text:
After being warned by multiple people not to wait until the last second to get our marriage license we decided to run by the Courthouse the Tuesday before Christmas. I didn't think that it would be a huge ordeal and I have to say that the city of Decatur made it quite easy. We had been to visit Deaner's grandparents that weekend in Virginia and we were each given a crisp twenty dollar bill for Christmas. Typically we would have thrown the cash in our "kitty" (which is really a giant plastic Ole Miss beer bottle) and saved it for our next vacation, however, it dawned on me while we were driving home that Deaner's grandparents have been married for more than 60 years. That is longer than some people live! So what better way to spend our $40 than on our marriage license! What a great blessing to have our marriage license given to us by two people who have been married for 62 years. If Deaner and I live to be married for 62 years he will be 94 years old and I will be 90. It's a long shot but we will see!
The point of this post is to share a tidbit that gave me a pretty good laugh. I am still mad at myself that I didn't have a camera with me but apparently some others before me thought it crazy enough to capture for themselves and I didn't have any trouble finding a photo online. The room where couples obtain their marriage license just so happens to be housed in the same room where one can obtain a pistol license. WHAT? Does anyone else think this is odd? Is this only in the Decatur, GA courthouse or has anyone see this anywhere else? I wonder if anyone has actually gone and gotten a marriage license AT THE SAME TIME that they picked up a pistol license? The innuendo is hilarious. That is definitely some one stop shopping! A person can marry their spouse (legally) and shoot them (well the gun would be legal) all with a visit to room B190! Deaner thought that it was hilarious to repeatedly tell me that he might pick up a pistol license, just in case. I am sure that the people working in that office haven't heard that one before! It's really too bad that we only had $11 leftover after paying for our marriage license and the pistol license was $42.25. Darn!
All and all the sign made for a humorous experience. I am sure that it will continue to draw chuckles for as long as both of those licenses' can be obtained in the same room. I recommend bringing a camera if you are ever heading in this direction.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Marriage and Pistol License
Posted by Gleatie at 10:58 AM 2 comments
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Confessions From a Pastel Book Addict
I consider myself a pretty avid reader among other things. I doubt that I am alone in confessing my love for Ann M. Martin and the Babysitter Club Series or Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley Twins when I was growing up. Does anyone else remember the Scholastic Club Book flimsy little catalog (if you do remember, I know you are thinking that this was hardly a catalog) that came home with students once a month from school from which you could order books? I certainly do. Practically every month there was a new Babysitter Club book that I was DYING to have. How did Ann M. Martin write so quickly?? And a better question, why would my mom only let me have ONE A MONTH?? It isn't like they broke the bank at a whopping $4.95! If only good books came at a price like that these days! Looking back on my mom's reluctance to indulge me constantly with books that I finished in a matter of 24 hours, I am starting to realize that it might have had less to do with bank rolling books #1 thru #4298 and more to do with encouraging a broader horizon and refining my taste in literature. HA! I am not sure what exactly counted as "literature" when I was ten years old but we weren't allowed to check out Judy Blume books in my school library until 6th, 7th, and 8th grade due to the inappropriate content. While I willingly read books that were not part of numbered series and had many many favorites (Wayside School Is Falling Down) I have never been able to shake the habit of a good pastel colored book.
Before I go more into detail about my poor reading habits I do feel like it is worth mentioning that I was an English major in college. So I have, in fact, actually read plenty of what would be considered "real literature". I know it exists, I just choose not to read it anymore. I hope that my friend Laura eventually reads this post because I am about to place some of the blame for this on her. Laura was my English teacher in high school and we have remained friends for the past 13 years now. I used to rely on her as my previewer/critic for 90% of my leisure reading, post college. She would read the book and pass it on to me if it was worth reading. It worked well for both of us (well, I'm not sure how much she benefited from it) as we both read quickly and in great quantities. Easy enough, right? WRONG. I would blame her children if I didn't love them so much but after her 2nd beautiful boy was born, her free time to read went out the window. Without the higher quality books being placed before me at our weekly lunches, what was I left to do?
I should have known it was bad when early in our relationship Deaner made the comment that the only books I ever read were pink. I couldn't even deny it. Everything I own has a pastel cover but my bookcases are so colorful and beautiful! Deaner could drop by Barnes and Noble to pick something up for himself and pick out ANY book for me as long as the color was right. I have read hundreds of them. I even started a book last year and didn't realize I had already read it (the cover WAS different) until about 35 pages into it. The first time I met Deaner's father and step-mother we were taking a vacation to Las Vegas. I can't believe I am going to admit this but I was reading a book called 32AA and the cover was pink with a bra strap across the cover. I made very sure to tell him not to mention my book in front of his family because it was embarrassing, even to me. So what does he do? Ten minutes after sitting down in the Crown Room Deaner pulls my book out of our carry on and announces that it was the book I was currently reading. I was mortified. What didn't he understand about "don't show your family my book"? I feel certain his step-mother still recalls it vividly. The fight that followed is irrelevant to this particular post! :)
SO....here I am admitting my addiction. I am pretty much past the point of hiding it. Pastel color books are books too and they deserve to be read! I am sad that they will have to go to storage when I move to Germany! Maybe by time I come home I can just start over at the beginning........until then, I am ALWAYS looking for suggestions!
Posted by Gleatie at 7:53 PM 4 comments
Sunday, December 28, 2008
It's not all Sound of Music-esque!
I am starting to have more than just second thoughts on this whole move out of the country. I have been to Germany multiple times and have always felt like Germans have been some of the more friendly Europeans that I have encountered. One of the most popular gifts this Christmas for Deaner and myself was to buy us books about Germany. We are now the proud owners of no fewer than 7 books on every German subject known to man. Don't get me wrong, we are both very grateful to have a wealth of knowledge at our finger tips, but I am getting nervous after reading a selection from "When in Germany, Do As The Germans Do". I have only read one page from this book and thought I would share some pointers from the "Rules for Dealing with Germans" section. There seems to be only 6 small things that I should keep in mind as I venture on towards my new life abroad.
1. Remember that Germans really hate rule breakers! (excellent, I'll keep this in mind when I am tempted stray)
2. Germans and Americans do not think and act alike in social and business situations -- especially in first encounters. Get over the myth that "we're all basically alike". It sounds good, but this mind-set is counterproductive.
3. Germans tend to be blunt, frank, and--to Anglo-American eyes--tactless in certain situations. They tend to correct you when you don't want to be corrected. (great, I won't be nervous a bit!)
4. Germans aren't into "idle chatter." (note to self, do not share blogspot) They don't really care if you "have a nice day" and consider the saying a symbol of American superficiality. They don't want to talk about (a) their jobs (b) their kids or family, or (c) the weather with a stranger.
5. Germans have been known to smile, but unnecessary smiling is frowned upon. A German needs a good reason to smile. In fact, excessive smiling for most Europeans is an indication of weak mindedness. Don't overdo smiling around Germans. At heart, Germans are pessimists, and they enjoy their pessimism. Don't deprive them of that pleasure. Never try and tell a joke. It takes years to delve into the German sense of humor.
6. Learn to accept all these rules. Learn to adjust to Germans, don't expect them to adjust to you.
The endnote to these rules reads "There are a few Germans who don't fit the preceding rules, but all six of them are now living in the United States and Canada." Nice. Just makes me so excited to transplant myself to this country! My personal favorite is rule #5. I will really have to get all my excessive smiling under control! :) Oops.
Posted by Gleatie at 9:33 PM 3 comments
Saturday, December 27, 2008
October 23, 1991
One of the best gifts my father ever gave me. Written by him back when I was in 5th grade. I remember every bit of it. Especially how ticked he was when he took my mom back the next night!
By Fred Gleaton:
"Last night I had one of those sorts of experiences that every person imagines having when they are trying convince themselves to step into the realm of parenthood. After two-thirds of my life, about ten last place finishes, two playoff flameouts, and eleven years of diaper changing, back patting, butt spanking, and school tuition, I took Sarah Gleaton to the first world series game ever played in Atlanta. Maybe the Braves were just waiting all these years for me to have such a special World Series date.
Twenty-five years ago my father brought me up from south Georgia for the first major league baseball game I ever saw. I was 14 and my father was 49. It was the first major league game he ever saw, too. I remember just about everything about it. We came up on a Friday night so that my sister and mother could shop for my sister's wedding dress. The women headed for Rich's at the earliest hour of merchandising. My father and I say in in our room at the Holiday Inn on Monroe Drive all Saturday morning watching it rain and thinking that we would never get to see our game. The rain stopped about lunchtime, and the rest is history of sort.
It was the Chicago Cubs: Ernie Banks, Glenn Beckert, Don Kessinger, and Ron Santo in the infield, with Randy Hundley behind the plate. Billy Williams and George Altman played in the outfield. I don't remember who started the game or who played third outfield spot for the Cubs, but I remember every Brave: Rico Carty, Mack Jones, and Henry Aaron in the outfield, Lee Thomas, Woody Woodward, Dennis Menke, and Eddie Matthews in the infield, and Joe Torre catching. Wade Blasingame started, but neither he nor the unknown Cub lasted for long.
Billy Williams hit the first home run I eve saw and it is still one of the most impressive ones I remember: a line drive the first baseman actually leapt for but which cleared the fence in right field never having gone more than about 20 feet the ground. George Altman hit one about four rows short of the club level in right. Henry Aaron homered to tie the game at nine in the ninth, and Hundley won it for the Cubs with one in the tenth. Along the way, Ted Abernathy, the only submarineballer of the time, relieved for the Cubs and Clay Carroll took a turn for our side. Chi Chi Olivo, the fat Brave reliever, hit one to the centerfield fence in the bottom of the ninth before coming out in the tenth and giving up Hundley's game winner.
I have been to a lot of other game since then. Certainly some were more exciting, a very few were more significant, but apparently none were as memorable, at least until last night.
I will probably always remember a few things about the game, but a slate with 38 years of writing on it loses a bit of its legibility: Tomahawks and homer hankies, Avery's pitching (God, he is only 21), Belliard's RBI (it's gotta be da hat), Justice's and Smith's homers (justice atoning for several bonehead plays and Lonnie in the Series with his fourth different team), a won game seemingly snatched away by Chili Davis, four winning runs left in scoring position in the last five innings by the Minnesota Twins, the longer World Series game in 75 years, Lemke's twelfth-inning hit, and Justice touching all the bases. All were special, but none were as memorable to me than spending four hours and four minutes watching a beautiful 11 year old girl on the edge of being a lot older, know knows all the players' names, who knows your're supposed to hit the cut-off man and understands the double switch, have the time of her life. She wasn't tired, she only to school all day, won a tennis match in a tie breaker against a kid who hadn't lost all season, and spend six hours at the ballpark. She wore her tomahawk earrings, she chopped and chanted, chided Hrbek and derided the organist, cheered for Justice, and groaned for Clancey.
What a game. What a kid. All that and tonight I get to take her mother right back to the same place. Two great dates in a row. Life is good..............."
Who wouldn't have read this a million times?
Posted by Gleatie at 12:29 AM 3 comments
Friday, December 26, 2008
Impending Post-Season has me thinking......
As the end of college football season is rapidly approaching, I have been reflecting on post seasons of my childhood. The post season did not always end in the beginning of January. There was a time when the Atlanta Braves reigned supreme and the post season was over by mid to late October. I am of course referring to the infamous Atlanta Braves. How could one forget the worst to first season of 1991? I was at the ripe age of 11 and quite into the season to say the least. I didn't take on hobbies lightly, a quality I still possess today, and was proud to say that I attended 18 home games that season. I don't really want to discuss the outcome of the series. It is a wrinkle in time (bad literary comparison but still sounds good) that most Atlantans prefer not to remember. But I can recall almost every moment of the series and I know that makes me only one of several.
I was cut from the same cloth that my father was. There is no mistaking that. When I turned 25 years old he deemed that I was old enough to possess my "personal profile" and with that, I was given a legal file containing my most inportant documents. Along with several gold coins (sweet, gold is at an all time high!), my social security card, and my baptismal certificate, some of the most awesome documents I would ever read were bestowed upon me. My dad took me to Game 4 of the 1991 World Series. The first game ever to be played in Atlanta Fulton County Sadium. Up until this point my claim to fame was my Dale Murphy autographed baseball, given to me by my very generous cousin, Frank B (surely he knew what a treasure he was giving up???). But there was an essay that my dad gave me that was authored on October 23, 1991 that I have read multiple times since that date has past and I figure any baseball fan will enjoy. Since this post is already long enough, I will include the essay/short story on my next post. Feel free to comment as I feel it warrants comments, and selfishly, I have never received a comment! Hope you enjoy it as much as I have!!!
Posted by Gleatie at 11:39 PM 1 comments
Monday, December 22, 2008
My Unnatural Obsession
I feel like my past few posts have poked fun at Deaner a bit so I am about to call myself out big time here. Every January I have a feeling of impending doom as bowl games wrap up and I am facing seven full months without college football. As we approach September every year I start to plan ahead and speculate about the upcoming season. I make no apologies for my behavior and the smack talk comes naturally to me. Until last year, these intense feelings of excitement for the upcoming football season have been limited to college football only. Professional football has never meant a thing to me until the infamous day when I received an invitation from a college friend to participate in a fantasy football league. I really had no idea how this would come to affect my life for 17 weeks a year. All this fun for $20 a year?!? Count me in until I am 99 years old!
Last year I was a very mediocre fantasy football team owner. I set my schedule every week and made sure that all my positions were filled each week but I never made trades, hardly checked the waiver wire, and was never looking ahead to the future. I should have known how bad things would get when the draft was scheduled on my birthday and I was set to have dinner with my parents at the same time the draft was supposed to start. Most normal people would have preset their draft order and let things fall into place. Our dinner reservations were for 7. My mom and dad, my sister and her fiance, deaner, myself, and my laptop. I just couldn't bring myself to auto draft. I know, an illness in the making.
My first three round draft picks were as follows: Ryan Grant, Willie Parker, and Derek Anderson. I know this probably doesn't mean a lot to most of my readers but I can only say that these 3 players, seemingly my most solid reliable players, have been my worst nightmare. Willie Parker has been the bain of my existence for the past 16 weeks. He has a hurt knee, he's on the bench, nope now he is coming back, psych, he is still out, oops, now his shoulder is hurt. Jesus Christ! Just retire if you are going to be such a baby! And don't think I will ever draft you again! Parker was a bigger bust for me than Marc Bulger was last year, and his name still sends a chill down my spine. Anyways, I experienced several low points this season as my neurotic obsession reached new heights, and I think that my actions warrant a bit of poking fun of myself. At least I KNOW that this is insane.
1. Back in week 3 of the season I was playing a friend of mine from Memphis. The game came down to the Monday Night Matchup. I had to fight sleep to the end of the game but my kicker kicked a field goal with 19 seconds to play in the game and I went ahead of my opponent by 2 points to win the game. I promptly fell asleep.........but only to dream all night long that ESPN had made a scoring mistake, or that I had not seen the field goal correctly, or that somehow my points got taken away and I lost. I was exhausted at work the next day and figured I was slowly losing my mind.
2. Sometime around the middle of the season, the league leader made a severe mistake. Like a little baby, he posted a message to the league that neither of his two quarterbacks could play that week for some reason or another and he was being forced to drop Tony Romo. Who by the way was on a HOT streak. This MAN asked for nobody to pick Romo up because he still needed him and wanted to pick him back up after the week's games. Uhhhhh, I think not. I announced that if he was dropping Romo, he was free game. This started a rather heated debate about how rude I was but I really didn't care. It wasn't until I was setting my alarm clock for 2:55 a.m. on a Tuesday morning to get out of the bed, boot up my laptop, and get to Romo before the other guy did (3 a.m. EST is when Romo would be available for pick-up), that Deaner pointed out that I had clearly lost my mind. Sigh. He was right. I did let the other guy get up in the middle of the night to re-claim his QB but my dreams of snatching out from under someone else were very vivid.
3. The final low came last night as I was watching the Monday Night Game and pulling for Matt Forte. I am in the semi finals this week and if I beat my opponent I advance to the final game. $175 is on the line here! All of my players did terrible this week. I should have beat this guy handily and yet going into the game I was only leading by 5 points. No room to feel comfortable at all! I had Forte left to play and my opponent had Donald Driver. Oh course the Bears had a terrible first half and Forge wasn't running the ball AT ALL. Driver was looking like one of Rogers favorite targets of the evening. Not a good thing. When Deaner shouted to me in the kitchen that Donald Driver had just gotten hurt and was being taken off the field, my immediate response was, "ON A STRETCHER?" Oh no, that is bad. My first thought was that I hoped he was hurt badly enough to have to leave for the rest of the game. That would ensure my win right? Unfortunately for me Driver was back in the game after a few plays. Fortunatly for me, Forte scored and solidified my win. Next week is the championship game. I'm not sure my nerves can take it.
