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White Company, The

 CHAPTER X. HOW HORDLE JOHN FOUND A MAN WHOM HE MIGHT FOLLOW.

If he might not return to Beaulieu within the year, and if his brother's dogs were to be set upon him if he showed face upon Minstead land, then indeed he was adrift upon earth. North, south, east, and west—he might turn where he would, but all was equally chill and cheerless. The Abbot had rolled ten silver crowns in a lettuce-leaf and hid them away in the bottom of his scrip, but that would be a sorry support for twelve long months. In all the darkness there was but the one bright spot of the sturdy comrades whom he had left that morning; if he could find them again all would be well. The afternoon was not very advanced, for all that had befallen him. When a man is afoot at cock-crow much may be done in the day. If he walked fast he might yet overtake his friends ere they reached their destination. He pushed on therefore, now walking and now running. As he journeyed he bit into a crust which remained from his Beaulieu bread, and he washed it down by a draught from a woodland stream.

It was no easy or light thing to journey through this great forest, which was some twenty miles from east to west and a good sixteen from Bramshaw Woods in the north to Lymington in the south. Alleyne, however, had the good fortune to fall in with a woodman, axe upon shoulder, trudging along in the very direction that he wished to go. With his guidance he passed the fringe of Bolderwood Walk, famous for old ash and yew, through Mark Ash with its giant beech-trees, and on through the Knightwood groves, where the giant oak was already a great tree, but only one of many comely brothers. They plodded along together, the woodman and Alleyne, with little talk on either side, for their thoughts were as far asunder as the poles. The peasant's gossip had been of the hunt, of the bracken, of the gray-headed kites that had nested in Wood Fidley, and of the great catch of herring brought back by the boats of Pitt's Deep. The clerk's mind was on his brother, on his future—above all on this strange, fierce, melting, beautiful woman who had broken so suddenly into his life, and as suddenly passed out of it again. So distrait was he and so random his answers, that the woodman took to whistling, and soon branched off upon the track to Burley, leaving Alleyne upon the main Christchurch road.

Down this he pushed as fast as he might, hoping at every turn and rise to catch sight of his companions of the morning. From Vinney Ridge to Rhinefield Walk the woods grow thick and dense up to the very edges of the track, but beyond the country opens up into broad dun-colored moors, flecked with clumps of trees, and topping each other in long, low curves up to the dark lines of forest in the furthest distance. Clouds of insects danced and buzzed in the golden autumn light, and the air was full of the piping of the song-birds. Long, glinting dragonflies shot across the path, or hung tremulous with gauzy wings and gleaming bodies. Once a white-necked sea eagle soared screaming high over the traveller's head, and again a flock of brown bustards popped up from among the bracken, and blundered away in their clumsy fashion, half running, half flying, with strident cry and whirr of wings.

There were folk, too, to be met upon the road—beggars and couriers, chapmen and tinkers—cheery fellows for the most part, with a rough jest and homely greeting for each other and for Alleyne. Near Shotwood he came upon five seamen, on their way from Poole to Southampton—rude red-faced men, who shouted at him in a jargon which he could scarce understand, and held out to him a great pot from which they had been drinking—nor would they let him pass until he had dipped pannikin in and taken a mouthful, which set him coughing and choking, with the tears running down his cheeks. Further on he met a sturdy black-bearded man, mounted on a brown horse, with a rosary in his right hand and a long two-handed sword jangling against his stirrup-iron. By his black robe and the eight-pointed cross upon his sleeve, Alleyne recognized him as one of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, whose presbytery was at Baddesley. He held up two fingers as he passed, with a "Benedic, fili mi!" whereat Alleyne doffed hat and bent knee, looking with much reverence at one who had devoted his life to the overthrow of the infidel. Poor simple lad! he had not learned yet that what men are and what men profess to be are very wide asunder, and that the Knights of St. John, having come into large part of the riches of the ill-fated Templars, were very much too comfortable to think of exchanging their palace for a tent, or the cellars of England for the thirsty deserts of Syria. Yet ignorance may be more precious than wisdom, for Alleyne as he walked on braced himself to a higher life by the thought of this other's sacrifice, and strengthened himself by his example which he could scarce have done had he known that the Hospitaller's mind ran more upon malmsey than on Mamelukes, and on venison rather than victories.

As he pressed on the plain turned to woods once more in the region of Wilverley Walk, and a cloud swept up from the south with the sun shining through the chinks of it. A few great drops came pattering loudly down, and then in a moment the steady swish of a brisk shower, with the dripping and dropping of the leaves. Alleyne, glancing round for shelter, saw a thick and lofty holly-bush, so hollowed out beneath that no house could have been drier. Under this canopy of green two men were already squatted, who waved their hands to Alleyne that he should join them. As he approached he saw that they had five dried herrings laid out in front of them, with a great hunch of wheaten bread and a leathern flask full of milk, but instead of setting to at their food they appeared to have forgot all about it, and were disputing together with flushed faces and angry gestures. It was easy to see by their dress and manner that they were two of those wandering students who formed about this time so enormous a multitude in every country in Europe. The one was long and thin, with melancholy features, while the other was fat and sleek, with a loud voice and the air of a man who is not to be gainsaid.

"Come hither, good youth," he cried, "come hither! Vultus ingenui puer. Heed not the face of my good coz here. Foenum habet in cornu, as Don Horace has it; but I warrant him harmless for all that."

"Stint your bull's bellowing!" exclaimed the other. "If it come to Horace, I have a line in my mind: Loquaces si sapiat——How doth it run? The English o't being that a man of sense should ever avoid a great talker. That being so, if all were men of sense then thou wouldst be a lonesome man, coz."

"Alas! Dicon, I fear that your logic is as bad as your philosophy or your divinity—and God wot it would be hard to say a worse word than that for it. For, hark ye: granting, propter argumentum, that I am a talker, then the true reasoning runs that since all men of sense should avoid me, and thou hast not avoided me, but art at the present moment eating herrings with me under a holly-bush, ergo you are no man of sense, which is exactly what I have been dinning into your long ears ever since I first clapped eyes on your sunken chops."

"Tut, tut!" cried the other. "Your tongue goes like the clapper of a mill-wheel. Sit down here, friend, and partake of this herring. Understand first, however, that there are certain conditions attached to it."

"I had hoped," said Alleyne, falling into the humor of the twain, "that a tranchoir of bread and a draught of milk might be attached to it."

"Hark to him, hark to him!" cried the little fat man. "It is even thus, Dicon! Wit, lad, is a catching thing, like the itch or the sweating sickness. I exude it round me; it is an aura. I tell you, coz, that no man can come within seventeen feet of me without catching a spark. Look at your own case. A duller man never stepped, and yet within the week you have said three things which might pass, and one thing the day we left Fordingbridge which I should not have been ashamed of myself."

"Enough, rattle-pate, enough!" said the other. "The milk you shall have and the bread also, friend, together with the herring, but you must hold the scales between us."

"If he hold the herring he holds the scales, my sapient brother," cried the fat man. "But I pray you, good youth, to tell us whether you are a learned clerk, and, if so, whether you have studied at Oxenford or at Paris."

"I have some small stock of learning," Alleyne answered, picking at his herring, "but I have been at neither of these places. I was bred amongst the Cistercian monks at Beaulieu Abbey."

"Pooh, pooh!" they cried both together. "What sort of an upbringing is that?"

"Non cuivis contingit adire Corinthum," quoth Alleyne.

"Come, brother Stephen, he hath some tincture of letters," said the melancholy man more hopefully. "He may be the better judge, since he hath no call to side with either of us. Now, attention, friend, and let your ears work as well as your nether jaw. Judex damnatur—you know the old saw. Here am I upholding the good fame of the learned Duns Scotus against the foolish quibblings and poor silly reasonings of Willie Ockham."

"While I," quoth the other loudly, "do maintain the good sense and extraordinary wisdom of that most learned William against the crack-brained fantasies of the muddy Scotchman, who hath hid such little wit as he has under so vast a pile of words, that it is like one drop of Gascony in a firkin of ditch-water. Solomon his wisdom would not suffice to say what the rogue means."

"Certes, Stephen Hapgood, his wisdom doth not suffice," cried the other. "It is as though a mole cried out against the morning star, because he could not see it. But our dispute, friend, is concerning the nature of that subtle essence which we call thought. For I hold with the learned Scotus that thought is in very truth a thing, even as vapor or fumes, or many other substances which our gross bodily eyes are blind to. For, look you, that which produces a thing must be itself a thing, and if a man's thought may produce a written book, then must thought itself be a material thing, even as the book is. Have I expressed it? Do I make it plain?"

"Whereas I hold," shouted the other, "with my revered preceptor, doctor, praeclarus et excellentissimus, that all things are but thought; for when thought is gone I prythee where are the things then? Here are trees about us, and I see them because I think I see them, but if I have swooned, or sleep, or am in wine, then, my thought having gone forth from me, lo the trees go forth also. How now, coz, have I touched thee on the raw?"

Alleyne sat between them munching his bread, while the twain disputed across his knees, leaning forward with flushed faces and darting hands, in all the heat of argument. Never had he heard such jargon of scholastic philosophy, such fine-drawn distinctions, such cross-fire of major and minor, proposition, syllogism, attack and refutation. Question clattered upon answer like a sword on a buckler. The ancients, the fathers of the Church, the moderns, the Scriptures, the Arabians, were each sent hurtling against the other, while the rain still dripped and the dark holly-leaves glistened with the moisture. At last the fat man seemed to weary of it, for he set to work quietly upon his meal, while his opponent, as proud as the rooster who is left unchallenged upon the midden, crowed away in a last long burst of quotation and deduction. Suddenly, however, his eyes dropped upon his food, and he gave a howl of dismay.

