant activity of the pulp and jelly of each fruit was determined after 0, 30, 60, and 90 days. The antioxidant activity was measured in triplicate for each fruit pulp and jelly.
Obtaining the extracts
The extraction was performed according to Larrauri et al. (1997), with modifications. The extracts were prepared with 10g of sample using 40 mL of methanol (50w/v). After homogenization, the mixture was left to stand for 60 minutes at room temperature and after this period, the material was centrifuged. The supernatant was transferred to a 100-mL volumetric flask. Forty milliliter of acetone (70 w/v) were added to the precipitate of the first extraction. After homogenization, the mixture was allowed to stand for 60 minutes at room temperature. The mixture was centrifuged, and the supernatant was transferred to the flask containing the first supernatant and the volume was completed with 100 mL of distilled water.
Determination of antioxidant activity
The antioxidant activity was determined according to the method described by Nenadis et al. (2004). The absorbance was read exactly 6 min after initial mixing of 3.0 mL of ABTS+ (2,20-Azinobis(3ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) and 30 µL of extracts or Trolox standards. The absorbance was measured at 734 nm. Standard curve was prepared using different concentrations of Trolox (6-hydroxy-18.104.22.168-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid) and the results were expressed as Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) (µmol TEAC / g sample).
Analysis of results
The statistical tests were performed by using the analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) and Tukey's test, with probability level below 5 % (p<0.05).
The antioxidant activity of the fruit pulp and jelly of guava, grape, fig, strawberry, apple, and pear right after their preparation are shown in Table 1. A variation of 4.0-27.0µmol/g in the antioxidant activity was observed in the studied fruits. When comparing the antioxidant activity between the pulp and the jelly of each fruit, a decrease was observed in the grape, apple, and pear jellies. According to Dávalos et al. (2005) and Ruberto et al. (2007), the antioxidant activity of the fruits and fruit jellies was directly related to the content of phenolic compounds, and these compounds could be degraded by physical-chemical factors related to food processing.
As expected, apple and pear showed the lowest antioxidant capacity (Kevers et al. 2007). As known, the antioxidant capacity of fruits is attributed to vitamin C and phenolic compounds such as flavonoids and phenolic acids (Lee et al. 2003, Müller et al. 2010). Vitamin C was found to account for 65-100% of the antioxidant potential of beverages derived from the citrus fruits, but less than 5% of apple and other non-citrus fruit juices (Gardner et al. 2000). The vitamin-C portion was responsible for more than 15% of the antioxidant capacity in the samples known as low anthocyanin fruits (acerola, apple, orange) (Müller et al. 2010). The phenolic compounds change in contact mainly with oxygen. According to Zardo et al. (2009), the reaction of enzymatic browning is the major factor responsible for the loss (up to 83%) of the antioxidant activity in apple juice. Besides enzymatic browning, phenolic compounds present in apple and pear change during the process of obtaining pulp and jelly.
In general, the products from fruit with higher intensity of red color (guava, grape, and strawberry) had higher antioxidant capacity (Table 1). This was in agreement with other studies suggesting that amongst all the common fruits and vegetables in the diet, those with dark blue or red colors have the highest antioxidant capacity (Liu et al. 2002; Wu et al. 2006; Solomon et al. 2006; Çelik et al. 2008).
The high antioxidant activity in these products might be attributed to the presence of anthocyanins. Abe et al. (2007) studied the phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity of varieties of Vitis labrusca and Vitis vinifera grape and found a higher correlation between total anthocyanins and antioxidant capacity in comparison to total phenolics and antioxidant capacity. Kalt et al. (2001) and Stojanovic and Silva (2007) also concluded that anthocyanins could make a greater contribution to antioxidant activity than other phenolic compounds.
Figure 1 shows the antioxidant activity of the pulp and jelly of each fruit after 0, 30, 60, and 90 days of storage. In general, the heat processing caused a decrease in antioxidant capacity. Heat treatments have been shown to significantly decrease the concentration of polyphenols in apple juice (Aguilar-Rosas et al. 2007). Khanal et al. (2010) reported lower contents of proanthocyanidins from grape and blueberry pomaces heated at 60, 105 C and 125ºC. The components with antioxidant capacity present in strawberry and fig jelly showed to be heat-resistant. This result could be related with monomeric pigment concentrations during the storage (Withy et al. 1993), stability of anthocyanins (García-Viguera et al. 1999), growing season, geographical origin, and agricultural practices (Chun et al. 2005).
In contrast, storage time in the freezer and contact with light did not affect these compounds. According to Wicklund et al. (2005), jelly stored at 4ºC had a higher content of anthocyanins and total antioxidant capacity than the samples stored at 20ºC, while there were no significant differences between dark and light storage.