So, only one more week of fantasy football. I can't say I am relieved because despite the stress that it causes me on a day to day basis from September-December, I am really going to miss playing! It gives purpose to my Sunday afternoons in the fall/winter! But the end of the season does promise that I will be less irritable, way less crabby, and might even venture away from the lap top on a Sunday afternoon. A few years ago my father made a statement that I believe is extremely appropriate and applies well to my life. After a UGA loss to Auburn in the last minute of the game in 2005, and a trial schedule start date set for that Monday morning (he's a lawyer, not a criminal), he stated that he was envious of those who did not get into college football, for SURELY their lives were easier than his. I agree wholeheartedly. While I would never give up my love for the game, I am certain that my life would be easier without the anxiety and angst that football brings into my life. But how would I fill those 5 months?? I'm totally sticking with it......
Posted by Gleatie at 11:04 PM 2 comments
Sunday, December 21, 2008
The Unfortunate Allergy...
Sometime during last football season Deaner and I decided that we would have a chili cookoff and invite our parents over to be the judges. We are both extremely competitive and stood firm in our individual belief that we each made the best chili. There is no need to mention who won the competition (me) but we discovered something much more interesting. Don't ask me why but Deaner decided that he was going to chop up no less than a pound of cilantro for his chili. Shortly after he demonstrated his excellent knife skills he started to complain that his sinuses were bothering him. Since there was nothing wrong with him prior to us starting to cook, I did think it was sort of odd. When the congestion and scratchy throat didn't subside for the next 72 hours we chalked it up to him having cold and I never thought about it again. This past Thursday we went out to a new mexican restaurant. Deaner ordered some sort of tacos and it came with a bowl of chopped up cilantro. After complaining about how bland the tacos were, he proceeded to load up each of the three tacos with the cilantro. 20 minutes later he couldn't breathe out of his nose and his throat was scratchy. This has seemingly confirmed what we suspected last year. He does in fact have an allergy to, of all things, cilantro. Who would have ever thought?? Today is Sunday and he is still having issues. Now the funny part begins.....
Deaner is acting as though this new found allergy is going to be the death of him. On the six hour drive up here to Virginia I was telling him about my friend, Christina, who really does have a deadly allergy to peanuts. I told him the story about how in 6th grade someone accidently wiped peanut butter across Christina's forehead at a "Double Dare" birthday party. She had to be picked up and taken to the emergency room. Just from having peanut contact on her skin! Think about if she actually ATE a peanut. You can imagine my surprise when Deaner responded "that sounds a lot like my allergy"..........huh????? You cannot be serious! While I know that he was partially kidding, I realized that he really does this that his new found allergy is serious! I wonder if we are going to have to start inquiring in restaurants if certain dishes are prepared without cilantro?? Maybe we will have to start dining only in "cilantro free" environments!! :)
Luckily enough, I think that Deaner's allergy is going to be just fine. I don't think that we will be making any trips to the emergency room if we do happen upon an accidental ingestion. Just as good that we know about it now. I don't think I can take another 30 minutes in the Food Lion in Danville browsing the immense selection of Food Lion brand decongestants!
Posted by Gleatie at 3:54 PM 1 comments
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Thank goodness for aircards....
Every Christmas Deaner and I go about the task of accommodating both of our family's and making sure that we get to spend time with everyone. This is no small task for us and for the third consecutive year I think we will be split up on Christmas Day. Yesterday we made the trek to Virginia to visit his grandparents and we will be here until Monday. I don't have much to report today since there isn't a whole lot going on in the booming metropolis of Danville, VA! About two hours into the drive Deaner turned to me in the car and asked if we had unplugged the Christmas tree at home before we left. Uhhhhh......of course we did! I mean, I am pretty sure we did........Fine, I really have no idea if we did or not. Look at the brightside, we might not need to worry about selling the condo before we move to Germany! I'm just hoping that all my beautifully wrapped gifts (I am very much a freak when it comes to wrapping gifts) are not going up in flames as we speak. Surely one of us unplugged the tree! Can the fire department really tell exactly where a fire starts?? Anyways, last night we got into town and met Deaner's sister and brother-in-law for a late dinner and large beers. It is always great to see them and I really enjoy their company. Last night we all enjoyed each other's company a little too much! Shouts for Uncle Deaner came very early this morning!
This afternoon we took a trip out to one of Deaner's favorite restaurants in Danville. There is not a whole lot here folks but this burger joint that sits on the edge of town has been around as long as Deaner has. And I am pretty sure it has been that long since any sort of updating has been done. I'm always shocked to walk in and see people smoking cigarettes while they are eating their food!! People are still allowed to smoke in restaurants?? It's no Ritz Carlton but it is worth the trip so that Deaner can eat his pink hotdogs and smushed chili cheeseburger! If you haven't showered for the day, wait until after you dine here!
While on the surface it doesn't seem like there is much to do here, I always enjoy making our rounds of the normal shopping. I picked up the cutest note cards at Tuesday Morning! They also had Container Store wrapping paper in cute bold colors. I got two rolls of lime green paper for $1.49!! I love finding deals! I could spend way too much time browsing in there. The biggest bonus was a semi celebrity sighting on the way home. Danville's biggest claim to fame (forget about that Last Capital of the Confederacy bit....) Johnny Fairplay!! What? You don't know who that is!?! Good! You probably shouldn't! However, Johnny Fairplay is the infamous Survivor contestant that lied about his grandmother dying to advance in the game. He has a nice long list of reality television shows on his resume including my person favorite, Kill Reality. Fairplay likes to lead a quiet inconspicuous life. HA! Last time we saw him he was driving an ORANGE car with the license plate FAIRPLA. Today I happened to glance over into the next lane and saw the FAIRPLA plate looking back me. There must not be a lot of demand for reality television stars around this time of year! It brought back memories of our last Christmas visit when I spotted him in a bar with his pregnant America's Next Top Model girlfriend. I asked him if he might take a picture with me using my camera phone. I know, classy.......Fairplay was happy to oblige...........once I went and found him 5 cigarettes! WHAT?? What a turd! I can hardly admit that I shamelessly went on an expedition, bummed 5 cigarettes, and presented them to J.F. I don't like to be reminded of it when I run across the picture still saved on my phone! Anyways...
Who knows what the night will hold for us tonight!? Hopefully not the bar formerly known as the Gas Light Grill which is housed in the Confort Inn. My clothes will never recover if I subject them to that amount of cigarette smoke a second night in a row! Neither will my head forgive me in the morning after another night of $2 draft beer. :) I'm thinking that we will go high class tonight and upgrade to Buffalo Wild Wing! At least they have a glass divider between the smoking and non-smoking areas! I am just happy that I will be spending time with my future mother-in-law, sister and brother-in-law, and both of my nephews to be. I count myself lucky to be marrying into such a wonderful family.........
Posted by Gleatie at 5:32 PM 0 comments
Monday, December 15, 2008
Details details details.....
What is it with men and their lack of attention to detail? A few nights after Deaner was offered this new position in Germany we went out to dinner and brought along a legal pad to make a list of questions we had. My main questions included things like what sort of health insurance benefits would we have? Is our housing allowance paid to us upfront or do we have to prove our expenses and be reimbursed? Would we have access to military base physicians? How does one even go about obtaining a mortgage in Germany? All very legitimate questions in my opinion and things that we needed the answers to upfront. Deaner had a conference call with the HR coordinator the next day and I left him with the list of questions feeling quite sure I would feel more informed after his phone call. WRONG. Did his mind go blank as soon as he got on the phone call? I did learn that we would keep his Blue Cross Blue Shield but that was about it! I have pretty much had to take matters into my own hands! Lucky for me a good friend of mine is a blogger in NYC and sent me a blog that she said I might enjoy reading. It is written by a girl exactly my age, from the States, in a very similar situation. Her husband is in the military and she has been living in Germany for around three years. I started at the beginning and and kept reading until the present! I learned more reading her blog than Deaner could find out with a direct line to Germany! I e-mailed this author and was surprised to hear back from her in a matter of hours! She has been so helpful and I appreciate all her information greatly! My new found friend has put me in touch with a friend of hers who recently purchased a home in Germany. After contacting her I feel like I am ready to purchase a house before even moving! Don't worry, I won't be that dumb, but this whole "blogging world" has been a wealth of information! While Deaner has been e-mailing me information on Mexican restaurants in our new city, I have been able to inform him about how we will seek shelter when we move! I'm still far from knowing everything that I need to in order to feel comfortable moving but I am a lot closer than when I started!
Posted by Gleatie at 8:35 PM 1 comments
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Oh the joys of being catholic
Unfortunately for Deaner, it was never an option for him that we would be getting married in the Catholic Church. I grew up Catholic and went to Catholic school from kindergarten through 12th grade. For the boy that started off as Baptist and morphed into a Presbyterian, I knew this would be more religious preparation than he cared for. In all fairness, he has been a pretty good sport. We asked the Monsignor in my church to marry us as I had known him since grade school. I thought the world of him so it was the obvious choice. Deaner and I began our marriage preparation on October 20th by meeting with Monsignor on a Monday night. Deaner had never met Monsignor before but was quickly fond of him and even helped him arrange his newest golf trophy that had been delivered to the church that afternoon. At the end of the meeting Monsignor told us that he would probably only need to meet with us one more time before March. SCORE! Everyone knows that this is getting off VERY easily. The entire way home we talked about how great Monsignor was and that we were both very excited for him to marry us. Well, my mom called me 10 days later at work and told me that Monsignor had passed away in his sleep the night before. I was devastated! He was the only person that I had ever imagined marrying me and there was seemingly nothing wrong with him the previous week! It was just very sad to me and I think about Monsignor every day.
So now I had to set about the task of finding another priest. Fortunately for me, the priest who baptized me is currently working at my church which is surprising considering I was baptized 28 years ago! Unfortunately for me, he rejected us! Whaaaaa???? It was his own personal rule that he only married couples that went on the engaged couples weekend retreat. Very understandable except for the fact that there was only one more offered between then and our wedding and it just so happened to be on a weekend that we are having a wedding party. Of course that doesn't work as an excuse! On to the next!
Finally we were recommended to ask a priest that is new to our church. We met with him for the first time last month. We both liked him very much but soon found out that our assignment would be to read a book about sex in the marriage! We were told he would want to meet with us no less than 4 or 5 times between then and March. Oh lord! I guess we could always go on that retreat weekend! :) Anyways, we have stuck with this priest and as Deaner has pointed out, we are probably getting more out of this than we would have with anyone else. I am glad that he has a good attitude about it! I'll remind him that as he is reading chapters 4 & 5 before our January 7th meeting! At least we finally have a priest!
The funniest part of this whole debacle is at the height of having no one to marry us, my sister called me and told me that their rehearsal dinner venue, that took them 2 months to find, that they had put a deposit down that week, BURNED DOWN!! Talk about perspective! I was no longer having the worst week ever! I'm sorry, but you have got to laugh at that!
In other news, it was a pretty uneventful weekend. We had our Catholic Seminar on Saturday which was ALL DAY LONG. It was pretty boring but at least we got it out of the way, and we didn't even have to miss any football! I know, good attitude right?? I know that no one reads this at least! Not looking forward to this week at work but Friday is my last day of work before a week off for Christmas. We are heading to Virginia on Friday after I get off work to visit Deaner's grandparents. I can't wait to see everyone. I'm going to pray for a quick week!
Posted by Gleatie at 9:23 PM 1 comments
Friday, December 12, 2008
Off We Go
It has never been a secret that I am quite at home in Atlanta and have never had any desire to pack up and leave. My family is here, my friends are here, and I have always imagined raising a family here. I finally convinced Deaner to give up the big house OTP and move ITP last December and city life is good. On the flip side, Deaner has never made it a secret that he would like to live somewhere where life operates at a slower pace. He has often times talked about working abroad for a few years before returning home to settle down (the debate between OTP and ITP has never ceased!). I have never paid much attention to these lofty plans because who actually goes through the trouble of finding a job in another country, packing up their life, and actually going??
We spent 10 days in Germany and Austria this past June on vacation and the ever familiar day dreams started again. When we got engaged in July I figured I had solidified my location. Who could think about moving when a giant wedding is in the works? So when Deaner mentioned that he had been contacted to interview for a position in Germany I thought that surely there was no harm in supporting him. Something would end up being wrong with the position, he probably wouldn't get it, it wouldn't pay enough, or he would chicken out. Deaner interviewed for the position sometime in July and we didn't hear anything for months. Woooo-hooooo! Then he got an e-mail asking if the manager involved with the new position could contact his current boss for a reference. Huh? What kind of employer does that? Unless your candidate is on a very short list and it is likely you will offer them the position. I held my breath for another month. There was a lot of hassle involved with convincing his boss to make the time to return the phone call and things moved slowly. While on a business trip last month his boss joked around with him that when he got the job he deserved a cut for being such a great reference. Still no word. I started to breathe again. Slowly but surely things started to look as though Deaner was in fact not the top choice and that he would not be getting the job. We heard lots of promises that he would be contacted early next week or in a few days. Deaner remained very optimistic stating the whole time that he was pretty sure he was the one. I thought to myself "oh great, this is not going to be a pretty letdown". I felt badly because while I didn't really want to move to Germany, I wanted him to be happy and I knew this was something that he wanted to do. So I did what any normal girl would do in my situation. I started to pretend as though I would have gone along with this move all along and that I was definitely open to moving to Germany. Why not? When he didn't get the job at least he would think I was supporting him all along! And then one day it happened...
I got an e-mail from Deaner that ended in "P.S. I heard about the Germany job". Come on! I knew immediately when I called him at work and he answered laughing about how quickly I had called that he had been offered the position. OH GREAT! Remember how I had been agreeing for weeks that I wanted to do this too?? Now I really had to do it!
That was roughly 3 weeks ago or so. I will still never understand how the government can take so long to make an offer and then expect that someone report to a foreign country within 30 days. We ran into some issues there but thankfully that was settled this week. I flat out refused to move BEFORE we got married and there was no room for negotiation on changing the ceremony. At least we were on the same page about that! So as it stands today, we are getting married March 7th, returning from our honeymoon on the 17th, and leaving for a new life on the 27th! I have no clue how I am going to get things organized between now and then. We own 3 cars, two houses, and have wedding gifts delivered every week. I am thinking that the next three months are going to be pretty busy. I am so proud of Deaner for putting his mind to something and succeeding at it. I am excited about starting the new adventure but only because it is with him. Well, alright, I also REALLY want to quit my job. :) Now I just have to figure out what to do with all this STUFF!
Posted by Gleatie at 6:40 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
And That Was Just The Beginning
I met Deaner (he is my fiance but you won't hear me use that word often, it reminds me of the Seinfeld episode "maybe the dingo ate your feee-an-say") on New Year's Eve in 2005. I was living in a real life sorority house in Midtown with three other girls and we had several friends over for cocktails before going out for the night. A girlfriend of mine was dating a guy at that time and Deaner came along with them to our house. After ringing in 2006 together we went out the following week and have been together since. I have had more fun in the past three years and can't imagine my life going any other way. Being a typical girl, I always wondered when I would find that person and have the fairy tale forever after, and I am thankful everyday that it came in the form that it did.
We got engaged on July 25th of this past year. Having just come back from a 10 day trip in Europe together where I was HOPING to get engaged I was not expecting to come home from a day at the office to a proposal. I should have known it was coming but stupidly I did not. When I got home from work on a Friday afternoon there were flowers, wine, and an awkward Deaner getting down on one knee. You always dream of getting engaged and how it will be perfect but gosh, how weird it feels in real life! I was so nervous! Really, I was much more smoothe in my daydreams!
About 5 minutes after the actual proposal Deaner told me that he had to tell me something. Now what in the world could he possibly need to tell me that is so important that he needs to tell me while we are deciding who to call and tell first!?! As it happens, he told me that my sister was getting engaged the same night! What are the chances? Hold on, it gets better, her fiance? The same guy I mentioned above that introduced me to Deaner. We set him up with my sister after things didn't work out with the girl I was friends with. My lucky dad! Two weddings in five months, a son who started college in the fall, and a tanking economy! Seriously though, I am thrilled for my sister and I can't wait to have A as a brother-in-law. My only regret is that I will be half way around the world.............at least I have a built in reason to come home so soon!
Posted by Gleatie at 9:53 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
About Small Glimpse Into My Life.....
Posted by Gleatie at 9:33 PM 0 comments


