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I think I say the same things every year when I write the introduction to my Best of the Year list…..this year was one of the greatest years for Hard Rock and Heavy Metal! Every year it seems like more and more new albums come out from a wide variety of bands and 2010 was no exception, this was the biggest year for Heavy Metal Addiction as far as promotional review copies go. Usually, I physically buy all my new albums but this year I partnered with more labels, more promotional people and more bands and I received more albums for review than any other year. Honestly, I couldn't keep up and I came nowhere close to listening to all of them properly. Looking at the piles on my desk, the boxes next to it and the separate iTunes folder I reserve for promo downloads, it's easy to estimate that I have more new 2010 albums submitted to Heavy Metal Addiction than the last two years combined! Add in all the new releases I bought on my weekly trips to the record stores, and my daily online searches, and it's fair to estimate that the total number of new releases from 2010 that I have right now at my desk is over 200.
The only criteria I followed for my Top 30 was the same criteria I've used for the last few years: the album had to be a studio album (not a live record, best of, or covers collection) AND the album had to be released in 2010. Just like previous years, an album that was released in 2009 overseas, but was released in 2010 for the U.S., qualified as a 2010 album…..basically I went by the date on the back of the CD! There are plenty of albums that got late U.S. releases and there may be a few in this countdown.
The ranking of the Top 40 is based solely on my enjoyment of the album and not some scientific formula. Bottom Line: I had to like it! There were so many releases this year that I could have continued with a Top 40 list but I got so far behind listening and writing so there are definitely albums I haven't heard yet or didn't give proper time to. We're talking a couple hundred albums though so anything that got missed might end up in an expanded "Albums I Missed in 2010″ post during next year's awards week. Just like last year, I will be splitting the Top 30 into three posts so it's easier to read. Be sure to check out the links to the album reviews. So here is Part 2, the Top 30 Albums of 2010 (#11 – #20):
Brainstorm – Memorial Roots (2010): MEMORIAL ROOTS was one of the best surprises of 2010 because I didn't really get into their last album DOWNBURST (2008). I liked DOWNBURST but it took a lot of listening for me to warm up to it and I was concerned that this album would be the same thing. What made the album more accessible to me was the fact that the songs had more hooks this time around instead of being a straight up Power Metal feast. Brainstorm expands their sound a little on this album instead of following the same old formula by becoming a bit more melodic and they really did a great job. I wanted to spend extra time with this album because I was a little letdown by DOWNBURST to I made sure to give MEMORIAL ROOTS a lot of playing time and it paid off. http://www.brainstorm-web.net/
Wig Wam – Non Stop Rock 'N Roll (2010): I'm a child of the '80s and the new Wig Wam record sounds like it came straight from 1986 with it's big sound, party anthems and slick production. Wig Wam is a Glam band and influenced by all the big '80s bands like Poison, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, etc. Name a Hard Rock/Glam/Sleaze bands from the mid-'80s and you can definitely hear some influence in the overall Wig Wam sound. That doesn't mean that the music is generic but it does have a dated feel to it in a good way. I like all the big sounding party anthems and the ballads break things up a little and are a good fit. The only problem I have is that Wig Wam take too long between albums, this one being four years after 2006's WIG WAMANIA. http://www.wigwam.no/index.html
Kiske-Somerville – s/t (2010): Here's an album that I was eagerly awaiting and had a hard time acquiring. When I heard that Amanda Somerville and former Helloween singer Michael Kiske were collaborating I had to get a hold of it because both are great vocalists. Michael Kiske goes without saying, listen to the early Helloween records and you know how good he is and I really haven't explored his post-Helloween career. I know Amanda Somerville from her work with After Forever, Epica, Avantasia and Kamelot but, again, I've never explored her actual solo work. It's a great pairing and both of them singing together on each song is a really great idea. The problem with acquiring the album turned out to be a combination of limited availability at my local record store and high import prices online but I found it in late Fall and I ended up buying the limited edition with a bonus track and two music videos. Definitely an album worth checking out. http://www.amandasomerville.com/ http://www.michaelkiske.net/index_en.php
Griffen – Life: A Way To Die (2010): I found out about Griffen back in 2008 when the band sent in their second demo, LINKED IN ETERNITY (2008), for review. I was so impressed then with Griffen that I put them in my Top 30 of 2008 at #27! I never got to hear Griffen's first self-titled demo from 2007 and now both are unavailable. The good thing is that LIFE: A WAY TO DIE compiled all nine songs from both demos and added three new songs to create Griffen's first proper album. Now you may ask what the difference is between Griffen re-releasing their demo material versus a guy like Bret Michaels re-releasing previously released material as a new album…..the answer is that Griffen has never officially released their material. Demos can also be rough takes, although the one Griffen sent me a couple of years ago was so well done. If you want to hear some great Melodic Metal, then check Griffen out. It's good to see the band signed and I can't wait to hear what the come up with next. http://www.myspace.com/griffentheband
Black Label Society – Order Of The Black (2010): A lot was riding on the latest Black Label Society album because of the events going on outside the band with Zakk Wylde: getting the ax from Ozzy's band and then getting very ill with blood clots. I have just about every Black Label release and this was one of the better ones that I've heard in a few years. I bought this album right away and gave it a few initial spins and then I put it aside. One of the reasons why I put it down was because I was giving it a ton of time with Ozzfest coming to town two weeks after the album came out…..of course, Black Label didn't play due to weather and equipment problems so I kind of put the record on the backburner. About a couple months later, I saw the video for 'Overlord' on Headbanger's Ball and I got back into it. Zakk has always been focused on the projects he's working on whether it be Black Label or stuff with Ozzy but I think leaving Ozzy's band is probably the best thing for him. ORDER OF THE BLACK sounds more focused, more ferocious and more complete. I definitely enjoyed it a lot more than SHOT TO HELL (2006) and I'm looking forward to a more powerful Black Label in the future. http://www.zakkwylde.com/
White Wizzard – Over The Top (2010): I really like White Wizzard! HIGH SPEED G.T.O. (2009) just made the Albums I Missed in 2009 list and I wasn't going to let OVER THE TOP be one of those missed albums in 2010. I think one of the reasons why the first album got missed was because I spent a lot of listening time on OVER THE TOP. I grew up with Heavy Metal and White Wizzard definitely carries the flag high for old school Heavy Metal. I like everything about the band: the music, the albums covers, the logo…..this is a band I would have listened to back when I was a kid. I had a few doubts on this initially because of all the upheaval with the band's lineup, especially at the vocalist slot, because the debut was solid and a massive lineup change can screw up a band's sound. I think White Wizzard have come back stronger and the future looks bright. If you like old school Metal, check them out…..http://www.myspace.com/whitewizzard
Halford – IV: Made of Metal (2010): With Judas Priest being my second favorite band and Rob Halford being one of my favorite heavy Metal singers, anything Rob releases outside Priest is definitely on my radar. I picked up Halford III – WINTER SONGS (2009) last year and it was a good record, just unexpected and not as Metal as previous Halford efforts. When I read online that Rob was making the fourth Halford album while taking a break from Judas Priest, I was ready for a Metal feast. MADE OF METAL picks up for me where Rob left off with his CRUCIBLE (2002) and where Priest should have maybe gone instead of NOSTRADAMUS (2008). I got a preview of the title track when I saw the band perform brilliantly at Ozzfest 2010 and I had already heard 'The Mower' online so I knew it was going to be another solid Metal album from the Metal God. What makes this album stick out is that it's more traditional heavy Metal, more Melodic Metal than the first two Halford albums and the songs get you singing along right away. I almost feel bad for not putting this Top 10! http://www.robhalford.com/madeofmetal/
Kamelot – Poetry For The Poisoned (2010): I have been a Kamelot fan since KARMA (2001) and I always expect every new album to beat that album. The last few Kamelot albums have been hit or miss for me but when I read that the band was going for a darker sound on POETRY FOR THE POISONED, I got interested. Then the band announced a local concert about 40 minutes from my house so I was definitely all hyped up for a new Kamelot album. This album definitely has the darker edge to it and it's still the same Power Metal and Progressive Metal mix that Kamelot has been known for. There's female background vocals and plenty of orchestration to fill out the overall sound but what I like is when Roy Khan uses a little bit of an aggressive growl here and there, it adds a different element to his excellent vocal style. I keep listening to this album and I keep discovering different sounds everytime and it always sounds fresh. That's the mark of a really good album, when it makes you keep coming back for more. I might have rated this a little higher if I was able to catch the band in concert, that didn't happened when they cancelled the entire U.S. tour! http://www.kamelot.com/
Triptykon – Eparistera Daimones (2010): Like I mentioned when I added the new Dimmu Borgir to this year's countdown, I wanted to open myself up to more extreme forms of Metal and to bands I may have missed in the past. One of those bands was Celtic Frost and it was easy to do both with Tom G. Warrior's new band Triptykon. I'll admit that it took a little while to get used to it but I really started to get into it as I kept listening. You've got a mix of Black, Death and Thrash with some Doom and the sound it just plain heavy. What drew me in was the guitars on the first song, the 11 minute epic 'Goetia'. The guitar playing on 'Goetia' made me take notice and I kept playing just that tune over and over, it has such an early Black Sabbath influence to it. Anyway, Triptykon led me to more Celtic Frost (I only have 1985's TO MEGA THERION) and Hellhammer and onto some other extreme bands. I know that ESPARISTERA DAIMONES is going to be high up on a lot of Metal websites' best of lists this year and I might have ranked it higher if I was more familiar with more of this kind of Metal. Definitely one of the top albums of the year! http://triptykon.net/
Treat – Coup De Grace (2010): I really didn't think much of the news of Treat's new album, COUP DE GRACE, because it had been 18 years since the band released a new studio album. I ended up being sent a digital promo of the album for review and I knew as soon as I heard the first song ('The War is Over') that this was going to be one of the best Melodic Rock albums of the year. Despite the 18 year hiatus, Treat doesn't compromise their sound, it's still a combination of '80s era AOR, Melodic Rock and Hard Rock. It's still a huge sound that compares to the better known bands from back in the day like Def Leppard and Bon Jovi but Treat is doing it better than those bands in 2010. The production here is so good and the songs are great, I really had a hard time keeping this out of the Top 10. This is one of the best comebacks of 2010 and one of the best albums, definitely worth picking up if you grew up with that '80s sound. http://www.treatnews.com/


