text:
Writings On Developing the Best Versions of Our Relationships:
Interpersonal Relationships | Families & Parenting | Romantic Relationships | Neighborliness | Strangers | Posture Towards Human Beings | Healthy Intimacy & Connection | Vulnerability | Conflict Resolution | Responses to Unhealthy Relationships - Boundaries & Oppression / Violence
Nine months later, I'm reflecting on the letter I wrote to my firstborn child on his first day of school.
How to start an interaction by saying, "You."
A reflection on death to inform how we live in the present.
Knowing your attachment style and how to live healthily with it.
How direct communication can improve your relationships.
What it means to be a people pleaser and what we should do for a healthier life.
A Comprehensive Communication Principle For Anyone Who Leads, Speaks, Writes, or Has a Relationship With Another Human Being
Owning the transitions that make up the story of your existence — be in tune with the ebb and flow.
A technical guide to what makes true community.
Stop Disagreeing - Do This Instead
Our relationships don't stay the same. This usually causes frustration...but it shouldn't
The One Requirement For Changing Your Perspective
[8 minute read] - We often want to change other people - so what is the healthiest way to do so?
Here's the quick version to accomplish change.
Why we might reach different conclusions with all the same data.
Our society has become increasingly disconnected.
And that has created a dysfunctional problem.
Intaking information must lead to embodiment. This is what it means to truly learn.
How to see everything as "important" and able to teach us.
A thought on the importance of vulnerability.
Anytime you create something, it should be like a love letter.


text: A classic boy's kurta. Made in pajamas printed 100% Cotton fabric. Band collar, placket opening with small buttons. Turn up sleeves with tab detail with buttons. Small side slits. An evergreen, elegant and traditional style for any season. Pair it up with shorts, jeans or ethnic pajamas. Color- Off white

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Disclaimer: My apologies to the fine people who, unlike me, actually write source control systems.
If I asked you to write a source control system, you might say: "Pff. That's easy dude! Just store a copy of the document every time make a change. When you need a particular revision, you just access that copy of the document". And although your system would work, I'd say: Think about it!
Storing a full copy of the document for every change is wasteful; revision changes are small: a line of text here and a line of text there. Why would you store a full copy of the document just for a small change?
At this point you may be tempted to say: "Well, then just store the original document, and store the changes as small delta files. We can then apply the deltas to get you any revision you want.". This, of course, is a much better solution as far as storage is concerned; however, I'd still say: Think about it!
Under normal circumstances, users access the most recent revision of a document far more often than any other revision. Furthermore, storing the original document and applying all of its changes is computationally expensive. It would then seem that having to apply all these deltas for our most common operation is a bad idea. Seeing this, how can we further improve our syste?
Well, how about we store the most recent version of the document instead of the original? This would mean we would have to store deltas to take us all the way back to the original version, but that's OK - it's not much different than what we were thinking about doing before. However, with this change, we can now perform our most common operation (return the current version of a document) in constant time. Also, the expensive operation (returning an older version of the document) now occurs on rare occasions. Better, huh?
And now that I'm out of ideas for our source control system, I'm going to go back and "Think about it!", a little bit more, because I'm sure there's still lots of room for improvement.
25 November, 2008
Think About It!
Disclaimer: My apologies to the fine people who, unlike me, actually write source control systems.
posted by Unknown at 20:28 2 comments
20 November, 2008
Spell Checking The Right Way
In my fun-as-a-rock database class I recently got an assignment to correct misspellings in a file full with city names.
Now, there's two ways to do spell checking: the Microsoft way, and the Google way. Care to guess which is the wrong way to do it? Yup, you got it: the Microsoft way sucks! Ok, maybe it didn't suck back in the 17th century when Spanish Monks were doing all the spell checking known to mankind (which I think consisted of 3 or 4 individuals that actually knew how to read, or cared about spelling for that matter).
So, if the Microsoft spell checker and the Google spell checker could talk, what would they say?
Microsoft would say: Listen buster! My dictionary contains all the correct words in the universe; either you comply or you don't. Got it?
Google would say: What do I know about spelling? I'm just trying to figure out a way to make more money from all this content I just indexed. Oh, and by the way, that word you just typed, it look awful close to this other word I see a lot in my index. Is that what you meant?
The problem with the Microsoft approach should be obvious, but it's important to point out that the Google approach is not without faults either.
The biggest problem with the Google approach is that to some extent it's a form of crowdsourcing. If your crowd can't spell, then you're toast.
Last, but not least, I'd just like to show you some pseudo code on how I implemented my spell checker:
- Read all the city names in the file while keeping track of every variation we've seen and how many times we'v seen it (in a hash, dictionary, etc). Take the most popular spelling for each city, and call that the correct spelling.
- To correct word X, calculate its edit distance to all the correct spellings. Chances are word X is really the "correct spelling" it mostly resembles.
- Figure out what do if you've never seen X before.
Disclaimer: I would just like it to be known that I'm in no way a MS hater; in fact, I'm somewhat of a MS fan. I'd also like it to be known that I'm not a Google fan boy; in fact, I'm a little afraid of them - they read my email, and I'm sure they're the new federal agency that's in charge of spying on citizens.
posted by Unknown at 21:37 0 comments
18 November, 2008
How To Be A Better Programmer
Glen Wagley, after reading my post on pair programming said to me: "I understand what you mean about cutting corners. But I don't do it anymore; it's not worth it".
That was a slap in the face. Here I am blogging about ways to be a better programmer, yet I still cut corners myself.
All of this lead me to think that the number one thing you can do to become a better programmer is to have courage and integrity: if you see code that needs to be refactored, refactor it; if you know you need to throw away some of your code, don't be hesitant and throw it away; write your unit tests first; write your documentation... you get the idea: do those things you know you should do even though you don't you don't always want to.
I guess what' I'm trying to say, if you're Mormon, CTR. If you're not Mormon, please contact your local LDS missionaries; they'll be glad to teach you what CTR means. Seriously, however, it's sad that we have sites like The Daily WTF were we laugh about the crap we, so called "pros", write. I know that the profession is new, but that should be no excuse; I don't see a site where surgeons laugh about all the times they've left scissors inside their patients (OK, I really haven't searched and there's probably one out there). I realize we all make honest mistakes, but we should draw the line somewhere.
Now that I'm done ranting, and while I'm on the topic, here's a list of other things you could do to become a better programmer (in no particular order): learn other languages & platforms other than the one you currently use; learn to write good prose (in more than one language?); learn to touch type (as Steve Yegge suggests here); read tons of technical books and even more non-technical books; learn how to market your ideas; be humble and learn from others (regardless of their title/position); use a text editor effectively...
I have a ton of these, but I'd rather hear from you now. What do you do to become a better programmer?
Update: Since writing this article, a good buddy of mine wrote a rather inspirational story on standing up for what's right. If you so desire, you can find said story here.
posted by Unknown at 18:08 2 comments
15 November, 2008
Brevity In Code
Yes, I'm going to try to convince you to write less code. But, this should be an easy feat; I have Shakespeare also advocating my cause:
Brevity is the soul of wit.
Shakespeare's truism is readily apparent in good code: code that expresses complex concepts in succinct statements is beautiful and worthy of admiration. For several reasons, all other things being equal, smaller code is better code.
Fewer lines of code mean less bugs and lower maintenance cost. There are, however, other less apparent reasons for which you should try to write as little as possible:
- You won't fall pray to the temptation of writing code that's not immediately necessary. In other words, you'll be YAGNI compliant. :)
- It is better to be thought a fool than to write code and remove all doubt. Joking aside, however, the more you write, the more likely you're to make a mistake.
- You won't get locked into poor decisions. I was watching Abrams & Cwalina speak at PDC today. One of their comments really struck me: they said, and I'm paraphrasing, that refactoring and correcting design mistakes in frameworks is harder when you have more code than what's absolutely necessary. Specifically, they regretted adding a public constructor to the System.Exception base class. That's it! Just one public constructor too many! And although they wish they could change it, they simply can't. If you make a poor decision, you'll have to maintain it.
- You're less likely to repeat yourself. Or, to phrase this positively, you'll be DRY compliant.
- Finally, by writing less code, you'll avoid the temptation to over engineer your solutions.
Learning to be concise in code is hard; it takes effort and patience. You'll have to refactor ruthlessly and mercilessly, but it will be worth the effort. Even though you won't have much code to show off, you'll be proud of it.
posted by Unknown at 16:42 0 comments
13 November, 2008
Character Encoding Utility
Have you ever heard of tracer ammunition? Well, this post is kind of a tracer post. In a minute you'll see why.
I recently wrote a small utility to change the character encoding of very large files. I'm thinking about writing a GUI for my utility and making it freely available. Yup, that's right for free.
Except, before I go through the trouble of writing the GUI, I'd thought I'd find out if there's any interest in such tool or not. If you're here, reading this, that's enough to tell me you're interested. Now, if you really need it right now, email me and I'll be happy to send you the command line tool.
And now you know why this is a tracer post. See? I did learn something from The Pragmatic Programmer! Or from The 4 Hour Workweek. Take your pick; they're both excellent books.
posted by Unknown at 17:26 1 comments
06 November, 2008
Benefits (And Costs) of Pair Programming
I really enjoy pair programming, and so I thought I'd write about some of the benefits I've seen from pair programming.
Pair programming increases job satisfaction. Believe it or not, I crave the interaction with other geeks; I need the mental stimulus that comes from talking with my peers.
Pair programing increases code quality and decreases bug counts. I take pride in my craft; I like to write good code. Unfortunately, under pressure I cut corners all over the place (telling myself I'll refactor later). However, when I have someone watching over my shoulder, it's a lot harder for me to write hacky code.
But having someone watch what I'm doing isn't just about the guilt trip. I also appreciate having someone immediately available to discuss ideas and to steer me away from potential problems. This alone literally saves me hours in wasted effort.
Pair programming makes better programmers. I can't even begin to tell you how much I've learned from sitting next to someone while they code. Now, I must admit, probably 90% of what I've learned has little or nothing to do with programming. But it doesn't matter! Believe it or not, programming is a social activity; to put it simply, good code cannot be developed in isolation.
Pair programming makes programmers "faster". I honestly feel I'm 3 times more effective when I'm pair programming than when I'm sitting by myself in my cube. This is probably because when I'm stuck, or I have a question, I have someone immediately available to help. Also, there's a bit of added pressure to be faster since every hour at the keyboard is really 2 man hours at the keyboard.
Now, what if I told you that all of these benefits come with a fairly low cost? Well, the good news is that they do: according to this study, the cost is only about 15% increase in development time. Not bad, huh?
So, if you're still not pair programming, go talk to your boss and start practicing now. You won't regret it!
posted by Unknown at 19:23 4 comments
04 November, 2008
Easy Background Tasks in ASP.NET
Disclaimer: Admittedly, I got this idea from Jeff Atwood, but I think I've improved on it quite a bit.
At work I have an ASP.NET application that needs to check whether the Department of Treasury has published a new OFAC list (a list of people with whom we can't do business). If there's a new list, we need to parse it, store it, and make sure that none of our customers have popped up on the new list.
In phase 2, we plan to move this functionality into a windows service, but for now this is how I made this all happen in the background:
First, we start with the interface for our worker objects:
public interface IAsyncWorker
//the name of the worker object
string Name { get; }
//return the next time the object should run
DateTime AbsoluteExpirationTime { get; }
//does the actual work the worker needs to do
void DoWork();
Now, all we have to do is simply:
- Add an implementation of our IAsyncWorker to the HttpRuntime.Cache.
- When the cache item expires, call the worker's DoWork() method.
- Add your worker item to the cache again so that it runs again.
If you follow the above steps you should end up with something like:
private static CacheItemRemovedCallback OnCacheRemoved = null;
protected void Application_Start(object sender, EventArgs e)
AddAsyncTask(new BlacklistWorker()); //BlacklistWorker implements IAsyncWorker, of course
private void AddAsyncTask(IAsyncWorker worker)
OnCacheRemove = new CacheItemRemovedCallback(CacheItemRemoved);
HttpRuntime.Cache.Insert(worker.Name, worker, null,
worker.AbsoluteExpirationTime, Cache.NoSlidingExpiration,
CacheItemPriority.NotRemovable, OnCacheRemoved);
public void CacheItemRemoved(string workerName, object worker, CacheItemRemovedReason r)
IAsyncWorker asyncWorker = worker as IAsyncWorker;
if(null != asyncWorker)
I like this version better than Jeff's because it removes all conditional statements the CacheItemRemoved() method would have had if we had not created and IAsyncWorker interface.
This has been working great in our initial tests, but we still plan to move this to an external windows service at some point.
We're not worried about running out of threads (the thread does come out of the AppPool), since our task only needs to run every 24 hours. However, you might run into issues if you need your code to execute under a different identity than the threads in the AppPool.
This is a great technique: it gives you the ability to do async tasks with very little overhead.
posted by Unknown at 18:09 0 comments
01 November, 2008
Linq To Sql Debugger Visualizer
I usually try not to just post links to someone else's content, but the LINQ To SQL Debug Visualizer deserves an exception.
The LINQ debugger is great; it saves you the trouble of having to use something like LINQPad - another great product I wish I had written, and lets you see what your LINQ query will look like in SQL and what it will return.
If you're like me, you'll be shocked you hadn't heard about this VS plugin before.
Note: A big thanks to Alex Greenfield for showing me this tool.
posted by Unknown at 20:54 0 comments


