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Folks, I'm taking this Tuesday off to bring you instead a very special guest – Tanya Huff! Tanya is a prolific author of fantasy and science fiction, known for her Blood Books series featuring private investigator Vicky Nelson and her vampire partner, Henry Fitzroy. Most recently Tanya has released The Enchantment Emporium, a charming urban fantasy, and The Truth of Valor, fifth in her Valor Confederation series. Please give it up for Tanya Huff!
If it's November, and I'm fairly certain it is, then it must be National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo. For the last few years this creative writing project has involved thousands of people all over the globe sitting down and, in the heat of blind passion, slamming out 50,000 words in thirty days.
Because it's absolutely not pertinent to the point, we're just going to ignore the fact that 50,000 words is about half a novel; give or take, given genre expectations. Besides, a number of participants produce significantly more than the minimum word count. And a number produce less but, again, not pertinent to the point.
Every year, especially as the internet allows more connection between writer and readers, I get asked throughout October (and occasionally in September by the really enthusiastic), "Are you doing NaNo this year?" And every year, I say, "No."
For a couple of reasons.
The first: Writing is my job. It's what I do every month. Every day. For me it'd be as if I were, say, in any other profession, and for the month of November I was going to do one heck of a lot of overtime for no money just for the joy of doing that overtime. Um… no. As with everything, of course, the mileage of other people who do this for a living may vary.
The second and more important reason: I don't write like that.
Generalizing like crazy here, I believe people write in essentially two different ways. Some people write like they're framing a house. They get the structure up, then they close it in, then they start adding all the details that makes it more than merely a construction project. Some people write like they're building a brick wall and every single brick has to go down exactly right or the whole damned wall falls down.
I write like a bricklayer. Extending the metaphor, while writing I've ripped courses of bricks down to get to the one brick I set in wrong and then rebuilt the wall from that point. Ditching the metaphor, this means my first draft is never any more than 10% off my final draft. I rewrite as I go. I research individual needed facts as I go. If my book is due on say, February 15th and I write the last word on February 10th, I'm golden because it won't take me than three intensive days to polish and get it in shape to be sent to my editor. (and thank heavens for email because in the old snail mail days, we had to aim for two weeks minimum before our deadlines)
Because of the way I write, I simply can not produce 50,000 words in thirty days without turning my brain to tapioca. NaNo is, therefore, not for me.
If you write like I do, it's not for you either.
But, if you're someone who can throw out words and idea and concepts and generalize where research needs to go and have every intention of, now that those words are out there, spending the next six months to a year crafting them into something amazing, go for it. And you know what? Even if you never go back, even if you never look at those 51,743 words again and you're pretty sure that's what's going to happen before you even start, so what? Go for it anyway. It's not like you were born with a limited number of words and once you use them up you're screwed.
Even if NaNo doesn't make you a better writer, it might make you new friends – never enough of those – it might keep you too busy to go out with that person you know you shouldn't go out with but you're bored so why not – trust me, even crappy writing is better than a crappy relationship – and hey, it may make you a better reader, more understanding of the amount of work it takes to produce an engaging plot and three dimensional characters, and I'm all in favour of that.
Write on, dude!


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3211 Oak Lawn Ave Ste B :: Dallas, TX 75219
214.521.4811 :: greenpapayadallas.com
One of Dallas' hot spot for Vietnamese food, Green Papaya's menu is packed with Vietnamese favorites from soft rice noodle dishes to giant bowls of pho. The two most popular dishes are Ga Luc Lac, garlic chicken served with white rice and fresh vegetables, and Ga Nuone Xa, charcoal broiled chicken with lemon grass and fresh vegetables served with flat noodles. They're also famous for their Ca Phe Phin, a strong French coffee served in a press with condensed milk. Their spring rolls are the best in Dallas period. Green Papaya gets pretty busy during peak lunch and dinner hours, so plan to arrive early if you want to grab a table.


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Thursday, October 3, 2013
Jack Johnson - From Here To Now To You
I am not quite sure I can adequately express my complete adoration for this man's music. Every cord and every word make me feel like I am on vacation. The beauty of Jack is not only in his lyrical melodies, but also in his unwavering dedication to our environment. One hundred percent (100%!!!!!) of his tour profits are donated to charity and his tour initiatives and practices - from waste reduction, to merchandise, to transportation - are all eco-friendly. Michael scored us FRONT ROW CENTER (I die!) tickets for his Toronto tour stop this past weekend - HEAVEN!!! If you haven't already fallen in love, please experience his magic for yourself:
Visit his website
Posted image and videos are from Jack's website.
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Several years ago, 5 years and 21 days to be exact, I met the love of my life. It was love at first sight… on my end anyways. I'm sure she was wondering who the heck I was and exactly how long I would even be around.
I think about my life now and there's no way I can imagine my life without her… without her smile, her EXTREMELY loud laugh, her lame jokes that aren't even funny but funny because she laughs so hard at them, her desire to always want to have a dance off even though she has no rhythm at all, her ability to make anyone smile, and those big beautiful brown eyes.
Five years ago, I met my daughter and one of the most beautiful people I know.
I'm writing this because I want you to remember how much you mean to me. You made the last five years of my life unbelievably amazing! (I'm so glad you're not here right now because I would be a crying, babbling mess) You changed my life and I am forever grateful!
Thank you for all the good laughs, the tears, the talks. Thank you for coming into my life. Thank you for being the best daughter. Thank you for sharing your life with me! Thank you for your text this morning that made me smile and cry at the same time!
I love you more than words can express!
Happy 18th Birthday Adrianna!
It's true! I do love little kisses… of the real kind, the chocolate kind and NOW the album kind! I am now offering Kiss Albums for my Seniors.
These cute little kisses come in the Senior Collection 1 package. Yes, that's right. You get this little cutie with your favorite images!
Gee Harmony, why you gotta discriminate against us Senior Collection 2 people? Um, I would never! You can purchase the album separately or even add on extra albums! The more, the merrier
Seniors! These are seriously too cute to pass up!!
If you're a high school senior and you need fabulous senior pictures, please contact me!
view portfolio | contact me | facebook | twitter
For the Bride: Maria Lucia Hohan Bridal
I'm a very picky person…. well, I'm picky about most things except for food- I see it. I eat eat. Plain and simple. Being picky is not something I take pride in. It really just makes life difficult sometimes and it drives my husband to the point of contemplating murder. BUT, when I see something I like, I immediately know it. My eye is automatically drawn to it and all I can say is OH! SWEET! BABY! JESUS!
And one of my OH! SWEET! BABY! JESUS! moments is when I saw Maria Lucia Hohan's designs. Her dresses are beyond gorgeous and some of the non-bridal dresses I would totally wear as bridal dresses. I would LOVE to shoot a bridal session in any one of these designs.
First 5 images from Cherry Blossom Girl from Maria Lucia Hohan's designs
Not only are these dresses amazing but these images are to die for!
For the Teen: I [Heart] Ronson
Oh to be a teen in these days! If i had to do it all over again I would in a heart beat! My days of LA Gear, pegged jeans, corduroy pants, ratted bangs, leg warmers, and hunter green everything would no longer haunt me in my sleep.
We had Saved by the Bell they have Gossip Girl… absolutely no comparison at all! And guess what, some of these clothes are affordable. What? Affordable and stylish?! Where's a time machine when you need it?
I [Heart] Ronson also known as Charlotte Ronson has created a line for the stylish teen that is extremely affordable and obtainable- available at JCPenny.
It's as if they were destined to be together, they just fit… they laugh together, play together, and they even share their food with each other- a huge feat when you're 13, 7, and 6 years old. And if that's not destiny, I don't know what is! Well, if it couldn't get any more perfect… it does. Their parents happen to me madly in love with each other as well.
A family of five. This family of five were destined for each other. Five people who love each other dearly. Five people willing to laugh at each other and at themselves. Five people willing to share their food… forever!
Adriana & Enrique, you two are just way too cute together and I am so excited to spend the day with you soon, capturing your friends and family as you celebrate your love for each other.
We started this engagement/ family session off at Balboa Park and then ended at the Pier at Pacific Beach.
Lookin' all G-Q!
Work it girl!
Yes, the sun decided to make an appearance for one day in San Diego. And it made for a beautiful sunset at the beach.
I love the way the sunlight filters through the pillars. It truly makes the perfect light!
You can also see Adriana & Enrique on the Wedding Chicks here (they are the same pictures but feel free to leave them some love there as well 😉 )
view portfolio | contact me | facebook | twitter
A couple of months ago I did a fabulous shoot and the details were so amazing, that's because Logan is a genius, that I wanted to share some shots I got with film. I love the look and feel of film and I thought it would be the perfect look to go along with the details of this shoot.
I don't know if these would've turned out if it weren't for the help of Richard Photo Lab. But I'll still take partial credit 😉