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Losing track of your keys is one thing, but this…
The Teaneck school district is trying to unravel the embarrassing mystery of what happened to the heavy, flip-top wooden desk that sat for almost a half-century in the front office of the township's high school. It was believed to have been used by the 16th president when he was an up-and-coming political figure in Illinois.
No one can actually say when the desk disappeared; it could have been missing for six years or more. But a few months ago, a former school community relations official, Judy Distler, began asking about the desk. When no one seemed to know its whereabouts, she became worried.
"I can understand how everything changes," said Distler, who retired in 1999. "But where is it?"

subset: commoncrawl


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Woody Harrelson's new staight-to-DVD movie, "Defendor," about a costumed vigilante, has made a noticeable shift in its marketing campaign, casting aside the "mentally unstable do-gooder" angle, for a more freewheeling action-comedy vibe.
There's no avoiding the fact that "Defendor," starring Harrelson, Kat Dennings, Sandra Oh and Elias Koteas, shares a major thematic pillar with "Kick-Ass'" the hotly anticipated superhero comedy -- both are about homemade superheroes with no real powers.
The original trailer for "Defendor" appeared to be a dark comedy about a mentally unstable man trying fighting crime while simultaneously grappling with evil demons. The new "Defendor" is trailer suggests a more straightforward comedy, a la "Kick-Ass."
U.S. & World
But while "Kick-Ass" is poised to open April 16 to a very eager audience, "Defendor" is settling for a straight-to-DVD release on April 13.
"Defendor" made its debut at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, and was picked up by Sony for distribution just days later, -- what happened since then to dampen the studio's enthusiasm is anybody's guess.
Koteas' delivery of "Not the lime juice!" and a great cast make "Defendor" worth two hours of our time.


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Stiletto Ankle Boot
€ 826
Alaïa ankle boot in goatskin with laser-cut detail and scalloped edge. Stiletto heel.
Select color
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Please select color
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The size shown for this item is the size indicated by the designer on the label.
Composition: 100% Goat leather
Lining: 100% Goat leather
Sole: 90% Calf leather, 10% Rubber
Product reference: AS3T423CH62
Lining: 100% Goat leather
Sole: 90% Calf leather, 10% Rubber
Product reference: AS3T423CH62
Please read the following care instructions, they will help you to preserve the quality of your product.
We have decided to prolong the returns period to 60 days for all orders made between 1 March and 10 May 2020, to give you more time to decide if you want to keep or return your purchases.
Normal conditions of return will apply to orders made after 10 May.
Please consult our Return Policy for more information. We offer a speedy Express shipping service for any address. We also provide an easy return service: just ship your items back to us with a shipping service of your choice within 30 days from delivery. Read more on Returns & Refunds.
Your orders will be delivered carefully wrapped in soft silk Alaïa paper and signature box.
The perfect packaging for your Alaïa gifts.


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The mikroProg for PIC has specially designed firmware that allows it to be used for programming all PIC microcontrollers from Microchip: PIC10, PIC12, PIC16, PIC18, dsPIC30/33, PIC24, and PIC32 more than 780 devices. The programmer communicates with a PC through a USB cable, from which it also draws power.
Most new device support is achieved simply by downloading the latest version of the mikroProg Suite software. Occasionally, a firmware update for increased speed and new device classes will be included in the software too. When that is the case, after installing the new version of the software, simply select Firmware Update from the USB menu.
The mikroProg for PIC also can be used as an in-circuit debugger in conjunction with Mikroelektronika compilers.
The programmer is connected to the microcontroller via five lines MCU-VCC, MCU-PGC, MCU-PGD, MCU-MCLR/Vpp, GND. These lines are contained within a flat ribbon cable with a female IDC10 connector. You can design an appropriate 1×5 or 2×5 header into your system as explained in the user manual which you can download below. (Adapters to other programming header types are available; their usage is explained at the bottom of this page.)
Many boards by MikroElektronika have a compatible 1×5 or 2×5 header, or pads to install one.
The additional five pins are used by the multiplexing feature. A multiplexer within the programmer can connect the MCU pins to peripheral components on the target PCB if the target has the right 10-pin header setup. In this way, the mikroProg could remain plugged in without affecting operation of the device.
You can design only the upper five pins on your target if you do not plan to use the multiplexing feature.
The programmer receives power via USB. It also can be set to power your target board anywhere from 1.8V to 5V at up to 250mA. If your target is already powered, you don't need to worry about when to plug the programmer into USB; it will switch itself automatically as needed.
One nice feature of this programmer is how the ribbon cable goes into the device. It weaves through a slot on the PCB, so tugging on the cable cannot damage the internal connector.
mikroProg for PIC User Manual mikroProg for PIC Drivers mikroProg Suite for PIC (Windows XP, Vista, 7) mikroProg Suite for PIC User Manual mikroICD User Manual


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DISCLAIMER: Sorry for the poor spelling. I know its really poor, but it was the best i could do. I know some of you may not agree about what i write, but i'd love your feedback anyways!
Game analyses
Baltimore Ravens versus Pittsburgh Steelers. It dosnt get better than this, especially when you see whats at stake, when these two teams clash at, what could be, the most tough game of the year. Both teams want this win. Very badly! Baltimore needs this game to put them self in a possision where they won't depend on others to get a play-off spot. Steelers really do not need the win, however it would be comfortable. The play-off scenario looks like this atm:
If the Steelers loose against Ravens next sunday, Steelers will tie the first place with Ravens, however Ravens will lead the AFC North because of a better Division record (5-1 against steelers 4-1). However, Steelers will have Browns left to play in the last round, and we should fairly easy be able to take them out (hands down, if we lose to browns we don't desirve second seed..). Granded that both Steelers and Ravens win out, or lose one and win one each, we'll have a situation looking like this:
Steelers: 12-4 head-to-head 1-1 Div: 5-1 Against same teams: 10-4 Conf: 10-2
Ravens: 12-4 head-to-head 1-1 Div: 5-1 Against same teams: 10-4 Conf: 9-4
Which means that Steelers will win AFC North due to better percentage in Conf. This is if Steelers loose to Ravens and both win out. If we win out, we'll clinch at least the second seed aswell. We could get the first seed aswell, if Titans loose another game expect for the one against Steelers, because we'd be better head-to-head.
As you said, if we win we are sure of the second seed and can make a nice stride for the first seed in AFC with a win over Titans!
Before we continue, lets take a look at when these gyus met the last time:
In Week 4, Jeff Reed hit three field goals, including the 46-yard winner in overtime, as the Steelers beat the Ravens 23-20 in Pittsburgh. (thanks to nfl.com). Further more, The Steelers have won two of the past three games against the Ravens and lead the overall series 15-10. Steelers don't win in Baltimore though. They have only won 1 out of their last 5 games in Baltimore. What really stands out in these games in this TOP, which favors ravens with avg: 34:47min per game.
When Steelers have the ball:
Steelers offence will: Run the ball! I know, you are all thinking im crazy. Everyone have just agreed that its their secondaries who sucks, and they can be hit deep. That is very true, however Ravens have been in all the games, expect the Colts game (3-31), when they shut down the run. Look at the last Steelers game. We could not run the ball at all, and that caused a overtime thriller. Same with Titans. They couldnt run the ball, so that ballgame was decided in the last minute. Now lets look at the Giants game. Giants ran the ball for 200y and won the game 30-10.
Now don't get me wrong. I know that we most likely won't be able to run the ball at all, but Ravens sure as hell won't expect us to come out and run it, and that may get us some easy first downs, because they are going to passrush all the game, which should make some room for Moore.
Now, for the more realistic part: Big Ben needs to rid of that ball, and thats quick. Ravens is going to have a bounty on his head, and Suggs and Lewis is going to be all over him all night long. That should also free up some room in the backfield for some quick slants to Moore and Miller. Whenever we have been running that kind of offence, its been somewhat effective. This is really the whole offensive unit that have to step up here. Ben needs to get his head of his ***, and start to read that field. The o-line needs to buy him just a little time, and for god sake, our recievers needs to catch the ball when thrown too!
Look for: Hines Ward to have a big game, and lay a few cheap shots! He wants revenge, both from the bounty thing, and for his flat out terrible game last week against Dallas. Hines should be a key player against their passrush aswell. Also look for Nate Washington to get a few deep balls thrown after him.
Ravens defence: Ravens will need their secondaries to step up big time. They are giving up way to many yards, and the only thing thats keeping them in the game is Ed Reed, whos been a freak on that field this season (22 recorded interceptions which leads the NFL.) As has the Ravens passrush, who are collecting quiet a few sacks (28.0). Not nearly as many as the Steelers defence (45) but against a very vulnerable steeler o-line, Suggs and Ray Lewis could do a lot of damage.
Look for: Ed Reed to be all over the place. I could see him pick big ben at least once in this game. Also look for Ray Lewis to have a great game like when they met in week 4.
When Ravens have the ball:
Ravens offence: Get rid of the ball quickly! Flacco just can't stand in the pocket forever against this furious steeler pashruss. That will get him killed, plain and simple. And like that wasnt enough, the steelers d-line is starting to sack the QB aswell, with 2 recorded sacks in two games (Hampton and Travis). He'll have to watch out though. Steelers defence have shown that they can cover the best throwing teams in the league Dallas, and Ike Taylor is more than capable of covering even the best. Further more, Flacco havnt been very consistant the last few games. So look for Ravens offence to try to run the ball. Steelers are number one against the run, but they have shown weeknesses against the delayed hand-offs, and play-fakes the last few games. We've seen this whenever Kiesel is out. This guy just means so much to our run defence, and he is most likely the most underrated player to play that possision in the whole league.
Look for: Le'Ron McClain and Willis McGahee to get quiet a few carries this night. Flacco will get thorn appart if he starts to become one dimensional.
Steelers defence: Kill kill kill kill! Really, just do what we always do. Hurt them, make them affrait to catch a ball. Its so important that the Steelers Defence will be able to shut down their run all game long. We can't let them get that edge. If we are capable of that, we'll just let our secondaries and Harrison/Woodley take care of the rest. Flacco has been sacked 23 this year and the Ravens o-line havnt been all that great against fast passrushers.
Look for: Our linebackers to bring the heat on Flacco. Flacco is making mistakes when he is under preasure. WHen that happens, look for our secondaries to intercept that ball. At least two times!
My take: Its going to be a low-scoring affair, but not as low as some would think. I think Steelers will take this with 17-10
Injury reports: Fresh Wednesday Practice Injury Update for you guys!
Mark Clayton (Knee), Yamon Figurs (Knee), Jim Leonhard (Ilness), Derrick Mason (Shoulder), Willis McGahee (Not Injury Related), Ed Reed (Thigh), Ray Rice (Calf) and Matt Stover (angle) did all miss practice Wednesday.
RB Carey Davis (calf), DE Brett Keisel (knee), RB Willie Parker (not injury related), S Troy Polamalu (calf), DE Aaron Smith (not injury related), T Marvel Smith (back), CB Deshea Townsend (not injury related) and WR Hines Ward (not injury related) all did not practice on Wednesday.
Everyone is sore, and thats understandable! Stay tuned for wednesday injury reports!


