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The 'unhackable' QKD system
The main vulnerability in a QKD system is that we never detect a quantum event, instead a detector absorbs a photon and generates a macroscopic current. But two photons or more generate the same current. To make matters more uncertain, detectors never quite behave in an ideal fashion. This means that you can, with care, spoof the detectors into generating a bit sequence of your choosing—think of it as Eve providing Alice and Bob with her preferred key.
These are known as side-channel attacks. In QKD, a side-channel attack is one that exploits differences between the model that guarantees security, and the physical implementation of that model. For instance, the model makes assumptions about the performance of detectors: that they behave in a rather ideal fashion. But in reality, detectors are non-ideal: for instance, they cannot distinguish between single photon and multi-photon pulses, and they have moments right after detection when they are blind. So, by combining these two, one can selectively trigger and blind the detectors to generate the bits of your choosing. All known side-channel attacks in QKD have been based on spoofing the detectors in some way.
"One of the reasons that the traditional mathematicians got irritated by quantum physicists was that we claimed that this was perfect security. And, of course, it's provably perfect security, but the implementation matters," says Richdale. "We work a lot with the hacking community ... help them with hacking, help them find potential vulnerabilities, because that is the only way you can really try and test it."
When I brought up some of the recent QKD side-channel attacks, Richdale pointed out that these were under ideal circumstances. Researchers could break into the box and hook wires up to the detectors, something unlikely in practice. Nevertheless, these attempts reinforce the idea that, in the case of QKD, physical implementation matters as much as the software implementation for a classical cryptography system.
Legré is less defensive, pointing to several cases where different approaches managed to obtain between 98 and 100 percent of the secret key. "But," he says, "once you know the attack it is possible to find a counter measure." Though, it is probably more accurate to say these attacks show where the implementation differs from the model, and once those are found, the implementation can be modified to be closer to the model. Nevertheless, this emphasizes that the battle has not been given up, but the battleground has shifted from algorithms to physical implementations of equipment.
QKD systems will come under much more scrutiny in the future, says Legré. "Device independent QKD would be the optimal solution, but..." Legré pauses for a moment. The problem, he says, is that even if you share entanglement resources, there is a detector loophole—essentially, under the right circumstances, you can fake the correlations you would expect from a pair of entangled particles—which tells you that you cannot guarantee that the correlations you observe are due to entanglement if the amount of loss in the connecting fiber is over a certain threshold. The upshot is that even device independent QKD is not a perfect solution, and may be even more limited—in the sense that it cannot be safely used over long distances—than current QKD systems.
The future of QKD research
The University of Geneva has been one of the leading lights in the development of QKD. Appropriately, Professor Nicholas Gisin is housed in an isolated building that looks like it was built to withstand a French cannonade. Security through the ages, indeed. Although Gisin does work on the practical side, he is more interested in fundamental ideas. But, to put a practical flavor in all of this consider the problem of extending QKD to distances beyond 100km.
In all implementations, however, you require a direct fiber link between the two end-points in the system. That pretty much limits QKD to point-to-point back ups between data centers that are separated by no more than 100km. Essentially, the probability of a single photon being absorbed increases with distance. As a result, the time it takes to generate a key increases, increasing the time it takes to secure your data transfer. To put it in perspective, it would take several centuries of trying (at 10GHz), to successfully transmit a single photon over a 1000km fiber link.
In a classical communications, the same losses apply, but we can compensate for this with amplification. However, there is a limit to this because amplification is a stimulated process. The presence of a photon causes an excited ion to emit a photon in an identical state. But, that excited ion could also spontaneously emit as well. You might think "well, I've lost a single photon, but there are many more where that came from, after all there are trillions of excited ions in an amplifier." Unfortunately, it's not that simple: the spontaneously emitted photon can travel through the amplifier, causing stimulated emission. The result is that we amplify the noise. In a standard fiber link, we place the amplifiers such that the incoming light signal is strong enough that it dominates as the source for stimulated emission. But in QKD we only have a single photon so amplified spontaneous emission overwhelms the signal.
Clearly a different approach is required. Gisin goes on to describe the idea of a quantum repeater. The idea is to use quantum teleportation to transport the photon state over the full fiber length, but to achieve that, we need to have a pair of entangled photons: one at the beginning of the fiber and one at the end.
This requires something called entanglement swapping. Imagine that we have two light sources that emit pairs of entangled photons. One photon from each light source is brought together on a beamsplitter, where each photon can either be transmitted or reflected. We never know which goes where, so they have to be described as a single particle. But each of these photons was already entangled. Consequently, the two particles that were never mixed and were previously not entangled are now entangled.
This action can be repeated, so imagine a chain of sources emitting pairs of photons that are entangled. These get mixed with their neighbor, spreading the entanglement to the left and the right, until the photons at the ends of the chain are entangled with each other. This is a great idea in principle, but entanglement swapping is probabilistic: half the time, the photons both exit the same port on the beamsplitter and are not entangled. So, for two sources, it works half the time, for four sources, a quarter of the time. For a 1000km link, you might want 20 sources, meaning that you would expect to have a one in 2,500 chance of sharing an entangled resource between the two ends of the fiber.
"So developing quantum memories, sources of entangled photons, ways of distributing this entanglement, and all of that over long distances with enough reliability and fidelity—so good quality. This is really the major experimental challenge today" says Gisin. "In our group, we have already demonstrated entanglement over quite long distances. Not 50km inside the lab, and 20km outside the lab."
Gisin's focus, however, has moved to quantum memory. Now, a quantum memory is more often associated with a quantum computer, and, in that case, you require that the coherence and the entanglement last for long periods of time. "We have one advantage compared to the quantum computer, which is that we don't need so many qubits to interact. Essentially, it's two qubits," says Gisin. This simplicity is important, because nearly every operation on a quantum memory has a certain probability of success, meaning that the fewer qubits you have, the more chance there is for overall success.
Gisin is optimistic that using the rare earth doped crystals he works with—these are crystals that contain a small amount of europium or neodymium—it will be possible to obtain coherence times of a second. At present, the state of the art is milliseconds, but, when you consider that the normal lifetimes of the electronic states are on the order of microseconds, you realize what a magnificent achievement this is. To extend the coherence for such a long time, Gisin and others in the field are importing techniques that are used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Essentially, you can view the coherence as the population oscillating between two states in some characteristic way—it is important to realize that this is not physical motion, but changes in the electronic state of the ions. And, just like a swing, if you give the population a kick at the right moment, you keep it swinging. In this case though, the kick is a light pulse that acts to drive population from one state into another state. These techniques, perfected in the development of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (the less famous cousin of MRI), using radio frequency pulses, are in their infancy here.
In the optical regime, the electronic states are much more strongly influenced by things like stray magnetic fields, so the pulses that maintain the coherence need to be applied much more frequently. But, on the flip-side, the pulses have to have a certain amount of energy. So, if you want lots of pulses that are close together, then the pulses have to be short and have a high intensity. Then, things can go seriously wrong.
Gisin went on to discuss the efficiency of writing to and reading from a quantum memory. In his lab, they are around 20 percent: you have a one in five chance of successfully storing a qubit in the memory, and then reading it out again. The record, he tells me, is around 70 percent, but even that is not high enough. As he says, we know how to do it on paper, but the experimental realization is proving to be challenging.
A more subtle point: because the process of distributing entanglement is probabilistic, you won't know which photon is the one you want until after some classical communication has occurred. That means you need to constantly store photons, and then retrieve the photon that represents the qubit that is useful. So, although you may only need to work with pairs of qubits, you still need to store hundreds or thousands of qubits for a little while. In Gisin's case, this is possible because his group works with crystals, and the photon state is stored across billions of ions.
It is awe inspiring to realize QKD can trace its origin to the arguments between Bohr and Einstein in the very early days of quantum mechanics. This was a very philosophical argument that, through the work of many, has become more and more concrete.
The way this works is very cool, but a bit complicated to explain. The crystals they use are doped with ions, but each ion sits in its own electromagnetic environment. As a result, the color of light one ion might absorb is not the same as its neighbor. The goal, however, is to store a single photon across the electronic states of billions of ions. To do this, a pulse of light, consisting of many sharply defined and evenly spaced frequencies (colors), called a frequency comb, is sent into the medium. This excites the ions, creating an atomic frequency comb, where certain populations, in well-defined electromagnetic environments, end up in a particular electronic state. With the medium prepared, it is time to store our photon.
Our photon comes from a light source that emits over a range of colors, so any particular photon has a frequency range that covers two or a few more comb lines of the atomic frequency comb. As a result, when the photon enters the crystal it finds a few distinct populations which could absorb it, so they all absorb the photon as a collective. These ions enter an excited state. Now, to complete the storage process, a second, control pulse of light grabs the ions in the excited state and parks them in a new state. This process is similar in spirit—although, Gisin would not agree with this—to electromagnetically induced transparency.
The point is the combination of the single photon and the control pulse set up a coherence that stores the qubit over the billions of ions. Exactly where this occurs within the crystal depends on the timing between the single photon and the control pulse, so, you can stack the photons up in the crystal. On read out—again, through the application of control light fields—the photons leave in the order in which they arrived, so one can simply select the photon you want. Gisin's group has managed to store 64 photons this way, but this is where all the problems of probabilistic storage and limited coherence times start to play a role in limiting how much you can store and for how long.
On theory side, Gisin is very excited by some of the implications of quantum mechanics. "To be able to prove the security directly on nonlocality—which means the violation of a Bell inequality—this is called device independent QKD. There are even some vague ideas of how one could do it experimentally but it is still very far from being experimentally feasible," says Gisin.
Even more exciting, though, are more general findings. It seems that any theory that has nonlocality—the experimental verification of Bell inequalities support that—and no signaling—the requirement that sending a message involves transmitting energy or matter—can be shown to support a form of intrinsically secure communication.
It is quite awe inspiring to realize the idea of QKD can trace its origin to the arguments between Bohr and Einstein in the very early days of quantum mechanics. This was a very philosophical argument that, through the work of many, has become more and more concrete. Today, people, like Gisin, are talking seriously about the applied side of these ideas.