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i want to a ask a question regarding qaedat aqwa as sababeen.
Assalamu alaikum
i want to a ask a question regarding qaedat aqwa as sababeen.
i know that there are varies degrees in mudood, and two mudood rule in one word (2 cause for a legthening) and use the stronger one. my concern is in surah fatiha second last verse 'waladdoolin' it has a madd asli (dwad with fatha followed by alif) and its also merge madd leen. would you consider it to be aqwa sababeen, although madd asli tabi is not mention in the varies degrees of mudood.
may Allah bless you
Wa alaikum assalaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
The definition of the natural medd, (aSli) is that it is a medd letter NOT followed by a hamzah or a sukoon. Whenever there is a hamzah or a sukoon after a medd letter it is no longer a natural medd, but instead becomes one of the secondary mudood ().
In the case of the word , there is a medd letter (the alif) followed by a laam with a shaddah. The shaddad means two of the letter, the first of it having a sukoon, so this makes it a secondary medd.
This particular medd is called and is lengthened six vowel counts. To read more about this medd please see: http://www.abouttajweed.com/the-mudood-the-lengthenings-/the-mudood-lengthenings-part-8.html
This six vowel count medd is followed by a another medd letter (the ya'), not a leen letter, and when we stop on it, then the last letter acquires a sukoon, so again this s a secondary medd. This specific medd is called . To read more about this type of medd please see: http://www.abouttajweed.com/the-mudood-the-lengthenings-/the-mudood-lengthenings-part-7.html
There is no sababayn in this example.
Wa iyyaaakum.
May Allah bless you also.
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Couchbase Server is a NoSQL document database for interactive web applications. It has a flexible data model, is easily scalable, provides consistent high performance and is "always-on," meaning it can serve application data 24 hours, 7 days a week.
Couchbase benefits
With Couchbase Server, JSON documents are used to represent application objects and the relationships between objects. This document model is flexible enough so that you can change application objects without having to migrate the database schema, or plan for significant application downtime. Even the same type of object in your application can have different data structures. For instance, you can initially represent a user name as a single document field. You can later structure a user document so that the first name and last name are separate fields in the JSON document without any downtime and without having to update all user documents in the system.
- Flexible data model
The other advantage in a flexible, document-based data model is that it is well suited to representing real world items and how you want to represent them. JSON documents support nested structures, as well as fields representing relationships between items which enable you to realistically represent objects in your application.
- Easy scalability
It is easy to scale your application with Couchbase Server, both within a cluster of servers and between clusters at different data centers. You can add instances of Couchbase Server to address increases in users and application data without any interruptions or changes in your application code. With a single click of a button, you can rapidly grow your cluster of Couchbase Servers to handle additional work and keep data evenly distributed.
Couchbase Server provides automatic sharding of data and rebalancing at runtime; this lets you resize your server cluster on demand. Cross-data center replication enables you to move data closer to your users at other data centers.
- Consistent high performance
Couchbase Server is designed for massively concurrent data use and consistent high throughput. It provides consistent sub-millisecond response times which help ensure an enjoyable experience for users of your application. By providing consistent, high data throughput, Couchbase Server enables you to support more users with less servers. The server also automatically spreads workload across all servers to maintain consistent performance and reduce bottlenecks at any given server in a cluster.
- "Always online"
Couchbase Server provides consistent sub-millisecond response times which help ensure an enjoyable experience for users of your application. By providing consistent, high data throughput, Couchbase Server enables you to support more users with less servers. The server also automatically spreads workload across all servers to maintain consistent performance and reduce bottlenecks at any given server in a cluster.
Features such as cross-data center replication, failover, and backup and restore help ensure availability of data during server or datacenter failure.
All of these features of Couchbase Server enable development of web applications where low-latency and high throughput are required by end users. Web applications can quickly access the right information within a Couchbase cluster and developers can rapidly scale up their web applications by adding servers.
Couchbase Server and NoSQL
NoSQL databases are characterized by their ability to store data without first requiring one to define a database schema. In Couchbase Server, you can store data as key-value pairs or JSON documents. Data does not need to confirm to a rigid, pre-defined schema from the perspective of the database management system. Due to this schema-less nature, Couchbase Server supports a scale out approach to growth, increasing data and I/O capacity by adding more servers to a cluster; and without any change to application software. In contrast, relational database management systems scale up by adding more capacity including CPU, memory and disk to accommodate growth.
Relational databases store information in relations which must be defined, or modified, before data can be stored. A relation is simply a table of rows, where each row in a given relation has a fixed set of columns. These columns are consistent across each row in a relation. Tables can be further connected through cross-table references. One table, could hold rows of all individual citizens residing in a town. Another table, could have rows consisting of parent, child and relationship fields. The first two fields could be references to rows in the citizens table while the third field describes the parental relationship between the persons in the first two fields such as father or mother.


