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Sunday Sweets: Game On!
Last week you may have heard all the brouhaha over the release of Portal 2. And you may also - like me - belong to certain social subsets that not only have no interest in video games, but would, upon questioning, ask what "port holes" have to do with anything anyway.
Well, never fear, fellow gamer geeks! Because today's Sweets are all about video games, and this is a safe place to geek out *AND* enjoy amazingly made cakes.
Ah, the law of miniatures: everything smaller is cuter.
Whooooo...lives in Ryan's Rapture under the sea?
Sub-ject Del-ta!
Amazing and detailed and edible is he!
Plus I love the checkered floor.
(There's another Bioshock Sweet here.)
Remember: your weighted companion cube cannot speak. But if it could, I'm sure it would say, "I'm delicious."
Time for another old-school goodie:
Who else remembers these? Eh?
(Wow. You guys are OLD.)
(Just kidding. Hey, I remember Pong! [But only because my grandparents had an old one in storage. Honest.])
Moving up to the newest handhold gaming device: your iPhone...
See? ADORABLE. And just look at all that detail! Ah-MAZ-ing.
More classics: we can't have a game post without Mario!
(Love the mushroom candle holders.)
Or Zelda!
Now THAT is a groom's cake. Gorgeous.
Anyone else play Cut the Rope? I did for a bit, until it got too hard for my spatially-challenged brain. John loved it, though.
Anyway, this is one of those rare Sweets that makes my jaw hit the desk. The baker used multiple techniques like modeling with krispy treats, sugar glass (for the window), stenciling, and - what I found most impressive - even made the shiny "packing tape" out of gelatin:
One more detail shot:


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Your voice on higher wages…in THE NEWS TRIBUNE
City councilmembers, state legislators, and other elected officials pay close attention to what's printed in local newspapers like The News Tribune. That's why writing a letter to the editor is one of the most effective ways to show that people in your community support raising wages.
Fill out the form to submit a letter to the editor about how nobody can survive on minimum wage — and why higher pay is good for workers and good for the economy. There's a sample below to get you started, but it's simple: just put it in your own words and write from your heart. Take five minutes and write your letter today!

subset: commoncrawl


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Mark Mitchell, OK.gov
Reji Varghese, OSBMLS
Oklahoma Medical Board Pioneers Use of QR Codes for Licensees
OKLAHOMA CITY – April 8, 2013 – Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision (Medical Board) is the first in the nation to incorporate QR (quick response) codes on the medical licenses of physicians and other medical professionals. The ubiquitous black and white square box will now appear in the lower right hand corner of all newly issued or renewed physician licenses in Oklahoma.
In the same way that traditional UPC bar codes changed the way we pay for groceries, this use of QR Codes can allow for a rapid check-in of medical professionals at training events, clinics and hospitals.
Scanning the code will provide direct, instant access to a physician's information page as it appears on the Board's website, www.okmedicalboard.org. Some of the data available includes the doctor's education, medical specialty and board certification, office address, telephone and office hours, hospital privileges, insurance participation and board status.
The online service is a product of a partnership between the Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision (Medical Board) and OK.gov, Oklahoma's Official Website managed by the eGovernment firm, NIC Inc. (Nasdaq: EGOV).
About Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision
About OK.gov
About NIC
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Pirates' big year extended to Minors
Polanco, Lambo, Glasnow highlight Organization All-Stars
By John Parker / MiLB.com | December 2, 2013 6:00 AM
This offseason, MiLB.com will be honoring the players -- regardless of age or prospect status -- who had the best seasons in their organizations. We're taking a look at each team to determine the outstanding seasons in Minor League baseball. Select a team from the dropdown below.
This was an outstanding year for the Pirates at nearly every level. Not only did the big league club notch its first winning season and playoff berth since 1992, but the team's long-dormant farm system continued to produce top prospects -- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo pegs Pittsburgh's system as the best in baseball.
Six of the Bucs' eight affiliates -- Triple-A Indianapolis, Class A West Virginia, short-season Jamestown, the Rookie-level GCL Pirates and both Dominican Summer League clubs -- finished with .550 records or better, with all but the DSL Pirates 1 earning postseason spots.
Along with enviable organization depth, the Pirates boast top-flight prospects. The team has six players among MLB.com's Top 100, with outfielder Josh Bell looking to join the list in 2014.
Pirates Organization All-Stars
Catcher -- Tony Sanchez, Altoona (four games), Indianapolis (76 games), Pittsburgh (22 games): The fourth overall pick in the 2009 Draft -- 21 spots ahead of Mike Trout -- batted .314/.416/.454 in his first full season in the Minors but had his share of struggles on and off the field before emerging in 2013 with a strong campaign at age 25.
"He has some tools. That's why he was selected where he was," Indianapolis manager Dean Treanor said during the season. "He still has some growing to do: we're tightening up some stuff on the receiving side. But if he's going to go up to the next level, it will be about calling a game and working with pitchers."
The Boston College product hit .288/.368/.504 with a career-high 10 homers in 76 Triple-A games, earning International League postseason All-Star honors as well as the Top Star award at the Triple-A All-Star Game. While Sanchez lacked the at-bats to qualify for the IL batting crown, his .872 OPS with the Indians would have ranked second behind MVP Chris Colabello. Sanchez made his big league debut on June 23 and contributed to a Pirates club that secured its first playoff berth in decades.
Starting catcher Russell Martin has a year left on his contract with Pittsburgh, so Sanchez is unlikely to be more than a backup in 2014, but his play this season demonstrated that he's ready for the next step.
First base -- Justin Howard, Altoona (98 games): Nearly 23 when he was drafted in 2010 -- out of New Mexico in the 24th round -- Howard has never been a prospect and lacks the power one might want in a first baseman. But he can hit, particularly against right-handed pitching. Howard narrowly missed the number of at-bats needed to qualify but would have ranked second in the Eastern League with his .314 average, and both that mark and his .405 on-base percentage were tops among full-season Pirates farmhands.
Howard missed nearly a month of action early in the season and was just 9-for-43 when he did play in April and May but batted .333/.420/.479 after June 1, good for the fifth-best OPS in the Eastern League.
Second base -- Ivan De Jesus, Indianapolis (103 games): Part of the deal that sent closer Joel Hanrahan to the Red Sox last winter, De Jesus is a career .300 hitter over nine Minor League seasons but has only 80 big league plate appearances (.205/.253/.247).
The 26-year-old continued to shine at the Triple-A level in 2013, leading Indianapolis with a .319 average and .380 OBP. He can play second, third and shortstop and is more than solid, if lacking power, at the plate. He'll continue to look for a shot at the Majors, but it likely won't be with the Pirates, who granted him free agency in November.
Third base -- Adalberto Santos, Altoona (118 games): Like De Jesus, Santos is a 26-year-old with fine instincts at the plate -- he's a .309/.395/.439 hitter over four Minor League seasons -- but little power. The Oregon State product spent the second half of the 2012 campaign with Double-A Altoona, hitting .340 and reaching base at a .425 clip.
Back in the Eastern League this year, Santos did not quite replicate those numbers. He hit .281/.375/.386 and committed an unsightly 32 errors in 108 games at third base (no other Eastern League third baseman made more than 18). But he remains a solid hitter who puts the ball in play and gets on base, drawing 59 walks -- fourth-most in the Pirates system -- while fanning 70 times.
Shortstop -- Josh Harrison, Indianapolis (64 games), Pittsburgh (60 games): Harrison didn't spend a whole lot of time in the Minors this season but was excellent while there. The 26-year-old hit .317/.373/.507 with four homers and 19 stolen bases with the Indians, scoring 50 runs in 64 games. He committed only five errors in 60 games as a middle infielder.
Although Harrison is a career .308 hitter in the Minors, it is his versatility that makes him most valuable. In 60 games with the Pirates, he played second, short, third, right field, left field, served as a pinch-runner and even appearing on the mound against Colorado on Aug. 9, retiring the lone batter he faced in a 10-1 loss.
Honorable mention: Adam Frazier
Designated hitter -- Stetson Allie, West Virginia (66 games), Bradenton (66 games): Allie was one of the most intriguing stories of the first half of the Minor League season. Drafted as a pitcher out of high school in the second round in 2010, he proved unable to harness his high-90s fastball and went back to the Gulf Coast League as a hitter in 2012.
He began this season as a 22-year-old in Class A, where he destroyed South Atlantic League pitching for two months. By the end of May, Allie was second in the Minor Leagues with 51 RBIs, third with 16 homers, fifth with a 1.049 OPS and seventh with a .634 slugging percentage. After hitting .324/.414/.607 in the Sally League, he moved up to Class A Advanced Bradenton in the pitching-friendly Florida State League, where the bottom fell out.
While Allie still reached base at a .342 clip in the FSL, thanks to his organization-best 77 overall walks, his batting and power declined precipitously and no longer balanced his strikeout rate (Allie's 161 K's were 12th-most in the Minors). He hit only four homers and drove in 25 runs for the Marauders after posting 17 and 61 in the same number of games with West Virginia.
It remains to be seen whether Allie can master better pitching, but he remains an interesting prospect as those first two months featured extremely rare power.
"His work ethic has been outstanding," West Virginia manager Michael Ryan said. "He's a driven young man and extremely competitive. He's a quick learner and he puts the things he learns to use right away. Based on everything he's shown us so far this year, he has a chance to have a lot of success in this game."
Alex Dickerson, Altoona (126 games): Dickerson was a 2011 third-round pick after winning the Big Ten Triple Crown (.419 average, 24 homers, 75 RBIs) the previous season at Indiana. Skipping Class A, the left-handed slugger was an FSL postseason All-Star in 2012 and repeated the feat in the Eastern League, where he also was named its Rookie of the Year after finishing third with a .494 slugging percentage. His 17 homers ranked fourth in the Bucs system while his 36 doubles were third.
Though Dickerson can also play first base, the Pirates have something of a logjam in the outfield with NL MVP Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and the two prospects listed below. So Dickerson was traded to the Padres on Nov. 25.
Andrew Lambo, Altoona (62 games), Indianapolis (58 games), Pittsburgh (18 games): Lambo leapt into the spotlight in 2013, his seventh season in the Minors. A 2007 fourth-round pick by the Dodgers, the California native made prospect lists in 2009 before being acquired by the Pirates -- with James McDonald -- for Octavio Dotel in 2010. A couple of quiet seasons at Double-A followed before a power surge this season -- which included Altoona's first-ever cycle -- took him all the way to the Majors.
Lambo hit 18 homers in 2008 but had not reached a dozen again before clubbing 32 this season (on Aug. 10, he was tied for the Minor League lead). He led the system in home runs, RBIs (99) and slugging (.574) but has yet to show he can consistently hit upper-level pitching, owning a .232/.305/.455 line in 122 Triple-A games. But the 25-year-old should be in the mix for a roster spot when the Pirates head to Spring Training.
Gregory Polanco, Bradenton (57 games), Altoona (68 games), Indianapolis (two games): Three years younger than Lambo, Polanco is the No. 13 prospect in baseball and already has Pirates fans thinking about him as part of a supremely athletic future outfield. The 6-foot-4 left-handed hitter did nothing to dash those hopes in 2013, batting .285/.356/.434 with 12 homers and 38 stolen bases across three levels.
"[Polanco is] a young man with a lot of ability, a young man who will beat the opposition in a few different ways: offensively, defensively and on the basepaths," Altoona manager Carlos Garcia said after his Double-A debut. "He's going to have a great impact on our ballclub."
Polanco showed increasing plate discipline during the season, totaling 36 walks while fanning 36 times in his first 68 Double-A games. After hitting 16 homers and slugging .522 in 2012, his power numbers were down as he rose through the system, but he's still young. An outstanding fielder with great speed, Polanco is a legitimate five-tool threat who could make his way to Pittsburgh as soon as 2014.
Honorable mentions: Josh Bell, Austin Meadows, Alex Presley
Right-handed starting pitcher -- Tyler Glasnow, West Virginia (24 games): The Minor Leagues feature a world of raw baseball talent, but only a few harness it well enough to reach the Majors. And even fewer made as big a leap forward in 2013 as Glasnow, who turned 20 in August. The 6-foot-7 California native increased his fastball velocity, learned a changeup on the fly as the season progressed and posted outstanding numbers in the South Atlantic League, earning him Topps Class A All-Star status.
Glasnow ranked fourth in the Minors with 164 strikeouts even though he pitched fewer innings (111 1/3) than anyone in the top 35. While he battled his command at times -- his 61 walks were third-most in the system -- Glasnow closed the season with a 1.033 WHIP after allowing one hit and striking out 24 over his final 14 innings.
"Tyler has worked extremely hard since we drafted him," said Pirates director of Minor League operations Larry Broadway. "He had a really nice season under the lights for the first time this year while helping the West Virginia club to a playoff berth."
Left-handed starting pitcher -- Kris Johnson, Indianapolis (26 games), Pittsburgh (four games): At the other end of the prospect spectrum was Johnson, who delivered his finest season at age 28 and made his Major League debut in August. A 2006 first-round pick by the Red Sox, he posted ERAs of 6.35, 4.88 and 12.63 for Triple-A Pawtucket in 2009, 2010 and 2011 before being released. After a stint in independent ball, he signed with the Pirates and went 10-4 with a 2.39 ERA in 26 outings (21 starts) for Indianapolis this season.
Never a big strikeout pitcher -- he fanned 94 over 135 2/3 innings to rank 12th in the system -- Johnson relied on keeping the ball in the park, serving up only six homers all season. The Wichita State product was solid in three relief appearances for the Pirates but was hit hard in his lone big league start, allowing five runs on seven hits in two innings against the Cardinals on Sept. 1. The Pirates dealt Johnson to the Twins for reliever Duke Welker on Nov. 18.
Relief pitcher -- Zack Thornton, Bradenton (10 games), Altoona (19 games), Indianapolis (13 games): The Pirates acquired Thornton last winter from the A's after he was 4-0 with a 4.53 ERA and 16 saves for Class A Advanced Stockton in 2012. The right-hander, who turned 25 in May, opened 2013 with Bradenton and moved quickly through the Pirates system, striking out a lot of batters on the way.
By the time he finished the campaign with Triple-A Indianapolis, Thornton was 7-3 with a 2.63 ERA, five saves and 90 strikeouts in 75 1/3 innings. The University of Oregon product held opponents to a .204 average and issued only 12 walks, good for a 0.929 WHIP.
John Parker is an editor for MiLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.View More