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TBH-9820A Electronic Button Hole Sewing Machine1. High production efficiency with Max. sewing speed 2500spm. 2. Beautiful stitch,improve the precision of the pattern. 3. Operation board Of easy manipulation. 4. Large machine mouth realizes convenient operation. 5. Sewing with lower noice. 6. Easy maintance.Read More
TSH-2654 Three Needle Chain Stitch Low Post Bed Shoe Sewing Machine1. Three needle chain stitch, low post bed chains sewing machine adopt three row needles chain sewing machine. 2. It can be easily converted in the field to accommodate different needle spacing and number of needles. 3. Speeds of over 1600 stitches per minute. 4. Suit for stitching work shoes, safety shoes,...Read More
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Highway to Hell: Top 7 Fastest Ways to Land in the Email UnderworldJillian Wohlfarth
Even the most well-intentioned email program can be plagued by the pitfalls of the email underworld. Spam traps, blacklists, phishers, and more are all hell-bent on making your email's journey to the inbox a treacherous one.
Think you know how to keep your email on the right path and avoid temptation? Join SendGrid's email experts Ali Frusciano and Katie Nelson this Thursday June 13th at 1:00 PM EDT as they take you down the top 7 fastest roads to email hell, and back!
This free webcast will:
- Present real-life stories of email programs gone awry
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If you can't attend, register anyway! You will receive a free copy of the recording and slide deck after the webcast is complete.
And be sure to check out our must-read free guide about the 7 Deadly Email Sins for an overview of what Ali and Katie will discuss on Thursday.
Presenter Information
Ali Frusciano
Ali Frusciano is Manager of SendGrid's Technical Account Managers. She has been at SendGrid since October 2011 helping high volume customers manage their email deliverability challenges. In her spare time she loves hanging with her husband and 3 dogs and exploring the Colorado outdoors.
Katie Nelson
Katie Nelson is a Sr Technical Account Manager at SendGrid. She has been with SendGrid for a little over a year now; counseling our high volume customers on email practices. When she's not working away she's exploring the neighborhoods of Denver and cooking it up in the kitchen!


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1L hear
1L hear. I feel like reading the cases is very important in Contracts, Civ Pro, and Property, but does anyone feel like you can do well taking good notes and just readin Emmanuel's for Torts? The concepts are so easy, I feel like I'm just skimming the cases because the ROL is so obvious. Just wanted to hear if others felt the same.
What is ROL?
Quote from: DO/JD on October 02, 2007, 11:23:31 AMWhat is ROL?Rule of Law


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As part of their Christmas celebration, the city of Sauk Rapids held their annual "Parade of Lights Holiday Celebration." This event serves as a fundraiser for the Pageant, a service project for the community of Sauk Rapids, and a food drive for local food shelves. The event also recognizes and awards winners of the best home lighting displays in Sauk Rapids and features "A Night with Santa" for young children to fill goodie bags with candy, fruit and popcorn. Families will enjoy taking pictures with the Royalty, Santa and Mrs. Claus who will arrive on a lighted float, coming down Benton Drive around 5:30 p.m. on their way to Pleasantview School. DigElog Sauk Rapids would like to thank all of those involved with this wonderful community event. Your hard work and dedication does not go unnoticed.


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CCleaner is coming to Android, Facebook moves beyond "Like," and Google will offer support to business via Hangouts.
- CCleaner Android CCleaner, our favorite Windows maintenance tool, is now in development for Android. No word on when it will be released, but the developers have begun internal testing and are "very happy." [Piriform]
- Improving Facebook for Books, Movies, TV and Fitness Facebook is beginning to introduce new options for lifestyle apps to use in conjunction with Facebook. Designed to provide something more specific than "Like" for Open Graph, the new actions include descriptors such as run, walk, read, rate and want to read/watch. [Facebook Developers]
- Google Support Will Use Hangouts The new text used in the description of Google+ Hangouts' screensharing feature suggests that Google will start using the service to provide support to businesses that make use of Google+, AdWords, and Google Apps. [Google Operating System]
Photo by photastic (Shutterstock), a2bb5s (Shutterstock), and Feng Yu (Shutterstock).


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More than anything else, their work shows that the top earners in the United States have taken a bigger and bigger share of overall income over the last three decades,...
But both also express bewilderment over the current conversation about whether the wealthy, who have taken most of America's income gains over the last 30 years, should be paying higher taxes.
They figured out the benchmark for various income levels — the top 10 percent, top 1 percent and top 0.1 percent of earners, for instance — and calculated what share of income each group took each year.
But then inequality started increasing again, with the top 1 percent of earners drawing a bigger and bigger share of overall income.
Data that the two economists released in March showed that the top 1 percent of earners got nearly every dollar of the income gains eked out in the first full year of the recovery. In 2010, the top 10 percent of earners took about half of overall income.
So, what is that -- 4 takes, 1 draw, and 1 got? Income isn't taken by individuals away from some collective pile of "overall income." It is produced by individuals working together under voluntary arrangements. Absent coercion or government largesse, income is earned in ways that don't deserve to be derided in this way.
Her distorted language detracts from an important issue. Tax rates need to go up primarily because we have a deficit problem, not a fairness problem. They have to go up even though we have a weak economy, because we have a deficit problem. In the process of raising tax rates, we should obviously consider ability to pay, which will generate larger tax increases on higher incomes. The fine work of Piketty and Saez shows us just how much room there is in different parts of the income distribution, relative to historical distributions, to raise that revenue.


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Heart It Or Hate It: Beyonce's Dramatic New Haircut
Jonathan Higbee | August 8, 2013
Beyonce debuted a drastic new hairstyle late last night on Instagram via three pictures that have already garnered a million total views. The pixie cut, reminiscent of when Miley cut her locks earlier this year, is receiving mixed reviews from fans.
A quick sampling of the Instagram review:
"This is the worst haircut ever!"
"I know you did not just do that."
"She is beyond beautiful!!!!"
"Work that cut, Bey!"
InStyle caught up with Hairstylist Neal Farinah and Colorist Rita Hazan, the team responsible for the new look. "I think it's amazing," Hazan told InStyle.com. "It's a strong empowering statement. It's modern and old Hollywood at the same time."
What do you think of Bey's hair makeover?


