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By Moni Basu, CNN
(CNN) - Richard Blanco, the poet who likes to describe himself as being made in Cuba, assembled in Spain and imported to the United States, will serve as the inaugural poet when President Barack Obama takes the oath of office for a second term this month.
Blanco will be the first Latino, the first openly gay person and the youngest poet chosen for the coveted role.
A statement from the inaugural committee said Blanco was chosen because the power of his poetry is rooted in American identity.
"Richard's writing will be wonderfully fitting for an inaugural that will celebrate the strength of the American people and our nation's great diversity," Obama said in a statement Wednesday that announced his selection.
With that announcement, Blanco will surely be catapulted to fame in the vein of Natasha Trethewey, 46, who this year was chosen to become the nation's poet laureate.
"I'm beside myself, bestowed with this great honor, brimming over with excitement, awe, and gratitude," Blanco, 44, said in a statement.
"In many ways, this is the very 'stuff' of the American Dream, which underlies so much of my work and my life's story - America's story, really," he said. "I am thrilled by the thought of coming together during this great occasion to celebrate our country and its people through the power of poetry."
Blanco was conceived in Cuba to parents who fled Fidel Castro's authoritarian rule. He was born in Madrid but grew up in the United States, living first in New York and then in Miami.
His first book of poetry, "City of a Hundred Fires," was all about a Cuban-American immigrant's quest to define a cultural identity. It won the prestigious Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize from the University of Pittsburgh.
"I always describe this book as a cultural coming of age 'story,' tracing the cultural yearnings and negotiation of growing up Cuban American," Blanco said of the book, named after Cienfuegos, the hometown of his family.
In an interview that aired on NPR on Wednesday, Blanco said he has been thinking about his heritage again in the past few weeks after he learned that he would be writing the inaugural poem.
"Even though it's been a few weeks since I found out, just thinking about my parents and my grandparents and all the struggles they've been through, and how, you know, here I am, first-generation Cuban-American, and this great honor that has just come to me, and just feeling that sense of just incredible gratitude and love," he said.
And in a telephone interview from his home in Bethel, Maine, he told the New York Times that he related to Obama's life story and his multicultural background.
"There has been a spiritual connection in that sense," he said. "I feel in some ways that when I'm writing about my family, I'm writing about him."
Educated in Miami, Blanco began his professional career as a consultant engineer. He wanted to make his family happy by pursuing the sort of career expected in the Cuban-American community.
But his musings on identity led him to writing, and he enrolled in a master's program in fine arts and creative writing at Florida International University. His mentor there was Campbell McGrath, who himself has written several books of poetry.
Even before McGrath had moved from Chicago to start a teaching job in Florida, he received a letter from Blanco.
"I'm not a poet, but would you let me into your class?" Blanco asked McGrath.
McGrath thought Blanco sounded ambitious, but the very first poem he wrote in class, "America," became the first poem in "City of a Hundred Fires."
"From the get-go, his poems were good enough to be published," McGrath said.
He brought to his poetry the structural, analytical abilities of an engineer. He was able to go beyond the beauty of the words, to look beneath the surface and examine the engineering of the poem, McGrath said.
But more than anything, McGrath felt that the power in Blanco's poems lie in the universal messages he conveys. Yes, he writes about identity, but he does so in a deeply personal way: through family and relationships.
"They are deeply humanistic poems," McGrath said.
In "America," for example, Blanco writes about how there was pork served at every family gathering and that one year, he, as a 7-year-old, explained that they should have turkey instead on Thanksgiving. That's what everyone else did.
Abuelita prepared the poor fowl
as if committing an act of treason
faking her enthusiasm for my sake.
McGrath said one of his personal favorites is "El Florida Room," a poem about home and family published in Blanco's latest book, "Looking for the Gulf Motel."
Not a sitting room, but El Florida, where
I sat alone for hours with butterflies
frozen on the polyester curtains
and faces of Lladró figurines: sad angels,
clowns, and princesses with eyes glazed
blue and gray, gazing from behind
the glass doors of the wall cabinet.
Not a tv room, but where I watched
Creature Feature as a boy, clinging
to my brother, safe from vampires
in the same sofa where I fell in love
with Clint Eastwood and my Abuelo
watching westerns, or pitying women
crying in telenovelas with my Abuela.