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March 19, 2010
FAIRFIELD, CT (March 19, 2010) - Sacred Heart senior Carissa Hauser (East Northport, NY) scored five goals with a pair of assists as the Pioneers shut out Central Connecticut in the second half en route to an 18-3 win in their Northeast Conference opener Friday afternoon. The win marked the 100th career victory for Sacred Heart head coach Laura Cook, the program's all-time leader in wins.
Sacred Heart senior goalkeeper Chelsea Wagner (Aurora, CO) made 10 saves in earning the victory and becomes the school's all-time leader in career wins for a goalie with 33. She passes former Pioneer Ginny Capicchioni who had 32 from 1998 through 2001.
Defensively, the Pioneers (3-4, 1-0 NEC) forced 30 Central turnovers and 14 failed clear attempts (9-23) while keeping the Blue Devils off the scoreboard for a 21 minute stretch in the first half and the entire second half. Senior Nicole Gerosa (Branford, CT) had four of the SHU's 18 caused turnovers while sophomore Kate Kmiotek (Farmingville, NY) had four grounders and five draw controls in the win.
The Blue Devils (2-3, 0-2 NEC) answered each of the Pioneers early goals to keep it tied just over eight minutes in. Hauser buried her first of the day to open the scoring at 28:28 but Central's Ashley Mara followed off a feed from Ali Roche at 25:52. Senior Cori Horelik (South Windsor, CT) scored unassisted at 23:38 but the Blue Devils answered once again with a Mackenzy Ryan marker from Betsy Vendel at 21:52.
From there it was all Sacred Heart as the Pioneers held Central off the scoreboard until the 40 second mark while running off five-straight scores. Hauser buried a pair on the run while also setting up senior teammate Farra Coppola (Wantagh, NY) for a score. Sophomore Alicia Fuchs (Bay Shore, NY) also scored and set up another. CCSU would end the run as Mara scored her second off a feed from Vendel with 40 seconds to go before the half to trail 7-3 at the half.
SHU outshot Central 16-6 in the second half as they rattled off 11-straight scores while keeping the Blue Devils off the scoreboard. SHU's Jackie Pierce (Cortlandt Manor, NY) opened the half with a pair of scores and Hauser tacked on her fourth and fifth of the afternoon. For Hauser it was her third five-goal game this season as she raised her team-leading totals to 21 goals and 13 assists for the year.
Sophomore Aurelie Pluijmakers (Freehold, NJ) put together a three-goal run in the second half for her first points on the season. Kmiotek, Fuchs and Horelik all scored their second goals of the win in the second half.
The Pioneers will close out a four-game home stand this Sunday afternoon, March 21st as they play host to the Bryant Bulldogs at 1:00 pm.


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Crystal Cove
by, 04-20-2015 at 07:29 PM (21928 Views)
Hi guys, I'm new to surf fishing and headed to Crystal Cove with the fam this weekend. I would appreciate any advice and some info on a near by bait shop. I trout fish multiple times a year but the ocean will be a new experience. I like to throw lures but bought a 12' pole for lazy days.