text:
About the event
Three four-day courses on using photography for storytelling, delivered in collaboration with award-winning charity PhotoVoice. This course is intended for beginners and people completely new to photography, or who have some photographic experience but would like to learn how to use photography as a tool of communication.
A combination of technical photographic skills will be delivered alongside visual literacy, to ensure Members not only gain the relevant skills to progress in photography, but help to them to find stories and themes to use in their photos along the way.
Whats involved?
Open to all Members who have started or would like to start photography
All equipment will be supplied
- Will I need my own camera?
No, all camera equipment will be supplied for the duration of the course.
- Will it cost me to attend?
Blesma activities are free to all Members – the only expense is getting yourself to and from the initial meeting point. If funding your travel costs could be a problem, speak to your BSO.
- What is the selection process?
The activities selection process is done on a needs basis. Those who will benefit the most from attending an activity will be given priority. This is done on the recommendation of their BSO. Those Members who have not attended any activities before, or who have not attended that particular type of activity before are considered next. Once the initial list is selected, all other applicants go on the reserve list. Should someone drop out, the same process is applied to select someone from the reserve list.
- How much notice will I be given?
Currently, Members who are selected to take part in an activity are given three months' notice. If this notice period is increased, it is highly likely that the drop-out rate will also increase. If you are selected from the reserve list, your notification will depend on when the person whose place you are taking dropped out. This is why we ask Members to contact the Activities Team as soon as they become aware that they will not be able to attend an activity. In doing so. That way, we have the best opportunity to offer the place to another Member.
- How does the reserve list work?
Being on the reserve list does not automatically mean you will not get to attend the activity. In 2017, 54 per cent of people selected for an activity dropped out, meaning that almost half of attendees for all activities were selected from the reserve list. In 2017, 97 per cent of slots were filled despite the high drop-out rate. The remaining three per cent were mostly last-minute cancellations that were too late notice to fill (i.e. the day before).
- I have never been on a Blesma activity?
Currently, only 4.3 per cent of Members apply for activities. If you are one of the 95.7 per cent who hasn't been on an activity before, perhaps because you have concerns about how you will cope, or you don't know what to expect, please get in touch with either your BSO or the Activities Team directly on 020 8548 3519. They can advise on what might be suitable for you.
- Who will lead the activity?
Blesma Support Officers and Outreach Officers lead the events. In addition, of around 50 activities run in 2017, 22 were led by Members. We rely on Members volunteering to lead an activity, so if you are interested in doing that – please let us know! Do note that you will need to be qualified for some events.
- Am I deserving of a Blesma activity, what if others are more in need?
We do not discriminate! Activities are there for all Members and Widows to enjoy.
Contact Us
For more information please contact the Activities Team.
Tel: 0208 548 7094
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
So Now What?
Unless you're living under a rock (in which case, how are you using a computer?), you've probably heard all about the new health care coverage plan – not so affectionately dubbed Obamacare – that the Supreme Court voted on yesterday. It's a confusing and divisive issue but I really do think that knowledge is power (cue 90's inspirational message here) so I'm hoping I can help clear up some of that here. Below is text from a website that I frequent and I believe it breaks down this health care plan so most anyone can understand the basics. I know it's long and a lot of it might be dry reading (not everything is 50 Shades of Grey) but this is important stuff and it affects you whether you like it or not. Besides, if these insanely hot temperatures persist over the next few years, you might start using your health insurance more than you can now imagine. So go ahead and learn a little more about it.
Okay, explained like you're a five year-old (well, okay, maybe a bit older), without too much oversimplification, and (hopefully) without sounding too biased:
What people call "Obamacare" is actually the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. However, people were calling it "Obamacare" before everyone even hammered out what it would be. It's a term mostly used by people who don't like the PPACA, and it's become popularized in part because PPACA is a really long and awkward name, even when you turn it into an acronym like that.
Anyway, the PPACA made a bunch of new rules regarding health care, with the purpose of making health care more affordable for everyone. Opponents of the PPACA, on the other hand, feel that the rules it makes take away too many freedoms and force people (both individuals and businesses) to do things they shouldn't have to.
So what does it do? Well, here is everything, in the order of when it goes into effect (because some of it happens later than other parts of it):
(Note: Page numbers listed in citations are the page numbers within the actual document, not the page numbers of the PDF file)
Already in effect:
- It allows the Food and Drug Administration to approve more generic drugs (making for more competition in the market to drive down prices) ( Citation: An entire section of the bill, called Title VII, is devoted to this, starting on page 747 )
- It increases the rebates on drugs people get through Medicare (so drugs cost less) ( Citation: Page 216, sec. 2501 )
- It establishes a non-profit group, that the government doesn't directly control, PCORI, to study different kinds of treatments to see what works better and is the best use of money. ( Citation: Page 665, sec. 1181 )
- It makes chain restaurants like McDonalds display how many calories are in all of their foods, so people can have an easier time making choices to eat healthy. ( Citation: Page 499, sec. 4205 )
- It makes a "high-risk pool" for people with pre-existing conditions. Basically, this is a way to slowly ease into getting rid of "pre-existing conditions" altogether. For now, people who already have health issues that would be considered "pre-existing conditions" can still get insurance, but at different rates than people without them. ( Citation: Page 30, sec. 1101, Page 45, sec. 2704, and Page 46, sec. 2702 )
- It forbids insurance companies from discriminating based on a disability, or because they were the victim of domestic abuse in the past (yes, insurers really did deny coverage for that) ( Citation: Page 47, sec. 2705 )
- It renews some old policies, and calls for the appointment of various positions.
- It creates a new 10% tax on indoor tanning booths. ( Citation: Page 923, sec. 5000B )
- It says that health insurance companies can no longer tell customers that they won't get any more coverage because they have hit a "lifetime limit". Basically, if someone has paid for health insurance, that company can't tell that person that he's used that insurance too much throughout his life so they won't cover him any more. They can't do this for lifetime spending, and they're limited in how much they can do this for yearly spending. ( Citation: Page 14, sec. 2711 )
- Kids can continue to be covered by their parents' health insurance until they're 26. ( Citation: Page 15, sec. 2714 )
- No more "pre-existing conditions" for kids under the age of 19. ( Citation: Page 45, sec. 2704 and Page 57, sec. 1255 )
- Insurers have less ability to change the amount customers have to pay for their plans. ( Citation: Page 47, sec. 2794 )
- People in a "Medicare Gap" get a rebate to make up for the extra money they would otherwise have to spend. ( Citation: Page 379, sec. 3301 )
- Insurers can't just drop customers once they get sick. ( Citation: Page 14, sec. 2712 )
- Insurers have to tell customers what they're spending money on. (Instead of just "administrative fee", they have to be more specific).
- Insurers need to have an appeals process for when they turn down a claim, so customers have some manner of recourse other than a lawsuit when they're turned down. ( Citation: Page 42, sec. 2719 )
- Anti-fraud funding is increased and new ways to stop fraud are created. ( Citation: Page 699, sec. 6402 )
- Medicare extends to smaller hospitals. ( Citation: Starting on page 344, the entire section "Part II" seems to deal with this )
- Medicare patients with chronic illnesses must be monitored more thoroughly.
- Reduces the costs for some companies that handle benefits for the elderly. ( Citation: Page 492, sec. 4202 )
- A new website is made to give people insurance and health information. (I think this is it: http://www.healthcare.gov/ ). ( Citation: Page 36, sec. 1103 )
- A credit program is made that will make it easier for business to invest in new ways to treat illness by paying half the cost of the investment. (Note – this program was temporary. It already ended) ( Citation: Page 830, sec. 9023 )
- A limit is placed on just how much of a percentage of the money an insurer makes can be profit, to make sure they're not price-gouging customers. ( Citation: Page 22, sec. 1101 )