A decrease in antioxidant activity was found after 30 days of storage for guava jelly and for guava pulp. Even showing a decrease of 26% (pulp) and 20% (jelly), this fruit showed higher antioxidant activity than other fruits tested (Fig. 1A). The high presence of antioxidant activity in guava may be related to levels of polyphenols and flavonoids.
While Hassimotto et al. (2009) measured 3.2 mmol equiv. BHT/g of antioxidant activity in red guava pulp, the present study found values eight times higher. Some factors such as maturity, material preparation, and analysis methods might cause the difference (Xu et al. 2008).
Grape pulp and grape jelly showed significant differences between each other, but the antioxidant activity did not change during the storage period. The fruit pulp showed 50% more antioxidant activity than the jelly (Fig. 1B). Falcão et al. (2007) evaluated the antioxidant activity of grape jelly made of the Isabel and Refosco varieties, and the values ranged between 3.9-10.2 µmol/g. These values were similar to those obtained in this study. Kuskoski et al. (2005) evaluated the antioxidant activity in grape pulp and obtained a value of 9.2 µmol/g, lower than the values found in this study. The differences between the values quoted in the iterature and those found herein were probably due to grape variety, climatic conditions and weather at the growing site, which might have interfered in the phenolic compound content and, consequently, in the antioxidant properties.
Figure 1C shows the antioxidant activity in fig pulp and jelly. Among the evaluated fruit pulps, fig pulp showed lower antioxidant activity, but in fig jelly, its initial activity remained stable. Veberic et al. (2008) evaluated the content of phenolic compounds in figs in the northern Mediterranean area and found that phenol content varied according to harvest dates and the variety, which might justify the low antioxidant activity when compared with other fruits evaluated. The jelly was prepared with the skin, which contained healthful nutrients that should not be discarded. Solomon et al. (2006) reported that fig fruit skin was a major source of anthocyanins and polyphenols.
Strawberry pulp and strawberry jelly showed an initial antioxidant activity of 16.0 and 15.2 µmol/g (Fig. 1D), respectively, similar to the values obtained by Kuskoski et al. (2005), who obtained 12 µmol/g in strawberry pulp. The antioxidant activity of strawberry is due to the presence of anthocyanins and gallic acid (Zheng et al. 2007). The antioxidant activities of apple pulp and apple jelly are shown in Figure 1E. The pulp and jelly presented significant differences between each other, and higher activities were found for the pulp, indicating again that compounds with antioxidant activity present in apple were affected when processed in jelly. Storage time did not affect the antioxidant activity of the pulp significantly, indicating that the temperature of -15 ºC had a protective effect on antioxidant activity. The jelly that was kept at room temperature lost 50% of its antioxidant activity.
The antioxidant activity of the pear pulp (Fig. 1F) showed a significant decrease during the period of study, and this behavior was not observed for the antioxidant activity of pear jelly. According to Halliwell (1997), this decrease observed for the pulp could be explained by the oxidation of the antioxidant compounds in contact with light and oxygen, as well as by the differences in antioxidant activity between the pulp and jelly, resulting from the handling of the jelly.
Xu et al. (2008) found that the contribution of ascorbic acid to the total antioxidant capacity of citrus juices was more than 50%. These results were in agreement with previous reports (Arena et al. 2001), which suggested that ascorbic acid, not the phenolic compounds, was the major contributor of total antioxidant capacity. However, some studies suggested that phenolic compounds dominated total antioxidant capacity of citrus fruits (Rapisarda et al. 1999).
Previous published data suggested that the antioxidant properties of fruits could be influenced by various external factors, including the cultural system or the storage temperatures (Ayala-Zavalaa et al. 2004; Cordenunsi et al. 2005). Jin et al. (2011) reported that strawberries stored at 10ºC had higher antioxidant enzyme activities, higher phenolic and anthocyanin contents, and higher oxygen radical scavenging capacities than those stored at 0 or 5 ºC. This suggested that secondary metabolites, such as phenolics or anthocyanins, could be manipulated by postharvest storage conditions, including storage temperature.
All the studied fruit pulps and jellies showed antioxidant capacity, although of different intensities. Of all the fruit pulps and jellies studied, guava pulp and jelly had highest antioxidant activity. The processing and storage time might have contributed to the loss of antioxidant activity in the pulp and jelly during the evaluation period. Results showed that the fruit pulp and jelly could be used as sources of natural antioxidants, and they could be more effective and economical than using dietary supplements to protect the human body against oxidative damage. Therefore, it could be concluded that the consumption of these products should be encouraged.
The authors are thankful to the Universidade de Caxias do Sul (UCS) for their financial support of this work.
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Received: February 07, 2011; Revised: June 06, 2011; Accepted: December 12, 2011.
