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Blizzcon 08: Frank Pearce on random instances, Wow Mobile and more
Channel 10 interviewed Frank Pearce, Executive Vice President of Product Development for Blizzard Entertainment on what's coming after Wrath of the Lich King, random instances in Wow, Wow outside of Wow, class balance, destructible cities, armor dyes, and more.
Note: Due to the audio quality, the transcript of this interview is included below.
Channel 10: We're here, Channel 10 with Frank Pearce, Frank, why don't you quickly introduce yourself?
Frank Pearce: Sure, my name is Frank Pearce; I'm an Executive Vice President of Product Development for Blizzard Entertainment.
C10: We've been looking at the Blizzcon announcements, what are some of your favorite features, what are the things that didn't make it into Wrath of the Lich King that you all are talking about for, say, future content packs?
FP: Wow, the laundry list is pretty long; at the top of my list personally is improved guild support. The little guild window we have to manage a list of 500 names has grown infeasible. So, one example for me would be better guild features, but we have a big laundry list, we want to continue the storyline, there's more stuff that we want to tell as far as the story goes, we've got different options there. We actually, after we ship Wrath, we'll get the development team together, take a step back, and brainstorm some of the features that everyone is thinking about so we can lock down the feature set for the next expansion.
C10: There's been a number of announcements around Diablo 3, random instances, adventures, and we see the Diablo 3 team talking about some of the features that they borrowed from World of Warcraft. For World of Warcraft players, are there going to be, say, random instances or random encounters, or random zones where the zones could change...
[Video breaks as Frank's phone rings]
C10: Random instances or random areas, anything that you see borrowing from the Diablo world, or maybe even destructible things where your spells could actually destroy things, people seem to love that.
FP: Blowing sh*t up is always fun (laughter). Random instances is something that came up as a potential for something that we'd do in a future expansion. It really depends on the guys that put together the raid dungeons and the five-man dungeons handcraft those to make sure the experience is of a specific level of quality so it's something that we'll have to evaluate whether we can deliver the experience when it's random versus hand crafted.
C10: In February 2008 a number of people got really excited when you started talking about Warcraft outside of Warcraft, specifically it was an interview you had done on Warcraft Mobile.
FP: That was at Dice (laughter).
C10: So what things can you talk about, are you all working on Warcraft Mobile and what's the current situation and I've got some follow up questions on that.
FP: Okay, yeah, we'd like to be able to some stuff with Mobile devices, we don't have any development resources in house devoted to that as of yet, but we are looking for Mobile developers so we can start to go down that path. You know I mean the laundry list of things we could potentially do is pretty long, the things that I think would be pretty cool include like character profiles or being able to view your in-game mail, view your auctions, or guild chat, stuff like that. We're not talking about Mobile in the context of creating mobile games but as you mentioned in the context of enhancing the existing game experience that we've delivered to our players.
C10: A lot of people love some of the new stuff you all are doing on the Web site, having armory, having my guild, being able to look up what the latest stats and changes (to characters) and really supporting the community as well by making that available as XML and sites like SK-Gaming that do regular polls (of the armory). Are you all looking to add Guild Calendar to the Web which is a classic thing where you're organizing people...
FP: We've got guild calendar slated for, yeah, it's in the Lich King...
C10: But outside the game, meaning through the Web site.
FP: Definitely something that we're talking about, when we would be able to launch that depends on the resources available on the Web team as they have a lot of stuff going on. If you go up to the Armory, it's still listed as being in Beta (laughter); it's been live for a while. It's definitely a really cool idea and definitely something that we'll want to do at some point.
C10: The other ones, just to rattle these off are presence - so you can actually see when your friends are online and actually see which of my guild mates are online without having to log into the game.
FP: From the Web and/or mobile?
C10: Yeah.
FP: That would cool. Friends list.
C10: Yes.
FP: I can dig that.
C10: And achievements, which is another thing you see in like say Xbox where you have your, you know your "bragging card".
FP: Yeah achievements on Mobile and Web is another really good idea too.
C10: Okay, so it's something you all are...?
FP: So I'll point the designers to this interview (laughter).
C10: And actually you had mentioned in-game mail as well (on mobile). So there's always discussion on class balance, and I think there's always fights, but the reality is that when you all build those, when you try and do that, you all use spreadsheets, is that correct? You have actual math, it's not throwing darts.
FP: Yeah, yeah, there are spreadsheets behind it, the balance designers have mathematical backgrounds, more of the hard science backgrounds compared to the creative backgrounds, which you'll see in a lot of the designers that are doing lore and quests and stuff. Yeah, we definitely have guys on it full time and that's why we're always iterating on it, there job is to make sure that the classes are well balanced and not just well balanced but also viable in all of the different gaming experiences that we provide whether its outdoor PVE or raiding or battlegrounds PVP or arena PVP and they are committed to making sure that all of the classes are balanced and viable. It's an iterative process and fortunately WoW is an online experience that gives us the luxury of being able to iterate pretty frequently.
C10: Right and you know a lot of people say or argue about, say my class doesn't do enough damage. Have you all looked at or considered releasing some of those numbers in some way that is digestible, so you're not, a number of people are taking the target dummies in the beta to do damage calculations for spells. Sort of helping the hardcore gamers that really want that in-game data or to respond to people that are saying we don't have enough damage when the reality is that you all have calculated it and you have, in fact balanced the classes.
FP: I think even if we provided those spreadsheets and some more concrete numbers, I think at the end of the day it would still be subjective right, since at some point someone's going to have to make an argument about whether a hunter should have higher DPS than a rogue or vice versa and under what circumstances that should be. So even if we gave them concrete data I still think that there would be a lot of people out there going with their theory craft arguments and it's probably more controversy then we're interested in creating.
C10: I don't know if there could be more controversy (laughter).
FP: You'd be surprised.
C10: PVP, you all added the Havoc physics engine to Diablo and we've seen some of the destructible things in Wintergrasp, are you all looking to either revisit old content to get World PVP going? This is another thing where people remember the Tarren Mill battles, are you all doing anything to make it so that you could actually have siege weapons destroy Stormwind for example?
FP: It's something that we'll probably want to take a look at after we've seen how Wintergrasp plays out because Wintergrasp is the PVP zone in Wrath of the Lich King that's going to have siege weapons and destructible buildings and so once we see how that plays out and we see how fun that is and seeing what kind of popularity it has we'll look at whether or not we want to do something like that. It's definitely a cool and ambitious idea.
C10: Speaking of Lake Wintergrasp this is one of the things where people love to be in Alterac Valley and there were a number of things learned from that and even the addition of destruction with destructible objects and buildings and siege weapons, the only thing is it seems to be only a limited time. In other words you have 40 minutes to take Lake Wintergrasp and then you can't take it again (for 2.5 hours). What was the reasoning behind sort of making it that versus just having it, you know the people that love PVP and just stay in there and continuously battle? It seems to go more PVE once it's captured.
FP: You asked a really specific question that I wouldn't be able to do justice by even trying to answer. Tom Chilton is the game systems designer and he's got a big focus on PVP and maybe we can have you guys follow up with Shon afterwards and get you some answers to that via email or even later in the show. I don't want to butcher the answer as that's pretty specific.
C10: The last question is armor dyes are you all thinking of
even potentially doing just simple stuff with the tier sets so the Paladin's who don't like pink for example could dye it maybe, darker red.
FP: Yeah that's definitely something that comes up in discussion periodically. There's arguments for both sides of it. Right now we're sitting on the side of the fence that says that we want the tier x armor set to be very distinguishable. We don't necessarily want people changing the color palette of it, but it's definitely something that comes up as a discussion topic and we'll have to see.
C10: Okay, excellent thanks.
FP: Thank you.
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City of BuckeyeHome Menu
Calendar Month View
Babytime (CB)
- Date: 02/18/2020 9:15 am - 10:00 am
- Location: Coyote Branch Library
21699 W. Yuma Rd.
Buckeye , Arizona 85326
Return to full list >>
Babies from birth to 23 months (accompanied by a favorite adult) have fun sharing books, songs, finger plays, and more. Learn tips to build a foundation for reading. Playtime follows program. No registration is required. Call 623-349-6300 for more information.

subset: commoncrawl


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Zuzana Mantel-Little Star Glass Mosaics Light Object
At Design Interviews
Interview with Zuzana Mantel : Frank Scott: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?. Zuzana Mantel : Inspiration is by ray of star light. Idea is to create light object for interaction in interior and exterior with society. .Frank Scott: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?. Zuzana Mantel : design, technology and aesthetics in light object. .Frank Scott: What are your future plans for this award winning design?. Zuzana Mantel : I want to make a hand made light interior objects in small limited edition for market. .Frank Scott: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?. Zuzana Mantel : I was thinking about idea more then 1 year. .Frank Scott: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?. Zuzana Mantel : I just want to create. .Frank Scott: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?. Zuzana Mantel : I do intent to produce by myself. .Frank Scott: What made you design this particular type of work?. Zuzana Mantel : I want to create new design, to bring craft and art back to our life. To create more individual and unique design. .Frank Scott: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?. Zuzana Mantel : No. .Frank Scott: Who is the target customer for his design?. Zuzana Mantel : Art lovers and people with need to have a unique items. .Frank Scott: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?. Zuzana Mantel : Unique art object with harmony of design item. .Frank Scott: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?. Zuzana Mantel : the name came with first inspiration - star. Little Star: mean just begining, firs step to create a more bigger projects. .Frank Scott: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?. Zuzana Mantel : cutters, pencil, .Frank Scott: What is the most unique aspect of your design?. Zuzana Mantel : Look .Frank Scott: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?. Zuzana Mantel : I did collaborate with locksmith and electrician. .Frank Scott: What is the role of technology in this particular design?. Zuzana Mantel : I use a LED panel with a remote control, to create many variations of light module. .Frank Scott: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?. Zuzana Mantel : no .Frank Scott: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?. Zuzana Mantel : Gluing a glass sticks, light transmission and feel a light-modulation. .Frank Scott: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?. Zuzana Mantel : I want to hear the decision of the professional jury. .Frank Scott: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?. Zuzana Mantel : I learn properties of light and I become more detail focused and analytical. .Frank Scott: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?. Zuzana Mantel : I like to bring hand craft, art and unique design to a everyday life. .