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Survivors recall deadliest drunken-driving crash
Survivors still struggle with scars from the nation's deadliest drunken driving crash. Twenty-seven people were killed, including 25 children. VPC
It is the nation's deadliest drunken-driving crash.
On May 14, 1988, a drunken motorist driving on the wrong side of a Kentucky highway slammed head-on into a school bus carrying 67 people, mostly children, headed home from a church trip to an amusement park.
The crash ruptured the bus' gas tank, sparking a fast-moving inferno that claimed the lives of 25 children, the bus driver and an adult chaperon; 34 other people were injured.
The horrific crash spurred major changes in the operation and equipment of school buses in Kentucky and other states and it led to stronger DUI laws in the Bluegrass State.
"There is no question that it changed the way Kentuckians and frankly people around the country viewed drinking and driving," says Mark Hebert, 53, who covered the crash for WHAS-TV in Louisville and is now director of media relations at the University of Louisville.
Two of the mothers who lost children in the crash, Karolyn Nunnallee and Janey Fair, sued the school bus manufacturers, which led to major improvements in school bus safety, such as safer gas tanks, more emergency exits and less flammable fuel.
Marking the 25th anniversary, a new documentary about the crash, IMPACT: After the Crash, will be screened for survivors and victims' families Tuesday in Radcliff, Ky. It will also be shown in schools around the state.
At a time when senseless tragedies seem to occur with greater frequency, the film aims to inspire today's random victims by sharing the stories of survivors on that bus, says Harold Dennis, the film's producer and a crash survivor.
Dennis, 39, of Lexington, was asleep as the group returned from King's Island theme park north of Cincinnati. The crash occurred about 10:55 p.m., on Interstate 71 south near Carrollton. Larry Wayne Mahoney, 34, was intoxicated and driving his black Toyota pickup north in the southbound lanes of I-71.
"It's almost like time slowed down," Dennis says. "The bus burst into flames. There was just mass chaos instantly." He says he ran first toward the front of the bus, then tried to escape out of a window before making his way to the back door. He suffered third-degree burns to his face, severe lung damage and other injuries. Dennis went on to play football at the University of Kentucky as a walk-on, and is married with three children and training to be a physician's assistant.
Carey Cummins, 39 now and a full-time mom in Yorktown, Va., was 14 and sitting in the front seat on the right -- closest to the point of impact. She couldn't get to the back door, and passed out, collapsing face down in a seat, and dreamed that she was on a roller coaster that kept turning her upside down. "In the dream I said, I've got to wake up," she says. "I woke up. I distinctly remember thinking, Oh my God, I'm going to die. And then something built up in me. I can't explain it. Something said, 'No, I'm not going to die on this bus.'"
Cummins tried to walk, but couldn't. She pulled herself toward the back of the bus, one seat at a time, until she reached the back door and fell out onto the ground. She suffered third-degree burns over 60% of her body and fourth-degree burns on her right leg. Doctors amputated her right leg below the knee 12 days later.
Cummins went on to be a nurse and a mother. "It has made me a stronger person," she says.
Nunnallee, 62, became an advocate for school-bus safety and drunken-driving prevention after losing her daughter, Patty, 10, in the crash. She was national president of MADD in 1998-99. She says the new documentary, directed by Jason Epperson, is "a powerful piece of film."
Jan Withers, national president of MADD, says the film and the crash anniversary are reminders "of how much work we still have to do. It blows me away that we still have 27 people a day killed in drunk driving crashes in this country," she says.


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(Text Copyright (c) 2013 Cynthia Shenette)
Saving Memories Forever ( www.savingmemoriesforever.com )
Free Membership: Free!
Premium Subscription: $3.99 monthly / $40.00 annually
A while back the folks at Saving Memories Forever asked me to write a review of their product system for recording, saving, and sharing stories. The system consists of two parts--an app and a website. According to the the website "...the app provides great mobility for interviewing and easy uploading to a secure and private storage on the website." There are two levels of membership--a Free Membership and a Premium Subscription. I am evaluating the Premium Subscription for my review.
About the product: The free app is available through the Apple App Store and the Google Play store. Before I downloaded the app to my iPhone I decided to check out their website to learn a little more about the product. The Saving Memories Forever website is neat and easy to navigate. On the left-hand side of the screen there are three sections: Start Here; Helpful Tips; and Free vs Fee. All three sections are helpful. The Start Here section has easy step-by-step instructions. I like their suggestion that I interview myself to get the basic feel for the interviewing process. Being a newbie to interviewing I also like the practical suggestions offered in the Helpful Tips section. Finally, the Free vs Fee section clearly outlines the benefits of each type of membership.
The product is essentially an audio scrapbook for saving family memories. To get started you need to downloaded the app. A User's Manual is available, but the app is pretty simple and self-intuitive for those who prefer to jump right in. You can create and manage multiple "storytellers" and have the option of uploading photos to each storyteller's profile. The "Helpful Tips" section on the app is short but helpful. I like their idea for keeping stories short, five to ten minutes.
Stories are organized by storyteller. A series of prompts are provided and the prompts are organized into broad categories: Childhood (0-12); Teenage Years (13-19); Adult (20-25); Adult (26-40); Adult (41-55); Adult (56+); Jokes; Philosophy; Religion; Other Stories and Songs. You can create multiple stories for the same prompt. The ten or 11 prompts in each age category are pretty basic, such as "Describe you mother and father" and "Describe your childhood home" in the Childhood (0-12) category, and "Describe your family" and "What did you like to do?" in the Adult (41-55) category. You can tag stories to make them searchable.
Saving Memories Forever allows you to share your stories with others, but anyone you share a story with must create an account before they are able to access the stories you've uploaded. Sharing stories is a key feature of the product, but the user manual points out that you will share ALL your stories with everyone. You can also put story notifications on Facebook to let the rest of your family know that a new story is available for listening. At the end of a story you press a button on your phone, and your story uploads to the website. You can use Saving Memories Forever in conjunction with Skype for interviewing family long distance and can download stories to your computer using a zip file.
The Saving Memories Forever Privacy Policy states that "..all content will be made public 100 years after the date of initial creation." I think this is important to note given that you are gathering stories from other people and that your storytellers' privacy, even a hundred years down the line, may be important to them and/or to you.
Finally, a bonus included with the product is a copy of Thomas MacEntee's Preserving Your Family's Oral History and Stories which is available with the Premium Subscription in .pdf form or as a webinar.
What do I think? Saving Memories Forever is a nice product. The phone app aspect of the product is particularly handy. No special equipment is required, just your phone and your computer. Most people have their phones on them all the time, so there isn't special equipment to remember. You put your phone down on the table, press record, and forget about it! It's that simple!
I do have a couple of suggestions though. Before I reviewed the product I read Jennifer Wood's review of Saving Memories Forever on her Climbing My Family Tree blog. I agree with her suggestion that it would be nice to be able to add/change/customize the interview prompt questions/titles. I also hope this will be available in a product update down the line. Some of the prompts are pretty basic and a bit limited in scope, like having the question "Who did you date/marry?" in the Adult 20-25 category and not again in any of the other adult categories.
While you can add and search tags, it would be nice to have a tag list/cloud to select from. I know from experience with my blog that sometimes it's hard to remember all of the tags that I have assigned my various posts over the years, and the tag list is an incredibly helpful reminder when I am looking for something specific.
What's the bottom line? Saving Memories Forever would make a great gift for the genealogist in the family, but you don't need to limit your purchase to just gift giving or genealogists. It would also make a great purchase for anyone with an interest in saving stories or family history. Imagine being able to listen your adult children telling stories recorded when they were young or to your grandparents' voices and stories long after they have gone. Saving Memories Forever truly has the potential to be a gift that lasts a lifetime.
[Disclosure: I was not paid for my review of Saving Memories Forever but was contacted by the company and offered free access for a year to the Premium Subscription in exchange for my honest evaluation of the product.]
Other Posts You Might Like:
Stories My Grandmother Told Me
Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women
Presenter Interview: Colleen Fitzpatrick, Forensic Genealogist
A Window in Time, April 11, 1940
Product Review: Saving Memories Forever
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Latest News
Oil industry opened the checkbooks to influence Alaska legislators
The oil industry spent more than $1 million lobbying in Alaska as it tried to lower state oil taxes this year, including a $3,120 dinner in Washington, D.C., when the Alaska Legislature shut down for lawmakers' "Energy Break" trip to the nation's capital.
The spending, which ranged from wining and dining Alaska legislators to statewide advertising campaigns, came as the industry and Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell made a heavy but unsuccessful push to convince the Alaska Legislature to slash how much the state taxes the profits made by the oil companies.
"We consider our effort to inform Alaskans about the need for comprehensive oil tax reform as part of our mission as the business trade association for the industry in Alaska, so it is well worth the time and expense," said Kara Moriarty, executive director of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association.
AOGA's legally required disclosures with the Alaska Public Offices Commission include $144,147 in lobbying expenses through the first three months of the year. That is a period covering most of an Alaska legislative session dominated by the bruising debate over whether to lower oil taxes by up to $1 billion a year.
The bulk of AOGA's disclosed lobbying costs were on advertising and social media. The group also reported a $2,775 legislative luncheon in January at the Baranof Hotel in Juneau and a $3,120 "Energy Council Dinner" in Washington, D.C., during the March visit by a dozen Alaska legislators. The dinner was at the Caucus Room, a high-end steakhouse popular with politicians and owned by former Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour, prominent Democrat lobbyist Tom Boggs and an executive from the Carlyle Group, an influential private equity firm.
AOGA's Moriarty said all Alaska legislators and any spouses or other guests with them in Washington, D.C., were invited. The oil industry trade group is required to disclose the event to the Alaska Public Offices Commission, but not to report a list of attendees.
"I don't recall the actual legislators that attended the event off the top of my head, but I recall that most legislators (Democrats and Republicans) that were still in Washington, D.C., that night attended," Moriarty said in an email. "The purpose is for general conversation about Alaska issues. There is no formal program or agenda."
She said it was the second year the oil industry trade association put on a dinner for the Alaska legislators visiting Washington for the annual Energy Council conference, a gathering that focuses on federal energy issues and is popular both with Alaska lawmakers and industry lobbyists seeking to influence them. Exxon lobbyist Kevin Jardell, BP lobbyist Paul Quesnel and Conoco Phillips lobbyist Michael Hurley all came from Alaska to D.C. during the conference.
A dozen of Alaska's 60 legislators went at state expense to the Energy Council conference, and the Legislature shut down for the week while they were gone, as it does every year during the conference for what has become known as "Energy Break."
The Alaska Republicans approved for the Washington, D.C., trip this year were Charisse Millett, Eric Feige, Carl Gatto, Bert Stedman, Lesil McGuire, Tom Wagoner, John Coghill, Charlie Huggins, Fred Dyson and Cathy Giessel. Two Alaska Democrats, Scott Kawasaki and Johnny Ellis, were on the list for the trip. At least two legislative staffers were also in Washington.
Coghill said in an interview this week that he recalls essentially all the Alaskans who were in D.C. for the conference were at the dinner, which he remembers as a cordial discussion of energy issues. But Coghill, who supports lowering Alaska oil taxes, said the broader industry effort to get its message across fell short.
"When you look at the differences of opinion in the Senate, there was a clash. There was a very strong role played by the Senate leadership who said the oil companies were overselling," Coghill said.
Conoco Phillips spent the most on the effort among the oil companies, reporting $665,004 in lobbying expenses to the Alaska Public Offices Commission for the first three months of the year. Almost $400,000 of that went to the Anchorage advertising firm Bradley Reid and Associates for "media consulting and placement."
BP reported to the Alaska Public Offices Commission that it spent $190, 646 on lobbying during the first three months of the year, including more than $2,000 for three "staff/legislator" dinners in Juneau at the Baranof Hotel and at Zephyr, where entrees start at $21.
Much of the pressure on the Alaska Legislature to lower oil taxes came from the Make Alaska Competitive Coalition, an advocacy group supported by Alaska business interests that says it doesn't take money from the oil producers. The group did not register a lobbyist, so was not required to report expenses to the Alaska Public Offices Commission.
AOGA's Moriarty said she believes the industry made a difference in public understanding of Alaska's oil production, which has been going down since 1988. It's clear the debate over the oil tax isn't over, and it will be a key issue in the November election and the state's next legislative session in January.
"Even though the Legislature failed to adopt comprehensive reform, production continues to decline, so we will continue our efforts to advocate for a positive investment climate for all fields on the North Slope," Moriarty said.