- A limit is placed on what type of insurance accounts can be used to pay for over-the-counter drugs without a prescription. Basically, your insurer isn't paying for the Aspirin you bought for that hangover. ( Citation: Page 800, sec. 9003 )
- Employers need to list the benefits they provided to employees on their tax forms. ( Citation: Page 800, sec. 9002 )
- Any new health plans must provide preventative care (mammograms, colonoscopies, etc.) without requiring any sort of co-pay or charge. ( Citation: Page 14, sec. 2713 )
- If you make over $200,000 a year, your taxes go up a tiny bit (0.9%). Edit: To address those who take issue with the word "tiny", a change of 0.9% is relatively tiny. Any look at how taxes have fluctuated over the years will reveal that a change of less than one percent is miniscule, especially when we're talking about people in the top 5% of earners. ( Citation: Page 818, sec. 9015 )
This is when a lot of the really big changes happen.
- No more "pre-existing conditions". At all. People will be charged the same regardless of their medical history. ( Citation: Page 45, sec. 2704, Page 46, sec. 2701, and Page 57, sec. 1255 )
- If you can afford insurance but do not get it, you will be charged a fee. This is the "mandate" that people are talking about. Basically, it's a trade-off for the "pre-existing conditions" bit, saying that since insurers now have to cover you regardless of what you have, you can't just wait to buy insurance until you get sick. Otherwise no one would buy insurance until they needed it. You can opt not to get insurance, but you'll have to pay the fee instead, unless of course you're not buying insurance because you just can't afford it. (Note: On 6/28/12, the Supreme Court ruled that this is Constitutional, as long as it's considered a tax on the uninsured and not a penalty for not buying insurance… nitpicking about wording, mostly, but the long and short of it is, it looks like this is accepted by the courts) ( Citation: Page 145, sec. 5000A, and here is the actual court ruling for those who wish to read it. )
Question: What determines whether or not I can afford the mandate? Will I be forced to pay for insurance I can't afford?
Answer: There are all kinds of checks in place to keep you from getting screwed. Kaiser actually has a webpage with a pretty good rundown on it, if you're worried about it. You can see it here.
Okay, have we got that settled? Okay, moving on…
- Small businesses get some tax credits for two years. (It looks like this is specifically for businesses with 25 or fewer employees) ( Citation: Page 138, sec. 1421 )
- Businesses with over 50 employees must offer health insurance to full-time employees, or pay a penalty.
- Insurers now can't do annual spending caps. Their customers can get as much health care in a given year as they need. ( Citation: Page 14, sec. 2711 )
- Limits how high of an annual deductible insurers can charge customers. ( Citation: Page 62, sec. 1302 )
- Cut some Medicare spending
- Place a $2500 limit on tax-free spending on FSAs (accounts for medical spending). Basically, people using these accounts now have to pay taxes on any money over $2500 they put into them. ( Citation: Page 801, sec. 9005 )
- Establish health insurance exchanges and rebates for the lower and middle-class, basically making it so they have an easier time getting affordable medical coverage. ( Citation: Page 88, sec. 1311 )
- Congress and Congressional staff will only be offered the same insurance offered to people in the insurance exchanges, rather than Federal Insurance. Basically, we won't be footing their health care bills any more than any other American citizen. ( Citation: Page 81, sec. 1312 )
- A new tax on pharmaceutical companies.
- A new tax on the purchase of medical devices.
- A new tax on insurance companies based on their market share. Basically, the more of the market they control, the more they'll get taxed.
- The amount you can deduct from your taxes for medical expenses increases.
- Doctors' pay will be determined by the quality of their care, not how many people they treat. Edit: a_real_MD addresses questions regarding this one in far more detail and with far more expertise than I can offer in this post. If you're looking for a more in-depth explanation of this one (as many of you are), I highly recommend you give his post a read.
- If any state can come up with their own plan, one which gives citizens the same level of care at the same price as the PPACA, they can ask the Secretary of Health and Human Resources for permission to do their plan instead of the PPACA. So if they can get the same results without, say, the mandate, they can be allowed to do so. Vermont, for example, has expressed a desire to just go straight to single-payer (in simple terms, everyone is covered, and medical expenses are paid by taxpayers). ( Citation: Page 98, sec. 1332 )
- All health care plans must now cover preventive care (not just the new ones).
- A new tax on "Cadillac" health care plans (more expensive plans for rich people who want fancier coverage).
- The elimination of the "Medicare gap"
Aaaaand that's it right there.
The biggest thing opponents of the bill have against it is the mandate. They claim that it forces people to buy insurance, and forcing people to buy something is unconstitutional. Personally, I take the opposite view, as it's not telling people to buy a specific thing, just to have a specific type of thing, just like a part of the money we pay in taxes pays for the police and firemen who protect us, this would have us paying to ensure doctors can treat us for illness and injury.
Plus, as previously mentioned, it's necessary if you're doing away with "pre-existing conditions" because otherwise no one would get insurance until they needed to use it, which defeats the purpose of insurance.
Whew! Hope that answers the question!
Edits: Fixing typos.
Edit 2: Wow… people have a lot of questions. I'm afraid I can't get to them now (got to go to work), but I'll try to later.
Edit 3: Okay, I'm at work, so I can't go really in-depth for some of the more complex questions just now, but I'll try and address the simpler ones. Also, a few I'm seeing repeatedly:
- For those looking for a source… well, here is the text of the bill, all 974 pages of it (as it sits currently after being amended multiple times). I can't point out page numbers just now, but they're there if you want them.
- The website that was to be established, I think, is http://www.healthcare.gov/.
- A lot of people are concerned about the 1/1/2015 bit that says that doctors' pay will be tied to quality, not quantity. Because so many people want to know more about this, I've sought out what I believe to be the pertinent sections (From Page 307, section 3007). It looks like this part alters a part of another bill, the Social Security Act, passed a long while ago. That bill already regulates how doctors' pay is determined. The PPACA just changes the criteria. Judging by how professionals are writing about it, it looks like this is just referring to Medicaid and Medicare. Basically, this is changing how much the government pays to doctors and medical groups, in situations where they are already responsible for pay.
Edit 4: Numerous people are pointing out I said "Medicare" when I meant "Medicaid". Whoops. Fixed (I think).
Edit 5: Apparently I messed up the acronym (initialism?). Fixed.
Edit 6: Fixed a few more places where I mixed up terms (it was late, I was tired). Also, for everyone asking if they can post this elsewhere, feel free to.
Edit 7: Okay, I need to get to work. Thanks to everyone for the kind comments, and I hope I've addressed the questions most of you have (that I can actually answer). I just want to be sure to say, I'm just a guy. I'm no expert, and everything I posted here I attribute mostly to Wikipedia or the actual bill itself, with an occasional Google search to clarify stuff. I am absolutely not a difinitive source or expert. I was just trying to simplify things as best I can without dumbing them down. I'm glad that many of you found this helpful.
Edit 8: Wow, this has spread all over the internet… and I'm kinda' embarrassed because what spread included all of my 2AM typos and mistakes. Well, it's too late to undo my mistakes now that the floodgates have opened. I only hope that people aren't too harsh on me for the stuff I've tried to go back and correct.
Edit 9: Added a few citations (easy-to-find stuff). But I gotta' run, so the rest will have to wait.
Edit 10: Adding a few more citations (it'll probably take me a while to get to all of them) and a few more additional entries as well.
Edit 11: Tons more citations!
Edit 12: I updated this with a reference to the recent court ruling on the mandate, and address the question everyone seems to be asking about it ("What if I can't afford to buy insurance?")
Edit 13: Okay, I've started up a "Obamacare" Point-By-Point, where I'm starting to go through the bill point by point and summarize it in the same order that everything is actually in the bill, so that hopefully, when I'm done, you can just use my version as a sort of Cliff's Notes version of the bill. Whether or not I continue doing this depends on how much interest people have in it, but I figured I'd let you guys know about it here.
Edit 14: Adding in a few more citations and spelling/grammar edits.
Full source for even more information
I think when you get down to it, most everyone will be in favor of at least certain aspects of this bill. I think it's sad that certain politicians will do or say anything to get one of their own back in the White House, even if it means distorting pieces of new legislation. The best thing the general public can do is to keep ourselves informed, so hopefully this post will help you do just that!