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time is running. On the one hand I look forward to our holidays. On the other hand there is so much which needs to be done until then at work and at home.
The good thing is that there are a couple of public holidays and the weather finally changed. It seems I underestimated the impact of sunshine on my mood. Of course it does not recharge the batteries and lessen the stress but it helps to cope in a different way with all the things which put pressure on me.
I finally decided which book will be third and last but one paperback I want to read during my holiday.
Edi's Guidepost
The Lighthouse
News and information straight from the horse's mouth by Lighthouse keeper ediFanoB
- Reading progress
The latest report from our shelf shop net correspondent Bona
- New books on my shelf/reader or when one book leads to another
- The third book
- A book for you?
Messages from the depths of the blogosphere by spheronaut Bona Fide
- The Printing Press
- Apothecary
- Macro images
- Mimic the process of intelligent life
- The Times They Are a-Changin
- Fallout 4 DLC: Far Harbor
The member of the house of quotes and a quote himself the Keeper of the minutes ( we call him Kotm) fished for you
German proverbs, sayings and idiomsQuote related to childishness
The Lighthouse
I'm getting better. Last Sunday I finished a book within a day. started a book on Friday and finished it today (Saturday) It's a bit unusual but sometimes it is good to be spontaneous. Beside that I continued reading of all my current reads and started a new one.
I finished
- The Raft (digital, 22nd April 2015) [Kindle ASIN: B00WGSX9N4] by Fred Strydom.
I wrote on GOODREADS:
"I admit that based on the description I expected an other story.
The beginning was confusing. Whenever I thought I saw the light at the end of the tunnel the world turned upside down. Time leaps and different memories caused a lot of knots in my brain. But nothing has been written in vain or without reason. Nevertheless I read the book in one day because I needed to know what comes next. The author is such a clever story teller. He achieved to turn me into a distrustful reader and I'm still not sure if the end was just one more fake memory. I don't know how to tell details of the story without spoiler.
In order to enjoy the book to full extent it is most important to be open-minded, to be patient at times and to show endurance."
- 151 pages in Kaisersturz (digital, 13th November 2015) [Kindle edition ASIN: B017XLAIYQ] by Felix A. Münter which is the first book in the Imperium von Westrin trilogy.
What a big surprise. Until page 77 I thought this is an entertaining read with promising characters and the plot is nothing new.
BUT with chapter three the scope changed, unexpected things happened and now the story is so much more. New areas and characters come into play which gives the whole story so much more depths.
Good to know that there will be two more books
- 211 pages in The Victoria Vanishes (digital 2014) [Amazon Kindle ASIN: B00H51SZO0] by Christopher Fowler, which is the sixth book in the Bryant and May Mystery series.
The page counter on my reader shows more pages as the information on Amazon. I'm at the beginning of chapter 26. I love the characters.
- 109 pages in The Jade Owl(digital, 23rd October 2008) [Kindle ASIN: B001J54AWO] by Edward C. Patterson which is the first book in The Jade Owl Legacy.
There is something in the book which force me to continue reading .....
- 86 pages in Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Volume One (digital, January 2012) [Kindle ASIN: B004O4C1AK] by Ashley Gardner.
This omnibus contains three books and two short stories.
I started to read the first book The Hanover Square Affair and so far I'm enjoying it. There are really dark areas in Regency London ......
No progress
- nothing to report
Enjoy your weekend ....
Dear readers, I'm the one to tell you about books - only books? What about novellas and other stuff? My name is Bona. I scour shelves, shops and the net for books. If you call me a book whore I would not gainsay you. But be aware I have my own, sometimes elusive taste.
New books on my shelf/reader or when one book leads to another
There are several reasons why I buy books
- First and foremost I love to read books
- It had been on my to buy list
- There is a good offer
- I find something most interesting for an acceptable price
- I'm collecting a series
In the end price is an important criteria especially when it comes to digital books. As far as I can see the price for e-books is increasing. New books are published as hard cover and e-books for nearly the same price.
In case it is a book I want to read, I put the digital version on my to buy list and wait patiently until the price drops to a limit which I'm willing to pay.
I have books on my to buy list for several years because the price remains on a high level.
There is another thing which really annoys me. There are series which I started to read in paperback format and I want to read the whole series in the same format. But then the publisher decides to decline the paperback format and continues the series in stead in digital format.
Did you recognize how often the price for books changes over at Amazon?
There are books which showed three and more different prices per day!!
I do not check my Amazon wish lists 24 hours a day. That would destroy my daily life. Nevertheless I do it more or less regularly which means twice twice a day.
So far it is quite sufficient and I could buy a lot of books for cheap.
And I have to stop to buy until I reach my monthly budget. This is absolutely mandatory in order not to crash. But there is a kind of flexibility. I transfer budget from one month to the next in case there is some money left at the end of the month.
Now you know a bit more about my book buying habits.
Did I buy digital copies last week? Yes, I did. In sum I bought digital copies of five books which I present you in no specific order.
Victorian era was not the time where everyone spoke Oxford English. I'm one hundred percent sure that in a lot of parts in Victorian London I would have been lost due to the English spoken at that time. And the following book is the proof for that.
Spunk Fakers, Slap Bangs, and Tipping the Velvet (digital, 15th March 2013) [Kindle ASIN: B00CTPR598] by Patrick Chapman. (Sorry, I did not find additional information about the author).
"Would you like to go to a penny gaff with a scammered moll? Give me a half tusheroon from your mollsack, and then we can have an 'aipenny bumper. Are you still a booze-shunter or have you become one of those balloon juice lowerers? Did you hear about the spunk faker who got batty fanged by a pudding scammerer? Look at that marm-puss in an arse-cooler, the one walking past the muffin-walloper: I'll bet she tips the velvet. And don't forget - if you don't want to visit the carsey you can always have a bit of cockney luxury.
If you understand what's being said above, you don't need to buy Spunk Fakers, Slap Bangs and Tipping the Velvet – you obviously speak like a Victorian Londoner already. However, if you want to understand the strange world of Victorian slang, Spunk Fakers, Slap Bangs and Tipping the Velvet will introduce you to some of the more ear-catching words found in the everyday speech of 19th century Londoners.
Whether you are an 'appy dosser, a bumaree, a fingersmith or a mush-fencer, I'll wager my beaver that this book will give you some of the words you need when you talk to a bangtail or a blower." [Source]
I love to read murder mysteries set in different period of times. I follow blogs and sites which deal with history and related books.
The next book I discovered over at English Historical Fiction Authors as the price of a giveaway. I found the book description promising and therefore I tried to get more information about
The Colour of Poison (digital, 16th February 2016) [Kindle ASIN: B01BVC7FSU] by Toni Mount which is the first book in the Sebastian Foxley Medieval Murder Mystery series and at the same time her debut novel.
"The first Sebastian Foxley Medieval Mystery by Toni Mount.I read the first chapter by using the Amazon Look inside function and I was hooked!
The narrow, stinking streets of medieval London can sometimes be a dark place. Burglary, arson, kidnapping and murder are every-day events. The streets even echo with rumours of the mysterious art of alchemy being used to make gold for the King.
Join Seb, a talented but crippled artist, as he is drawn into a web of lies to save his handsome brother from the hangman's rope. Will he find an inner strength in these, the darkest of times, or will events outside his control overwhelm him?
Only one thing is certain - if Seb can't save his brother, nobody can." [Source]
Author Toni Mount is history teacher, a writer, an experienced speaker. It seems she knows a lot about history and how to fascinate readers. Later on you can read two other pieces which are a proof for that.
Kaisersturz (digital, 13th November 2015) [Kindle edition ASIN: B017XLAIYQ] by Felix A. Münter impressed me that much that I tried to find out when the next book in the trilogy will be published. To my pleasure it is available and the price is really cheap. I paid just 1,99 EUR = 2.27 USD = 1.57 GBP for the digital copy of Exil (digital, 9th April 2016) [Kindle edition ASIN: B01DP9YXKA] by Felix A. Münter.
"Ein Jahrzehnt nach der Schlacht um Westrin befinden sich die kaiserlichen Zwillinge unentdeckt in der zweifelhaften Sicherheit der Seekönigreiche. Noch sind die ahnungslosen Kinder sich ihres Schicksals und der schweren Bürde auf ihren Schultern nicht bewusst. Als durch eine Unachtsamkeit ihre Tarnung auffliegt, sind die Kaisertreuen jedoch gezwungen aus den Schatten ihres Exils zu treten. Unaufhaltsam entfaltet sich der nächste blutige Krieg um Westrin und die Kaisertreuen werden mächtige Verbündete brauchen, um zu bestehen …" [Source]Fortunately the description does not contain major spoiler.
"The Bow Street Runners have been called London's first professional police force. The force, originally numbering six men, was founded in 1749 by the magistrate Henry Fielding, who was also well known as an author." [Source]The history of the Bow Street Runners lasted from 1749 to 1839. I read several books starring the Runners in different years. I read several books in the Sir John Fielding series by Bruce Alexander (1932 - 2003).
In 2015 author Edward Marston started his new series Bow Street Rivals. Of course this new series aroused my interest and last week I found a cheap offer for the first book in the series.
Now I own a digital copy of
Shadow of the Hangman (digital, 19th February 2016) [Kindle edition ASIN: B00Q1ULQVK] by Edward Marston.
"1815.This sounds exactly after my fancy ....
Peter and Paul Skillen, identical twins and fearless thief-takers, stalk all who dare to walk in the shadow of the hangman. When they catch a notorious burglar, they claim a handsome reward and infuriate the Bow Street Runners who believe they have a monopoly on policing in the capital. The Home Secretary, Viscount Sidmouth, faces a crisis. During a massacre of American prisoners of war at Dartmoor, two escape and come to London in search of retribution. If their demands are not met, Sidmouth will be killed.
The Skillen brothers are hired to catch the fugitives and must compete with the Runners to bring the villains to justice in a compelling tale of murder, kidnap, revenge, intrigue and political machination." [Source]
I own copies of several books related to Steampunk. Even I'm not new to Steampunk I appreciate to read about it, to see what other people create and more. The following book has been a while on my to buy list and last week I finally bought a digital copy of
Steampunk For Simpletons: A Fun Primer For Folks Who Aren't Sure What Steampunk Is All About (digital, 24th March 2014) [Kindle edition ASIN: B00JA2SX3A] by Travis Sivart and Wendy Callahan.
"New folks discover steampunk every day, and often their first question is, "What is steampunk?", and their second question is, "What do steampunks do?".This is a source book and no novel. A 4.23 rating on GOODREADS and recommendations I received from other Steampunks is an indication for me that the book is a good choice for both, the interested ones and the experienced ones.
Steampunk For Simpletons starts with those questions and expands outward to cover a plethora of topics. We give a primer followed by a guided tour through the world of steampunk, from the basics such as where to go and what to do, to the aesthetic of the arts within steampunk.
Travis I. Sivart and Wendy L. Callahan are both published steampunk authors, as well as having a weekly radio show on the subject. Though they do not claim to be the ultimate or complete authority in this beloved genre, they wrote this book hoping to help new folks find their way into the hobby, or help others expand their knowledge of the aesthetic. They also drew upon the knowledge, expertise, and wisdom of many others (like their cats) from the steampunk community, making their book an inclusive and cooperative work." [Source]
The third book
After the decision to take two books about Victorian era with me, I started to think about the two more books I want to read during my holiday. I roamed through my book shelves and stacks. Fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, alternate history, historical fiction, medieval mysteries, and more. So many great books to choose from. I stopped before I got a headache and remembered a book which I won in a giveaway.
I read the first part of the duology in November 2015 and wrote following on GOODREADS:
"The story is an excellent blend of science fiction and mystery.
The mystery is much more complex than one think in the beginning. Due to a lot of twists and turns the reader keeps guessing nearly until the end of the book. The pacing is well done.
Beginning with page one the reader is part of the story. "The world" is reduced to the generation ship ARK which is inhabited by 50000 people. That should give you an impression of the ship dimension.
One may not always agree with the actions of detective Bryan Benson because he is stubborn at times.
One thing I liked a lot were all the references to the past.
I look forward to read the second book in the duology. When everything goes well,TRIDENTS FORGE will be published in April 2016."
This was my opinion about The Ark (pb, 2015) [ ISBN-13: 978-0857664839] by Patrick S. Tomlinson.
Two weeks ago I received the paperback copy of The Ark (pb, 2015) [ ISBN-13: 978-0857664839] by Patrick S. Tomlinson.
"The Ark and her thirty-thousand survivors have reached Tau Ceti G and begun the long, arduous task of building their new colony by the sea. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Tau Ceti G's natives, the G'tel, are coming to grips with the sudden appearance of what many believe are their long-lost Gods. But the first official greeting ceremony between humans and g'tel goes catastrophically wrong, visiting death on both sides. Rumors begin to circulate that the massacre was no accident, and the Ark's greatest hero, Bryan Benson is told to stop coaching his new love of American football and tackle the mystery. Paired up with native 'truth-digger' Kexx, against both of their better judgment, Benson finds himself thrust into the heart of an alien culture with no idea whom to trust, how to speak the language, and how to tell who wants to worship him from who wants to kill him. Together, Benson and Kexx will have to find enough common ground and trust to uncover a plot that threatens to plunge both of their peoples into an apocalyptic war that neither side is prepared for or can afford to lose." [Source]And this is the third book I want to read during my holidays. I hope it will be as good or even better than the first part.
Which will be the fourth and final holiday reading?
This depends on the fact if the paperback copy arrives in time or not.
Anyway I will talk about it in the next issue of the Weekend Wave.
A book for you?
Time travel is something a lot of people would like to do. If I could I would immediately visit Victorian London.
I still remember The Time Traveller's Guide To Medieval England (June 2009, 368 p.) [ISBN-13: 978-1845950996], by Ian Mortimer which I liked a lot - my review.
Yesterday I received a mail which recommended following book.
The Time Traveller's Handbook: 19 Experiences from the Eruption of Vesuvius to Woodstock (first published in October 2015; this digital edition, 24th May 2016) [Kindle edition ASIN: B016I3AOX0]by Johnny Acton, David Glodblatt, James Wyllie
"Travel through time to witness some of the most extraordinary and colorful events in world history with this unusual and entertaining guide that includes fascinating cultural details from each period, including what and where to eat, what to wear, how to act like a local, and most importantly, how to stay alive.
Have you ever wished you could have experienced some of the most interesting and important events that have helped shape history? With The Time Traveler's Handbook you can! Johnny Actonis, David Glodblatt, and James Wyllie transport you back in time, providing a "you-are-there" front-seat view of some the greatest moments in the human timeline.
Filled with engaging and colorful details, The Time Traveler's Handbook helps you make the most of your "travels," giving you background information, insight into local customs, and advice on all aspects of period life to make your adventures authentic and help you actually live them. Forget museums and history books—The Time Traveler's Handbook gives you unprecedented access to a wide range of milestones, including Celebrations & Exhibitions; Moments That Made History; Cultural & Sporting Spectaculars; Epic Journeys and Voyages; and Extreme Events. Observe Mount Vesuvius erupt (and survive), see the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo, boogie with the Beatles in Hamburg, accompany Marco Polo to Xanadu, attend the opening night of Shakespeare's Globe Theater, smell the cordite at the battle of Bull Run, and sit ringside at Foreman and Ali's "Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa.
Illustrated with color and black-and-white paintings and photographs of famous figures and locations, as well as detailed maps and illustrations to aid in your journey through time, The Time Traveler's Handbook is the ultimate guide to exploring history that unlocks the wonders of the past as never before." [Source]
As you can see this edition will be available on May 24th 2016. I must say it arouse my interest. It contains really different events and I would like to have a deeper look. Maybe this is a book for you too .....
No more today, see you next week ......
Hey, I'm Bona Fide. I just came back from my last foray through the blogosphere. What can you expect from me? I tell you: Everything from Art to Fart as long as there is any faint connection to books. And here is some honey from the beehive blogosphere...
The Printing Press
Any expectations or guesses what you will get now? I'm sure it is not what you think. We travel back in time ... Head over to nerdalicious and read the enlightening and fascinating post related to The Colour of Poison.
What do you know about medieval apothecaries? For me it is a place where you could get herbs. Fortunately there is a great opportunity to learn more about medieval apothecaries in a short time. The only thing you need to do is to visit English Historical Fiction Authors and read
Macro images
Did you ever see macro images of spiders? The photographs over at Atlas Obscura gave me the creeps. But there are more than only spider images ...
Mimic the process of intelligent life
There is a long history behind today's result of artificial intelligence. It started more or less with mimicking the process of intelligent life. There is an amazing and most interesting post available over at The Public Domain Review.
I do not want to spoil the party for you. Therefore the link does not show the real header of the post.
The Times They Are a-Changin
Is there anyone who does not know this famous Bob Dylan song? If you don't know then listen.
And there are changes in the the book blogosphere.
If you are interested in SFF books I'm sure you read the following post over at SF Signal:
The reasons are understandable but it is a great loss. Whenever a site or a blog leaves the blogosphere it is the time when other blogger do start think about their on situation. So do I. But before I go into detail, I recommend to read the post by Adam Whitehead over at The Wertzone.
My situation is a bit different. Before I started my blog it was crystal for me that my available time for the blog is limited. I wanted to write one weekly post and whenever possible to write and post reviews. And that is what I'm doing since I started back in April 2010. That with this amount of content my readership will be limited. Nevertheless I'm happy about everyone who follows my blog. Most interesting thing is that a lot of authors like my blog.
I do not depend on review copies. Most of the books I review or talk I about I bought on my own. From time to time I accept review copies.
Of course I also had doubts during the past years. But there was always the same clue. I will continue with my blog as long as at least one person is reading my posts.
I never wanted to be a professional writer. I always wanted to share my love for books with other people.
I will see what the future has in mind for me ....
That's it for today. Come back next week for more ......
Hey, it's me Fide. I'm a remote control professional. I'm that fast that I can watch two movies at the same time.
Only one week left until the new DLC for Fallout 4 will be available.
As usual Bethesda delivered a trailer. Enjoy the first impressions of Far Harbor.
SHOOT is one more excellent example of a great 3D animated short.
That's it for today. Come back next week for more ......
I 'm the Keeper of the minutes. But I don't mind when you call me Kotm. No, no. I don't explain to you how to pronounce.
I fully agree with following quote. I showed it to some colleagues last week and it put a smile on their faces and I could see them traveling back in time in their thoughts ..........
"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."
The Fourth Doctor, Dr Who


