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Sample Interpretive Text for Museums, Interpretive Trails, Publications, & Video
Museum Exhibit Sample
When the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History decided to stage an exhibit focused on Walter Cronkite, Ron worked with center staff and Riggs Ward Design to create "Walter Cronkite: Eyewitness to a Century." Ron's introductory text set up the exhibit storyline.
"I had a pretty good seat at the parade. I was lucky enough to have been born at the right time to see most of this remarkable century." Walter Cronkite
As the 20th century paraded by, Walter Cronkite observed with unapologetic curiosity. Decade by decade, story after story, he honed his reporting skills, adapting to and shaping the tools of mass communication—print, radio, film, and television. Thanks to his watchful eyes, his way with words, and his journalistic professionalism, he used his baritone voice like a soothing instrument to tell multiple generations the unfolding stories of their times.
This exhibit explores those stories, how Cronkite chose to tell them, and why millions decided to trust what he said.
Following the success of the Cronkite exhibit, the Dolph Briscoe Center returned to the Riggs Ward team to re-imagine the exhibits at the Sam Rayburn Museum. Rather than present the traditional chronological biography, Ron suggested a thematic approach organized around Rayburn's leadership philosophy. Once again, the opening panel for the exhibit explained the theme and its contemporary relevance.
The Leadership of Mr. Sam
Sam Rayburn is one of the 20th century's most significant political leaders.
First elected to the House of Representatives in 1912, Rayburn served as Speaker of the House of Representatives for a record 17 years.
His leadership as Speaker, Democratic minority leader, and elder statesman coincided with the New Deal, the Second World War, the early years of the Cold War, the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement, and the introduction of John Kennedy's New Frontier.
His leadership philosophy, honed by decades of public service and re-introduced throughout this exhibit, still offers insights into political success.
Throughout the exhibit, the text uses Rayburn quotations to illustrate his leadership style.
Homestyle Politics
Sam Rayburn practiced "homestyle" politics.
In addition to personal honesty and humility, Rayburn insisted on maintaining close ties to his Texas constituents. "When Congress is in session," he advised other members of Congress, "your place is [in Washington, D.C.]" But "when Congress is not in session, your place is in your district."
This commitment to the common folks of rural Texas influenced his insistence that the Democratic Party maintain its status as the "party of the people."
To Get Along—Go Along
Texas politics taught Rayburn many lessons including how to govern when lawmakers split into powerful factions.
The U. S. Congress, particularly after the 1930s, required leadership that could encourage loyalty, nurture close personal bonds, mediate and build bridges among Republicans, conservative Democrats, and moderate/liberal Democrats.
Rayburn described himself as a "progressive conservative or a conservative progressive," and refused to allow party affiliation to translate into personal contempt.
His leadership style embraced one of his classic pieces of advice—to get along, at times you had to go along. "You can't be a leader and ask other people to follow you unless you know how to follow too."
Poverty is Very Dangerous
The New Deal provided Rayburn with important opportunities to stand up for his own constituents and for rural Americans around the nation.
He aligned the federal government on the side of the poor against large corporations and banks. A regulated economy, he thought, could limit economic stratification and income inequality.
Rayburn spoke plainly: "The people of America must rise or fall together. One segment can't be poor and needy, while the rest is rich and prosperous." Born poor, he judged poverty "not only a very sad thing to me, but I think it is very dangerous."
Museum Exhibit Sample
Two exhibits, one in Virginia followed by another in New York City, explored the continued relevance of Magna Carta using a 1215 original copy of the document as the central artifact. This text introduces the exhibit theme.
Power Concedes Nothing:
Magna Carta & the Quest for Individual Rights
Magna Carta still resonates across time. "To this day, Magna Carta remains a beacon for nations and peoples committed to the ideals of democracy and individual freedom." Sandra Day O'Connor, Associate Justice (Retired), United States Supreme Court
As this exhibit illustrates, the ideas recorded nearly 800 years ago on aging velum have spread, interpreted and adapted by one generation after another. The rights demanded by English barons have expanded far beyond noble men. Across time, in many places, for different causes, Magna Carta has inspired challenges to power and demands for individual rights.
Section quote
"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." Frederick Douglass, Abolitionist
Museum Exhibit Sample
It's important to introduce an exhibit theme by both title and text. The title creates expectations that text, images, and artifacts fulfill.
On the Move
A History of Transportation in St. Charles County
This exhibit is about people on the move.
It's a story of the rivers, roads, and railroads that have, for decades or even centuries, made travel around the county possible.
It's about the ways that geography influenced transportation routes, and how transportation still influences where people live and work. It explores how travel affects interaction with the "outside" world.
As this story moves through time, it highlights changes in technology that made movement easier and faster, and shows how transportation reshuffled the social and commercial life of St. Charles County.
Come in and see a county in motion.
Wayside Exhibit Text
Text for wayside exhibits, in parks and along trails, brings a different challenge. The need for brevity remains, but the subject of the text is a vista, landscape, environment, or building. A series of panels written for the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway illustrates how to give a setting interpretive meaning.
Learning The Land
Born nearby on Anthony Thompson's plantation in 1822, Harriet Tubman spent more than 25 years living and laboring amid landscapes like these.
The environment shaped the nature of life here. Within this setting, Tubman learned how to navigate creeks and wetlands, forests and fields. She knew where to find food, and how to move about unseen. Her mastery of these skills was vital to her success as one of the best-known conductors on the Underground Railroad.
In this park, and along the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, many of the landscapes that surround you would look familiar to Tubman if she returned here today. Discover Tubman's life story in the state park's visitor center. On foot, by bike, or by kayak explore the Eastern Shore that shaped Tubman's life.
Slavery's Arboretum
The forests and waterways of the Eastern Shore, traditional homeland of the Choptank and Nanticoke Indians, provided the backdrop for the austere home life, backbreaking labor, and dramatic escapes of enslaved blacks.
Hundreds of acres of white oak, black walnut, poplar, hickory, and sweet gum trees, located near river transportation, provided income to local landowners. Harriet Tubman and her father Ben Ross not only graded and harvested the timber in these forests, but Harriet learned lessons for living off the land.
When fugitives chose flight, they applied these lessons to survive. Fruit trees offered food. Greenbrier thickets ripped clothes and scratched bodies. The spiked fruit of the sweet gum might painfully pierce hurried feet, but the tree's resin soothed painful wounds.
Little things, learned by living here, spelled success or failure on the Underground Railroad. Walk the trails ahead and enter the natural lifeline that sustained, or hindered, a journey to freedom.
Emphasis on sustained storyline may be less critical for some projects. Instead, in many settings, installations can be more self-contained. While design features like layout, colors, fonts, and hardware make individual units part of a system, panel storylines often are focused on what is directly in front of the viewer.
Carroll's Pride
Nurseryman Tim Carroll would be proud, but hardly surprised. A one time resident of Australia, Carroll knew the potential grandeur of the Moreton Bay fig trees that he sold to Anaheim residents in the early years of the 20th century. No one has a bill of sale, but the facts point to Carroll's nursery as the source for the massive tree, native to Australia, that you see here.
What better introduction to the flora of Founders Park? The walk beneath the tree's shade and along the OK Trail, donated by a local patron of Anaheim history, winds through a botanical catalog of local plant history. Carefully chosen to reflect the outdoor landscapes of 19th-century Anaheim, park plantings include grapes and walnut trees, ornamentals like roses, and native cacti and succulents.
An Architectural Sampler
The houses of Founders Park illustrate how 19th-century Anaheim architecture changed.
The modest Mother Colony House represents the first years of the Anaheim colony. It reflects the hard work of creating a homestead around a simple, single-story house that seems grafted to the ground beneath. While not the frontier, Anaheim colony was miles from the markets of Los Angeles, the nearest seaport, or the closest railroad depot.
The Woelke home, in contrast, soars. Decoratively ornate, it reflects the growing prosperity of Anaheim and the desire to bring the latest styles to the city. The Industrial Revolution introduced mass production to housing construction including gingerbread details for Victorian homes. The port at Anaheim Landing brought shipping closer, and the railroad rolled into town in 1875.
"Lured into the Open"
Southern California's climate, concluded writer George Wharton Taylor, lures residents into the open. Throughout its entire history, Anaheim has proven Taylor correct. Photo after photo shows families posing outside in the California sunlight amidst useful furnishings—fences and clotheslines—as well as decorative features—flower gardens and grape arbors. Hand pumps share backyards with swings. Chicken coops with horse barns. Windmills, in a variety of shapes, catch breezes bred over the Pacific Ocean to pump water gathered below.
Just as the interiors of the houses in Founders Park illustrate indoor life, the backyards reassembled here remind visitors that Californians, then as well as now, extend their home life out of doors.
On occasion, a wayside exhibit project may require connected stories. This was the case for a series of trail signs along the San Gabriel River in Los Angeles County where each panel explored a different perspective on the river.
San Gabriel Stories: Jardin de Roca
Countless flash floods, spanning millennia, swept mountain debris—mud, gravel, and rock—into the San Gabriel Valley creating what the Spanish called a garden of rock—jardin de roca.
And lest you think that massive, water-born rockslides are history, the Santa Fe Dam stands as a four-mile long, 92-foot high reminder that the Army Corps of Engineers worries that the past could happen again. Completed in 1949, the dam is intended to stop errant mud and debris flows from upriver and save downstream cities from burial.
Meanwhile, modern machines remove the stony deposits that collected here. Several nearby quarries yield more aggregate—gravel and stone—than any others in the state, billions of tons since 1900. As this redistribution of San Gabriel Mountain rocks continues, the jardin de roca is now embedded in buildings, parking lots, airport runways, and freeways all across Los Angeles.
San Gabriel Stories: Sanctuary
Whittier Narrows has a reputation for birds, native birds and migrating birds—300 species of birds. With the Puente Hills rising on the east and west, as the San Gabriel River slips through this gap on its way to the ocean, this open land provides a natural sanctuary in urbanized Los Angeles.
The birds are here because of a mix of oak, sycamore, and willow woodlands plus marsh, grasslands, and coastal sage scrub. Lakes and spreading grounds provide an added, irresistible attraction, particularly for ducks and geese. There are heron along the river and in wetlands. Songbirds—yellow-breasted chat, California towhee, and dozens of other species—prefer the grasslands. Birds of prey—hawks and owls—thrive on the narrows' small mammals.
Nurtured by this checkerboard of habitats, bird diversity is so great that one bird count reached 102 species on a single day.
Sidebar Text for Publication