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High school teachers hold primary responsibility for the implementation and development of Uncommon's curriculum and the success of its students. Therefore, Uncommon Schools seeks high school teachers who are committed to continuously improving curriculum and instruction through collaboration as part of a grade level team.
Teachers implement curricula and activities to meet academic standards;
Teachers design and implement assessments that measure progress towards academic standards;
Teachers use assessment data to refine curriculum and inform instructional practices;
Teachers participate in collaborative curriculum development, grade-level activities, and school-wide functions;
Teachers provide consistent rewards and/or consequences for student behavior;
Teachers are accountable for students' mastery of academic standards;
Teachers communicate effectively with students, families, and colleagues;
Teachers participate in an annual three-week staff orientation and training;
Our teachers strive to improve the minds and lives of students in and out of the classroom;
Proven track-record of high achievement in the classroom
Mastery of and enthusiasm for academic subjects;
Evidence of self-motivation and willingness to be a team player;
Bachelor's degree is required; Master's degree is preferred; and
Minimum of two years teaching experience in an urban public school or charter school setting.
By the time that employment begins, candidates must have received a Bachelor's degree from a College or University. For teaching roles in New York and Massachusetts, candidates must have also earned a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.5 or higher by the time employment begins. For teaching roles in New Jersey, the candidates must have earned a cumulative 2.75 GPA (for candidates graduating before September 1, 2016) or 3.0 (for candidates graduating on or after September 1, 2016).
Valid State Certification is helpful but not required. Belief in and alignment with Uncommon's core beliefs and educational philosophy is non-negotiable.
We offer a generous compensation package. All staff members are equipped with the tools needed to succeed, including a dedicated work space, laptop computer, email, high-speed internet access, and all necessary supplies.
The foregoing information is requested for mandatory government reporting purposes only. As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other category protected by applicable law.


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Now, they're reduced to the role the Nazis filled in the Indy Jones movies.
|Zandalaris.... I hate these guys!
I should have seen this coming; after all, both vanilla and every expac of WoW that has been released has featured Trolls as the baddies in some form or another: Zul'Gurub and Sunken Temple (Vanilla), Zul'Aman (BC), Drak'Theron and Gundrak (Wrath), the 5-man Zuls (Cata). While they don't get their own separate instance/raid, they are heavily featured in raids such as Mogushan Vaults and Throne of Thunder.
You can't go more than 100 feet in the Isle of Thunder without smacking into a Troll. And if it weren't for a Rogue's stealth ability, I'm sure I would have.
I just feel like there was such a great chance to Blizzard to fully commit to the Mogu as the balance to the Sha in Pandaria, and they decided that the Thunder King and company couldn't stand on their own. What's going to happen in the next expac, anyway? Should they skip other baddies entirely and title it "Trollmageddon"?
As an aside, I had to wonder about the naming of Lei Shen's home. Isle of Thunder doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but when I switched it around I realized one reason why it shouldn't be named Thunder Island:
I'm actually disappointed that nobody has created a WoW music video based on Jay Ferguson's 70's tune. Of course, I don't think that you'll find people "chasin' love" out there on WoW's Thunder Island.
That does bring up another issue I had with the questing in Pandaria. Blizz deliberately went for the darker feel in their quest writing, making Vashj'ir seem like a walk in the park by comparison. But even then, they snuck in their traditional pop culture nods and humorous hijinks. (Hayden Christophen as the Alliance Honor Quartermaster, for instance). This time, however, I think that the humorous asides actually detract from the rest of the questing. Like how Toshley's Station (and to a lesser extent Area 52) are jarring enough that you lose your immersion in the game, quests like the ones associated with the Grummies left me grinding my teeth.
At times like this, I wish Blizz would dial back the humor a bit and at least take themselves more seriously. We already get tons of "kill ten rats" quests as it is, I don't think a spoonful of
The ending to Dread Wastes, however, is right up there with the ending to Vashj'ir, where you watch what happens and think "Holy shit, we're screwed."** That said you only get that sort of emotional punch out of an ending once, and if you mess it up you've lost a golden opportunity. Blizz did a great job on that one. And on the Jade Forest's ending as well. For some reason, Townlong Steppes and the combined Krasarang Wilds/Valley of the Four Winds endings didn't have the same sort of punch. And of course, Kun-lai Summit's ending is in an instance, so it gets an incomplete.
All in all, Blizz did some things right --a bit less quests on rails, although it is still quite noticeable-- which pretty much balance out the issues I had with questing. I knew I was getting near the end when I kept saying to myself "Just hang in there, Dread Wastes has got to end soon." The last time I was saying that, I was in The Old Republic and slogging through Belsavis. And that's a shame, because the overall story behind Dread Wastes was very interesting.
*Or at least semi-good guys. Hey, scholars are good.
**At least a real raid came out of this, compared to what happened in Vashj.
EtA: I forgot Zul'Farrak for Vanilla. That's what I get for hanging around the Eastern Kingdoms lately.


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A holiday that is spreading across the U.S. and beyond, Juneteenth is considered the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Here's a look at the holiday and its history.
The Chicago White Sox plan to extend the protective netting to the foul poles at Guaranteed Rate Field, becoming the first major league team to take that step.
Watch the June 19, 2019 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."
"Our new rhino calf is thriving. He is exceeding all of our expectations," said Mike Murray of Lincoln Park Zoo. "He's a pretty incredible little guy that, just behaviorally, is doing everything a rhino calf should."
Celebrations of pride, music fests, pop-up theater, craft beers and dragon boats usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.
Artist Rob Pruitt created a painting for each of the 2,922 days of Barack Obama's presidency. His project is now on display in Chicago.
The Trump administration on Wednesday completed one of its biggest rollbacks of environmental rules, replacing the landmark Obama-era Clean Power Plan with a replacement rule.
During testimony Wednesday, Terra Bullis described her past relationship with Brendt Christensen and how she came to wear a wire for FBI investigators who believe he is responsible for the disappearance of Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang.
Does Illinois really have a balanced budget? Local analysts weigh in.
Much of Illinois' farmland is too wet to seed. Assessing the fallout from excessive rain – and what Gov. J.B. Pritzker plans to do about it.
Federal agents have executed a search warrant at the South Side ward office of Chicago Ald. Carrie Austin. A source close to the matter says Austin has been under federal investigation for several years.
Assessing the political fallout from the federal raid of another longtime alderman's office. Our politics team tackles that and more in our weekly roundtable.
Airline union leaders and famed former airline pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger say that Boeing made mistakes while developing the 737 Max, and the biggest was not telling anybody about new flight-control software so that pilots could train for it.