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Manny Steiner
Manny Steiner is the solo project of Stephen Aylward, former drummer of numerous St. John's bands including surf rock band The Cyanides (formerly Elimination Dance), post-punk band Mopey Mumble Mouse, various incarnations of the pseudo-punk/60's style rock band Cyril Sneer (later Cedric and Cyril) and the short-lived bass-drum duo Last of the Creamed Eels. Aylward professes to no formal knowledge of music whatsoever and is barely proficient in music at all outside of his main instrument. This has not discouraged Aylward in the least from undertaking the current experiment, which attempts to incorporate a chaotic noise-rock sound with underlying post-punk conventions of a droning, repetitive style. Aylward's affinity for the works of Philip K. Dick led to the coining of the name "Manny Steiner," the autistic child from Dick's "Martian Time Slip," whose preoccupation with entropy, decay and nihilism seemed to be the most appropriate underlying theme for the breed of organized calamity that will (hopefully) translate into a full album throughout the month of February. While Aylward's musical influences are both numerous and varied, the current project derives its influences from the likes of Cocteau Twins, Death from Above 1979, Deerhoof, Joy Division, Lightning Bolt, Melt Banana, Noxagt, Shellac, Sonic Youth, Whirlwind Heat, et. al. Aylward has participated in the RPM challenge in the past as drummer of Mopey Mumble Mouse. This is his first individual effort.
Stephen Aylward: Bass, Vocals, Violin.
Completed Albums
Useless Fact(s)(2010)
If I could have selected "pseudo-ambient post punk being mauled by noise rock" in the genre tab, I most certainly would have.