The "sidebars" in The American Revolution Handbook provided an opportunity to write short, but more expansive interpretive stories than possible in exhibits.
Silken Slippers and Wooden Shoes
French philosopher Voltaire observed that "history is filled with the sound of silken slippers going downstairs and wooden shoes coming up." Usually, however, history reveals more about the owner of the slippers and little about the servant clad in wooden shoes. We know volumes about George Washington, but much less about Thomas Stone (a signer of the Declaration). We know little about Stone's wife, and virtually nothing about those enslaved on Stone's plantation.
But there are ways to sidestep preservation biases. At national parks, history often is preserved in building fabric—scholars use house inventories, written accounts, land surveys, archeological, and architectural evidence for reconstruction and refurnishing. Morristown's Ford Mansion reveals as much about Theodosia Ford, her children, and servants as it does about her wartime tenants—George Washington and his "family" of aides. The cabins at Morristown and Valley Forge reflect the lives of soldiers. Signers' homes—Adams, Stone, Floyd, Pinckney—or the room where Jefferson wrote the Declaration, place the famous in parlors, bedrooms, and kitchens. Birthplaces—Adams and Washington—suggest influences on adult attitudes.
Many park collections include documents that widen perspectives on events—political cartoons, petitions, broadsides, and first person observations like the Spanish commander's account of the British attack on Arkansas Post or the journals of the Baroness von Riedesel, wife of the commander of Germans fighting for the British. Personal diaries and letters of everyday people provide details of individual lives. Eighteenth-century newspapers overflow with information—what was for sale or who was in business. Notices describing runaway slaves or servants help document the extent and nature of American servitude. Oral traditions fill gaps in written records. Artifacts—like wooden shoes—illustrate the lives of servants, women, and children.
In a publication like the handbook, even the captions for book illustrations can, and should, be interpretive.
In 1770, when King George III posed with Queen Charlotte and their six children (above), the royal family of colonies already showed signs of estrangement. Disagreements over the exercise of authority, arguments over finances, and distance each played a role in growing imperial tension. Between 1762 and 1783, while George III fathered 15 children, his paternalistic attitudes helped lose the American colonies. "I wish nothing but good," he said, but "everyone who does not agree is a traitor or a scoundrel."
Like the members of Congress, the furnishings in Independence Hall's Assembly (above) ranged from modest to flamboyant. Uncarpeted wood floors and simple green table covers contrast with the elegant silver inkstand made by Philip Syng (above) probably used to sign the Declaration.
Washington (above) fought from beginning to end. From the day the Second Continental Congress chose him to command the Continental Army in 1775, until the day he resigned his commission in 1783, Washington built an impressive record for military resilience. He not only survived battle, he outlasted political intrigue and the jealousy of rivals. At war's end, he even survived success, choosing to retire voluntarily to Mount Vernon.
Ron prepared a similar series of captions and sidebar essays for a handbook about the War of 1812.
Governing can be contentious. As political factions formed, Federalist Roger Griswold and Democratic-Republican Matthew Lyon fought with cane and fire tongs on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Teyoninhokovrawen, Major John Norton, lived in multiple worlds. Born in Scotland, he joined the British Army, moved to Canada, was adopted by the Mohawk community, and defended Canada against American invasion.
Battle art often contains fact and fiction. Romanticized 19th- and early 20th- century images rarely showed the full composition of Jackson's New Orleans army–regulars, militia, Choctaw Indians, and free men of color.
Hiram Cronk: Icon of an Era
Hiram Cronk belonged to an elite fraternity of sorts, a small group who not only survived bloody conflict but who outlived all their fellow comrades in arms.
Men like: Jonathan Benjamin, the last veteran of the French and Indian War; Lemuel Cook, the oldest official veteran of the American Revolution; and Owen Thomas Edgar, the final survivor of the Mexican American War. History remembers these veterans not for battlefield exploits, but because each lived long enough to become an icon. As each passed, another era seemed to end. "A time always comes," observed a New York Times reporter, "when the very last veterans of a war pass away." At that moment, we "relegate the cataclysm they saw with their own eyes to the bloodless abstraction of recorded history."
Cronk illustrates this inevitable reality. As a teenager, he enlisted in the New York militia that defended the shipyard at Sackets Harbor in 1814. He served perhaps 100 days. Yet when he died at the age of 105, in 1905, the West
Virginia Bluefield Daily Telegraph, anointed him as "the last link connecting the simplicity of Jefferson's day with the strenuous complexity of the present."
Thousands lined the streets of New York City as his funeral cortege, "an imposing and unusual spectacle," passed by. Police, military units, and city officials, including the mayor, joined the procession. Cronk lay in state in City Hall before burial in Brooklyn's Cypress Hill Cemetery.
Another chapter closed and the War of 1812 slipped from living memory.
Although some dubbed the War of 1812 "Mr. Madison's War," it was Mrs. Madison—Dolley Madison—who burnished her reputation with wartime grit.
Even 200 years later, history books retell how Mrs. Madison saved George Washington's portrait. As British invaders approached, Dolley directed White House slaves to break the portrait's frame, remove the canvas, and rescue it from capture or incineration.
Mrs. Madison's fame, however, rested on a lifetime of accomplishment not one event. Born into a Quaker family, Dolley met James Madison in Philadelphia after the death of her first husband John Todd. She occasionally served as widower Thomas Jefferson's White House hostess. But her real contribution can be traced to her own tenure as "presidentess."
Biographer Catherine Allgor argues that Dolley's social activities and her ability to build bipartisan bridges "legitimized her husband's administration to the nation and the world and went a long way to establishing Washington City as a capital." She masterfully used "conciliation to disarm and defuse a violent political culture."
Only after Mrs. Madison brought her blend of intelligence and charm to the White House did an enduring role for the president's spouse emerge. Her parties delighted guests with surprises, perhaps apocryphal, like a "magnificent pink dome of ice cream." Her open houses added a sparkle of the ceremonial to the democratic, and a dose of the resolute in time of crisis.
Thankfully, President Zachary Taylor takes credit for retiring the title "presidentess" by using of the term "first lady" for the first time, at Dolley Madison's 1849 funeral.
Film Script
A script for film requires a different approach. The text must convert easily to the spoken word. Facts must be more than information. Everything—words, images, tone of voice–must support a unified story holds attention for minutes or fractions of hours.
General Grant National Memorial
General Grant National Memorial is the largest tomb in North America, a memorial to the ways that we select, commemorate, and enshrine the lives of past and present heroes.
Under the building's dome lie the remains of an Ohio general who fought tenaciously to save the Union during the Civil War, and then twice won election as President of the United States.
After Ulysses Grant died in 1885 and his family agreed to a New York City burial, the Grant Monument Association started a fundraising effort and design contest for an appropriate tomb. From among 65 contestants, architect John Hemenway Duncan emerged the winner. His soaring neoclassical building required 8,000 tons of granite to complete and helped to elevate his popularity at the turn of the 20th century. It dominates its location in Riverside Park, overlooking the Hudson River.
Over a million people, including President William McKinley, attended the dedication of Grant's tomb on April 27, 1897, the 75th anniversary of Grant's birth. Julia Dent Grant, the president's wife, made her last public appearance at the dedication and, following her death in 1902, she also was laid to rest inside the tomb beside her husband. Her personal memoir ended tenderly. "The light of his glorious fame," she wrote of her companion, "still reaches out to me, falls upon me, and warms me."
Today, in a restored building that recaptures its 19th-century elegance, the Grants lie together beneath mosaics of the general's Civil War victories—Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and General Robert E Lee's surrender at Appomattox—added in 1966.
African Burial Ground National Monument
African Burial Ground National Monument, just steps away from Broadway, sheds light on one of the city's longest but least well-known chapters in its history—the contributions made by free and enslaved Africans to 17th– and 18th-century New York.
Rediscovered in 1991, the burial ground holds an estimated 15,000-20,000 people of color. For more than 100 years, acres and acres of Manhattan received the mortal remains and cultural legacy of generations of mostly enslaved Africans who could not, by law, be buried within the city limits. The site is widely considered one of America's most significant archeological finds of the 20th century. Thanks to intense research and analysis led by Howard University in cooperation with scholars throughout the country, the monument helps fill out the mosaic of America's ancestors and expand our understanding of who we are.
The burial ground also awakened the community and triggered a commitment not only to preserve but also to honor this chapter in U.S. history. By presidential proclamation, in 2006, a roughly seven-acre portion of the burial ground became a national monument and a unit in the National Park System. An interactive visitor center, artwork, and outdoor memorial ensure that the stories of these immigrants, transplanted by force, will not be forgotten again. Dramatic interpretive tours make this one of America's more emotionally charged national parks.
Lower Eastside Tenement Museum
Everyday details of New York's legendary immigrant history await visitors to the Lower Eastside Tenement Museum. Built in 1863, the apartment now occupied by the museum housed nearly 7,000 working class immigrants over decades of use.
Buildings like 97 Orchard Street—the humble, refurnished rooms and the neighborhood streets lined with one, two, a dozen tenement houses—became the first American homes for family after immigrant family. Museum co-founder Anita Jacobson described 97 Orchard in 1988. "It was as though people had just picked up and left. It was a little time capsule . . ." By preserving not the history of the rich and famous but stories of the common folk of their day, tenements link yesterday to today in compelling ways that everyone can relate to—working for a better future, making a new life, supporting a family with limited means.
One step at a time, the museum continues to expand. In 1992, the museum opened its first restored apartment, the 1878 home of the German-Jewish Gumpertz family. More recently, apartment number six opened as the 1869 home of the Moores, Irish immigrants.
Guided tours invite you not only to step back in time and become immersed in tenement life but also to think about parallels to 21st-century debates on immigration and public health.
Once you enter the New York gateway there is so much to see and explore. Nature, recreation, and history all await discovery. Whichever national parks you visit during your travels around the New York Harbor, you will find another national treasure. Some national park stories are as familiar as Lady Liberty and George Washington. Others may be new to you—the daily life of immigrant families transplanted to Lower Manhattan or the burying ground for thousands of enslaved Africans. All around the New York Harbor you can find stories of the people and ideas that shaped our politics, of the evolving defense of our boundaries, and of the immigrant families that infused new hope and different points of view into our national life and popular culture. Perhaps you will connect with a little known chapter in your own family's past.
To adopt the sentiments of the legendary transatlantic pilot Charles Lindbergh, "Only New York can produce such a welcome."