Zuzana Mantel-Little Star Glass Mosaics Light Object Images:
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The Internet's Finest Tropical Fruit Discussion Forum!"All discussion content within the forum reflects the views of individual participants only and do not necessarily represent the views held by the Tropical Fruit Forum as an organization."
What I used:Tender green Jack fruit - 1 10 oz can (Fresh when ever possible) Onion - 1 medium sized, choppedGinger - 2" piece, gratedGarlic - 4 fat cloves, finely mincedTurmeric Powder - 1 tspRed Chili Powder (or Paprika, if you like it mild) - 1 tspCumin Powder - 1 tspCumin Seeds - ½ tspWhole Cardamom - 4-5Whole Cinnamon - 1 stickWhole Cloves - 4-5Bay Lead - 2Oil (Mustard/ Canola.Veg/ Sunflower) - 2 tbsp Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 1 tspGaram Masala Powder - ½ tspSea SaltWhat I did:1. Heat oil in a pan and temper with Whole Garam Masala troika (Cardamom, Cinnamon and Cloves), Bay leaf and a cumin seeds.2. Once the spices stop spluttering add chopped onions and fry till slightly golden.3. Add the ginger and garlic and fry till the rawness of the garlic is gone.4. Add salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder and cumin powder and fry till the masala is well blended and cooked through. Add small splashes of water to prevent it from sticking at the bottom.5. Now add the chopped tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes are mushy and blend right into the masala.6. Now add the drained and chopped tender jack fruit pieces and mix well in the masala.7. Add cup full of water and bring it to a boil. Then reduce the flame and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. This will ensure that the jack fruit will be infused with masala. If you want more gravy, you can turn off the flame after simmering. But if you like it dry, bring it to a boil again and evaporate a little more water. Finish off with a teaspoon of ghee (clarified butter) and a teaspoon of Garam Masala Powder. The ghee bit is optional though.http://whiffofspice.blogspot.com/2012/09/enchor-er-dalna-tender-green-jack-fruit.html


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Sacred Love: with Dr. Pat Allen, Evan Marc Katz, and Special Guests!
Seer Series
Saturday, February 9, 2013 from 2:45 PM to 6:00 PM (PST)
Event Details
SATURDAY (2/09/13) 2:45-6 pm @ 2511 S. Barrington Ave
The Seer Series Presents:
Sacred Love
Enhancing Communication, Enjoying Love, Building Relationships, Sex, and Marriage
with Dr. Pat Allen, Evan Marc Katz, and Special Guests
Help us transform the world by invite all your friends who may be interested!! We're SO EXCITED about this event -- Dr. Allen was a student of Abraham Maslow with Dr. Wayne Dyer -- she's the BEST of the BEST when it comes to relationships!
The Seer Series is a LIVE audience variety show to empower, enlighten, and entertain in Los Angeles. We feature music, speakers, performers, dancers, chefs, doctors, and spiritual leaders. We encourage you to come and share your vision with us and enjoy an afternoon of joy, love, support, and excitement. For less than the cost of a movie ticket you can enjoy experiences of a lifetime!
The format is 30 minutes per presenter (1) to express their voice to our audience of seers and seekers while (2) promoting their vision in order to (3) create a supportive network to help each person grow spiritually, physically, emotionally and creatively.
2:45 - 6 pm
The Gateway Portal
2511 S. Barrington Ave
(310) 479-0430
Suggested $10 Donation to Keep Us Serving You!
For more information, see our Manifesto: Click Here http://seerseries.wordpress.com/about-the-seer-series/
Contact anyone on our team to get involved either as a speaker, organizer, helper, or guest! CLICK HERE http://seerseries.wordpress.com/about-us/
Visit our Blog @ http://seerseries.wordpress.com/
Visit our FB Page @ http://www.facebook.com/SeerSeries
Event on the 2/09/13 -- Sacred Love: Enhancing Communication, Enjoying Love, Building Relationships, Sex, and Marriage with Dr. Pat Allen and Special Guests
Also stay tuned for our upcoming event Feb 23rd on Healing the Heart with Guru Prem, Sarah Abrams, and a host of other amazing guests!
When & Where
The Gateway Portal for Health and Wellness
2511 S Barrington Ave
Los Angeles,
Saturday, February 9, 2013 from 2:45 PM to 6:00 PM (PST)
Add to my calendar
Seer Series
The Seer Series offers $1000 Workshops for Cheap!
Each installment brings together four of the greatest community, spiritual, self-improvement, relationship, health food, movement, music, and intellectual leaders in LA and around the globe to share their visions with us in 30 minutes or less. .
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Once you have input all the required data (the instructions are within the excel file), the spreadsheet will suggest you the bonuses. This formula is not perfect so your bonuses might need further adjustaments to balance things on your map.
There're few things to keep in mind before using this tool:
- The spreadsheet often gives values that are too low for bonus zones that are in the middle of the map. If a map does have such a centrally-located bonus zone, then its natural value (the difficulty of gaining and holding the bonus) is often more than what the spreadsheet shows.
- When on your map you have linear bonuses, such as stations along a railway (with each station being adjacent to a non-railway region), instead of the spreadsheet, you can use an easily-remembered rule: +1 for each station.
- When on your map you have bonuses for holding all regions of a special type (that are not adjacent to each other, such as holding all capital cities), instead of the spreadsheet, you can give +1 for each region, then adding an extra +1 at the end. (e.g. +6 for holding all 5 capital cities).
The spreadsheet and the few notes here above, can help you to see, for example, whether a bonus will be ignored by most players because it's too low. However, they are all only guides and good maps can vary from the numbers given, especially if the mapmaker wants the play to develop in a certain direction.


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Center on the Family Capacity-Building Program offers grant funds
Informational workshops are being held statewide next monthUniversity of Hawaiʻi
Center on the Family
HONOLULU — The Center on the Family (COF) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will offer public information meetings next month for all grassroots, community service and faith-based organizations interested in learning how to obtain training, technical assistance and grants that will provide opportunities to build their social services for Hawaiʻi's low-income and under-resourced populations. Up to 18 organizations will be selected to participate in the Compassion Capital - Hawaiʻi Moving Forward Program, a capacity-building and grant-funding project. Organizations will receive individualized organizational assessments that will identify areas in need of strengthening, technical assistance from a cadre of coaches, and the opportunity to apply for grants to support capacity-building initiatives. Organizations who have not received previous funding from this program are invited to attend informational sessions on the following days:Kona — Jan. 5, 2007, 1-2 p.m., Central Kona Union Church, 81-6614 Māmalahoa Hwy.
Hilo — Jan. 6, 2007, 9-10 a.m., Hilo Hawaiian Hotel (Mala Ikena Room), 71 Banyan Dr.
Kauaʻi — Jan. 8, 2007, 1:30-2:30 p.m., State Office Bldg. (2nd Floor Conference Rm.), 3060 Eiwa St.
Maui — Jan. 10, 2007, 1:30-2:30 p.m., Maui Community College (Laulima Rm. 225), 310 West Kaʻahumanu Ave.
Oʻahu — Jan. 16, 2007, 1:30-2:30 p.m., Central Union Church, 1660 South Beretania St.
Space is limited and registration is required. To register for the Oʻahu, Kauaʻi or Maui meetings, e-mail Heather Trundle at email@example.com or call 956-0852. Big Island meetings will precede a free project-sponsored capacity-building workshop titled "Cultivating a Culture of Philantrophy." To register for a Big Island informational meeting and/or the workshop, contact Hawaiian Island Ministries at 877-998-9777 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com Hawaiʻi Moving Forward project, a collaborative effort of COF and the Hawaiian Islands Ministries, is supported by a $500,000 Compassion Capital grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Hawaiʻi is one of 10 states selected in 2006 to participate in this project. For more information on Hawaiʻi Moving Forward and how to apply for participation, visit the project Web site at http://www.uhfamily.hawaii.edu. To be placed on the Hawaiʻi Moving Forward e-mail list, interested organizations should contact the Center on the Family at 956-4132.