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WSJ wrote:Updated July 17, 2013, 7:15 a.m. ET
Insecticide-Contaminated Food Kills at Least 22 Schoolchildren in India
Free Food Was Provided Under Government's Midday-Meal Program
NEW DELHI—At least 22 children died and more than two dozen others are seriously ill after eating food contaminated with insecticide at a state-run school in eastern India, government officials and doctors said Wednesday.
The children, aged between 8 and 12, fell sick Tuesday after eating lunch at an elementary school in Gandaman, a village about 65 miles from Patna, the capital of Bihar, one of India's poorest states.
The meal of rice, soybean and potato curry was provided under the central government's "midday-meal" program, which aims to ensure children at government schools get at least one free cooked meal a day. India has more food-insecure people than any other country in the world.
India is in the process of introducing one of the most ambitious food-aid programs ever attempted, with the aim of distributing cheap grain to about 70% of the country's 1.2 billion people. The National Food Security Law is likely to be approved when Parliament reconvenes next month.
Critics say the legislation, which is expected to swell the annual food-subsidy bill to around $20 billion, is an attempt by the ruling Congress party to attract support ahead of next year's national election, and that the money would be better spent on improving agricultural infrastructure.
The issue here is providing more food with less use of herbicides and insecticides. We spoiled westerners with relatively bloated salaries can look down our noses at these people while we pay 3 times the price to buy organic and donate to save the whales. But if you want to do more with less for people who need it most, then you need to be smart about how you grow, process, store, and deliver food.
GMO offers the potential not to have to use chemicals to grow food. Those chemicals aren't just lowering the sperm counts in our men - a trend seen worldwide. In some cases they kill.
We cannot know exactly where this particular food batch got contaminated. India has a crazy system of farm subsidies - not dissimilar to one in the US - whereby they buy food from farmers to keep the price up. Sometimes this food is stored for over 2 years before being used in programs such as these. But the general approach is simple. Do more with less, and do it without dangerous chemicals if at all possible.
- Bill