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Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Ces in a nutshell. Literally.
66 comments:
- rachel awes said...
in a nutshell,
gorgeous inspiration, bella!
- January 25, 2011 at 4:33 PM
- Mandy said...
Too much! This is fabulous and darling as always!
- January 25, 2011 at 4:56 PM
- Ted Blackman said...
Oh my gosh, I do believe I've stumbled into the women's corner. Quite a warm and cuddly blog you have here. I just want to say how much I love that painting you did of the one-eyed, green, blow-hole monster staring at the child. That is a really wonderful painting. Great story telling.
Okay, back to the garage to re-center myself in the universe. -Ted
- January 25, 2011 at 5:03 PM
- Diana Evans said...
oh this is priceless!!! she will be over the moon with this piece...
you are such an amazing friend!!!!
- January 25, 2011 at 5:38 PM
- Carol Lawecki said...
The drawing of Ces in an Acorn is Awesome! And you have a cute little elephant in the nut too!! :)
- January 25, 2011 at 5:41 PM
- Captain Dumbass said...
I lurv everything about this one. I don't think I could come up with a drawing worthy of a follow up, though I am pretty magical with grilled cheese and cookie cutters.
- January 25, 2011 at 5:46 PM
- k.h.whitaker said...
AWWWW, I love this, ya'll are so sweet, I am hopping over to Ces's now to check out the drawing of you drawing Ces, drawing a nut, on a nut, in a nut!
- January 25, 2011 at 6:01 PM
- Ces said...
- January 25, 2011 at 6:13 PM
- Ces said...
I shall return when the blood has returned to my brain... TSUP!TSUP!TSUP!
- January 25, 2011 at 6:20 PM
- Lori ann said...
oh bella, if i could draw as well as you i would be famous, and i haven't even begun to talk about your imagination that invents these paintings. this is magically delightful!
- January 25, 2011 at 6:39 PM
- laughingwolf said...
you captured her perfectly, bella :)
love the puns!
- January 25, 2011 at 8:00 PM
- Giuseppe Bianco said...
Not everyone can tap into their true imagination the way you can. This is beautiful as always. Love the chandelier.
- January 25, 2011 at 8:21 PM
- Arija said...
Now you've got me even more confused . . .drawing you drawing Ces in an acorn on an acorn up a tree? Oi gewalt! where do we go from there???
You do have Ces down to a tee, even her hair. Both of you are truly amazing ladies!
- January 25, 2011 at 10:18 PM
- Shirley said...
Gosh, Bella..this is AWESOME! I keep getting stuck with words as I just can't come up with how amazing your work is - so touching in such a succinct sweet piece. YAY for you and Ces!!!
- January 25, 2011 at 11:46 PM
- AtelierBrigitte said...
This is just amazing! Ces will be thrilled with this piece.
- January 26, 2011 at 1:18 AM
- thewillowsnest said...
This is sooo gorgeous Bella.. aha even the viking helmet for her 'man 'the viking'..
The sleeping one and the little ele' nearly made me pee my pants with cuteness.. and then the wee caterpillar didn't want to miss out
- January 26, 2011 at 3:36 AM
- Ces said...
Thank you very much my dearest Bella! You honor me and I am grateful. I think I will celebrate by drinking a cup of coffee and eating a slice of my daughter's birthday cake. The cake is yelling at me "Come eat me! Eat me!" I will be kind and oblige. Thank you once again. I think Captain Dumbass should draw us. Drawing me in stick figures would be a compliment.
Tsup! Tsup!
- January 26, 2011 at 4:30 AM
- faerwillow said...
~you two are a riot of the sweetest kind...the friendship you behold is unconditional and felt through both your words and images you share...such a honor to witness the kindred relationship you share with one another...how could one not simply adore this little nut drawing...much love light and blessings be with you always~
- January 26, 2011 at 4:49 AM
- yoborobo said...
LOL! OMG I love the chandelier! Every acorn home should have one. :) To say you are both nuts doesn't quite capture the fun of your friendship. 'Tis loverly. :) xox! Pam
- January 26, 2011 at 5:03 AM
- theartofpuro said...
So adorable!The idea is amazing!
You are Great Bella:)
- January 26, 2011 at 6:09 AM
- The Original Drama Mama said...
Meta-acornism! Love that chandelier!
I've visited Ces' site and thought the viking nod was a clever and sweet touch; but that's Bella: clever and sweet! ;)
- January 26, 2011 at 6:40 AM
- encaracolada said...
Really difficult task! hehe
Very original idea Bella, like always!! I love the eggsperts as well
- January 26, 2011 at 7:09 AM
- Deborah said...
**head spins and pops off** OMGoodness, toooooooo adorable! Look at those chubby little knees! I want to pinch them. Gently. Everything you said about Ces, YES YES YES. She is all that and more. So much more indeed. Must visit her now. You is DeLovely ♥♥♥ Deb
- January 26, 2011 at 8:08 AM
- Claudio Cerri said...
Great work, my friend!!
- January 26, 2011 at 8:18 AM
- Faruffa said...
fabulous, you are a too cool couple!!!
- January 26, 2011 at 8:38 AM
- Ces said...
Oh my God! I just spilled coffee on my shirt.
- January 26, 2011 at 9:53 AM
- Ces said...
I love to eat some nuts right now.
- January 26, 2011 at 9:57 AM
- Draffin Bears said...
Bonjour dear Bella,
You are both so very talented ... Hope all is well with you sweet friend.
I adore elephants
- January 26, 2011 at 10:14 AM
- aimee said...
you are THE ONLY ONE who could put Ces in a nutshell! no one else could ever manage to do it, or if they could, she certainly would not let them.
once away you blow me away with your brilliance!
p.s. who is captain dumbass? that is one awesome username.
- January 26, 2011 at 1:34 PM
- martinealison said...
Je vous invite toutes les deux à la dollhouse (mon atelier). Un magnifique chêne se trouve à côté... et les glands rebondissent sur le toit de temps en temps... C'est peut-être Ces qui frappe!!!
- January 26, 2011 at 1:40 PM
- Janine said...
Thats so great what you and your friend created. It is more than just drawings. It´s an own world. It is like an own universe.
I love what you created.
And I am happy for you are having a friendship like that.
- January 26, 2011 at 1:51 PM
- Amalia K said...
Ces is looking fine in that nutshell! I ADORE the little details you put into this, down to Ces' lollipops and oh! Oh! Ooooh!!! Especially that gorgeous teeny weeny little helpful elliephant!!!
*Sigh* I wanna have a posh nutshell like that. The chandelier looks luvly.
- January 26, 2011 at 2:21 PM
- Megan Coyle said...
whoa, sounds like quite a challenge :)
- January 26, 2011 at 3:05 PM
- Andrew Finnie said...
Haha Bella, well you and Ces sure lucked out in the transmagrocical genetic amazingly wonderful artists gene pool.
It's good because you made a quick post !!! Love the chandeleer and the little details just sing - but of course.
I won't tell you the magic word cause 'autleri' is such a common one.
- January 26, 2011 at 5:29 PM
- Andrew Finnie said...
Haha and the viking hat :)
- January 26, 2011 at 5:30 PM
- Giuseppe Bianco said...
Hi, Bella. I hate to bother you, but since you were so kind to post such a sweet review of my book on my blog, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind posting a comment on my website under the "Please Leave A Comment" section. If you like, you can just copy and paste the same post you wrote on my art blog. I would do it myself, but I would never want to do that without your permission. No pressure. If you are not up for it, I totally understand. Still and always will be a huge fan of yours.
- January 26, 2011 at 9:41 PM
- Ces said...
I notice there is a big nut between my legs...
- January 27, 2011 at 11:52 AM
- Ces said...
Yes! The nut is stout and longer than my legs. Alas there is only one and leaning to the left??? Whaaaaa???
- January 27, 2011 at 1:10 PM
- Andrew Finnie said...
Haha you are aking me augh :) One day my otherhalf will read these emails I get from your sites and she will think that you are talking to me
- January 27, 2011 at 3:42 PM
- Giuseppe Bianco said...
Thanks so much for the comments on my website, Bella! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
- January 27, 2011 at 7:28 PM
- Steve E said...
Now this is "OAK-AAAE"
- January 27, 2011 at 8:25 PM
- Krista said...
Awwwww! So lovely, especially the Viking helmet! Perfect!
- January 28, 2011 at 3:59 AM
- Barbara said...
I bet Ces loved this! It's always imperative to view your art in larger form. There are so many details I don't want to miss! I love every little detail, Bella.
Can I have that chandelier in my dining room? With the butterfly?
- January 28, 2011 at 4:47 AM
- cindy said...
fabulous and wonderful as always! enjoy your weekend!
- January 28, 2011 at 8:16 AM
- Juan said...
Have a nice weekend, Bella!
- January 28, 2011 at 8:18 AM
- Manon Doyle said...
Awe.... our little nutjob, Ces!! Omg....that is gorgeous!! She is perfect!!!
- January 28, 2011 at 7:14 PM
- Owl Eng said...
I also want to live inside such a beautiful house! Love all the details here
- January 29, 2011 at 3:08 AM
- Raluca said...
oh,how sweet, dear Bella!What a beautiful illo you made for Ces!!
I loved also the little ''deja vú''!And I really really REALLY love the new background you dressed the blog with!
- January 29, 2011 at 5:41 AM
- Jack Foster said...
You and Ces are such a creative riot together! I'm Ces loves this!!! The viking hat is the topper! Simply wonderful Bella. I'm so glad that you and Ces share your "nutty" relationship with the world! It refreshes us!
- January 29, 2011 at 6:46 AM
- Ces said...
Surrender to the nuts!
- January 29, 2011 at 8:07 AM
- Teri and the cats of Furrydance said...
Oh...the imagination! How absolutely adorable this is!
- January 29, 2011 at 12:42 PM
- Erin Butson said...
so sweet! love your work!
- January 29, 2011 at 5:31 PM
- L.M. said...
adorable pictures! great work!
- January 30, 2011 at 7:55 AM
- Linda Hensley said...
Art, fun, and friendship is a wonderful combination!
- January 30, 2011 at 11:03 AM
- Anne Huskey-Lockard said...
How did I miss this post???? I came over to say, yes, I agree...art supplies trump diamonds every day and I find a baby Ces hard at work on an acorn! (okay, the 25th was my anniversary...my mind could have been elsewhere!)
Wonderful Bella! I think you should have this made poster-sized.... ;-)
- January 31, 2011 at 3:52 PM
- Michaele Razi said...
I'm loving this! So sweet...
- January 31, 2011 at 7:56 PM
- Deborah said...
I love how her big toe curls down. ♥♥♥ Deb
- February 6, 2011 at 10:21 AM
- BT said...
Oh wow. Just wonderful and so Ces and so so Bella. Beautiful. No.
- February 6, 2011 at 5:00 PM
- Ces said...
You know, my big toe does curl. Is this nutshell available for purchase anywhere? I need it today.
- February 7, 2011 at 7:54 AM
- Ces said...
Oh, did you win a bet in the superbowl?
- February 7, 2011 at 7:55 AM
- Ces said...
I fell asleep during the game. Yawn!
- February 7, 2011 at 7:55 AM
- Ces said...
Change of plans. Gotta go to work now.
- February 7, 2011 at 7:55 AM
- Ces said...
Bye bye lovely lady.
- February 7, 2011 at 7:56 AM
- Kathiesbirds said...
So, so cute! I have not been here for a visit in awhile. I am so glad I stopped by today. I needed some cheeering up. This did the trick! Thank you both Ces and Bella! Very clever!
- February 7, 2011 at 4:48 PM
- Emily said...
I just adore this illo! It reminds me of one of my favourite books as a child.
Cheers Bella!
- February 21, 2011 at 6:44 AM
- Steve E said...
SOON will be the anniversary of this wondrous work of art--my pure favorite #1 of all art works.
For an OAK TREE full of reasons!
- December 16, 2012 at 2:40 PM


text:
Was 1995 the Best Year Ever For Movies?
I won't argue: "'[T]he stars aligned' may be the only explanation for 1995 being the greatest year in the history of movies. How else do we make sense out of the bounty that included no less than three Christina Ricci vehicles, career-bests for Ron Howard, Michael Mann, Mel Gibson, Richard Linklater, Amy Heckerling, Todd Haynes, and Clint Eastwood, the speedy ascension of Sandra Bullock's star, a talking pig, AND Showgirls?" [The Hairpin]