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At MCW Fight to Survive on Saturday September 8, we will see the Australian debut of one of Southern Pro Wrestling NZ's premiere talents, as "The Antidote" JK Moody will be in action at the MCW Arena in Essendon.
His opponent is one of the fastest rising stars on the Melbourne scene, none other than Ritchie Taylor – Pro Wrestler, one half of the Fighting Taylor Brothers!
With nearly half of all available tickets already sold, we advise booking soon! Remaining tickets will be available on the night.

subset: commoncrawl


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Monday, February 1, 2010
Honey Soy Salmon and Vegetables
Ever since I got my grill pan for Christmas, I have been in love with it. I use it for turkey and veggie burgers at least once a week and I think Ill do kabobs on it soon also. Tonight I used it for salmon and vegetables, and they both fit on there to cook at the same time. I love the grill marks that you get on the food, just like youre cooking outside, but so much easier. I really think that every person should own one of these! On my weightloss quest, I havent eaten too much fish, but this was in the freezer and became a 15 minute meal for me. I just eyeballed the marinade ingredients. I would let it soak into your fish for at least 30 minutes.
Fish and Vegetables
Salmon, 4 oz
1/4 green Bell Pepper, sliced and then halved
1/4 White Onion, chopped and then halved
Honey Soy Marinade
Honey, 2 tbsp
Soy Sauce, 6 tbsp
Dry Mustard, 1 tsp
Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
S&P, pinch
Combine ingredients and marinate fish and vegetable for at least 30 minutes.
Spray grill pan with olive oil cooking spray. Place on medium high heat. Place salmon skin side down and place vegetables in pan as well. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, until salmon heats through.
I dashed some more soy on at the end also.
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As we approach the 9th Anniversary of the September 11th attacks on our country, another more distant date comes to mind - September 11th, 1777 - the Battle of the Brandywine in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. The scenic countryside of bucolic Chadds Ford was interrupted 233 years ago on September 11th, 1777 by the clashing of two armies - George Washington's, including the young Marquis de Lafayette, and commander William Howe, then the most experienced and revered General in the British Army.
I live just down the Old Baltimore Pike (Route 1 in Southeastern Pennsylvania) from the Brandywine Battlefield and was inspired to write my second book, an historical novel "Lafayette's Gold -The Lost Brandywine Treasure", after taking a tour of Brandywine Battlefiled Park last Summer and finding out that it was about to close due to lack of funding. Please - if you cherish your nations' roots... our history... the Soul of America... support your local historic sites! Go to http://www.lafayettesgold.com/ for more information about the book.
This blog discusses our history, reviews historic sites and the need to preserve our heritage.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
A Salute to the Marquis de Lafayette- A "Founding Son" of the American Revolution
The Curator Diane Shaw showed me several wonderful items, including a letter written by Lafayette to General George Washington on December 31, 1777 as the two men were at Valley Forge during that terrible and trying Winter. Just seeing- and briefly touching the page gave me a wonderful feeling- as if I had touched his hand as he was writing this important document. I also viewed three other letters from Lafayette to Washington, including one written on February 5, 1783 in which Lafayette recommends an "experiment" to set up a colony of freed slaves, an early effort at the abolition of this dreaded practice which unfortunately would cause almost 600,000 casualties 80 years later. Also remarkable was a letter he sent after the storming of the Bastille on March 17, 1790 written in disbelief of the chaos and anarchy that had gripped Paris and most of France.
Lafayette was a wealthy landowner in France before he chose to risk his life and fortune in coming to the aid of the Colonials in their fight for independence from Great Britain. He was wounded on September 11, 1777 at the Battle of the Brandywine (which I describe in "Lafayette's Gold"), yet remained to help with the cause until the final battle at Yorktown in 1781. Lafayette is and always will be a true patriot- a "Founding Son" of the American Revolution.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
A Rare Gem in Chadds Ford, Pa.
Many art lovers have heard the name Chadds Ford due to the Wyeth family of artists (N.C, Andrew and Jamie) who lived there for decades and made the place famous, starting with N.C. Wyeth around the turn of the 20th century. Most people don't know the name Christian Sanderson, another local resident who was a friend of the great N. C. Wyeth and a major historian, collector of Americana and a dedicated patriot who was always available to tell the story of our great heritage.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Save our Historic Sites
As you may know, the economic situation has taken a toll on America's historic sites - perhaps one of the best means to keep our history alive and inform generations to come of our heritage. Recently Governor Rendell described for the National Trust "As important as the state's historical sites are, they are not part of the state's core mission." This attitude and position has led to the closing of many important Pennsylvania historic sites such as Washington's Crossing and the Brandywine Battlefield. An article in Preservation magazine also highlighted the problem of preserving America's heritage: http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/story-of-the-week/2010/history-under-fire.html.
After visiting the Brandywine Battlefield last year and learning of its dire situation, I was inspired to write the historic mystery novel "Lafayette's Gold – The Lost Brandywine Treasure" about my area and the Battle of the Brandywine. Set in the beautiful Brandywine Valley, Lafayette's Gold is a mystery thriller linking lost treasure, shady antique dealers, the mob and heroes from the Battle of the Brandywine.
The Battle of the Brandywine was fought on September 11, 1777 and was the largest land battle in North America up until the Civil War. The Marquis de Lafayette- a rich nobleman- volunteered to fight there and was wounded, suviving to help Washington again at Valley Forge and many later battles, including the final victory over Cornwallis at Yorktown. Due to his bravery and undying commitment, Lafayette truly is a "Founding Son" of the American Revolution. This historical novel about Washington, Lafayette and the Battle of the Brandywine highlights the need to save Brandywine Battlefield Park and other important sites honoring our heritage. Currently Brandywine Battlefield is still open due to the generosity of volunteers and donations from the public- but this may not last. Government actions- and citizen support- are needed to preserve this national treasure.
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Here's your one-stop shop for all Stars and NHL draft news which just took place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas (for the first time ever).
Stars' 2018 picks
Day 1 Round 1, No. 13: Ty Dellandrea, center
Dellandrea, 17, is considered a top-level skater whose speed allows him to separate from defenders He had 27 goals and 59 points in 67 games with a mediocre team last season.
More on Dellandrea
-- Did a gluten-free diet lead to a scoring spike for Stars first rounder?
-- NHL draft grades: By taking Dellandrea at No. 13, Stars left 'a lot of skill and speed on the table'
Day 2
Round 2, No. 44: Albin Eriksson, winger
Advanced to top-level Swedish League for 17 games this season. ... Promoted after producing 22 goals, 40 points and 86 penalty minutes in 38 games with juniors team. Had a plus-18 rating. ... Ranked No. 22 among international skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
Round 3, No. 75: Oskar Back, forward
Ranked No. 18 international skater by NHL Central Scouting. ... Had one goal and four points with Sweden in World Under-18 championships. ... In 38 games with junior team this season, had 10 goals and 32 points. ... Different playing style from Erikssson. Had only four penalty minutes.
Round 4, No. 100: Adam Mascherin, winger
Big-time scorer, with 110 goals in last three seasons with Kitchener of Ontario League. Had nine goals and 24 points in 19 playoff games this season. ... Makes up for relative lack of size with grit and hockey intelligence. ... Taken No. 38 overall by Florida in 2016 draft.
Round 4, No. 106: Curtis Douglas, center
Mammoth player who is still learning how to use size to his advantage. ... Struggled in first season with Barrie of Ontario League, scoring only nine points in 53 games. Improved last season, particularly after trade to Windsor. Had 15 points and 28 points with plus-11 rating in 38 games. ... Second cousin to former NFL offensive lineman Tony Mandarich, second pick in 1989 draft behind future Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman.
Round 5, No. 137: Riley Damiani, center
Ranked as No. 100 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. ... Had 19 goals with 37 points in 64 game with Kitchener of Ontario League this season. Added five goals with 12 points in 19 playoff games. ... Has minus-19 rating for last two seasons in OHL.
Round 6. No. 168: Dawson Barteaux, defense
Appeared in career-high 64 games with Red Deer of Western League. Had three goals and 29 assists with minus-16 rating. ... Ranked No. 133 among North American skates by NHL's Central Bureau. ... Cousin to Ryan White, who appeared in 313 NHL games at center with four teams.
Round 7, No. 199: Jermaine Loewen, winger
Played last four seasons in Western League. Went from six goals in 66 games with Kamloops in 2016-17 to 36 games in 66 games this season. ... Physical player. Had 195 penalty minutes for last two seasons combined. ... Ranked at No. 160 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
Dallas' last 10 top picks
2017: Miro Heiskanen, defenseman, No. 3 overall2016: Riley Tufte, forward, No. 25 overall 2015: Denis Gurianov, forward, No. 12 overall 2014: Julius Honka, defenseman, No. 14 overall 2013: Valeri Nichushkin, forward, No. 10 overall 2012: Radek Faksa, forward, No. 13 overall 2011: Jamie Oleksiak, defenseman, No. 14 overall 2010: Jack Campbell, goalie, No. 11 overall 2009: Scott Glennie, forward, No. 8 overall 2006: Ivan Vishnevskiy, defenseman, No. 27 overall *No first-round pick in 2007 or 2008
Prospect profiles
-- If Jesperi Kotkaniemi lasts until 13, he'd a slam-dunk selection for the Stars-- Could Joel Farabee be the dynamic forward prospect the Stars need?-- What kind of player would Stars be getting if they take Rasmus Kupari?-- Isac Lundestrom's upside is what Stars need to look for in prospects-- Would the Stars try to move up and take Brady Tkachuk?-- If Stars want to trade up for scoring, Oliver Wahlstrom would be an ideal candidate-- Will off-the-charts IQ, high floor be enough for Stars to consider taking Barrett Hayton?-- If there is a run on centers, this quality defenseman could be best available for Stars at 13
How last 10 picks at No. 13 have fared
The Stars struck gold with Radek Faksa in 2012. Can they do it again at No. 13 this year? Here's a quick list of names. See their stats and more here.
Year: Player drafted -- By this team2017: Nick Suzuki -- Vegas Golden Knights2016: Jake Bean -- Carolina Hurricanes2015: Jakub Zboril -- Boston Bruins2014: Jakub Vrana -- Washington Capitals2013: Josh Morrissey -- Winnipeg Jets2012: Radek Faksa -- Dallas Stars2011: Sven Baertschi -- Calgary Flames2010: Brandon Gormley -- Phoenix Coyotes2009: Zack Kassian -- Buffalo Sabres2008: Colton Teubert -- Los Angeles Kings2007: Lars Eller -- St. Louis Blues
Draft reviews and regrets
2013Review: Stars 2013 draft review: Is this one of Jim Nill's better classes as GM? Regrets: Dallas missed on a couple solid defensemen, high-impact forwards in this class
2014Review: Julius Honka, a whole lot of defensemen, and a promising LW who was traded for more defense Regrets: There was value to be found in this class, and Dallas completely whiffed
2015Review: How confident should Dallas be in Guryanov, Hintz? Regrets: The high-impact forwards Dallas missed on will make you cringe
2016Review: Is there a future star in this class filled with national champions?Regrets: One thing this class has plenty of is a lack of immediate impact
More NHL draft
'He's going to blossom pretty quick': What impressed the Stars about their NHL draft pick Ty Dellandrea
5 things you might not know about Stars' first-round pick Ty Dellandrea
Why selecting underrated center Ty Dellandrea in the NHL draft may not have been a bad move for the Stars
Photos: Dallas hosts NHL draft, Stars nab Ty Dellandrea with the 13th pick
Did a gluten-free diet lead to a scoring spike for Stars first rounder Ty Dellandrea?
Day 2
NHL draft grades: By taking Ty Dellandrea at No. 13, Stars left 'a lot of skill and speed on the table'
Déjà vu? Stars go back to same well that produced NHL product late in '17 draft
Why the Dallas Stars get the assist for a local product getting picked by the Red Wings in the NHL draft
Meet the new Stars taken on Day 2 of the NHL Draft, including one with a Troy Aikman connection
Stars buck popular opinion again on Day 2 of NHL Draft, go after size and Swedes