* Author for correspondence: email@example.com


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The Hook Nook crochet hooks are designed to be a crocheter's best friend. Each hook is created to be ergonomic and fit your hand properly to prevent wrist or hand pain. The tapered neck helps create even tension in your stitches while the shape of the actual tip allows the yarn to be worked with ease. Each hook is custom dyed and adds a gorgeous aesthetic element to your overall making experience. This package includes one size N (10mm) hook.
INCLUDES: One Size N (10mm) crochet hook
COMFORT: Each crochet hook features a comfortable ergonomic handle to keep your hands happy!
PAIR: Pair with other products by The Hook Nook for beautiful projects in no time!


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Seasonal palate pleasers at Hillstone Restaurant in Winter Park
Fine dining is something Orlando does well, but with 4,000+ restaurant locations throughout the city and surrounding areas it is hard to pick which place you want. My suggestion is Hillstone Restaurant in Winter Park. We were invited here for a late lunch last week to sample some classic Hillstone favorites and try some items off their new fall menu.
Walking through the front doors of the restaurant I was immediately greeted by their warm and welcoming staff. They brought me to a cozy round booth towards the back where others in the group were already seated and looking over menus. I took my seat and began pouring over the menu, asking our gracious and wonderful server, David, what was new to the fall menu and what dishes were Hillstone staples. After much deliberation it was decided that we would start with the deviled eggs and wood-grilled artichokes as appetizers for the table.
The artichokes were cooked to perfection with a sprinkling of olive oil and came with a side of rich and savory dipping sauce. The deviled eggs were an amazing burst of flavor with accents of chive and spring onion. Both dishes were divine, and I would recommend either (or both!) to anyone dining at Hillstone.
We moved on to the entrees and after a very tough decision between the center-cut filet, hardwood grilled trout and Hawaiian rib-eye, I ordered the center cut filet. It caught my eye because the preparation had been changed to broiled, a new fall menu element, and it was to be featured with a new fall dish, kale salad with peanut dressing. Always one to try out a new food, I had to see what this kale salad was all about. The plate of food they brought to me was almost to pretty to eat, almost.
The smell wafting up to my nose was intoxicating and I couldn't wait to dig in. I tried the kale salad first and knew immediately that it had been a good choice to order. The simplicity of the kale was a great partner to balance out the spiciness of the peanut dressing. It was such a simple salad with very few ingredients, but it packed a punch of both savory and sweet flavors. My filet had that amazing broiled char all the way around the outside with a gorgeously red center, just how I like it. One thing I also noticed was that everyone else who had ordered the filet had the same thing. No matter if they ordered their meet rare, medium, well done, etc., each filet had a perfect char all around the outside with a perfectly cooked inside to match each person's preference. Hillstone chef Dennis Gill attributes this to having a great broiler in the kitchen and a cooking staff that pays keen attention to timing and detail.
Obviously dessert was the part I was most excited about. Hillstone's fall menu features a warm five-nut brownie, key lime pie served with housemade whipped cream, and apple walnut cobbler. We ordered one of each so everyone at the table could sample the dishes. My favorite was the key lime pie. The tangy tartness of the pie was just right and the sweetness of the whipped cream was a great contrast. The two components of the dish blended together for such an enjoyable treat.
When asked about the inspiration for the new fall dishes, such as the kale salad, Chef Gill remarked, "There is a yin and a yang to all the dishes." He went on to explain that combining contrasting flavors in one dish creates a unique and bold taste that are sure to be palate pleasers this season. Chef Gill claims that the true way to create a good product for customers is to "start out with fresh ingredients and look for the best [available]." He also attributes the success of the new dishes to great teamwork in the kitchen and efficient orchestration and use of the staff.
Some other dishes to check out on Hillstone's fall menu are the pan fried grouper, barley salad and iceberg wedge and blue cheese salad. They also have a great patio and lakeside dock that can be rented out for small gatherings and parties. When you visit ask for David. He's one of the best servers in town, hands down.
Hillstone Restaurant is located at 215 South Orlando Avenue in Winter Park. Reservations can be made either online at or by phone at 407-740-4005. Their menu, including new fall items, can be found here. Some dishes are run as daily specials and are not featured on the menu regularly yet. Hours of operation are Sunday through Thursday 11:30 am- 10 pm; Friday and Saturday 11:30 am- 10:30pm.
Hillstone Restaurant – map & links
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Official website: http://www.hillstone.com/hillstone
Hillstone Restaurant – photo gallery
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Product Description
Misal farsan & Mix farsan refers to a mixture of roasted or fried ingredients like chiwda(rice flakes), papdi(salted fried gram flour cookies),cornflakes, peanuts, roasted moth beans, dried fruits,salt and spices. Farsan is popular snacking item in Gujarati ,Rajasthani cuisine & specially Mahrashtran breakfast called "Misal ".