text:
I got to spend the evening with two very special friends.
They are master Connect Four, Candyland, and puzzle players. (Please notice 'my helper'-I like her style. Grab 'em all, and see if you can get them in without your partner noticing.) They also reminded me that sometimes it's not about winning. Sometimes it's fun to just take turns putting the chips in the rows, and making patterns. Sometimes it's exciting just to flip over a candyland card and see an ice cream instead of a color. Sure, it may move you back to the beginning of the board, but you got the 'card with the picture'....and who really cares who crosses finish first?
My request for babysitting sweet little Mary Margaret, and Kate was that I got to bring some crafts. I have it on good authority (good authority being-their Mom, a friend of mine at work ) that Mary Margaret would like to bake every day, and twice on Sunday). The first order of business. Crayons!
I found this silicone heart mold tray at Target. MM helped me break the crayons, select the colors for each heart, and monitor them as they baked.
And with Mom's permission, we made some chocolate dipped marshmallows (all left over pieces of past crafts I had at home). She's a pro.
I was going to take these two cute little bugs home with me, but I don't have a line on my Dave Ramsey budget sheet for two little girls. Plus, I think Mom and Dad are pretty happy with the status quo of two daughters.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday Funday
I got to spend the evening with two very special friends.
Posted by Christy Robbins at 11:03 PM 1 comments
Labels: Cooking, Crafting, Friends, Homemade Gift, Valentine's Day
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Beach Body?
Amber, Sonia, and I went scrapbooking this evening. Amber was giving me the run down on her spring break plans to visit Belize with her boyfriend. (I too am going to the beach over spring break....::cough cough, with my Mom, cough cough::.) She was looking at her pictures from the marathon she ran this last fall in Chicago. (I too ran a marathon this fall. Yup, I recorded all the episodes from last year's Ace of Cakes, and I sure did watch that Marathon in one little sit down marathon session. TV series marathons aren't for sissies.) Anyway, she was reminicing about her post-marathon self. (I too....no wait, I didn't lose my 'marathon body', I'm every bit as 'glamorous' and 'sleth' as I was last fall. ::Picking self up off the floor, laughter can do that to you.::.) I, of course, psshawed skinny woman for her self deprecation-puh-lease, see the below pictures, some of us are ridiculous. She assured me this really was a concern, and claimed, "I have to get in a swimsuit by spring break." Once the words cleared out of her mouth, she lifted this little beauty to her lips to take their place.
I asked her if she was going to include a coverup with that swimsuit? If so....I have a few dozen she can borrow. I love that she doesn't take life, or calories too serious. Fine...I had a piece of cake too, look, we were celebrating a birthday! Whose? I don't know, I'd never met the lady before in my life-her friend brought her a cake, and she offered us a piece, and at the risk of being rude, we took it....and ate it....and licked the plate. I've already got my coverup for my beach vacation, and it fits just fine, thank you very much!!!
Posted by Christy Robbins at 1:01 AM 0 comments
Labels: Friends
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Poor Pea-nut
Poor Peanut had a life altering surgery today. At the risk of being too descriptive, I guess you can chop off half of his name now too to better describe the little fellow. I feel so guilty, even knowing it's the best thing for Casanova, I wish I could speak dog so I could have explained what was happening. Scratch that-I'm glad I don't speak dog. I don't want to know what he has to say about this whole experience. He shook when he was dropped off in the morning at the vet, and when I picked him up in the afternoon he didn't even have the heart for his little body shudders any longer. His little ears lay flat for hours at home. The first thing he did when I put him down was go curl next to Lilly's side. I guess he was just checking to make sure she still loved him. She ignored him, so things are right in his world.
Posted by Christy Robbins at 9:56 PM 0 comments
Labels: Pets
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Breakin' Up Is Hard To Do
Posted by Christy Robbins at 8:39 PM 2 comments
Labels: Health and Stuff
Monday, January 25, 2010
Classroom Conversations
I get to spend my day with MANY special friends, some a little more special than others. It's never boring. This afternoon I had a hodgepodge of first graders from three different teachers that I was trying to help increase their reading fluency. One of my little readers had some trouble being a part of the group today. At the end of our lesson I talked to him, and told him what was expected of him within the group, and that if this continued we'd need to talk to his teacher, and then I asked if he thought he can come the next day and pay attention, and participate in our learning? He quickly replied, "Yes."....Then there was a brief pause, and he said, "In case I have second thoughts, my teacher is Ms. H*****." Tomorrow should be interesting!
Posted by Christy Robbins at 8:53 PM 0 comments
Labels: Work
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Just Another Friday Night
Things in my house just got a little noisier. I was only along for the ride-or rather, I was the ride. I have strummed an imaginary note....or two since the guitar made it to my house. Jason picked up the guitar again after setting it aside for about 12 years, this should be interesting. He had a weekend, one-man-jam-fest. He said that it was something to do when the weather was too bad to fish (since fish like rain, I guess he means when it's sunny?). Side note: I was walking through the store selecting what instrument I would purchase if someone made me-I was really torn between the harmonica, and the cowbell, and I think-it would be the cowbell-you don't really have to find the note on that, just the beat. It could be fun. This is assuming they stop selling fabric, and stickers, cupcakes, and cell phones, so my other hobbies are not available, and I need to find something new. I wish I desired to be more musically inclined. I certainly appreciate a great musician. I just...can't...practice. I have a lifetime of faked piano lessons, and dusty french horn cases to prove it. Thank goodness amps have low volumes, or I might be looking for another place to live....I've given up hope that Jason will, ;o).
Posted by Christy Robbins at 5:33 PM 0 comments
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Is It Too Early For An Ornament?
I've made 5 ornaments since Christmas, this is the only one I can post right now due to my 'don't show gifts before you give them' strategy for 2010. My tragic story is I did not have time to shop when I was in Germany this summer. (Where are those violins when I pull out these stories?). This means I didn't get my required ornament, what? Fortunately, I DID get some pictures. I saw different versions of this type of ornament this last season, and decided I needed to make one. I have some 'old' printer friendly overheads from the days when teachers used overheads, and I was one of them. I printed off this picture in color, cut out the shape of the 'inner ornament' then slipped it inside. In this case, I added some little roses I found at the craft store (because they were all over Germany) there are more than four, but that's all that showed in the photo, and I could NOT get the glare off the photo to show what the photo really looks like, but you get the point. Anyway, here is my Germany ornament....it'll have to do until I get back to Germany and can get some shopping done the right way!
Posted by Christy Robbins at 9:50 PM 2 comments
Labels: Christmas, Homemade Gift
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Ready to Do Dishes?
I'm obsessed with sewing this week.....I...can't....stop. I have made many projects, some that look suspiciously close to this, but please note, I'm actually not posting them since they are going to be gifts for people I know have this blog address (not that they check it, but they could), BUT this little apron is going to a non-blogging friend (aren't I sooo good for not ruining gift surprises? It's my goal this year). My friend (who this is for) cleans when she's angry....oh, how I envy this! I cry, and then I sleep when I'm angry.....I wish I cleaned, I wish I didn't get angry and just cleaned because I should...maybe with a happy song sprouting tunefully from my imaginary fabulous singing voice, or even off key in that charming way some people have, just not me.... Anyway, I've wanted to make aprons for a long time, it seemed really 'doable.' Cut a trapezoid, attach a ruffle, and a waist band-create your own pattern-my kind of thing. "Real" patterns make me angry, and really-didn't I just go over this? Of course, the aprons could be much more complicated....but I thought I was really industrious trying out the 'circular' pocket, whatever....it was fun. The good news is I could make quite a few of these with some of the left over fabric from past projects littering my house. The bad news is, I'm not going to do that b/c each apron must say 'your name' which means I 'need' to go to the fabric store to find 'you.' Then I will sew you, and we will call it a gift, not a crafting problem I refuse to admit to and address. Brown says Heather...in a good trendy way, of course. I was going for a 1930's look, and somehow, this came out off the cutting board instead when I was finished selecting 'her' fabrics. All right, this'll be the last apron I post for awhile, but now you know-what I do on Tuesday nights instead of cleaning.
Posted by Christy Robbins at 9:26 PM 4 comments
Labels: Homemade Gift, Sewing
Saving a Seat
In the Beginning:
This chair belonged to my great GREAT grandparents. It has been in my Aunt's garage for years now, and they gave it to me thinking I might be interested in repairing the rocker. After years of use, and many more of sitting, the bottom had fallen out (it was originally a thick cloth material crisscrossing and holding in the cushion. The sides had popped out so that the arms were out of their holes, the fabric had faded, etc. I didn't really capture all this, BUT the wood was solid, and intact. Conveniently, I know a carpenter, who also happens to be related to me, and he agreed to fix the base when I bought some wood to reinforce the cushion, and he managed to get the slates back into place and reinforce them with wood glue. Next it was time to recover the faded fabric. Sure, I could have picked something befitting this rocker's history but, I think it's important to add a little 'me' to it so that in a hundred years, when my great great-someone recovers it, they will wonder about this funky fabric I chose. I wanted to stain the wood darker, but at my Mom's request, I left it the original color, so....I can deal, for now. OK, really, I don't know if it will hold up even A year b/c I pretty much made up how to do all the repairs, but I can because there are no furniture police allowed access to my house, and I could list all the things I did wrong times ten, but I'm OK with that!
The Finished Product:
When I sit down, and hear the creaks, I have to wonder about my grandparents, and their parents, AND their parent's parents who sat here and rocked, and were soothed by the rhythm. I like to imagine who sat here and rocked, who was rocked in this chair, and I look forward to adding a few of my own stories to be saved inside these creaky wooden slates.
Posted by Christy Robbins at 6:46 AM 2 comments
Labels: Crafting, Home "Repairs", Home Goods, Vintage
Monday, January 18, 2010
List Check Up, and Travel Advice
visited 40 states (80%)
Create your own visited map of The United States
I've been working on hitting all 50 states, and I'm down to 10, how about that?!? This summer, the plan is to visit 4 more of these. My Mom, Holly, and I have begun the planning process, but I thought I'd throw this out there, b/c I'm always asking people their opinions, advice, etc before heading places out of town...and in town. So, if you have any advice, here are a few places I'm researching, and questions I have, I thought I'd throw them out there into the world of the internet, see if I can rustle up some travel advice for anyone who has traveled these roads before.
*I've been to Branson, but I didn't go to any of the shows, do you have any advice for shows in Branson? A few people have told me about a family show called Presley (a variety show), and someone else told me about a 360 degree Noah's Ark show...?
*Have you ever been to Green County in WI? Monroe? New Glarus? I'm looking for a little swiss experience in the exotic land of Wisconsin, maybe a cheese tour or two, and Monroe is mentioned in 1,000 places, but I also saw a little town called new Glarus listed, but it's listed by their convention center, so....I'm looking for someone who has maybe BEEN to tell me where to stay/what to do. Wisconsin is new to me.
*Any Chicago tour recommendations? Don't miss pizza stops in Chicago? We will only be there one night, so....I'm packing the important 'stuff.'
*Any tips on what to do in Mackinaw Island? I'm hearing carriage rides, and fudge....I think that might can fill my day, but any tips are great!
*Another place in my 1,000 Book is Door Country Wisconsin. We wanted a pretty place to stay along the great lakes on the way from Mackinaw to St.Paul, and they mention this is a pretty area with lots of light houses, but it seems like a big 'area'....I'm hoping to pinpoint more of a 'spot.'
*We are also planning on heading to the Mall of America is St Paul, MN-so....there has to be a good way to do this in a day, any place else I can't miss?
Posted by Christy Robbins at 8:31 PM 4 comments
Labels: Travel
Sunday, January 17, 2010
My Complete Medicine Park Album
I have posted a few pictures on facebook, but....I'm much more complete with my shutterfly album...there is only so many photos you want to share with 200 of your closet friends, plus some of my friends have canceled their facebook, accounts. :O) Here are most of the pictures I took from the weekend. :O)
Posted by Christy Robbins at 11:42 PM 0 comments
Labels: Oklahoma, Photography, Vacation
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge #8
Sunday morning we got up and headed a few miles down the road (don't listen to Mapquest, it's just about 4 miles from the town of Medicine Park to the refuge, NOT 39, like the site says). Holly has been wanted to go to this refuge for years, and I read about it in 1,000 Places to See Before you Die in the USA and Canada by Patricia Schultz, which I got for Christmas last year,and love! :O) I also thought this would be a fun opportunity to use my new zoom lense! The refuge is one of those projects built during the depression by the work force the government created. The mountain ranges are very old, and eroded much more than the newer Rockies, but they are really pretty, even in the winter. We were able to make the easy drive to the top of Scott's Mountain with a really pretty view from the top. The road is really great, and there were some people making the hike up the mountain along the paved path, which looked pretty relaxing, though we opted to drive this go 'round and stop at the various lookouts.