Obama's inaugural team has asked Blanco to write three poems, McGrath said, from which they will choose one for him to read out on the steps of the Capitol on January 21 at Obama's swearing-in ceremony.
As though writing one poem that captured all at once the personal and the grandness of the nation were not enough. But three.
He thought of another friend, Elizabeth Alexander, who was tapped as Obama's inaugural poet in 2008 and has spoken to McGrath about the process.
"Usually when you write a poem, you think first of yourself," McGrath said. "Then you envision a close friend reading it. But now you have to think about reading it on the steps of the Capitol with the whole world watching. So you have to think of it differently."
Alexander, the chairwoman of the African-American Studies Department at Yale University, said she was amazed at the amount of mail she got from around the world - not just e-mails but letters written on paper. "Who writes letters anymore?" she asked with a laugh.
Some were from people who had written America off as a land of money and power, not one that still appreciated poetry.
"I was so struck," she said. "All these people were taking the time to say that a poem had moved them."
In crafting her own inaugural poem, "Praise Song for the Day," Alexander said she had to think about her words in different terms. She meditated on America and the works of bards like Walt Whitman. She thought of the way Obama had been elected president, by what she felt was a language that was grounded, specific and always looking to higher aspirations.
"The word 'hope' felt tangible and real in his political rhetoric," Alexander said. That was something that resonated in Alexander's poem:
I know there's something better down the road.
We need to find a place where we are safe.
We walk into that which we cannot yet see.
And this last stanza:
In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air,
any thing can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp,
praise song for walking forward in that light.
In writing his poem, Blanco will have to keep in mind one other key factor: that most people will hear his poem read aloud and perhaps never read it on paper or a computer screen.
"That means there has to be a level of clarity," Alexander said, adding that she was delighted that Blanco had been chosen this time.
"The question of how we become American is an enduring one and one that Blanco is dealing with in the present moment with his particulars," she said.
He is a nuanced poet who deserves this honor in every way, Alexander said.
"The ways in which the voices of a diverse America are being given more space and more time is something that's very exciting to see in the choice of Richard Blanco," Alexander said.
There have been only five inaugural poets in American history. Robert Frost was the first at President John Kennedy's 1961 inauguration. The others were Maya Angelou in 1993 for Bill Clinton; Miller Williams in 1997, again for Clinton; Alexander in 2009; and now, Blanco.
"We need to remember that it's not something you have to do," Alexander said. "You don't have to put culture on the program."
But there are things that can be said in poetry, she said, that can't be said in any other way.
That was the power of words, pulled from the heart and threaded together with utmost care and love. Those who know Blanco know that he will deliver.


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Started this discussion. Last reply by Mark / The Mayor Jun 2, 2014. 4 Replies 0 Likes
I am a tennis coach, have been playing tennis since 2006, the sport is the apple of my eye. I am a 5.0 NTRP rating and I can coach both singles and doubles tactics. I can teach from basics such as…Continue
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I wanted to know if you are still offering tennis lessons. I am a beginner. If so feel free to contact me at email@example.com with information on packages and rates. Thanks
Hi, I'm Mark, the founder of Tennisopolis, the world's largest and most active tennis network. Please share Tennisopolis with your friends by supporting our Facebook page. Click here for a Guide to Meet Tennis Partners.
Have a look at our introduction page which will help you navigate the massive network which now has over 40,000 members and 600 local tennis groups.
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Going out for dinner…
Tonight we went out for dinner with some friends, and I wanted to document this moment of will power so I can draw on it later.
I pre-planned what I was going to order so I wasn't stuck in this cycle of seeing something I wanted, but knew was bad for me, beating myself up over it, ordering it to fulfill my feelings of defeat, and then falling off the wagon for 3 months, only to come back to the goals I have in mind weighing 20 more Lbs than when I started. Long story short, stayed under my calorie budget, woop!
Dodged that bullet!
I also worked out today, and then put in another work out because I felt like it. That's right, because I felt like it..! I just had so much energy today!