Qty: 250g, 500g
Ingredients :
Gram Flour & Pease Dal (47%), Edible Vegetable Oil Sugar (2%), Rice Flaxes (4%), Ground Nut (5%),RiceFlour (2%), Cornflakes (4%), Chili Powder, Iodized Salt, Curry Leaves, Turmeric Powder, Dry Mango Powder, Black Pepper, Carom Seeds, Fennel Seeds, Coriander Seed, Sesame Seed, Black Salt, Asafetida, Spices, Food Acids(E330).


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Litigation Sucks. No, Really It Does.
Nobody enjoys litigation. Well almost nobody. It drains you of your money, your time and eventually if prolonged and nasty enough, your soul. In the family law arena, it is absolutely the worst way to achieve your goals. Unless your goal is to destroy your former partner, your family and possibly yourself. If that's true, then you have serious problems and I am not the attorney to help you.
But wait, you say....I have to file this motion in response to his petition....I have to ask for absolutely everything even if it sounds ridiculous and I don't really want it...I have to say no when she asks me for additional time with my kids, just because she's my ex....ummm no, you don't. You don't have to do any of that. You and/or your attorney may choose to do that. Protecting yourself, exercising your rights/getting everything in writing is important and I recommend that everyone do it; your lawyer will tell you what to do to protect yourself and/or your children. You do not, however, have to operate "scorched-earth" style. You convince yourself it's the right thing to do. But for whom? Your kids, who love both of you and see or hear that you are fighting Mom in court all of the time? For yourself, when your attorney has told you your chances of winning on this issue are slim, yet somehow you think your facts are so compelling that the Judge will have to see it your way? Or are you afraid of what family, friends and co-workers will say when you tell them what you did or didn't do. They will regale you with stories of their family, friends and co-workers who did something else that worked for them. Each family (and each divorce, custody or support case) has its own peculiar facts and circumstances. What worked for your neighbor may not work for you, at all, and could even be harmful in your case.
Therefore, I urge you to think twice (or three or four times) before filing that next petition, or sending that nasty letter or email. Who will it benefit? Protect yourself completely, but don't wreck yourself in the process.


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We tell powerful, inspiring stories through photography and offer a behind-the-scenes look at emerging and established photographers.
If you'd like your work to be considered, please e-mail us. You can also follow us on Twitter.
- 09 - 01 - 12
In 2006, photographer Anderson Scott stumbled onto a re-enactment of the Battle of Resaca in Georgia. For five years, he documented Civil War re-enactments across the southern United States. Many of Scott's photographs will be published next month as the book "Whistling Dixie."
Filed Under:Anderson Scott • Photo Book • U.S.


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This vibrant cotton beach towel is adapted from the "Faith" Wool Blanket, designed by groundbreaking fashion designer Bethany Yellowtail.
This design from B.YELLOWTAIL is inspired by the Apsáalooke (Crow) name given to Bethany Yellowtail as a young girl: Ammaakeealaachelibaachiilakaacheesh, which translates to "Overcomes through Faith." This name was given to her by respected Crow elder David Yarlott Sr. It was her family's wishes that she always be guided, protected, and that prayer be an integral part of her life.The "Faith" design is an acknowledgment to her name, her family, the people and prayers that have guided her. The hues of pink, blue, and green are specific to the Apsáalooke homelands that Bethany was raised on.
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Adapted from the beautiful "Buffalo Medicine" Throw Blanket design, these vibrant crew socks are the perfect way to rock bold Blackfeet art on the go!
The buffalo was the staff of life for most Plains Indian Nations. Today the buffalo is still a central part of life, from food to ceremony. Originally drawn on the ledger paper used across much of John's work, this particular piece pays tribute to the power and sacrifice that the buffalo continues to give.
The bold design incorporates important symbols from Blackfeet art to depict rich concepts in a lively, graphic way. The lifeline, or sacred breath of the buffalo is represented here with an arrow, and the circles along the top and bottom borders depict stars. The cross symbol at the top of the design represents the Morning Star, which plays an important role in creation and ceremony among Plains Indian Nations.
Adapted from the beautiful "Coast Salish Pattern" Wool Blanket design, these vibrant crew socks are the perfect way to rock bold Coast Salish art on the go!
This design was created by Louie Gong (Nooksack) after researching traditional Coast Salish weaving. Although our socks are created using modern technology, it was very important to Louie that he create a design that could be replicated with traditional Coast Salish weaving methods.
Coast Salish art is rarely represented in contemporary textiles, and Louie is proud to help push this particular, often overlooked form to the forefront of Native art and product offerings.
Adapted from the beautiful "Confluence" Wool Blanket design, these vibrant crew socks are the perfect way to rock bold Tsimshian art on the go!