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(Top Ten Tuesday) • Most Anticipated Books of 2019
Just like always, the new year is full of amazing book releases. In today's TTT I'm going to share my twenty most anticipated books with you. I know I was supposed to post this on Tuesday, but things came up… Anyway, I still wanted to post it, so here are my most anticipated books of 2019, in no particular order! Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme organised by That Artsy Reader Girl.
King of Scars | Ninth House | The Tyrant's Tomb | In an Absent Dream
Wayward Son | Dragon Pearl | Superman: Dawnbreaker | Aurora Rising
A Question of Holmes | The Rise of Kyoshi | The Vanishing Stair | Pumpkin Heads
Last of Her Name | Romanov | Renegades #3 * | We Hunt the Flame
* This is not at all a final cover nor title for this book, I think it's a fanmade German cover…
These Witches Don't Burn | The Princess and the Fangirl | The Song of Death | Tunnel of Bones
So these are the books I look forward to reading most this year. Which books are on your most anticipated list? Let me know, maybe I'll find a couple of nice ones as well! Talk to me in the comments!


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We have two special features for you this week. On Tuesday, Laurence Cornet will offer an overview of contemporary Iranian photography, and Thursday will be devoted to Art Kane, one of the most important color photographers of the '60s and '70s, completely forgotten today. We'll be paying him tribute with articles by Duane Michals, Pete Turner, Henry Leutwyler and Julian Seddon. Wednesday we'll be taking a closer look at the Gagosian Gallery exhibition In the Studio: Photographs, curated by former MoMA director photo department Peter Galassi.
February 16, 2015


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How does business spurt ?
There is no need for big things to run a business, but if you have to run a business then small things will be taken care of. The key business skills to consider include :-
- Implement a strong marketing strategy management: It is important to follow strategic management, financial management, people management and operations management.
- Basic accounting: Accounting is very essential for any business to store all the business records. There are lots of free accounting software, so that business records can be easily stored.
- Sales and marketing: The marketing and sales plan illustrate your business's strategy for convincing prospective customers to buy your product or service.
How can your business be extended to the next generation ?
Many people turn on their business but not everyone can take the business forward. If you want your business to last a long time, you will have to keep updating your business with the changing world. The sooner you understand the latest technology and implement your business, the sooner you will go ahead in this world. Here are their top buzz for how automation can help you build and construct your business.
- Make yourself easy to find with a great website
Most of the clients see a strong, clean website which can generate more and more traffic to your websites. Business will automatically grow if your websites look like a mark of professionalism.
- Expand your reach with social media
If you want to gain your business to the peak level then social media is the best way to build effective relationships with your clients and also making a positive impact on prospects.
- Make it easy for customers to do business with you with their mobile devices
Most people accessing the internet through smartphones, then through the desktop computers. So if you are in a business where client needs to reach you easily so people can reach you no matter where you go.
- Consider an email newsletter
The best way to connect and build your audience is to publish newsletters regularly. You have to focus on what the audience is interested in learning about and create content that delivers value without the hard sell.
- Simplify invoicing with online systems
Everyone needs to have accounting in business, but people preferred to save their data on paper. But in today's generation, there has been such a lot of tax information ,invoice,bill that people can easily save their data online or offline with the help of software.


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Our East Bay picks for SF Beer Week
We've picked the best bets for SF Beer Week events in the East Bay, including two spots where they'll be pouring Pliny the Younger.
Berkeley, CA's independent news site
We've picked the best bets for SF Beer Week events in the East Bay, including two spots where they'll be pouring Pliny the Younger.
As the weather gets colder, the beers get bolder. Try these locally made autumn beers to warm you up.
Plus: Update on Grease Box, a New Holland herring fest and a Sunday pig roast.
SF Beer Week starts Friday Feb. 10, and with it come countless parties, tap takeovers and other over-the-top events. Here's what we think is the best of what's on tap.
Choosing to opt out of watching the inauguration? These East Bay food businesses are holding events just for you.
Our biggest stories of the year included Berkeley wine crime, a rash of restaurant closures, the release of the Nosh Guide, and more.
We've got you covered with all of the best holiday meals and parties the East Bay has to offer.
In this week's Bites, we've got news on two Berkeley restaurant closures, two businesses that are expanding, and much more.
Two new drinking establishments are rearing to go in Oakland, City Slicker Farms is holding a grand opening party, and much more East Bay food news in this week's Bites.
Three soon-to-open breweries — Novel Brewing, Temescal Brewing and Gilman Brewing — have all been started by enthusiastic home brewers.
We've got some good news on Grand Fare Market, Belcampo Meat Co., Blind Tiger, and Roses' Taproom, plus much more East Bay food news, in this week's Bites.
Learn about The New Normal's name change to Temescal Brewing, and get updates on Kobani, Belotti Ristorante, Hawker Fare, and much more in this week's Bites.
© Berkeleyside. All Rights Reserved.


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I have to list those things up there because I keep forgetting to make a blog about each of them.
I recently made three separate recipes but, unfortunately, didn't take any photos of the finished product. Maybe I can find similar photos online somewhere.
The first recipe I made was:
Potato Soup – Pressure Cooker Style
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced.
6 red (small round) potatoes, skins-on, quartered.
1/2 onion diced
1/2 stalk celery diced.
3 carrots peeled and diced.
1 red pepper, diced.
1 cup chicken stock (low or no salt)( other stock like vegetable or beef would be fine)
Water as needed
1 cup Half and Half (or milk as desired, or cream)
2 TBSP butter
1 cup cooked ham, cut-up (if desired)
3 scallions chopped.
Salt & pepper to taste.
In a PRESSURE COOKER (I used my large one), put in the grate on the bottom so potatoes don't stick to the bottom of the pain. Add potatoes, chicken stock, onions, celery, red pepper, and carrots and enough water to just cover everything.
Put cover on and lock. Pressure-cook this for 15-20 minutes (I think 15 would do fine but I let mine go 20 minutes and everything was cook perfectly.)
Cool down pot, remove cover, and put back on stovetop. Using a potato masher, mash down all the chunks of veggies in the soup, not completely but almost, making a bit of a mash. Leave a few potatoes in chunks.
Add ham and half-and-half or cream or milk as you like. Add butter. Heat and simmer for a bit before serving.
Add scallions on top after served in bowl.
Salt and pepper to your taste.
(Note: I have a spice called Fox Pointe that I get from Penzy's on line, and I add this to so many dishes including this one, but if you don't have it, no problem.)
That's it. It doesn't take long, and this soup was a huge hit with both Paul and me. I could have used some kielbasa instead of the ham, but I had just gotten some sliced ham recently, so I used that. No meat is really needed if you like.
We had three meals out of this recipe, well, we have HAD two and I have enough for one more in the fridge. We served it with a nice fresh French baguette heated up and sliced.
So there you go. Potato Soup Pressure-Cooker style, all in less than 45 minutes from start to finish.
I will do a separate entry for the other two items I listed at the top because they also came out better than expected and I wanted to share. Here are the other two that follow:
2003 – Present Archives at Diaryland
2007 – 2009 Archives at WordPress
2009 Archives at JournalScape
2010 Archives at JournalScape
2011 Archives at JournalScape
2012 Archives at JournalScape


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Darrell Jones, Chill General Manager / Co-Head of Teacher Training / Meditation Instructor
Darrell is Chill personified — his approachable and calming presence is appreciated by customers and students. As the Chill GM, he brings programming and curriculum development experience from his former position as program manager at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Darrell graduated from Kalamazoo College with a BA in Music and holds a Masters in Consciousness Studies from the Holmes Institute of Consciousness Studies. His inspiration comes from the realization that in all philosophy, science, religions, and psychology, there is some element of meditation or contemplation to stimulate change and growth.


text: AQ Group has during a few years worked with a group wide improvement program for product quality and delivery precision. Product quality has been measured in number of customer claims (NCR) and delivery precision (OTD) in percentage of order rows delivered according to comnfirmed delivery time. The development is shown in the diagrams below.