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ITHACA, NY — Ithaca College students Leah Galant, Caroline Podraza and Rachel Woolf highlight a former inmate's successful re-entry to society in "Beyond the Wall," a social justice documentary recently screened at two national film festivals focused on promoting the work of youth and undergraduate filmmakers.
Through the personal story of Raymond Roe, former inmate at Auburn Correctional Facility, "Beyond the Wall" explores obstacles former prisoners face as they reinvent themselves and reintegrate into society and challenges the negative public perceptions of formerly incarcerated people.
"Beyond the Wall" was one of 28 projects and presentations selected from a pool of international submissions to screen at the Visions Film Festival and Conference, a peer-reviewed film festival and conference hosted by undergraduate film students at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.
The documentary also screened at the 2014 National Film Festival for Talented Youth — the world's largest youth film festival — held in Seattle, Washington.
Podraza just graduated with a degree in documentary studies and production, while Galant and Woolf are juniors majoring in the same program.
Roe participated in the Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP), a regional collaboration between Cornell graduate students and faculty members and a select group of inmates at Auburn Correctional Facility and Cayuga Correctional Facility. CPEP teaches a college-level curriculum to selected students to support the preparations necessary for successful re-entry to society. "Beyond the Wall" will be used in CPEP promotional and educational materials.


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Bay to Breakers 2012
EVENT DATE: May 20, 2012
Two Events. One Family.
Sign up for the Race. Get Partnered With a Daraja Girl. Find Sponsors. Have a Blast. Feel Good.
Below are some super quick instructions to get your fundraiser page live on the Bay to Breakers 2012 Event Page. Fundraisers with 10 sponsors will officially be part of the team..It's easy! Here's how to start:
- Click on the FUNDRAISE FOR THIS EVENT.
- Select "CREATE A NEW TEAM" and you'll be prompted to sign in or sign up for a Crowdrise account.
- When you get to the Create a Team page, you can title it like this: "Amy's Team 2012!" After that, your fundraising page will go live on the overall Bay to Breakers 2012 event page.
- You should email a link to your 2012 page to all your team members and sponsors. Simply ask them to hit the DONATE button to give and the JOIN THE TEAM button to help fundraise on your team.
- Crowdrise has amazing customer service so they can certainly guide you through the process. Crowdrise will even create a team page for you if you would like. If you need any help please contact Crowdrise at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Tips on how to make a super cool fundraising page:
- Add photos on your fundraising page- including pictures of yourself! Be sure to tell your story and your partner's story on this page. Why have you decided to help Daraja? Share real stories and let people know why you are passionate about this cause. Who's your Daraja partner? This is your chance to share her story.
- Great tip from crowdrise.com: "It'll be so much easier to get your friends, family, co-workers and people you don't like that much to donate if you set an example and make the first donation to your project. You should expect everyone to donate the same amount you're donating so if you want people to donate $50 don't donate $15 yourself."
- For more proven fundraising tips, download our FUNdraising Guide. We promise it is easier to get sponsors than you think!
What's happening?!
Last year, during the 100th celebration of Bay to Breakers, the Daraja team raised $50,000 and B2B reigning champion won the women's division in honor of Daraja Academy. The success of last year's team has allowed us to officially be 2012 Bay to Breakers partner. Now it's time to Daraja girls once again with the event of the year!
On May 20th, Daraja supporters will be participating in Bay to Breakers while the Daraja Academy students will be partaking in the Daraja version of Bay to Breakers on campus called the "Lap-A-Thon." Bay Area supporters will be partnered with a Daraja student once. You will receive her name, biography and photo. Get to know her, advocate for her. She will learn about you and what you are doing as well.
You and your Daraja student will be running for Daraja Academy on the exact same day...seperated by an ocean, united by a cause. Is that powerful or what? Click "fundraise for this event" and join the family now!
Twitter: #BaytoBreakers2012
Bay to Breakers 2012
What a fantastic day!! Thank you racers for all your hard work! Recap of the day: http://bit.ly/LJtJJg
via Crowdrise 8 years ago


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Okay. So the first brush up there with the tapered edges is what I want. According to that tutorial there, it should automatically do that when you turn on shape dynamics. But.. mine doesn't.
I use Photoshop CS4. And I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the damn brush to taper at the edges like that. Help? :{
I'm a dumbass. Reinstalling my tablet drivers fixed it. Durrrrrrr. Lmfao sorry.
Can lock/delete/whatever


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City of TorranceHome Menu
Calendar Month View
Bona-fide Torrance-based, non-profit groups may submit events to be included in the Torrance citywide calendar pending approval. The City of Torrance Citywide Calendar System Administrator (Office of Cable and Community Relations) is responsible for determining which events are appropriate for posting and then approving a calendar entry. The administrator also has the capability to submit the event to other calendars so that your event may be posted on more than one calendar if appropriate. Events must occur within Torrance city limits to be considered for inclusion and submitted within the categories already identified within the calendar. Upon submission, the following information should be included: How To Submit
Arty Loon
- Date: 07/03/2019 3:00 PM
- Location: Southeast Library
23115 Arlington Ave.
Torrance, California 90501
Join us for laugh out loud comedy magic, amazing illusions, spectacular juggling, fantastic balloon sculptures, and superb puppetry with Arty Loon. This program is free, sponsored by the Friends of the Torrance Library, and no registration is required. For more information please call the Southeast Library at 310-530-5044.Return to full list >>