The Tsimshian people have understood since time immemorial that humans are not separate from the natural world, but merely a part of it. This includes an understanding that there is a human spirit inside all living things. This beautiful design by David Robert Boxley (Tsimshian) represents the powerful and inextricable connection between humans and the world around us, and is a reminder of our responsibilities to care for it all.
These stunning socks are adapted from the original hand-painted "Embrace Your Beauty" earrings created by Inspired Natives Project collaborator, Michelle Lowden (Acoma Pueblo). The vibrant design features a color palette inspired by the orange seashell earrings with turquoise accents commonly found in Pueblo Country.


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Home > Favors Packaging > Favor Glass Jar > Round Jar with Attached Lid
Round jar with attached lid
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Those of you who keep asking me: "When is there going to be an audio version of Old Man's War available?" can stop asking: It's now out on Audible.com. This is an unabridged edition, so you'll have 10 hours of pure listening satisfaction as the story is read to you by William Dufris.
Those of you planning to rush to your nearest bookstore to pick up the CD copy should know that the Old Man's War audiobook is available only as a download (and as far as I know exclusive to Audible.com, but don't hold me to that). However, once you've downloaded the audio files you can burn them to CD pretty easily if that's what you need.
Why is it available download only? I suspect for two reasons: The first is that I think it's assumed that readers of my stuff are fairly technically adept, so you can handle getting this in electronic format — indeed many of you would just get the CDs and rip the audio files to your iPods anyway. This will save you that intermediary step.
The second is that it's faster to get it to you all this way: You get the audio files without having to wait for the time it takes to create packaging and deal with shipping and whatnot, most of which I suspect most of you don't give a damn about. Anyway, I know how all of you hate delaying your gratification. Well, delay no longer.
Enjoy, and let me know what you think.


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A Graduation Weekend to Remember
This past weekend I graduated with my PhD in Philosophy from SUNY Albany, finishing up 7 years of doctoral work and 9 years (yes, you read that correctly), 9 years of total graduate work. Often not really a labor of love, the dissertation has been my waking existence for longer than I care to remember. I have been in school for about 27 years or so (I think the math is right); It is strange to know that I am no longer a student.
The weekend, though, was incredible. Simply put, my family and friends (and there is very little difference between the two) threw me one hell of a party with more surprise cameos than a season finale of Saturday Night Live.
I will offer you a few highlights from the day, as well as some photos.
- Preface: The only things I knew were going to happen was that I was going to graduate and that there was going to be a party—I had no idea about the details. I knew that some people were coming and others were not able to make it. I had know clue about any details. Any assumptions I had, however, were quickly dashed on the rocks of surprise…
- Graduation was at 9am on Saturday. I arrived early and found two of my advisors. Even though I had the regalia on, and even though everyone was all lined up, I don't think things really sunk in until we all got in line to walk across the stage…
- It was then that I saw my brother (who wasn't supposed to be there) acting like a paparazzi photographer (typical Jeremy).
- I really just wanted the poofy hat.
- We drove back to Syracuse for the party, which was at my parents house. It turned out to be one surprise arrival after another: Aunts and Uncles; cousins and nieces; family from all over the country (Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Rochester-Elmira-Gouvenour-Savannah-Syracuse NY); friends from near and far (Albany, Syracuse, Illinois, some I haven't seen in years)
It was overwhelming. I literally could not string coherent sentences together. I have never felt so much love.
- Even more amazing was that everyone pitched in to get me a much needed (and much appreciated) new laptop. The old one has lasted me almost 10 years. It basically held on until my dissertation was done, and I had a running joke with Katie that on graduation day it would simply go up in a poof of smoke.
- I cannot thank Katie enough; she has been my biggest supporter and I think these last 9 years were as taxing on her as they were on me. Putting this party together with my family was a lot of work, and it kept a constant smile on my face to have her continually tell me that I had no idea what was coming next.
Oh yes, and by the way: Saturday May 19 was Katie and my 6th wedding anniversary. What a special weekend indeed.
Well, there you have it. Yet another chapter in my life is complete; another door opens onto a future that is yet to be written. I am very happy to be done, but until I am able to truly use my degree (in some capacity) I don't think that I will really feel any different. I can only live today, this moment, and be aware and conscious of what I do with my life, my talents, and my passions. Not knowing where we will go next is exciting, and I hope that all of you will be around to see where the journey takes us.
Live Más. Run Más


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I have a precious memory from when I am 7 or 8. It is precious to me because it is one of the true manifestations of my total and utter book geekiness.
Every year in the city where we lived when I was little, Gothenburgh, they have a Book Expo called Bok och Bibliotek Göteborg Book Fair. One year my grandmother took me to it for the day. I was in heaven. Everywhere I could see there were tables with books. Lots and lots and lots of books.