"You double thief!" he cried, "you have eaten my herrings, and I without bite or sup since morning."

"That," quoth the other complacently, "was my final argument, my crowning effort, or peroratio, as the orators have it. For, coz, since all thoughts are things, you have but to think a pair of herrings, and then conjure up a pottle of milk wherewith to wash them down."

"A brave piece of reasoning," cried the other, "and I know of but one reply to it." On which, leaning forward, he caught his comrade a rousing smack across his rosy cheek. "Nay, take it not amiss," he said, "since all things are but thoughts, then that also is but a thought and may be disregarded."

This last argument, however, by no means commended itself to the pupil of Ockham, who plucked a great stick from the ground and signified his dissent by smiting the realist over the pate with it. By good fortune, the wood was so light and rotten that it went to a thousand splinters, but Alleyne thought it best to leave the twain to settle the matter at their leisure, the more so as the sun was shining brightly once more. Looking back down the pool-strewn road, he saw the two excited philosophers waving their hands and shouting at each other, but their babble soon became a mere drone in the distance, and a turn in the road hid them from his sight.

And now after passing Holmesley Walk and the Wooton Heath, the forest began to shred out into scattered belts of trees, with gleam of corn-field and stretch of pasture-land between. Here and there by the wayside stood little knots of wattle-and-daub huts with shock-haired laborers lounging by the doors and red-cheeked children sprawling in the roadway. Back among the groves he could see the high gable ends and thatched roofs of the franklins' houses, on whose fields these men found employment, or more often a thick dark column of smoke marked their position and hinted at the coarse plenty within. By these signs Alleyne knew that he was on the very fringe of the forest, and therefore no great way from Christchurch. The sun was lying low in the west and shooting its level rays across the long sweep of rich green country, glinting on the white-fleeced sheep and throwing long shadows from the red kine who waded knee-deep in the juicy clover. Right glad was the traveller to see the high tower of Christchurch Priory gleaming in the mellow evening light, and gladder still when, on rounding a corner, he came upon his comrades of the morning seated astraddle upon a fallen tree. They had a flat space before them, on which they alternately threw little square pieces of bone, and were so intent upon their occupation that they never raised eye as he approached them. He observed with astonishment, as he drew near, that the archer's bow was on John's back, the archer's sword by John's side, and the steel cap laid upon the tree-trunk between them.

"Mort de ma vie!" Aylward shouted, looking down at the dice. "Never had I such cursed luck. A murrain on the bones! I have not thrown a good main since I left Navarre. A one and a three! En avant, camarade!"

"Four and three," cried Hordle John, counting on his great fingers, "that makes seven. Ho, archer, I have thy cap! Now have at thee for thy jerkin!"

"Mon Dieu!" he growled, "I am like to reach Christchurch in my shirt." Then suddenly glancing up, "Hola, by the splendor of heaven, here is our cher petit! Now, by my ten finger bones! this is a rare sight to mine eyes." He sprang up and threw his arms round Alleyne's neck, while John, no less pleased, but more backward and Saxon in his habits, stood grinning and bobbing by the wayside, with his newly won steel cap stuck wrong side foremost upon his tangle of red hair.

"Hast come to stop?" cried the bowman, patting Alleyne all over in his delight. "Shall not get away from us again!"

"I wish no better," said he, with a pringling in the eyes at this hearty greeting.

"Well said, lad!" cried big John. "We three shall to the wars together, and the devil may fly away with the Abbot of Beaulieu! But your feet and hosen are all besmudged. Hast been in the water, or I am the more mistaken."

"I have in good sooth," Alleyne answered, and then as they journeyed on their way he told them the many things that had befallen him, his meeting with the villein, his sight of the king, his coming upon his brother, with all the tale of the black welcome and of the fair damsel. They strode on either side, each with an ear slanting towards him, but ere he had come to the end of his story the bowman had spun round upon his heel, and was hastening back the way they had come, breathing loudly through his nose.

"What then?" asked Alleyne, trotting after him and gripping at his jerkin.

"I am back for Minstead, lad."

"And why, in the name of sense?"

"To thrust a handful of steel into the Socman. What! hale a demoiselle against her will, and then loose dogs at his own brother! Let me go!"

"Nenny, nenny!" cried Alleyne, laughing. "There was no scath done. Come back, friend"—and so, by mingled pushing and entreaties, they got his head round for Christchurch once more. Yet he walked with his chin upon his shoulder, until, catching sight of a maiden by a wayside well, the smiles came back to his face and peace to his heart.

"But you," said Alleyne, "there have been changes with you also. Why should not the workman carry his tools? Where are bow and sword and cap—and why so warlike, John?"

"It is a game which friend Aylward hath been a-teaching of me."

"And I found him an over-apt pupil," grumbled the bowman. "He hath stripped me as though I had fallen into the hands of the tardvenus. But, by my hilt! you must render them back to me, camarade, lest you bring discredit upon my mission, and I will pay you for them at armorers' prices."

"Take them back, man, and never heed the pay," said John. "I did but wish to learn the feel of them, since I am like to have such trinkets hung to my own girdle for some years to come."

"Ma foi, he was born for a free companion!" cried Aylward, "He hath the very trick of speech and turn of thought. I take them back then, and indeed it gives me unease not to feel my yew-stave tapping against my leg bone. But see, mes garcons, on this side of the church rises the square and darkling tower of Earl Salisbury's castle, and even from here I seem to see on yonder banner the red roebuck of the Montacutes."

"Red upon white," said Alleyne, shading his eyes; "but whether roebuck or no is more than I could vouch. How black is the great tower, and how bright the gleam of arms upon the wall! See below the flag, how it twinkles like a star!"

"Aye, it is the steel head-piece of the watchman," remarked the archer. "But we must on, if we are to be there before the drawbridge rises at the vespers bugle; for it is likely that sir Nigel, being so renowned a soldier, may keep hard discipline within the walls, and let no man enter after sundown." So saying, he quickened his pace, and the three comrades were soon close to the straggling and broad-spread town which centered round the noble church and the frowning castle.

It chanced on that very evening that Sir Nigel Loring, having supped before sunset, as was his custom, and having himself seen that Pommers and Cadsand, his two war-horses, with the thirteen hacks, the five jennets, my lady's three palfreys, and the great dapple-gray roussin, had all their needs supplied, had taken his dogs for an evening breather. Sixty or seventy of them, large and small, smooth and shaggy—deer-hound, boar-hound, blood-hound, wolf-hound, mastiff, alaun, talbot, lurcher, terrier, spaniel—snapping, yelling and whining, with score of lolling tongues and waving tails, came surging down the narrow lane which leads from the Twynham kennels to the bank of Avon. Two russet-clad varlets, with loud halloo and cracking whips, walked thigh-deep amid the swarm, guiding, controlling, and urging. Behind came Sir Nigel himself, with Lady Loring upon his arm, the pair walking slowly and sedately, as befitted both their age and their condition, while they watched with a smile in their eyes the scrambling crowd in front of them. They paused, however, at the bridge, and, leaning their elbows upon the stonework, they stood looking down at their own faces in the glassy stream, and at the swift flash of speckled trout against the tawny gravel.

Sir Nigel was a slight man of poor stature, with soft lisping voice and gentle ways. So short was he that his wife, who was no very tall woman, had the better of him by the breadth of three fingers. His sight having been injured in his early wars by a basketful of lime which had been emptied over him when he led the Earl of Derby's stormers up the breach at Bergerac, he had contracted something of a stoop, with a blinking, peering expression of face. His age was six and forty, but the constant practice of arms, together with a cleanly life, had preserved his activity and endurance unimpaired, so that from a distance he seemed to have the slight limbs and swift grace of a boy. His face, however, was tanned of a dull yellow tint, with a leathery, poreless look, which spoke of rough outdoor doings, and the little pointed beard which he wore, in deference to the prevailing fashion, was streaked and shot with gray. His features were small, delicate, and regular, with clear-cut, curving nose, and eyes which jutted forward from the lids. His dress was simple and yet spruce. A Flandrish hat of beevor, bearing in the band the token of Our Lady of Embrun, was drawn low upon the left side to hide that ear which had been partly shorn from his head by a Flemish man-at-arms in a camp broil before Tournay. His cote-hardie, or tunic, and trunk-hosen were of a purple plum color, with long weepers which hung from either sleeve to below his knees. His shoes were of red leather, daintily pointed at the toes, but not yet prolonged to the extravagant lengths which the succeeding reign was to bring into fashion. A gold-embroidered belt of knighthood encircled his loins, with his arms, five roses gules on a field argent, cunningly worked upon the clasp. So stood Sir Nigel Loring upon the bridge of Avon, and talked lightly with his lady.

And, certes, had the two visages alone been seen, and the stranger been asked which were the more likely to belong to the bold warrior whose name was loved by the roughest soldiery of Europe, he had assuredly selected the lady's. Her face was large and square and red, with fierce, thick brows, and the eyes of one who was accustomed to rule. Taller and broader than her husband, her flowing gown of sendall, and fur-lined tippet, could not conceal the gaunt and ungraceful outlines of her figure. It was the age of martial women. The deeds of black Agnes of Dunbar, of Lady Salisbury and of the Countess of Montfort, were still fresh in the public minds. With such examples before them the wives of the English captains had become as warlike as their mates, and ordered their castles in their absence with the prudence and discipline of veteran seneschals. Right easy were the Montacutes of their Castle of Twynham, and little had they to dread from roving galley or French squadron, while Lady Mary Loring had the ordering of it. Yet even in that age it was thought that, though a lady might have a soldier's heart, it was scarce as well that she should have a soldier's face. There were men who said that of all the stern passages and daring deeds by which Sir Nigel Loring had proved the true temper of his courage, not the least was his wooing and winning of so forbidding a dame.