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Another Monday Night has went by us. Two federations, the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling are both in the fight for one thing. Ratings. WCW, fresh off a pay per view, is giving all they have to create new storylines. The WWF, with Wrestlemania only 2 weeks away, is trying to steal some Pay Per View heat, and they then try to win that heat with an early Wrestlemania main event. Two federations will enter, only one will triumph as the ratings victor..but first, they must go through Mr. Tito, and his Phat Daily Column first.
Now we go to the Wrestlemania press conference to determine who is the #1 contender at Wrestlemania. We have the Undertaker, Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, Sid Justice, and Hulk Hogan all there, as they were considered the best back then. Jack Tuney(sp?) was about to make the worst decision upon choosing the #1 wrestler because all of his decisions before him were in favor of Hulk Hogan. Since Sid was the last man besides Flair, Sid stood up, thinking that the spot was his. It was announced that Hogan somehow got it, as the WWF did everything for Hogan. Sid was furious, as he tore up, or at least tried to, a stack of papers in front of him. After the conference, Sid talked to reporters and screamed about being the last man.
Next up, we will travel to a wonderful edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, which I can remember clearly because I have that badboy on tape! We have a tag team match set up with Sid Justice and Hulk Hogan vs. The Undertaker and Ric Flair. Before the show, Sid was seen in an interview, saying that he was sorry for blowing up for his actions at the press conference. We are now backstage at the event, watching Hogan and Justice give an interview. Justice was in the middle of his interview, and Hogan comes running in and takes over..obvious dispair on Sid's face. Later on in the main event, Sid walks out on Hulk Hogan during the tag match, and makes a statement to Hogan. Hogan, later that week, drops his #1 contendership to wrestle Sid at Wrestlemania.
Now we are at Wrestlemania 92, and the blowoff match between Sid and Hogan is a very sloppy match, and the men didn't work together good back in the day. Nuff said.
Alright, we are back in 2000 now. Now wasn't that fun? With that special trip being said, let's look at what happened on Nitro last night. First, highlights of the press conference were shown with Sid talking to reporters, until Hulk Hogan interrupts him as the reporters now give Hogan their attention. Sid could also be pissed off at the fact that Hogan basically saved his ass at Uncensored, and again taking his spotlight. Jealousy is showing, just like it was in 1992. So we somehow have a special tag match with Sid and Hogan vs. Big Poppa Pump and Jeff Jarrett. Do you see a pattern? Two top heels, like Flair and Undertaker in 1992 vs. Hogan and Sid? Anyway, in the main event, instead of walking out on Hogan like he did in 1992, Sid attacks him. This will set up a match at Spring Stampede, and like the one at Wrestlemania 8 and a few Nitros last year, it's going to suck.
I swear that there was a couple "shoots" tonight on Nitro. First off, I think that Big Poppa Pump flipping Hogan off and telling him "fuck you" was pretty real, as Hogan just stood there. Another shoot were done by the very high pitched Mark Madden. Every Hogan comment he did was very truthful, as he would say that he would hog the spotlight and so forth. He had many hatred comments towards Hogan, putting him down at every instance that he had. Of course, that could just be a very good annoucing job that he just did. Oh well.
So Nitro opens up with an Opening Interview, which is 10 times as worse as any from the WWF, and it makes me mad because I can't change the channel like I do for the opening RAW interviews. Both Jeff Jarrett and Sid are starting to get really bad on the mic. Another thing that really bothered me was another Sting vs. Ric Flair match. God damn, enough already! They have fought so many times that it is truly hard to come up with new moves or spots everytime they fight. It showed tonight because I could probably throw in my brother's Sting tape(he tapes every appearance by Sting, I swear) and show about 3 recent matches on Nitro that looked the same. It was still a good match, but come on! Luger and Vampiro had a very good match, but nooo, we just can't put Vampiro over.....I do however, love this early Vampiro and Sting angle. Those two, along with Booker T, are my favorites in WCW right now.
Pretty good debut of Chris Candido, who defeated Lash LaRoux who is really from Alabama(thanks Historian!). I wonder if Tammy will ever come to WCW too? I really hope Candido doesn't screw this up, because it looks like WCW already has some good work for Candido. Shame on you WCW for constantly jobbing La Parka. Oooooh, another chokeslam by the Wall, through another table. Yeah, he's soooo over by his actions. Please. There's nothing like a good DQ when Booker T and Kidman about beat the Harris dorks for the titles. What a joke.
Please give Norman Smiley a push to get out of wrestling these horrible wrestlers. Hey, remember when Vince Russo wrote up a storyline where Hugh Morris would have to take care of his old father? HAHAHAHAHA! Ahem. And you kiddies want Russo back, shame on you! Why does Dustin Rhodes have the "pirate" gimmick again? I don't care what anyone says to me about this comment, but Tank Abbott is a joke in WCW.
I still say the turning point for WCW was Starrcade 1997 when they really dropped the ball on the Hogan and Sting main event.
I don't know what it is, but Perry Saturn looks very odd in the WWF. I'm not bashing him, as he's one of my favorite wrestlers, but he just looks a little out of place in the WWF. Hmm. Oh well, as I question who the hell were the legal men in the Too Cool match. My gosh, WWF bigmen don't work together well, as seen in the Rikishi vs. Kane match. Benoit and Jericho had a good bout, with Angle screwing Benoit out of the win. Damn, I can't wait to see Benoit and Angle fight!
Oh my God!!! G-TV returned! Please don't ask me who is behind it, because I DON'T KNOW. Notice the weak cheers when the team of T&A was announced? That's one team that desparately needs to find charisma together! Hey, how about a "Charisma on a rope double ladder match" with HeadCheese? I'd PAY to see that one.(although Snow has some charisma) So let me see here, this whole purpose of having all of these tag matches were for the Dudleys to attack the Hardys and Christian/Edge? It better set up a 3 way, or I will be pissed all together at the WWF's decision here. Great stuff by having Tazz come down to challenge Crash Holly in the middle of his tag match. I think that crowd was a bit out of hand outside though, as I bet the WWF didn't intend for it to get that bad.
Ok, great main event from the WWF with the Triple H vs. Big Show vs. The Rock match. It's funny how the WWF works sometimes, as this night proves it. We have Triple H getting the win in the end, therefore we should have no rematches EVER from the Big Show or the Rock. WRONG. Linda McMahon comes out to make a boneheaded decision.(Anybody remember King of the Ring 1999?) A 4 way dance between Mick Foley, Rock, Triple H, and Big Show. Could it get any more ridiculous? Seriously, I would have just loved it if it was just Foley and Triple H, even though they headlined the past two pay per views.
This year's hyping and building up for Wrestlemania has been very week this year. We have lots of matches set up this year with guys just deciding to run down for matches, thus setting up special tag matches. The main event has got a facelift, and I felt that a lot of heat about it was taken here tonight. I'm not saying that the 4 way match won't be a good one, but come on. The main event is always good with the one on one match up. Why take that away when it's always the best moment? I guess that's why I'm not a booker. It was nice to see Foley come back tonight though. I have newfound respect for that man as I'm currently reading his book.
OVERALL, an OK night of wrestling. One side could have been better though.
-My gosh, rumors keep flying everywhere on to who will replace Bill Busch already. For one, he isn't fired yet, and two, people like Eric Bischoff or Vince Russo WON'T replace him. They have already failed in WCW, remember? Bischoff let his wrestlers run the whole federation, thus making it what it is today, and Russo made a mockery of WCW with his outrageous storylines which are still being cleaned up today. How about this WCW when finding a guy to run WCW: find somebody that hasn't messed up a federation before.
-All rumors about USA possibly joining up with Chris-Craft have ended, as Viacom bought out the remaining 50% of UPN. So it's all Viacom's now, as I expect some announcements about the partnership with the WWF to happen really soon now. I do feel very bad for USA though. They are getting the real shaft of this deal, as they were partly responsible for letting the WWF do whatever they wanted in efforts to get on top. Damn shame.
-I'm truly impressed with the 8.2 overnight rating that the Rock did on Saturday Night Live, which is the highest rated SNL ever since Monica Lewinsky made an appearance, and that had national attention. I agree with many readers that this was one of the biggest events in wrestling history, as it will open up more doors for WWF wrestlers to enter. In a forum that is seen by many non-wrestling fans, they could see how funny the Rock was on SNL. I'm still giving the Rock mad props for his performance.
-Yuck, as seen in Calvin's post earlier, Uncensored is projected to do a buyrate around 0.13. That's terrible! That's ridiculous! See the number WCW? Now do something about it!
@That's all I need to say for this column. Damn, this one took me a long time to do today. Forgive me for being a little late this week on the columns, as it's my week off, and I am enjoying it to the max by sleeping in everyday. Can't I enjoy myself? Anyway, I gotta get some money together and buy WWF Aggression to
rip apart review in my column tomorrow, so just chill till the next episode.
NEW "Hindsight" which is SCREAMING for you to CLICK HERE and READTake Care, and Thanks a Million for Reading Everyday.


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I finished going through Trang and fixing the hard return and italic problems, so I submitted the fancier-looking version to Amazon.
I also felt vain and impulsive and started a Facebook and Amazon ad campaign for the free days of The Weirld. Obviously that's not going to pay for itself unless people get that book for free, then get Trang for free, and then pay for Trust, but I'm hoping it will get the book some reviews and maybe get the algorithms to work for it.


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This piece was produced in collaboration with James Turrell and was commissioned for the unveiling of his Skyspace called The Color Inside (in Austin, TX).
Lightscape draws its inspiration from the daylight hours from dawn to dusk and also meditates on the evocative light sequences from The Color Inside. The piece begins in twilight, moves through dawn into day, depicts the wind and rainfall during a rain shower, and finally moves through a climactic dusk back into twilight.
I - Out of Twilight/Dawn
II - Day
III - Rain
IV - Dusk/Into Twilight
Yunji Lee, violin
Chloe Park, violin
Andrew Haduong, viola
Mic Vredenburgh, cello
NOTE: James Turrell advises to begin the piece at about 30 minutes into the sequence.


text: Beautiful three-bedroom apartment on two floors, located in the historical old town of Trogir, within the noble palace, with a total living space of 114 m2 with its own enclosed yard of 20 m2. The yard stairs up to the first floor with three comfortable bedrooms, a corridor with a library, a bathroom and a small storage room and a kitchenette. On the second floor is located a spacious living room with a gallery, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and a fire place in a closed loft. Ten years ago the apartment was completely renovated (concrete slabs, roof, installation ..) The apartment is facing all sides of the world, has plenty of daylight, is tastefully furnished and very airy and is located in a quiet and peaceful part of the old town. The apartment has the ability to simply convert it into two independent apartments.


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Going for Gold
So before I get into today's post, I'd first like to announce that I have graduated from Algonquin's Business Marketing program. It is both exciting and terribly frightening, and it's hard to believe it's all said and done. However, I'm not done with Algonquin yet as I'll be enrolled in their Interactive Multimedia post-graduate for … Continue reading