For more information, visit: http://www.uhfamily.hawaii.edu


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Two 12" squares corrugated or other sturdy cardboard
Drawing compass
Low-temp glue gun
1 yd 14-gauge wire
Duct tape
12 tennis balls
Acrylic paints (we used Plaid FolkArt Green, Lavender, Spring White and Apple Barrel Orange)
Scrap of black fabric
1 each 9" x 12" lavender, green, orange and black felt sheets
Fabric glue
Six 3/8" orange buttons
Lavender and black yarn
Scraps of black net (optional)
12" of 1/8" black dotted ribbon
Draw a 9 1/2"-diam circle on cardboard and another 1" larger around it; cut 2 for 1"-wide, 111/2"-diam wreath. Glue wreaths back to back with glue gun. Bend wire circle with pliers to support center back of wreath; interlock ends; tape to back of wreath.
Paint 3 balls of each color (2 coats). Hot-glue balls to wreath, alternating colors
Characters (make 3 each): Draw patterns for faces, following photo for ideas.
Pumpkin: Cut face from black fabric; glue to orange ball. From short end, roll 1" x 8" green felt tightly for stem; glue side closed with fabric glue. Glue end to pumpkin.
Witch: Draw a witch's hat peak shape. Glue button eyes and small (1/2" x 3/4") triangular orange-felt nose to green ball. Draw zigzag mouth with black paint. Glue on lavender-yarn hair. Cut black felt peak from pattern and 3"-diam black-felt circle for brim; roll and glue peak; glue to brim. Add optional net bow. Glue to head.
Ghoul: Cut white-fabric eyes and nose; add black lines for teeth. Roll a 1" x 4" strip of green felt tightly for nose. Glue to lavender ball. Add black-yarn hair. For stovepipe hat, roll 1" x 11" orange felt; glue side closed; glue bottom to center of a 2"-diam orange felt circle for brim.
Ghost: Glue on black-fabric features. Add white eye dots. For top hat, roll 3/4" x 11" lavender felt; glue side closed; glue to 11/2"-diam lavender circle for brim. Add ribbon band.


text: DIY has exploded in the last decade in large part due to new and cheaper tools. But materials help, too. While the Arduino platform and Sparkfun make it possible to rig up awesome electronic contraptions, advances in chemistry and materials science have also given designers a new palette of possibilities. Here are some materials that will make your next DIY project shinier, bouncier, bigger — or just generally more badass. If you are interested in a dangerous chemical that does amazing things master class, check out Volpin Props, Harrison Krix's excellent blog (pictured). Photo: Sparkfun ElectronicsInstamorph Overview: Plastic is the most common material in consumer products, but it's hard for hackers to experiment with. You can saw wood and bang on metal, but playing with plastic typically requires industrial tools and a serious facemask to deal with the noxious fumes. Enter InstaMorph. This biodegradable plastic in raw pellet form has been synthesized to melt at relatively low temperatures (140°F). That means it can be heated in water or with a heat gun and molded by hand. (But be careful, folks! Molten plastic is dangerous.) Once cooled, InstaMorph has the light weight/high strength properties you expect from other plastics. Potential Uses: Imagine being in a robotics competition and a plastic bracket on a bot breaks. Sometimes molding something by hand can be more effective than creating a design in CAD, finding a machine to produce it, and iterating. Cost: Starter packs cost $9.99, but it's roughly a dollar an ounce. Photo: InstaMorphHydroSpan and HydroShrink Overview: Ever play with Shrinky-Dinks as a kid? HydroSpan and HydroShrink are the industrial equivalent. The material's chemical compounds allow sculptors to cast a model that can grow (or shrink) up to 300 percent of its original size. Potential Uses: Just as resolution improves when you make a digital photo smaller, shrink a sculpture and the imperfections can be smoothed out. Or if you need to scale up, HydroSpan eliminates the need to remodel a design. Cost: Alas, magical materials come with a hefty price tag. A gallon of this growing goo will cost around $130. Photo: ModellBoardPolymer Clay Overview: Polymer Clay is often dismissed by "serious" DIYers because it's used to make beads, creepy baby doll sculptures, and other kids' crafts. But it can do so much more! It is as moldable as Play-Doh, and after a few minutes in the oven, a model will transform into a hardened piece of PVC plastic. The plastic can be carved after it emerges from the oven and then sanded or manipulated with power tools. Some clays can turn into rubber, and others can even have glow-in-the-dark properties. Potential Uses: Need to sculpt a master for casting? Check! Want to prototype a rubber tire for your robot? Yup! Need to create soft touch handles for a new consumer electronics prototype? That too! Cost: A 2-ounce pack costs about $2.00. Polymer Clay is just about as cheap and versatile as you're going to get. Find it at almost any craft store. Photo: SculpeyPrecious Metal Clay Overview: Precious Metal Clay (PMC) is the higher-value cousin of polymer clay, and the two work in basically the same way. Here the metal is suspended in a binding agent that makes it moldable. The clay is modeled by hand or with simple tools, and when heated the binder burns off creating a sturdy metal part. Parts that have been baked in a kiln can be polished and machined, so the handcrafted Etsy look is not required. Potential Uses: PMC is traditionally used to make jewelry, but if a project calls for metal parts, this material can be a good fit. For those producing a wearable sensor that needs to look sharp or tiny electronics that need a sturdy enclosure, this material will do the trick. Cost: It is precious metal clay, so be prepared to pay up. The clay costs approximately $2 per gram, But the real costs come with setup. In order to bake PMC you will need a kiln that can easily cost $500 or more. Photo: MetalClays.comSmooth-On Overview: It's basically what Dow Chemical would be if it were entirely focused on serving art school grads. Potential Uses: The Smooth-On catalog is like an app store for sculptors. Want to make a giant fantasy sculpture? There's a goop for that. Need fake breaking glass for an indie movie? There's a goop for that. Want to make food-safe molds for cake decorating? You get the picture. If there is something that needs to be made in three dimensions, Smooth-On likely has a chemical concoction to make the process easy. Cost: Starter packs cost around $25, but they can increase in cost rapidly as your project gets bigger. Photo: Smooth-On


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We can only ship wine to Washington State.
Northwest Pep
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- Your gift's 'Knackbook' will sit beautifully and snugly on top of your gift. It's the first thing your recipient will see when they remove the outer sleeve of the premium gift box.
- When they open the elegant storybook cover of the Knackbook, they'll see the personal gift message you've written for them tucked into the inner pocket.
- Did you know you can change the logo at the top of your gift message? You can use one of our message template designs or upload a personal logo or photo. Psssst, it's OK to upload a picture of your pet.
- Next, there will be a printed piece that includes a link to your gift's very own web page. This unique web page includes your gift message, your optional voice message, and stories about the exceptional products included in the gift.
- Don't worry, your printed gift message, custom web page, and optional voice message are complimentary with every Knack gift.


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Exports were more important to the U.S. dairy industry than ever, accounting for 15.5% of U.S. milk production, up from the 13.1% average achieved in 2010-12.
Source: U.S. Dairy Export Council
U.S. dairy exporters took another stride forward in 2013, shipping record levels of milk powder, cheese, whey products, lactose and fluid milk, and gaining share among the world's leading suppliers.
Overseas sales were worth $6.7 billion last year, up 31 percent from the year before. On a volume basis, exporters sold 3.91 billion pounds of milk solids, 19 percent more than 2012. Exports were more important to the U.S. dairy industry than ever, accounting for 15.5 percent of U.S. milk production, a step up from the 13.1-percent average achieved in 2010-12.
"U.S. exporters were able to capitalize on favorable market conditions for most of the year, as well as their increasing attention to the needs of the global market," explains Tom Suber, president of the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), the trade group that leads the industry's overseas market development. USDEC is funded primarily by the dairy farmer checkoff.
"Overseas demand remained strong, led by China and Russia. Production from Oceania, Europe and South America was shorted by weather issues. And world prices rallied significantly in the second quarter, making U.S. prices more attractive by comparison. Faced with these factors, overseas buyers turned to the United States like never before, and U.S. suppliers responded," he says.
Exports played a key role in clearing the domestic market, notes Paul Rovey, a dairy farmer from Arizona and chairman of USDEC.
"In 2013 we had our second-best milk price ever, and we accomplished this in a year when commercial inventories of cheese, butter and powder climbed to record highs in the first half of the year," Rovey says. "But from Memorial Day to Thanksgiving we reduced stocks by a third – mostly to fill orders from overseas customers. Our strong export sales at historically high prices are a major contributor behind the tight markets and strong commodity and milk prices we see today."
U.S. suppliers gained share of the world market in 2013 as well. Among the world's top nine exporters, U.S. share of volume of milk powder, cheese, butterfat and whey products was 19.0 percent, up from 16.1 percent the year before. U.S. share of nonfat dry milk/skim milk powder trade among the world's top nine climbed to 31.5 percent (vs. 26.1 percent in 2012) and cheese trade among the world's top nine increased to 16.6 percent (vs. 13.9 percent in 2012).
"2013 caps a transformative decade for the U.S. dairy industry," says Suber. "Over the last 10 years, exports grew nearly every year. They increased 21 percent per year by value and 13 percent per year by volume. A decade ago the United States shipped less than 6 percent of its milk production overseas. Today that figure approaches 16 percent.
"Beyond the numbers, we've seen a dramatic shift in the way U.S. suppliers approach the export market," he says. "Exports clearly hold a more important place in the strategic plans of our industry. In addition, manufacturers, processors and traders are becoming increasingly attuned to the needs of overseas customers, producing more of the right product, with the right specifications, in the right package, for buyers in dozens of markets around the world. That's great news for the dairy farmers and industry members who fund USDEC."