We also drove past many pretty prairies, and lakes, recreational areas, and a really nice visitors center.
(I also saw there was a town nearby, Holy City, that has the longest running Promise Play. Something I may look into the next time we head this way. I went once in the past in Texas, and really enjoyed the biblical, outdoor play.)
The entire time we drove through the park we saw the reason behind the park's purpose-lots of wildlife. Their main wildlife are Elk, Bison, Longhorns and Prairie Dogs (which we saw) as well as Cougars, Coyotes, Hawks, etc. Here are a few of the animal photos I took during our short stay.
Prairie Dogs
I loved watching hundreds of these playing, digging, and barking in a little controlled area, as well as throughout the prairies nearby.
Posted by Christy Robbins at 7:40 PM 0 comments
Labels: Oklahoma, Photography, Travel, Vacation
Medicine Park, Oklahoma
This Saturday morning Mom, Holly, Lois, and I drove 4 hours to Medicine Park, OK. http://www.medicinepark.com/ My Mom had a friend that visited this little location almost a year ago, and recommended it, AND there is a nearby Wildlife Refuge that is listed in the book 1,000 Places to See Before you Die in the USA and Canada by Patricia Schultz. We didn't really know what to expect upon arrival. Medicine Park is a small town surrounded by rivers, and lakes. Native Americans once felt like the waters in the area had medicinal powers, hence the name. In the early 1900's this was a swinging resort town for the rich and famous, and what's left are the shells of those buildings, now given characteristics of the last 100 years, while keeping their cobblestone faces. There are a lot of walking, and 'looking' opportunities, a swimming hole, and trout fishing nearby. There are little shops along the river and throughout the little town streets with lots of personality, and friendly owners. They appear to only be open on Saturdays, so we were in luck.
This isn't my typical shopping experience, though I managed to find a few things, I think the feel is more relaxation. Things move slow, there is lots of character in the local's houses-lots of yard art, and a mecca for plastic animal fun-in a good way. It's a lot of fun, and definitely somewhere to go and relax. We only had the chance to try out one restaurant called The Plantation, and it was actually REALLY excellent home cooking (yummy rolls), and it's located in what used to be the 'Grand Hotel' across from the main swimming hole. http://www.theoldplantationrestaurant.com/
We stayed at a little place called the Blue Eyed Coyote.
http://www.blueeyedcoyote.com/ My best description is that it's like a B&B, but separated from the owner's house, so....also, think cabin. It has a little bedroom, living room with dish TV, and a propane fireplace (it can sleep up to 6, but I think 4 was a pretty comfortable number), restroom, kitchen, and eating space with lots of great windows. Pots and pans, silverware, towels, etc are provided (though we did find there are no cookie sheets or casserole baking dishes-which we needed, but were creative, just....fyi). There is also another guest house in the works. The best part is the view-a huge yard, and wrap around porch, and patio overlooking the Wichita Mountains with lots of seating, fire pit, grill etc....and....the best greeting party ever.
There are lots of little cottages for rent in Medicine Park (some include stays from famous outlaws who passed through-like Al Capone, and Bonnie and Clyde), but....I definitely recommend this one. :O) After touring the little town of Medicine Park, and taking a little survey of the nearby Wildlife Refuge (my next post), we spent the evening playing games.
Posted by Christy Robbins at 6:14 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Open for Interpretation
I rarely remember my dreams, just that I have them! When I was little, some of them were so scary that I didn't want to go to sleep out of fear of 'dreaming.' Anyway, this one was just weird, but I had to share it, or rather the most interesting piece, it was a long one.
I was in Europe, which looked suspiciously like somewhere around here, and my Mom and brother were with me. We were taking a 'train' through Europe, and during the most interesting part, we were in Paris (again, looks like McKinney or somewhere, no Eiffle Tower in site). BUT the train our group was on was actually a big green tractor with a bunch of Big Red Wagons on the back, and we each sat in one and rode along. The first person had to hold on to the back of the tractor so the rest of us could move. At one point I was in front, and boy, was it hard holding on to that John Deere while everyone behind me tagged along. Anyway, in Paris, we made one more stop by the sticker store, and I was ready to leave, but Mom wasn't done looking (trust me, Mom has never outlooked me at a sticker store, it's not her thing at all, it would be like me wanting to stay longer at an autoparts store-yuck). We told her we'd meet her at the train station. She didn't show up! Our group was going to Montmartre (which is just a little part of Paris, but in my dream, it was another town, really quite far). We decided to go, and that she would catch up (ya right!). There were some adventures along the road (I dropped her purse off the train...because I was holding it, I guess you don't use cash in dream sticker stores. I had to hop off the moving red wagons to retrieve it, this also meant she couldn't contact us), but we (Jason and I) finally arrived at our lunch stop-a Mexican food restaurant....uhhh....becasue they are sooo prevalant in France. We sat down to eat our burgers and spanish rice, and good news, my Mom showed up when lunch was almost over. She sat down to eat, and she pulled out her five dollar off coupon for this restaurant that she had found. Whew, I thought we were going to have to pay for our burger at the Mexican Food restaurant in Paris at full price!
Posted by Christy Robbins at 6:49 AM 2 comments
Labels: Dreams
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Monkey Diaper Cake #2
I made this 'cake' months ago, and it's a long story, but because of that long story, it's been sitting on a shelf in my closet. There is NOT room to store completed diaper cakes in my closet, so....I've been on the hunt to get rid of it since it didn't serve it's purpose. I've attended several showers, but it just wasn't the 'right cake' for those showers. Thank goodness, someone at work asked me about how to make them because she is hosting a shower this next weekend. I told her I'd be happy to show her to make them (they are sooooo easy), but PLEASE take this off my hands! I got a taker, and now....I've got a little more room in my closet for 'more' crafts....ha, double purpose! I made one awhile back that looks almost exactly like this, but this guys a little bigger, I think I added a few things like a first aid kit to this one, and a few more cups. I do love the diaper cake, but I do NOT love storing them for unknown amounts of time.
Front of Cake
Back of Cake
Posted by Christy Robbins at 10:18 PM 2 comments
Labels: Baby Gift, Cakes, Homemade Gift, Monkey, Parties, Showers
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Learning to Speak Baby Grunts
The highlight of my Friday was spending some time with Carrilee and her family. She was in town for the holiday (from Washington), and I truly enjoy getting to spend time catching up, and watching her in her mommy element. I learn so much through others as they interact with their kids, and I appreciate her being real. It's fun to watch her little ones grow, and today I learned to speak baby grunt. Jorja slowly rode this car across the room, after giving herself a 'shot' and carrying her doctor tools, and blanket, and then she stared at me, motor still (pressed down by her finger) running for about four minutes until someone explained to me this meant I was supposed to turn her car in a new direction. Sure enough, I moved her little car in a new direction without the table obstruction, and she rode off into the sunset, or rather-the lamplight. Anyway, it was pretty cute, she's so serious, I can't wait to see who this serious little, traveling doctor grows into! I also got glimpses of Henry as he baked cookies with Grandma, and lots of chat time with Carrilee, one of my all-time favorite friends from Baylor. There could not be anyone sweeter! I hope the next visit is sooner than we think! :O)
Posted by Christy Robbins at 11:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Friends
Friday, January 08, 2010
Jo's Retirement
Thursday evening I baked a cake, and made a flower arrangment for a gal my Mom works for that is retiring, and they are hosting a reception tomorrow. I just did 'pot luck' at Sam's with the flowers. I was going for blue (her favotie color), but....uh....they didn't have any, so I just got something I thought was pretty. I then had to figure out how to work them onto the cake, and I just didn't have the right color green, but hopefully it'll be demolished soon, and the insides will taste great. Another project complete.
Posted by Christy Robbins at 6:02 AM 1 comments
Labels: Cakes, Flowers, Special Occasions
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Paper Doll Cuteness
Check out this link, it's sooooo cute. This gal has a blog where she gives away free printable designs for all sorts of little gift boxes, stationary, and paper dolls, INCLUDING boy, and girl paper dolls. They are soooo stinking cute! I printed off a few for 'something' I'm doing....but....seriously....so cute, and free?!!?!? How fabulous is THAT?
Posted by Christy Robbins at 6:03 AM 0 comments
Labels: Fun Find, Homemade Gift
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Mystery Gift in a Bag
Let me see....who in my life has the first initial B? To be fair to me, this is only the outside of the beginnings of Blythe's birthday gift (May 5th is coming quicker than you know it). I will refrain from posting any more on the gift (which is actually what goes inside this bag) for after it has been received, but....here is my starting point. I found the fabric at JoAnne's, which I really loved, and the bag there as well. I used the double bonding stuff to put the B down with, but I also etched around the sides with a fat stitch,always a struggle for me. Now....on to the innards, which just require 'collecting' items. :O)
Posted by Christy Robbins at 8:45 PM 0 comments
Labels: Homemade Gift
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Banana Pie
I don't have a picture for this one. I was telling my pal, Jolene about the caramel sauce I discovered (a few post back) and she already knew about it! What? Anyway, she gave me a recipe that's super easy, and I did have an extra pie crust (see my last post). I didn't take pictures, but I thought I'd share it anyway since it, too, was yummy (add extreme diet to my New Year's Resolutions). Anyway, make a pie crust as instructed. Cut up bananas and fill the bottom of the crust (2-3, depending on your love of bananas). Cover the bananas with the caramel sauce (prepared as described in prior post). Cover the caramel with whipped cream, and sprinkles with walnuts. Slice and serve. Yummy=bananas and anything.
Monday, January 04, 2010
Toffee Pecan Pie
If you like Pecan Pie, you must try this one out, but don't expect the same pecan flavor you are used to if you use the toffee. I tried this out for Christmas, and it was sooooo good. Everything came out perfectly, despite my ability to mess up most recipes, so....add 'easy' to the reasons you should try out this recipe. Instead of the 'homemade pie dough'....I bought a box at the store, and used one of them as my crust (don't tell Martha). I've tried the whole homemade crust, and even with all my attempts not to 'overwork it'...it's too chewy for me, and this taste great. The rest of the recipe I followed as given. This pie won first place on a recent pie show. If you are in pursuit of a new pie, or a more perfect pecan pie, try it out.
Posted by Christy Robbins at 6:01 AM 0 comments
Labels: Cooking, Holidays, Pecans, Pie, Recipes, Thanksgiving
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Welcome to the World, John Donovan Thomas!
Maurine and Derek have exciting news to share on their blog! I'm so excited they welcomed their little man into the world on December 30th. He's precious, and he looks very holdable. :O) I can't wait to squish him in March, in only kind squishy ways! I was out today shopping through these little boutiques in Downtown McKinney and I already found a little goody screaming "Donovan"....that's what cute baby things do-they scream out to me when I walk by. My cousin, Jimmy asked me this Christmas, as I played with Blythe, took a million pictures, showered her with homemade goodies, and introduced her to the world of crafting if I was going to pay as much attention to his next baby. Uhhh, yeah, has he not spent anytime with me? If there is a baby, or a puppy in the area, you bet I'm playing with them. I heart babies, and animals, they represent the best in the world-innocence, and magic, and trust. I can't wait to be a part of Donovan's world, and keep it full of the wonders of childhood as long as possible! Congrats, family and extended family!
Posted by Christy Robbins at 6:39 AM 1 comments
Labels: Friends
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Mama's Daughters' Diner
This past week, my Mom and I tried out this little diner. There are four locations, we went to the one on Industrial, and then perfected the outing with a stop at the 'big' Half Price Books. I had never even heard of this diner, but I think I must be the only one in Dallas....the parking lot was completely full at 1 pm. There was a wait in the door, and they slam the food on the table so quickly, and move you through in speeding fashion (with a smile). I was talking to a friend one day, and her friend was coming into town, and she just mentioned the list of places her friend always had to go when she came back through town (she's moved to Seattle from Dallas as an adult), and this was one of those places. It was really good homecooking. They are open most days from about 8-3 (hours are on their sites), and some locations have weekend dates. The meals are served with homemade rolls, and cornbread (no complaints here). I got a meal with three sides, and a soda for about 10 dollars. The inside is nothing fancy, very 'diner', but there are cute little sayings you might have heard your mama say as a child. It reminded me of Poor Richards in Plano. Anyway, if you are in the area, I agree, it's worth a stop.
Posted by Christy Robbins at 5:25 PM 0 comments
Labels: Dallas Area Activities
Friday, January 01, 2010
New Christmas Toy Photography #7
I got a new zoom lense for my camera, and I took it out to Lake Lavon today while Jason (unsuccessfully) tried out his new fishing pole. There weren't too many birds enjoying the winter weather, but I have more plans for this lense in the months, and years to come. Here are a few photos from my outing.
Winter Home.
Crane. Jason's fishing company.
Peanut, and his friend, the Shadow.
Posted by Christy Robbins at 8:01 PM 0 comments
Labels: Dallas Area Activities, Pets, Photography