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The events of the last couple of weeks hit me harder than a splash of cold water on my face - really more a jump into the Arctic Enema of the Tough Mudder. Breathe. Slap. Eyes. Oh. Walk.
The world makes much less sense as I try to emerge. Recollections of disbelief, scorn, and contempt in my thoughts and words at times in this election cycle: it did not bring out the best in me. I found myself passing judgement on dissimilar people and ideas, whether spoken aloud or not. Strangely those dissimilar people look a lot look me.
Already, I am gaining insight into the complexities that drove people to vote on both sides. Time will undoubtedly reveal much more.
I have come to understand that the majority of the people who voted for Trump did not feel they were voting out of a sense of bigotry. The hardest thing for me to reconcile is how so many people were able to look past the dangers inherent in the words our President-elect spoke.
I bubbled in my vote for the candidate I thought understood the difficulties of running the country, and who I believed would listen to the voices of we, the people. A candidate who would not undo the progress we have made in improving opportunity, equality, and acceptance for people of every skin pigment, culture, religion, LGBTQ status, or forgotten class. My bubble and heart carried my understanding of the best interests of all these people.
I, too, desire change in our government. I want America to turn in a positive financial direction which will benefit everyone. I want my unborn children and neighbors to have more opportunity and prosperity. I want everyone to have safe neighborhoods and a quality education. But at what cost?
I recognize that the affect of Trump's win, seemingly emboldening racists and bigots, was not the intent nor is it the fault of those who elected him. The same words that emboldened these "fringe" elements do strike fear into all the people that they target. Trump's election also gives the impression that the these actual fears for life, liberty, and safety were able to be overlooked by droves of voting Americans.
It causes me emotional pain when I try to empathize with the voices for whom the election result spoke that their lives are not a priority. That fixing a system that re-victimizes sexual assault survivors is unattainable as long as it can be laughed about in private. That terms like civil rights and unconstitutional may be reinterpreted.
I have enough difficulty figuring out how to live my own life, so I try and let people live their own: supporting them, loving them, and trying to give them the agency to make their own decisions. When this life is over, I believe we will each have our own conversation with our Maker. I suppose the Creator will know and decide whether voting for torture, militarization, and leaving refugees to die in their home country was more or less important than a woman's choice to carry a pregnancy to term.
Non Sequitur.
Past. Present. Future. I am a sinner. I am a criminal. I am immoral. I am a hypocrite. If I was not privileged and lucky I would have been jailed. Like so many my voice would be diminished; most opportunities gone. But actually that would place me on equal footing with someone who had a name that sounded 'not white' and no criminal background. That is privilege.
America has been broken for a long time and has probably never been whole. It will not be fixed without everyone's hands and everyone's truth involved.
I came to Thailand to give, to ask, to learn, to understand. I am not better than you. I am not better than them. It is a privilege to have this opportunity. I came to Thailand to share my gifts to help people who are sick. I try to help them see they are important. I try to encourage their spirit so each person has the courage to have hope and to dream who they want to be.
God may speak through me, but largely not through my words. My God is no longer 'white,' and it has surprised me how much power that has to change the message. But She/He still tells me to Just Love and to push for change that helps everyone know they are loved.
about that confederate flag.
As the confederate flag is back in the news and sometimes on my Facebook news feed, I decided to look at a few scholarly articles to constructively deal with my frustration.
"Taking Down the Flag Is Just a Start Toward the Memory - Work of Racial Reconciliation in White Supremacist America" by Joshua F.J. Inwood and Derek Alderman is an article about how complicated dealing with these racist relics really is. But I know we can do it.
Deeper thoughts on how to get rid of the racism, not just the flag..
"As activists and others from across the United States recognize, challenging the legitimacy of publicly displaying Confederate flags and other symbols that legitimize the defense of slavery and white supremacy is certainly the right thing to do. Yet these calls should not be mistaken for a solution to structural inequality" (p10).
"This is the dirty secret of the recent Confederate flag debate that has been lost in much of the public commentary. Namely, that political violence works until it is no longer politically feasible, and when that moment comes the broader public and in particular their elected representatives find it more politically convenient to change the subject by simply cleansing the landscape of troublesome reminders of past injustices. Officials and other elites often invoke feel-good narratives of reconciliation rather than deal with the messy and contradictory realities of white supremacy, racism and genocide" (p12).
"This is true with forgetting as well. The conscious act of forgetting by erasing and avoiding Confederate inspired symbols allows one to seemingly move on from terror and violence while also whitewashing the culpability of certain perpetrators of this historic trauma. Perhaps more destructively, this style of forgetting that releases personal and societal culpability continues to deny the very material existence of an America born from the blood and sinew of a hundred million victimized peoples (p12)"
"...for people of color in the U.S., the geographic reality of systematically denied access to public spaces in the city through violence is central to understanding the socio-spatial politics that surrounds rights claims in urban contexts. The reality of racism to a large degree helps to explain the almost fifteen year battle to remove the Confederate Battle flag from the South Carolina State House grounds. The state's defiant refusal to admit that the flag was a racist tool of intimidation and alienation says a great deal about the long-standing injustices that have limited African Americans from bringing successful claims for truth and reconciliation to their own state capitol (p13)."
TRC = Truth and Reconciliation Commission
"Most importantly, while the proposed TRC would not dismiss the gravity of Confederate symbols, its broader mission would focus attention beyond iconography to uncover and work to remember the memories and legacies of trauma and racialized violence that permeate almost every space within the United States" (p14).