At that point I didn't know about freebies, and ARCs and other lovely things that one can acquire at the these types of events. I was just so incredibly excited about the amount of books. Think of all those stories you have yet to experience! All those new characters to meet! The smell of new books (not quite as lovely as the smell of old books but still heady for a small child). I was convinced that this was the most magical place on earth. A place where everything was awesome. I didn't mind the crowds (I usually do). I didn't mind the noise or the jostling. I was in my kinda place.
I honestly can't remember if I got a book that day (in all likelihood I did, my family has never denied me books) but what I do remember is the absolute sense of being in the best place ever. I have wanted to go back ever since but it never seems to work out (we moved shortly after) but this year, this year I WILL be going back. Knowing full well that it wont be the same as then. I honestly think it will be better. More awesome. Just more. Because now I can share that experience with others in a way I couldn't back then. So look for plenty of posts about this event at the end of September. I have some speakers I really really want to see. So although I am insanely jealous of all those at BEA, I also know that theirs is almost over and I still have mine left to look forward to.
Anyone else going to be in Gothenburgh September 23-27 2010?
Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North.This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.


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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Purposefulness (Purpose in Life) (05/25/06)
- TITLE: Something special about Wednesdays
By Melanie Kerr
I revised this one. Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.
Good. Do you understand what it means to glorify God?
Making God fully known through everything that I do?
That will do for a working definition. Lets just look back over the day shall we and see whether you did that. Actually let's skip most of the day and just concentrate on a certain forty minute spot shall we?
We will limit ourselves to 11.50 to 12.30 Wednesday 31st May 2006.
I knew it! I just knew you would pick that particular class. Can I just put things into context here?
Let's begin with Gemma….(runs a finger down a sheet of paper on a clipboard)
That'll be Gemma Wilson.
It seems to me that long before Gemma had entered the classroom you had allowed certain thoughts access to your mind. She had been absent for a while. I believe that you were not really delighted to see that her name was not longer on the absentee list. How did that opening conversation go?
Look, she wasn't being sincere when she siad that she was glad to see me! She was just winding up.
And I take it you were not being sincere either when you said you were glad to see her too?
What was I supposed to say? Well seriously Gemma, I was hoping you would never come back, that ever since you joined my class you have been a disruptive influence?
Which aspects of God's character were you demonstrating to Gemma through that greeting? God's forgiveness and acceptance perhaps? She will never understand that God accpepts her just as she is if you make her jump through hoops of politeness before you will accept her!
Let's move on the Claire, shall we? The incident with the black marker. Now what was all that about?
We have gone through this a dozen times. She knows that she should only write in pencil or pen. The marker shows through to the next page and what did she do with it later on in the lesson? CT loves JM in black marker written on the desk!
But refresh my memory here…she asked to borrow a pencil, yes? You keep them in the drawer. And you…?
She is always borrowing my pencils and she never returns them.
Just remind me which af God' s charactersitics that one is? Generosity? God freely gives you everything you need. He does not keep account of what you do with the things He give gives. Perhaps if you had given her the pencil, her friend would not have given her the black marker.
How about Marc Shepherd? The paper aeroplane.
He tore the middle page out of his notebook, folded it into a paer areoplane and launched it across the room.
You know that he finds reading diffiuclt!
He didn't put up his hand to ask for help!
There have been many times when he hasn't asked for help, yet you have walked over, sat down next to him and talked through the questions and answers. Why suddenly does it need a hand up? Does God do that to you? Doesn't He know when you need help without having to put your hand up! You need to show that part of God's character - that He knows and He cares.
I am sorry.
You have so many chances here to show to these children what God is really like. It's not Rector that makes up these class lists. It is not by chance children like Gemma, Claire and Marc end up in your class. God intends that you show His love towards them.
Do you know…God enjoys your company any time - but there is something special about Wednesdays. More often than not you are in tears - but you just sit up as close to Him as you can get and let Him soothe you. You offer no excuses or make no promises to try to be a better witness, you just let Him wipe the tears away.
Oh yes, you enjoy God!
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Vintage Alvarez Yairi DY-53 Guitars for Sale.
No Used Models Available at the Moment, Check Back Soon!
The Yairi DY-53, is a small jumbo (sometimes called European jumbo) with a lower bout measuring 16 inches. The body depth is 4 5/8 inches. Features a solid Spruce top with Rosewood back and sides complimented by a Rosewood fingerboard and bridge. handmade in the Kazuo Yairi shop in Japan.
1988 Alvarez Yairi DY-53 "European Jumbo" guitar in very good condition. Vintage wood tone & top-level craftsmanship at an affordable price!