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Three major airlines have announced additional flights to the Nashville International Airport with new routes to Boston, Cleveland and Los Angeles. The airport said Southwest Airlines is adding another daily nonstop flight to Boston Logan starting in February. United Airlines is adding two daily nonstop flights to Nashville from its Cleveland hub starting on Dec. 19.
And American Airlines is extending its seasonal summer daily flights to Los Angeles International Airport throughout the year, based on passenger response. American will now have two daily flights connecting Nashville and Los Angeles.


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A1a Tree Surgery & Garden Design40 Feedback reviews, 95% positive
For a very high standard of tree surgery and garden design, try us first. I studied at Kirkby Hall, which was voted as one of best in the country. 100% reliable, trustworthy, honest and polite man who can do wonders with any garden! I gained distinctions in garden design... read more
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Traditional landscapes80 Feedback reviews, 100% positive
I am landscaping company offering everything from turfing to fencing, brick walls, patios and driveways. All work fully guaranteed, no salesman so costs are kept to minimum. We work on a no deposit basis, payment only when fully satisfied with work. Guaranteed to give quote... read more
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A.J. Garden Maintenance23 Feedback reviews, 96% positive
I have over 20 years experience A.J. Garden maintanance is a family run business which has been established since 2013. We are professional experienced Landscapers who specialize in full landscapes, decking, artificial and real turf instalations , patios and fencing. Our... read more
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AD and Sons Improvement Ltd14 Feedback reviews, 100% positive
We are a good and reliable company Very top quality work man ship very help fill with all questions and very tidy around the property read more
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Stan Timmins and sons Ltd39 Feedback reviews, 100% positive
Stan Timmins and Sons Ltd Stan has been involved with the horticultural and arboricultural industry for over 40 years and for the last 30 years has been a local radio gardener. We offer a comprehensive range of tree care and arboricultural consultancy services. read more
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By stardust9 on 7th Nov, 2017
Gardens by Michael Dixon10 Feedback reviews, 90% positive
We are an experienced company in which all staff are fully qualified in the field of Landscape gardening .We pride ourselves on the standard of work we produce and we have undertaken a vast range of projects over 20 years. We work on all aspects of gardening and... read more
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By elizabeth5061 on 19th Dec, 2018
The New Chameleon44 Feedback reviews, 100% positive
Chameleon was established in 2003 by Gary Bennett and is an award winning garden design, landscaping, building and handyman company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, operating throughout the Tyne & Wear and Northumberland region. With many years of experience and with our... read more
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K Winter Patios and Paving38 Feedback reviews, 100% positive
At K Winter Patios and Paving we aim to give kerb appeal to any home. We specialise in all areas of paving. All our work is quality assured and completed by qualified tradesman. Request a free quote and advice through My Builder.Com. read more
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MLJ Garden and Landscape Maintenance Services15 Feedback reviews, 100% positive
MLJ Garden Landscaping and maintenance Services. We provide top quality garden transformations and maintenance services. From driveways, patios, natural and artificial grass, fencing, hedge trimming, jetwashing and grass cuts. one off jobs to regular contracts MLJ is... read more
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By jessicahewitt84 on 24th Mar, 2017
Hedley Landscapes23 Feedback reviews, 96% positive
We are a landscape gardening business which has been owned by David Hedley for 25 years. We take work all year round, no matter how big or small. We have made business via word of mouth within those 25 years. Many happy customers have complimented our hard work and quality. read more
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By karen_740 on 23rd Aug, 2013
J.L.T. Building & Landscapes7 Feedback reviews, 100% positive
J.L.T. Building and landscapes have been trading now for 9 years and have gone from strength to strength. With two permanent employees and a hole host of subcontractors, with both part p and gas safe certificates. We cover all aspects of building and landscaping. read more
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Absolute Landscaping7 Feedback reviews, 100% positive
We are a small family run business established in 2004 and hold full insurance. We are fully qualified ground workers. We cover all aspects of hard and soft landscaping including domestic and commercial projects. We pride ourselves on our work and have excellent... read more
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Brierley's ground force ltd5 Feedback reviews, 100% positive
We provide quality assured landscape gardening and paving services. read more
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Property services8 Feedback reviews, 100% positive
I have been doing property services for 22 years now and I have picked up essential experience in my work and I take great pride and pleasure in my work. read more
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By mirkoc on 11th Sep, 2018
C . thompson and sons groundworks ltd13 Feedback reviews, 100% positive
We are a family run company with a combined experience of over 40 years. We do all aspects of building work, groundworks and landscaping from foundations, drainage and operating heavy plant to block paving. read more
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By vic_38 on 25th Oct, 2017
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Get access to exclusive camping deals, and the first look at new camps.
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text: What we love about Powerzone 3 Ton Aluminium and Steel Garage Jack is it has a good control during hydraulic release. It comes with a nice double plunger system that moves the arm when you move up or down. Aluminium Garage Jack only weighs below 60lbs and comes with high quality... Continue Reading