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Framing: What is Microsoft 365?
M365 is a term you'll be hearing more frequently from Microsoft, but for a developer, what does this really mean? In this post I'll show you how you can supercharge your Windows/Cross Platform/Web experience to utilize the vast array of M365 services from Email, Calendar, Excel and Insights.
The first question I often get asked is: "What is M365?"
In a nutshell, M365 is a solution including:
- Office 365
- Windows 10
- EMS (Enterprise Mobility and Security)
If you'd like more details on Microsoft 365, checkout: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365
Microsoft Graph
Tying together the 3 pillars of Microsoft 365 is the Microsoft Graph.
The Microsoft Graph is a set of HTTP endpoints that allows developers to access Microsoft 365 data:
- Azure Active Directory
- Office 365 services: SharePoint, OneDrive, Outlook/Exchange, Microsoft Teams, OneNote, Planner, and Excel
- Enterprise Mobility and Security services: Identity Manager, Intune, Advanced Threat Analytics, and Advanced Threat Protection.
- Windows 10 services: activities and devices
Note: This does require permission and that the user is logged in using a Microsoft account (Hotmail, Outlook or Azure Active Directory)
Microsoft Graph Explorer
Now you know what the Microsoft Graph is, and its relation to Microsoft 365. What can you do with it? The best place to get a deeper understanding is the Microsoft Graph Explorer (https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/graph-explorer). This web site shows you just some of HTTP calls you can make to supercharge your experience.
The nice thing about the Graph Explorer is that you can click on the various sample queries and get a feel for the JSON data you'll get back:
If you want some real fun, then authenticate using your credentials by clicking this:
Once authenticated, you'll be able to use the POST methods too. Be careful though, remember this is a live POST using your account!
If you want some more endpoints, like Teams, OneNote, Outlook, Insights, People etc. Click on the show more samples link at the bottom of the samples
And then a bunch of sample categories slide out from the right
I normally select a few of these when I'm exploring. You might even recognize some of the data that Windows uses, for example features such Windows Timeline and Continue on PC all use the Microsoft Graph in some way.
My favourite is find meeting time:
This removes a big pain when I'm trying to organize a meeting with a lot of people.
Windows Community Toolkit
Another great resource to get you up and running is the Windows Community Toolkit. I won't go into details about the toolkit here (it's a whole new blog post!) but I want to call it out because it has some Graph controls which are super handy, like connecting to AAD.
I hope you enjoyed this brief overview of the Microsoft Graph and I encourage you to try it. It's super simple to play with thanks to the tools mentioned in this post. To learn more about the Microsoft Graph, check out our great docs: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/docs/concepts/overview


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Leaders from across the world are felicitating Imran Khan as he took the oath as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan on Saturday. China Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang appreciated his Pakistani counterpart's positive remarks on supporting the development of China-Pakistan relations. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang congratulated Imran Khan as the new PM of Pakistan. He said he would work ... Read More »
Tag Archives: UN
Bosnian-Croat war convict dies after taking 'poison' in UN court
Bosnian Croat war criminal Slobodan Praljak dies after taking poison in UN courtroom A convicted Bosnian Croat war criminal Slobodan Praljak passed away in hospital after taking 'poison' inside United Nation courtroom. Praljak shouted, "I am not a war criminal!" threw back his head, drank liquid from a small bottle and told the court he had taken poison. A flustered ... Read More »
90,000 Rohingya flee Myanmar – Asia's refugee crisis in the making
Around 90000 Rohingya Muslim refugees arrive in Bangladesh to escape violence A minimum of 90,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since violence erupted in Myanmar during last ten days. The reports have confirmed that more than 400 people have died in the recent unrest, with campaigners accusing the Burmese military accused of committing crimes against humanity. According to the UN's refugee ... Read More »
U.S. pledges $3.5 million to UN Women to prevent violence against women in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD – The United States (U.S.) Department of State and UN Women (the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women) Headquarters signed a three-year agreement, providing a grant of USD 3.5 million to support UN Women Pakistan's initiative: "Prevention and Protection of Women from Violence Through Access to Justice, Services and Safe Public Spaces." This announcement was shared ... Read More »
United Nations Corners to be established in Govt Universities across Pakistan
Swiss Aid Agency and UN will establish United Nations Corners in Government Universities to support students in research and empower young Pakistanis Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) will provide financial assistance to establish the 'United Nations Corners' in all Government universities across Pakistan. Mr. Roger Kull, Deputy Head of Mission of the Swiss Embassy, said: "The United Nations Corner provides ... Read More »
Pakistan demands independent inquiry into Indian atrocity in Kashmir
Peace and normalization between Pakistan and India cannot be achieved without resolution of the Kashmir dispute: PM Nawaz Sharif NEW YORK – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strictly demanded an independent inquiry and a UN fact-finding mission to investigate extra-judicial killings and brutalities by security forces in Indian occupied Kashmir (IOK) to punish those found guilty. In a firm speech at the 71st ... Read More »
Number of drug dependent adults increase first time in six years: Drug Report 2016
Heroin use and related overdose deaths have increased sharply over the last two years in North America and Western and Central Europe World Around five per cent of the adult population, or nearly 250 million people between the ages of 15 and 64, used at least one drug in 2014, according to the latest World Drug Report 2016 by the United Nations ... Read More »
UNIDO launches Sustainable Energy Initiative in Pakistan
Sustainable Energy Initiative for Industries in Pakistan project highlights importance of Renewable Energy and energy efficiency ISLAMABAD – United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has launched a project, Sustainable Energy Initiative for industries in Pakistan, to explore options for renewable energy for the industrial sector and to improve Pakistan's energy efficiency. The launching ceremony of the event was held in Islamabad and ... Read More »
UNHCR doubles grant for Afghan refugees returning home
Commending Pakistan's generosity for hosting one of the world's largest refugee populations, the UNHCR Chief urged global community to support returning Afghans and host communities ISLAMABAD – The United Nations refugee agency has increased assistance package for registered Afghan refugees who were opting to return to Afghanistan under the UNHCR facilitated voluntary return programme. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo ... Read More »
Syria has lost more than 700 doctors to war: UN
"Schools, hospitals, mosques, water stations – they are all being turned into rubble," chief of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria says More than 700 doctors and medical personnel have been killed in attacks on Syrian hospitals since the outbreak of civil war more than five years ago, UN investigators said on Tuesday. Commission chief Paulo Pinheiro told the ... Read More »