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Midwest Division "Dream Teams"The January 2003 issue of Basketball Digest included a special section of "Dream Teams"--the best players in the history of each NBA franchise. Although the table of contents for that issue said that the selections had been made "by the editors of Basketball Digest," the truth is that Basketball Digest had one editor, Brett Ballantini, and he split up the task based on the divisional alignment at that time: I wrote about the seven Midwest Division teams, with Barry Wilner (Atlantic), Tom Kertes (Pacific) and Ballantini (Central) handling the rest of the assignment. Basketball Digest published the articles in alphabetical order by team name without giving any indication about who actually wrote the various stories.
Here are the seven team profiles that I wrote exactly as I submitted them, sans a few editorial "improvements"; usually Ballantini had the good sense to not touch my copy but in this case he eliminated the thumbnail remarks (in parentheses) about individual player accomplishments--which I had inserted in order to include extra information without exceeding the 330 word count maximum for each team--and he also made a few odd changes to some of the team stories:
Dallas Mavericks
1st Team
F Dirk Nowitzki (Two All-NBA selections)
F Mark Aguirre (Franchise record 29.5 ppg, 1983-84)
C James Donaldson (Fourth in the NBA in FG%, 1986-87)
G Michael Finley (Five 20-plus ppg seasons)
G Rolando Blackman (Four-time All-Star)
2nd Team
F Jay Vincent (All-Rookie Team, 1981-82)
F Sam Perkins (All-Rookie Team, 1984-85)
C Roy Tarpley (Sixth Man Award, 1987-88)
G Derek Harper (Franchise career assists and steals leader)
G Jason Kidd (Co-Rookie of the Year, 1994-95)
Coach: Dick Motta (Franchise career wins leader)
Best Player: Nowitzki
Best Team: 1987-88 (53-29, Western Conference Finals)
The Dallas Mavericks will always be remembered as the model expansion franchise. Dallas took its lumps in year one (15-67 in 1980-81) but made steady progress in the following seasons, culminating in a seven game loss to the defending champion Lakers in the 1988 Western Conference Finals. At this point the script flipped from "That Championship Feeling" to "Nightmare at Reunion Arena." What happened? First, drug addiction wrecked the career of Roy Tarpley, the 1987-88 Sixth Man Award winner who seemed to be on the verge of becoming a superstar. Second, midway through the 1988-89 season the Mavs traded Mark Aguirre, the team's leading scorer the previous six seasons, to the Detroit Pistons for Adrian Dantley. Aguirre had often feuded with his coaches and teammates, many of whom publicly expressed how happy they were to see him go. Aguirre was soon smiling as well: his teams won 55 of the 80 games he played in that year; Dantley was only 41-32 even though he spent more of the season with the superior squad (the Pistons). Aguirre played a key role on the Pistons' back to back championship teams, while Dallas missed the playoffs in 1988-89, exited the first round in a three game sweep in 1989-90, and plummeted to the draft lottery for the next ten years. Owner Mark Cuban and Coach Don Nelson have recently revived the team's fortunes and the Mavericks are once again viable contenders.
Denver Nuggets
1st Team
F Alex English (Three All-NBA selections)
F Spencer Haywood (ABA MVP and Rookie of the Year, 1969-70)
C Dan Issel (Seven 20-plus ppg seasons as a Nugget)
G David Thompson (73 points in one game, highest non-Chamberlain total)
G Ralph Simpson (Three All-ABA selections)
2nd Team
F Kiki Vandeweghe (Three 20-plus ppg seasons as a Nugget)
F Bobby Jones (Four All-Defensive Team selections as a Nugget)
C Dikembe Mutombo (Three-time NBA shot blocking leader as a Nugget)
G Lafayette Lever (Two-time All-Star)
G Larry Jones (Three All-ABA selections)
Coach: Larry Brown (Two 60-plus win seasons)
Best Player: English
Best Team: 1975-76 (60-24, ABA Finals)
The Denver Rockets (they became the Nuggets in 1974-75) were one of the ABA's original teams in 1967-68. Two years later, 20 year old rookie Spencer Haywood enjoyed the greatest single season in franchise history, winning the MVP, the Rookie of the Year, the scoring title (30.0 ppg) and the rebounding title (19.5 rpg). Haywood jumped to the NBA Seattle Supersonics after his spectacular debut and the ensuing legal battles led to the demise of the "four year" rule, the NBA's restriction against signing players before their college class had graduated. Incidentally, those who think that Haywood's ABA numbers are "inflated" should note that many great players post their highest rebounding averages early in their careers and that Haywood averaged 26.2 ppg and 12.7 rpg in his first full NBA campaign and 29.2 ppg and 12.9 rpg the next season. Larry Brown coached Denver to four straight first place finishes (two in the ABA and two in the NBA's Midwest Division). His 1975-76 team was the class of the ABA; in the midseason All-Star Game the Nuggets played the best players from the other teams in the league and won! Denver seemed to be a shoo-in for the championship, but a superhuman Finals performance by Julius Erving (37.7 ppg, 14.2 rpg, 6.0 apg) carried the New York Nets to the ABA's last title. Hall of Famers Alex English and Dan Issel led the way for Denver during the '80s, when the team perennially qualified for the playoffs but always fell short of the NBA Finals.
Houston Rockets
1st Team
F Elvin Hayes (Scoring champion, 1968-69)
F Ralph Sampson (Rookie of the Year, 1983-84)
C Hakeem Olajuwon (Two-time Finals MVP)
G Calvin Murphy (Franchise career assists leader)
G Clyde Drexler (20.5 ppg, 7 rpg, 5 apg in 1995 playoffs)
2nd Team
F Rudy Tomjanovich (Five-time All-Star)
F Otis Thorpe (Second in the NBA in FG% in 1991-92)
C Moses Malone (Two MVPs and three rebounding titles as a Rocket)
G Steve Francis (Co-Rookie of the Year, 1999-2000)
G Sam Cassell (41-105 three point field goal shooting in 1994 and 1995 playoffs)
Coach: Tomjanovich (Two championships)
Best Player: Olajuwon
Best Team: 1994-95 (47-35, NBA Champions)
The Rockets first took flight in San Diego in 1967-68. The next season rookie Elvin Hayes won the scoring title and carried the team to the playoffs, but the Rockets would not return to the postseason again until 1974-75. In 1971-72, the franchise moved to Houston and hired Tex Winter as head coach. Winter installed the triangle offense that would later become a staple of the championship Jordan-Pippen Chicago Bulls and Shaq-Kobe Lakers but he lasted less than two years in Houston. Moses Malone propelled the Rockets to the 1981 Finals and the Twin Towers (Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson) led Houston to the 1986 Finals, but the Boston Celtics prevailed each time. Olajuwon made the most of his second chance in 1994, guiding Houston to a seven game triumph over a tough New York Knicks squad. The Rockets traded starting power forward Otis Thorpe to Portland for All-Star shooting guard Clyde Drexler in the middle of the following season. Houston won 11 fewer games, but powered through the playoffs, defeating several teams with better records and sweeping the Shaq-Penny Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals. Sam Cassell did not amass gaudy statistics as a Rocket but his clutch play was critical for both championship teams. Thorpe was left off of the Rockets 30th Anniversary Team in favor of Charles Barkley, which is odd considering that Thorpe was a key member of the first championship team and he played longer and at least as effectively in Houston as Barkley did.
Memphis Grizzlies
1st Team
F Shareef Abdur-Rahim (Four 20-plus ppg seasons for the Grizzlies)
F Pau Gasol (Rookie of the Year, 2001-02)
C Bryant Reeves (All-Rookie Team, 1995-96)
G Mike Bibby (All-Rookie Team, 1998-99)
G Michael Dickerson (18.2 ppg, 119 three point FGM, 1999-00)
2nd Team
F Shane Battier (All-Rookie Team, 2001-02)
F Othella Harrington (Tenth in the NBA in FG%, 1999-00)
C Lorenzen Wright (12.0 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 2001-02)
G Jason Williams (14.8 ppg, 8.0 apg, 2001-02)
G Greg Anthony (Team leading 14.0 ppg & 6.9 apg, 1995-96)
Coach: Sidney Lowe (Franchise career wins leader)
Best Player: Abdur-Rahim
Best Team: 2001-02 (23-59)
Slim pickings--that is the first thought that comes to mind when putting together the Grizzlies' All-Time Team. When a 23-59 record is the high water mark in franchise history and "Big Country" is the team's greatest center, well, the best that can be said is that there is nowhere to go but up. Of course, with Jerry West wheeling and dealing as general manager and a frontcourt built around Rookie of the Year Pau Gasol and promising second year forward Shane Battier, "up" is not a farfetched expectation. If first round draft pick Drew Gooden contributes, Michael Dickerson stays healthy and flashy point guard Jason Williams becomes a little more consistent, the Memphis Grizzlies will be well on their way to erasing the memories of their struggling years in Vancouver. Greg Anthony, a career backup, was the Grizzlies' leading scorer and playmaker in the franchise's initial 15-67 campaign. After that less than glittering start, Vancouver posted a worse record in two of the next three seasons. Shareef Abdur-Rahim was one of the few bright spots during that period, producing four straight 20-plus ppg seasons. The Grizzlies traded him to the Atlanta Hawks in 2001 in a multi-player deal that enabled Memphis to obtain Lorenzen Wright and, most importantly, the draft rights to Gasol.
Minnesota Timberwolves
1st Team
F Kevin Garnett (Four All-NBA selections)
F Tom Gugliotta (1997 All-Star)
C Felton Spencer (121 blocked shots in 1990-91)
G Terrell Brandon (Fifth in the NBA in assists, 1999-00)
G Stephon Marbury (All-Rookie Team, 1996-97)
2nd Team
F Christian Laettner (All-Rookie Team, 1992-93)
F Tony Campbell (23.2 ppg in inaugural season, 1989-90)
C Dean Garrett (12.7 ppg & 11.7 rpg, 1997 playoffs)
G Isaiah Rider (All-Rookie Team, 1993-94)
G Pooh Richardson (All-Rookie Team, 1989-90)
Coach: Flip Saunders (Franchise career wins leader)
Best Player: Garnett
Best Team: 1999-00 (50-32, First Round)
When filling out the Minnesota Timberwolves' All-Time Team there is a great temptation to write "awaiting future developments," "under construction" or "to be determined" in the slots for First and Second Team centers. No disrespect intended to Randy Breuer, Stacey King, Luc Longley and a host of others who have manned the pivot for Minnesota, but, to paraphrase an apt saying, if Felton Spencer and Dean Garrett are the answers, it must be a peculiar question. Spencer garners First Team honors because of his 7.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg and 121 blocked shots in 1990-91, yeoman work for a Timberwolves' center. Garrett earns a Second Team nod on the basis of his 12.7 ppg and 11.7 rpg in the 1997 playoffs; Houston swept Minnesota in three games, but a double double by a Minnesota center deserves recognition regardless of the circumstances or scant number of games. No Timberwolves' center has averaged 10 ppg and 10 rpg for a full season. Minnesota has overcome this glaring weakness, several roster overhauls, the league mandated loss of first round draft picks as punishment for improperly signing Joe Smith and the tragic death of Malik Sealy in a car accident to make the playoffs each of the past six seasons. The Timberwolves rely heavily on Kevin Garnett, who regularly produces 20 ppg-10 rpg-5 apg seasons and no doubt eagerly awaits the arrival of a bona fide center to complement him in the way that the San Antonio Spurs benefit from the Tim Duncan/David Robinson pairing.
San Antonio Spurs
1st Team
F Tim Duncan (MVP, 2001-02)
F Larry Kenon (Four 20-plus ppg seasons)
C David Robinson (MVP, 1994-95)
G George Gervin (Four-time scoring champion)
G James Silas (Two-time All-Star)
2nd Team
F Mike Mitchell (23.4 ppg, 1985-86)
F Sean Elliott (Two-time All-Star)
C Artis Gilmore (Two-time All-Star as a Spur)
G Alvin Robertson (Two steals titles as a Spur)
G Avery Johnson (Franchise career assists leader)
Coach: Gregg Popovich (One championship)
Best Player: Robinson
Best Team: 1998-99 (37-13, NBA Champions)
Like Denver, the Spurs were an original ABA team that started with a different name, in this case Dallas Chaparalls. The Spurs' roster has featured some of the great nicknames in basketball history, including George "Iceman" Gervin, Artis "A Train" Gilmore, Billy "the Whopper" Paultz and David "the Admiral" Robinson. Even some of the courtside San Antonio fans had a nickname: "the Baseline Bums." One of the best nicknames belonged to a player who has unfortunately been largely forgotten: "Captain Late" was not a comic book superhero, although he often seemed to perform superhuman feats. James Silas earned this distinctive moniker because of his ability to score points in bunches in clutch situations, particularly in the fourth quarter. Gervin, Silas and Larry "Mr. K" Kenon led the Spurs to the 1979 Eastern Conference Finals, but San Antonio fell in seven games to the defending champion Washington Bullets. In 1980-81 the Spurs shifted to the Western Conference. Gervin, Gilmore and Mike Mitchell took the Spurs to the Conference Finals in 1983, but the Showtime Lakers prevailed in six games. Gervin departed after the 1984-85 season and the Spurs experienced some down years until the arrival of Robinson in 1989-90 revitalized the team. In 1997-98 Tim Duncan earned Rookie of the Year honors and the next season the Spurs became the first ABA team to win an NBA championship. All that's missing is a nickname for Duncan; Shaq would no doubt suggest "the Big Fundamental" in honor of Duncan's precise footwork.
Utah Jazz
1st Team
F Karl Malone (Two MVPs)
F Adrian Dantley (Two-time scoring champion)
C Mark Eaton (Four shot blocking titles)
G John Stockton (NBA career assists leader)
G Pete Maravich (Scoring champion, 1976-77)
2nd Team
F Thurl Bailey (All-Rookie Team, 1983-84)
F Len Robinson (Rebounding champion, 1977-78)
C Rich Kelley (Second in the NBA in rebounding, 1978-79)
G Darrell Griffith (Rookie of the Year, 1980-81)
G Jeff Hornacek (NBA FT% leader, 1999-00)
Coach: Jerry Sloan (Franchise career wins leader)
Best Player: Karl Malone
Best Team: 1997-98 (62-20, NBA Finals)
Initially, the New Orleans Jazz featured the talents of virtuoso solo performers. First came native son Pete Maravich, who won the 1976-77 scoring title, along the way scoring 68 points versus Walt Frazier and the Knicks. The Jazz relocated to Utah for the 1979-80 season, released Maravich and soon found another flashy stylist, Darrell "Dr. Dunkenstein" Griffith, who evolved from a high flyer to a mad bomber, firing three point shots at a prodigious pace for that era. Next came Adrian Dantley, who produced 30 ppg seasons as effortlessly as Louis Armstrong played the trumpet. The Jazz and their soloists were frequently entertaining but they never won much. That changed with the arrival of John Stockton and Karl Malone, who would go on to form the longest running duet in NBA history. Stockton's pinpoint passing earned him the career assists crown and orchestrated an offensive attack that involved the whole team in screening, passing and cutting. Meanwhile, Malone's assault on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all time scoring record was accompanied by the discordant sound of his elbows clanging off the faces of various rivals, including Isiah Thomas, David Robinson, Brian Grant and Joe Kleine. Stockton to Malone has been a hit for years, but it has never reached the top of the charts in the postseason. In 1997-98 the Jazz earned homecourt advantage, but a maestro named Jordan left the Jazz singing the blues as he finished the second stanza of his career with an artistic flourish.
Labels: Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz
posted by David Friedman @ 5:52 AM