This guitar has it all: looks, play-ability, and tone. And it's versatile! I have mainly used it for finger-style, but it strums great as well. Hand-crafted in Japan by master guitar builder Kazuo Yairi whose guitars have long been played by professional musicians such as Bob Weir, Ani DiFranco, and Monty Montgomery. The pecan back and sides are unusual and produce a warm, clean sound. This guitar has aged beautifully.
The DY-53 features a striking pecan back and sides and a nicely aged solid spruce top. 16″ lower bout, 4-5/8″ body depth, bone nut and saddle, 1-11/16″ nut width, ebony fretboard, very nice abalone rosette around sound hole. The neck is rock solid and plays nice and low. Since upgrading to a more expensive instrument, I have kept it in a humidity-controlled room for years.


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I would rather be a night person, I really would. Getting up early is a chore and so against my routine that I even do it on the week-ends for fear that when Monday rolls around I won't want to get up. I know what you're thinking and you might as well say it, I have sold out.
There was a time when all my action really started after midnight, not by design but because of circumstance. I was working the second shift and didn't get off until 11 pm. Now what bright, single, energetic 22 year old wants to go straight home and go to bed right after work, regardless of the time? So, ' I loved the night life, I wanted to boogie on the disco 'round, yeah.' But I enjoyed the night even earlier than that. It had to do with my upbringing.
I remember when I was a kid my Mom used to take us (I'm not making this up) out to look for UFO's. And ofcourse, every UFO hunter knew that they only came out at night, well, not always… but the darkness made them easier to see… unless they were on stealth mode… or cloaked… or on Eastern time… but wait! I'm rambling. The important thing is this, we were night people by nature. We'd look up at the stars in awe, looking for guidance… looking for answers, looking for E.T. We wouldn't do these things in broad daylight because the bright sun light would blind us, and people would see how silly we were.
I have to admit that there were some things happening in the heavens that we could not explain so we would concede the fact that it 'must have been a UFO'. Actually UFO sightings by us were fairly common, which was remarkable because we had no special training and didn't live any where near Studio 54. But sure enough, if something blazed acrossed the star studded sky and my Mom shrieked, "What was that?" we'd have to agree that because we couldn't tell what it was it had to be a UFO. It was that simple.
We really didn't follow any specific schedule, my Mom would be reading a book by Ron Hubbard or somebody like that and then get an incredible urge to go night driving, almost as if by divine inspiration. (Which I would later realize was tele-communication) She was a lightning rod of paranormal activity. Ofcourse, our conversations were hushed and secretive, but we'd usually get around to asking one another what we would do if we actually were to have communication with an extraterrestrial. (I don't know what makes them EXTRA-terrestrial) But my Mom would tell us she would like to meet up with one and perhaps even go for a ride in their spaceship, which made us all feel she was very brave. Curiously, she would always tell us not to speak to anyone else about her desire, sort of like a family secret. I for one, never spoke of it to anyone, not out of fear of reprisals but because it was our special time and it bonded us in a spiritualien sort of way.
Funny, years later I still look at the night sky and wonder… I don't see as many UFO's as I used to. I now recognize airplanes and satellites, planets and moons, wisps of clouds, cosmic gases, also the constellations, meteors and revolving radio transients (which I think would be a great name for a rock band). Perhaps the real mystery is gone, I can explain more than I could as a kid because I no longer accept the simple answer. Or maybe the UFO pilots have packed up and moved to another hemisphere.
But I do know one thing that will never change. While the night is clear and cool, when the sky is a quilt of glittering sequins, I step out to re-acquaint myself with the marvels of the unknown and the secrets of the universe… and I still miss my Mom.


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Welcome to Acuity Eye Center
Your Optometrist in MESA, AZ
Call us at (480) 461-3937 today.
Welcome to Acuity Eye Center in Mesa. Dr. Heather Betsko and the Acuity Eye Center team strive to provide the finest in optometry services. We invite you to browse our website to learn more about our optometry services, and invite you to join our patient family by scheduling an eye exam appointment at our Mesa office.
Acuity Eye Center is a full service eye and vision care provider and will take both eye emergencies as well as scheduled appointments. Patients throughout the Mesa area come to Acuity Eye Center because they know they will receive the personal attention and professional care that is our foundation. Dr. Betsko and our team are dedicated to keeping our patients comfortable and well-informed at all times. At Acuity Eye Center, we will explain every exam and procedure and answer all of our patient's questions. Additionally, at Acuity Eye Center, we offer vision financing options and will work with vision insurance providers to ensure good eye health and vision care for all of our patients.
Our Approach to Optometry
Our one-on-one approach to optometry makes Dr. Betsko and the Acuity Eye Center staff the eye and vision care providers of choice in the Mesa area. Our Mesa optometrist offers the following services: complete eye exams, contact lenses, glasses, glaucoma testing, and pre- and post-operative care. For a complete list of services, visit our services page or call our Mesa office at (480) 461-3937.