text:
Release66:Gaussian Basis AIMD
From NWChem
This module performs adiabatic ab initio molecular dynamics on finite systems. The nuclei are integrated using the velocity-Verlet algorithm, and the electronic potential can be provided by any of the Gaussian basis set based methods in NWChem, e.g. DFT, TDDFT, TCE, MP2, SCF, MCSCF, etc. If analytic gradients are not available for the selected level of theory, numerical gradients will automatically be used. Initial velocities are randomly selected from the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution at the specified temperature, unless a restart file (.qmdrst) is present. If a restart file is present, the trajectory information will be read from that file and the trajectory will resume from that point.
For computational details and a case study using the module, please refer to the following paper: S. A. Fischer, T. W. Ueltschi, P. Z. El-Khoury, A. L. Mifflin, W. P. Hess, H.F. Wang, C. J. Cramer, N. Govind "Infrared and Raman Spectroscopy from Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics and Static Normal Mode Analysis: The CH Region of DMSO as a Case Study" J. Phys. Chem. B, 120 (8), pp 1429–1436 (2016), DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.5b03323 (2015) Publication Date (Web): July 29, 2015
QMD [dt_nucl <double default 10.0>] [nstep_nucl <integer default 1000>] [targ_temp <double default 298.15>] [thermostat <string default none> <thermostat parameters>] [rand_seed <integer default new one generated for each run>] [com_step <integer default 100>] [print_xyz <integer default 1>] [linear] END
The module is called as:
task <level of theory> qmd
where <level of theory> is any Gaussian basis set method in NWChem
QMD Keywords
dt_nucl -- Nuclear time step
This specifies the nuclear time step in atomic units (1 a.u. = 0.02419 fs). Default 10.0 a.u.
nsteps_nucl -- Simulation steps
This specifies the number of steps to take in the nuclear dynamics. Default 1000
targ_temp -- Temperature of the system
This specifies the temperature to use with the thermostat. Also it is used in generating initial velocities from the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. Default 298.15 K
thermostat -- Thermostat for controling temperature of the simulation
This specifies the thermostat to use for regulating the temperature of the nuclei. Possible options are:
- none
No thermostat is used, i.e. an NVE ensemble is simulated. Default
- svr <double default 1000.0>
Stochastic velocity rescaling thermostat of Bussi, Donadio, and Parrinello J. Chem. Phys. 126, 014101 (2007) Number sets the relaxation parameter of the thermostat
- langevin <double default 0.1>
Langevin dynamics, implementation according to Bussi and Parrinello Phys. Rev. E 75, 056707 (2007) Number sets the value of the friction
- berendsen <double default 1000.0>
Berendsen thermostat, number sets the relaxation parameter of the thermostat
- rescale
Velocity rescaling, i.e. isokinetic ensemble
rand_seed -- Seed for the random number generator
This specifies the seed for initializing the random number generator. If not given, a unique random seed will be generated. Even without a thermostat, this will influence the initial velocities.
com_step -- How often center-of-mass translations and rotations are removed
This specifies that center-of-mass translations and rotations will be removed every com_step steps. Default 10 COM translations and rotations are removed on startup (either randomized initial velocities or those read from the restart file).
print_xyz -- How often to print trajectory information to xyz file
This specifies that the trajectory information (coordinates, velocities, total energy, step number, dipole (if available)) to the xyz file. The units for the coordinates and velocities in the xyz file are Angstrom and Angstrom/fs, respectively.
linear -- Flag for linear molecules
If present, the code assumes the molecule is linear.
Sample input
The following is a sample input for a ground state MD simulation. The simulation is 200 steps long with a 10 a.u. time step, using the stochastic velocity rescaling thermostat with a relaxation parameter of 100 a.u. and a target temperature of 200 K. Center-of-mass rotations and translations will be removed every 10 steps and trajectory information will be output to the xyz file every 5 steps.
start qmd_dft_h2o_svr echo print low geometry noautosym noautoz O 0.00000000 -0.01681748 0.11334792 H 0.00000000 0.81325914 -0.34310308 H 0.00000000 -0.67863597 -0.56441201 end basis * library 6-31G* end dft xc pbe0 end qmd nstep_nucl 200 dt_nucl 10.0 targ_temp 200.0 com_step 10 thermostat svr 100.0 print_xyz 5 end task dft qmd
The following is a sample input for an excited state MD simulation on the first excited state. The simulation is 200 steps long with a 10 a.u. time step, run in the microcanonical ensemble. Center-of-mass rotations and translations will be removed every 10 steps and trajectory information will be output to the xyz file every 5 steps.
start qmd_tddft_h2o_svr echo print low geometry noautosym noautoz O 0.00000000 -0.01681748 0.11334792 H 0.00000000 0.81325914 -0.34310308 H 0.00000000 -0.67863597 -0.56441201 end basis * library 6-31G* end dft xc pbe0 end tddft nroots 5 notriplet target 1 civecs grad root 1 end end qmd nstep_nucl 200 dt_nucl 10.0 com_step 10 thermostat none print_xyz 5 end task tddft qmd
Additional sample inputs can be found in $NWCHEM_TOP/QA/tests/qmd_*
Processing the output of a QMD run
The xyz file produced by the QMD module contains the velocities (given in Angstrom/fs), in addition to the coordinates (given in Angstrom). The comment lines also contain the time step, total energy (atomic units), and dipole moment (atomic units). In $NWCHEM_TOP/contrib/qmd_tools is a code that will take the xyz trajectory and calculate the IR spectrum and vibrational density of states from Fourier transforms of the dipole and atomic momenta autocorrelation functions, respectively. The code needs to be linked to a LAPACK library when compiled; the Makefile in the directory will compile the code with the LAPACK routines included with the NWChem source.
Here we compute the IR spectrum and the element-wise breakdown of the vibrational density of states for silicon tetrachloride (SiCl4). The following input file was used.
start SiCl4 echo print low geometry noautosym noautoz Si -0.00007905 0.00044148 0.00000001 Cl 0.71289590 1.00767685 1.74385011 Cl -2.13658008 -0.00149375 -0.00000001 Cl 0.71086735 -2.01430142 -0.00000001 Cl 0.71289588 1.00767684 -1.74385011 end basis * library 6-31G end dft xc hfexch 1.0 end qmd nstep_nucl 20000 dt_nucl 10.0 targ_temp 20.0 com_step 10 rand_seed 12345 thermostat none end task dft qmd
The IR spectrum and vibrational density of states were generated from the qmd_analysis code with the following command.
./qmd_analysis -xyz SiCl4.xyz -steps 15000 -skip 5000 -ts 10.0 -temp 20.0 -smax 800 -width 10.0
where we have skipped the first 5000 steps from the simulation and only used the data from the last 15000 steps to compute the spectra. The time step is given as 10 a.u. since that was the time step in the simulation and we output the trajectory information every step. The temperature was set to 20 K (for analysis, this is only used in the calculation of the quantum correction factor for the autocorrelation function of the dipole moment). The option smax sets the maximum of the spectral window that is output to 800 wave numbers. The width option sets the full-width at half-maximum of the peaks in the resulting spectra.
The computed IR spectrum and vibrational density of states are shown here.


text:
Reese Witherspoon (Finally!) Talks About Her Pregnancy
Jun 2012
We've known Reese Witherspoon is pregnant for months, but the mom of two has stayed tight-lipped about her third pregnancy — until now.
While in Chicago this past weekend for an event at The Ritz-Carlton, the actress accepted a compliment while admitting, "Thanks, but frankly, I'm feeling very round tonight." She then went on to joke with a Chicago Sun Times reporter while discussing the temptations of the city's deep-dish pizza saying, "I'm always feeling like I'd like to eat everything in sight!"
This is the first time Reese has talked publicly about her pregnancy, let alone her cravings — even though she started to show signs of a growing baby bump in early spring.
After describing her current project to a reporter, Reese concluded by exclaiming, "After I finish that, I'm going to take a little time off — to go and have a baby!"
Expected in either late summer or early fall, the new addition will join siblings Deacon and Ava (their dad is actor Ryan Phillippe) as well as first-time dad and Witherspoon's second husband, agent Jim Toth. Congratulations to the growing family!
What did you think of Reese's approach to pregnancy rumors? How soon after you knew you were pregnant did you start sharing the news?


text:
The Commissioner for Franco-German Cooperation
Minister of State Michael Roth, © Michael Farkas
The Minister of State for Europe, Michael Roth, is the Commissioner for Franco-German Cooperation. He coordinates political relations with France and works towards a broad-based societal exchange between the two countries.
On 8 January 2014, Federal Chancellor Merkel appointed Michael Roth, Minister of State for Europe, to act as Germany's Commissioner for Franco-German Cooperation.
On the French side, Nathalie Loiseau, the State Secretary responsible for European Affairs in the French Foreign Ministry, became his opposite number as Commissioner on 22 June 2017.
The Commissioners are responsible for coordinating Franco-German cooperation at the governmental level. Their work makes it possible for all the ministries to prepare joint projects which the Franco-German Council of Ministers can then enact.
A key focus of their work is their engagement in regional and cross-border cooperation. They play their part in ensuring that Franco-German relations are deepened at a local level, too, by attending meetings in the French Regions and the German Länder and maintaining contact with those responsible locally.