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Monday, March 11, 2013
MiM Mail: Refusing the bottle!
I'm currently a second year internal medicine resident and welcomed my first child into our hectic world 8 weeks ago. I was all set to return to work (but more time is always be better) ready with my pumping gear and planning out a loose schedule to hopefully make pumping work. I missed the chaos of inpatient medicine but thankfully, I've been eased into my return with an outpatient block but will have to cover a few random overnight calls in the next 2 weeks. As I'm sitting in my office pumping and texting back and forth with my stay-at-home full-time husband, we realize that our LO is refusing her bottle!! We did trial runs prior to this day and she happily took the bottle from her daddy but now she either plays with the bottle (even with her hunger cues) or flat out spits it out and then cries. He has tried many different tactics (different room, walking, holding her different positions, not waiting until too hungry, having something close to remind LO of her mommy or taking it away, etc), and we've discussed our situation with a lactation consultant who offered some additional tips. LO finally took a bottle once while relaxed in her swing after a short nap but struggled with the next feeding. She used to make wet diapers early AM/late night when I was home to breastfeed overnight but this has dropped off during the day. So far (it's only been a couple of days) she's still happy and playful in between her naps. Of course I nurse as often as she wants when I'm home but this makes me nervous as my days can be 14-16 hours long when I'm not on overnight call. This of course brings up the times when I'll be at the hospital 28+ hours. What will happen if she's still refusing the bottle? I know some people will say if she's hungry she'll eat from the bottle, but I don't completely buy that line of thought and she can't make up a whole day's worth of not eating in a couple of feeding sessions. She's not breastfeeding anymore than usual when I return home right now. I'm hoping she'll take to the bottle again, but I wonder if anyone else ran into this challenge.
Thanks for any words of wisdom and support.
13 comments:
Same thing happened to me with my youngest. Mine wouldn't take the bottle AT ALL. Don't worry, they get over it. When she doesn't have a choice (i.e. you're not there and she's hungry), she'll eventually take it, I promise you.ReplyDelete
She's picking up on your stress ?ReplyDelete
Listen to Fizzy, it will be alright. Of course she's having a little bit of a hard time, it is a pretty big transition. BUT! She's loved, safe and well cared for by her father. They will figure out a rhythm together. Consider this to be just like the first few days of life when she & you were figuring out breastfeeding - she and her father are figuring out their own feeding relationship. It sounds like he's working hard to meet her needs and getting lots of the right kinds of support. Tell him he sounds like an excellent Dad! And be kind to yourself!ReplyDelete
You both can do this!! My youngest didn't like the bottle either - would take 1/4 oz at a time or something pitiful to just wet her lips til I was available. She did make up for it in the evening - nurse as soon as I was available and a bunch overnight. As for how to make your o/n calls work -> my husband (also a SAHD) would bring my oldest (born when I was a 2nd yr res) to the hospital - he'd bring a diaper bag and a book and I'd do one or two feedings in the call room as pages/admissions allowed. It was pretty boring for him (he'd stay a few hours!) but it meant we sometimes got to eat together on call nights, I could pass off the first 12+hrs of pumping to him to bring home, feed my baby in person and generally brighten my call. I was able to nurse her until >1yo this way. You guys can do it! :-)ReplyDelete
Have you tried some sort of cup feeding for her? My daughter refused to take a bottle so I think she was about 3 months when we occasionally used a small medicine cup (the type that comes on top of cough syrup or similar) to hold at her lips and gently give her a bit of milk - more effort required than a bottle but at least she was getting something when I had to go out. Then by about 4 months old she would accept milk from a Take 'n Toss sippy cup - tiny holes in the spout so a slow flow of milk and she didn't have to actually suck at it as she would a bottle (it seemed as if she never quite figured out that she should such a bottle nipple to get milk or that she just plain didn't want to). I didn't have to go back to work until 8 months postpartum so it wasn't quite as much an issue for us as I wasn't needing her to take as much EBM from someone else when she was only a few months old.ReplyDelete
Dr. Jack Newman's site (http://www.breastfeedinginc.ca/content.php?pagename=doc-WFBW) has the following (the most relevant part for your situation): " Some Myths:
Babies must learn to take a bottle so that they can be fed when the mother is not there. Not true. Why not an open cup? It is true that some exclusively breastfed babies will not take a bottle by 2 or 3 months of age...If your baby is refusing to take a bottle, do not try to force him; you and he may become very frustrated and there is just no need to go through all this...If he is even 3 or 4 months, he does not need to take a bottle. He can be fed liquids or solids off a spoon and by 6 months of age he can be taking enough so that he will not be hungry during the day. Furthermore, he can start learning to drink from a cup even by 1 day of age. The cup can be an open cup and is best not to have a spout (a "sippy" cup is, essentially, a bottle). If, however, he has not got the hang of the cup by the time you must leave him, do not worry, he can take fluids off a spoon..."
They totally have radar for stressful events, don't they? I don't have any advice, but I think what people are saying about sounds good. Good luck!ReplyDelete
We had intermittent issues with taking the bottle - it was very stressful. We discovered that a big factor was speed of milk delivery - using a nipple with too slow of a flow caused our kids to protest and refuse the bottle, until we realized it was time to move up a size. If it's a lot harder than breastfeeding to get a meal, some kids don't think it's worth it. I always found those age guides for the sizes to be off. Maybe that's worth a try?ReplyDelete
My second one refused a bottle for 2 weeks after I went back to work. She would give hunger cues, Daddy (also a SAHD) would warm up the milk, she'd fuss at him, and then she'd go back to sleep. Repeat x all day long. My little darling was 10 or 11 weeks old at the time, and already chunking up quite heartily, so I didn't worry about her nutrition. Eventually she did figure out that this is how we eat during the day. It sounds like your tyke has the best possible love and encouragement - she'll get there, don't worry.ReplyDelete
I second the cup feeding. Also, dad doing skin on skin when feeding can help too. That's what she's used to with you. I had a dad who would take off his shirt, tuck the bottle under his armpit so the nipple stuck out and feed a bottle refusing baby that way...ReplyDelete
The fact that I do not remember stress around this issue either speaks ill of me (maybe I blocked it?) or portends well for you.ReplyDelete
Both my kids took bottle well from nanny. How lucky for you that it is dad.
Lots of good advice above. Good luck!
I agree with Fizzy and others. Took our Zo 7 days of an expressed milk strike to realize he and the bottle had to make their peace. Prior to my starting work he never had issues with an occasional bottle. We made breast milk smoothies (milk and banana, milk and peaches, milk and yogurt, etc . . . .). Your baby will get what he/she needs. Keep pumping and try your best to make the best milk :-)ReplyDelete
I was all set to return to work (but more time Blood Pressure Medication is always be better) ready with my pumping gear and planning out a loose schedule to hopefully make pumping work.ReplyDelete
Thanks for the great advice and support! My LO got over her bottle strike with some clever tricks by my hubby whom I remind every day is doing a fabulous job. She doesn't eat as much as if I were around but she's not anymore fussy than usual and pretty happy and making enough diapers. I'll of course keep the additional suggestion in my back pocket for when/if LO decides to hold out again.ReplyDelete
I kept trying to write this earlier but was somehow pulled away by my hubby, LO or patients!! Hahaha. Thanks again, everyone. I love this site and it's been a godsend.


text: 1. Report of the commissioners appointed to inquire into the causes which have led to, or have aggravated the late outbreak of cholera in the towns of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead, and Tynemouth. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty Author(s): Great Britain. Cholera Inquiry Commission. Publication: London, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1854 Subject(s): CholeraDisease OutbreaksEngland


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Q&A: elusive idioms
We are all acutely aware that language can trip us up. Some websites offer well thought out advice on particularly difficult words or expressions, but interpreters need to deal with language straight away. So if we are having difficulties at work we nip round to the appropriate booth and ask what the UK/Argentinian/Belgian delegation just said. With luck our colleagues will be able to tell us. We call it team work.


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Standard biography:
English version: "Thayer-Forbes":
Thayer's Life of Beethoven. Revised and edited by Eilliot Forbes. Rev. ed. Prineton Univ. Press, 1967.
Now a two-volume work highly edited from the original five-volume set in German. Very badly in need of revision, but so badly in need that it is a daunting task.
Other important English-language biographies:
Barry Cooper. Beethoven. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
This new biography replaces Denis Matthews's volume published in 1984 for the Master Musicians series. Cooper combines discussion of Beethoven's life and music, proceeding chronologically in chapters that encompass three to four years of Beethoven's life.
Martin Cooper. Beethoven / The Last Decade 1817-1827. London: Oxford Unv. Press, 1977.
Cooper's survey of Beethoven's life and works is the only full-length study of Beethoven's last decade. It is well-written and perceptive. Part 1 covers the biography; Part 2 covers the music. Appendix A, written by Edward Larkin, is "Beethoven's Medical History"; Appendix B is "A Note on Beethoven's Metronome Markings."
Carl Dahlhaus. Ludwig van Beethoven / Approaches to His Music. Trans. Mary Whittal. Oxford: Clarendon, 1991
As is obvious from the subtitle, Dahlhaus' book is primarily oriented toward a "biography" of the music. However, there is a great deal of general biographical information contained herein, and Dahlhaus is one of the most important musicologists of the 20th century. The book is densly packed with ideas on the context and interpretation of Beethoven's music.
Joseph Kerman and Alan Tyson. The New Grove Beethoven. New York: Norton, 1980.
Reprint and revision of the long article in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Though a dictionary article, this brief biography and account of the composer's works is an invaluable reference guide and an informative survey of Beethoven's life and works. An updated version of the Kerman/Tyson article is available through Oxford Music Online.
William Kinderman. Beethoven. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.
This is a study of Beethoven's creative development, so it focuses on Beethoven's music rather than biography.
Lewis Lockwood, Lewis. Beethoven : The Music and the Llife. New York: Norton, 2003.
The primary focus of this biography is Beethoven's music, although no musical examples are printed in the book. Instead, readers must consult the publisher's website.
George Marek. Beethoven / Biography of a Genius. New York: Crowell, 1969.
Marek's biography has long been out of print, but is readily found in used book stores. Though in need of revision, it remains one of the most popular general biographies of the composer for its straightforward prose and rendition of the composer's life.
Anton Schindler. Beethoven As I Knew Him / A Biography by Anton Felix Schindler. Ed. Donald W. MacArdle and trans. Constance S. Jolly. London: Faber and Faber, 1966.
Anton Schindler was Beethoven's secretary for a few years in the 1820s. His first-hand accounts of the composer's life would be invaluable if he was trustworthy. Schindler destroyed many of the conversation books in his possession, forged entries in his own hand in many of the ones that he did not destroy, has been caught in several lies, and sold his Beethoven collection for a state pension. Nonetheless, there is a great deal of information in Schindler's biography which is not available elsewhere.
Marion Scott. Rev. by Jack Westrup. Beethoven. London: Dent, 1974.
This is the volume on the composer in the Master Musician series. A new biography from Barry Cooper is in the works and is due to be published in 2000. Scott's biography was originally written in the 1940s and was revised for the 1974 edition. A standard survey of the life and works.
Maynard Solomon. Beethoven. New York: Schirmer, 1977; 2nd. ed., rev., 1988.
Solomon's biography occupies a central position in Beethoven studies. The approach to Beethoven's life and works is pyschoanalytic, and Solomon's theories have been influential in the field of Beethoven studies. The book contains a chapter which argues that Antonie Brentano was Beethoven's Immortal Beloved. Solomon updates some of the information in his biography in his collection, Beethoven Essays (Harvard Univ. Press, 1988).
David Wyn Jones. The Life of Beethoven. Musical Lives. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1998
An abbreviated (204 pp.) biography that provides a good introduction to Beethoven's life.
For other Beethoven biographies, search in the Beethoven Gateway in the Category index (search term: biographies) and limit your search to English-language materials if desired.