text:
Planned maintenance — 18th January 2018 12:00 to 22nd January 2018 09:00 [more]
Cruise inventory
RV Cirolana CIR8/86
Cruise summary report
|Cruise Info.
|Ship name (ship code)
|RV Cirolana (74CZ)
|Cruise identifier
|Cruise period
|1986-10-10 — 1986-10-27
|Port of departure
|Immingham, United Kingdom
|Port of return
|Lowestoft, United Kingdom
|1. To participate in the ICES coordinated herring larvae survey of region IVB during the two standard sampling periods in October, using the MAFF 53cm high speed sampler.
2. To examine aspects of the planktonic ecosystem of which herring larvae are a part, including:
(i) the physical structure of the environment;
(ii) the vertical distribution of herring larvae, their food and predators;
(iii) herring larvae diet and feeding status;
(iv) predation on herring larvae.
NOTE: gear trials in relation to aim 2 will be an integral part of the programme.
3. To take water samples using the ships pumps and analyse on board for dissolved sulphur gases using gas chromatography (UEA).
4. To examine the spatial and vertical distribution of choanoflagellates in the coastal and open waters of the North Sea (University of Birmingham).
|Chief scientist
|John H Nichols (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Lowestoft Fisheries Laboratory)
|Cruise report
|Ocean/sea areas
|North Sea
Irish Sea and St. George's Channel
|W. Central North Sea
|Track charts
|Physical oceanography
|CTD stations
|Quantity: number of stations = 211
|Subsurface temperature and salinity measurements
|Biology and fisheries
|Phytoplankton pigs (eg chlorophyll, fluorescence)
|Description: continuous chlorophyll monitoring
|Quantity: number of stations = 211
|Quantity: number of stations = 211
|Eggs and larvae
|Quantity: number of stations = 35


text:
Question about Watches
It is a quartz, has 3 hands and displays the date only, not day. How do I get the time reset. I followed the manual and all I can do is change the date. Help.
Posted by Mike1935 on
My problem is setting the month and date on my Seido watch.
My watch keeps resetting itself after I've set the proper date and Time. How can I solve this?
How to set day and date
Mike 1935 if your watch has hands only & no digital display the crown where you set the watch pulls out half a click to set the date and should pull out a little further to set the time try that.
bjbc I am assuming your seiko watch is a digital watch. Try holding in the top rt button if its the watch I think it is it should change to 12yr time.
Posted on Mar 10, 2008
SOURCE: I have freestanding Series 8 dishwasher. Lately during the filling cycle water hammer is occurring. How can this be resolved
a 6ya Expert can help you resolve that issue over the phone in a minute or two.
Best thing about this new service is that you are never placed on hold and get to talk to real repair professionals here in the US.
click here to Talk to an Expert (only for users in the US for now) and get all the help you need.
Posted on Jan 02, 2017
Tips for a great answer:
Dec 21, 2016 | Watches
Apr 19, 2015 | Seiko Watches
Sep 26, 2012 | Casio Watches
Seiko watches are a popular accessory for both men and women. The history of Seiko watches goes back to 1881 long time ago, when the company that was to become Seiko began. From the beginning, the method to set a Seiko watch has been designed to be a simple process.
The following are the steps to set a Seiko watch for the time, day and date function, and for setting the chronograph on an analog watch.
Set the Time:
Good luck and thanks for using fixya.
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Seahawks Blog
Danny O'Neil covers the Seahawks for The Seattle Times.
Blog Home | E-mail Danny | Subscribe | Twitter feed| Seahawks forum
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What we learned: 49ers 40, Seahawks 21
Posted by Danny O'Neil
I. Three things we learned
a) Matt Hasselbeck remains turnover-prone.
He demonstrated that when he was intercepted 10 times over the final four games of 2009, and he has shown the same predilection recently. He committed 10 turnovers in the previous three games, including five on Sunday that led to 20 points for San Francisco. His team missed its starting two wide receivers Sunday in San Francisco, and Hasselbeck showed the same headstrong desire to make plays downfield the result was five turnovers in a two-quarter span that turned Sunday's loss into a blowout. Could Seattle have won without taking chances and trying to force some plays? It's not all that likely, but it's certain the Seahawks can't win when the quarterback plays as cavalierly as Hasselbeck did.
b) The Seahawks have found consistency the past seven games.
That's not a good thing, though, because Seattle has consistently played poorly. The Seahawks have given up 20 or more points in a quarter four times in the past seven games. They never allowed more than 12 points in any single period their first six games. Seattle's past three victories have come against the following starting quarterbacks: Max Hall and Derek Anderson of Arizona and Jimmy Clausen of Carolina. And of all Seattle's losses this season have been by 15 or more points.
c) Charlie Whitehurst isn't considered a viable alternative to Hasselbeck right now.
If the Seahawks were going to make a quarterback change this season, it would have occurred at halftime of Sunday's game after Hasselbeck committed three turnovers in the second quarter, two of them in Seattle's half of the field. The fact that coach Pete Carroll said he didn't consider benching Hasselbeck until very late in the game and then only to give Whitehurst some repetitions shows that Seattle doesn't consider him a viable replacement for Hasselbeck right now.
II. Three things we don't know
a) What is tight end John Carlson's role on this team going forward?
Seattle started the game with two tight ends on the field in San Francisco, and Carlson was not one of them. Chris Baker and Cameron Morrah were the top two alternatives, and not only did Carlson not catch a pass Sunday, but he didn't have a ball thrown to him in a game in which 10 different players caught passes for the Seahawks. Now, Carlson is coming back from a hip injury, but the fact he finished with fewer receptions than guard Mike Gibson - who caught a tipped ball - is telling.
b) What is Seattle's deal is with fourth-down fades?
Hasselbeck said afterward that is something that is within the offense, that if there's one-on-one coverage outside that's a chance the Seahawks offense is built to take advantage of. But at this point it's becoming clear that's an opportunity opposing defenses are trying to bait the Seahawks into taking. In effect, they're comfortable leaving the outside receiver in single coverage and Seattle has not been able to cash in that opportunity yet.
c) How Deon Butler will recover from a frightening leg injury.
It was a serious injury. That was apparent as Ruvell Martin waved the trainers over as soon as he saw Butler on the ground in the end zone. Butler was the first person coach Pete Carroll visited after exiting Seattle's locker room after the game. Coach Mike Singletary also went in to see Butler. It was an unfortunate and frightening moment in Sunday's game.
III. Three things we're still trying to figure out
a) What has gone so dramatically wrong with Golden Tate?
We've heard his route running is problematic. That's the reason he was inactive Week 1 and why his role in the offense was downgraded after the Week 4 loss at St. Louis, but with Seattle missing its starting wide receivers, the Seahawks started Ruvell Martin, a player it cut twice previously this year, and though Tate caught three passes in the game, he couldn't have been on the field for more than a dozen or so plays in the game.
b) How did Hasselbeck spread the ball around so evenly?
He was picked off four times in the game, each interception by a different defender. Each of San Francisco's starting safeties caught one. So did cornerback Nate Clements. If nothing else, Hasselbeck prevented one player from padding interception totals by throwing the ball all over the field.
c) Whether Seattle can win the division at 7-9?
It's going to be tricky. The Seahawks will have to beat the Rams in Week 17, and the Rams have to lose at least one game in addition to that, and the 49ers can not win their final two games in the division.
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How to Get Rid of Broken Blood Vessels?
How to get rid of broken blood vessels is a common question that many people worry about, usually people suffer from broken blood vessels on the legs, face and sometimes in the eyes as well. Burst blood capillaries usually cause bluish, red or purple hairline marks and are also known as spider veins. This condition is usually not life threatening but it make you feel conscious if they occur on your face. The treatment of this condition may vary from dermatologist to dermatologist. A physician may suggest various methods to get rid of this condition. Sclerotherapy and laser therapy are the two treatment methods used for this condition. For sclerotherapy, injections are used to shrink the burst blood vessels. However, both the methods require the usage of anesthetics in order to minimize the discomfort. Read on to know about the other ways to get rid of this condition.
How to Get Rid of Broken Blood Vessels
A person suffering from this condition may follow the below mentioned steps that will help you have an idea on how to get rid of broken blood vessels.
Location Identification:
It is important to identify the location of the presence of burst capillaries. Sometimes, burst blood vessels on the knee and leg can also be mixed with various other venous abnormalities.
Make sure that you opt for a good reputed board-certified dermatologist. Also see to it that he/she is specialized in treating vein abnormalities such as varicose veins and broken blood vessels as this condition can be easily treated by these doctors.
Medical Conditions:
Inform your dermatologist of your medical condition as there are chances for certain health complications to cause spider veins. Rosacea a skin disorder can result in causing this condition. Any kind of injury can also lead to spider veins.
Your dermatologist may use sclerotherapy by injecting the medicines in order to shrink the capillaries depending on your overall health condition. He/she may also use laser treatment in order to eradicate the broken vessels.
Home Remedies:
If you think you cannot afford the above mentioned treatments, then you can opt for certain home remedies that will help in overcoming this condition. You can use creams that consist of calendula, vitamins E and K and these are available in any pharmacy or health food stores. Use ice cubes to minimize the swelling if this condition occurs due to an injury. You can even use cover-up make for the burst vessels on the legs and arms.
This is how you can get rid of broken blood vessels. Eat healthy and follow a good lifestyle in order to avoid spider veins.