"I tell you, my fair lord," she was saying, "that it is no fit training for a demoiselle: hawks and hounds, rotes and citoles singing a French rondel, or reading the Gestes de Doon de Mayence, as I found her yesternight, pretending sleep, the artful, with the corner of the scroll thrusting forth from under her pillow. Lent her by Father Christopher of the priory, forsooth—that is ever her answer. How shall all this help her when she has castle of her own to keep, with a hundred mouths all agape for beef and beer?"

"True, my sweet bird, true," answered the knight, picking a comfit from his gold drageoir. "The maid is like the young filly, which kicks heels and plunges for very lust of life. Give her time, dame, give her time."

"Well, I know that my father would have given me, not time, but a good hazel-stick across my shoulders. Ma foi! I know not what the world is coming to, when young maids may flout their elders. I wonder that you do not correct her, my fair lord."

"Nay, my heart's comfort, I never raised hand to woman yet, and it would be a passing strange thing if I began on my own flesh and blood. It was a woman's hand which cast this lime into mine eyes, and though I saw her stoop, and might well have stopped her ere she threw, I deemed it unworthy of my knighthood to hinder or balk one of her sex."

"The hussy!" cried Lady Loring clenching her broad right hand. "I would I had been at the side of her!"

"And so would I, since you would have been the nearer me my own. But I doubt not that you are right, and that Maude's wings need clipping, which I may leave in your hands when I am gone, for, in sooth, this peaceful life is not for me, and were it not for your gracious kindness and loving care I could not abide it a week. I hear that there is talk of warlike muster at Bordeaux once more, and by St. Paul! it would be a new thing if the lions of England and the red pile of Chandos were to be seen in the field, and the roses of Loring were not waving by their side."

"Now woe worth me but I feared it!" cried she, with the color all struck from her face. "I have noted your absent mind, your kindling eye, your trying and riveting of old harness. Consider my sweet lord, that you have already won much honor, that we have seen but little of each other, that you bear upon your body the scar of over twenty wounds received in I know not how many bloody encounters. Have you not done enough for honor and the public cause?"

"My lady, when our liege lord, the king, at three score years, and my Lord Chandos at three-score and ten, are blithe and ready to lay lance in rest for England's cause, it would ill be-seem me to prate of service done. It is sooth that I have received seven and twenty wounds. There is the more reason that I should be thankful that I am still long of breath and sound in limb. I have also seen some bickering and scuffling. Six great land battles I count, with four upon sea, and seven and fifty onfalls, skirmishes and bushments. I have held two and twenty towns, and I have been at the intaking of thirty-one. Surely then it would be bitter shame to me, and also to you, since my fame is yours, that I should now hold back if a man's work is to be done. Besides, bethink you how low is our purse, with bailiff and reeve ever croaking of empty farms and wasting lands. Were it not for this constableship which the Earl of Salisbury hath bestowed upon us we could scarce uphold the state which is fitting to our degree. Therefore, my sweeting, there is the more need that I should turn to where there is good pay to be earned and brave ransoms to be won."

"Ah, my dear lord," quoth she, with sad, weary eyes. "I thought that at last I had you to mine own self, even though your youth had been spent afar from my side. Yet my voice, as I know well, should speed you on to glory and renown, not hold you back when fame is to be won. Yet what can I say, for all men know that your valor needs the curb and not the spur. It goes to my heart that you should ride forth now a mere knight bachelor, when there is no noble in the land who hath so good a claim to the square pennon, save only that you have not the money to uphold it."

"And whose fault that, my sweet bird?" said he.

"No fault, my fair lord, but a virtue: for how many rich ransoms have you won, and yet have scattered the crowns among page and archer and varlet, until in a week you had not as much as would buy food and forage. It is a most knightly largesse, and yet withouten money how can man rise?"

"Dirt and dross!" cried he.

"What matter rise or fall, so that duty be done and honor gained. Banneret or bachelor, square pennon or forked, I would not give a denier for the difference, and the less since Sir John Chandos, chosen flower of English chivalry, is himself but a humble knight. But meanwhile fret not thyself, my heart's dove, for it is like that there may be no war waged, and we must await the news. But here are three strangers, and one, as I take it, a soldier fresh from service. It is likely that he may give us word of what is stirring over the water."

Lady Loring, glancing up, saw in the fading light three companions walking abreast down the road, all gray with dust, and stained with travel, yet chattering merrily between themselves. He in the midst was young and comely, with boyish open face and bright gray eyes, which glanced from right to left as though he found the world around him both new and pleasing. To his right walked a huge red-headed man, with broad smile and merry twinkle, whose clothes seemed to be bursting and splitting at every seam, as though he were some lusty chick who was breaking bravely from his shell. On the other side, with his knotted hand upon the young man's shoulder, came a stout and burly archer, brown and fierce eyed, with sword at belt and long yellow yew-stave peeping over his shoulder. Hard face, battered head piece, dinted brigandine, with faded red lion of St. George ramping on a discolored ground, all proclaimed as plainly as words that he was indeed from the land of war. He looked keenly at Sir Nigel as he approached, and then, plunging his hand under his breastplate, he stepped up to him with a rough, uncouth bow to the lady.

"Your pardon, fair sir," said he, "but I know you the moment I clap eyes on you, though in sooth I have seen you oftener in steel than in velvet. I have drawn string besides you at La Roche-d'Errien, Romorantin, Maupertuis, Nogent, Auray, and other places."

"Then, good archer, I am right glad to welcome you to Twynham Castle, and in the steward's room you will find provant for yourself and comrades. To me also your face is known, though mine eyes play such tricks with me that I can scarce be sure of my own squire. Rest awhile, and you shall come to the hall anon and tell us what is passing in France, for I have heard that it is likely that our pennons may flutter to the south of the great Spanish mountains ere another year be passed."

"There was talk of it in Bordeaux," answered the archer, "and I saw myself that the armorers and smiths were as busy as rats in a wheat-rick. But I bring you this letter from the valiant Gascon knight, Sir Claude Latour. And to you, Lady," he added after a pause, "I bring from him this box of red sugar of Narbonne, with every courteous and knightly greeting which a gallant cavalier may make to a fair and noble dame."

This little speech had cost the blunt bowman much pains and planning; but he might have spared his breath, for the lady was quite as much absorbed as her lord in the letter, which they held between them, a hand on either corner, spelling it out very slowly, with drawn brows and muttering lips. As they read it, Alleyne, who stood with Hordle John a few paces back from their comrade, saw the lady catch her breath, while the knight laughed softly to himself.

"You see, dear heart," said he, "that they will not leave the old dog in his kennel when the game is afoot. And what of this White Company, archer?"

"Ah, sir, you speak of dogs," cried Aylward; "but there are a pack of lusty hounds who are ready for any quarry, if they have but a good huntsman to halloo them on. Sir, we have been in the wars together, and I have seen many a brave following but never such a set of woodland boys as this. They do but want you at their head, and who will bar the way to them!"

"Pardieu!" said Sir Nigel, "if they are all like their messenger, they are indeed men of whom a leader may be proud. Your name, good archer?"

"Sam Aylward, sir, of the Hundred of Easebourne and the Rape of Chichester."

"And this giant behind you?"

"He is big John, of Hordle, a forest man, who hath now taken service in the Company."

"A proper figure of a man at-arms," said the little knight. "Why, man, you are no chicken, yet I warrant him the stronger man. See to that great stone from the coping which hath fallen upon the bridge. Four of my lazy varlets strove this day to carry it hence. I would that you two could put them to shame by budging it, though I fear that I overtask you, for it is of a grievous weight."

He pointed as he spoke to a huge rough-hewn block which lay by the roadside, deep sunken from its own weight in the reddish earth. The archer approached it, rolling back the sleeves of his jerkin, but with no very hopeful countenance, for indeed it was a mighty rock. John, however, put him aside with his left hand, and, stooping over the stone, he plucked it single-handed from its soft bed and swung it far into the stream. There it fell with mighty splash, one jagged end peaking out above the surface, while the waters bubbled and foamed with far-circling eddy.

"Good lack!" cried Sir Nigel, and "Good lack!" cried his lady, while John stood laughing and wiping the caked dirt from his fingers.

"I have felt his arms round my ribs," said the bowman, "and they crackle yet at the thought of it. This other comrade of mine is a right learned clerk, for all that he is so young, hight Alleyne, the son of Edric, brother to the Socman of Minstead."

"Young man," quoth Sir Nigel, sternly, "if you are of the same way of thought as your brother, you may not pass under portcullis of mine."

"Nay, fair sir," cried Aylward hastily, "I will be pledge for it that they have no thought in common; for this very day his brother hath set his dogs upon him, and driven him from his lands."

"And are you, too, of the White Company?" asked Sir Nigel. "Hast had small experience of war, if I may judge by your looks and bearing."

"I would fain to France with my friends here," Alleyne answered; "but I am a man of peace—a reader, exorcist, acolyte, and clerk."

"That need not hinder," quoth Sir Nigel.

"No, fair sir," cried the bowman joyously. "Why, I myself have served two terms with Arnold de Cervolles, he whom they called the archpriest. By my hilt! I have seen him ere now, with monk's gown trussed to his knees, over his sandals in blood in the fore-front of the battle. Yet, ere the last string had twanged, he would be down on his four bones among the stricken, and have them all houseled and shriven, as quick as shelling peas. Ma foi! there were those who wished that he would have less care for their souls and a little more for their bodies!"