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Join us to self-generate, reflect, release and shed light on ourselves individually and in a community with other women in this 2-day workshop.
We'll be deepening our awareness of our multiplicity within, including our powers and conflicts; and with the upcoming turn of winter from autumn, we'll practice the art of letting go and calling in, and bringing sight to the multitude and shades of ourselves.
Who is this weekend for?
We seek to bring together a diverse group of self-identified women across:
Racial & cultural identity
Socioeconomic status
Sexual orientation
Faith/religious/spiritual orientation
We anticipate exploring and deepening into these questions:
How does my past affect how I show up in the world today?
How can I recreate a self-narrative that's more empowering and purposeful?
What do I want to release from my past?
How do I use my senses and body's feedback to ground more in the present?
How can I clarify and speak my needs effectively?
What's my personal statement for the current season?
How can I step more fully into an expanded realm of possibility?
Some of the modalities we will leverage during the weekend include:
Yoga and body movement
Expressive arts
Positive communication and conflict resolution training
Inspirational literature study
Ceremony and ritual
Meditation and mindfulness
Co-created leadership
Evidence-based tools in self-regulation and stress-management
When, where and how much?
The workshop will run on Saturday, December 8th and December 9th from 9am to 6pm.
We'll gather in Chicago; receive the specific location after you apply.
Tuition to participate is offered on a sliding scale:
1 ticket for $195
2 tickets for $295
Student ticket: $100
Tuition covers program materials, breakfast and snacks foods + tea and coffee, and location, as well as organizing time and honoraria for facilitators.
Why participate and what will you get?
Fill Out the Intake Form
Last day to submit your form + paypal
to firstname.lastname@example.com is: December 5th
Your Organizers
Natalia Smirnov is a human, writer, scholar, educator and media and experience maker. Born and raised in Russia and molded in the suburbs of New Jersey and art colonies of Philadelphia, Natalia carries the grit and glory of each of her homes as part of her deeply nomadic identity. Natalia's current home is Chicago, where she is completing a PhD in Learning Sciences at Northwestern University.
Natalia holds a B.A. in American Culture & Media Arts and a graduate certificate in Diversity Leadership (with training in Transformational Social Therapy) from Temple University. Natalia has a long history of creating and supporting youth, girls', and women's empowerment projects through social justice and arts-based organizing. She has taught video production, civic journalism, media literacy, music making, web development, human-centered design and multidisciplinary art-making in Philadelphia and Chicago.
In addition to research and teaching, Natalia designs and facilitates immersive game experiences to engage participants in critically examining issues of social inequality and cultural difference; organizes nurturing gatherings and writing retreats; and collaborates with educators and organizations to help them analyze and improve their pedagogy and assessment practices.
Emily Harburg is the co-founder and Director of Programs for Brave Initiatives, a nonprofit dedicated to helping women build skills in coding, design and leadership for social impact. Emily is also a doctoral student in the Technology and Social Behavior PhD program at Northwestern University where she builds and researches online tools to improve motivation, collaboration, and self-efficacy. Her work has been published in academic journals, Harvard case studies, and news publications.
Emily has industry experience working for Walt Disney Imagineering in the Disney Research behavioral sciences team, and as UX Researcher at Facebook. She is also the cofounder of Youth Lead the Change, a global youth leadership organization that empowers youth to reach their full potential as leaders.
Emily received her B.A. in Social Anthropology and Psychology from Harvard University, where she played on the Varsity Women's Volleyball team. In her free time, Emily enjoys spending time outside and gathering together for shared meals.
Chetna Mehta is a folk mixed media artist, creative entrepreneur and mental wellness consultant impassioned by merging spirituality and the healing arts with psychology and education.
Her background includes international teaching in Colombia, India and Thailand, where she facilitated cultural exchanges, language and arithmetic learning through study and play; she specialized in staffing operations management at Netflix, Inc., overseeing immigration, relocation and recruiting coordination. She was a high school mental health and behavioral counselor in San Francisco's Mission District, collaborating with urban youth via talk therapy, case management and expressive arts workshops. Her professional mixed media work includes painting, illustration, commercial/fashion modelling, acting, artistic direction and photography.
She received a BA in Social Sciences with a concentration in Organizations from Cal Poly University SLO, and a MA in Counseling Psychology from The Wright Institute in Berkeley. Her work today is with purpose to help up realize ourselves, our fullness and power, particularly through radical self-reflection in community circle; and to remember the interconnectedness between all of us.


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Wonderful attention to detail has gone into creating this incredible, residence in much sought after Belcourt in the Cherry Creek North / Polo Club area. This home is sited perfectly on a secluded site backing to the gardens at One Polo Creek which affords great privacy and tranquility.
This classic, European style residence brings the outdoors in with volume spaces, expansive windows and the use of stone, granites and rich woods to create a warm and inviting interior. The entry with maple floors and sweeping stairway with iron railings opens to the living room to the left with a wall of French doors overlooking the front courtyard. A gas fireplace and crown molding creates a cozy feeling for this space. This area would also work perfectly as a home office for the work-at-home professional.
Adjacent to the entry is the formal dining room with travertine floors and coffered ceiling, perfect for family gatherings. The dining room leads into the gourmet kitchen through a convenient butler's pantry with wine cooler and wine rack. The spacious kitchen features maple glazed cabinetry in a warm, rich color with slab granite counters and appliances including a built-in refrigerator and 5-burner gas cook top. The kitchen features a breakfast bar opening to the family room and a center island as well as a walk-in pantry. The breakfast area is adjacent and opens to one of the main level terraces that is a perfect spot for alfresco dining. Also open to the kitchen is the family room with travertine fireplace which opens through French doors to another terrace. The family room, kitchen and breakfast room all overlook the beautiful gardens of One Polo Creek. Also on the main level is a powder bath with furniture style cabinetry and oversized 3-car garage. There is also a convenient elevator on the main level which takes you up or down to the other levels of the home.
The second floor hosts three spacious bedrooms, all with generous walk-in closets and their own en-suite baths, including the luxurious master suite with "spa" style bath and generous walk-in closet. This is truly a luxurious retreat at the end of the day. Also on the second floor is the laundry room with plenty of cabinet and counter space and a convenient utility sink.
The lower level is perfectly designed for entertaining with a large media/game room, and plenty of unfinished space for storage or future expansion.
This is truly a great opportunity to be one of the Cherry Creek area's best communities at an affordable price.
Call us now or send us your information


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This event is for alumni of Alpha Phi Omega,the national co-educational intercollegiate service organization, both current volunteers and those interested in learning more. Leadership development opportunities will be available for those wishing to become presenters, as well as a track focused on helping advisors of chapters to develop their skills, and an additional track for brand new volunteers. It is a time for the alumni to come together and hone their skills in helping to support our chapters, while having fun.
Sponsorship of this event will help to keep attendance costs down, while maintaining student region dues for student activities. Sponsors will have access to a group of service and community minded individuals from Maryland, DC, Virginia, and North Carolina!
My name is Jennifer Headman and I am the Region 3 chair for Alpha Phi Omega. This covers Maryland, DC, Virginia and North Carolina. I have been involved in the organization since 1997, and in my current role since June 2016.Contact the Organizer Contact the Organizer


text: Excited to be performing Becca Lemme/ Act of Matter's new work "Listen" for SOULS this year. Becca is such an intelligent dancer, teacher, and choreographer and created a work that challenges me to be patient and forgiving. I'm so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with her. The work is also a collaboration with Chicago based photographer and world traveler France Leclerc whos photography from around the world captures the beauty and simplicity of life. SOLUS | World View runs May 11-13 at 1st Ward Events at Chop Shop in Wicker Park. Get your tickets HERE!


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The out pouring of sympathy for my self-inflicted broken ribs was really touching, and each and every comment or email really brightened my day.
We all know I have a thing for critters though. You drag the four legged things that rule your world into the act, and you have me.
To wit, my friend Jane at The Borrowed Abode made her animals wear their hearts on their (sleeves???) and sent me some photos I just had to share:
We all know I have no problem dressing animals like people for pure amusement, so I was beyond delighted with this!
Got anything weird to share this week?
The Link Party will be up later. There seems to be an issue.