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Nothing too original here, but I decided to re-read the Potter series prior to the final movie being released in a couple weeks. I've got a few chapters left of the Deathly Hallows.
Now reading "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick.San Francisco lies under a cloud of radioactive dust. People live in half-deserted apartment buildings, and keep electric animals as pets because so many real animals have died. Most people emigrate to Mars - unless they have a job to do on Earth. Like Rick Deckard - android killer for the police and owner of an electric sheep. This week he has to find, identify, and kill six androids which have escaped from Mars. They're machines, but they look and sound and think like humans - clever, dangerous humans. They will be hard to kill. The film Blade Runner was based on this famous novel.
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Jigsaw Puzzle Assembling Tips
While assembling a jigsaw puzzle is usually enjoyable, sometimes you just feel like throwing everything away and giving up. Nobody said it was going to be easy and the more pieces you have, or the more complicated the image, the harder it will be to complete. There are, however, a few puzzle assembling tips you should be aware of before beginning that should make your life easier. Most of the people choose to start assembling with the border and there's a very good reason for that. The edge pieces are easier to distinguish and thus easier to assemble than the rest. Plus, they give you a very good starting point. The next step, after you've finished with the border, is to try and group the remaining pieces into piles of the same color. The thing here is to try and separate some areas on the image that are distinct and easier to assemble and to group the pieces accordingly. If the jigsaw puzzle you're working on is an animal head, for example, the eyes are a very good example of such an area. Once you're done with the eyes, you can assemble the ears, the nose, and go on from there. The hardest thing to do is to arrange the similar looking pieces. You can be left with some that are almost indistinguishable by color and you have to sort them by shapes. Even then, the last piece might not fit into the remaining hole. That can happen, as some of the pieces are very similar in shape and some are almost identical. Do not force them into their holes, but try to switch the pieces instead, until you find the right fit. Always remember, the important thing is to have fun. Do you have any puzzle assembling tips of your own? If so, please share them in the comments!


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IBM unveils the IBM Watson Engagement Advisor, tranforming how brands engage with consumers
Date added: 21 May 2013
IBM Watson Solutions VP Stephen Gold interacts with the new IBM Watson Engagement Advisor, which uses cloud-delivered mobile and online chat technology to assist businesses' customers, anytime and anywhere. From answering questions to offering guidance for purchases, IBM Watson will allow a brand's customer-facing employees to make better recommendations, or sit directly in the hands of consumers, offering helpful advice via mobile engagement. (Credit: Jon Simon/Feature Photo Service for IBM)
Download hi-res version (image/jpeg, 1 MB)


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Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart to Publicly Appear Together
The pair will being promoting Breaking Dawn: Part 2 at the end of October
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have been spending more and more time together privately – and now we know when they will be making their first public appearances together as well.
The pair, who play onscreen husband and wife in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, are scheduled to start promoting the final movie in the Twilight series in Los Angeles on Oct. 28 in Los Angeles, Summit Pictures confirmed to PEOPLE Monday.
The Breaking Dawn cast, including Stewart, 22, and Pattinson, 26, will appear at a series of press junkets and a press conference – including interviews and likely photo ops – between Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 in Los Angeles.
The movie's worldwide premiere is set for Nov. 12 at Nokia Theater at LA LIVE.
Pattinson and Stewart have made several separate public appearances since the cheating scandal that almost destroyed their relationship. This will be the first time they walk the red carpet together since the scandal.
After the drama erupted in July when Stewart admitted to brief fling with her Snow White and the Huntsman director, Rupert Sanders, she and Pattinson spent time apart. But they met up in L.A. on the weekend of Sept. 15, and have seen each other since then as well.
Friends urged Pattinson to move on, "but it's easier said than done," according to a source.
Another source told PEOPLE Pattinson's pals "all think they will be a couple again, maybe as soon as they are together for the Twilight promos."