"It is well to have a learned clerk in every troop," said Sir Nigel. "By St. Paul, there are men so caitiff that they think more of a scrivener's pen than of their lady's smile, and do their devoir in hopes that they may fill a line in a chronicle or make a tag to a jongleur's romance. I remember well that, at the siege of Retters, there was a little, sleek, fat clerk of the name of Chaucer, who was so apt at rondel, sirvente, or tonson, that no man dare give back a foot from the walls, lest he find it all set down in his rhymes and sung by every underling and varlet in the camp. But, my soul's bird, you hear me prate as though all were decided, when I have not yet taken counsel either with you or with my lady mother. Let us to the chamber, while these strangers find such fare as pantry and cellar may furnish."

"The night air strikes chill," said the lady, and turned down the road with her hand upon her lord's arm. The three comrades dropped behind and followed: Aylward much the lighter for having accomplished his mission, Alleyne full of wonderment at the humble bearing of so renowned a captain, and John loud with snorts and sneers, which spoke his disappointment and contempt.

"What ails the man?" asked Aylward in surprise.

"I have been cozened and bejaped," quoth he gruffly.

"By whom, Sir Samson the strong?"

"By thee, Sir Balaam the false prophet."

"By my hilt!" cried the archer, "I though I be not Balaam, yet I hold converse with the very creature that spake to him. What is amiss, then, and how have I played you false?"

"Why, marry, did you not say, and Alleyne here will be my witness, that, if I would hie to the wars with you, you would place me under a leader who was second to none in all England for valor? Yet here you bring me to a shred of a man, peaky and ill-nourished, with eyes like a moulting owl, who must needs, forsooth, take counsel with his mother ere he buckle sword to girdle."

"Is that where the shoe galls?" cried the bowman, and laughed aloud. "I will ask you what you think of him three months hence, if we be all alive; for sure I am that——"

Aylward's words were interrupted by an extraordinary hubbub which broke out that instant some little way down the street in the direction of the Priory. There was deep-mouthed shouting of men, frightened shrieks of women, howling and barking of curs, and over all a sullen, thunderous rumble, indescribably menacing and terrible. Round the corner of the narrow street there came rushing a brace of whining dogs with tails tucked under their legs, and after them a white-faced burgher, with outstretched hands and wide-spread fingers, his hair all abristle and his eyes glinting back from one shoulder to the other, as though some great terror were at his very heels. "Fly, my lady, fly!" he screeched, and whizzed past them like bolt from bow; while close behind came lumbering a huge black bear, with red tongue lolling from his mouth, and a broken chain jangling behind him. To right and left the folk flew for arch and doorway. Hordle John caught up the Lady Loring as though she had been a feather, and sprang with her into an open porch; while Aylward, with a whirl of French oaths, plucked at his quiver and tried to unsling his bow. Alleyne, all unnerved at so strange and unwonted a sight, shrunk up against the wall with his eyes fixed upon the frenzied creature, which came bounding along with ungainly speed, looking the larger in the uncertain light, its huge jaws agape, with blood and slaver trickling to the ground. Sir Nigel alone, unconscious to all appearance of the universal panic, walked with unfaltering step up the centre of the road, a silken handkerchief in one hand and his gold comfit-box in the other. It sent the blood cold through Alleyne's veins to see that as they came together—the man and the beast—the creature reared up, with eyes ablaze with fear and hate, and whirled its great paws above the knight to smite him to the earth. He, however, blinking with puckered eyes, reached up his kerchief, and flicked the beast twice across the snout with it. "Ah, saucy! saucy," quoth he, with gentle chiding; on which the bear, uncertain and puzzled, dropped its four legs to earth again, and, waddling back, was soon swathed in ropes by the bear-ward and a crowd of peasants who had been in close pursuit.

A scared man was the keeper; for, having chained the brute to a stake while he drank a stoup of ale at the inn, it had been baited by stray curs, until, in wrath and madness, it had plucked loose the chain, and smitten or bitten all who came in its path. Most scared of all was he to find that the creature had come nigh to harm the Lord and Lady of the castle, who had power to place him in the stretch-neck or to have the skin scourged from his shoulders. Yet, when he came with bowed head and humble entreaty for forgiveness, he was met with a handful of small silver from Sir Nigel, whose dame, however, was less charitably disposed, being much ruffled in her dignity by the manner in which she had been hustled from her lord's side.

As they passed through the castle gate, John plucked at Aylward's sleeve, and the two fell behind.

"I must crave your pardon, comrade," said he, bluntly. "I was a fool not to know that a little rooster may be the gamest. I believe that this man is indeed a leader whom we may follow."

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LOS ANGELES >> Shelly Sterling was reviewing bids from five groups interested in buying the Los Angeles Clippers, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The individual, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the deal, said if an agreement to sell is reached before next Tuesday, the league's owners wouldn't meet in New York to vote on terminating Donald Sterling's ownership.
The individual wouldn't specify the interested buyers, but described them as major players with considerable financial means. The person told the AP the sale price "appears to be increasing to an unbelievable number," and that it could soar past $1.5 to $2 billion, and possibly more.
Another person familiar with the negotiations said Shelly Sterling's attorneys, bankers and others involved in the process were in a locked room reviewing the bids, which were due by 2 p.m. PDT Wednesday. The individual wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the sensitive and competitive negotiations.
Donald Sterling's attorney, Bobby Samini, said there would be no sale of the team without Donald Sterling's involvement, though he declined to say whether Sterling was involved in reviewing bids or in touch with Shelly Sterling.
"Mr. Sterling is an owner of the team, and there will be no sale of the team without his involvement," Samini said.
But a May 22 letter obtained by The Associated Press and written by another one of Sterling's attorneys says that "Donald T. Sterling authorizes Rochelle Sterling to negotiate with the National Basketball Association regarding all issues in connection with a sale of the Los Angeles Clippers team." It includes the line "read and approved" and Donald Sterling's signature.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass said the league's advisory/finance committee met Wednesday by phone to discuss the separate responses from Donald and Shelly Sterling to the NBA on its efforts to terminate the Sterlings' ownership of the Clippers.
The first individual told the AP that the league's owners know a sale couldn't be completed by next Tuesday. But if an agreement was in place, the NBA would give the Sterlings extra time before holding any meetings.
The individual said the league hopes a voluntary sale would remove the potential of legal action being taken by the Sterlings.
The person told the AP that at this point, with Donald Sterling saying he plans to fight the matter in court, the NBA intends to go forward with the meeting in New York on June 3.
A forced sale would require approval by three-fourths of the league's 30 owners. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said he is confident he would get the necessary votes.
On Tuesday, Donald Sterling issued a fiery response to the league's attempt to oust him. The league charged that he had damaged it and its merchandising partners with his racist comments about blacks in a recording released last month.
He argued that there is no basis for stripping him of his team because his statements were illegally recorded "during an inflamed lovers' quarrel in which he was clearly distraught."
According to the response, a copy of which was obtained by the AP, Sterling says girlfriend V. Stiviano recorded him without his knowledge, which is illegal under California law. He also said he could not have "willfully" damaged the league because he did not know it would be made public.
"We do not believe a court in the United States of America will enforce the draconian penalties imposed on Mr. Sterling in these circumstances, and indeed, we believe that preservation of Mr. Sterling's constitutional rights requires that these sham proceedings be terminated in Mr. Sterling's favor," the response said.
Donald Sterling was banned for life and fined $2.5 million by Silver after the recording was made public.
It is possible Shelly Sterling could complete an expedited sale of the team despite her husband's legal wranglings, according to Daniel Lazaroff, director of the Sports Law Institute at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
"She would have to be willing to go through with a sale that gave her absolutely no retained ownership interest in order to satisfy the league," said Lazaroff, a law professor at the school. "If she did that, I don't think the league would stand in her way. If she wants to retain any portion of ownership it wouldn't work."
Even if Shelly Sterling accepts an offer, the league has the right to approve potential owners, a lengthy process that would almost certainly not be completed by next Tuesday.
"The best case scenario is she finds a suitable buyer," Lazaroff said. "That would work for the league and from a financial standpoint that would work for the Sterlings. If the sale price is satisfactory, the smart thing might be to just get out. He's a businessman who understands buy low and sell high."
Donald Sterling purchased the Clippers for $12 million in 1981, making him the league's longest-tenured owner.
He argued in his response to the league's charges that he can't get a fair hearing next week because the other owners have already made up their minds to oust him.
Lazaroff noted that Sterling signed the NBA's constitution when he joined the league, and its bylaws spell out specific procedures for terminating ownership. He said as long as the league follows its own rules it should be on solid legal ground.
"I could see a happy ending to this," Lazaroff said, "but it will depend on both of the Sterlings being out of the picture."
Associated Press Writer Tami Abdollah contributed to this report.