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Hitting the Slopes
Tending turf on steep embankments has been a thorn in the side of many a mowing crew. Addressing erosion issues, fertilizing — even seeding, with hydro applications — has been conquered on the steepest slopes. Yet, compromising angles make mowing slopes a tedious process, resulting in bogged production and efficiency loss. Equipment operators tend to rush, which leads to the most important factor when it comes to mowing slopes: safety.
"The biggest safety issue for mowing on slopes is equipment rollover," says Gilbert Peña, John Deere's brand marketing manager, commercial mowing. "The equipment has a natural tendency to want to go down the hill, so mowing slopes safely means managing that force and understanding what you can do to reduce the risk of a machine slipping downhill or turning over."
According to the National Institute of Safety and Health, injuries in the workplace occur for the following reasons:
- Lack of (or poor) training;
- Carelessness; and
- Pressure.
The key to keeping it safe on the slopes is to address all three of the above concerns. Regarding the first one, Peña notes, "Experience is a big safety factor when mowing slopes. You shouldn't have someone inexperienced out there mowing a tough slope — make sure your operators know and stay within their limits."
On May 1, 2003, in North Carolina, a 42-year-old man named Carlos Gonzales Hernandez was killed when a commercial mower he was riding tipped on an embankment during his workday for a local landscape company. Hernandez was trapped underneath when the mower overturned; he was dead at the scene.
Though no specific statistics were available for research regarding such accidents, several mower manufacturers now produce roll-bar attachments for mowers of various sizes. For Toro, the company's Rollover Protection System (ROPS) roll-bar attachment became available for smaller Z Master models soon after the Hernandez casualty. Said Brad Hamilton, Toro's landscape contractor business director of marketing, in a press release in late May, "Last summer, Toro and other manufacturers began to see that commercial ZTRs (zero-turn mowers) are too often operated in unsafe conditions."
Exmark is another company taking the lead in using ROPS equipment. The company's entire 2004 line of Lazer Z mid-mount zero-turn mowers come with ROPS as standard equipment. John Deere's line of 1400 Series Front Mowers and other models also come with ROPS.
Though ROPS equipment can prevent serious injury during rollover, the equipment may potentially infuse the operator with overconfidence or false confidence. For this reason, operators should deny themselves the luxury of moving faster or more recklessly, especially on slopes. Following the logical progression to injury and illness prevention, it falls on the employer's shoulders to ensure that solid training takes place. This includes machine operation, especially in compromising situations on steep slopes.
There are logical choices to be made concerning which mower to use on hillsides. The choice of Todd Graus, a director of the Professional Lawn Care Association of America and president of Green Turf Landscapes in Worland, Wyo., are low-profile mowers "because they have a lower center of gravity and are less likely to roll."
Phil Nilsson concurs. "The best mowers are those that have a low center of gravity," says Nilsson of green industry consultants Nilsson Associates, "usually a walk-behind, because as the size, weight and width of mower increases, the stability decreases and control is compromised."
There's much to say for stability. During the job, avoid the set of wheel ruts from previous mowing. It's a good idea to take as many wide turns as possible. The result is added stability and less likelihood of rollover. Due to the central cutting deck, zero-turn-radius mowers also have a low center of gravity and provide more stability than many larger riding mowers.
Some suggest that walk-behind mowers be used in lieu of riding units on slopes, period — particularly in areas that are extremely wet. Walk-behinds are also recommended when mowing grass that is overly dry, as slippage is just as likely on straw-like turf.
Regardless of what you use, Peña suggests, "Use equipment that you are familiar with, and think logically about how you can position the machine on the slope to reduce as much downward pull as possible."
Before tackling any hillside, first ask yourself: Is this slope "mowable?" Is it practical regarding safety of person and property to operate a mower on the slope? If the terrain is too rocky, steep or otherwise unstable, consider using a weed whip or other hand-held cutter/trimmer to cut hard-to-reach places.
"The best rule of thumb for mowing safety is that if it looks unsafe, it probably is," advises Peña.
On any slope, says Nilsson, the No. 1 risk factor is "losing control of the machine when it rolls downhill, damaging property, machine and operator."
From a slope perspective, take time to devise a mowing strategy. First, consider whether to mow horizontally (side to side, progressively) or vertically (top to bottom).
"Side-to-side mowing allows more stability for the mower and the person walking behind it," suggests Nilsson. "A longer mower pass and a more consistent-looking pattern made by the mower is also achieved." On the other hand, "Mowing vertically places the operator directly behind the machine when going 'up' the slope and in harms way if he loses a grip on the machine."
Mowing horizontally, starting from the bottom and working upwards to the top of a slope, allows the operator to turn the mower upwards as he switches directions, according to Peña. "Turning the mower downwards encourages the machine to pull towards the bottom of the hill and should be avoided."
Mowing strategy should also entail taking extra care when maneuvering at the crest and bottom (ditches) of hillsides.
"Sometimes you will see operators mowing at an angle as they navigate a hill," says Peña. "This is just another method used to reduce the direct pull downwards. Do everything possible to stay horizontal, even at the top or bottom of a slope, but if you must move vertically, do so at an angle."
Traction is another important element of safe slope mowing. Checking tire pressure for proper inflation ensures optimal traction — just like your car. Double check the soles of operator shoes, too, as the first thing to fail may be slick-bottomed tennis shoes.
If you make sure your crew takes all of the precautions to mow slopes safely, then you are doing everything in your power to avoid another tragic mowing accident.
Tracy Powell is a freelance writer who lives in Jeffersonville, Ind.
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Maka Batiashvili
River , 2018
Oil on Canvas
54 cm x 74 cm
Oil on Canvas
54 cm x 74 cm
Maka Batiashili works in painting, book illustration, video art, documentary film. Her inspiration is derived from the moments of mundane reality that usually turn into important visual images. The artist grasps moments from the ordinary situations, which find participants on the verge, where keeping balance is required. Key concept for Maka is a person surrounded with the emotional environment and ...
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Blake Shelton and 'The Voice' Coaches Playfully Bicker in Season 5 Promos
Season 5 of 'The Voice' kicks off on Sept. 23 at 8PM ET on NBC, with three-time coach champ Blake Shelton gunning for his fourth victory. New promos hyping the season and the return of coaches Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera, who sat out Season 4 last spring, find the old crew playfully bickering. It feels like old times...because it is old times.
In one promo, Xtina is shown rolling her eyes, lovingly so, at Shelton over his antics as he tries to win over hopefuls and bring them to his team. She tells him to shut up, like a sister would.
Hey, he is a three-time winner out of four total seasons, so he has earned the right to brag.
In another spot, Shelton plants a smooch on the cheek of his bromance buddy Adam Levine, who also tells the country superstar that he is gorgeous. We think that Shelton's wife Miranda Lambert and his legion of female fans would agree with that sentiment.
There is so much love happening during Season 5's promos but these spots are quick and unscripted, perhaps to remind us that the show is about finding the next 'Voice.'
Will you be tuning in to see if Shelton can notch his fourth win in a row?
Watch 'Return' Season 5 'The Voice' Promo


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Tanya Moss
Tanya Moss has been passionate for jewelry as far as back as she can remember. Since childhood she conceived pieces and accessories with homemade materials. Years later, when she studied graphic design at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City she started to get involved in the design and manufacture of jewelry as an after school activity. Tanya had the chance to participate in a student exchange program with Southern Illinois University where she studied design and manufacturing of jewelry under the charge of Richard Mawsdley and other talented professors. Later, in 1993 when she finished her studies she started her trajectory as designer in a professional way. Since then, Tanya has tried to transmit, through her pieces, her love for jewelry. Her work incorporates a fresh and innovative style that combines the roots from a rich artistic heritage from Mexico with the sophistication and versatility of her own ideas for designs.


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A group of "citizen cartographers" helped Google Maps launch its most accurate map of North Korea.
North Korea has been one of the places Google Maps has found challenging to chart. The limited data led to maps that were traditionally blank, but armed with information from several North Koreans, Google Maps is now launching comprehensive data, according to Jayanth Mysore, Google Map Maker senior product manager. From his blog post:
To build this map, a community of citizen cartographers came together in Google Map Maker to make their contributions such as adding road names and points of interest. This effort has been active in Map Maker for a few years and today the new map of North Korea is ready and now available on Google Maps. As a result, the world can access maps of North Korea that offer much more information and detail than before.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
Mysore is quick to say that the map isn't ideal because maps generally are changeable things, but with its number of users crowdsourcing in Google Map Maker, its accuracy will be improved. For those who don't know, Google Map Maker allows anyone to update maps of areas they know to improve detail.
Google didn't specifically say if the information came from within North Korea or from outside. Nonetheless, already the maps are gaining some controversy, as the New York Times argues that Google Maps is less detailed than maps bought in South Korea or a digital atlas.
Crowdsourcing content can be lucrative for online companies -- because it's cheap, outsourced content that can garner eyeballs -- but no one conducting research is going to use the products without checking facts. So, in essence, Google has created a nice little product, but not one that is the best or most accurate.