text:
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text: Posted September 6, 2016 · Report post It took a little digging to find the new site. I have missed it! I'm sorry this is so long, and I hope I have posted it in the right place. But I would really like some advice or kind words. I feel overwhelmed and I'm not sure what to do. My BF (of 2 1/2 years) and I went camping with his family this weekend, which was stressful and our part was organized by me alone. That's a whole other ball of wax, but my bf's mother informed us that his dad's brother and wife were going to be in town this coming weekend, from Texas (we are in California). My bf hasn't seen them in probably ten years. On top of that, since they are coming, his other Aunt is coming, and they are celebrating his only grandma's 79th birthday, and we are both expected to be there. A bit last minute. We had been planning to help MY parents install their new flooring this weekend for 2 months. But I can't, and won't, insist that my BF not see his family because we have to help mine install flooring, even if it is last inconveniently last minute. So I called my dad up as soon as I got home, as I needed to wish them a happy anniversary and ask if we can install the flooring the following weekend. Well, my dad got very irritated. I told him that I wasn't happy about it either, and I'm not, but I can't really do anything about it. My BF is the more valuable one as far as knowing how to install that flooring, but honestly we just installed it in our new place, and that's the only reason we know anything. And, by the way, we did that without any help from them, since they were on a long vacation. So he gets all stony and cold, so I ask to talk to his wife (we get a long very very well), and inform her of what is going on and she was equally irritated with me. She said it just seemed like his family interrupted their plans a lot. Their plans? I can think of 1 or 2 times in 2 1/2 years. Mine? yeah, a lot. But my parents have ruined our plans as well and we've rescheduled or missed things with my bf's side too. I get handed back to my dad, where he asks me what day it is, then I remember I was going to wish them a happy anniversary, and all I got back was, "did you tell ____(his wife) that?" And I said no, but explained that I mean to, I just got side tracked with that conversation and all the billion other things going on (Tagged her in a Facebook post after, with a photo I had taken at the wedding and wished them a Happy Anniversary again, got "thanks"). I called them like 20 minutes after I parked my car in the driveway. We can't do the floors the following weekend because it's his wife's granddaughter's birthday and they are driving over to visit them. Then my dad, all mad, says that he guesses he just won't go. Or maybe he'll just do the floors himself. blah blah blah. And I try explaining its hard to make things work, and schedule things between the two families. He always acts like I have absolute control over everything that happens. Then get's mad at me when I don't make things go his way. His wife's kids are never there to help with anything. Just earlier this year we went over two weekends in a row to help him put up a new fence. He always gets grouchy and rude during these projects too. I texted my BF after that and told him my dad wasn't happy with me, and he said that he could just install the flooring himself then. Which didn't help. I'm just feeling pressure from all sides to appease everybody, and also the pressure on myself to do what I think is the right thing. I told him that I'd try to nail down exactly what is happening with the bf's family and I'd call him back today. But honestly, my only option is to just drive the 2 hours over there by myself this weekend and try to be as helpful as I can. And also deal with his bad attitude during the install. But now I'm just angry. I don't want to help him now. I generally have a good relationship with my father, and his wife..but I'm just mad. I'm mad that they apparently gave no thought to everything I have going on, they don't listen when I try to talk about my issues with stress and anxiety, he just gets mad when I'm not at his beck and call, and when we go help him with something he always ends up being very rude during the project. And I also think its wrong that they would want my BF to ignore his whole family to go help them with FLOORS, or at least wrong that they are putting so much pressure on me to somehow make that happen. Hell, last Thanksgiving, when they wanted me to come over and I told him that my BF and I needed to go to his parent's because his brother who is in the military would be home for it, a rare occurrence, my dad got so mad at me. Said we had spent last thanksgiving with them, when we didn't, we were alone for it because both sets of our parents were out of town visiting other family members. Mine were only a few hours away visiting one of his wife's kids, but its not like I was even invited anyway. Then we went and did Christmas with them and stayed for 5 DAYS. I would understand the frustration if I never called, or visited, or helped when they asked, but I DO. All the time. Even when it is inconvenient for me. Any advice in dealing with this? I want to call him up and chew him out, or at least say that I won't be coming at all and I'm disappointed in his behavior. I realize I can't please everyone all the time..but no one else seems to be realizing this. I hate last minute changes myself. I don't want any of this to be happening. I feel overwhelmed with my family, my BF's family, seeing my BF have such a hard time with his family, helping him, with school, with work, my anxiety and depression. I had a meltdown last night...I'm in college right now getting my BA. My dad has been helping me out by having me on his cell plan and paying for my car insurance, he also helped me pay for a car repair I couldn't afford last year, and, this car being my first, he helped me get that too and its in his name. I feel like maybe that is part of the reason I'm in the beck and call position, but I know that part of it is that it is just his personality and I'm his only child. I'm not ungrateful. I help him all the time. I call just to say hi and ask how they are doing. I'm always trying to be helpful. I'm repeating myself. Please, any advice would be very much appreciated. I want to throw my hands up in the air, chew him out, and ask my BF to help me maybe buy the car from him, and pay the insurance, registration, etc. I also just wish I could be more independent and not owe anybody..but that's why I'm in school, getting A's, and digging myself into debt. HELP. 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text:
Introduction by Jim Hightower
The column is the most natural literary form for a citizen's advocate, and Ralph Nader may be its most robust and forceful practitioner. Told You So: The Big Book of Weekly Columns presents a panoramic portrait of the problems confronting our society and provides examples of the many actions an organized citizenry could and should take to create a more just and environmentally sustainable world. Drawing on decades of experience, Nader's columns document the consequences of concentrated corporate power; threats to our food, water and air; the corrosive effect of commercialism on our children; the dismantling of worker rights; and the attacks on our civil rights and civil liberties. Nader also offers concrete suggestions to spark citizen action and achieve social change.
Watch footage of Ralph Nader discuss the formation of his civic personality here.
And see footage of Nader at 92nd St. Y here.