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Drop in world temperatures fuels global warming debate
WASHINGTON — Has Earth's fever broken?
Official government measurements show that the world's temperature has cooled a bit since reaching its most recent peak in 1998.
That's given global warming skeptics new ammunition to attack the prevailing theory of climate change. The skeptics argue that the current stretch of slightly cooler temperatures means that costly measures to limit carbon dioxide emissions are ill-founded and unnecessary.
Proposals to combat global warming are "crazy" and will "destroy more than a million good American jobs and increase the average family's annual energy bill by at least $1,500 a year," the Heartland Institute, a conservative research organization based in Chicago, declared in full-page newspaper ads earlier this summer. "High levels of carbon dioxide actually benefit wildlife and human health," the ads asserted.
Many scientists agree, however, that hotter times are ahead. A decade of level or slightly lower temperatures is only a temporary dip to be expected as a result of natural, short-term variations in the enormously complex climate system, they say.
"The preponderance of evidence is that global warming will resume," Nicholas Bond, a meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, said in an e-mail.
"Natural variability can account for the slowing of the global mean temperature rise we have seen," said Jeff Knight, a climate expert at the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Exeter, England.
According to data from the National Space Science and Technology Center in Huntsville, Ala., the global high temperature in 1998 was 0.76 degrees Celsius (1.37 degrees Fahrenheit) above the average for the previous 20 years.
So far this year, the high has been 0.42 degrees Celsius (0.76 degrees Fahrenheit), above the 20-year average, clearly cooler than before.
However, scientists say the skeptics' argument is misleading.
"It's entirely possible to have a period as long as a decade or two of cooling superimposed on the long-term warming trend," said David Easterling, chief of scientific services at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.
"These short term fluctuations are statistically insignificant (and) entirely due to natural internal variability," Easterling said in an essay published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters in April. "It's easy to 'cherry pick' a period to reinforce a point of view."
Climate experts say the 1998 record was partly caused by El Nino, a periodic warming of tropical Pacific Ocean waters that affects the climate worldwide.
"The temperature peak in 1998 to a large extent can be attributed to the very strong El Nino event of 1997-98," Bond said. "Temperatures for the globe as a whole tend to be higher during El Nino, and particularly events as intense as that one."
El Nino is returning this summer after a four-year absence and is expected to hang around until late next year.
"If El Nino continues to strengthen as projected, expect more (high temperature) records to fall," said Thomas Karl, who's the director of the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville.
"At least half of the years after 2009 will be warmer than 1998, the warmest year currently on record," predicted Jeff Knight, a climate variability expert at the Hadley Centre in England.
John Christy, the director of the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, who often sides with the skeptics, agreed that the recent cooling won't last.
"The atmosphere is just now feeling the bump in tropical Pacific temperatures related to El Nino," Christy said in an e-mail. As a result, July experienced "the largest one-month jump in our 31-year record of global satellite temperatures. We should see a warmer 2009-2010 due to El Nino."
Christy added, however: "Our ignorance of the climate system is still enormous, and our policy makers need to know that . . . We really don't know much about what causes multi-year changes like this."
In addition to newspaper ads, the Heartland Institute sponsors conferences, books, papers, videos and Web sites arguing its case against the global warming threat.
The skeptics include scientists such as Richard Lindzen, a meteorologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who thinks that climate science is too uncertain to justify drastic measures to control CO2. He calls the case for action against global warming "silly" and "grotesque."
Others go further. For example, Don Easterbrook, a geologist at Western Washington University in Bellingham, thinks the world is in a 30-year cooling phase.
"The most recent global warming that began in 1977 is over, and the Earth has entered a new phase of global cooling," Easterbrook said in a talk to the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting in San Francisco in December.
Government scientists strongly disagree. "Claims that global warming is not occurring . . . ignore this natural variability and are misleading," said NOAA's Easterling.
In reality, global warming "never ceased," said Karl, the climate data center director.
June's record ocean warmth worries fishermen, environmentalists
A bright idea: LED light bulbs yield big savings in energy
Florida OKs first new nuclear plant in more than 30 years
Follow Washington developments at McClatchy's Planet Washington.


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Here's a photo tour from this weekend's jaunt:
Special thanks to Sara Wagner and Rob Krar for spicing up the photos herein.
Christina Bauer and Sara Wagner enjoy the first climb...mile 1.
Slickrock running...
Race Director Chris Martinez points out to Mike Smith the surrounding scenery.
Yes, the course goes this way...
Flagstaffian's Sara Wagner, Christina Bauer and Mike Smith take a break.
Headed into a slickrock wilderness (photo by Sara Wagner)
Typical course terrain (photo by Sara Wagner)
Dwarfed by the huge petrified sand dunes (photo by Sara Wagner)
The author on Metal Masher, mile 10 (photo by Rob Krar)
A course rarity: soft tread (photo by Rob Krar)
The final miles have some flatter terrain...
Two miles to go! (photo by Sara Wagner)
The finish: Poison Spider Trailhead
A day's end: Clouds and Slickrock (photo by Rob Krar)
Your Moment of Zen...
Would you kill for a glass when the sand fills up your throat?
See ya'll in a month!


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Fashionably Sweet
Clothes may make the man, but they're more like the icing on top of the woman. Which sounds much kinkier than I intended. Erm. What I mean is, we're looking at cool Fashion cakes today. So let's do that, and stop thinking about icing-covered lady bits. Not that *I* am, of course, but I know you probably are. (Filthy buggers, the lot of you.)
I think I just heard the sound of thousands of women giving a collective, "oooohhhh!" And yes, I joined in.
Remember the hat Aretha Franklin wore to Obama's inauguration - the one with its own FB page? Yeah, that one. Well, it was also honored on her birthday cake:
Aretha got plenty of snark for both the hat and this picture, which mystifies me - I think they're both awesome. Besides, doesn't the Queen of Soul deserve a little more R-E-S-P-E-C-T?
The fluid lines on this next one remind me of a full skirt mid-twirl:
Sub'd by Ashley B., and made by Marina Sousa of Just Cake.
A dress cake is kind of like the grown-up's version of a doll cake. You get all the girly prettiness, minus the tacky synthetic hair getting in your icing.
By SusieHazCakes
Also, note how the dress form does NOT look like the torso of a woman with her limbs hacked off; it looks like a dress form (see the bottom of the stand underneath?). This is what we in the biz call "a win."
Or, if you want the ruffled skirt but not the entire dress, how about this?
[UPDATE: Since so many of you asked: Collette made this for IN Style Weddings Magazine, and it was inspired by the famous designer Betsey Johnson, who is single.]
Some of you may be wondering where all the shoe and purse cakes are. Well, truth be told, you sent in so many great examples that I didn't know how to choose! Plus, I honestly prefer the more abstract fashion designs like the ones above. These tend to require more design creativity than an exact one-to-one replica. Granted, exact replicas can require more skill, but the purse and shoe thing has been SO popular for SO long that, much as I hate to say it, I'm kind of bored with them. Sorry.
I haven't decided on a theme for next week yet. Have one to suggest? Or a cake to nominate? Then send it to me at Sunday Sweets [at] Cake Wrecks [dot] com.