At Acuity Eye Center, we are dedicated to providing high-quality optometry services in a comfortable environment. Call us at (480) 461-3937 or request an appointment today online.
Heather Betsko
MESA Optometrist | Acuity Eye Center | (480) 461-3937


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Margot Hallac is the owner and creative director of Atelier Isabey, the award winning luxury invitations and design studio in New York City
Tag Archives: Wedding Dress
Real Weddings: Magical Moments at the Ashford Estate
We're in awe of the magnificent details in ToniAnn and Kevin's wedding at The Ashford Estate! They were able to weave in terrific details and elements into their design and decor, from the bride's gorgeous Matthew Christopher gown to the … Continue reading
Styled Shoot: Vintage Garden Fairytale
It's no surprise that one of the most popular and most requested styles for weddings over the past couple of years has been all things vintage. It lends an elegant and dreamt yet totally effortless feeling which can be … Continue reading
Styled Shoot: Dazzling Deco
When we were contacted by Hunter Leone of Three Nails Photography to work together on an over the top, Gatsby inspired styled shoot, we were thrilled since Art Deco happens to be one of the most requested looks and trends many … Continue reading
Posted in Luxury Wedding Invitations, Styled Shoot Tagged Art, black, Chandeliers, deco, flapper, gatsby, glamorous, glamour, gold, invitations, Luxury, modern, Photography, sparkly, vintage, wedding, Wedding Dress Leave a comment
Inspirations: Halloween Entertaining Tips
Continuing with our Halloween inspired post from last week, I wanted to highlight some of Marie and Frank's amazing halloween details and ways that you can bring some of that Dracula inspiration into your own party. From tombstone table … Continue reading
Real Wedding: Dracula Castle Halloween Wedding
With Halloween right around the corner and everyone getting their costumes and parties ready, we decided to get in the spooky spirit by sharing one of our favorite Halloween weddings with you this week. It's always a special treat … Continue reading
Posted in Halloween, Luxury Wedding Invitations, Real Weddings Tagged angel orensanz, black, dracula, four weddings, halloween, invitations, Luxury, luxury wedding invitations, new york city, nyc, red, skull, spooky, wedding, Wedding cakes, Wedding Dress 6 Comments
Design Inspiration: Destination Invitations
We often get asked the question "How can I incorporate my wedding destination (or my wedding venue) into my wedding invitations?". First of all, just because you aren't traveling to an exotic tropical destination, doesn't mean you can't … Continue reading
Posted in Destination Weddings, Luxury Wedding Invitations, Uncategorized Tagged chicago, custom, destination, florence, invitations, Luxury, moscow, new york city, paris, rome, russia, san francisco, shanghai, sydney australia, toronto, vienna, washington dc, Wedding Dress, Weddings Leave a comment


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Philip Diehl Pulls Away The Curtain On Gold Coin InvestingThursday, February 25th, 2016
The good people in Antarctica have access to legitimate gold coins from the U.S. Mint. They can thank Philip N. Diehl for their good fortune. Under Diehl's leadership at the U.S. Mint, distribution of coins and legal tender expanded throughout the world. Diehl has moved on from his role at the U.S. Mint, but he […]Read More..>>


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MBA Program Rankings
Going back to school to get a Masters of Business Administration or an MBA, is a big deal. It will require a big commitment in terms of both time and money. To make sure you get the return on your investment that you expect, you want to only get your MBA from a top ranked source. For that reason, knowing what the MBA program rankings for any given program is essential. A general MBA, which...Read More
MBA Programs in Canada
If you are looking for the best MBA programs in Canada, stick to the ones you can find in Ontario. Although each region offers decent MBA programs at fully accredited schools, the highest ranked business schools in the world are located in Ontario. Let's take a look at a few of them. The Rotman School of Management, located in the University of Toronto's downtown campus offers...Read More
MBA Programs in Chicago
Although there are many universities that offer MBA programs in Chicago, Illinois only three of those programs are ranked among the best in the country. Both Northwestern and the University of Chicago rank nationally in the top ten with the University of Chicago at number one in the entire country. Northwestern ranks in the top five and the third high ranked school is the University of Illinois...Read More
MBA Programs In USA
It's fairly common knowledge that getting an MBA can really help advance your career. With such a competitive job market it's becoming more of a necessity than an option and there are many top notch MBA programs in USA for you to choose from. Investing in an MBA is a huge commitment in both time and money so finding the best program that meets all your needs in terms of price and...Read More
Distance Learning MBA
The internet has made it possible for students from all over the world to attend virtually any university or college they desire. While not all universities and colleges offer distance learning programs, many of them do. There are many options for distance learning MBA Europe. To find the best program for you, it's important to know what each has to offer. Of course, all programs are...Read More