text:
All major broadcasters have joined hands to demand an apology from multi-system operator (MSO) Manthan Broadband Services for threatening, abusing and heckling the staff of SET-Discovery on Monday.
In a gathering of last-mile operators, MSOs and broadcasters on Tuesday, representatives of STAR, Zee-Turner, ESPN-STAR Sports, Modi Entertainment Network and SET-Discovery spoke in one voice, asking for a written apology from Manthan directors when they meet again over the issue on August 1.
A group of around 200 people had gheraoed the SET-Discovery Calcutta office on Garcha Road on Monday afternoon, shortly after the entire Sony package was switched off for defaulting on dues. Manthans outstandings to SET-Discovery till July this year add up to Rs 25 lakh, according to an official of the broadcaster.
The official claimed the channels were blacked out after repeated requests to Manthan to clear dues had fallen on deaf ears and after a cheque for Rs 9.78 lakh from the MSO had bounced last week.
The Sony beam was back in the evening after Gariahat police directed the broadcaster to switch on the channels with a 72-hour notice to the MSO to pay up.
It seems but a temporary reprieve for Manthan. We have a legal contract with them and if they fail to honour that, we will take necessary action, SET-Discovery president Shantonu Aditya told Metro.
The Cable Operators Sangram Committee has also condemned the incident as deplorable. Forum spokesperson Tarak Saha said: Under no circumstances should any company be allowed to run a business with outstandings.


text:
Product or Service
supply rigging hardware:wire rope clips
Profile:Manufacturer - Producer|Ref:PSL15250YH | Country: China | Export: No
we supply various types of wire rope clips like DIN 1142,US type, JIS type, KOREA type,etc.
Other hardware and tools mainly include link chains,dog chains, quick links, snap hooks, shackles, collar rings, "8" hook, "S" hook, turnbuckles, thimbles, swivels,pat locks, steel wire ropes,accessories, etc.
Contact the company


text:
double bass and electronics
10 minutes
commissioned and performed here by Ira Gold
When bassist Ira Gold and I first started working on Sounding Dawn, we discovered that we both had an affinity for the occasional run at sunrise. There's something special about hitting the road at first light, before you do anything else with your day. Musically, this translated into exploring delicate timbres on the instrument that traverse the pitch-to-noise spectrum, and finding a balance in the rhythmic realm that keeps the music pushing forward without obliterating the introspective vibe. Layered textures, between the live performer and triggered prerecorded sounds, are present throughout the piece; in addition to prerecorded sounds, the electronic elements in the piece are also amplifying and processing what the live performer plays.
Overall, Sounding Dawn is intended as a meditation on the experience of sharing a hazy secret with an awakening world. For me, that secret is most often a run through my neighborhood woods before I go to work in the morning, but I don't think the experience with this piece needs to be limited to just that. I hope the piece can help to project an introspective space for a listener, a space where one stops and appreciates the larger world around them.


text:
Credit Advice
Have a question? Have advice to share? The combined knowledge and experience of everyone in the Credit Karma community can help you. Enter your question or help others below to get started!
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Paying of cc's doesn't hurt your score. Keeping total utilization around 5-10% with some cards reporting zero balance and some cards reporting a balance seems to be an ideal situation. Without knowing your specifics we can't be much more specific.
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text: At the employee co ordinating group meeting today UPS informed us of a very serious incident that has happened to a UPS manager. This manager was on business in Milan Italy when his lap Top was stolen. This is bad enough but it has come to light that this lap top contained 8500 uk employee details such as N I numbers bank accounts details,salary details and any thing else you so desire, in truth UPS are not sure as to what is on this lap top and taking measures to inform every employee of such. The other problem is this happened two and a half weeks ago. So be aware.


text:
The living link
A 'wilderness' pack trip
Our Water
By Stephen L. Wilmeth
I just finished building a fire in the shop wood stove and remain agitated.
My woodpile is wet from the Thanksgiving rain, but anybody should be able to build a fire out of wet wood. It is the "safety matches" that have stirred my ire. Remember safety matches that could be struck by stropping them across the side of your Levi's? "Safety" was the ability to actually strike them when conditions were real and dangerous. Safety has now entered the realm of "saving" some idiot by some grander idiot writing regulations from his or her west wing office. It is infuriating to attempt to strike a single lit match from five or six toys that break or fail to strike without holding your mouth right, your left foot in the air, and reading from the instructions of demands imposed on once grand old match company, Diamond!
They even have a politically correct name, Greenlight. That's right, and the light is so dim you have to put reading glasses on to see it. Greenlight, my … No, let's make the best of this situation and saddle a horse and a mule and throw a diamond to make it somewhat realistic.
The Greenlighters will likely stumble over the implications of throwing a diamond. On second thought, let's throw a squaw. That'll give 'em hiccups.
Saddling in the dark
Since we saddled just a horse and a single mule, we were already rimming out from the Shaw Place before sunup. Sunup had us looking into the ridgeline of the Robledos on our backtrack. The sound of hooves on rocks was timeless. The mule was traveling easily and the horse, new to leading a mule in such proximity, had already been warned with a rowel raked across his right flank not to try to kick his traveling companion again. His lesson in good behavior was brief but lasting.
The first opportunity for water was a drinker on the pipeline extension from Faulkner Well, but nobody was interested. It was by now light enough "to shoot" as it is described in ranchland vernacular.
As we left the drinker, it occurred to me that every point of water should be named. This trough was nameless and that had to be remedied.
The ride up the basin toward McCall Reservoir was easy going. The traffic from town keeps the two track beaten out and the gravelly clay bottom muffled most equine footfalls. Named for its concrete damn and spillway construction, McCall Reservoir was as full as sedimentation allowed. It needed cleaning, but the wet bottom has not allowed it. Using a dragline came to mind, but there is no such availability in this area.
The climb out of the McCall Basin was halted twice to let the animals blow. They controlled the climb as long as they didn't take advantage of the trust extended on them. That is an earned empowerment offered ranch horses. It is a silent respect of which most folks have no concept.
Topping out and looking into the Coyote drainage was met with the first vehicle encounter of the morning. It was a Jeep replete with a lift kit, rock grabber tires, and a Yeti cooler likely filled with cold lubricants. The ride into the canyon detoured into the drainage that empties into Coyote Tank. Chris had walked the Cat up there to clean the tank and repair a breach on the northeast corner. I wanted to look at it.
For many years, that tank was the only water in that reach of Coyote. The alternative was for cattle to walk to the Kimble Well miles down the canyon. Several years ago Leonard and I installed a pipeline from Kimble, a storage, and two drinkers at a point across the canyon. It was there the animals were again offered water. The horse played in it, but didn't drink. The mule wasn't interested.
I got off to check cinches. A motor cycle came down the creek. I couldn't see it from that vantage point because of the mesquite, but I could hear it. I had no interest in "looking" at it.
Our continued ride was westward rather than down the canyon to Kimble. I had seen enough of Kimble in the days and weeks previous as we rebuilt pens for working cattle. The well there was now pumped by a solar system, and, even in the heat of summer, it has kept up with the cattle (and wildlife) demands. It is a critical, permanent water source.
Our route took up upslope through the Coyote Pasture which has the capacity to carry the ranch's entire cow herd for a month as long as enough water can be supplied through the infrastructure installed by the ranch. I like this pasture and like it more by the abundance of grass that has come in the aftermath of a brush treatment project applied the same year we installed the twin drinkers. Riding up the canyon west from the storage was purposely quiet and made quieter by intent to look, smell, and study the landscape. The brush treatment was sensational. We were beyond the necessary rest periods following the treatment which precluded cattle during the growing season, but that protocol would be continued because of rotation limitations. We don't yet have enough water there to support large numbers of cattle in the heat of the summer.
The next water was the Hackberry Tank that splits the Coyote and Hersey Pasture fence where the two track tops the ridge from the Hersey Basin. Our route now equated to only seven air miles from the morning's start, but at least nine miles of actual travel. Every point of water encountered was there because of ranch efforts. It was at Hackberry, a tank that doesn't hold water well, both the horse and the mule finally drank.
Our route continued higher as we began the climb in earnest toward the top of the Las Uvas ridgeline and Magdalena Peak. We stopped and glassed the broad hillsides of Bell and Tailholt Mountains. On one of the two state trust sections in the basin below us, another permanent water source, a well, is desperately needed. Part of the binocular inspection was to conceptualize locations and routes of pipeline installation. That water is needed to bolster benefits to livestock and wildlife in summer months that can reach 105°.
The remainder of the day crisscrossed a mosaic of infrastructure investments all designed around manmade water developments. Modern traffic traversed the canyon bottoms while the realm of only the horseman extended to the ridgelines with an increasing sense of wonder that all sides of the wilderness debate try to describe.
It was there on the high points and ridges the essence of Aldo Leopold writings rang in truest form. "It is difficult for this generation to understand this aristocracy of space based on transport," he wrote of his experiences in Arizona's White Mountains and similar places where all other sources of transportation ceased and mounted horsemen emerged alone and "always found the frontier." In this passage from the mindset of Escudilla and Mogollon, a true relationship of "wilderness" places the horsemen in full partnership, not separation, with the concept.
"It (wilderness) was too big for foot travel …" he said.
The ride could have taken in a swath of country dotted with an even dozen more points of water on the ranch all there solely because of livestock. In this story, I choose finally to reach the point of rocks on the mesa jutting off from Magdalena Peak and its massive FAA radar facility, south from Sugar Loaf, and upon the highest points of the massive watershed that eventually emerges as Apache Flats on our Butterfield Trail Ranch another seven air miles to the southwest.
It was on the point I tied the mule and hobbled my mare bound gelding. They would each receive a ration of grain from the panniers and I would gather enough juniper wood to start a fire with my old style safety match. I'd listen to it crackle before it settled enough to set my folding wire grill to braise the cut of meat wrapped around a cold pack and stuffed into a little tea pot. A tortilla and a slice of cheese would complete my meal.
Reclining in my sleeping bag from that vantage, lights on I10 would be visible throughout the night of relative sleeplessness. I never sleep well the first night away from home in any circumstance, but I would savor the surroundings and being there with only the horse and the mule. Tomorrow, we would ride another 18 miles to the Butterfield headquarters, and we would study the country through these rancher eyes that know this existence is actually part of the system that exists in permanence.
Any disruptions, therein … have profound implications.
La ultima
This chronicle is fictitious.
This ride was made not in a single event, but in a series of ongoing days of ranch life. The ride, though, is perhaps important for people who need to understand the complexity of our lives on this land that is now designated National Monument by executive order.
We simply do not know what our future holds.
If we are not extended the courtesy of the importance of an inescapable historic tenure, perhaps we should be granted the importance of our role in 99.9% of the available water that now exists in this setting. We are the water on our ranches and the water is us. We are absolutely surrounded by infrastructure that doesn't exist in a void. We are the resident stewards and even science will eventually disclose the importance of our role in this modern setting.
Is there interest in such a ride? We could make it two hours, a half day, two days or a full week. The outcome might just change some lives and beliefs.
Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico. "Proponents suggested this area has wilderness characteristics. It is ironic that in the words of their gate keeper ranchers are the living link to the concept."
I just can't get that image of Wilmeth striking those greenlight matches out of my mind. I'm bettin' he turned loose with more carbon dioxide than a whole case of those damn things would save.
I just can't get that image of Wilmeth striking those greenlight matches out of my mind. I'm bettin' he turned loose with more carbon dioxide than a whole case of those damn things would save.