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RV Parks Offered Digital Marketing Workshop
March 2, 2011 by RVBusiness · Comments Off on RV Parks Offered Digital Marketing Workshop
Evanne Schmarder, owner of Roadabode Productions, introduces the RV park and campground industry's first-ever Digital Marketing Workshop (www.DigitalMarketingWorkshop.info).
The Digital Marketing Workshop is an online learning series consisting of five live one-hour modules covering today's hottest, need-to-know digital marketing topics, according to a news release. Class attendees will learn how to effectively use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, e-mail and emerging digital tools such as QR codes and Groupon plus explore productivity tools in this five class workshop.
The spring curriculum, designed to help small business owners understand and use today's virtual marketing tools for the upcoming summer camping season, is offered three times in its entirety on a rolling schedule to allow participants flexibility. Included with each registration is an Intro to Digital Marketing e-booklet as well as topical e-workbooks and recording of each session attended.
"I am delighted to be able to bring this type of high-quality training to park owners and operators across the country, from my desktop to theirs. Each session will leave participants buzzing with practical, actionable ideas that can be put into play immediately," remarked Schmarder. "Digital marketing is modern marketing. No business – especially one as relationship-centric as ours – can afford to ignore this trending new way to engage with customers and prospects."
The Digital Marketing Workshop begins mid-March, is $259 for the five class series and comes with a 100% money back satisfaction guarantee. The class schedule, module details and registration information can be found at www.DigitalMarketingWorkshop.info. Questions and comments can be directed to Schmarder at email@example.com or (702) 460-9863.
Schmarder is a regular columnist for Woodall's Campground Management and WOODALLSCM.com.


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Deer Decor: Yes, It's Bambi!
I know that deer-themed decorative items have been hot for a while, but recently I've noticed that there are several pieces of furniture inspired, not just by any old deer, but by the famous Bambi. Now, don't get me wrong, this is not furniture for children's rooms, it's Bambi revisited for adults. Some of these designs are very simple and minimalist, some very modern, and others quite strange and kitschy! Check them out.
1. Bambi Chair by Kamina & C (Japan)
2. Bambi Table by Caroline Olsson (Norway)
Birch and spray-painted steel.
3. Bambi Chair, 2009 by Tatsuo Yamamoto Design, Inc. (Japan)
Steel frame, nylon fiber finish.
4. No.1452 by Kamina & C (Japan)
Maple, deerskin
5. No.1453 By Kamina & C (Japan)
Oak, deerskin
6. Bambi Chair, 2010 by JAMESPLUMB (UK)
The designer reworked a 1960s Danish school chair to create this unique piece.
7. No.0052 by Kamina & C (Japan)
Oak, walnut, deerskin, antler
(Images: as linked above)


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NEW YORK/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - For mobile service providers like AT&T Inc, it's not enough that consumers came out in droves to buy the newest iPhone from Apple Inc.
They need people to dig more deeply into their wallets each month to pay for data services, such as mobile video, to cushion the impact of the iPhone's steep price tag on the carriers' bottom lines.
Wireless service operators typically subsidize the cost of smartphones, offering discounts to consumers to lock them into two-year service contracts. But the iPhone subsidy is as much as 60 percent higher than subsidies for Android smartphones, according to Barclays analyst James Ratcliffe.
He estimates the iPhone subsidy at about $400, compared with $250 to $300 for other smartphones. That means iPhone customers only start to become profitable for carriers about nine months after they buy the device, compared with a five- to six-month timeframe for other smartphones.
As a result, mobile operators' profit margins usually suffer in the months after an iPhone launch, when sales volumes are highest.
"We always say an Apple a day keeps the profits away," Neil Montefiore, chief executive of Starhub, said during the Singapore wireless service provider's August earnings conference call.
Be that as it may, mobile operators around the world still want to sell the iPhone because it helps retain subscribers and attract new ones. Apple is the only phone maker whose product launches are a cultural phenomenon — on Friday, fans from all over the world queued around city blocks to get their hands on the new iPhone 5.
In Australia, service providers are trying to minimize the financial hit by varying the iPhone's price so that customers who pay more for data services get a bigger subsidy.