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Nathan Why do you ask that every year?
The Mage Sister Well, I'm just trying to show interest in what you're doing, you old grump!
Catherine Don't mind him. He was a sour puss the whole day.
Nathan Maybe I wouldn't have been if you hadn't screamed in my ear at the break of dawn, then spent all morning following me around screeching like a harpy.
Catherine That's known as speaking, Nathan.
Nathan Sounded more like nagging to me!
Catherine Maybe it wouldn't have sounded like screeching if you hadn't gotten plowed at the Buck and Fowl the night before.
Nathan I did not get plowed.
Catherine Did!
The Mage Sister Sooooo… Jahx! Well done! I hear Vespith swept the Junior Joust!
Jahx Yes, they sure did. We're very proud of our boys – they worked very hard.
Arinda Yes, they did. Even if we did have a few mishaps.
Jahx Now, Rinda. We put it back to rights once the stove stopped running around the grounds, and the cook isn't pressing charges so… no harm done.
Nathan Charges? What charges? What's all this about pressing charges?
Arinda It was breathing fire, Jahx! It could have burned the place down!
Nathan Fire! Hold on now, why haven't I been informed about this?
Jahx That is why I built the magicker's school out of the finest stone, Rinda. Sparks do get up to mischief. Best to be prepared.
Nathan What's all this about fire and charges, Jahx? I insist you tell me at once.
Catherine They did tell you, darling. But you were hung over at the time.
Nathan I DID NOT GET PLOWED!!!
Arinda I did think that was a rather interesting… er… cologne you were wearing that day.
Jahx Yeah, something like eau de rotten ale, stinky cheese and garlic?
Nathan What are you insinuating?
Jahx You stank.
Nathan Well, I never! I'll have you know that was very expensive cologne that Catherine gave me for my birthday. Clearly, you just don't appreciate the finer things in life.
Catherine Clearly, you didn't appreciate the fact that I kept having the water spout visit you.
Nathan You told them to keep spraying me? I'll have you know water got up my nose, Catherine! I could have drowned! I could have choked to death!
Catherine I'm just not that lucky, darling.
Nathan Wench.
Another Brilliant King's Festival
It's been a scorcher of a day in Rowan Capital - nothing unusual for the Annual King's Festival. King Nathan den Rowan is rumored to have been born on the hottest day of the year. Our reigning monarch is also known for a hot temper and a penchant for throwing violent storms. Sheesh, Your Grace, I don't think anyone would have minded a few sprinkles today!
I would wish our beloved King a Happy Birthday, however he threatened me with nine days in the stocks if I mentioned a word about, so... never mind.
Still, despite the heat, the King's Festival was a resounding success. Mistress Adeline Piety took top honors in the Annual Delicacy Bake Off, judged by Her Highness, Queen Catherine, with her 'Piety's Perfectly Plummy Raspberry Peachy Puffs'. Although Mr. Bredstock, Mrs. Piety's long time rival, was a bit of a poor sport about it, claiming first that Mrs. Piety cheated, and then that the contest was fixed, until King Nathan was forced to 'have a word with him' for insulting the queen, Mrs. Piety's victory for the fourth year in a row was well celebrated and certainly deserved.
Yours truly bought half a dozen of the winning puffs and I hold absolutely no shame in telling you they didn't make it through the brilliant display of fireworks put on by the Fire Magickers Guild... and I didn't share.
Not to be forgotten, the Magicker's Joust was a thrilling event, as usual. This year, Zekial Tanner and Georgie Littel of Vespith Academy swept up the Junior Joust, while Grace Academy took top honors in both levels of the Senior Joust with Aeron Ballaster taking the lower level and Nicholas Dent capturing the King's Cup, by overwhelming his opponent with his army of trees. They were most intimidating, I don't mind telling you! I may never sit under an apple tree again.
Headmaster Allondo VonBhelded of Rillian Magicker's College, said, "All the boys worked very hard this year and I believe they all deserve top honors. The Joust, particularly the Senior level, is not only based on skill, but also on being able to think quickly and also more than a little luck. I think Grace performed admirably and they deserve the cups."
Headmaster Markus Lender of Grace Academy was quoted as saying "PPHBBBBTTTT!!! Too right we do! Better luck next year, Bheldy!"
Better luck, indeed.
A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water. ~ Carl Reiner
Catherine Snow? SNOW!!???!! Nathan, what are you doing?!?!
Nathan I'm not doing anything, you insane harpy. Why are you screeching at me?
Catherine Don't you dare make it snow for your birthday, or I'll... well, you'll wake up with part of you somewhere else!
Nathan I'm not doing anything! And if I want it to snow for my birthday, I'll damn well make it snow!
Cristov You'll do no such thing, Nathan! The very idea! Have you any idea how much work and planning goes into the Festival every year?
Nathan I never said I was going to do anything of the sort!
Cristov Don't make me come down there.
Nathan I'M NOT DOING ANYTHING!!!
Catherine Yes, well, you just keep that in mind, mister.
Nathan I don't know any of you. Please get out of my castle!
Catherine OOOOoooh!! YOU'RE castle, is it? Well then, #$dfapo afowehifhoisd ;ohs;ihasid aohsdioahg h;ioa hha hg ihawoiaiho;awhiioh aw;ohgao;dhohsdih;shvihosihvohfoivh ;iodh vIHdsdiovh OSDIh vISHDoHSDOVHuod shouhV SUDHVO shdo;hsih dohVOho hsio hfh%^&s*(*9...
Cullen What'd you do to her, Nathan? She's speaking in tongues.
Nathan No idea. She's clearly run mad. She thinks it's snowing outside!
Cullen Tch tch tch... Maybe we should give her some 'alone time'. May I suggest celebrating your birthday with a pint at the Buck? My treat.
Nathan Damn decent of you!
Cullen But of course!
Catherine DON'T YOU DARE! NATHAN DEN ROWAN YOU GET BACK HERE!!! DON'T YOU DARE GET PLOWED THE NIGHT BEFORE THE FESTIVAL!!!
Cristov They're gone, you know. May as well save your breath.
Catherine Oh! Aggravating man!
Cristov Might I suggest saving your tirade for morning. After a night of drinking at the Buck and Fowl, I'm certain your volume will have the desired effect of revenge - a dish best served cold.
Catherine Cristov MacCuin, you evil man. I do like the way you think.
Cristov I live to serve, madam.
NOTICE: Come One, Come All to the Annual King's Festival, Beginnning Sunrise, Midweek, 18th Day of Summersont
The King's Festival is just two days away, and will be held as usual on the lawn at Rowan Castle in Rowan Capital City. This annual event, held to celebrate the birth of our beloved King Nathan, will feature something to please everyone. There will be vendors selling all manner of goods, food, and fun.
As it is unusually hot this year, Lak Albatros, the watershed off the Storklu-Magni, better known as 'the puddle', has been prepared to accommodate cooling baths. His Grace has arranged for several water mages to provide water spouts and fountains out of the Lak throughout the day to provide a 'cooling mist' on guests in the nearby vicinity, and, of course, healers will be on hand at all times during the day for guests suffering from overheating.
Other events will feature the Annual Delicacy Bake Off in which Mrs Piety's Incredible Berry Scrumpets have won first place in for the last three years. When asked if she plans to enter them again this year, Mrs Piety indicated that while her delicious scrumpets will be available for purchase at her booth, she has a new delicacy for the contest this year. She would not further elaborate on the details of her new creation, but promised it's sure to be a winner. Mrs Piety has for many years been triumphant in competition against Mr Bredstock, of Bredstock Bakes, a long time fierce rival. Mr Brestock vows that this year he will be triumphant and will 'crush the impudent wench' for sure. Good luck to all competitors!
And, of course, let's not forget the Annual Magicker's Joust, which will begin precisely at midmorn before it get's too hot and King Nathan hides his crown and tries to scarper off. Thank goodness our beloved Queen Catherine is well-practiced at reigning in our Reigning Monarch! At last year's Joust, Rory DenVorst of Rillian Magicker's College won the day in the Senior Joust, while Grace Academy took top honors in the Junior Joust, and Vespith Academy bested the Senior Joust, Lower level. Vespith Academy has been notoriously reluctant to participate in the Senior Levels of the Joust, and their entry in last years games came as quite a surprise to Joust sponsors.
When asked about this, Headmaster Jahx Rife had this to say, "I like to support my boys in whatever endeavors they are interested in, except ones that are likely to kill them. The Senior Joust has been a notoriously risky event, and I do my best to discourage them from playing. However, Gunnar is stubbornly optimistic, and short of refusing to sign off on his entry, there is little I can to do prevent his participation. Sometimes the only way to teach a fool is to let him have his own way."
Although Gunnar did win the day in the Lower Level, he did come away with a broken nose and a few missing digits. These are fairly minor injuries, however, and were easily mended. When asked if Vespith will routinely sponsor magickers for the Senior Joust from this point forward, Headmaster Rife replied emphatically, "Absolutely not! This was a one-off!"
Of his experience in the Joust, Mr Flith had this to say, "It was a great experience, and I'm grateful to Headmaster for allowing me to play. But I now understand exactly why he discourages us boys from participating. The Senior games are brutal, and it took every ounce of strength and ingenuity I had to win. Plus losing fingers hurts quite a lot. It was hard to enjoy winning the Junior Cup, because I really was focusing on trying not to pass out as they presented it to me." When asked if he plans to defend his cup, Gunnar replied, "Absolutely not! This was a one-off! Besides, I'd never get Headmaster to sign off on the entry again."
Festivities begin early, just after sunrise, with a procession from Market Square to the Castle lawn, followed by a dedication by Lord Eliot Bombastic of Brimstic in the pavilion by Lak Albatros.
Jahx There's nothing funny about spells! What are you talking about? Spellwork is to be taken seriously or there could be dire consequences.
Nathan Like the time Rinda set my hair of fire?
Arinda That wasn't my fault!
Nathan Oh, indeed? How was it not your fault, missy?
Arinda … … …
Nathan I'm waiting.
Arinda Well, you can keep waiting, because I'm not speaking to you.
Nathan I call that convenient. Just like a woman!
Catherine And just what is that supposed to mean!?!
Nathan No one was talking to you, harpy! Mind your own business!
Catherine Excuse me?
Nathan Um…
Catherine Come again?
Nathan I… uh… I'm not speaking to you. Ha!
Catherine What'd you say!
Nathan Nothing.
Jahx So… Arinda, how exactly did you set Nathan's hair on fire?
Arinda … … …
Jahx Well?
Arinda … … …
Nathan It was during her training. She lost control of a spell, despite the fact that I kept telling her to FOCUS, which she WOULD NOT DO! So she started DAYDREAMING, like she does, and lost control of her spell, which then turned into pure, uncontrolled magick that went flying uncontrollably around… the… room… … … what is that? Rinda, what are you doing?
Jahx Arinda! Stop... OW! Hey!!! Stop it!!!
Nathan Stop that now, young lady! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!
Jahx Nathan, your hair!!!
Nathan GAH! ARINDA!!!
Jahx Hold still, Nathan!
Nathan BLAHGGG!!! What'd you do that for? I'm soaked!
Jahx I was just trying to put out your hair, or did you want to be burned at the stake?
Arinda Could you be a bigger drama queen? Good grief!
Catherine What a fuss you two are making. Honestly!
Arinda I know! You had to know how Nathan's hair got set afire.
Jahx So you thought you'd show me??? REALLY????
Arinda Hey, it got you all to stop harping on about it!
Nathan NOT FUNNY, Arinda!
Catherine I got a laugh out of it!
Nathan No one asked you, Catherine!