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I bet you can tell what's on my mind today by my collection of finds…. SUMMER! I am officially done & ready for the summer to begin. And, I'm craving ice cream – this craving is amplified by the fact that we are completely out of half and half and whipping cream & I haven't had a chance to go to the grocery store all.week.long.
{All images are from the original recipe source, and linked through Pinterest}
Blackberry Anise Ice Cream
{We love fruit ice cream, and anise is a nice compliment to blackberry!}
Source: aspicyperspective.com via Finding Joy In My Kitchen on Pinterest
Salted Caramel Pretzel Ice Cream
{oh me, oh my! love that this ice cream uses something crunchy that isn't a nut!}
Source: thesweetslife.com via Finding Joy In My Kitchen on Pinterest
Ice Cream Sandwiches
{This has been on my list to try for a long time!! Can't wait.}
Source: browneyedbaker.com via Finding Joy In My Kitchen on Pinterest
Grilled Vegetable Salad
{And, because I can't have all ice cream recipes here, this salad looks lovely for summer}
Source: thesweetslife.com via Finding Joy In My Kitchen on Pinterest
As a reminder, if you like these recipes, either re-pin my original pin, or pin the source of the recipe NOT my blog! The talented chefs that came up with these recipes deserve the credit and traffic, so, please, please pin the source!
What did you find this week?
Please link up to a post containing your list of recipes to try -- do not link up individual recipes please, your links will be deleted. Links that do not follow the guidelines will be deleted. Be sure to leave a link back here to Finding Joy in My Kitchen.


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Vid US boffins have come up with a pair of robotic legs that they reckon are the first to walk in a biologically accurate (if somewhat jerky) manner.
The researchers want to try to mimic the actual process of walking, particularly the bit where people don't actually have to think to do it, so they can figure out how babies learn to get around and possibly help spinal-cord-injury patients to regain the ability.
So for their robot trousers, the boffins put in simplified versions of the neural and musculoskeletal architecture and sensory feedback pathways that humans have.
The key to people walking is the central pattern generator, a neural network in the spinal cord that generates rhythmic muscle signals. The CPG works by picking up info from different parts of the body that are responding to the environment and using them to produce and control the rhythm.
The robotic legs use the simplest version of a CPG, a half-centre, which consists of just two neurones firing alternatively to set the rhythm, as well as sensors feeding into the half-centre. For example, load sensors use the force in the limb to tell when the leg is being pressed down for a step.
"Interestingly, we were able to produce a walking gait, without balance, which mimicked human walking with only a simple half-centre controlling the hips and a set of reflex responses controlling the lower limb," study co-author Dr Theresa Klein said in a canned statement.
The boffins now think that that might be how babies start out, with a simple half-centre, which would explain why they are able to show a walking pattern on a treadmill before they learn to walk. Over time, the baby then expends the network for more complex walking patterns.
"This underlying network may also form the core of the CPG and may explain how people with spinal cord injuries can regain walking ability if properly stimulated in the months after the injury," Klein added.
The University of Arizona researchers' study has been published in IOP's Journal of Neural Engineering. ®


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The Pella Police Department has arrested a man on two counts of enticing a minor following an investigation into an incident reported Friday morning. 39-year-old Quintin H. VanRheenen is facing the charges after an alleged incident at approximately 7:50 a.m. Friday morning.
The second charge against VanRheenen stems from a reported incident on September 6, 2009. Enticing a minor is an aggravated misdemeanor which is punishable by imprisonment not to exceed two years and a fine not to exceed $6,250.
Anyone with additional information should contact the Pella Police Department at 641-628-4921. Stay tuned to KNIA/KRLS News for more information as it becomes official.