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As you might already know, I'm a power user of ASP.NET AJAX. I've been using it in large commercial projects for over three years and I've come to love JavaScript and be somewhat of an ASP.NET AJAX expert. In fact, I even co-authored a book on ASP.NET AJAX Server Control development with my bud Adam Calderon if that helps lend me some credence.
June 8, 2008
March 6, 2008
ASP.NET AJAX Localization Slides and Code
A while back I promised a three-part series on ASP.NET AJAX Localization. I wrote Part 1, but wasn't entirely happy with the way it turned out; primarily because I was still learning Localization. I've been chugging along with writing my ASP.NET AJAX Control Book since then with a couple of posts on a JavaScript Stack Trace and a JavaScript Error Publishing Control since that first post, and haven't really gotten back to finish the promised Part 2 and Part 3.
Well, I'm not really sure when I'm going to get back to writing the full posts, but I recently put together a slide deck and some code examples on ASP.NET AJAX Localization for a presentation at work. I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out so I thought I'd post them and let anybody take a look at it.
February 4, 2008
A JavaScript Stack Trace in ASP.NET AJAX
Update: Source Code Located Here
Something came up in that work recently that I've found to be quite useful in my day to day coding sessions and that's how to create a stack trace in ASP.NET AJAX.
For starters, JavaScript doesn't provide an easy way of pulling the stack trace of the call so we're going to have to roll our own.
I've seen a couple of different methods of creating the stack trace and the one I'm going to use comes from Helephant.com. I really like this implementation and I'm glad that I was able to poach somebody else's code to create the stack trace (thx Helen!) rather than have to create mine from scratch.
January 2, 2008
Using Localization in ASP.NET AJAX (Part 1) : Using Localization in ASP.NET
I've been learning about Localization in ASP.NET AJAX and I'm not a big fan of the resources that are currently available so I thought I would write down my thoughts in the hopes that other people might find them useful. It looks like this will be a three part series on Localization in ASP.NET Ajax and this first entry will be about localization in ASP.NET without the Ajax portion.
Part 1: How to localize an application in ASP.NET
Edit: After writing this post, I found an excellent resource on the basics of localization in ASP.NET. Rick Strahl, a resource for many in the .NET Community and co-publisher of CoDe magazine, wrote an excellent article a while back on Localization: Introduction to Localization in ASP.NET 2.0. While I'm glad that I went through the process of writing this article and I believe that some of my insights come from a different angle than Rick's, if you're just starting out with Localization, his article is a must read.
Another decent resource is ASP.NET 2.0 Localization Features: A Fresh Approach to Localizing Web Applications
Part 2: How to localize JavaScript using static JavaScript files
Part 3: How to localize ASP.NET AJAX using embedded resources
December 20, 2007
I'm Writing a Book!
So for the past year or so, I've been working on an ASP.NET AJAX Extensions book for Addison & Wesley's Development Series with the all around good guy and genius Adam Calderon.
We're far enough into the project with enough chapters completed (at least 1st drafts) that we're going to start talking about the book with the feeling that A&W won't pull the plug 🙂
So this is the first post announcing to the world that we're working on a book that will probably (fingers crossed) come out at Tech-Ed 2008 in Orlando, FL.
A&W will be posting a rough cuts of the book in the very, very near future and I'll add a link to it when I get the URL. You'll be able to provide comments on the chapters as well as email us directly!
Just to give you a small taste of the topics in this book let me just say that the UpdatePanel is only getting one chapter… We're going to dive deep into the JavaScript that makes it all work.
Some of the chapter highlights
- Detailed Object Oriented concepts in JS with and without the Framework (makes you apprecite the Framework that much more!)
- Deep dive into components, controls, and behaviors. How they're created, the inner workings of the $create method including how to get the properties parameter to do nutty things.
- Deep dive into Sys.Application and how it runs the show
- How to create server handlers that work like the profile and authentication service so you can create and roll out 3rd party components that do NOT need a web service or WCF service to be installed on the server for client-server communication (amazing insights!)
- Tons more!
Keep up with this blog and Adam's for more information regarding the book in the coming weeks!
Edit: I can't believe it's already on Amazon
December 14, 2007
Taking Longer than Expected …
I was installing the ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions CTP Preview this evening and got this awesome message as it was installing.
It did eventually install correctly, but I thought it was funny.


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6 User Reviews of Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Ship
It had been a few years since I last sailed on Holland America. My cruise from Barcelona this Fall was a supreme disappointment. I won't go into the "acts of Nature" or the "scary incident" on board. I'll keep to the cruise experience itself. Dinner is much too long. Indonesian staff worked so hard and are so pleasant but have too many tables. Food was a complete disappointment and that filet was a tough flank steak! Lido was out of control with people milling about and menu was practically the same each day. Everyone was "saving" seats so getting seatd was always a hassle. I am a Senior Citizen but this cruise was too OLD for me. It was downright boring. No dancing. No fun. Music hard to come by. It was just not the same high quality cruise line I had traveled on previously.
The Nieuw Amsterdam was a disappointment in some regards. First, the centrum lobby which is usually an amazing space, is here rather small and lame with an idiotic green glass staircase that invites a fall.
The Manhatten dining room lower level where the dine as you can passengers eat, is disconcertingly low-ceiling and of all things, bright, glaring red as is the upper dining room. It was often too hot in this room, a fact the waiters are aware of. The service for dine as you can passengers is spotty and often slow and made me wish that we had eaten at the regular times in the dining room above. However those times are problematic as you will discover. On nights that a party is being held up on the Lido deck, forget altogether about eating in the dining room as the menus then are second rate and the service poor.
The pool area is lovely with comfy, wide lounges, however not enought of them even in October. But what is annoying are the line of little rental tents blocking the sea windows where there are beds and tables, a space forpeople who want to think they are rich and famous.
The lido lounge is quite beautiful with orchids on every table, but the lines are long and getting a table a hassle especially as they have done away with trays so that you have to go back and line up for your beverages.
The showroom was glamorous with great seating and wonderful staging ability. However the entertainment was lackluster at best although the musicals were great and the dancers and singers talented.
Shore excurisions, transfers, and Internet were all seriously overpriced to the point where one feels ripped off and there was much grumbling about that. The photos as well now start at $20.
The spa too is expensive but if you wait a few days, they will offer a special on the use of the thermal assay pool for $15 daily instead of $40. The special massage deals shortchange you on time and then there is the five minute sell on about $700 worth of product they have used on you? The three best things a out this ship are the new Kitchen At Sea demos and tastings that are fun and free. Secondly the wonderful Explorations lounge which combines a great library with games tables, the Internet, a coffee bar, and a large area with comfy leather chairs with sea views and a bar adjacent. And thirdly the lovely Silk Room bar with exotic, enclosed tents with sofas and cushions and an overview of the deck below. No one was ever in there for some reason.
I have always enjoyed the little shops around the centrum lobby. On this ship there is one large shop, disappointing merchandise and downright irritating employees.
Our stateroom and balcony was faultless except for the fact that they put one comfy wicker chair on the balcony and one small uncomfortable chair...why? We had our steward change that.
We sailed round trip from Venice and the Venice ship transfer was an outrageous $79 each to the airport. There is a bus shuttle outside the ship for free, to the people mover, which is $1 euro, which takes you to the Piazza Roma, where a blue airport bus is waiting for $6 . Just as fast. Their fee is simply exorbitant.
All in all, taking in the above factors, I would choose another ship.
I missed the ability to have a cup of coffee or a meal outside overlooking the stern. In general I think the design of this ship is wanting although there were things I appreciated, and so would likely not sail her again.
Fellow passengers please beware. I booked a 24 night cruise departing Venice on 18 July 2012. I booked directly with Holland America UK on 7 April. Shortly after booking I saw exactly the same cruise, in the same cabin hundreds of pounds cheaper with a travel agent. I emailed Holland America on 8 April asking why this way. I got no reply. I emailed them again on 12 April. Got no reply. Sent them a letter on 24 April. Got no reply. Wrote another letter on 17 May to Lynn Narraway, Head of their UK operation. Got no reply. I then posted some comments on facebook warning potential customers to think twice before booking with them. Then got an immediate reply on facebook asking for further details (probably from Americans who know how to do customer Service). I then got an email on 7 June from a UK Holland America representative saying it was not their policy to match the lower price I had seen. I then replied asking for an explanation as to why no one had bothered to reply to my earlier two emails and two letters. Thatwas on 7 June and guess what - no reply! I have paid thousands of pounds to Holland America and they couldn't give me the time of day. Their customer service is the WORST I have ever encountered. I really wish I had booked with another cruise line. I haven't taken the cruise yet and am very upset that they have been treated like this. Please beware when booking with this company, once they have your money, they are not interested.
My husband and I were on the Transatlantic cruise last April on the Nieuw Amsterdam. When we left the ship in Barcelona after a wonderful cruise, my husband forgot to pack his binoculars. After discovering this oversight upon arriving home, I wrote HAL to ask about locating them. First I received a letter saying they had not been located. Later I received a phone call saying they had and as soon as the ship returned to Florida I would be contacted regarding the return of the binoculars. I heard nothing more about it and had given them up for gone when the Fed-Ex truck pulled up in front of our house and delivered the forgotten binoculars!! I can't say enough about the service of the Holland America Cruise Line. Always excellent service and beautiful ships. We'll be back on in the spring.
My family party of 11 spent thanksgiving on the Nieuw Amsterdam on a 7 night cruise. The food was substandard in all dining areas. There were insufficient staffing in the main dining rooms and the food was extremely slow in arriving at the table. I have cruised on three other lines and must say HAL is the poorest quality of all.
HAL Nieuw Amsterdam – Quad Cabins Dangerous!
HAL built a beautiful new ship but blew it for families of 4 with the design of their QUAD cabins which could be described as Dangerous. The pull down bunk is not over the sofa, but directly over the main bed with about 16" of clearance from the pillow to the underside of the bunk = you will hit your head and possibly crack your head open on the exposed bunk bracket.
Left = drop down bunk bed directly over the beds.
Right = Narrow bracket directly above pillow where you can easily bang your head – watch-out the clearance is dangerous especially at night in the dark!
As frequent cruisers we have never experienced such a terrible design and tight quarters for a QUAD Cabin. Families of 4, do not book a Quad on HAL you will regret it. Other than the room, HAL offers good service, food and entertainment, so if you must go, book 2 cabins.