On 22 January 2003, the fortieth anniversary of the signing of the Élysée Treaty, the German and French Governments expressed their desire to deepen their cooperation by establishing a biannual Franco-German Council of Ministers and also creating the office of Commissioner for Franco-German Cooperation in each of the two countries.
The Commissioners, each of whom is assisted by a Deputy Commissioner from the Foreign Ministry of the other country, work to strengthen ties between the respective civil societies and also to promote cooperation between the two countries, particularly within the framework of the European Union.
Franco-German cooperation
In terms of cooperation with the 28 EU member states, the Franco-German partnership holds a particularly prominent position because of its history, intensity and special institutional architecture. As part of the twelfth Franco-German Council of Ministers held in Paris on 4 February 2010, Germany and France set joint goals for deepening their cooperation in the next ten years. The Cabinets of both Governments agreed on a "Franco-German Agenda 2020", with a total of 80 proposals for joint projects.


text:
Welcome to BNSF! We're glad you're going to be visiting our workplace. While we enjoy having you with us, there are a few rules and considerations for safety that you must be aware of before and during your visit. While visiting, you will be under the direction of your host/escort. They will give you directions for specific concerns related to your tour, however there are a few Safety requirements that we will show you below.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Depending on the scope of the visit, various items of personal protective equipment (PPE) need to be worn when on BNSF property. These include:
This should cause you to plan ahead to make appropriate purchases, such as steel-toed footwear, where necessary for your visit.
Consult your BNSF Escort for proper attire for the area(s) you will be visiting.
Cell Phone, Electronic Devices Usage
BNSF has stringent expectations on the use of cell phones and electronic devices. Visitors shall refrain from using electronic devices within 25 feet of the nearest rail. Visitors are also not to use personal electronic devices (cellular phones, notebook or laptop computers, tablets, e-readers, etc.) for other than business purposes, except when located in a predetermined place of safety.
The expectation is that Visitors be aware of and comply with any local, state or federal laws governing the use of wireless equipment while driving; e.g., laws banning the use of a wireless phone.
Safety Briefings
Railroads have a wide variety of operational and environmental situations that the visitor may be exposed to. Part of preparation for any visit or tour of the rail facilities, is planning out what you are getting ready to do.
Safety Briefings will be completed at the start of any tour and as needed during the course of the day; e.g., personnel changes, weather changes, and/or visitor access requests.
Visitors should guide themselves by a "circle of safety", extending 25 feet from an exposure. *Make sure you have discussed any exposures with your BNSF host either during the safety briefing or as you see them during your tour.
Have a safe visit and Thank You for visiting BNSF Railway!
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text:
Chapter One
Of course Mercedes knew not to touch any of the items on the shelves - this was hardly her first trip with her mama to the Piggly Wiggly – but someone had left a Mars Bar within reach on the bottom shelf in the bread aisle and she had been so well-behaved all week and if she picked it up quickly, surely Mama wouldn't-
"What do you think you're doing?"
And suddenly the candy bar was in Mama's left hand and she had it raised up as if she were the evil witch from Snow White and the candy bar was her wand and any minute now she was going to use it to transform Mercedes into a shriveled turnip or a warty toad right there in the bread aisle of the Piggly Wiggly.
"You should know better," said Mama. "Sometimes you make me so disappointed. And don't even think of crying, child. Disobedience is a sin and stealing is a crime. You're just lucky there isn't a policeman around or you'd be in real trouble. What did I say about crying?"
Mercedes sniffled back her tears and stared at the floor. The egg-white tiles were smudged with dirt and dusty shoeprints. She imagined her tears tumbling down her cheeks and washing clean over the aisle floor and for a moment she'd forgotten all about Mama and the candy bar and then she felt a tugging on her wrist and Mama was dragging her down the aisle toward the front of the store and Mercedes had no idea why they were leaving their cart by the bread and going to the front of the store but Mama was walking so fast and tugging at her wrist so forcefully that she knew it had to be bad and she tried to pull away but Mama's grip was too tight, as if she'd glued her hand to Mercedes's wrist, and then through teary eyes Mercedes finally saw what – or rather who – awaited them at the front of the store and she cried out, "No! No!" but all that did was attract the stares of other adults all too half-hearted to rescue her from her fate, for at the front of the store, between the lottery machine and the Fed Ex box, stood a very tall policeman who had a nightstick and a gun and everything.
Oh God, she was going to jail.
"Can I help you?" he said. Her voice sounded like wind-whistles. "Is something the matter?"
"Well, it's funny - I was just trying to remind my daughter Mercedes here about how stealing is a crime and how she'd be in real trouble if a policeman was around and then I look over here and here you are."
"Here I am."
Mercedes tasted blood. She must've bitten her lip. She took a deep breath to keep from crying again and winced as the blood droplets slosh down her throat. Could this day get any worse?
"Ma'am, you want me to have a little chat with your little girl here?"
Mama became all flowers and sunshine. "That…that would be very helpful. Yes. Thank you. I'll just be a few minutes. I've got to finish my shopping."
"We'll be right here." His brown eyes found Mercedes. "Won't we?"
Mercedes nodded mutely.
Mama strolled back to the bread aisle.
The policeman let out a heavy sigh and turned around toward the store's vast fore window, which was more or less clear save for a thousand oily fingerprints and the black smudges of dead gnats. An early February drizzle covered the parking lot, leaving its two dozen cars and trucks – mostly trucks – shiny and sopping.
Then he spoke to Mercedes:
"I feel sorry for you, kid," he said. "Your mother's one sorry class-A bitch."
Mercedes's eyes became as wide as moons. He'd just said a bad word! A policeman! No matter that she didn't know what it meant.
"Kid, if you keep your trap open like that, the wrong person will get the wrong idea."
Mercedes shut her trap so quickly her lips made a popping sound. Then the policeman pointed at one of the trucks in the parking lot, a red one with a flatbed like she rode on through that peanut farm on her fourth birthday and Mama had held onto her tight on her lap and the road had had so many bumps and every bump sent Mercedes and Mama bouncing up into the air and it was like being on a trampoline with wheels …
Another drop of blood squeezed its way down her throat and as she stood there beside the policeman, Mercedes strangely felt as if like she was back on that flatbed truck and was bouncing up in the air except Mama was gone and the only person to catch her was this tall policeman and she knew that even though he was a policeman, he wasn't going to catch her, no, he was going to let her fall, all the while muttering that bad word: Bitch.
"What'd you try to take?" he asked. His brown eyes remained fixed on the wet red truck in the parking lot. "What'd you try to steal? Huh?"
Mercedes's swollen, leaking bottom lip trembled against her paste-dry upper lip. She tried to think of words to say but all she could think of was how the grocery store seemed to be tilting and how the policeman, so very, very tall, always kept one hand on the butt of his holstered gun.
"Kid, you ever licked a lit match? It tastes like the world should be - instead of the way it is."
An elderly couple in yellow rain slickers smiled their gummy dentures at the policeman and the little girl and pushed their shopping cart, filled as it was with bagged bananas and a package of pantyhose and assorted TV dinners, through the automatic exit doors. The policeman watched them as they slowly passed through the light rain and across the cracked black tar of the parking lot to their wet red truck.
"You want to see something real cool?" the policeman said. His whistle-voice lifted in pitch. It had becomes a nighttime wind, and even though he was a policeman, Mercedes did not feel safe with him, no, not at all, but his long hand was now glued to her wrist and the back of his long hand mottled with dark brown freckles and cross-thatched with dark brown hair and she looked away from his hand and up to his face upon which had sliced a wide, wide grin, though not meant for her. His focus remained on the red truck.
Mercedes peered out through the glass. She tried to see what was so special about the red truck or the old people, who were loading their bagged groceries onto the flatbed. The truck was parked maybe forty feet away. There were no other cars in its row so the view was unobstructed, but why did it matter? They were just an old couple a lot like Mercedes's own Gramps and Gram and –
Oh. Hm. There was a stick propped up underneath the front end of the truck. That was weird. And at the bottom of the stick was a piece of silver garbage, as if the stick were pinning it to the ground. Why had the policeman – because it had to be him who did it, it had to be – why had he stuck a piece of garbage underneath the front end of the red truck? Was he playing some kind of prank?
The elderly couple got into the cab of the truck, he behind the wheel and she in the passenger seat. He pulled his seat belt over his shoulder and then leaned over and helped her with hers. A shiver vibrated through Mercedes and she opened her mouth – her trap – to shout out to them, but all sound in her throat must have been trapped with dried blood.
The truck's engine started.
The old man shifted into reverse.
The truck rolled back.
The stick toppled.
And the entire front end of the truck exploded into a blue-orange bubble, roaring dragon-like across the parking lot, louder than anything Mercedes had ever heard, screaming, really, truly, only the screaming, she realized, was her own, for she had finally found her voice, and she screamed and screamed and screamed as truck-pieces that had been tossed into the air by the explosion now rained back down onto other vehicles, shattering windshields and denting roofs and the truck-pieces were still on fire and some of the truck-pieces maybe weren't truck-pieces at all because at the end of one of the pieces were what appeared to be four wiggling fingers.