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Marino Nicastro Skater Profile
Sponsors: #OFFTHATWET
Hometown: Franklin NJ, Stance: Goofy, Age: 27, Status: Am
Notes: Joining our team in October 2013, Marino's a NJ transplant and can be found in Innetech behind the lens of his Canon, taking photos of all the products that come through our doors. Marino also holds down our SPoT tent at our events on site.
Last Update: Monday, January 4, 2016 Submit an Update
Marino Nicastro Mugshot History
Date: January 2014
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MJ's Nephew 'I Was Molested As a Child And Michael Helped Me Cope', Calls Wade a Liar
During the tweet session, Taj claimed he's in a unique position to judge Robson's sexual abuse allegations because he knows what it's like to have gone through such a traumatic experience.
"That is how I KNOW Wade is lying. Because I AM a survivor," Taj tweeted. Followed by: "I was sexually abuse (sic). By [a family member] on my mom's side of the family when I was a kid."
As for Michael, Taj says MJ "was a support system for me and my mom" during his abuse ordeal ... he even tweeted a picture of a note he says MJ wrote to his mother. The scrawl reads:
"Dee Dee please read this article about child molestation and please read it to Taj (and his siblings) ... it brings out how even your own relatives can be molesters of children, even uncles or aunts molesting nephews or nieces. Please Read. Love MJ."
And Taj makes it clear -- he thinks Robson is LYING for CASH.
"What people will $ay and do for money and to $tay relevant is $ickening. De$perate times call for De$perate mea$ures. #Money."
Jermaine Jackson couldn't BELIEVE it when he heard his nephew Taj's claims that a family member had molested him as a child -- telling TMZ, "I've never heard that. I've never ever heard that."
As we reported, Taj Jackson -- one of Tito's sons -- made the announcement on Twitter today, claiming an uncle on his mother's side of the family sexually abused him as a child ... and Michael Jackson counseled him through the trauma.
Taj says he made the announcement in an attempt to discredit Wade Robson's abuse allegations against MJ, claiming, "That is how I KNOW Wade is lying. Because I AM a survivor."
Debbie Rowe doesn't believe for one minute that her ex-husband, Michael Jackson, molested Wade Robson, telling TMZ the latest accuser will not blemish the memory of MJ.
Rowe -- reacting to Robson's appearance on "Today" and the 2 legal claims he's filed in court, tells TMZ:
"I was angered that Wade Robson reversed his sworn testimony from court in 2005, and now claims to be a victim of sexual abuse."
Rowe goes on ... "His publicity-seeking attempt is opportunistic and just oozes falseness."
Robson claims Jackson molested him for 7 years -- between the ages of 7 and 14, although he squarely denied it when he took the stand as Jackson's star witness in the 2005 molestation trial.
Rowe tells us, "It will be quickly forgotten, and will do nothing, nothing to tarnish Michael's extraordinary legacy."
source 1, 2, 3


text: Georgian Trout Streams Open for Catch-and-Release Season wfn Eric Engbretson/USFWSThe Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Resources Division has five delayed harvest streams available to anglers for the catch-and-release season beginning Nov. 1."Georgia trout streams are designated as seasonal, year-round or delayed harvest, and different streams offer varying populations of rainbow, brown and brook trout," says the division's Trout Stocking Coordinator Perry Thompson. "The delayed harvest streams have special regulations from November 1 - May 14. Since these delayed harvest streams are regularly stocked and the trout are caught and released, catch rates remain high, making them a great destination for new and seasoned anglers alike."The five trout streams managed under delayed harvest regulations are the Toccoa River located on U.S. Forest Service land upstream of Lake Blue Ridge in Fannin County (from 0.4 miles above Shallowford Bridge to 450 feet above the Sandy Bottom Canoe Access), Amicalola Creek on the Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area (from Steele Bridge Road downstream to Georgia Hwy. 53), Smith Creek at Unicoi State Park, the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta (Sope Creek, downstream of Johnson Ferry Road, downstream to the Hwy 41 bridge) and a portion of the Chattooga River (from Ga. Hwy. 28 upstream to the mouth of Reed Creek) on U.S. Forest Service land bordering South Carolina."Remember, these streams are catch and release only during the delayed harvest season and also are restricted to artificial lures with one single hook from Nov. 1 - May 14," Thompson adds. "When May 15 rolls around, harvest is allowed under the general regulations pertaining to designated trout water."In addition to the excellent fall fishing opportunities delayed harvest streams provide, there also are ample year-round trout fishing opportunities in a number of Georgia streams. These designated year-round streams are open to fishing throughout the year.Noontootla Creek Watershed: This watershed offers some high quality year-round fishing for wild brown and rainbow trout, with many of its tributaries offering a chance at a wild brook trout (a real plus since most other brook trout waters are closed to fishing after Oct. 31). Both Noontootla and its tributaries are managed under an artificial lure only regulation and have a 16" minimum size limit in order to "recycle" the 8"-12" trout that make up most of the population.Dukes Creek: This stream, located on the Smithgall Woods-Dukes Creek Conservation Area offers year-round trout fishing by reservation. All fish caught here must be released immediately and anglers must only use artificial lures with barbless hooks. The stream offers a great chance at a trout over 20 inches, so bring your camera for a quick shot before release. Best time to fish is after a rain discolors the water.Chattahoochee River: For good trout fishing close to metro-Atlanta, the Chattahoochee River downstream of Buford Dam offers family-friendly and close-to-home, year-round fishing for stocked rainbow and brown trout and wild brown trout. Despite the recent rains, fishing in the Chattahoochee River will continue to be good and Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area parks offer good bank, wading and boating opportunities. Be aware that some National Park Service parks downstream of Morgan Falls Dam are closed due to recent flooding. Contact CRNRA (678-538-1200) to learn about park closures. The river will be stocked through the fall months to keep angler catches high. Year-round harvest is legal from Buford Dam to Sope Creek. Best fishing is at low flow when the river is clear to slightly stained.Some additional notable year-round trout streams include the Conasauga River, Tallulah River and the Chattooga River.To download free Georgia trout stream maps and other trout fishing tips, or for additional trout fishing information, visit www.gofishgeorgia.com. Anglers must possess a current Georgia fishing license and a trout license to fish in designated trout waters.


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Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy is
See also:
Alternative Names
Landouzy-Dejerine muscular dystrophy
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy affects the upper body. It is not the same as
Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder. It appears in both men and women and may develop in a child if either parent carries the gene for the disorder. In 10 to 30% of cases, the parents do not carry the genes.
Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy affects about 5 out of 100,000 people. It affects men and women equally.
Men often have more symptoms than women.
Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy mainly affects the face, shoulder, and upper arm muscles. However, it can also affect muscles around the pelvis, hips, and lower leg.
Symptoms can appear after birth, but often they do not appear until age 10 – 26. However, it is not uncommon for symptoms to appear much later in life. In some cases, symptoms never develop.
Symptoms are usually mild and very slowly become worse. Muscle weakness of the face is common, and may include:
Eyelid drooping
- Inability to whistle
- Decreased facial expression
- Depressed or angry facial expression
- Difficulty pronouncing words
Shoulder muscle weakness causes deformities such as pronounced shoulder blades (scapular winging) and sloping shoulders. The person has difficulty raising the arms because of shoulder and arm muscle weakness.
Weakness of the lower legs is possible as the disorder gets worse. The weakness can be severe enough to interfere with walking. A small percentage of people become wheelchair-bound.
Hearing loss and abnormal heart rhythms may occur, but are rare.
Signs and tests
A physical examination will show weakness of the face and shoulder muscles. High blood pressure may be noted but is usually mild. An eye exam may show changes in the blood vessels in the back of the eye.
Tests that may be done include:
Creatine kinasetest (may be slightly high)
- DNA testing
Electrocardiogram(EKG) EMG(electromyography) Fluorescein angiography
- Genetic testing of chromosome 4
- Hearing tests
Muscle biopsy(may confirm the diagnosis)
There is no known cure for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy. Treatments are given to control symptoms and improve quality of life. Activity is encouraged. Inactivity such as bedrest can make the muscle disease worse.
Physical therapy may help maintain muscle strength. Other possible treatments include:
- Oral albuterol to increase muscle mass (but not strength)
- Speech therapy
- Surgery to fix a winged scapula
- Walking aids and foot support devices
Expectations (prognosis)
Disability is often minor. Lifespan is usually not affected.
- Decreased mobility
- Decreased ability to care for self
- Deformities of the face and shoulders
- Hearing loss
- Vision loss (rare)
Calling your health care provider
Call for an appointment with your health care provider if symptoms of this condition develop.
Genetic counseling is recommended for couples with a family history of this condition who wish to have children.