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Play, Grow, Learn!
June 3rd, 10:15am to 11:30am
Play, Grow, Learn! is an opportunity for you to use the Imagination Station to explore early literacy tips and books, play with others, and develop early literacy skills using Forest Avenue Library's space and toys. This is an unsupervised, drop-in playtime where parents and caregivers are encouraged to interact with their children. Many items will be available for free exploration and play.
Event Type:
Age Group:


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Colorado movie theater to reopen with ceremony
AURORA, Colo. The Colorado movie theater where a gunman killed 12 people and wounded dozens of others reopens Thursday with a private ceremony for victims, first responders and officials an event boycotted as insensitive by some of those who lost loved ones in the massacre.
Theater owner Cinemark plans to temporarily reopen the entire 16-screen complex in Aurora to the public on Friday, then permanently on Jan. 25. Aurora's mayor, Steve Hogan, has said residents overwhelmingly support reclaiming what he calls "an important venue for Aurora."
- Some Aurora victims' families outraged over theater reopening
- Aurora cops detail grisly scene at mass shooting
- Aurora victim's dad in court: "Rot in hell Holmes"
Former neurology student James Holmes is charged with 166 felony counts, mostly murder and attempted murder, in the July 20 massacre at a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises." Holmes has until March to enter a plea.
Details about Thursday's ceremony which was to include the showing of an undisclosed movie were a closely guarded secret. Cinemark, of Plano, Texas, refused to comment on the remembrance, refurbishments to the theater, or security measures. Victims and invited officials also refused to comment.
Victims have filed at least three federal lawsuits against Cinemark alleging it should have provided security for the midnight "Dark Knight" premier on July 20 and that an exit door used by the gunman to get his weapons and re-enter should have had an alarm. In court papers, Cinemark says the tragedy was "unforeseeable and random."
Those invited to attend included victims, families, first responders, Hogan and Gov. John Hickenlooper.
Some victims said it's important to reclaim the theater. Others called its reopening insensitive and refused an invitation to attend Thursday's event.
"The community wants the theater back and by God, it's back," said Tom Sullivan, whose son, Alex Sullivan, 27, was killed. "Nobody is going to stop us from living our lives the way that we lived our lives before. This is where I live."
Alex Sullivan's widow, Cassandra Sullivan, joined 15 relatives of victims in issuing a recent statement that called the Cinemark invitation "disgusting and insensitive."
"They can do whatever they want. I think it was pretty callous," said Tom Teves, whose son, Alex, was killed.
The orange, purple and teal neon lights that lit the sky the night of July 20 at the former Century 16 now the Century Aurora have been replaced. On the walls, a mural depicts a man and woman, a film reel, and popcorn.
Before Cinemark spent a reported $1 million on renovations, it allowed victims and families to visit the theater's auditorium No. 9, where the attack occurred. At least two people who escaped the shooting called it a good idea.
"It does help significantly," said Jacqueline Keaumey Lader, a U.S. Marine and Iraq war veteran who visited the auditorium last fall with her husband, Don. "It's taken the power away from the place."
Michael White Sr.'s son, Michael Jr., suffered a punctured lung and a broken rib and shoulder blade. He ultimately decided to stay away from the cinema.
"With me, it's like going to a cemetery and walking across somebody's grave," the older White said. "I think it's disrespectful to do that."
Mayor Hogan noted that the community grieves and heals in different ways.
"For those who don't want to be there, who can't be there, I understand and respect that," he said. "For us here, the larger community if you will, it is part of the healing process."


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Purchase select 60" Lazer Z E-Series for only $8,9
Purchase select 60" Lazer Z E-Series for only $8,999
Available through October 31, 2019
Eligible Model: LZE742GKC604A3
Exmark is pleased to offer a promotional unit while supplies last. Models Eligible: LZE742GKC604A3 (available in select regions) promoted at retail price of $8,999 (Reg CSP $9,999). U.S. price only. Available through 10/31/2019 or while supplies last. Not available with other promotions. Lazer Z E-Series models are eligible for bid, fleet, corporate and national account support, however minimum discount to achieve rebate is calculated off of Commercial Sale Price (CSP) and not Regional Promotion Price. Actual price may vary by Dealer. Price estimates are based on cash sales not financed through the Dealership. Additional fees such as set-up, delivery and financing MAY apply. Please consult your Exmark Dealer for final purchase price. Prices, offers and models are subject to change. Subject to Dealer Participation.


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Delegates desperate for new leaders with the potential to run statewide heard from one of their rising stars Saturday morning, state Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth. Davis earned a reputation as a fighter when she thwarted Republican efforts last session to redistrict her out of existence. A single mother who went from junior college to Harvard Law School before being elected to the state Senate from a Fort Worth district Republicans thought was theirs, she urged her fellow Democrats Saturday morning to "make our dream for Texas its reality. Let's show the naysayers that Texas can and will do better."
The sparse Saturday crowd responded with tepid applause to the candidate, who has an inspiring story, but is a less-than-inspiring speaker.
— Joe Holley


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Karl Dillinger 1/17/2010 08:21:00 PM Tweet Edit
_______________________________________________________________« Prev Post Next Post »
Great job Karl!
hahaha nice one! scal's dance was the best!
minor small suggestion, leave images and captions on the screen for a shorter time. people's attention spans aren't what they used to be in these highlight-reel-days.
Well done Karl
Good job! AC/DC rocks! I wonder if they play this song in Oklahoma City games ;)
this is awesome! fun way to catch up with what's going on with the celtics.


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Search by Topic
The Tax, Retirement & Estate Planning Services at Manulife writes various publications on an ongoing basis. This team of accountants, lawyers and insurance professionals provides specialized information about legal issues, accounting and life insurance and their link to complex tax and estate planning solutions.
These publications are distributed on the understanding that Manulife is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional advice. If legal or other expert assistance is required, the service of a competent professional should be sought.
These columns are current as of the time of writing, but are not updated for subsequent changes in legislation unless specifically noted.
This information is for Advisor use only. It is not intended for clients. This document is protected by copyright. Reproduction is prohibited without Manulife's written permission.


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Hi all!
There is a new bunch of updates and improvements in this new version, and the list is very huge!
In general, the engine has been updated to the latest game logic and UI functionalities common to all AGE engine game.
Check the changelog below
You can download the patch from the member's area.
• Naval resupply from special sea zones can be reduced by enemy ships.
• Development level reduction done by regional decisions was not working.
• Ability sending command points modifier to subordinate stacks had a bug resulting in double modifiers sometime.
• Improved ammo distribution algorithm significantly.
• Improved retreat logic.
• stacks don't retreat from regions not having an offensive posture stack
• Leaders will only lose seniority on January 1st and July 1st, this should help for promotion potential.
• There is a 25% chance that artillery manages to counter fire enemy artillery instead of firing on a frontline element.
• Besieged group can't escape besiegers with evade roll
• Evasion is pro-ratised to cohesion
• Can now build depots in allied territory
• Diplomacy got several bug fixes and consistency additions:
- A war with a minor can stop spontaneously after one year if warscore is still low (< 10)
- If you are allied with an enemy of another ally DOWing said enemy, you don't DOW it.
- Made sure no CB is given if 2 nations are at war.
- When giving back regions to its original owner, as part of a peace treaty, you won't lose the VP, NM originally gained from them.
- True defensive treaty: Major nation <A> gets a CB against another enemy major nation <B>, if in a defensive treaty with ally major <C> being attacked by <B>
• Shift key can now be used both for lands and waters regions, allows seeing the links between regions.
• Losses of ships are now properly logged in the message panel
• Experience stats in element panel displayed again
• Music sound volume can now be tweaked (yeah!) - need editing a file though:
- you can alter music volume by adding a value between 20 and 100 in UserInterface.opt inoMusicVolume = 60 // music volume, default is 60
• Generic AI significantly improved on most algorithms, thanks to a chirurgical yet powerful modification (expect a +10-15% improved Athena nastiness!)
• Dislikes much more to be trapped in cities
• AI assaults more frequently besieged structures
• Admirals are more often send to secondary's fleets
• AI faster in sending ships in naval special boxes. (to combine with extra ships attributes)
• AI will be more vigilant in defending its capital.
• AI has been improved on resupplying algorithm
• High ranked leaders will be much more reluctant to command small forces.
• Idle leaders in enemy land will seek to get back to 'headquarter region'.
• Transports will have a quite low buying priority if the AI is bested in naval power and situation is not great.
• AI will get a slightly higher bonus for railroad autorepair (which is based on the development level of the region)
• SplitLargeStacks anti doomstack algorithm
A log appears in the splash screen while you parse a script. Useful to see where you are in the parsing process. Plus, it looks cool! The periodicity of this log is controlled by sysScriptMemoPeriodicity in system.opt.