Some two hours and two hundred miles hence, in a Waffle House just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee, the very tall policeman – who of course wasn't really a policeman at all but an unemployed Georgia Tech dropout named Hank Barry – took a seat at the counter and waited for his associate to arrive. Hank wasn't entirely keen on having his back to the door but the owner of this particular Waffle House had installed an electronic bell which chimed every time the door opened; plus, Hank didn't want to appear to his associate as if he was on his guard. No, he wanted to appear - what was the word? "Nonchalant." Yes. He wanted to appear nonchalant, this despite the fact that his nerves remained electrified with hot adrenaline over what he'd done to the old couple and their car in the parking lot of the Piggly Wiggly. When Hank waved the snaggletoothed snow-haired waitress over with his right hand, he noticed the hand was positively shaking.
"Coffee?" she asked him.
"Decaf," he replied. "Please."
Hank took out a thin vinyl wallet from the back seat of his blue pants and removed a gas receipt tucked behind his array of 1s and 5s. On the back of the receipt was scribbled the address of this Waffle House just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee and, below it, the number 6. The digital clock above the cook's stations displayed in large red LCD the current time: 6.
He looked around the small establishment. Maybe his associate was already here. The problem, however, was that he had no idea what his associate looked like. Few did. He imagined a large man, a swift-legged brute, with thick callused hands and a world of pain barely submerged behind a pair of ice-dark eyes.
"Don't worry, Hank," the man had assured him on the phone. "If you follow my instructions, I'll recognize you."
And his instructions had been simple. Lacking a notebook, Hank had written them on a series of receipts he'd let accumulate for whatever reason in his wallet. Although his handwriting hadn't really progressed since the third grade, he'd made an effort to write slow and keep it legible because, if all went well, he, Hank Barry, college dropout, would become a star.
The Waffle House was half-full with its dinnertime crowd: a hodgepodge of loud families and sullen loners. Because the jukebox was broken, the sounds inside the restaurant became a mix of white noise chitter-chatter, with ceramic dishes clacking together for percussion, and meals sizzling in the open kitchen to fill out the bass. Customers left. Customers arrived.
The digits on the clock glowed a red 6:10.
This was not good. A man like this would be punctual – if he was coming at all.
Why wouldn't he come? Hank had followed his instructions to the letter. He'd picked up the package – unusual as it might have been - from the men's room locker at the YMCA on Preston Ridge Rd. in Alpharetta. He'd mailed the package at the blue postal box inside the Piggly Wiggly off I20 in Conyers. He'd then, according to instructions, "used the premises to demonstrate his prowess." The homemade land mine he'd left under the pickup may have been simple but no one could argue its effectiveness.
Hank was recalling the first IED he ever built, way back in high school, when the waitress refilled his mug and scratched at her hairnet said:
"If you want something to eat, it's on the house."
"In these parts," she added, "law enforcement eats free."
Ah yes. The costume.
"So what'll you have, sweetheart?"
"I'm fine right now," said Hank. "Thanks."
The waitress shrugged, pocketed her order pad, and teetered off.
At that moment, Hank took note of a man sitting alone and reading a moist newspaper in one of the corner booths. The man had a scraggly beard, plaid shirt, florescent orange hunter's vest, wore a tight John Deere ball-cap over his greying scalp, and peered up from his paper and locked stares with Hank Barry for well over ten seconds before returning to his newspaper.
Could it be? It had to be. No one else in this restaurant, except perhaps the burly-armed fry cook, fit Hank's preconception of his legendary associate. Hank gathered his courage, got up from his stool, and crossed to the man's booth.
And waited.
The moist newspaper lowered.
The men once again locked stares.
Then the scraggly man with the moist newspaper spoke:
"You got a problem there, flatfoot?"
Hank opened his mouth. "I…uh…"
"How about you stop invading my privacy, Himmler?"
Hank walked away. He walked all the way out of the Waffle House, his refilled mug of coffee still steaming inside on the red countertop. He walked into the winter drizzle and walked toward his twenty-two year-old black Trans-Am and didn't even want to stop walking when he put his key into the door lock and folded himself into the driver's seat. Coming here had been a mistake. This had all been a mistake. He'd failed somehow, somewhere, failed again, and his face filled with hot blood and his hands squeezed at the leather steering wheel and he kicked the floor with his boots repeatedly, angrily, because he knew he hadn't failed – he'd followed the instructions down to the letter. His associate was the one who'd failed, his associate, Cain42, so revered, so high and mighty, so full of shit.
Hank had been nothing more than a courier. That had to be it. Because of his high profile, featured as he was on the FBI's most wanted list, Cain42 probably hadn't wanted to risk mailing that unusual package himself and so he'd falsified this offer of employment, this fake test, and Hank, optimistic fool that he was, had fallen for the bait.
"I'm going to kill him," Hank muttered. "I'm going to watch his flesh melt."
He inserted his key in the ignition and started his Trans-Am's purring engine and popped the clutch and glanced in the rear-view to make sure the coast was clear - half-hoping someone was there, maybe the scraggly newspaper man, so he could back over his body and crunch his bones - but no one was there and so he shifted in reverse and stomped down on the accelerator. The muscle car's chrome 20" wheels screamed with friction against the moist pavement and then the car zipped backward but only an inch or two before the stick Cain42 had propped underneath the front end tipped over and the handmade land mine Cain42 had propped underneath the stick exploded its main charge (1.3 lbs. of sawdust soaked in nitroglycerine), erupting like a volcano under the driver's seat of the Trans-Am and cooking the driver's seat, the steering carriage, and Hank Berry into black-hot mulch.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Risk (and reward)
Monday, November 28, 2011
And as a call-back to last week's question: I am very thankful for my writing career, with all its bumps and bruises, and, of course, for my readers, who inspire me get through the mine field of the business.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Reed Farrel Coleman Gives Thanks
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Like most writers, I am thankful for my agent, for being published and for the readers who take the time to spend a few hours with my book. But, above all else, I'm thankful for my wife Kathy for supporting and tolerating my writing. The spouses/partners of writers are the unsung heroes of the bookish world. In fact, every literary award from the Edgars to the Nobel Prize should add a category for them – Best Supporting Spouse.
The Supporting Spouse award would be given not based on the quality of the book, but rather on the degree of egomania, insecurity and neediness of the writer in question. I don't know who would win that award this year -- although I do have a few educated guesses. I do know, however, that the category would be hotly contested each and every year.
For many books that are written, whether published or unpublished, there is a spouse who has:
* spent dinner conversations mulling a thorny plot point (in my case, how best to kill someone, a topic which always seems to alarm the diners at the next table);
* said, when needed, that the book was fantastic (even when they knew that it was still half-baked);
* managed to indicate that an element or chapter wasn't working without inflicting psychic trauma;
* tolerated a constant air of distraction, particularly during the final month or two;
* padded out the crowd at a poorly attended reading;
* indulged detours while on vacation to scout book locations; and
* made the sacrifice of letting the writing spouse spend hundreds of hours sitting in front of a computer polishing a manuscript and living with one foot in another world.
And so I give thanks this Thanksgiving for my wife Kathy, who, in addition to her countless other lovely qualities, is the best, shrewdest and kindest reader and editor any writer could ask for.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Giving thanks
When I sit down to count my blessings this time of year, I'm always overwhelmed by their number. A lovely family. A cozy house. My very own study (with a door). Good health. A garden. My MacBook. Dark chocolate in my fridge and fresh brownies (made by my husband) in a tin on the counter. How lucky can one writer be?
Getting published felt like winning the lottery. Only better. But that original moment of euphoria did eventually fade in the months that followed. The nitty-gritty business of being a writer intruded on my rose-colored dream. I had a little rain on my parade, but I also had wonderful things happen. And this Thanksgiving, I want to give thanks for all writing gifts I have received.
- For ideas that flow from somewhere in my brain
- For the chance to put my words onto paper
- For the chance to experience writing "the end"
- For the chance to share my writing with others
Thursday, November 24, 2011
A Thankful Writer
How he manages to find time to work as a professional film editor and constantly take and post adorable pictures of his daughters to his Facebook page, I'll never know. But I'm very grateful that he does.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Giving thanks and finding a home
I think for me that's the thing I'm most thankful for. I've worked jobs that I enjoyed - I've worked jobs where the only thing that kept me going was looking forward to lunch and the paycheck. I've worked jobs that bored me to tears and made me feel like I was 90 even though I'd just graduated from college. All I did was sit around, read the paper and watch the clock.
But I never felt like any of them were my home. During all of them I was writing. During all of them I wanted to be somewhere else. I never say that now - I don't even think it.
Which means I'm thankful for the readers who spend they're hard earned cash and take a chance that we might be able to transport them away from the real world for a few days. And I'm thankful for the editors who read a hundred manuscripts every six months and still find something they like in mine. And I'm thankful for all the writers who've come before me and have inspired me to love reading and writing. I'm thankful that this is a community where others are thankful.
Before I was even published James Rollins was cool enough to talk to a few of us want-to-be authors in the halls of Thriller-fest and he actually talked about his experience of trying to get published and all he emotions we were going through right then and there.
About a year later Steve Berry invited me to a retreat to talk about writing - we sat down and talked for hours - then David Morrell came along and the three of us and their wives sat and talked writing for hours. (I still didn't have a book out yet.)