In the United States, carriers have changed their policies to make customers wait longer for a subsidized upgrade and levied new fees, after Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint Nextel Corp suffered dramatic declines in profit margins based on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) as a percentage of service revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012, when the iPhone 4S was launched.
Analysts expect the changes to help the operators, but they still forecast a drop in EBITDA margins. AT&T's margin is expected to fall from 45 percent in the second quarter to 40.8 percent in the third quarter and 35.7 percent in the fourth quarter, according to four analysts contacted by Reuters.
Verizon's margin is expected to fall from 49 percent in the second quarter to 47.4 percent in the third quarter and 43.6 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the same analysts.
Service providers have high hopes that consumers will spend more on mobile data with the iPhone 5, saying services like video should work better on the new phone, which can support data speeds about 10 times faster than the previous model.
"That's the hope," said Guggenheim analyst Shing Yin. But he said "it's unproven" and there is no reason to assume iPhone 5 customers will use any more data than people using cheaper rival devices that support the same high-speed technology.
Singapore's biggest mobile operator, SingTel, said that its iPhone 5 orders were already exceeding previous iPhones because of the new gadget's higher speeds.
"From a financial standpoint, people who use this device tend to use more of it," said SingTel digital executive Allen Lew.
China Telecom is also banking on iPhone users spending more money on their telecom services. China's third-largest mobile service provider had to raise its subsidies by 50 percent when it started selling an older iPhone in February. As a result, its EBITDA profit margin fell 4 percentage points in the first half of the year to 38.5 percent compared to the same period the year before.
While Apple has not yet announced its China launch plans for the iPhone 5, China Telecom expects continued pressure on its bottom line from the iPhone but hopes the devices will help boost revenue per user in the long run, a executive for the operator said.
"Our subsidies level will remain pretty high at least for this year," said the executive, who did not have permission to speak to the media and declined to be identified. "We know we'll have to invest more initially."
Many operators feel they have no choice but to offer the iPhone because of its popularity.
"It's kind of like dancing with the devil. It's a blessing and a curse," said Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche.
Additional reporting by Tarmo Virki in Helsinki, Harro Ten Wolde in Frankfurt, Leila Abboud in Paris, Jane Wardell in Sydney, Kevin Lim in Singapore, Maki Shiraki, Reiji Murai and Tim Kelly in Tokyo and Lee Chyenyee in Hong Kong; Editing by Bob Burgdorfer


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'S e bàrdachd a tha san chòd.


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Mount Saint Mary College 3 (25, 30, 30, 15, 15)
Farmingdale State 2 (30, 28, 17, 30, 12)
Mount Saint Mary improved to 7-13, 4-3 Skyline as they outlasted the Rams (7-12, 2-3 Skyline) in a women's volleyball game at the Kaplan Center in Newburgh, NY on Wednesday night. Farmingdale split the first four games with the Blue Knights to force a deciding fifth game, which ended 15-12 in favor of MSMC.
Mount Saint Mary senior Shannon King (Beacon, NY) led the way with 16 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Ashley Barnhart (Kingston, NY) added 13 kills and six digs for the Blue Knights.
Freshman Jenna Guerriero (Manorville, NY/Eastport-Southmanor) totaled 21 assists and two aces. Gina Moscato (Hicksville, NY/Hicksville) registered 15 kills and five digs for the Rams, while Brittany Baran (East Northport, NY/Commack) finished with 12 kills and four blocks.
Farmingdale State travels to Kean University on Saturday, October 15th for a tri-match beginning at Noon.


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Cucumber Dill Sour Cream Salad Recipe
A favorite way to serve cucumbers, especially when you have access to fresh dill is in this type of simple salad.
Serves 2-4 (depending on portion sizes)
1/2 cup thinly sliced white onions
2-3 Tablespoons white vinegar
3 cups thinly sliced peeled English cucumbers
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
Start by placing the sliced onions into a small bowl and pour vinegar over them and stir a little to be sure they are all covered. This is done to improve the taste of the onions. Let sit in the vinegar for about 15 minutes, then drain and throw out the vinegar.
*Note: If you are using a sweet onion, you can avoid this step.
Slice the cucumber into thin pieces in a large bowl.Sprinkle on the salt and let sit for five minutes then use a paper towel to pat the onions dry.