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The financial services industry has seen drastic technology-led changes over the past few years. These trends are directly linked to technology-driven innovation.
De Financial Services Technology Club groups these companies, specialised in IT solutions for the Financial Services industry: from eID applications, specialized banking software (such as loaning, anti-money laundering, back office, secure payment) and e-banking, to software and hardware for authentication and self-service solutions. Due to its establishment within the framework of the Belgian federation for the technology industry, the Club can rely on a wide international network and a strong base.
Trade mission Morocco: Digital Wednesday for Princess Astrid thanks to the members of the Financial Services Technology Club This week an official trade delegation led by Princess Astrid is on a mission in Morocco. The total delegation counts about 220 individual companies of which just over 50 Agoria members. Every day we give a short report. Today: the power lunch banking, organised by the Financial Services Technology Club.
"Because the members of the Financial Services Technology Club offer complementary products and services, the Club exudes an open and frank atmosphere."
Hilde Van den Dungen – Business Unit Manager Financial Services & Business Consulting ORDINA
Hilde Van den Dungen – Business Unit Manager Financial Services & Business Consulting ORDINA
"Once a year, the major banks in Belgium, present their vision on current and future ICT needs to the members of the Financial Services Technology Club. Those meetings take place in a relax, confidential but professional atmosphere. Taking the floor at these dynamic sessions, I can only emphasize that this kind of open dialogues drives the industry forward."
Frank Stockx - Managing Director at ING Belgium
Frank Stockx - Managing Director at ING Belgium
"Receiving the Financial Services Technology Club delegation at FNB's premises, allowed us to quickly assess which companies offer potentially interesting services for our specific needs. At the same time we could inform the Club members, as one of the largest Retail Banks in South Africa, on how the banking landscape in South Africa is organized. This made for an excellent win-win situation."
Raj Makanjee - CIO of First National Bank - South Africa
Raj Makanjee - CIO of First National Bank - South Africa
"For a small company like ours, the trade missions of the Financial Services Technology Club provide us with an ideal platform to market our products and services. Furthermore we learn the ins and outs of new markets around the globe. Luc Vandergoten - Managing Director at BTR Services Because the members of the BankingTechnology Club offer complementary products and services, the Club exudes an open and frank atmosphere."
Luc Vandergoten, Managing Director Contraste
Luc Vandergoten, Managing Director Contraste
Agoria's Technology Clubs hosted successful Summer Event On 20 June, 200 members of the six Agoria Technology Clubs gathered once again in Brussels for the annual summer event. A report in text and images.
#CSR: What is the effect of CSR on your company? Ask yourself: What does Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mean for your company? Decreasing the impact on the environment and climate? Philanthropy? Employer branding? Ensuring employees throughout the company commit to the importance of CSR is one of the main challenges for companies at this time. This text provides insight into the impact of CSR on your company. We will follow up on this with another article on concrete steps you can take to implement CSR.
Invitation: China-US Trade Tensions also Affects European Companies. What about Yours? - 16 May - Ghent


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Laudie On Da Track (Feat. Bun B) - Do I [Label Submitted]
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Today we would like to announce that Edmonton, Alberta's Tyler Butler has joined up with Yer Bird Records to re-release his amazing album "Winter King"! This album is a special one and a personal favourite around the Yer Bird offices so after seeing him play a show last year and getting to talk to him afterwards, we knew we wanted him on board.
Well, we can now say that he is officially on board and we have a re-release of his album this March. The album was originally released with the help of Edmonton label Old Ugly Recording Co. and the re-release does include all 8 of the songs from that album. But it gets better. Attached to this new version is a re-recording of a local favourite from Butler in 'Feral Horse' plus the never before heard/released album title track, Winter King!
For now, you can visit his pages right her on Yer Bird Records and watch a bit of a teaser for the album that does include audio of the early version of said track Winter King.
Tyler Butler :: Winter King (March 20, 2012) from Yer Bird Records on Vimeo.
Also in conjunction with the album release this March, Tyler is doing a live video of each of the original 8 tracks and they will appear on the newly launched Winter King Website! Visit today to watch the video for 'Plover'!
Please join us in welcoming Tyler to the fold.


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Spis, Jacob Pietersz (1725-1810)
Jacob Pietersz Spis, born in 1725, died 13 December 1810, at Hoorn, was the last untrained minister of the Mennonite congregation at Hoorn, Dutch province of North Holland. He served 1775-1795 and 1802-1810. In the period of the French Revolution, Spis was not a Patriot as were nearly all the Dutch Mennonites, but a loyal adherent of the Orange party. For this reason he was suspended from his ministry from 1795 to 1802. Spis was also the last conservative leader in Hoorn.
Doopsgezind Jaarboekje (1941): 49-54.
Naamlijst der tegenwoordig in dienst zijnde predikanten der Mennoniten in de vereenigde Nederlanden. Amsterdam, 1802: 70, 1806: 73.
|Nanne van der Zijpp
|Date Published
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Spis, Jacob Pietersz (1725-1810)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 23 Sep 2019. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Spis,_Jacob_Pietersz_(1725-1810)&oldid=109965.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1959). Spis, Jacob Pietersz (1725-1810). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 September 2019, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Spis,_Jacob_Pietersz_(1725-1810)&oldid=109965.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 599. All rights reserved.
©1996-2019 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.


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The City of Round Rock will begin work this month on two projects to lessen congestion along Gattis School Road.
The City will install Flashing Yellow Arrow signals on Gattis School Road beginning the week of March 18. The new signals are the first step to implementing a coordinated signal timing plan along the corridor, from Red Bud Lane to Mays Street.
The Flashing Yellow Left Arrow will allow drivers to turn left, after determining the turn is safe, during the period between the protected green arrow and the red light.
Flashing Yellow Arrow signals were installed along University Boulevard in November, with the goal to reduce wait times by 30 percent on that corridor.
The first phase of the Gattis School Road project will improve timings to reduce delay from Red Bud Lane to A.W. Grimes Boulevard. Evening traffic along Gattis School Road should experience almost 20 percent less delay, while the morning rush hour should feel almost 50 percent less congested.
The second phase of coordination work will continue the timing plan improvements all the way to the Mays Street signal, but that work can't be done until the existing signal at Greenlawn Boulevard is replaced. The contract for that work will be up for approval at the March 28 City Council meeting.
The City is implementing Flashing Yellow Arrows in the wake of a multi-year, multi-state study conducted for the Federal Highway Administration. The study showed this type of signal display provides a more intuitive message and eliminates driver confusion. This signal display became the national standard for allowing protected/permitted left turns in 2009. The State of Texas adopted this standard in December 2011.
The second project is adding a center turn lane on Gattis School Road at its intersection with Rusk Road. Construction should begin in mid to late March, first to realign the sidewalk on the north side of Gattis, with the road work to follow in early April. The City expects this construction to be completed by mid-summer.


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Ghostbusters: Answer the Call
Magic Mike XXL
Step Up All In
Step Up Revolution
Step Up 3D
All Stephen "Twitch" Boss photos
All Stephen "Twitch" Boss films
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.
Copyright © 2019 FANDANGO MOVIES.


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In another "you've got to be kidding me" moment, another couple has come forward as crashers at the White House. A Georgia couple is admitting to accidentally crashing an exclusive breakfast with President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their staff.
White House officials claim they were just being "hospitable" when they allowed Harvey and Paula Darden from Hogansville, Georgia access to the breakfast the day before Veterans Day when they arrived for a tour.
According to the Associated Press, the couple was ushered into the event two weeks before Tareq and Michaele Salahi infamously crashed the Obamas' state dinner for the prime minister of India.
White House and Secret Service officials claim that the Dardens went through the appropriate security screenings and were allowed into the breakfast as a courtesy because there were no public tours the day they arrived.
The couple rebuttals that claim, however, and told the AP they thought they were taking a regularly scheduled tour until they were ushered into the East Room, offered a buffet spread and told they'd be meeting the president.
The AP also reports that when they expressed concern to a White House aide, they were told to, quote:
"Go with the flow."
Ummmmm……does anyone else see a HUGE problem with this?
This NEVER happened when Bush was in office.