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A NATO airstrike on two fuel tankers hijacked by Taliban militants in Afghanistan has killed at least 80 people, including 40 civilians, The Associated Press reported.
The trucks were seized as they were delivering fuel to NATO forces in the northern part of the country, Afghan officials said.
Among the dead was a Taliban commander and several senior fighters, the governor of Kunduz province said. NATO confirmed the airstrike but gave no details on the hijacking or civilian deaths. Many of the civilians were siphoning fuel from the trucks, The New York Times reported.
General Stanley McChrystal, the new commander of NATO and U.S. forces has said that he wants to put a stop to high civilian casualties.
Get More: MSNBC, New York Times


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Murano Vase
Décor Design Focus: Murano Vase
A Good Décor design example, the Murano is a creative Vase design. Murano was designed in 2009, and here is a how it is described by its designer: Second in my series of WM vases, the Murano glass vases have more presence then the Sommerso vases hovewer they are also heavier.
Murano Vase Images:
End of the article, click here to go back to previous page, or alternatively go back to Designite Design Blog homepage.


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7 Great Places to Buy Bacon in Chicago
For the past month, this site has been bringing you reports about where to eat breakfast in Chicago, from doughnuts and waffles to chilaquiles and muffins. But it wasn't until halfway through the month that I realized I had been ignoring the king of American breakfast foods, the one, the only, bacon. Of course, you can consume bacon at any meal of the day (doesn't it make everything better?), but breakfast is where it feels the most at home. Actually, I think bacon is best when it is actually cooked at home, which led me to this expedition.
All bacon is not created equal. I knew that. Some slabs are simply better better than others—meatier, smokier, more, um, bacon-y. It became my job to find them. Of course, to try all the bacon sold in Chicago would have certainly killed me. I had to narrow the list down.
The List
As "hog butcher for the world," Chicago has more butcher shops than I could ever hope to visit. To help narrow the search down, I first called a bunch of places to check and see if they made bacon in-house. This helped to condense the list somewhat, since numerous places just source high quality bacon and focus on other kinds of charcuterie. While I'm more than happy with the shops that made the cut, I wasn't able to call every respected butcher in town, so I inevitably left a few gems off. If you know of any that I need to try, definitely let me know in the comments.
- Publican Quality Meats
- Butcher & Larder
- Paulina Market
- Gene's Sausage Shop & Delicatessen
- Spencer's Jolly Posh Foods
- Lincoln Quality Meats
- Mr. Spanky's
Bacon tastes great because it's always cooked in bacon fat. That's my hypothesis, anyway. Normally I just cook bacon in an iron skillet, but I wanted a way to cook them all at the same time while keep all the bacon from pooling together and basically deep frying them (though that does sound delicious). I decided that I should cook them all on a sheet pan in an oven set at 400°F. While this leveled the playing field, I had to continuously check in, because some cooked faster than others. Also, two of the bacons needed to be cooked in very specific ways, so they were cooked separately.
A Bacon for Every Occasion
While I expected to find some differences between the offerings, I wasn't prepared for the incredible variety and range. When most of us think of bacon, we tend to have a very fixed idea. But most of these both look and taste completely unique, making the idea of picking a "best" kind of ridiculous. All of these are worth devouring, though some may hit a flavor profile that best fits you. Some taste better on their own, while others seem destined to enhance a dish.
As for me, I have enough bacon in my fridge to stock this year's Baconfest Chicago (okay, not really). But don't even think about asking for some. All this bacon is mine.
Check out our guide to where to buy bacon in Chicago by clicking on the slideshow.
- Slab Bacon at Publican Quality Meats
- Pub Bacon at Publican Quality Meats
- Bacon at Butcher & Larder
- Danish Bacon at Gene's Sausage Shop
- Bacon at Lincoln Quality Meats
- Bacon at Paulina Market
- Back Bacon at Spencer's Jolly Posh Foods
- Bacon at Mr. Spanky's
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Fresh off his high-profile stand-up act at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Jimmy Kimmel opened Tuesday's edition of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" with some pointed jabs at presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
As Decision 2012 heats up, Kimmel said, Romney is trying his best "to convince voters that he has a personality."
As such, Kimmel added, Romney let his wife, Ann, "do the talking" for him on a CBS morning show on Tuesday.
U.S. & World
Cue the tape: Ann Romney told Charlie Rose that she is privy to "a side of Mitt that people have often mischaracterized."
"He's stiff. He's not! He's funny," she said. Gov. Romney's wife then proceeded to affectionately embrace her husband.
Cut back to Kimmel: "Look how stiff he is while she's holding him!"
Ann Romney added that she still thinks of her husband as the young high-school student "playing all the jokes, and really just being crazy."
Kimmel has his doubts about that version of Romney's past. But regardless, he quipped, "I don't want a wild and crazy president."
Check out the full clip via ABC below:


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Error messageThe start time of the group ride is in the past.
MEETS - S. Bellevue - Moderate
- Ride capacity will be strictly limited.
- This means that prior registration is now REQUIRED.
- If you cannot attend please CANCEL YOUR REGISTRATION so others can use your slot.
- Click here for more details.
If you are new, please read our newcomer information.
Come join us for the Mid-week Eastside Evening Training Series - Daylight Ride!
Midweek Eastside Evening Training Series – The MEETS rides are held Wednesday evenings at 6 pm. These training rides incorporate local hills and range between 20-30 miles and from ~1200 to 2500 feet of elevation. Paces offered include Moderate, Brisk, and Strenuous. All use a common course each week. The series runs from April - August. These rides are intended to compliment your weekend training program. Riders can choose to attend as many as they like and attendance at all is not required.
MENTORING OPPORTUNITIES - Email the Ride Director to inquire.
Riders should be able to sustain the appropriate pace for their selected group, read a cue sheet, change a flat (and have the requisite equipment), and have a positive attitude! Cue sheets will be available online the Monday before each ride so please print your own if you would like one.
Rest stops: There are no planned rest stops as these are short rides. There is a restroom within close riding distance of the park and ride, but we encourage you to use facilities before you arrive to ensure we roll out timely.
Regroup policy: This is a training series, so we ride with the best interest of the group in mind. Riders may need to fall back to a slower pace group, unless you are riding in the last group, in which case the group will regroup as needed to avoid dropping riders. We want everyone to ride hard and have fun and there are multiple pace options to support all riders so no one should feel left behind. Please make sure that you print a cue sheet in case you want to ride ahead or get separated for some reason. Please make sure to print your contact information clearly on the waiver so that we can reach you as necessary
Please RSVP on meetup.com and check back for updates the day of the ride. RSVP is not required, but would be MUCH appreciated.
FOR RAINY CONDITIONS, FENDERS REQUESTED. For the comfort of your fellow riders, we request that riders come with long fenders in case the roads are wet. If you do not have fenders and conditions require them, you will be asked to ride in the back of the group.


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Re: Ding. Ding.Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
The Rocky film references continue in the title for today's comic. If you get it, you are awesome. If you don't, then I'd recommend you watch some more Rocky, STAT!
If you've noticed things are quiet here when you don't count the comic and Photo Phriday, you're not alone. I notice it too. I'm still trying to figure out how much of the comic's blog should be comic related and how much should be about me and the things I'm into. My interests and hobbies are many and varied, and I've been quite hesitant to inject too much of myself into the comic's blog. I just don't think people would be interested. That's what a personal blog is for, and while part of me does miss having one, I can't figure out whether to just plop it here or start something else just for that purpose.
So do you guys care at all what dumb stuff I have to say or are you content with just stopping by and reading the comic once a week?


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Join us at Brooklyn's Fabulous Jalopy Theatre for this month's Little Laffs, "Big Fun for Little Ones". Our monthly show is from 11:00am to 12:15pm/12:30pm, and has an ever-changing lineup of musical and variety performers to keep both big and little ones thoroughly entertained. (Also, there are Bloody Marys!) Tickets are $5/kid, $10/adult, or $25/family and are available at the door or in advance on Jalopy's website.
January's Little Laffs Show
Did you miss a show? Or miss the performer you met at previous show? Visit our Show Recaps to relive a past Little Laffs and get in touch with your favorite acts. Feel free to contact us for help with entertainment for your next event.


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Check the Terms and Conditions of this website for the sales and returns policy. By proceeding with this transaction you agree with and understand the terms and conditions laid out for this website.


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