Add the onions and stir in.
In bowl, stir together the sour cream, dill and vinegar. Stir into the salad. Garnish with more dill if desired.


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Operation Sandwich - Fight Hunger in America
The Sandwich: Sustaining, Portable, Nutritious.
And thanks to donors like you, FREE for America's nearly 50 million food insecure. This means over 16 million children live in a household that struggles to provide the food necessary for an active, healthy lifestyle. And without adequate nutrition, these children often perform worse in school, limiting their future opportunities and perpetuating the vicious cycle of poverty.
Food banks, once thought to only provide for the homeless or step in during emergencies, help bridge this gap. In many cases, they're the only thing helping poor, working families make ends meet. And one food bank, Northwest Harvest, has teamed up with GreaterGood to launch Operation Sandwich to fight back against hunger. GreaterGood staff and other local volunteers will prepare sandwiches every week for the homeless and working poor. Then, as the program grows, we'll roll it out to food banks across the country.
And you can help. With just $10, volunteers can make sandwiches to feed 25 hungry people.
As simple as they may seem, sandwiches provide an easy, cost-effective way to craft complete and ready-to-eat meals that are also handheld and portable, meaning they travel well to school or work where prohibitive prices often mean missed meals. Sandwiches are also nutritious, and for some homeless, it might be the only meal of the day.
Update from the Field
May 2018
Between January and April, YOUR donations helped provide 10,402 sandwiches for hungry people at the Cherry Street Food Bank! One of the people you've helped is Patricia* (name changed), a young mother recovering from a car accident. It's difficult to make ends meet while paying off her medical bills. Getting a job should have helped, but her new income means she is now just a few dollars over the limit and no longer qualifies for food stamps. Losing eligibility for food stamps was especially painful because it happened during the summer, a time when her children don't have access to free meals at school. Patricia stops at the Cherry Street Food Bank weekly to take advantage of their pantry and sandwich program. Many people in her situation stop by to pick up a sandwich from the Cherry Street Food Bank on their way to work, so whatever small amount of food in their cupboards at home is available for the rest of their family. Your generous donations have made it possible to keep this program running and feed thousands of people a week!
January 2018
In 2017, YOUR donations helped Operation Sandwich provide 28,787 sandwiches for 17,469 individual clients. Because of your donations, people like Sheena can have food security. Sheena is a recently divorced mother of two pre-teen boys. She is now a single parent and struggling after getting laid off from work as a health aide. She is fearful of homelessness. She stated, "Even if you can find a place to rent, we got evicted because we complained too many times. The refrigerator they gave us kept breaking; the furnace broke. We paid our rent on time, but they come around and evict you, and if you have an eviction on your record then no one is going to rent to you, even if it's not your fault." The final link in this chain of events is to end up homeless, so knowing there are groceries and take-out sandwich lunches at the food bank three days a week is an enormous help.
September 2017
Our goal for this project when it began in 2013 was to expand our Monday-Wednesday "Sandwich Brigade" lunch service at Cherry Street Food Bank to a third day every week. Thanks to GreaterGood.org and your donations, we have met that goal, and we continue to provide a Friday lunch service every week, with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and, as of March 2017, the option of tuna sandwiches as well. Our primary impact metric is the number of sandwiches distributed. During the May 2017 to August, 2017 grant period, GreaterGood's grant contribution provided an additional 9,099 sandwiches for hungry Cherry Street Food Bank clients. Our secondary impact metric is the number of clients served each week. During this grant period, we served 5,804 individual clients on Fridays, providing a PB&J and/or a tuna sandwich lunch.March 2017
Greater Good donors made it possible to serve Friday PB&J Sandwich Lunches to hungry clients at Cherry Street Food Bank from September to December 2016.
GreaterGood.org is devoted to addressing the health and well-being of people (particularly women and children), animals, and the planet.
Northwest Harvest provides nutritious food to hungry people statewide in a manner that respects their dignity, while fighting to eliminate hunger. Their vision is ample nutritious food available to everyone in Washington State.
GreaterGood.org has ultimate authority and discretion with regard to the distribution of its funds. All expenditures made are consistent with the exempt purposes of GreaterGood.org.