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Source: Date Stamp: 1982 Release Date: 1983 Carded Availability: Return of the Jedi Tri-Logo Assortment No. : 70310 Retail: $2.99 Weapons and Accessories: Point of Interest: This figure became available as a send away on The Empire Strikes Back 48 back card, but made its first carded appearance on the Return Of The Jedi 66 back card. Interestingly, The offer on The Empire Strikes Back 48 back card was printed during the period where the sixth episode had another name, therefore the original offer read "Free! Revenge Of The Jedi". |
Comments: In 1982, to many young Star Wars Afficionados, the vintage Admiral Ackbar action figure was the first glimpse at what the final film had in store for them. The card backs offering the Mon Calamari in exchange of a few small proof of purchases and a couple of dollars, also brought what everyone thought would be the title to the last chapter of the Star Wars Saga, until the bearded dude who made it all up changed his mind. So as a Jedi's 'Revenge' became his 'Return', the good Admiral lead us all into the final battle of good vs. evil. Major Variations: Though all vintage figures have minor variations, the Admiral Ackbar figure did have one major variation worthy of mentioning. There are two distinctly different Mould variations, and hence spray op variations. The first version had arms moulded in white plastic with red spray ops and its torso was moulded in tan plastic (the bib colour) with white and yellow spray ops. The second version, thus far appearing only on Admiral Ackbar figures produced in Taiwan, has arms moulded in red plastic with white spray ops and its torso was moulded in white plastic with light olive (bib colour) and yellow spray ops.In theory, these mould/ spray op variations could exist mixed on some figures (red arms with tan torso, white arms on white torso) including mixed arm variations. To date, however, no such examples have ever appeared. Even though one may have been more readily available on a regional scale, the Red Arms version of the Admiral Ackbar action figure is considered rarer than the White Arms version. Text & Photography by D. Martin Myatt. |
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Tuesday, January 8th, 2013
College Basketball Quadrupleheader On Saturday
Stan Van Gundy to Serve as Analyst for No. 17 Butler–Dayton
Saturday at 2 p.m. ET
No. 19 San Diego State Hosts Colorado State
Saturday Night at 8 p.m. ET
Mike 'Doc' Emrick and Pierre McGuire to Call College Hockey on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET and Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET
NEW YORK – January 8, 2013 – NBC Sports Network will televise five college basketball games this week, highlighted by a quadrupleheader on Saturday. In addition, the network will feature three college hockey contests featuring top 15 teams, with two being called by Mike 'Doc' Emrick and Pierre McGuire.
Coverage begins on Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET, when George Mason hosts Old Dominion at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. Mike Corey will handle play-by-play duties for the game and will be joined by analyst Ron Thompson.
The quadrupleheader begins on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET, with more than eight straight hours of college hoops. Former NBA head coach and NBC Sports Network analyst Stan Van Gundy will be joined by veteran play-by-play announcer Dave Strader to call Saturday's matchup between No. 17 Butler and Dayton, from the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
At 4 p.m. ET, Drexel will travel to the JMU Convocation Center in Harrisonburg, Va. to take on James Madison. Mike Corey and Ron Thompson will handle the call.
Coverage continues at 6 p.m. ET when Princeton hosts Penn at the L. Stockwell Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton, N.J. Randy Moss will serve as the play-by-play announcer for the matchup alongside analyst Dalen Cuff.
At 8 p.m. ET No. 19 San Diego State will host Colorado State at the Viejas Arena in San Diego, Calif. Play-by-play announcer Steve Schlanger will call the action with analyst Blaine Fowler.
In addition to this week's college basketball coverage, NBC Sports Network will feature three college hockey contests.
On Wednesday night No. 8 Boston University hosts Harvard at 7 p.m. ET, from Agganis Arena in Boston, Mass. Emmy Award-winning play-by-play announcer Mike 'Doc' Emrick will call the game, alongside 'Inside-the-Glass' analyst Pierre McGuire.
Additionally, NBC Sports Network will feature a doubleheader of college hockey on Friday. Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET when Union takes on Princeton at Hobey Baker Rink in Princeton, N.J. Emrick and McGuire will have the call.
At 10 p.m. ET No. 9 Denver will host No. 13 Nebraska-Omaha at Magness Arena in Denver. Play by play announcer Steve Schlanger and 'Inside-the-Glass' analyst Brian Engblom will call the action.
NBC Sports Network college basketball schedule (all times ET):
Date | Game | Time (ET) |
Thurs., Jan. 10 | Old Dominion at George Mason | 7 p.m. |
Sat., Jan. 12 | No. 17 Butler at Dayton | 2 p.m. |
Sat., Jan. 12 | Drexel at James Madison | 4 p.m. |
Sat., Jan. 12 | Penn at Princeton | 6 p.m. |
Sat., Jan. 12 | Colorado State at No. 19 San Diego State | 8 p.m. |
NBC Sports Network college hockey schedule (all times ET):
Date |
Game |
Time (ET) |
Wed., Jan. 9 | Harvard at No. 8 Boston University | 7 p.m. |
Fri., Jan. 11 | Union at Princeton | 7:30 p.m. |
Fri., Jan. 11 | No. 13 Nebraska-Omaha at No. 9 Denver | 10 p.m. |
–NBC Sports Group–


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Although they are tiny, atoms have a large amount of energy holding their nuclei together. Certain isotopes of some elements can be split and will release part of their energy as heat. This splitting is called fission. The heat released in fission can be used to help generate electricity in power plants. Uranium-235 (U-235) is one of the isotopes that fissions easily. During fission, U-235 atoms absorb loose neutrons. This causes U-235 to become unstable and split into two light atoms called fission products.
The combined mass of the fission products is less than that of the original U-235. The reduction occurs because some of the matter changes into energy. The energy is released as heat. Two or three neutrons are released along with the heat. These neutrons may hit other atoms, causing more fission.
A series of fissions is called a chain reaction. If enough uranium is brought together under the right conditions, a continuous chain reaction occurs. This is called a self-sustaining chain reaction. A self-sustaining chain reaction creates a great deal of heat, which can be used to help generate electricity. Nuclear power plants generate electricity like any other steam-electric power plant. Water is heated, and steam from the boiling water turns turbines and generates electricity. The main difference in the various types of steam-electric plants is the heat source. Heat from a self-sustaining chain reaction boils the water in a nuclear power plant. Coal, oil, or gas is burned in other power plants to heat the water.
Watch a video and learn more about the history of nuclear power in the United States in our blog post 60 Years Since Nuclear Turned on The Lights.


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Mindfulness Discussion w/Jayne
Tue January 2 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm PST
Meeting ID: 979 9225 0504
Passcode: 141592
or call +1 669 900 6833, Meeting ID: 979 9225 0504
Recovery can be challenging. Have you wondered how to calm your mind, focus your thoughts, and be present & appreciate each moment?
Please feel welcome and come join others in our community for a weekly opportunity to learn and discuss the possibilities and benefits that you can add to your life with the practice of Mindfulness.
Each meeting begins with a guided meditation to set the tone and help you leave the hustle & bustle of the world behind, if only for an hour.
All information (and visuals) discussed are included within PowerPoint presentations so you can absorb, follow along, and more easily discuss.
If you have questions or would like any more information, please email Jayne @ email@example.com


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The vintage modern decor style that's been popping up all over the place sounds like a total oxymoron, but it's easier to grasp than you think. Instead of opting for a strictly modern interior with no sense of personality or quirky flair, or sticking with a straightforward vintage aesthetic, mix the two together for a style that feels just right. Here's how!
Mix up the eras
For a modern take on vintage design, avoid using pieces that are all from the same time period. After all, you probably don't want guests to feel like they've just stepped into the '70s every time they enter your living room! Play around with different items from the 1800s, 1920s, 1950s and 1980s. It's a lot more fun that way.
Add in some neutrals
People have had some pretty colorful tastes over the years, which often means that vintage items are chock full of bright patterns and hues. For balance, use plenty of neutrals to offset the pieces. For example, if you have vintage-looking window treatments in a unique print, opt for neutral cellular shades and muted walls.
Create streamlined arrangements
Modern decor relies on clean lines and plenty of open space, and it's easy to make your vintage items feel more like they belong in the 21st century by arranging them this way. Look for old furniture with plenty of structure, and set them up so they're a bit farther apart than you'd normally have them.
Juxtapose the styles
Modern pieces and vintage elements can go hand in hand. For example, add personality to your kitchen by using old light fixtures or a rustic table, then go with clean white cabinets and stainless steel appliances. Or, try pairing chic bamboo window blinds with valances that look like they came right out of the 60s.
Freshen up older pieces
If you have a DIY streak, it'll be fun to take some of your vintage finds and freshen them up with a bit of modern paint or fabric. Take that old table for example - wouldn't it look great with a new stain? How about that chair with the fraying seat cover? It could use some new upholstery!
When it comes down to it, vintage modern decor can be anything you want it to be. As long as you take elements from each style and use them in the same space, you'll get it right every time!