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Expo '09: Boats
Whats the most important thing you need to go wakeboarding? That's right, a boat (unless you're a winch or a cable rider, but for the purpose of writing this article I'm going to say boats are). Malibu, Axis, Tige, Centurion, Nautique, and Supra all came to Surf Expo in order to be the first to show off the new rides. A lot of the boats are now using a in-dash screen with speed, music, and information controls. Also, the new Axis boat is showing off a new interior with many more bells and whistles than last years model.– Danny Evans


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A resolution by the city to join the New Bern Housing Authority in applying for a Choice Neighborhood Planning Grant was opposed Tuesday night by one alderman, Victor Taylor.
A resolution by the city to join the New Bern Housing Authority in applying for a Choice Neighborhood Planning Grant was opposed Tuesday night by one alderman, Victor Taylor.
The Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant through Housing and Urban Development allows housing authorities and communities to plan for the modernization of public housing as well as planning for overall improvements in the surrounding community.
Taylor said he did not like the way the proposal was being made. A year ago there was a meeting with residents from Trent Court about bringing a more modern view to the public housing and the residents were against it, he said.
�This year it is just another underhanded attempt,� he said.
Taylor said he would not agree on the modernization proposal until something in writing is given to the residents of Trent Court and Craven Terrace so they understand what is taking place.
Three people in the audience applauded.
Mike Epperson, city manager, said if the Housing Authority got the grant it would provide more access to education, transportation and health care for the public housing projects and distressed areas in the community.
Sabrina Bengel, mayor pro-tem, said the grant was to hire people to work with the Housing Authority and plan what public housing would look like.
Taylor wanted to know why Trent Court has always been targeted instead of Craven Terrace, which he said is worse off. Trent Court is situated on the Lawson Creek waterfront with views of the Trent River.
Epperson said in the memorandum to aldermen that obtaining the grant would help the city pursue its goal transforming the Five Points commercial corridor and Duffyfield and other distressed areas.
�By entering into this Memorandum of Understanding we will be sending a clear message to HUD as well as our community that we are committed to working with the New Bern Housing Authority as a key partner in our city,� the statement said.
Staff recommended the city provide a cash match over the next two years not to exceed $30,000.
Alderman Denny Bucher made a motion to approve the co-application proposal, seconded by Johnnie Ray Kinsey. It passed 5 to 1, with Taylor opposing.
Julian Marsh, executive director of the New Bern Housing Authority, said in an earlier interview Communities Group out of Maryland was hired by the Housing Authority to research and apply for the HUD planning grant. The application is due at the end of May.
Marsh said the grant was only for planning, to determine what was best for the public housing residents and city.
The planning process would look at better housing, safer communities, additional retail outlets and more community services, he said.
If the Housing Authority gets the grant this year, plans would be drawn up and then the authority would seek an implementation grant through HUD, he said.
A private corporation was recently formed to work as an affiliate to the New Bern Housing Authority and find ways to update the public housing.
Transformation Venture Capital, a private, nonprofit corporation, was incorporated several months ago to help find answers to the city�s outdated public housing facilities.
Marsh said in that interview nothing would happen without the involvement of the community and residents of the public housing apartments.
Eddie Fitzgerald can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @staffwriter3.


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Climate summit sees Canadian strike on Kyoto treaty
Canada will not make further cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, and may begin formally withdrawing next month.
Though not a surprise, the news will anger poor countries that say the rich are reneging on pledges made 14 years ago when the protocol was signed.
They see the protocol as the only way to make emission cuts legally binding.
Also on the first day of the UN climate summit in South Africa, the UK was criticised over support for tar sands.
In the main conference hall, delegates heard South African President Jacob Zuma call for meaningful progress.
"For most people in the developing world and Africa, climate change is a matter of life and death," he said.
"In these talks, states, parties will need to look beyond their national interests to find a global solution for the common good and benefit of all humanity."
Different worlds
The very differing interpretations of "national interests" did not take long to surface.
Canada declared four years ago that it did not intend to meet its existing Kyoto Protocol commitment - to bring annual emissions in the period 2008-12 down by 6% from their 1990 level.
They have in fact risen by about one-third since 1990.
And just a few hours after talks began in the Durban conference hall, Canadian environment minister Peter Kent was confirming to reporters in the capital Ottawa that its involvement with Kyoto was over.
"We will not make a second commitment to Kyoto," he said. "We don't need a binding convention."
Since the election of Stephen Harper's Conservative government in 2006, Canada has sought to align its stance with its most important trading partner, the US.
It fears that its economy would suffer if it took on stronger curbs than its southern neighbour.
Canadian network CTV reported that the government would begin formally withdrawing from the protocol next month.
Mr Kent declined to comment.
But with 12 months notice needed to withdraw, and the current set of targets expiring at the end of next year, the timescale for a formal secession would make sense and would then put Canada in the same bracket formally as the US, which withdrew under President George W Bush.
Russia and Japan have also said they will not make further emission cuts under the protocol, though it is not known whether they plan formally to withdraw.
In Durban, the US deputy climate negotiator Jonathan Pershing said he did not see existing pledges on curbing emissions by 2020 changing.
"The idea that countries would change their current pledges that they listed in the Cancun agreements [from last year's summit in Mexico] seems unlikely to me," he told reporters.
"I don't see the major economies shifting those actions."
At a meeting of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) earlier this month - the body that brings together 17 of the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters - India and Brazil joined the US in wanting to delay beginning talks on a new global climate agreement until at least 2015.
The EU and many smaller developing states want to reach agreement in Durban on starting talks pretty much immediately, reaching agreement by 2015 and cutting emissions by 2020.
Reports by numerous organisations, most recently the International Energy Agency, have concluded that in order to meet the goal of keeping global average temperature rise since pre-industrial times below 2C, emissions should peak and begin to fall around 2020, if not earlier.
The current pledges to which Mr Pershing referred will not achieve this.
Fossil fired
Speaking for the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), Barbadian delegate Selwyn Hart said his group was not prepared to contemplate delay.
"At the heart of any agreement should be the principle that no country is expendable," he said.
"It's morally and ethically indefensible to sign an agreement that will result in the demise of a single nation state. The consequence for some of the islands will be extinction."
The UK, meanwhile, received one of the unwanted "Fossil of the Day" awards from a coalition of campaign groups.
They were angered by reports, deriving from a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by the Co-operative, that the UK has been lobbying to weaken EU rules on oil from Canadian tar sands.
Extracting oil from the tar deposits that spread across Canada's prairie provinces is much more energy-intensive than conventional oil drilling, and also uses huge amounts of water.
Some climate scientists say exploiting the reserves is simply incompatible with curbing global warming.
Follow Richard on Twitter


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Yeah, that's right- the following is a critique of America's spiral into statist tyranny by the former leading news paper of the Soviet-freaking-Union:
American capitalism gone with a whimper:
"It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.
True, the situation has been well prepared on and off for the past century, especially the past twenty years. The initial testing grounds was conducted upon our Holy Russia and a bloody test it was. But we Russians would not just roll over and give up our freedoms and our souls, no matter how much money Wall Street poured into the fists of the Marxists.
Those lessons were taken and used to properly prepare the American populace for the surrender of their freedoms and souls, to the whims of their elites and betters."
Read the rest here.
Hat tip: The Forgotten Conservative


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Feb. 2, 2012
Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine launches first-ever online fishing publication
AUSTIN – Just in time for the annual white bass run, Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine is launching its first-ever online-only extra, "Texas Fishing 2012."
The 40-page digital publication, available at http://www.tpwmagazine.com/fishing2012 features a 2012 fishing forecast by TPWD staffer and long-time outdoor writer Steve Lightfoot as well as a figurative tackle box full of topical articles aimed at making your next fishing trip enjoyable and productive.
"Our focus with this digital publication, which will be produced annually, is to provide practical how-to and where-to information for Texas and out-of-state anglers," says magazine editor Louie Bond. "In addition to our traditional high quality photos and articles, this online guide will feature videos and links to various online resources of interest to folks who love to fish."
The publication went live Feb. 1. Unlike the traditional paper edition of Texas Parks & Wildlife, which is available only to paid subscribers, "Texas Fishing 2012" is free.
Among the articles featured in the new digital publication are "Fish Condos: If you building it, they will come," by Dyanne Fry Cortez of TPWD's Inland Fisheries Division; "Lunker Mania: Could This Be the Year You Catch a Whopper of a Largemouth?" by Inland Fisheries's Larry D. Hodge and magazine editor Bond and "Enlist in the War on Aliens," also by Hodge.
In September, Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine will be posting its first-ever digital Hunting Guide.
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Lord God, Your unfailing love and compassion for me are amazing. Even when I rail against You, You love me just as much. Show me how to have Your compassion for others. Amen.This came from a recent GriefShare e-mail. It made me think about my own compassion for others. Has the grief I've encountered over these last 10 months changed me for the better?
In some ways, it has. I am much more aware of the difficult anniversaries that those who remain on earth have to face, and I do my best to let those who have lost loved ones know that I am thinking of them, that I am remembering with them. Until you've been down that road yourself, I don't know that you can fully understand how hard it can be to face dates that remind of your loved one. It's painful to think about your baby's milestones that will never be. Or that it's been so many months since you heard your mom's laugh.
A dear friend, though she has not experienced the death of a child, dared to step into my world and remember those anniversary dates early on. She knew the 7th and the 17th of those first months were emotional days for me. She knew that Sundays were difficult for months, and she faithfully let me know that she was thinking of me. It didn't take away the pain I was feeling, but it let me know that I wasn't as alone as I felt. I knew that I wasn't the only one remembering Kristen.
There's another side to that compassion that I am struggling with now. It's the side that takes me right back to the PICU at Children's Mercy Hospital. It's the side that remembers how it feels to sit helplessly in a hospital room, unable to do anything to change the circumstances. I heard just a couple of days ago about an 8 year-old girl in NC named Ellie Potvin. She lost her battle with cancer today, and I wept aloud as I read the CaringBridge entry in which her mother shared that her sweet daughter had breathed her last breath on this earth. I had never heard of the Potvin family before this week, yet I have been touched so deeply by their loss.
A cousin on my husband's dad's side of the family had surgery last Friday and never regained consciousness. We just got word this evening that she passed away. My heart has been with the family throughout the last few days as they have waited for test results. I remember waiting for test results. I remember looking for those small signs that Kristen was going to be fine. I remember. And it hurts to remember. And my heart breaks for Ann's family.
Could the memories of such a painful experience be useful? I expect they can and will. Perhaps one day God will use me to reassure someone else that, despite their circumstances, God is still in control and God is still good. Because He is.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. -Romans 8:28