text:
Made by Hand was created out of the belief that the things we collect, consume, use, and share are part of who we are as individuals. For example, the food that we eat says something about each of us, as do the tools we use and the chairs we rest on. Objects that surround the space we dwell in tell stories, and not just about us. Where did they come from? Who made them? How were they made?
Each film aims to promote that which is made locally, sustainably, and with a love for craft. Based in Brooklyn, the project takes its influence from the handmade movement here and elsewhere. We hope you find the spirit of it inspiring.
In their inaugural film, they visit the Breuckelen Distilling Company, the first gin distiller in Brooklyn since prohibition. Founder Brad Estabrooke talks about starting from nothing and the imperfect process of perfecting a craft. His experience bears a lesson for us all: knowing you could fail brings you that much closer to success. http://thisismadebyhand.com/film/the_distiller
Writer turned knife maker Joel Bukiewicz of Cut Brooklyn talks about the human element of craft, and the potential for a skill to mature into an art. And in sharing his story, he alights on the real meaning of handmade—a movement whose riches are measured in people, not cash. http://thisismadebyhand.com/film/the_knife_maker
Local farmer Megan Paska has witnessed beekeeping as it morphed from an illegal (and possibly crazy) habit to a sustainable, community-supported skill. Mirroring beekeeping's own ascendance, she found more than just a living: "This is the first time in my life when I've just felt absolutely on the right path." http://thisismadebyhand.com/film/the_beekeeper


text:
Bastards. they didn't go for the idea. The Escalator Fund turned us down. That was my last hope of proper funding and I thought it would be just perfect. The other major bummer is that this is apparently the last year they are doing this programme. They have had quite a few people start their […]
Archive | July, 2012
Trailer 2
Behind the scenes Just to give the escalator people a bit more of an idea of my style I decided to compile a behind the scenes look at the trailer which shows the screen tests of the actors. It's funny and this is a good thing. yes ward fwoff.


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It is apparent from my forays around Pinterest and the web that images of geisha and courtesans are often mislabeled. For those unfamiliar with subtleties in the styling and wear of kimono, obi, and traditional Japanese hairstyles, it can be … Continue reading
Tag Archives: kimono
I used to be involved in a Japanese dance troupe in New York city. Most people aren't familiar with the dance style, and describing it as akin to kabuki still drew blank looks. Below is a link to a clip of … Continue reading
The garments draped over the racks in the golden scene depicted on this screen raise questions about the woman who left them there. The late seventeenth century kosodes are energetic in their designs of fans and wheels and riotous in … Continue reading
In 2002, the MFA Boston acquired the Leonard Lauder large collection of Japanese postcards. The most thrilling images are Taisho illustrations, with their bold block colors and imagery that was modern and traditional at the same time. All have a … Continue reading
Kimono? White makeup? Shamisen music? In New York City? I spent a few years as part of a semi-professional kabuki dance troupe here, as a student. Many westerners might think white makeup when "kabuki" is mentioned, but they might be … Continue reading


text: I was commissioned by Nancy's Notions and Amazing Designs to illustrate this collection of licensed art called "For the Love of Chocolate" which will be converted into embroidery designs to be sold in their catalog and on their website. There are a total of 20 designs in this collection. Available now!