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YouGov research for the Sunday Times has put UKIP in the lead in the European election contest, with support from 31 per cent of those who were surveyed.
This put the Eurosceptic party three points ahead of Labour (28 per cent) and a massive 12 points ahead of the Conservatives (just 19 per cent).
But does this really mean the Party with its Foot in its Mouth has the people's confidence? Take a look at these comments from the Vox Political Facebook page and form your own conclusions. I hasten to add that this is an unscientific survey, composed of comments from those who had the most to say.
We'll start with those who support the party.
Most vocal is Denise Cottham. She writes: "Mr Farage has the guts to actually 'SAY' what many other people just 'THINK!' We respect him for this. He speaks the TRUTH & is not out to deceive the public like the major parties have done all these years, while growing fatter & richer at the country's expense! And exactly where does the Green party stand regarding the EU? They make appealing promises, but will be unable to keep them without ASKING permission from the EU!!! UKIP priorities make sense, staying in the EU does not."
Denise Morris adds: "I'll be voting UKIP and so will many, many other concerned with EU policies that mean we can't kick out radical hate preachers, without it costing the taxpayer millions and not only that we'll pay their benefits, get them a nice big house and all while our human rights lawyers try to prevent their deportation, thanks to the EU. It's no wonder people are looking for other alternatives. Currently our only serious hope is UKIP. We all know where the Cons, Lab and Libs stand, so voting for either of these parties won't solve anything.
"They are the only party that can take on the other major parties and are gaining popularity. People are fed up with broken promises, lies, the open door policy. I don't like all of UKIP's policies, but I don't like all the Cons' or Lab either. Labour betrayed the working classes and the Cons have tackled the economy, but at a cost to who? The poor, the vulnerable, so I am totally with you on that one. I have to vote for what I think is best for the future of this country and my children and grandchildren and as I see it, that's UKIP at the moment. If Labour gave us a referendum and promised to save the NHS, restrict immigration, tackled the economy, then I would seriously consider voting labour but that isn't going to happen sadly. It's like being between a rock and a hard place and we need a serious shake up of politics in this country. Something has to change and for the better and maybe the challenge from UKIP will do just that."
She seems to have confused the European Union with the European Court of Human Rights… "The fact is the British people were conned big time on the EU. We thought we were entering a common market and now most of our laws are made in Europe. Their judges take precedence over our own judges. We were never given the referendum we should have got and UKIP are the only party guaranteeing one. If that happens then MPs can start voting with their conscience again, instead of voting for party policies."
Regarding the controversial poster in which a foreign actor (from Ireland) was used to represent a British worker whose job had been taken away by evil immigrants, Craig Burnside writes: "UKIP arent against immigration, they just want to control it like countries like Australia and the USA do and outsource jobs."
On the other side we have the following messages.
From Neil Wilson: "I honestly thought nobody could run a worse PR campaign than Bitter Together in Scotland re: the Independence Referendum, But I have to say UKIP are managing to do so in only a week. My particular favourite is the fact you can send their leaflets back to the Freepost address and they get charged for each one. So, they come to your border (door/letterbox) and you send them packing and make them pay for it. After all it's what they would have wanted don't you think? very apt. Although the Boarders typo is running a close second. I would vote for somebody to protect me from boarders, particularily old Etonians. But … best just to keep quiet and enjoy watching them make a monumental cock-up of a campaign all by themselves."
From Kim Burns: "It's the irony that's amusing us. Of course we're not going to vote UKIP! They don't like women going out to work, they want to reduce maternity leave to 4 weeks, they want to reduce taxes for the rich and increase them for the poor! Read their manifesto, people!"
We would if we could find it! How about this, from John Elwyn Kimber: "Those who wish to register a Eurosceptic vote without empowering the odious UKIP might be lucky enough to have a candidate representing the late Bob Crow's 'No to EU, Yes to Democracy' campaign – as in the Eastern counties. Or vote Green."
From Bette Rogerson: "Why would you vote for a party that says it hates Europe, but at the same time takes lots and lots of money from the European parliament? Why vote for a party whose members advocate policies like less tax for the wealthiest, cutting of maternity leave and forcible sterilisation of the disabled? Why vote for a party who wants to take the vote away from the unemployed? Is your job really that secure? Lastly but not least, why vote for a party which claims it wants British jobs for the British and then hires an Irish actor to model as a poor Briton whose job has been taken away by a foreigner?"
Of course, I have also weighed into these discussions. Here's my response to Denise C: "The facts are against you. Why is Farage now trying to block an inquiry into his MEP expenses? What does he have to hide? Why, if he's so keen on preventing foreigners from taking British jobs, did his party hire an Irish actor to pretend to be a British worker in a poster? Why did he hire a German to be his PA (and, come to that, what about the nepotism inherent in the fact that this person is his wife)? Why did the UKIP poster showing an 'ordinary' British woman who was going to vote UKIP actually show a party member responsible for public relations? Put all these things together and it seems UKIP and the truth are a huge distance apart.
"Look at UKIP members and the appalling things they have been saying. Farage moves to shut them up and kick them out whenever they do, but a point has to be reached soon when he – and the rest of us – realises that this is the natural mindset of his party and, as such, it is unelectable."
To Denise Morris's comments about European judges, I pointed out: "The European Court is different from the European Union, Denise. If Britain withdrew from the EU, it would still be a part of the court. Also, UKIP is very clearly not the only party guaranteeing [a referendum] – it's not even the only right-wing, reactionary and repressive party offering such a guarantee."
I added: "The Cons have not tackled the economy. If you believe that, you're not paying attention. I'm glad you agree that the poor and vulnerable have suffered in any case. Labour has promised to save the NHS and tackle the economy (in a more meaningful way than the Tories). Labour's attitude to a referendum may seem less than wholehearted but my impression is that they think it would get a knee-jerk reaction that would show what people do not understand about our participation in the European Union, rather than what they do – your mistake about the European Court is an indication that they might have a point.
"Regarding immigration, my personal belief is that the EU – including the UK – made a big mistake in allowing free movement between countries including new member states whose economies were not yet up to par with the better-established industrial nation states. All they have done is de-stabilise both the states from which people are emigrating and those into which they immigrate… so I would like a tighter policy on this, not just here but in the Union as a whole.
"And those who complain that we voted ourselves into an economic community, not a political union, are correct too. All of these things can be remedied from inside the EU, and if we were to withdraw rather than try to tackle them as a member state, the result would be worse for all of Europe in the long run. UKIP does not see that and the Conservatives cannot see past their own greed and corruption – look at who funds them (bankers and private health firms) and you'll see that this is the case. The Tory Democrats have sold their souls but Labour is just beginning to find its own soul again. That's why I think Labour is the best hope for Britain next year."
Responding to former Labour voter Brian Taylor, who said he wasn't enthused with UKIP but they would get his vote until a viable alternative came along, I wrote: "Do you really want a flat-rate of 31 per cent income tax, that hugely benefits the extremely rich and enormously harms the poor? That's UKIP policy.
"If not, you probably want the Green Party, which would also hold a referendum on Europe but is far less Tory in its outlook. I can't imagine a former Labour voter would honestly want to vote for a party that was further on the right of the political spectrum than the Conservatives."
So what's the conclusion?
Well, from this snapshot we can see that, as Denise Cottham and Brian Taylor claimed, people think all three major parties have deceived the public and will do so again. Labour in particular is seen as having betrayed its core constituency – the working classes – in favour of Daily Mail readers and bankers who simply won't vote for any party more left-wing than the Conservatives. Worse still, for Labour, is people's belief that the party has been told – time and time again – what it needs to do, but has continually ignored this good advice. UKIP's problem is that its new advertising campaign also deceives the public, and leader Nigel Farage's eagerness to block an inquiry into his MEP expenses suggests further jiggery-pokery.
People in general also seem to be genuinely disgruntled with the EU's 'free movement' policy which allows people from any member state to take up residence in any other member state. There is evidence to show that it was a mistake to allow less-developed countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, to take advantage of this policy as many of their citizens have immigrated into the more prosperous regions – leaving their own countries struggling to build their economies, and threatening the stability of the destination countries, whose infrastructure is left struggling to cope with the influx.
UKIP supporters are primarily interested in having an in-out referendum on membership of the European Union, but – as Denise Morris demonstrates – do not seem to understand clearly the issues on which they will be voting. Denise's concern about the laws preventing us from deporting foreign-born 'hate preachers' would not be addressed by leaving the European Union as it comes under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.
Their grasp of other UKIP policies seems catastrophically poor, though – policies including restricting work opportunities for women and cutting maternity leave, reducing taxes for the rich and raising them for the poor (to a flat rate of 31 per cent), sterilisation of the disabled (if Bette Rogerson's research is correct), and ending universal suffrage by stopping the unemployed from voting.
They also seem to have a weak grasp of other parties' policies regarding the EU – the Green Party wants a referendum but Denise C thinks they don't.
My overall impression is that UKIP is still gaining support as a party of protest, rather than because people have any belief in its policies. The person on the street – whatever their belief – feels "utterly powerless… hopeless and increasingly disinterested", a sentiment expressed by Karlie Marvel on the Facebook page today.
That's why UKIP is ahead today.
It isn't a good enough reason and the other party leaders can now see what they need to do about it – especially Labour.
Follow me on Twitter: @MidWalesMike
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Black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, sweet as love.
- Charles Maurice de Talleyrand
The fresh smell of coffee soon wafted through the apartment, the smell that separates night from day.
- Haruki Murakami
Without my morning coffee I'm just like a dried up piece of roast goat.
- Johann Sebastian Bach
Enthrallingly powerful like God, yet sinfully sweet as the Devil himself. Both a poison and a medicine. Pleasure and pain. Heaven and hell contained in a simple vessel of porcelain.
We all know how it went when Europe changed from a culture addicted to depressants to one high on stimulants [...] Within two hundred years of Europe's first cup, famine and the plague were historical footnotes. Governments became more democratic, slavery vanished, and the standards of living and literacy went through the roof. War became less frequent and more horrible.
- Stewart Lee Allen
No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
- Sheik Abd-al-Kadir
Coffee rules our existence. Whether we want it or not, it is omnipresent in daily life (at home, at the office, at the restaurant, on the train, etc...) and is part of our culture (most countries nowadays have a deeply rooted relationship with it). We are addicted to this precious liquid and there's no way of escaping its seductive grip or subjugating call.
So why fight back? Sooner or later, you will give in and capitulate to the Grandmaster of cosmic foam and diabolical murkiness. Resistance is futile and you know it.
Today my humble blog turns 10. Yes, you read it correctly. Ten!!!
It really feels surreal to think that I first hit the publish button a decade ago, when I was considerably younger (in my late twenties), naiver and the whole blogging universe was a great deal more laid-back, uncomplicated and friendlier than nowadays.*
Anyway, I can't believe that I have made it so far, even if this activity has cost me a lot of blood, sweat and tears! It would be a lie if I told you that I hadn't had restless nights because of my blog and that Rosa's Yummy Yums has only made me happy. All the contrary. There were/are times when it seems that all my efforts are in vain and I want to throw it all away, and hide in a corner and cry. But thanks to my readership whose faithful and encouraging support means the world to me, and despite my meltdowns, ups and downs and vacillating commitment, I have persevered. Every follower's kind word, sincere compliment and visit gives me the energy to continue putting one foot in front of the other and makes me want to try to push beyond my boundaries.
Each little encouragement fuels my hope and prevents me from capitulating, so I wish to thank you all for being around, regularly checking on my posts and always finding the right way to motivate me. I owe it all to you!
* Money, stardom, superficiality and over-sized egos had not yet corrupted the small community of enthusiasts that we were and transformed that seemingly simple milieu into an absolute jungle... I'm not saying it is all bad, but a bit of the authenticity and honesty of the blogosphere has died the day foodism became hugely (and unreasonably, might I add - in 2015 it appears that everybody's a gourmet) fashionable and big corporations have discovered that they could benefit from bloggers (we all know how profit and trends can kill things).