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Slavery in the United States
slavery, historicially, an institution based on a relationship of dominance and submission, whereby one person owns another and can exact from that person labor or other services. Slavery has been found among many groups of low material culture, as in the Malay Peninsula and among some Native Americans; it also has occurred in more highly developed societies, such as the southern United States. Since the 20th cent., the term slavery has been more broadly understood as including forced labor generally.
Although it is commonly held that slavery was rare among primitive pastoral peoples and that it appeared in full form only with the development of an agricultural economy, there are numerous instances that contradict this belief. Domestic slavery and sometimes concubine slavery appeared among the nomadic Arabs, among Native Americans primarily devoted to hunting, and among the seafaring Vikings. Some ascribe the beginnings of slavery to war and the consequent subjection of one group by another. Slavery as a result of debt, however, existed in very early times, and some African peoples have had the custom of putting up wives and children as hostages for an obligation; if the obligation was unfulfilled, the hostages became permanent slaves.
Slavery in the Ancient World
The institution of slavery extends back beyond recorded history. References to it appear in the ancient Babylonian code of Hammurabi. Its form and nature varied greatly in ancient society. It seems to have been common in the Tigris-Euphrates civilizations and in ancient Persia. It may not have been common in ancient Egypt until the New Kingdom or later, and the belief that slaves built the pyramids is probably incorrect. The institution was familiar to the ancient Hebrews, according to passages in the Bible.
Slavery was an established institution in the Greece of Homer's time, and a large portion of the population of the Greek city-states in later days were of the servile class. There were domestic slaves, agricultural slaves, and artisans and workers. In Greece, although not quite as commonly as in Asia Minor, there were also public slaves, for example, those belonging to the temples. In general it is thought that slaves in the Greek city-states were relatively well treated, and there were laws protecting them against excessive cruelty or abuse. However, the slaves were regarded as property and had no rights in courts of law. Slaves could obtain their freedom by buying it, by being granted it in the owner's will, or as a reward for outstanding service.
Slavery in early Roman history seems to have been of the same type as in Greece, but by the 1st cent. BC, as the Roman Empire continued to expand, a form of agricultural slavery called estate slavery was introduced on a wide scale; in this form agriculture was pursued by large numbers of slaves in an impersonal relationship with the landowner, who had practically absolute power over them. The increasing wealth of Rome led to an expansion in domestic slaves, and the servile class grew to great numbers. They were employed in the theater, in gladiatorial combats, and, to some extent, in prostitution. Most of the slaves were foreign, and some were highly educated and were employed as instructors. Having a large retinue of slaves became one of the prime marks of luxury, and exotic, especially Asian, slaves were in great demand. As the number of conquered provinces grew, so did the slave supply. Consequently, manumission (emancipation from slavery) was common, and freedmen became a significant factor in the Roman social system. The slave had almost no legal status, although custom mitigated against extreme brutality; the slave could testify against his or her master only in a very limited number of serious crimes (adultery, incest, and, later, lese majesty). As the Roman expansion abated, conditions of slavery improved somewhat.
Slavery after the Fall of the Roman Empire
The introduction of Christianity toward the end of the Roman Empire had no effect on the abolition of slavery, since the church at that time did not oppose the institution. However, a change in economic life set in and resulted in the gradual disappearance of the agricultural slaves, who became, for all practical purposes, one with the coloni (tenant farmers who were technically free but were in fact bound to the land by debts). This process helped prepare the way for an economy in which the agricultural slave became the serf.
The semifreedom of serfdom was the dominant theme in the Middle Ages, although domestic slavery (and, to some extent, other forms) did not disappear. The church began to encourage manumission, while ignoring the fact that many slaves were attached to church officials and church property. Sale into slavery continued to be an extreme punishment for serious crimes.
Slavery flourished in the Byzantine Empire, and the pirates of the Mediterranean continued their custom of enslaving the victims of their raids. Islam, like Christianity, accepted slavery, and it became a standard institution in Muslim lands, where most slaves were African in origin. In Islamic life, keeping slaves was largely a sign of wealth, with slaves used as soldiers, concubines, cooks, and entertainers and to perform a variety of other functions. Another form of Muslim slavery was in the eunuch guardians of the harems; eunuchs had been widely known in Greek, Roman, and especially Byzantine times, but it was among the Muslims and in East Asia that they were to survive longest. In Muslim countries, slavery and freedom had a much more fluid boundary than in the West, with some slaves and former slaves reaching positions of great power and prestige.
In Western Europe slavery largely disappeared by the later Middle Ages, although it still remained in such manifestations as the use of slaves on galleys. In Russia slavery persisted longer than in Western Europe, and indeed the serfs were pushed into the classification of slavery by Peter the Great.
Modern Slavery
A revolution in the institution of slavery came in the 15th and 16th cent. The explorations of the African coast by Portuguese navigators resulted in the exploitation of the African as a slave, and for nearly five centuries the predations of slave raiders along the coasts of Africa were to be a lucrative and important business conducted with appalling brutality. The British, Dutch, French, Spanish, and Portuguese all engaged in the African slave trade. Although Africans were, as early as 1440, brought back to Portugal, and although subsequent importations were large enough to change distinctly the ethnography of that country, it was not in Europe that African slavery was to be most profitable and widespread, but in the Americas, where European exploitation began at the end of the 15th cent.
The first people to be enslaved by the Spanish and Portuguese in the West Indies and Latin America were the Native Americans, but, because the majority of Native American slaves either revolted or escaped, other forms of forced labor, akin to serfdom, were introduced (see repartimiento and encomienda). The resistance of the Native Americans to slavery only increased the demand for Africans to replace them. Africans proved to be profitable laborers in the Caribbean islands and the lowlands of the South American mainland. In the colder highlands Native American slavery or quasislavery continued; long after the introduction of the first Africans the Paulistas (inhabitants of the city and state of São Paulo, Brazil) continued their slave raids against the Native Americans of the Brazilian hinterlands. But African slavery gradually became dominant.
The first Africans arrived in the British settlements on the Atlantic coast when they were traded or sold for supplies by a Dutch ship at Jamestown, Va., in 1619. They may have been indentured servants, but by the 1640s lifetime servitude existed in Virginia, and slavery was acknowledged in the laws of Massachusetts. The raising of staple crops—coffee, tobacco, sugar, rice, and, much later, cotton—and the rise of the plantation economy made the importation of slaves from Africa particularly valuable in the Southern colonies of North America. The slave trade moved in a triangle; setting out from British ports, ships would transport various goods to the western coast of Africa, where they would be exchanged for slaves. The slaves were then brought to the West Indies or to the colonies of North or South America, where they were traded for agricultural staples for the return voyage back to England. Later, New England ports were included in this last leg. The number of slaves in the colonies increased until in some (notably French Saint-Domingue, the modern Haiti) they constituted a majority of the population. In America by the date of the Declaration of Independence (1776) about one fifth of the population was enslaved.
The Antislavery Movement
The growth of humanitarian feeling during the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th cent., the spread of the ideas of Jean Jacques Rousseau and others, and the increase of democratic sentiment led to a growing attack on the slave trade. The French Revolution had a great effect not only in the spread of agitation for human rights but more directly in the uprisings in Saint-Domingue and the establishment of Haitian independence. The movement for the abolition of slavery progressed slowly in the United States during the 18th and the first half of the 19th cent. Each of the Northern states gradually abolished the practice, but the prohibition of foreign slave trade promised in the Constitution (ratified in 1789) was not realized until 1808.
In Great Britain
British humanitarians who had incorporated the abolition of slavery into their conception of Christianity labored successfully to outlaw (1807) the British slave trade. These same men, especially William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, Zachary Macaulay, and Lord Brougham (Henry Peter Brougham), continued to work for the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire, which was finally effected with the Abolition Act of 1833. However, according to some writers, the British, in abolishing slavery, were primarily motivated by economic, not humanitarian, interests. These critics argued that, while the institution produced great wealth under the mercantilist system, it became unprofitable with the rise of industrial capitalism, which displaced mercantilism early in the 19th cent. At any rate, the abolition legislation of 1833 was followed by the gradual abolition of slavery in all lands under British control, principally by the device of invalidating the legality of slavery and removing its legal safeguards, usually by recompensing the owners.
In the United States
Slavery proved unprofitable in the Northern states and by the early 19th cent. had disappeared. Its abolition had been hastened by the work of the Quakers, who, as in Great Britain, were staunchly opposed to the institution. In the South, however, where African slaves arrived in the tens of thousands from the late 17th through the early 18th cent., slavery came to be an integral part of the plantation system (especially after the introduction of the cotton gin in 1793). From the late 18th cent. to the eve of the Civil War, more than a million slaves were moved from the Eastern Seaboard to the Deep South, where many labored in the sugar and cotton fields and where, as pressures for profits increased, treatment of slaves was particularly brutal. The vast internal slave trade, which often tore slave families apart, was the South's second largest enterprise; only the plantation system itself surpassed it in size.
In the Northern United States, humanitarian principles led to the appearance of the abolitionists. They knew little of the actual conditions in the South and were fighting not for economic reform but for idealistic principles. The abolitionists in general tended to regard slavery as an unmitigated evil. The small Northern farmer also feared slavery as a system of cheap labor against which it was difficult to compete.
The South, eager to conserve the status quo, developed a bellicose defense of the system, which was hardened by such factors as the slave uprising led by Nat Turner, the troubles over fugitive slaves, and the very active propaganda against the South. The question, involving the very existence of Southern society as then organized, was the dominant one in U.S. history from 1830 to 1860. The political expression of the struggle was largely an attempt on the part of the South to maintain legislative guarantees of the system against the efforts of the abolitionists.
The chief question concerned the right of extension of slavery in the Western territories. This first became important in 1820 with the Missouri Compromise. Many leading statesmen of the time sought an answer: Henry Clay, the great compromiser; Daniel Webster; John C. Calhoun; Stephen A. Douglas, who proposed popular sovereignty as means to decide the free or slave status of territories; and the uncompromising antislavery men, such as Charles Sumner and William H. Seward. The great compromises—the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act—were ultimately ineffective.
Sectional opposition, which involved even broader questions than slavery, including the constitutional issue of states' rights, grew more passionate as the two sections became more and more hostile. The Ostend Manifesto and the proposed annexation of Cuba, the fugitive slave laws, the operations of the Underground Railroad, the furor caused by the Dred Scott Case, the Wilmot Proviso—all heightened the tension. Sporadic armed conflict erupted in Kansas and in the Harpers Ferry raid of John Brown. The struggle became more clearly defined as the Republican party was formed with a definite antislavery platform.
In the victory of the Republican presidential candidate, Abraham Lincoln (1860), the South saw a threat to Southern institutions, and the Southern states in an effort to secure those institutions resorted to secession and formed the Confederacy. The Civil War followed, and the victory of the North brought an end to slavery in the United States. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (issued in 1863, it declared all slaves in the Southern secessionist states free) was followed by other legislation, especially the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
The end of the Civil War did not result in the integration of the former slaves into American life. Although there were gains toward this under Reconstruction, these were subsequently reversed by the Jim Crow laws. Generally easily identified by the color of their skin, African Americans were subjected to segregation and other forms of discrimination practiced by most white Americans and legislated in many jurisdictions. This situation did not begin to be ameliorated until the civil-rights struggles of the 20th cent. (see civil rights; integration).
In the late 20th cent. the idea of compensating American blacks for their enslavement through some form of reparations won widespread support from African-American organizations and greater notice, although little support, from the broader society. The reparations movement was spurred in part by payments to Holocaust victims, to Japanese Americans interned during World War II, and to some Native American tribes. Unlike these groups, however, reparations for slavery would be paid to individuals who are descendants by several generations of the victims, instead of to the victims or to a tribal people. Supporters of reparations, however, argue that contemporary African Americans continue to suffer from the vestiges of slavery and the discrimination that followed emancipation.
In Other Countries
In other countries emancipation of slaves was also a serious problem, but never to such an extent as in the United States, chiefly perhaps because the question of race prejudice was nowhere else so important. As the South American nations gained independence, they broadened their democratic principles to include absolute prohibition of slavery (Chile in 1823, Central America in 1824, Mexico in 1829, and Bolivia in 1831) or gradual emanicpation (Argentina in 1813, Colombia in 1814, and Venezuela in 1821). In Brazil the opposition of the planters to abolishing slavery was strong, and it was only after a series of rather ineffective measures that the slaves were emancipated in 1888. Opposition to that action helped to launch the revolution of 1889.
In later years the slave trade was conducted on the east coast of Africa, the market being in Muslim lands. Most antislavery efforts during the 19th cent. were directed against slave trading. Great Britain had passed antislave-trade laws in 1807 and 1811; the British attempted to enlist other nations in an effort to stop the slave trade, and several treaties for such a purpose were signed in the 1840s. However, the first important international agreement was not reached until the Berlin Conference in 1885, which bound the more important Muslim potentates to act against the slave traffic. This was supplemented by the even more significant Brussels Act of 1890, to which 18 states were signatory.
The emperor of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) was unable to prevent traffic from that land to Arabia, and a brisk trade went on over the Red Sea. International scandals occurred from time to time with regard to forced labor; three notable ones concerned the Congo, Liberia, and the Putumayo region of Peru in the 1930s (Native American servitude). The League of Nations adopted the resolutions of the International Slavery Convention of 1926, which was considered an advance over the Brussels Act of 1890; its main weakness was in not providing a permanent commission to oversee the total abolition of slavery. Slavery continued to exist in parts of Asia, the Middle East, and, despite increasingly successful efforts to abolish it, in various parts of Africa.
The United Nations has continued the efforts of the League of Nations to achieve worldwide abolition of slavery. The Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly in 1948, contained a provision prohibiting slavery or trading in slaves. The Security Council in 1954 condemned systems of forced labor, particularly those employed as a means of political coercion. In 1956 a UN conference of plenipotentiaries adopted a convention on the abolition of slavery; an important aspect of the convention was the inclusion of other institutions similar to slavery as practices to be abolished. However, a report prepared for the United Nations in 1966 charged that slavery still existed in parts of Africa and Asia.
Although efforts to end involuntary servitude continued throughout the last half of the 20th cent., by the beginning of the 21st cent. forms of slavery, forced, or bonded labor still persisted in a number of countries, e.g., Mauritania, Niger, and Sudan in Africa, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand, and parts of the Persian Gulf region in Asia, and the Amazon region of Brazil. More isolated instances have been occasionally revealed elsewhere, e.g., involving Asian immigrants in the United States and sub-Saharan African migrants in parts of Libya. In many cases of forced labor, workers have been deceptively recruited in their home countries and then deprived of their passports and forced to work under altered contractual terms once they have arrived in a foreign country.
See W. E. B. Du Bois, The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, 1638–1870 (1896, repr. 1970); A. H. Abel, The Slaveholding Indians (3 vol., 1915–25; repr. 1970); R. H. Barrow, Slavery in the Roman Empire (1928, repr. 1968); U. B. Phillips, Life and Labor in the Old South (1929, repr. 1963); W. L. Westermann, Upon Slavery in Ptolemaic Egypt (1929); W. L. Mathieson, British Slavery and Its Abolition, 1823–1838 (1926, repr. 1967), Great Britain and the Slave Trade, 1839–1865 (1929, repr. 1967), and British Slave Emancipation, 1838–1849 (1932, repr. 1967); E. Donnan, ed., Documents Illustrative of the History of the Slave Trade to America (4 vol., 1930–35; repr. 1965); G. MacMann, Slavery through the Ages (1938); R. Coupland, The Exploitation of East Africa, 1856–1890: The Slave Trade and the Scramble (1939, repr. 1968); I. E. Edwards, Towards Emancipation: A Study in South African Slavery (1942); E. Williams, Capitalism and Slavery (1944, repr. 1964); Fisk Univ., Social Science Institute, Unwritten History of Slavery: Autobiographical Account of Negro Ex-Slaves (1945, repr. 1970); G. Freyre, The Masters and the Slaves: A Study in the Development of Brazilian Civilization (tr. 1946; 2d ed. 1956, repr. 1963); I. Mendelsohn, Slavery in the Ancient Near East (1949); K. Stampp, The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South (1956); C. W. W. Greenidge, Slavery (1958); M. I. Finley, ed., Slavery in Classical Antiquity (1960, repr. 1968); S. O'Callaghan, The Slave Trade Today (1962); D. P. Mannix, Black Cargoes: A History of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1518–1865 (with M. Cowley, 1962); J. Williamson, After Slavery (1965); D. B. Davis, The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture (1966), The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770–1823 (1975), and The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation (2014); A. Zilversmidt, The First Emancipation: The Abolition of Slavery in the North (1967); S. M. Elkins, Slavery (2d ed. 1968); A. Weinstein, ed., American Negro Slavery: A Modern Reader (1968); L. Foner and E. D. Genovese, ed., Slavery in the New World (1969); D. L. Robinson, Slavery in the Structure of American Politics, 1765–1820 (1970); R. S. Starobin, Industrial Slavery in the Old South (1970); J. Coughtry, The Notorious Triangle (1971); A. J. Lane, ed., The Debate over Slavery (1971); R. W. Winks, Slavery: A Comparative Perspective (1972); R. Fogel and S. Engerman, Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery (1974); E. D. Genovese, Roll Jordan Roll: The World the Slaves Made (1974); J. A. Rawley, The Transatlantic Slave Trade (1981); E. Fox-Genovese, Within the Plantation Household (1988); C. B. Dew, Bond of Iron (1994); H. Thomas, The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440–1870 (1997); P. D. Morgan, Slave Counterpoint (1998); K. Bales, Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy (1999); J. H. Franklin and L. Schweninger, Runaway Slaves (1999); R. L. Paquette and L. A. Ferleger, ed., Slavery, Secession, and Southern History (2000); R. Segal, Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora (2001); I. Berlin, Many Thousands Gone (1998) and Generations of Captivity: A History of African-American Slaves (2003); A. Hochschild, Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves (2005); S. Deyle, Carry Me Back (2005); E. Fox-Genovese and E. D. Genovese, The Mind of the Master Class (2005); S. Schama, Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution (2006); D. A. Blackmon, Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II (2008); Y. Rotman, Byzantine Slavery and the Mediterranean World (2009); S. Drescher, Abolition: A History of Slavery and Antislavery (2009); G. W. Van Cleve, A Slaveholders' Union: Slavery, Politics, and the Constitution in the Early American Republic (2010); D. Eltis and D. Richardson, Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (2010); H. Zinn, The Other Civil War: Slavery and Struggle in Civil War America (2011); J. Oakes, Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861–1865 (2012); W. Johnson, River of Dark Dreams: Slavery and Empire in the Cotton Kingdom (2013); E. E. Baptist, The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism (2014); D. B. Davis, The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation (2014); R. S. Dunn, A Tale of Two Plantations: Slave Life and Labor in Jamaica and Virginia (2014); G. Grandin, The Empire of Necessity (2014).