text:
God's Great Faithfulness
God's Great Faithfulness
Lamentations 3:21-26
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - March 23, 2014
*Church: I think of Flight 370 that disappeared two weeks ago with 239 people on board. I also think of my friend Roman who spoke to us last June. Roman and his family live in Ukraine about 50 miles from the Russian border. I think of these families and I remember that terrible things out of our control can happen in this world. But our God is faithful.
*I also think of the ten or more families in our church that have lost loved ones in the past few months. And I remember that tragedy will strike every family. But our God is faithful!
*Jeremiah confirms this great truth to us in today's Scripture. Let's begin by reading Lamentations 3:21-26. Here God's faithful prophet has been in great despair, but in these verses we see a big turning point in his heart. The old prophet got a big burst of encouragement.
*In vs. 21 Jeremiah began by saying: "This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope." What was it that Jeremiah recalled in this verse? What restored his hope? He tells us starting in vs. 22:
22. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.
23. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
24. "The Lord is my portion,'' says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!''
25. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
26. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
*Our God is always faithful, and He always will be! But what does His faithfulness mean for us today?
1. First: His faithfulness brings hope in our darkest hour.
*We can find hope in our darkest hour. We can have the same kind of hope that sustained Jeremiah in vs. 21. There again the prophet said, "This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope."
*In order to appreciate the power of this hope, we need to know a little about how much Jeremiah suffered. He is called "The Weeping Prophet" for good reason. Stanley Morris tells us that Jeremiah's service spanned more than 40 years, during the reigns of Judah's last five kings and beyond. Throughout his long, turbulent life Jeremiah constantly had to confront a people who had rejected the true Lord God for false gods.
*Jeremiah warned them that this would cause their eventual destruction, but they refused to repent. So Jeremiah was treated as a traitor for the ultimatums he delivered from God. He was thrown into a dungeon without food. Even some of his own townspeople and relatives opposed him and tried to kill him. (1)
*Brian Bill tells us that as we come to chapter 3, we see Jeremiah baring his heart, not holding back the depths of his despair. . . In the first 20 verses, Jeremiah made 9 bitter complaints. Here are some examples:
-In vs. 3, Jeremiah felt like God was against Him: "Surely He has turned His hand against me time and time again throughout the day."
-Jeremiah also felt that God was tormenting him mentally and physically. In vs. 4, "He has aged my flesh and my skin, and broken my bones." Then down in vs. 15&16, "He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drink wormwood. He has also broken my teeth with gravel, and covered me with ashes."
-Back up in vs. 7 Jeremiah felt trapped: "He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out; he has made my chain heavy."
-In vs. 8, his prayers were unanswered, or at least they seemed to be unanswered: "Even when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer."
-And in vs. 18, Jeremiah was ready to give up, as he said: "My strength and my hope have perished from the Lord." (2)
*Christian, have you ever been there? Have you ever felt like you were in a hole so deep you could never get out? Do what Jeremiah did in vs. 21: Remember God's great mercy and compassion. Remember God's faithfulness.
*Brian Bill gave this short but striking definition: "God's faithfulness means that everything He says and does is certain. He is 100% reliable, 100% of the time. He does not fail, forget, falter, change, or disappoint. He says what He means and means what He says. Therefore He does everything He says He will do." (2)
*You can find hope in your darkest hour through the faithfulness of God. Harry Teuchert knows this is true. For years Harry had been a successful publisher of materials for churches. Everything in his life seemed to be perfect: A lovely home, a family, and a solid future, but all of this suddenly collapsed. Harry's wife told him she was leaving him. She was in love with someone else.
*Devastated, Harry tried to cope, work, and continue with his life, but this tragedy was too overwhelming. Despite all the other good things in his life, Harry felt like a complete failure with nothing to live for.
*He was on the road to meet with a church about their anniversary publication. Arriving early, Harry sat down in the fellowship hall. Suddenly, he began to think about suicide. His life was over. All was finished. As he sat at a table, he began to cry intensely, holding his head in his hands. The more Harry wept, the more he was convinced that his life had ended. He would continue no more. He was beaten. It would be so easy to end it all.
*In total despair he looked up, and noticed a faded poster on the far wall. In that picture was the image of a man in the same despair Harry was going through, head in his hands in complete anguish. Then, as Harry studied the poster further, he noticed a smaller image in the lower right corner of the poster: Three crosses, on a hill, surrounded by a dark sky. Beneath the center cross these simple words were inscribed, "I know how you feel; I've been there myself."
*While staring at those words, Harry fell to his knees and prayed, "God help me." Suddenly God touched Harry with a new flood of hope. He got up telling himself, "I'm going to beat this thing. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Harry got on with his life, and continued to serve the God who came to him in his moment of greatest trial. (3)
*The Lord used a faded poster to remind Harry of God's great faithfulness. And I hope He uses Harry's story to remind you. God's great faithfulness brings hope in our darkest hour.
2. And it is the source of our salvation.
*God's faithful mercy is the only source of our salvation! As Jeremiah said in vs. 22-23:
22. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.
23. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
*Brian Bill asks, "Why doesn't God destroy me? This is not a theoretical question. We all walk closer to the edge than we think. There is a thin line between disaster and prosperity, joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, life and death.
*Why doesn't God destroy us? He could and He should. He could because He is God, and He should because we are sinners. Our sins would consume us if not for God's faithful love." (2)
*This is the love that God demonstrated the best when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. So we could say, "Through the Lord's mercies (on the cross) we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."
*This is the same faithfulness the Apostle John talked about in 1 John 1:8&9, where he wrote:
8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
*God's faithful mercy is the only source of salvation. How can I be saved? How can I go to Heaven? Many people think it's all about religion. If I go to church, read the Bible, get baptized and pray, if I do all these religious things, I will be saved. All these things are important, but they cannot save me.
*Some people think getting to Heaven is all about rules. If I do this and this and this, and if I don't do this and this, then surely God will let me into Heaven. God gives us rules so we won't hurt other people or ourselves. The Lord also gives us rules, so we won't hurt Him. Remember that Ephesians 4:30 tells Christians: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." So all of God's rules are important, but they cannot save me because I can never keep all of God's rules.
*When I was in high school, I used to think that Christianity was about keeping rules. Back then I skipped church as much as possible, but I remember one of the times I went with a friend. It was Vineville Methodist Church in Macon, Georgia.
*One of the senior adults sitting in the foyer struck up a conversation with me, and he asked me if I was a Christian. I told him, "I'm not good enough to be a Christian." You see, I thought being a Christian was like being a good Boy Scout. You had to earn your salvation, just like we had to earn those merit badges in the scouts.
*But salvation is not a merit badge. It's a miracle! It's a miracle that comes by opening your heart to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, trusting in the Lord, trusting in the cross, trusting in His faithful love and mercy. "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." God's great faithfulness is the source of our salvation.
3. And it makes God Himself our greatest gift.
*God has given so many blessings to us! We could talk all day about how God has blessed us. This past week I've learned a lot more about how God blessed other people through Mary's mother, Virginia.
*The best memento I have from Gin is this Bible, and the commentary that came with it. Mary's mom gave them to me for Christmas in 1980, with a note that said: "Hope you enjoy these." And I have. They have both been very helpful to me over the years, even though the greyhound we adopted in 1992 tried to eat this Bible one time.
*Mary's mom had a caring, compassionate heart. It showed up in the way she cared for the kids at the school where she worked. Mary's mom was the cafeteria manager, and many of those children didn't have money to buy lunch. This was long before the days of school lunch programs, but day after day, out of her own pocket, Virginia made sure those children got fed. She even got in trouble one time for feeding those children. But Gin told her boss that as long as she was there, those children would not go hungry.
*God gave those children a great blessing through someone they barely knew. And on top of the countless blessings God has given us through the people who love us, He has also blessed us through strangers who cared.
*God has also given us blessings many other ways. King David gave this testimony to the Lord in Psalm 65:
9. You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it.
10. You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth.
11. You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance.
12. They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, And the little hills rejoice on every side.
*God gives us countless blessings. But God Himself has always been, and will always be our greatest gift. Notice how Jeremiah put it in vs. 24: "The Lord is my portion,'' says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!''
*"The Lord is my portion." That means He is "my share, my possession, my territory, my inheritance." The greatest thing God can ever give you is Himself! And God is willing to give Himself to you. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." And as the Prophet Isaiah proclaimed in Isaiah 9:6, "Unto US a Child is born, unto US a Son is given!"
*And because God the Father was willing to give His Son to us, because His Son was willing to give His life on the cross for us, God is now more than willing to give His Holy Spirit to all who will believe in Jesus. So in Luke 11:13, Jesus said, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!'' God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is more than willing to give Himself to you. But are you willing to receive this greatest gift from God?
*John Phillips told a tremendous story about King George VI of England, who died in 1952. On one of the king's royal visits to Canada, local officials thought he might like to meet an Indian chief. Chief Whitefeather was chosen for the honor. He was asked to sing something for the king, and everyone expected a native war song. But Chief Whitefeather was a Christian, and he had something else in mind. Just picture the surprise of those government officials, when the chief began to sing before the king:
"I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold.
I'd rather be His than have riches untold,
I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land,
I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hand—
Than to be the king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin's dread sway;
I'd rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today."
*The stunned officials waited to see what King George would do. Then the king went over to Chief Whitefeather, took him by the hand and said, "I'd rather have Jesus, too." And you can have Jesus too, through the faithfulness of Almighty God. (4)
*His great faithfulness makes God Himself our greatest gift.
4. And it guarantees His goodness to all who trust in Him.
*As Jeremiah testified in vs. 25&26:
25. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
26. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
*We might have to wait on the Lord, but we should be willing to wait for His help, because the Lord is good to those who wait for Him! And when we wait, we can wait in hope and trust. We can wait quietly, without complaint, because the Lord is good to those who wait for Him! Our faithful God will never fail us!
*In 1989, a terrible earthquake almost flattened Armenia. Church: That earthquake killed over 30,000 people in less than 4 minutes. One father rushed to his son's school and found the building flat as a pancake. Standing there in tears, he remembered a promise he had made to his son, "No matter what, I'll always be there for you!"
*It looked absolutely hopeless, but the dad got as close as he could to his son's classroom, and started digging in the pile of rubble. The other grieving parents tried to pull him off, saying, "It's too late! -- They're dead!"
*But he just kept digging for his son stone by stone. He dug for 8 hours, then 12 hours, 24 hours, 36 hours without stopping! Finally in the 38th hour, as he pulled back a boulder, he heard his son's voice. He screamed his son's name, "ARMAND!" -- And a voice answered him, "Dad?" -- It's me Dad!"
*Then the boy added these priceless words, "I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you'd save me and when you saved me, they'd be saved too." He remembered his Father's promise: "No matter what, I'll always be there for you!" (5)
*Fourteen children were saved that day because one father was faithful. But how much more faithful is our Heavenly Father! Whether we are trapped by fallen rubble, or crushed by the hardships and struggles of life, we are never cut off from our Father's faithfulness. Trust in the Lord, and don't ever lose hope. Jesus Christ will always be faithful to you.
1. Introductions to the Books of the Bible by Dr. Stanley L. Morris - Copyright 1993 by International Bible Translators, Inc., Copyright 1993, Ellis Enterprises Inc.
2. Adapted from SermonCentral sermon "Our Faithful God" by Brian Bill - Lamentations 3:22-25
3. Original source unknown - found in Sermons.com sermon "Help Me Make It through the Night" by King Duncan - John 3:1-21 - 2005
4. John Phillips, "Exploring the Psalms"
5. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, "Chicken Soup for the Soul."