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Thanksgiving in Every Season
November 25, 2009
Tomorrow, people in the United States will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, a time of feasting and celebration of love, life and family in the tradition of our country's founding. However, no matter where you reside in this world, I welcome you to join us in the tradition of being thankful for all that you have.
We can all set aside this day as a day for an attitude of gratitude.
To my of my friends and readers around the globe, I wish you all a wonderful day of Thanksgiving. I am thankful for each one of you and I appreciate your allowing me to speak into your lives. Thank you for speaking into mine.
I will close with the following quote. Read through it thoughtfully and take time to reflect on how you can be thankful even through some of the tough stuff. All of life, the good and the bad, shapes us into the people and leaders we are today and will be tomorrow. We can be thankful for it all with the right perspective.
To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted:
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
Time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing:
A time to gain, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time of war, and a time of peace.
Source: Ecclesiastes 3, The Bible: New American Standard Version
What can you be thankful for? Share below as a comment if you so desire!


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Possible Duplicate:
Why is it dangerous to eat meat which has been left out and then cooked?
Around 3pm I took out steak to thaw, the steak was wrap in foil and plastic wrap and i stuck it in the oven! i found i forgot it this morning! we all know that when you buy pre pkg steak, it doen't carry the best looking shade of red we like but hey what can you do, i found it this morning, the steak has no smell but it has some grey color to it and it looks like it started to cook you know if you take a steak and rinse it under hot water it will start to cook, so would it still be good to use


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Tools and Resources
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AEM X-Series Boost Pressure -30inHg to 35psi Gauge
X-Series Boost Pressure Gauge -30inHg-35psi / -1-2.5bar. Black Bezel & Black Faceplate
- Shipping info
We deliver worldwide
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X-Series Boost Pressure Gauge -30inHg to 35psi or 1 to 2.5bar, Black Bezel and Black Faceplate
AEM's new X-Series Digital Gauges combine incredible looks, increased readability and a multitude of new, easy-to-use features! X-Series Digital Display Gauges are available for Boost, EGT, Fuel/Oil Pressure, Oil/Water/Trans Temperature and Volts. These new gauges complement the X-Series Digital Wideband AFR gauge which was released in the winter and is the fastest responding wideband in independent testing.
Visual improvements include a bright three- or four-digit LED display that is 87% larger than our original digital gauges and provides better readability. A sweeping green LED "needle" lines the edge of the gauge face for quick reference. A 33% overall increase in the gauge face display makes it easier to see displayed values at a glance. X-Series Gauges come with a black bezel and faceplate, and optional silver bezel/white faceplate accessory kits are available for each gauge (sold separately).
Despite the larger display, X-Series Gauges are contained in a standard 2-1/16th-inch (52mm) diameter housing for mounting in a standard gauge pod. Thanks to an advanced single board design, X-Series Gauges have an incredibly slim overall depth of under 0.825", with a cup depth of only 0.200." This shallow cup depth allows X-Series Digital Gauges to be mounted practically anywhere.
X-Series Digital Gauges include new technological features that make them easier to use. Two buttons on the faceplate deliver programmability for peak/recall, standard or metric display, and user-selectable min/max threshold warnings. The faceplates are reversible for standard or metric. The gauges are AEMnet CAN-bus enabled, so they can be daisy chained together for use with the Infinity ECU, Series 2 EMS, AQ-1 Data Logger, or 3rd party EMS or logger that accepts AEMnet. 0-5V analog outputs are also included for inputting into data loggers and engine management systems.
*X-Series Digital Display Gauge Features:*
* 2-1/16th (52mm) gauge diameter for easy mounting in gauge pods
* Slim 0.825" overall gauge depth and 0.200" cup depth – mount them virtually anywhere!
* Programmable standard or metric readout with reversible faceplates
* Center LED is 87% larger than original AEM gauges
* 24 green outer LEDs for quick reference to engine parameter
* Peak/Recall via gauge face buttons
* User selectable min/max threshold warnings (excl. Volts)
* Optional silver bezel with white faceplate(s) accessory kits available (sold separately)
* AEMnet CANbus-enabled for transmitting data to EMS or Data Logger
* 0-5v analog outputs for transmitting data to EMS or Data Logger
* Auto dimming sensor delivers ideal display brightness
* Positive locking connectors provide secure connection
Most product ships from either the manufacture or largest wholesale location to pass the saving to you. Most orders will ship via UPS, as we will be able to provide the best rates and have had the least issues when using UPS.
IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THE AUTOMATED SHIPPING CALCULATOR'S RATES, PLEASE CONTACT US AND WE CAN GET YOU A BETTER ONE! Especially for anyone outside the USA, please contact us with a list of parts you'd like to order, and where you are located.


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Marceau – Suicide Girl Of The Day
Meet Marceau, an Ohio Suicide Girl who's into unicorns and ball pythons but hates when people don't know what's going on in the country but know the plot of 'Jersey Shore.' This hottie says she spends most of her free time playing video games. We think we're in love.
Name: Marceau
Age: 20
Location: Ohio
Into: People, pin-up, burlesque, music, unicorns, cats, ball pythons, keyboards/synthesizers, self-education via Web sources and exploration, the human mind, body and soul
Not into: Idiotic, power hungry, politicians and people who have no clue what goes on in this country, but know what happens in every single episode of the 'Jersey Shore.' Cars, liars, hardcore drug usage, teen pregnancy, Bank of America, chick flicks
Makes me happy: Conversation, education, rollerblading, video gaming, cuddling, tickle fighting, rainbows, the sun, holding hands, going on adventures
Makes me sad: Stubbing my toes, wet and or crooked socks, being broke, winter, racism, the corruption in our system of government, holy-rollers and Bible humpers, pickles, spiders, homophobes, razor burn
Hobbies: Musical theatre, gaming, singing, dancing, being a straight thug *sarcasm*
5 things i can't live without: Open-mindedness, Vaudeville, music, love (and making it), self expression, books
Vices: Joker, smoker, midnight toker
I spend most of my free time: Playing video games, sleeping and spending quality time with the important people in my life
Favorite bands:
- Mindless Self Indulgence
- Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids
- A Tribe Called Quest
- The Dresden Dolls
- Common
- Mos Def
- Digable Planets
- Outkast
- Daft Punk
Favorite films:
- Requiem for a Dream
- Donnie Darko
- The Nightmare before Christmas
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Scott Pilgrim VS. The World
- Toxic Avenger
- The Warriors
- The Crow
- Fight Club
- A Clockwork Orange
Favorite books:
- Darkly Dreaming Dexter
- Long Hard Road Out of Hell
- Goodnight moon
- Snuff
- Choke
- Haunted
- Where the wild things are
- A Clockwork Orange
- Dante Algheri's Dante's inferno & Paradise Lost
- Fight Club
TV shows:
- Flight of the Conchords
- Code Monkeys
- The IT Crowd
- Dexter
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- Community
- Dark Place
- The Colbert Report
- Arrested Development
Video Games:
- Dante's inferno
- Scott Pilgrim
- Fable
- Bayonetta
- Mortal Kombat
- Mario Kart
- Parappa the Rapper
- Mario Strikers
- Galaga
- Little big planet
SuicideGirls is a community that celebrates alternative beauty and alternative culture from all over the world. Since 2001, tens of thousands of models have submitted millions of photos to their website hoping to become SuicideGirls.


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Story highlights
93% of Scott Kelly's genetic expression returned to normal once he returned to Earth
However, a subset of several hundred "space genes" remained disrupted
Spending a year in space not only changes your outlook, it transforms your gene expression.
Preliminary results from NASA's Twins Study reveal that 7% of astronaut Scott Kelly's genetic expression – how his genes function within cells – did not return to baseline after his return to Earth two years ago.
The study looks at what happened to Kelly before, during and after he spent one year aboard the International Space Station through an extensive comparison with his identical twin, Mark, who remained on Earth.
Though Scott Kelly's genetic expression changed, he and Mark are still identical. Changes in gene expression are how the human body reacts to the environment. Kelly's transformation suggests longer-term alterations related to at least five biological pathways and functions.
'Space genes'
The newest preliminary results from this unique study of Kelly, now retired from NASA, were released at the 2018 Investigator's Workshop for NASA's Human Research Program in January. Last year, NASA published its first round of preliminary results at the 2017 Investigator's Workshop. Overall, the 2018 findings corroborated those from 2017, with some additions.
To track physical changes caused by time in space, scientists measured Kelly's metabolites (necessary for maintaining life), cytokines (secreted by immune system cells) and proteins (workhorses within each cell) before, during and after his mission. The researchers learned that spaceflight is associated with oxygen-deprivation stress, increased inflammation and dramatic nutrient shifts that affect gene expression.
In particular, Chris Mason of Weill Cornell Medicine reported on the activation of Kelly's "space genes" while confirming the results of his separate NASA study, published last year.
To better understand the genetic dynamics of each twin, Mason and his team focused on chemical changes in RNA and DNA.
Although 93% of Kelly's genetic expression returned to normal once he returned to Earth, a subset of several hundred "space genes" remained disrupted. Some of these alterations, found only after spaceflight, are thought to be caused by the stresses of space travel.
This change of gene expression is very minimal, according to NASA.
Yet as genes turn on and off, change in the function of cells may occur.
Looking to Mars
Mason's work shows that one of the most important changes to Kelly's cells was hypoxia, or a deficient amount of tissue oxygenation, probably due to a lack of oxygen and high levels of carbon dioxide. Possible damage to mitochondria, the "power plants of cells," also occurred in Kelly's cells, as indicated by mitochondrial stress and increased levels of mitochondria in the blood.
Mason's team also saw changes in the length of Kelly's telomeres, caps at the end of chromosomes that are considered a marker of biological aging. First, there was a significant increase in average length while he was in space, and then there was a decrease in length within about 48 hours of his landing on Earth that stabilized to nearly preflight levels. Scientists believe that these telomere changes, along with the DNA damage and DNA repair measured in Kelly's cells, were caused by both radiation and calorie restrictions.
Additionally, the team found changes in Kelly's collagen, blood clotting and bone formation due, most likely, to fluid shifts and zero gravity. The researchers discovered hyperactive immune activity as well, thought to be the result of his radically different environment: space.