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All the Fun of the Fair – Part One
If you work in the design world April means one thing only – Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano – or Milan Design Week. Started in 1961 by an Italian furniture trade association – it's the event for every company that has any input in any interior space. Think Paris and London fashion shows meets the Basel Art Fair by way of the Venice Biennale. Simply put, if your company is not represented in some way or another in Milan in April, you may as well not exist.
Here are some of the standout products launched by Spanish design houses at Milan 2016.
Tres and Lattice by NaniMarquina
Master rug maker Nani Marquina continues with her love for traditional craftsmanship with Tres – a collection of 'Dhurrie Rugs' that pay tribute to the ancient craft of weaving. Three different fibers have been used – wool, felt and cotton – in combinations that work together to form a stylish, and extremely textural whole.
The list of artists and creatives that have collaborated with Marquina over the years is impressive, and one of the more successful partnerships has been with the French siblings Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. Their Lattice rug is simply spectacular; a unique creation that brims in balance, proportion and controlled irregularity. As the Bouroullecs' explain: "Rugs are commonly designed as a surface on which a pattern is distributed. However in the case of Lattice, the pattern is defined as a constructive system to generate the form of the rug itself."
Showtime and Gaulino Easy Chair by B.D Barcelona
The mythical firm B.D. Barcelona is synonymous with Spanish design culture. Not only do the company continue to produce iconic archival pieces by Gaudí and Dalí, but also the contemporary greats of the country's design world.
At Milan 2016, the company presented the Gaulino Easy Chair by Oscar Tusquets, one of the founders of the company. The model is actually a reinterpretation of a chair Tusquets conceived back in 1987, with clear Gaudían influences. It has been tweaked for a modern market, with a lower seat and slightly more robust forms, taking its use away from the dining room to more multi-functional level.
The B.D. Showtime collection by Jaime Hayon is now ten years old. This hugely successful partnership helped break the designer on the international circuit, and consolidated his playful, irreverent language using the finest materials and craftsmanship. This anniversary collection launches new colors, finishes and materials. Hayon's singular style is now entirely recognizable, but still looks as fresh as the day it was born.
Grappy and Mix & Match by Gan
Launched in 2008, Gan is sub division of Gandia Blasco, the Spanish outdoor furniture makers. It was conceived to promote smaller objects with more artisan and handmade qualities, and to celebrate the art of textiles.
Grappy is a fun, ergonomic easychair that is covered in either cotton canvas or velvet. Like classic 'bean bags' they are filled with polystyrene balls that adapt to body shape and position. Grappy was conceived by Kensaku Oshiro, a Milan-based designer with a background in architecture. "I was inspired by an image of a farmer seated on a jute sack," he explains. "What sets it apart is its fluidity and semi-formed silhouette, as well as a flexibility that connect three separate volumes."
Brazilian ceramic and textile designer Flavia del Pra is behind Mix & Match, a collection of nine serving trays made of ceramic with a copper-plated aluminum frame. Their gorgeous patterns seem to have been inspired by 19th century floor tiles, and have multiple uses; "The trays, which can used together, can also be used as platters, as side tables for serving and presenting food, and as pedestals for drawing attention to an art work or exquisite plant," explains the designer, whose love of fusing craft and technology is tangible in this fun collection.


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Featured Maker
Knitter's Backpack
Moon Pouch
Enamel Black Witch Moth Pin
Fiber World News
New Ravelry Policy: June 23, 2019
"We are banning support of Donald Trump and his administration on Ravelry. This includes support in the form of forum posts, projects, patterns, profiles, and all other content."
"We cannot provide a space that is inclusive of all and also allow support for open white supremacy. Support of the Trump administration is undeniably support for white supremacy."
We applaud Ravelry's stance, and are proud to work with them to offer patterns to our community through their in-store pattern sales program.
Hate has no home here.


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social commerce
An Introduction to the Rise of Social Commerce
Josh Wardini discusses the importance of social commerce, which is the ability to make a purchase from an online brand through a social media platform, why this is important and how it can change your business' brand. Read more
A Scaling New Heights Primer - How to Grow Your Business Leveraging Facebook without Spending Money
Facebook is more than just sharing what you ate for dinner or pictures of your children. If used properly, you can leverage Facebook to dramatically increase your business. I am excited to share my stories with you, June 19 at Scaling New Heights '18 Read more
Woodard, Carrie Kahn, Marketing, growing your practice, social commerce, Facebook marketing, brand development, social networking, Scaling New Heights 2018, Social Media, Facebook Training and Live Events


text: NV The Salon is an edgy and creative hair salon with an "industrial chic" decor. Our hip, fun and relaxed ambience allows our "client centric" team to focus on Hair, Lash Extensions, Make-up, Custom Airbrush Tanning and Hair Removal. Our highly experienced, exceptional and passionate stylists love to create the look that our clients will be envied for while enhancing their inner and outer beauty.


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Free webinar:
Inclusive Hiring Practices
December 6th, 12pm-1:30pm ET/9am-10:30am PT (90 minutes)
"Implicit bias" is a term being thrown around a lot these days. And when it comes to hiring, we know it can create a smoke-screen that poses a real threat to our ability to hire the best possible people -- instead setting us up to hire people who we "like the best" or think are a good "cultural fit." It's one of the major factors that cause us to hire people who are like us instead of experiencing the amazing benefits of having a diverse team.
But what actually is implicit bias? How does it show up in hiring processes? And what can we do about it anyway?
This webinar is for anyone who is in a position to hire people, and wants to make sure they're not letting their own biases cloud their ability to make the right decision.
We'll also dig into some simple steps that anyone can take to improve the chances of recruiting and hiring a diverse staff. We're not going to solve all the challenges around fostering diversity in the workplace in this webinar, but you will leave with a handful of specific tools you can use in the context of hiring, and information on how to keep digging deeper to ensure equity across race, gender, disability, and more in your organizations.
The webinar will be presented by:
- Kaytee Ray-Riek, a consultant who has run dozens of hiring processes and now works with progressive organizations around creating brilliant, equitable team cultures, and
- Jeanne Rewa, a specialist in online training and facilitation, offering support as a consultant to social change organizations. Jeanne has years of experience coaching non-profit managers and boards on hiring practices that align with organizational values and help build strong, diverse teams.
How to join: Use the form on this page to sign up. We will provide you with a link to join the webinar. We plan to use Zoom, a free video conferencing software you will be prompted to download when you join.
- I can't attend at that time. Can I get a recording? We are not able to share the webinar video beyond participants in the webinar. We want the training to be a space where people can ask questions and share concerns, without worrying who else might see their questions. However, if the time of the webinar doesn't work for you, you can still fill out the form and we will let you know when the webinar is offered again. If there's enough interest from people who can't make this time, we will plan to offer it again in the near future.
- I've never heard of Zoom before. How does it work? Zoom is a free video conferencing software that works with computers, phones, and tablets. If you have a webcam, we will be able to see you (but you can choose to turn it off if you'd like). We'll also be able to hear you via your computer's microphone, and you can participate in the group chat as well. It's easy to get it working: When you click the link we provide to join the webinar, you will be prompted to download the software. It'll take just a minute or two, and then you'll be up and running. You can give it a trial run by going here. If using zoom on a computer feels too complicated for you, there is also the option to call in, but you will miss out on some of the interactive elements and you won't be able to see the slides.
If you have other questions, feel free to reach out to Kaytee at email@example.com.


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Calling all local artists!
The Devine Street Association is holding its annual Art Stroll and Sidewalk Sale on Saturday August 3rd from 10am – 6pm. The cost is $25 per art vendor, and table and tent must be provided by the artist.
Be sure to bring proper paper work approved by the City of Columbia allowing you to sell your merchandise and be prepared for exposure to thousands of people!
This opportunity is especially lucrative for local artists as the retailers along Devine Street will be having sales and bringing in a large amount of foot traffic and interested buyers.
Registration must be completed before August 1st. Contact Jennifer Suber at email@example.com or 803-608-6161 for details and registration information.
-- Sarah McNabb, Jasper Intern