And then of course last year out of the blue #1 NYT Bestselling Author Clive Cussler asked me if I would work with him on the NUMA files. I'm thankful that a guy who doesn't have to spend a minute of the day writing or working if he doesn't want to, was willing to reach out to me (and others) and say "hey, come be a part of my success." And in the midst of working with him he taught me more than I'd learned in a decade of studying writing on my own. On top of that it was fun. I'm thankful that it was fun.
I'm thankful for the readers who get it. It's great when people love what you've written but especially amazing when someone loves what you've written for the reasons you hoped they'd love it. A recent reviewer on Barnes and Noble just totally got what we were trying to do with Devil's Gate, in bringing out the character's more realistic traits and building a different kind of suspense. Another reader actually got what I was trying to do in Black Sun, pointing out how it was about the choices the characters made more than the events that forced them to chose and how different it was from other 2012 stories. So there, at least two out of two hundred thousand readers get me. Ha!'
I'm thankful for Kindle - because even if the worst was to happen and I couldn't stay with a publisher, I could keep writing and publishing myself. Don't want to go that route, will do everything I can to avoid going that route, but at least its there.
In the meantime I'm here, writing, because this is where I'm supposed to be. This is my home.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Writerly Things I'm Thankful For
Monday, November 21, 2011
For authors, the quote doesn't work at all. No author will ever please all the people some of the time and rarely some of the people all the time. It's hard enough pleasing some of the people some of the time.
For those of us who write humor, it's doubly hard. Not only do we have to get it right when it comes to plot and characters, we've got to appeal to the reader's funny bone. And not all funny bones are created equal. As a matter of fact, funny bones are more like fingerprints -- no two are quite alike.
Which brings me to this week's question: For What in Your Writing Are You Most Thankful? For me, I'm thankful for the readers who "get" my books, especially those fans who take the time to write me to tell me how much I made them laugh. I'm also grateful for the many readers who post their enjoyment of my books on various review sites.
Humor is very subjective. I know I fail miserably in that department for some readers. They've said so on those same review sites. But I knew when I started writing humorous fiction that I wasn't going to be able to make everyone laugh. I've read plenty of humorous books that have laid giant goose eggs with me. I never cracked a smile, let alone burst out in a belly laugh, even though I had heard the books were funny. Same with some sit-coms and movies I've watched.
My biggest fear when I first published was not being able to please any readers any of the time. What if my agent and editor turned out to be the only two people who thought I was funny? I've since learned that I needn't have worried about that. There are readers out there who think I'm funny. They've told me, and thanks to places like Goodreads and Amazon, they've told the world. For that I am truly grateful.
Lois Winston writes the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. The first book, Assault With A Deadly Glue Gun, was a January 2011 release and received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Death by Killer Mop Doll will be a January 2012 release. Visit Lois at http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, http://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Dateline: Juba, South Sudan
Vicki here on Sunday to report that, I'm going to be a rebel today and break with the question of the week to tell you where I am right now.
Juba, South Sudan.
South Sudan is the world's newest country. It separated (after a thirty-year civil war) from Sudan in July. As you can imagine, after a long bitter war the country has a tough road ahead to pull itself out of poverty and unrest.
My daughter is working here in Juba, the capital city of the new county. I will be visiting her for three weeks. Juba is a city that is really more like a large village. There are no buildings here taller than about three stories. As a friend of my daughter said yesterday, you have to go a long way back in European history to find a time when the church steeple was the tallest thing around.
High-walled and barb-wire protected houses are side-by-side on rough unpaved streets with mud huts and tin shacks. And when I say, unpaved, I really mean unpaved. As in dusty and potholed, full of rubbish and more than the odd wandering goat and chicken and small child. I've attached a couple of pictures of street scenes.
It's odd living in a cash economy again. Kinda like going back twenty or thirty years. I have to think – how much money will I need for the forthcoming week? There are no ATMs, no visa machines, no debit cards. Everything is paid in cash.
There are no recognizable Western brands in evidence here. Imagine, a place without McDonalds, Comfort Inn, Burger King, Walmart.
Meal planning is a challenge. My daughter lives in a comfortable but plain two bedroom townhouse with all the amenities, except she only has a two-burner stove top and no oven. Fresh greens (as we known them) are difficult to come by (lot of fresh fruit though) as are many of the Western things we use to add variety and interest to our diet such as marinades and sauces. The restaurants here are very good though. I've been for Indian a couple of times, for Thai, once for Ethiopian. And feasted on a wonderful grilled Nile perch at a restaurant on the banks of the While Nile.
Yesterday, a colleague of my daughter took me kayaking on the Nile. What a fabulous experience. The vegetation is neither as dry as you might expect being in Sudan or as lush being in tropical Africa. It is the dry season now and the plants are all lying low. It's mango season though and you have to be careful walking under the big mango trees not to get a falling fruit on your head.
The streets are generally considered safe, and the crime rate is low. I go walking most days though the city while my daughter is at work. I am probably the only white person I see but no one bothers me or asks me for money and the vendors don't try to hassle me to buy. I mean safe in terms of crime, that is. Not necessary traffic safety. Chaos is pretty much the word as scooters (what they call boda bodas), cars, trucks, 4*4s, pedestrians, and a good number of chickens, dogs, and goats, compete for road space. There are no traffic lights and few signs and it's pretty much a free for all on the road.
I feel incredibly lucky to have had the chance to see this wonderful place when it's fresh and enthusiastic and passionate about its future.
I checked with my housesitter yesterday. She tells me it's turned quite cold in Ontario. Nice to be basking in the heat here in South Sudan.
I'll be blogging daily (most days anyway) about my adventures in South Sudan at my personal blog: One Woman Crime Wave
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Forced to Read
by Gary
I guess I've always been "out" as a writer to my folks. My mom Leonelle was a librarian and my dad a mechanic. She'd attended the University of Chicago and received her masters degree from USC. Dikes, my pop, dropped out of school after the 6th grade in Seguin, Texas and among other activities in the Depression to make ends meet, picked up bodies for the undertaker, worked for a bootlegger, and dug ditches as part of the WPA. Both of them revered education.
So when I'd walk home from grade school, I had to read after doing my homework and before I could go out and play. Dear reader, imagine a child told he has to read the likes of Pinocchio and Robin Hood. Oh, the humanity. Needless to say I developed the love of recreational reading early. When us kids were taught the Dewey Decimal system at 61st Street Elementary, it was off to the races for me and I happily scoured the stacks of our school's library for books like Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Beast Master by Andre Norton. Even when I played football in high school, I would invariably have a paperback of the latest Doc Savage adventure in my back pockets because in those days Bantam was reprinting his tales from the pulps.
Pretty much since I was in grade school, having been inspired by my readings, I'd also written my own short stories. Being a comic book fan then and now, I got to drawing and writing mighty struggles for truth and justice using character I created. In fact to make sure I wasn't blowing my allowance on these funny books, pop would ask me what was that latest Daredevil or issue of the Flash about. I didn't know plot and structure then, but I'm sure recounting those four-color outings of derring-do gave me a sense of the components of story construction. Comics for certain helped build my vocabulary too.
Sadly, it turned out I didn't have much facility as an artist, but the writing, well that was something I could keep at – hone it, shape it, learn from my mistakes. As a teenager I read the classics such as Native Son and Huck Finn, but discovered the other classics as well; Hammett and Chandler. I was hooked. It would take more years later than it should have, but always in the back on my mind was the notion I'd tackle writing a mystery novel.
I'm glad my parents made me read as a kid. I suppose I might have gotten on to the habit anyway, but certainly knowing they liked books made it so much sweeter when I could produce a few as well, though they were gone by then. Still, I think they knew.
I leave you now with an unabashed plug for my short story "Feathersmith's Excellent Plan" in the just released, all-original anthology, Dead of Winter from the Thalia Press Authors Co-Op, of which I'm a proud member. The e-book is valuable on Kindle and Nook.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Authors Anonymous
Gabriella Herkert
Catnapped and Doggone
Hi. My name is Gabi. I'm a writer.
Yes, it sounds exactly like every other 12-step program announcement. At first, I whispered my confession only to strangers who have walked the walk and lived the life. Conferences, master classes and writing retreats were the only places I could say the words out loud because in my family we just don't do touchy-feely. Our collars are blue – and starched – and there's no such thing as pursuing passion as a career-choice. Heck, using the "p" word for anything is strictly verboten, a good German word meaning not if you're calling yourself one of us. So, I stealthed. I worked my seventy hour weeks and toted the proverbial bale of hay while wearing my girl shoes while the artiste inside me yearned to be free, open, visible. . But in secret, I wasn't just scribbling in notebooks as a hobby. I was building my intellectual ark. I was in Seattle so I knew the showers would come and, lo, it rained.
When I won the first award, in Maui, I had yet to finish a novel. I had made several halting attempts but without tangible proof, well, no one in my family would cotton to my quitting the day job. It's not that my name wasn't mentioned with pride. It's just that the nature of my achievements were glossed over with the general professional recognition tag. All conversations pretty much ended with the it's just a phase tag. As if, in a week, or a month, I'd suddenly decide I'd rather grow tomatoes, an equally acceptable strictly part-time activity that might raise a little mad money but couldn't be a focus of my life. I mean they're vegetables much like my writing was stories.