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Wilhelm Röntgen
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Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (27 March 1845 – 10 February 1923) was a German physicist, who, on 8 November 1895, produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range today known as X-rays or Röntgen rays, an achievement that earned him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.
The New Marvel in Photography (1896)[edit]
- Quotes of Röntgen from "The New Marvel in Photography", by H. J .W. Dam, in McClure's magazine, Vol. 6, No. 5 (April 1896), p. 416, from Project Gutenberg
- I was working with a Crookes tube covered by a shield of black cardboard. A piece of barium platino-cyanide paper lay on the bench there. I had been passing a current through the tube, and I noticed a peculiar black line across the paper. … The effect was one which could only be produced, in ordinary parlance, by the passage of light. No light could come from the tube, because the shield which covered it was impervious to any light known, even that of the electric arc. … I did not think; I investigated. I assumed that the effect must have come from the tube, since its character indicated that it could come from nowhere else. I tested it. In a few minutes there was no doubt about it. Rays were coming from the tube which had a luminescent effect upon the paper. I tried it successfully at greater and greater distances, even at two metres. It seemed at first a new kind of invisible light. It was clearly something new, something unrecorded.
- Having discovered the existence of a new kind of rays, I of course began to investigate what they would do. … It soon appeared from tests that the rays had penetrative power to a degree hitherto unknown. They penetrated paper, wood, and cloth with ease; and the thickness of the substance made no perceptible difference, within reasonable limits. … The rays passed through all the metals tested, with a facility varying, roughly speaking, with the density of the metal. These phenomena I have discussed carefully in my report to the Würzburg society, and you will find all the technical results therein stated.
- I am not a prophet, and I am opposed to prophesying. I am pursuing my investigations, and as fast as my results are verified I shall make them public.
Quotes about Röntgen[edit]
- Röntgen retained the characteristic of a strikingly modest and reticent man. Throughout his life he retained his love of nature and outdoor occupations. Many vacations were spent at his summer home at Weilheim, at the foot of the Bavarian Alps, where he entertained his friends and went on many expeditions into the mountains. He was a great mountaineer and more than once got into dangerous situations. Amiable and courteous by nature, he was always understanding the views and difficulties of others. He was always shy of having an assistant, and preferred to work alone. Much of the apparatus he used was built by himself with great ingenuity and experimental skill.
- Röntgen has familiarized us with an order of vibrations of extreme minuteness compared with the smallest waves with which we have hitherto been acquainted, and of dimensions comparable with the distances between the centers of the atoms of which the material universe is built up; and there is no reason to suppose that we have here reached the limit of frequency.
- William Crookes, in his inaugural address as President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, published in Nature No. 1506, Vol. 58 (8 September 1898), p. 438
- The lesson of the laboratory was eloquent. Compared, for instance, with the elaborate, expensive, and complete apparatus of, say, the University of London, or any of the great American Universities, it was bare and unassuming to a degree. It mutely said that in the great march of science it is the genius of the man, and not the perfection of the appliances, that breaks new territory in the great territory of the unknown. ...the discoverer himself had done so much with so little.
- H.J.W. Dam, "The New Marvel in Photography," McClure's Magazine 6:403 (April, 1896)
- Röntgen was an experimental physicist of the old school and built most of his own equipment. ...It was Rontgen's custom, when beginning new investigations, to repeat important experiments made previously by others in the same field. Since he was repeating Hertz' and Lenard's experiments with cathode rays, he used an armamentarium employed by those workers... he extended his experiments to include a Hittorf-Crookes' tube... when he discovered the new rays. The whole room was darkened... Röntgen suddenly saw a few brightly fluorescent crystals which lay on the table at some distance from the tube.
- Otto Glasser, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen and the Early History of the Roentgen Rays (1934)
External links[edit]
- Biography at the official Nobel site
- Annotated bibliography for Wilhelm Rontgen from the Alsos Digital Library
- Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Biography
- The Cathode Ray Tube site
- First X-ray Photogram
- Röntgen Rays: Memoirs by Röntgen, Stokes, and J.J. Thomson (circa 1899)
- Some places and memories related to Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen on Himetop – The History of Medicine Topographical Database
- The New Marvel in Photography, an article including an interview with Röntgen, in McClure's Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 5 (April 1896)
- Röntgen Memorial in Würzburg where he discovered the x-rays


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A Reading Tale
A Reading Tale
By Kathy Carlton Willis
I've always been a lover of books—the opportunity to visit a new world, a new time, a new way of life. What's your rite-of-passage reading story? I'll start with mine.
As soon as I started school, Mother encouraged me to learn to read. She was a voracious reader, eager for me to develop the same love of books. This Chatty Kathy enjoyed every form of communications since my first spoken word. The written word was no different—I took to it like gravy goes with biscuits. Remember those Weekly Reader magazines (oh, the delicious smell of the ink and paper!)? The SRA Reading Lab inspired me to read not just for speed, but for retention.
When I received my first public library card around age 6, Mom walked us to the library several times a month. Yes, it seemed like it was two miles uphill both ways, but it was worth it! Our little town of four thousand was blessed with a Carnegie library (built in 1905) full of well-loved books. Mom taught me how to follow my favorite authors—I read all their titles. I knew how to thumb through a card catalog and recite the Dewey decimal system. By the time I outgrew the children's section, I had read every book and graduated to the "grown-up†shelves.
Most avid readers say their idea of a time-out from stress and life involves curling up with a good book—claw-foot tub or blazing fireplace optional.
My favorite reading tip is this: Don't waste time on a mediocre book. When reading for recreation, remember that you aren't in school anymore. You aren't being graded for reading every word. So if a book doesn't appeal to you, put it down! Grab a different one. We have only so much time in life—definitely not enough time to get bogged down with a boring book or confusing storyline.
Just because a book earned rave reviews doesn't mean it's the right book for you, any more than gorgeous size 7 shoes will fit size 10 feet!
Think about your own reading tale. What was it like when you learned to read? When did you discover your local library? Do you recall the favorite authors of your early years? Who inspired you to read more? What challenges you today in your reading? We all have a story—even a reading story!
Kathy Carlton Willis Bio:
Kathy Carlton Willis gets jazzed speaking for women's events and writers conferences across the country. She's known for her practical and often humorous messages. Kathy enjoys fiddling with words as a writer and also coaches others. When not reading or writing books, she serves as a happy pastor's wife.
Web: http://www.kathycarltonwillis.com


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Personal fitness is either something that you love getting involved with or something that you do because you have to under doctor's orders. No matter what particular situation you are in, the right information is likely to make it a more successful venture either way. This article is packed with helpful tips to help you.
If you are looking to get fit, make a regiment that is both reasonable and productive. For example, expect yourself to go to the gym four days a week, and burn 500 calories each time. In this way you do not over burden yourself, and at the same time, keep on track towards a long term goal.
Working out in the morning is a great idea, but it isn't always easy to get up early. If you are determined to work out in the morning, try weaning yourself into getting up early. Get up ten to fifteen minutes earlier than normal and do any kind of physical activity. Continue to do this by getting up a little earlier each week until you are up early enough to do a complete workout.
Exercise can be the eight-letter word that some people just hate. To some, it means hurting muscles, sweating and extreme will power. If exercising means this to you, then avoid it like the plague. Instead, just physically move more than you do already. If that means dancing while you are stirring a pot of beans, then do that. Movement burns calories, so anything more than what you currently do is better for you.
luxury tastic can get a great workout while you do everyday things such as shopping. Add a bit more walking to your trip by parking further away from your location. Try walking for at least 10 minutes a day to see results. When shopping in the mall, try walking the full length of the mall.
When cycling, you should aim to keep your speed around 80 to 110 rpm. This will allow you to ride farther with less knee strain and fatigue. To calculate your speed, you should count the number of times your right leg goes to the top of the pedal stroke in ten seconds. Once you calculate this number, multiply by six. This gives you your pedal rpms.
Stand on a sofa cushion with one leg. To improve your balance, assume this posture and have someone hand you heavy items. Pass them back and forth in your hands and give them back to the person assisting you. Improving your balance also improves your posture, so this method has multiple benefits.
To build up shoulder and arm strength you should work on pull-ups. Pull-ups work out different muscles based on the distance between your hands. The further out they are the more the back muscles are used to pull you up. The closer in they are the more they use your arms and shoulders to pull you up. Pull-ups are one of the best exercises to perform because they have very little capability of damaging muscles.
Hopefully the information that was in this article is going to help you in your fitness ventures. The more information that you are provided about the topic is going to help you in your fitness journey one way or another. Use the information to help you reach your fitness goals.