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Shawn Carter - Go Get 'Em [Unsigned Hype]
Shawn Carter 'Go Get 'Em'
Gadhafi D's Beatz mixtape (available on datpiff.com)
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Crystal Crypt – Side A (The Beyond / II / Worlds Apart / Damaged) (Native Parts)
This is a side project of Johannes Brander, the dude behind Native Parts Recordings and the band Skogar. Pretty much consistently awesome in everything he does. This tape is a little bit of a sidestep from Skogar, venturing into the sounds of horror soundtracks and evil realms. Part Goblin synth snippets, part crumbling fuckery, lots of weirdness, and all manner of dark & dank. Like a cult of savages from the deep, who care not for fidelity nor beauty, but have occasional moments of tenderness, the sheets of guitar feedback seamlessly making way for light drones and vocals. Very cool shit right here, definitely hoping these 20 minutes are only a taste of more to come.
Crystal Crypt – II (Native Parts, 2011)January 9, 2012
- Categories: Album Reviews


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Posts tagged 'typewriters'
is it just me, or do you also find it easier to write in some places than others?
January 15, 2012
Don't ask me why, but I've been thinking about my writing habits today — and how they've changed over the years. No less weird, just different.
When I first started to write professionally we didn't have computers; and yes, I did hesitate to 'say' that out loud for fear that you'd immediately jump to the wrong conclusion: No, I am not living in a nursing home. I have all my teeth. I do not drool. I have no need for adult diapers, pureed food, pull-on pants or a walker. I was born post WWII, and 1984 (when Apple was launched) is not really that long ago.
I'm just saying.
So … back then we didn't have computers. We did have typewriters , but I didn't use one — at least not to 'create'. My preference was to write everything out by hand; and only when I had a draft that I liked, did I type it up. Even more bizarre, though, was the fact that I never used a whole piece of paper (I promise I am much more environmentally conscious/friendly now). In fact I probably went through a pound of paper each time I wrote something.
I'd write a line on one sheet, then a couple of lines on another sheet, a thought here, a thought there — and on and on it went. Once I had some critical mass, I'd start weaving all those thoughts and words and sentences together until I had a few paragraphs I liked — which could have taken countless tries on countless sheets of paper. Then I'd carry on — again using many sheets of paper for many versions — until eventually, I'd have enough to type my first draft — which I'd edit by writing all over it, making the changes in pen, first.
I simply could not seem to sit at a typewriter and write from scratch. I also needed total silence. And every couple of sentences I had to have a cigarette and a cup of coffee.
In 1985 I moved to Toronto (from Montreal) to work for the ad agency, Ogilvy & Mather. Needless to say we all had Macs. Mine collected dust. I continued to work the way I always had, until one day another writer — who had been watching me in disbelief (and disgust, and probably pity) for months and months — came into my office and shut the door. She told me that she wasn't going to leave until I started to use my computer.
I gave her every reason why I couldn't, shouldn't and wouldn't and it all fell on deaf ears. She removed everything I'd piled on top of it, dusted it off, turned it on and sat down next to me — ready to start my tutorial. I don't know if she follows my blog but just in case, "Thank you, Erin Moore!" But the little writing muse inside my head was still hooked on quiet, coffee and cigarettes (I had an ashtray the size of a spare tire and it was always filled to the brim with smoldering butts).
Until I decided to quit smoking when all the anti-smoking laws started taking effect in Toronto — which dates back about 20 years. Agency management were quite concerned — they were worried that my productivity and my ability to write might be negatively impacted. Truth be told I think they were also worried about mood swings. Smoking is an addiction, after all. As I recall they did check my office for sharp objects and I also remember that my letter opener mysteriously disappeared one day. Yep, you got that right — instead of encouraging me to stop, they encouraged me to "think it over carefully, and not to rush into anything." Only half in jest, by the way.
I quit cold turkey and thankfully my talent stayed intact. I did have the odd tantrum but I don't think the lack of nicotine had anything to do with it — probably had a lot more to do with difficult deadlines and unnecessary revisions (I am all for constructive criticism — it's the minutia that kills me. All would not really be lost if we didn't change the comma to a semi-colon, would it?)
And that was the way I worked for quite a while (with my door closed and bottles of water by my side) — until 2000, in fact. That was the year I was recruited to be a partner in an independent start-up agency. Up until this point you were defined by how big your office was, whether or not you had a window(s), whether or not you had a couch etc. But now 'cool' was large, open-concept, loft-like offices with brick walls, wood floors (or industrial carpet), high ceilings with exposed pipes and play areas (pool tables or basketball hoops or putting greens etc.).
So that's what we went for. Most of the people in our agency hated the idea — at least at first. For some unknown reason I absolutely loved it. It was so much more collaborative. And honestly, when I was engrossed in what I was doing I totally blocked out any conversations people were having. I never heard a word and I was never distracted.
Now I work alone, from home. When I first went out on my own I furnished myself a lovely home office. Good lighting. A nice desk. A fabulously comfortable, ergonomic Aeron chair, bookshelves, good storage space — everything you'd need and want.
I hate working in there. I don't work in there.
If I must work from home, I prefer my dining room table. Why? God knows. I guess some things don't have to make sense.
What I've realized is, I don't like working at home because it's too quiet. And by quiet, I don't mean I want noise. Playing music or putting on the TV don't help. In fact they make it worse. It's the 'sound' of human energy I crave. It's a 'buzz'.
So now I work most of the time at Starbucks — primarily because there's one just across the street from where I live. But I have worked at other cafes and all sorts of public places; and while they're all pretty good, some are better than others. There are some Starbucks I don't like. The buzz isn't right for some reason. Again, don't ask me why. Just one of my peculiarities, I guess. It appears that I'm not just strange, I'm also picky.
But it is working for me, so who am I to question it.
What about you? I'm curious about your writing habits. Hope you take the time to share them.


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