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The Auravana Project exists to co-create the emergence of community through the openly shared design, construction, and operation of a socio-economically unified network of integrated city systems in which purposefully driven individuals are fulfilled in their development toward a higher potential state of human experience for themselves and all others.
We are designing and developing a highly automated, moneyless society oriented toward human fulfillment and ecological sustainability.
The Project's design specifications detail the logical derivation and technical operation of this system, which we call community.
Rather than assuming only iterative changes within the context of the social and economic systems that are themselves at the root of so many of our challenges, we have embarked on an analysis and redesign of human civilization, starting with the definition of what constitutes a fulfilled society. Instead of trying to patchwork and reform existing systems, we are resolving our many current and impending, self-induced challenges, through a design that renders those challenges obsolete. Through holistic development, conditioning elements that predispose a driving pattern of behavior are shifted toward regenerative, emergent, and global fulfillment of our true potential. Our specified designs for holistic community development address all the major areas that influence human behavior and ecological stability, tracing root issues back to driving structures, and from there to the environmental influences and response mechanisms that cause them. These "blueprints" (a metaphor for our design specifications) then propose new structures for those environmental influences that instead condition and predispose fulfillment-oriented values and life-enhancing systems.
We propose an alternative version of the present that calls for a straightforward redesign of our culture in which the age-old inadequacies of war, poverty, hunger, debt and unnecessary human suffering are viewed not only as avoidable, but as totally unacceptable. Anything less will result in a continuation of the same catalog of problems inherent in modern civilization. Hence, our proposal presents a new and up-to-date socio-economic system that is unlike anything that has ever been tried before -- it describes a society capable of sustaining our mutual fulfillment on this planet that we all share. Hence, we envision a society oriented toward ecological sustainability and the fulfillment of all human need -- a society designed and operated through social cooperation. This is a system that works for all of us and the Earth upon which we depend. Through a [whole] systems approach our design facilitates an understanding and transitioning of complex and interrelated crises toward wide-scale social and environmental regard.
Our proposal offers every individual on the planet a set of highly enriched living opportunities based on that which is possible today (through the union of human fulfillment and scientific possibility), and directed toward a new era of flourishing and sustainability for all. Specifically, our vision involves the construction and operation of a global community network with localized integrated city systems, including a multitude of innovative and environmentally friendly technologies directly applied to our living system. We logically expect the implementation of our proposal to dramatically reduce suffering and violence on the planet, while facilitating the elevation of the well-being of the global population and maximization of everyone's quality of life. Further, the systems design will support our intellectual and emotional adaptation to our new technological age.
The technological empowerment that has made us, for the first time in history, capable of destroying the biosphere, has simultaneously enabled us to provide a quality of life to all people that is higher than anyone experiences today; and to do so in sustainable harmony with the biosphere. Our technological power has given us both the need and the ability, to rapidly evolve our collective values and how we navigate through life as a species. In part, The Auravana Project exists to facilitate and elucidate that evolution.
The project introduces a global redesign of the idea of "community" using many of the principles of what has become commonly known as a "natural law"/resource-based economy (RBE). Herein, all goods and services are available to all people without the need for any form of exchange, including money, credits, or barter. For this to be achieved, fulfillment is cooperatively coordinated and all resources are declared the common heritage of all Earth's inhabitants. Hence, one fundamental premise of our design is that we perceive the Earth's resources as the common heritage of all the world's people. In order to create an abundance in access, the community is intelligently designed to include the tracking of world resources, the application of innovations in science and technology for social and ecological concern, and the accounting of human needs. The system emerges, at the material level, into the co-construction of a network of integrated city systems capable of supporting a community population in sustainable alignment with the carrying capacity of its environment. In order to accomplish this, the project's adaptive design combines an emphasis on individual self-integration with a systems-oriented approach, and an informed reliance on nature's underlying principles.
In an effort to provide the greatest possible clarity and value The Auravana Project has formatted the design for the proposed community (i.e., its logical derivation and technical operation) into a series of 'design specifications'. Each formal specification is both a component of the total design, as well as intended to be a basis for deep reflective consideration of one's own community [or lack thereof]. Together, these "living" specifications represent a replicable, scalable, and comprehensively "useful" model for an intentional need-fulfillment community (composed of an integrated community-city network vs. city-State network) spanning the globe. Of note, these specifications are "living" in that they are continually updated as new information becomes available. The community is not ever established; its design exists in an emergent state, for it evolves as we evolve, which is necessary for our survival and flourishing. In essence, we are [continuously] designing a new system to make the existing system obsolete -- it is our intent to continuously evolve ourselves and the systems of which we are an integral part.
Cooperation and discovery are an inherent part of what it means to be human. The community environment, herein, has been designed to nurture and support the experience and evolution of this understanding. In community, individuals pursue life and learning at their own pace and according to their own interests, passions and preferences. The design for community provides a fulfilling way of looking at (i.e., a perspective of higher potential) the nature of life, learning, work, and human interaction: it represents the potential for a life lived through meaning and purpose. Herein, the designs seek to maintain an essential alignment with humankind's evolving understandings of itself and the world of which humans are a regenerative part. Hence, we propose a design for a global community with a specific function – supporting the well-being of Earth's ecology while improving the standard of living for all inhabitants.
The fulfillment of all sentient beings is an eternal way forward. And so, we have come together to share in our discoveries and evolve our understandings so that our creations align more greatly with the well-being and flourishing of all sentient life on this planet and in the universe. Here, our work contributes to our own fulfillment and brings us joy in life. Our sharing opens new possibilities for inspiration and creation. How we think and work together, and what we do, will ultimately make the difference. Notably, our direction is also in perfect accord with the spiritual aspects and ideals found in most religions throughout the world. What sets our efforts apart, however, is that we propose to translate these ideals into a working reality in the present.
Our comprehensive design specification for community suggests a potential (and evolving) solution to the issues universally plaguing humankind, and could possibly bring about the greatest revolution in living and learning in our modern time. Change on the scale that is required can only be realized when people see and experience a better way. Unless we imagine, though most importantly, explicitly describe (both conceptually and technically) the world we want, how are we going to create it?
Our overall vision for community is an urgent one considering the myriad of perceptible global-societal crises. Candidly speaking, humanity's current modes of operation are unsustainable and its trajectory is (structurally speaking) self-destructive. The problems we see today are not isolated or solvable at the level of the problems themselves; they are the inevitable expressions of the underlying power structures and value systems that drive human behavior to externalize power and harm. When divided ideologically, and separated by borders and beliefs, it is not possible for us to apply relevant solutions to the foundations of society. Here, we recognize that reducing global threats requires the application of evidence rather than personal opinion. We must begin to identify and design in accord with that which we hold in common. Nothing less than a fundamental redesign of global power structures, co-arising with a fundamental paradigm shift in global values and worldview, is adequate to resolve our challenges, avert the otherwise impending catastrophes, and facilitate the emergence of a world commensurate to our true potential. Through community specification we can create the next generation of regenerative and fulfilling human environments wherein individuals develop toward their highest potentials through pursuits in which they are inspired and engaged. Take note that this is not some hazy future system that can't be imagined or understood; it is something that can be conceptually and technically defined.
The community's design has been separated out at a high-level into four principal specifications; each detailing a different primary aspect of its formation and operation, its structure and patterns of coordination. Our proposal for [that which we call] community is composed of:
// These 4 design specifications form an adaptive and unified information model for the implementation and operation of a globally networked (socio-economically defined) community.
Together, the specifications may be said to represent a unified field theory of community; they are a treatise of [every] fulfilled human society (given what is known). At a practical level, they specify the composition and operation of an adaptive 'community' network of socio-economically integrated city systems (and self-integrating individuals). In other words, the four specifications represent a description of that which is required to construct and operate community; and, they provide the reasoning and evidence for why community is so constructed. Here, it is important to note that as we discover new information, we integrate that information into an updated version of our community model. We then re-construct community through the application of the updated model. The evolving spiral-like nature of the system allows us to rapidly overcome insufficiencies in its intended design.
Clarification: We co-design an adaptive information model representative of community > we co-construct and co-operate the specified system > we discover new information > we integrate and update the information model (i.e., we evolve the design), which we then construct and operate, and the process continues. Hence, the specifications are the documentation we use to engineer community, and then re-engineer its designed operation as more information becomes available. Practically speaking, the community is many things operating together deliberately and forming an evolving whole.
Technical language: At the community level there is the open and cooperative formalization of organization and coordination; there is a recognition that resolutions create structural modifications to our environment, which are fed back into our experience of life, causing behavioural changes to us in turn. Hence, the structural coordination logic of community is informed in a shared, explicitly planned, and accountable manner. The structuring of our common environment toward our mutual fulfillment requires the coordination of our tasks and open access to our common information space. Hence, the specifications become a description, a set of reasoning accompanied by visualization and simulation, of how we access and participate in community, while its collaborative design and development structurally coordinates our society for the benefit of all inhabitants.
Our specifications and accompanying project plan form a feasible "plan of action" for social and economic (societal) change that works toward a harmonious and sustainable global society. As contributors to this direction we seek out new ways of thinking and living that emphasize and utilize the vast potential of an existent reality and of the human spirit. We have the tools at hand to design and build a present that is worthy of humanity's potential. Globally, we have the knowledge to accomplish this, which ought to excite anyone who understands this direction. Together we are interested in, and working toward, formulating and formalizing a different kind of society.
Thank you for taking the time and effort to co-create community. Let us all discover and learn our way forward.
Postscript note 1 - There can be a substantial learning curve when it comes to acquiring a comprehensive understanding of what is actually being proposed by the Project. It is important to remember that this community proposal represents an entirely different linguistic worldview than most (if not all) other worldviews present in modern society. Fundamentally, the Community's design describes an entirely divergent way of living and of understanding reality than the many worldviews and socio-economic structures expressed among the current population of the planet. This can present a significant motivating challenge for those interested in this direction. The design specifications are dense in content, and individuals who read them for the first time often feel like they are learning a new language and integrating a new worldview, which takes time and requires internal processing. A contributor, however, does not necessarily have to have a comprehensive understanding of the total system in order to facilitate the evolution of one of its subsystems.
Postscript note 2 - Two alternative ways of composing our purpose/vision statement:
- The Auravana Project exists to co-create a community network of socio-economically integrated city systems through the collaborative design, development, testing, and application of an open and emergent specification informed by purposefully driven individuals fulfilled in their development toward a higher potential dynamic of experience for themselves and all others.
- The Auravana Project exists to collaboratively design, develop, test, and apply an open and emergent specification for the creation of a community network of socio-economically integrated cities (also known as a "natural law"/resource-based economy), where purposefully driven individuals are fulfilled in their development toward their highest potential state of human experience for themselves and all others.