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robcla necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 214 diseños de 55 diseñadores freelance.
Robbie Claire / robbieclaire.com
Robbieclaire.com will be the new name for a leading UK online shoe and accessories store.
We sell high street and designer shoes, with top brands and styles ranging from flip flops to high heels, boots to sandals, wedges and trainers.
We also stock handbags, scarves, gloves, hats etc but our main focus is footwear.
The brand feel is friendly, fresh, sassy, stylish, sophisticated and modern.
The brand must accommodate both male and female audiences.
Core customer age is 36, so we need to maintain maturity and sophistication; 'girly pink' is far too young.
The customer is professional; they love shopping online and are very much into the latest trends yet also looking for practicality.
The logo must be for 'robbieclaire.com' - including the .com – as well as some sort of icon which is unique to the brand.
Be creative with the icon, remembering it must somehow represent what the company does - retail shoes and accessories. It must be representative if used on its own.
The words 'robbie' and 'claire' must be clearly readable as one word and as separate entities.
We're looking for something simple with a white background - the text must work as dark blue/black/grey tones. Anything over designed or too complex will be ruled out.
Please do not use clip art or stock imagery. You might want to look at the logos of prestigious fashion designers for inspiration.
We've included our current and work-in-progress branding.
We require all rights for the logo.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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One of the recent items that Wholeport sent me was this fabulous cupcake box:
At $1.99 a piece I think these might become a staple supply in my house because they are so fun. I covered mine with scrapbook paper and added an argyle pattern to the front with paper and paint. I created a super simple tag. If you would like I have included a link to it at the end.
I tried to think of a perfect occasion to give someone a box of cupcakes and what better holiday than Valentines Day. Wouldn't it be fun to send a picture of this to your hubby or boyfriend while he is at work, or have it on the table Valentines Day morning, or have it delivered to him at work.
These wouldn't only work for Valentines Day. You could send someone a "sixpack" with a note saying, "Heard you had a hard day. Maybe a sixpack will help" or "Congratulations. Here is a sixpack to celebrate." There are lots of possibilities. See-that is why you need lots of these boxes on hand.
Onlookers/droolers. They said any daddy would love these cupcakes (kids too).
A sweet, and romantic way to celebrate Valentines day.


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Happy Memorial Day. Wishing our troops a safe trip home
and big thank you's to those who serve or have served.
And a star is born. Watch out Alex Anderson.
Accidents happen! Oh, my gosh! That sums up all of my sewing/quilting endeavors. Too cute for words, and I really miss you!ReplyDelete
lol what an adorable little quilter! That is most definitely adorable!!!ReplyDelete
So cute - and I love how she's "pressing" her seams so well!!ReplyDelete
Beyond cute! And what a pro with that iron!ReplyDelete
Sooo sweeet!ReplyDelete
That is so darn cute! Thanks for sharing your little quilt artist with us!ReplyDelete
she is sew stinking cute! i love that she is 'pressing' her seams, not ironing :)
monkey see, monkey do! :)
thanks for the smile!
So cute and I am sure that Daddy will love the piece.ReplyDelete
Ta da!!! I like how she was really pressing the fabric too:) Seamstress Sophie!ReplyDelete
This is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo adorable...I can tell she watches her mother alot.....ReplyDelete
Oh to have my granddaughter sew with me like that one day!!!! (I gave up on my daughter long ago.) Sophie is so cute and such self-confidence - perfect!ReplyDelete
Hey, you dother is just great...jejeje...risas en Chile gracias a ella. ¡¡¡ReplyDelete
Just fabulous!ReplyDelete
Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate that you took a minute to read my post.
Please share what you thought about it with a comment.


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Health, Fitness and Zen
Sorry I ain't been writing much. I've been working hard on finishing up a novel I wrote way back in 1998. It's called Gill Women of the Prehistoric Planet.
Back in those days I was trying hard to become a professional writer. I wrote dozens of short stories that I used to send to science fiction magazines and get rejection notices for. I managed to publish three of them, I think. All fairly bad. I was writing stuff for Ultraman, some of which was used uncredited. I also completed three novels; Death to All Monsters (aka Destroy All Spacemen), Akron Ohio: City in the Sky and Gill Women of the Prehistoric Planet.
Gill Women was the best of the bunch. It concerned the exploits of a hapless sf-movie nerd named Joe who lives in Akron and happens to have the last remaining copy of a film called Gill Women of the Prehistoric Planet. Joe believes that this moldering old movie kept in rusting film canisters in the basement of the punk rock house he shares with a band called the Zen Luv Assassins contains the key to thwarting an alien invasion he believes is being planned and organized at the local Johnny Teagle's HyperMart store.
It's a comedy that may or may not be science fiction. There's been some interest expressed lately in my novels, so I decided the time was right to fix one of them up and see if it goes anywhere. I'm actually enjoying the book a lot. About two years of hard labor went into creating it, and it's not bad at all.
ANYWAY I got an email today that said this:
Long time fan, first time caller! I'd appreciate a post or just your thoughts about the role of health and fitness in Zen. Most specifically what is your daily food routine like. Do you totally stay away from caffeine? Do you eat after noon? There's lots of Zen writing about mindful eating and such but I'd like to hear more of what your actual diet is like. Do you do wheat grass shots every morning? Do you choke down omega-3's every day? I remember a quote (from Sit Down I believe) where you mentioned our responsibility to feed ourselves healthy food and that you're a vegetarian. You've also talked about yoga and stuff. I know that my practice totally sucks when I've eaten too much or just generally treat my body like crap. And when I don't exercise I just feel way less "balanced" in general. Maybe I just need some encouraging words to get my ass to the gym!
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. My own diet is not really exemplary. I'm a vegetarian, but more for moral reasons than health. Which means that I consider Fritos as perfectly acceptable vegetarian cuisine. However, recently I've been trying to get a bit more serious about diet and exercise.
The crisis point came in my tour of Europe this Spring. I had very little control over what I got fed during my travels. Just trying to avoid big hunks of meat in everything I ate was hard enough. Plus I was spending a lot of time in planes, cars and trains, basically sitting for long, long periods. And not sitting zazen, either! Just sort of slumped in a chair somewhere.
When I lived in Santa Monica I had a regular exercise routine consisting mainly of yoga and bicycle riding. That was gone and I needed to do something. So I went on-line looking for fitness routines that could be done pretty much anywhere without any special equipment. I started doing a 25 minute workout I found on some website every day before breakfast, which I still do now that I'm back in the USA. It's got push-ups, crunches, squats and some other stuff.
I also spent some time in Japan with my friend Patrick Reynolds who runs a thing called the Peak Condition Project. My friend Ren did the program and it really made a big difference. I haven't done the program, but I did listen to Patrick lecture me about my lousy eating habits, and I've endeavored to change those -- fewer carbs, more vegetables (Fritos are not vegetables), less food at night, etc.
The ancient Buddhists were not allowed to eat after noon. Very few Buddhists follow that these days. In fact, in Zen retreats they have a cute way of cheating in which they refer to breakfast and lunch as meals and to dinner as "medicine." It's like supposedly observant Jews who hire gentiles to turn their lights on during the Sabbath. It pays lip service to the tradition but ignores the spirit behind it.
Nishijima, by the way, bucks this system. He calls dinner a meal during his retreats, and does the meal chant at night too (it's usually skipped at night at Zen retreats because you don't chant for "medicine"). I've kept Nishijima's tradition at my own retreats. I prefer the honesty of doing it that way.
In Buddhism we say that body and mind are the same. Unfortunately, too many in the Zen world see Zen as a purely mental exercise and ignore their bodies. I don't really trust fat Zen masters. I saw a video of one American master doing his prostrations and I really worried whether he was gonna have a heart attack with all the bulk he was carrying.
I'm not talking about middle-aged people who are carrying a bit of extra around. That's not such a big deal. But there are some truly obese Zen masters out there and I really wonder about that.
I once read a piece by some author talking about what it takes to be a professional writer. One of the points he stressed was physical fitness. Writing is a job where you sit around a lot. It's easy to get fat and soft. But, said the author, the condition of your body affects the condition of your mind. You can't be a good writer if you don't take care of your body.
I wish I could recall who wrote that, because I fully agree. I believe Zen practice absolutely requires you to take care of your physical condition. You need to exercise and take care of your nutrition. Body and mind are one. You can't expect to free your mind while abusing the rest of your body.
Nishijima Roshi chants the full Buddhist meal chant before every meal he eats, even when he's at home by himself. I haven't started this myself, although I have started doing the very short version of it at most meals. I read once that cultures with meal rituals have less obesity than those without. I can see why. Eating is important. It should not be taken lightly. Even vegetarians like me have to kill other forms of life in order to sustain ourselves. This is some heavy stuff.
So no, I'm not doing wheat grass shots or abstaining from food after noon. But I do try to be careful of what I eat and I make a point of doing exercise every day, no matter how much I hate it -- and I assure you I do hate it. A lot. But it makes me feel good. So it must be good. I'm no body builder, but I'm not fat and I plan to keep it that way. I try to deal with physical fitness and nutrition in a balanced way. It's important not to take even being healthy too far.


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In addition to the new Nexus 4 smartphone, which we've already put up against the iPhone 5, Google and Samsung have announced the brand new Nexus 10 big boy tablet now as well. So experience vs. ecosystem, integrated vs. licenses, yadda vs. yadda, we're stacking that up against Apple's just-announced iPad 4 to get a sense of where exactly the different platforms are going, and what they're needing, hardware-wise.
And, of course, we brought the Microsoft Surface and BlackBerry Playbook along for the ride.
Check the specs up top, then hit the link below for our Mobile Nations sibling site, Android Central's, complete Nexus 10 coverage.