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Our Board of Directors page will be updated soon for our 2018-2019 season!
Katherine has worked for the Federal Aviation Administration for 31 years. Born in Puerto Rico, she grew up in southeastern Connecticut, then moved with her family to Indiana. She's lived downtown Indianapolis for 2 years, currently in the Chatham Arch district. She loves the arts, restaurants, clubs and recreation the city offers, especially the Mass Ave area. She's as bad at bowling as she is at golf but likes to think she makes up for her lack of skills with an abundance of enthusiasm.
Wriston received her B.S. from the State University of New York with a double major in English and Psychology and her M.A. in English from Butler University. She served as Director of Customer Communication at Sallie Mae, where she spent 14 years of her career. She recently transferred to Wiley Publishing, where she manages academic marketing for Behavioral and Public Health, K12 and Higher Adult Education titles. She has worked in some form of marketing for the last 16 years; her specialty is direct to consumer marketing and loyalty/retention programs. Stacy has also been an adjunct professor at Marian University for the last 9 years and still enjoys teaching short stories, professional writing and literature analysis.
Leslie Mastin is a Research Manager at Kite Realty Group, in Indianapolis, Indiana. She started her career in the travel industry, first as a leisure travel agent, then moving into corporate travel. She moved into commercial real estate after 9/11, when the travel industry took the brunt of that recession.
She's been in the commercial real estate industry for 14 years, and has worked at Kite Realty Group since 2007. Kite Realty Group Trust is a full-service, vertically-integrated real estate investment trust focused primarily on the development, construction, acquisition, ownership and operation of high quality neighborhood and community shopping centers in selected growth markets in the United States. She's currently a Research Manager, overseeing property marketing materials such as, aerials, maps, demographics, bullet points and miscellaneous research, as well as custom presentations for retailers and portfolio reviews. She is also a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) North American Research Task Force.
In her spare time, she loves attending art, theater, history, sporting, or music events and also volunteers locally for the Urban Land Institute, Irish Fest, Planned Parenthood, and The Indy Fringe Festival.
A member of the Indy Crash Board of Directors since 2015, Jada Halse works as a full-time Deputy Prosecuting Attorney with the Marion County Prosecutor's Office, and as a part-time Adjunct Instructor in Marian's Adult Programs (MAP) at University Marian University, both in Indianapolis, Indiana. Originally from Rapid City, South Dakota, Halse, now a Hoosier, resides in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Halse brings a diverse career and educational background with her to the Indy Crash. She has experience working as a television and radio news reporter and editor; marriage and family therapist, scientific researcher in the areas of biology, veterinary medicine, psychology, and family therapy; career counselor; college tutor; academic paper editor; college instructor, and attorney in employment, family, and criminal law. Halse is an alumna of the Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis; Purdue University Calumet Marriage and Family Therapy Program; University of Missouri, Columbia School of Arts and Science (psychology and East Asian studies), and School of Journalism; and Boston University College of Arts and Sciences.
An avid sports fan, Halse aggressively follows the professional sports teams of Indianapolis and the college teams from her alma mater, Mizzou. A high school athlete who played a variety of sports, Halse now focuses on weightlifting, bowling, and running 5k races. As a feminist, Halse supports organizations that promote equality and assist women; since Indy Crash furthers both causes, its Board of Directors is a perfect fit for her. Halse spends her tiny bit of free time multitasking the following: cooking, reading, watching Game of Thrones, wine tasting, and engaging in a battle of wills with her two dogs, Bolt and Parsnip.


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To pre-book your appointment and receive an SMS booking reminder in advance, please book online via the link below. Alternatively, call us on 01271 343 643.


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School just went really well, but then I had my 4 week post-op check-up aaaaaaand I got some good news!
First, I can start chewing really soft stuff, like soft bread, noodles, soft ground beef etc. The first thing I bit into with my new jaw was a fish stick. And my dad got a Costco chocolate cake to celebrate! Chewing is weird man. I can't remember how to do it. I keep biting my cheek! Nevertheless, I've been singing "I can chew, I can chew I can chew!" all day to the tune of this song. (Peter Pan has a special place in my heart.)
Second, I can blow my nose. And I tried this when I got home, but I was really scared to. And I couldn't really remember how to do this either, I felt like I couldn't blow hard enough! And my ear got plugged up when I did! But I'll relearn.
Third, I only have to wear 2 elastics now! I was wearing three, one in the shape of square on my four front teeth and two on either side of that, and I no longer have to wear the square!
Fourth, I GET MY SPLINT OUT IN 5 DAYS. This was the happiest news I've received all year! September 2. (This means it'll be out in time for auditions for my school musical. Which is way good.) Gah. I'm just so happy about this. Only 5 more days of talking stupid!
Funny story: tonight I was at work, being an usher, doin' my usherly duties by showing people to their seats, and this guy came up to me and said, "Can I see your elastics? I'm an orthodontist." And I was like, "Um... uh... yeah?" so I showed my elastics the best I could, and then I explained I'd just gotten jaw surgery, and we talked a little longer about my orthodontist, and what they did to my jaw and such until he went to his seat. It was just kinda weird? I've never seen someone so interested in my braces besides my orthodontist!
Also, my worst fear has come true (more than once) I have drooled in school. It hasn't been anything too bad, I usually catch it before it comes to the worst, but drooling just isn't ideal.
Farewell blog, for now. Til next time!


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Assessment, Evaluation, and Research KC
March 18, 2019
Assessment folks! The window for nominations is open for the 7th Annual NASPA AER KC Innovation Award. Winner(s) will receive free registration to the 2019 NASPA Assessment, Persistence, and Data Analytics Conference and a $500 travel stipend. This is a pretty cool award!
Recognition for assessment innovations isn't really a common event, but when it does happen, that affirmation is meaningful. Dr. Darby Roberts, Director of Student Life Studies in the Division of Student Affairs at Texas A&M University, reflected that "Being recognized for Aggies RISE (Reflecting and Integrating Student Employment) as the 2014 NASPA Innovation Award winner really confirmed that what we were doing with student learning in an employment setting was important on the national level."
Winners have also found value in sharing their approaches with the assessment community. Dr. Pam Shefman, Director of Assessment and Planning in Student Affairs and Enrollment Services at the University of Houston and the 2016 winner (along with Priyanka Raut and Rebecca Szwarc) told us winning the award was "a way to share our results with others and help those who were looking for ways to use their assessment committees differently." In this way, the AER Knowledge Community helps promote best practices and their dissemination.
Past winners have, as a result of sharing their innovations, have experienced other opportunities to present their methods, strategies, and results. Pam said "Since (presenting), we have been invited to host webinars and sessions in other venues. We appreciate the opportunities that the AER KC award has given us." Sharing innovations is a great way to engage and dialogue with NASPA members.
Are you aware of an innovative approach to assessment? Nominate your project here (https://www.naspa.org/about/awards/knowledge-communities/assessment-evaluation-and-research-knowledge-community-innovation-award). Successful nominations demonstrate that the project generated actionable data/results. Also, winning nominations describe how the project can be considered a best practice, and/or might be reproduced at other institutions. You can view the rubric here (http://apps.naspa.org/files/NASPA%20AER%20KC%20Innovation%20Award%20Evaluation%20Rubric.pdf).
If you have questions about nomintations or the application process please contact:
STAY CONNECTED: to the AER KC by following us on twitter @NASPA_AERKC. Use #SAassess to follow conversations! This is a great way to interact with KC leadership and other KC members. You can also "like" us on Facebook for weekly updates. If you are interested in contributing to the blog e-mail [email protected] for more information.
Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of NASPA. If you agree or disagree with the content of this post, we encourage you to dialogue in the comment section below. NASPA reserves the right to remove any blog that is inaccurate or offensive.
To comment, you can login to your preferred social network. Comments are lightly moderated and we do provide the option for users to flag a comment as inappropriate.


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Not only does Back Ted N-Ted have a kickass poster for this First Friday show at The Lost Leaf, the band also has new music up on their MySpace. "Loose Control" sounds a little like the stuff Ryan Breen produced for Medic Droid, formerly of Modern Art Records, while "Parks At Dusk" seems like a continuation of the title track from his Hookie EP.
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Love the flier, love the songs, can't wait for the show.


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Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Sunday Lunch at The Mermaid Inn
Posted by Nicki Kinickie at 06:30
Labels: Essex, family of three, family time, Food Review, lbloggers, lifestyle blogger, Norfolk, perfect sunday, pub review, Restaurant Review, sunday roast, the mermaid inn elsing, traditional roast dinner, Weekend
Location: Elsing, Norfolk, UK
The next day we ventured out for a roast on what was a gloriously sunny Sunday. When my family last visited they had gone to have dinner at a pub called the Mermaid Inn in a little tiny village called Elsing and raved about how lovely the food was. I have been dying to find a little village pub that does good food and - better yet - a lovely Sunday roast because when it comes to a Sunday dinner I am a huge fusspot.
I know how I like my roast and how I want everything cooked so I set the bar really high. Because of this I am not a fan of eating roasts at a chain establishments such a Toby Carvery (soz) or pubs in a chain because I feel that generally they're not very good (see? fusspot).
There is a pub near us that does a frankly shitty carvery but it is cheap and cheerful so we go now and then firstly because it is nice to go out sometimes and even if you haven't much spare cash you can easily buy three dinners and drinks for about twenty quid. Secondly because sometimes I don't want to cook.
Saying that the last time we went it really was crap and we haven't been back since!
Now though we may not ever have to because on Sunday I found my new roast dinner haven. The Mermaid Inn serves freshly cooked roasts between 12-2pm on a Sunday and boy oh boy are they good.
When we turned up we were greeted by a waft of roast dinner cooking as we got out of our cars and made our way over to the entrance. It reminded me of being a kid and smelling all of those yummy smells coming out of the kitchen at home when you're so hungry. The staff were friendly and attentive and the pub is a typical village pub on the inside. Exactly what you would want from a village pub in fact; brick fire place, cream walls with wood beams, wooden tables and carpeted floors.
Mum and me shared a lovely bottle of sauvignon blanc and the boys both sampled a beer each. After eating a ridiculously yummy pork belly roast (with crackling) I finished off with a chocolate ice cream sundae. Food heaven personified.
Whatsmore, when I got home I had a nice little cosy post food nap in the armchair while Savannah played outside and Patrick watched football. If that isn't a perfect Sunday then I don't know what is!
If you are ever in Norfolk and near Elsing I would recommend The Mermaid Inn. We will most definitely be back and if Patrick is ever home from work at a decent hour and we can, we would happily drive there for a nice evening meal too.
A traditional roast is £6.95 or £9.95 if you add on a pudding which I think is a brilliant price for what you get. The nap after is optional and, in my opinion, priceless!
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Hi all,
I have a 220 configured with 4x VLANs. This is a closed system with no Internet access. I have VLAN routing working. I also have IGMP Snooping / Quierrier configured on two of the VLANs that require it. Here are my questions:
1) Can I enable the DHCP server such that each VLAN dishes out IPs in its own range? Is this as simple as just turning it on globally? As far as the pool goes, do I create exclusions for IPs that I do NOT want assigned?
2) I may end up with a WiFi access point connected to the switch. That said, I am not sure if it will be a managed AP or a Netgear router in AP mode. Either way, I need to block multicast to it so that it doesn't flood the WiFi network. How do I go about this?


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