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Unsatisfied with the volume of poorly-made, disposable clothes on offer, Noor Zakka launched her stylish brand of upcycled women's wear NOORISM in 2015. The brand re-purposes used denim to create new, on-trend looks. A graduate of FIT, Zakka's commitment to end fast fashion (and its detrimental effects) doesn't end there. For every item purchased NOORISM donates $5 to CHARITY: WATER since the Fashion industry is the second largest consumer and polluter of water.
How did you become involved in fashion design? I have always been interested in making clothes and sewing. When I was little, I wanted to be a seamstress and when I was in the second grade, I saved up my money to buy a toy sewing machine. In high school I made clothes for myself that my parents didn't allow me to buy. After that, I studied Fashion Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and worked for a few companies after I graduated.
What materials do you most like to work with? I enjoy working with denim because it is a very forgiving fabric as well as very classic and durable. I also source ethical fabrics when I need something besides denim for a particular style.
How does your geographical location influence your aesthetic? Living in Brooklyn is a constant inspiration from seeing what people wear on the street, museum exhibits, collaborations with the creatives and day to day life.
What's been your greatest professional achievement to date? My biggest professional achievement has been starting NOORISM and seeing my upcycled denim pieces in stores and worn by people.
What's one thing people would never guess about you? I drape, make all the patterns and cut and sew all of my samples.
The perfect pout has never looked this good thanks to Runway Rogue the beauty brand brainchild of '90s supermodel Patricia Hartmann.
The Royal Thai Consulate-General New York hosted its annual "Experience Thailand" at Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City. If Thailand is on your bucket list then you'll want to bookmark this!
When it comes to A-list events it doesn't get more fabulous than the launch of Mauricio and Roger Padilha's latest book for Rizzoli; Richard Bernstein: STARMAKER, Andy Warhol's Cover Artist—sponsored by FHI Heat, world-renowned provider of professional hair care products and styling tools.
If you're looking for inspired design this season, look no further than Ana Locking's "Preachers and Believers" collection.
Lady Gaga steps out in Neil J Rodgers' "Daphne" slingback shoe in New York City.
Sidle up to Spring with these eye-popping looks courtesy of makeup artist Samantha Klein.
Hello Kitty is taking Italy by storm thanks to its creative collaboration with Furla.
Behind-the-Scenes with Alexander Moura as she presents I'AM a "reflection of a present shaped by it's past."
Inspired by her mother's battle with breast cancer, designer Maddie Flanigan combines comfort and beauty in her U.S. made lingerie line, Madalynne Intimates.
From stunning dresses to practical ponchos, there's no time like the present to embrace your inner super hero.
From free, wireless charging stations to curated packing lists, here are six travel apps for a stylish and stress-free life-on-the-go.
Inspired by the vast cultural heritage of India, Pariha celebrates the past while looking to the future. We caught up with designer and founder Parinitha Mn, to talk style, substance and sensibility.
If you have a closet full of clothes but nothing to wear, an appointment with fashion stylist Alison Rodman may be just what the doctor ordered.
With a carefully selected team of hair stylists from across the country, FHI Heat created one of this season's most sought after runway looks.
Ready, set, runway! Independent Dutch designer Ebby Port makes her Berlin Fashion Week debut thanks to KALTBLUT Magazine and FashionClash.
Bigger is not always better particularly when it comes to the entrancing designs of Sivan Sova Jewelry.
As Blue Lagoon Skincare hits shelves in the U.S., our Editor-In-Chief traveled to the source to get the low down on this popular Icelandic destination—the good, the blue and the beauty.
Passionate, humble and talented, Tamasese has a clear trajectory for his designs. These are more than items of clothing they are expressions of art.
Actor Karimah Westwood on creativity, validation and working with Hollywood heavyweights.
Celebrity Makeup Artist Hector Simancas wants to help you get lucky in choosing the right mascara.
Debuting with The Frame collection, MERÉ seeks to meld form and function with touch of Russian avant garde expressionism.
We talk to the experts about how to up our style game for fall.
For a country built upon the remnants of prehistoric tectonic plate movements, the Maldives certainly know how to pamper in true 21st Century style.
While it's cooling down for some, it's heating up with Ayra Swim by Genesis Vegas. We talk with founder and creative director Genesis Vegas about style, swimwear and the sweet life.
In the latest fab collab, Timo Weiland has partnered with InterContinental Hotel Group's Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts for a collection created exclusively for hotel team members. We caught up with the minds behind the design to discover their well-guarded travel secrets.
From remnants to ready-to-wear, we catch up with the beauties behind zero-waste label, LIVARI.
Since bringing live streaming to the runway, actually attending fashion week has become "so last season." Has Nicopanda solved fashion week's problems?
Melissa's Galeria in SoHo set the scene for its latest debut, a collaboration with the cool kids of BAJA EAST.
Transformation was the name of this collection and indeed, it's a fitting sentiment for lawyer-turned-designer, Nancy Tran, who debuted this season.


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Although I have not had much time to play thoroughly with the Fujifilm GFX50R yet, I was able to take a few decent snapshots this past weekend. Overall, the IQ is quite superb, color tonality is no less from what I expected (i.e., excellent overall), and the handling is becoming more and more familiar as time goes. It requires more steady hands, but it is relatively easy to get a sharp shot handheld with the camera (as long as you are being careful with the minimum shutter speed, I would personally not go slower than 1/(2-times-the-focal-lenght)).
Here is one of my first portrait taken with GFX50R with the GF63 lens under some bright light conditions and warm tones. For this shot, the face/eye detection was turned on, and it worked well (check the 100% crop below).


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Wanted to share the eggs this year's pullets are laying. Three or four young hens have started producing eggs nearly daily and I think the colors are very nice. My goal is to produce a medium blue egg. The one in the above photo at upper left center is getting close to the color I'd like.
The Ameraucana chicken, like it's cousin the Araucana, lays an egg with a blue tinted shell. There are three egg shell color genes in chickens: white, brown or blue. Shell color is one or a mix of those shades. All the eggs in the above photo have blue in them. The green color is a result of dilution by brown. The depth of color is a function of dilution by white.
When a hen first begins to lay, she produces the deepest shell color. As she continues to lay the color fades. The true egg color of a hen is found in the pullet shells or the shells of eggs made immediately after a hen finishes her molt. While the bird molts, or sheds and regrows much of her feathers, she will not lay.
As a sometime dues paying member of the Ameraucana Breeder's Club, I procured a copy of their Egg Color Reference Chart. Around the edge of the chart are all the known possible colors of egg shells that Ameraucanas produce. To determine the shade, the card is held up to the egg until a close match is found. To me, some of the colors are so similar that it is difficult to differentiate between them when comparing to an egg. The best I can tell, my blue egg is similar to B2. This would mean something to another Ameraucana breeder. The shade in the center of the card surrounding the rooster is the ideal blue that all breeders hope to attain.
There are eleven pullets from this year's breeding program, so I am waiting for most of them to begin laying. It will be exciting to see what the rest can do! I have been selectively breeding for the best egg color for many years and I feel my efforts are beginning to show success.


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Author: Joe Barr
In case you missed it, the Pizza Party project was featured in a Slashdot article last week entitled "Pizza From The Command Line".
Please note the raison d'être given in the README, "This software is written for people who spend so much time at the command-line that they don't have time to pick up the phone and call Dominos, or even to go thru the many-step process of using Dominos web interface."
It's clear that the project was designed for stone-cold, hard core, living on the edge CLI types, not occasional visitors from the land of bloated clicks-and-more-clicks. Why, part of the target audience is bound to be those nearly divine and mystical techno-dweebs known as "System Admins." But I look out for you noobies, see. So I got special permission to share this program with you.
The pizza_party script requires Perl be installed, of course, and also the follow six specific Perl modules:
- LWP::UserAgent
- HTTP::Request
- HTTP::Response
- HTTP::Cookies
- URI::Escape
- Getopt::Mixed
Meeting those those six module dependencies on my system was as easy as installing one additional package: perl-GetOpt-Mixed. Your experience may vary depending on what comes installed as standard on your system. The perl-libwww-perl package, already installed on my system, provides the first four, and the perl-URI package provides URI::Escape.
Once you have all those dependencies met, installation is easy. Just decompress the pizza_package tarball and move the script to a directory in your path. On my system, /usr/local/bin is one possibility. Then move the file in the man subdirectory created when you decompressed the tarball into a man1 directory, like /usr/local/man/man1.
One final hurdle
The last hurdle is one you may not be able to get over: noobie or not. I couldn't. You need to live or work in an area where a Domino Pizza retail outlet takes online orders. Out here in the barrio south of Austin and west of Uhland, we have no pizza delivery available, from Domino's or anyone else.
You can find out if you have Domino delivery service available to you by visiting this site and entering your zip code. If you do, the next step is to register for an account. When you have, you're almost ready to use Pizza Party.
Finally, create a .pizza_partyrc file in your home directory with your username and password obtained from the account creation process in it. Something like this:
Let's Eat
There are a few key arguments you should know before ordering your first pizza. For the rest of the options, try "man pizza_party". Here are the essentials:
- [-o|–onions]
- [-g|–green-peppers]
- [-m|–mushrooms]
- [-v|–olives]
- [-t|–tomatoes]
- [-h|–pineapple]
- [-x|–extra-cheese]
- [-d|–cheddar-cheese]
- [-p|–pepperoni]
- [-s|–sausage]
- [-w|–ham]
- [-b|–bacon]
- [-e|–ground-beef]
- [-c|–grilled-chicken]
- [-z|–anchovies]
- [-u|–extra-sauce]
So to order a medium sausage with mushrooms, green peppers, and extra cheese pizza on a thin crust you would enter the following at the command line:
pizza_party -smgx 1 medium thin
You're done. Should be there in half an hour. Unless, of course, you're like me and don't live in the promised land.
What's the point?
Isn't it kind of silly to go to all this trouble just to be able to order a pizza, when you can do it from the web or by phone? Well, yes and no. It's true that a single vendor solution such as we have here is limited in scope. And perhaps other food groups should be considered as well as just pizza. But that's not really the point.
The point is that this program - silly or not - was written to save time by using the command line instead of the GUI to accomplish a specific task. As much as some would have you believe otherwise, the GUI is not always the best solution. You might be surprised to learn all the things which are quicker and easier from the CLI. Remember, the GUI is an aid, not an end-all and a be-all. When it makes sense to use the CLI, those who know enough to use it, do use it.
And that's the point.