Things didn't change even when I got my deal to publish the Animal Instinct mysteries. To be fair, fiction doesn't pay the big girl salary and few scions of business quake when an author shows up unannounced. Corporate counsel, yeah, she sends the tremors through the building. Who would give up that kind of power for art? No one in their right mind and my family was quick to make sure no one drifted too far from the sane tag. While strangers and neighbors might be regaled with my literary success, and directed to a real bookstore where proof of my renaissance abilities could be read on spines in the local author section, inevitably any familial inquiry into this distraction would be met with reassurances as to my commitment to the day job and its expense account.
My big moment came only recently when I moved from Seattle. Away from my business contacts and workaholic reputation, I, for the first time, committed to being a writer. Openly. Okay, so I was still mumbling under my breath and I recognize there may be a day where the financial security of the same old, same old of corporate work might be necessary to continue to eat on a regular basis. But every day I write. Every day, my mantra, I am a writer, grows a bit bolder, a tiny smudge more assured. I'm not playing at it. It is no longer how I spend the two hours between the end of a work day and the land of nod. It's what I do. Who I am.
My family is still waiting for this to pass. Like kidney stones, I expect. With pain and possible professional intervention unavoidable. But here's the thing. I'm out now. There's no back. There's only forward. As unimaginable as it is to my relatives, I am doing this. I've learned to live with their disbelief. I can even accept their well-meaning but unhelpful "advice" on the foolhardiness of signing up to this life when I have other options, more readily understood alternatives. I'm out and proud.
Hi. My name is Gabi. I've taken the first step – admission. I am a writer.
Thanks for reading.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Of Rocks and Writing
My dad wanted me to be a geologist. When I was seven or eight and took an obsessive interest in fossils, he revved up the VW's engine, and off we drove to a defunct strip mine where machines had exposed a thick vein of rock impressed with leaves and insects. Every time I split a stone with my rock hammer and exposed a little fossil, I felt that I'd discovered treasure. Yes, son, my dad's approving glances seemed to say, there's a livelihood to be made in rocks. I'm pretty sure he was thinking of oil shale rather than trilobites. That Christmas I received a rock tumbler. When I gave my mom amethyst earrings for Mother's Day and my dad an amethyst bolo tie for Father's Day and everyone else little polished pieces of amethyst on birthdays, Dad nodded at me again with that look. Yep, oil shale. Or blood diamonds. Whichever you prefer.
I admit to being complicit. I liked and still like rocks. Fossils excite me. When my own kids were seven or eight and wanted to hunt for fossilized shark teeth at a nearby beach, I packed the shovels and the sifters and sat in the car, honking the horn, while they put on their swimsuits. We went on a cold winter day. Shivering in the backseat, one of my kids built up his courage. "Shouldn't we do this in the summer?" he asked. I gave him my No, damnit look and said, "Less competition from the other fossil hunters this time of year."
When I went away to college and declared myself an English major, Dad took the news reasonably well. "An English major is good preparation for law school," he said. "Oh, no," I said, "I want to be a writer. A poet probably. Or a novelist." "Oh, shit," he said.
I bounced around after college. I wrote plays that never got produced. I wrote scripts with a guerilla video company that included for a brief time the young
Eventually, I went back to school, earned a graduate degree, and took a less bouncy job teaching literature in
Eventually, I did start sketch out possible mysteries. Then I started writing one. The first was the proverbial learning experience, which is another way of saying, an experience that produces a manuscript that no one ever would want to read. The second was The Last Striptease, which
When I called my parents to tell them about The Last Striptease, my dad said, "Noooo . . . really?" He didn't tell me that he always knew I had writing books in me, but he also didn't offer to drive me back to the strip mine.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Mom, Dad? I have something to tell you.
I've wanted to be a writer ever since I was little.
Okay, that's not exactly true. I did briefly entertain a dream of being a cartoonist for The New Yorker, but then I found out that they actually expected you to know how to draw. Whatever, New Yorker staff. Way to crush a young girl's dreams with your crazy insistence on talent. After that, there was a brief aspiration to become a tap dancer, brought about after multiple viewings of numerous Gene Kelly movies, but that hope too faded (if "faded" means when friends, family, and neighbors petition the Court to have you legally barred from performing ANY dance moves until you move out of state).
But after THAT, it was writing. My first (and only poem), however, did not inspire confidence as to my proposed career choice. I'll leave it to you to decide if this was just another cruel example of Art Being Crushed by the Dull or "evidence once again that you've left your homework off until the last minute" as my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Wiggins noted.
The Rain
The rain comes down
Upon the ground
Will it ever stop?
I'll get the mop
Now, I don't know if this matters to your decision, but Mrs. Wiggins also had weird hair and smelled funny. I'm just saying.
Anyway, after realizing that I wasn't going to follow down Sylvia Plath's path, I focused on fiction. (BTW: Do you know how hard it was not to try and force a pun on the whole Plath/path thing? Hard, I tell. Very hard.) Around this time, I saw a movie called The Double McGuffin. It was a mystery with a bunch of kids in it (oh, and Ernest Borgnine, but I had no idea who he was then). One of the kids was very cute. Very cute. I had the rather brilliant idea that I would write my own mystery, get it turned into a movie, and then demand that this boy star in it. He would, of course, meet me, think I was really cool, come visit me, and ask me to couple skate at the roller rink, but – best of all – he would know how to skate backwards! And he wouldn't ask my nemesis Nikki Baxter to skate at all! HA!
To prepare myself for this very realistic goal, I began reading mysteries. I read all the Nancy Drew books and amassed quite a bit of handy knowledge in the process. For instance, did you know that you should always carry a tube of red lipstick with you in case you are locked in an attic by the bad guys? Well, you should; because you can use the lipstick to write a cry for help on the attic window! Also, when locked in a room, a spiked heel makes a nice tool to break a window to summon help. I keep telling my fifteen-year-old son he should be ready to use these tips, but you know how today's kids are – little know it alls who don't want to listen to their parents.
Another factor in my love for mysteries was the promise of a satisfying resolution to a troubling problem. As I grew older, this increasingly became an important factor in my life, as I am that woman who can't find her car keys. The ones right there in her purse. Resolution to a problem – even if it wasn't my own – became a deeply held goal.
Anyway, when I began to think of writing my own mystery, I realized it would have to include certain elements. A brilliant plot, an innate attraction to everyone (especially Oprah), but that's about all I realized. Pesky little details such a basic plot refused to materialize.
As I struggled to come up with something in the way of a viable storyline, the characters of my favorite book, Pride and Prejudice, kept swirling around in my head. It dawned on me that while there is no murder in Pride and Prejudice, there are plenty of characters who certainly inspire murderous thoughts. (It also dawned on me that I might be losing my already rather tenacious grip on reality as who goes around with fictional characters swirling around in their heads? Whack jobs, that's who.)
Anyway, I began to wonder, what, if after years of living with unbearably rude and condescending behavior, old Mrs. Jenkins up and strangled Lady Catherine? Or, if one day Charlotte snapped and poisoned Mr. Collins' toast and jam? These were the questions that plagued me (well, that and who invented liquid soap and why). I kept trying to figure out how I could work in the themes and personality clashes of Pride and Prejudice into a modern-day mystery. (I also spent a great deal of time in trying to determine just what is wrong with the little red haired girl on the Island of Misfit Toys. Is her dowdy housedress? Is it her hair? Exactly what is her problem? She seems perfectly normal!)
Then one day I was watching the news and – lo and behold – there was a story about a woman on the eastern shore who killed her husband at a B&B after they attended a Host-A-Murder Dinner. How perfect is that? (Well, unless you were her poor sod of a husband.)
Without haste, I set pen to paper and started work on my own book, Murder at Longbourn. (That is, if you accept "three years later" for an appropriate definition of "without haste.") Of course, I have grown up a great deal since I first had my rather silly idea that my book would be turned into a movie and thus allow me to meet my childhood crush. I realize that such dreams are sweet but unattainable.
No, I now want my book turned into a movie so I can cast George Clooney or Hugh Grant.
Until that happens though, writing mysteries allows me to bring at least one "problem" to a satisfactory conclusion in my life.
Speaking of which, if any of you know what's up with the red head, would you please let me know?
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
I write therefore I am
And yet I never really was a writer, even at a young age. I was a typist. Because my handwriting is indistinguishable from the readings on an electrocardiogram, I type my tales, and did so even as a pre-adolescent rapscallion. I would take a piece of light tan paper - so low-grade that the wood pulp was still discernible in the sheet - and fold it in half (because books are folded in half, aren't they?) and roll it left-side down into my Dad's typewriter and away I'd go, my fingers swarming down on the keys like a flock of birds at a sesame factory, and I'd fill up small books with the adventures of John Corin (don't laugh), leader of the Police Cops (stop laughing), a squad of highly trained superhero crimefighters whose identities were loosely based on the action figures I happened to keep in a tub in my closet (still laughing, aren't you?).
I also created my own TV network and populated the time slots with shows of my own creation, most of them action-oriented but some of them set in space, some underwater, etc. The space stories were some of my favorites. There was a starship (shh) piloted by a man simply known as the Captain (shush) and he and his crew of highly trained superhero crimefighters - whose identities were loosely based on the action figures I happened to keep in a tub in my closet - traveled the galaxy in search of adventure (no, seriously, they did).
On my good days, I like to think that my imagination has matured since then.
On my better days, I am glad it hasn't.