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I can't believe we've already been through two whole months of the year! Empties-wise I have to say I've been finishing up a lot of products I've been working on for a long time. This month I finally used up some more hair products (those take aages) and some makeup as well!
Vichy Idéal Soleil SPF 30 Hydrating Milk 300 ml ( here )
This is only half empty. It's not that I skip sunscreen, I've just stopped sunbathing all-together and find I seldom need to use it. That and the summers in Norway aren't necessarily all that hot and sunny, so the body sunscreens don't get a lot of use from me. Still, I do need a bottle so I'll buy a new one for this summer. I'm throwing this away as it's two years old and probably has expired.
Biotherm Lait Corporel Anti-Drying Body Milk 400 ml ( here )
My favourite body lotion. I've already started using my back-up.
Clarins Hand and Nail Treatment Cream 100 ml ( here )
This is one of the best hand creams out there, at least for use during the day. It's not at all greasy, absorbs super quickly and hydrates really well. This is the hand cream I've kept at my desk at the office, and I'll definitely be buying a new tube to replace it.
Oribe Balm d'Or Heat Styling Shield 100ml ( here )
My favourite leave-in conditioner. This is amazing. It makes my hair super soft, shiny and easy to style - all without weighing it down at all. My hair is still super light and I can get some much-needed volume. It's really expensive, but I will definitely re-purchase. Possibly the best leave-in conditioner I've used ever.
Living Proof Perfect Hair Day 5-in-1 Styling Treatment 118 ml ( here )
This is a good leave-in treatment as well, but not as good as the Oribe. Compared to the Oribe one it weighs hair down a bit, and my hair doesn't feel as amazingly soft and shiny after I've used it. Oribe aside though, it's a good leave-in, but I've used better. I'd go for one of Kerastase's Thermique's over this, if you don't feel like shelling out for the Oribe one.
BlowPro Faux Dry Dry Shampoo ( here )
Sorry to be so repetitive, but this is another favourite I've used up this month. The best dry shampoo I've ever used. This actually makes my hair feel like I've just washed it. It gives that amazing clean feeling to the scalp and the powder mattes away any shine, just like a face-powder. If you haven't tried this yet - do - you will be amazed, it's absolutely mind-blowingly fantastic!
Diptyque Liquidambar 190g ( limited edition )
This was one of Diptyque's three limited edition holiday candles last year, so 2015. It smells really good, I wish I'd bought a back-up, If they re-release it I will definitely be buying it again. It's a beautiful warm amber scent. If you love amber, definitely check this out should it ever be released again.
Diptyque Menthe Verte 190g ( here )
From the regular line-up; I kind of wanted Menthe Verte to be a dupe for Cire Trudon's Abd el Khader - which is my favourite candle of all time. It wasn't. Still, it's a nice scent. It definitely has that slight bitterness to it from the green tea, and then the beautiful sweet and fresh mint makes it all come together in a refreshing and warm scent. Still, it's similar enough to Abd el Khader that I'll be sticking to that one going forward, but if you won't or can't buy Cire Trudon, I'd give this one a try.
Zoya Remove+ 237 ml ( here )
This is a decent nail polish remover. Nothing all that special, but it's not bad. The packaging is the best part - I love the pump. I also love how Zoya products have less chemicals in them, and therefore have re-purchased this.
Indeed Labs Hydraluron Moisture Jelly 30ml ( review - here )
This was really good, and especially for the price. It's super light, absorbs really quickly, but still moisturises really well. I couldn't even wear it everyday, because after 3-4 days my skin just wouldn't need it anymore. If you have dry skin and have difficulties finding a moisturiser that hydrates enough, without being greasy and interfering with your makeup, I'd definitely give this one a try.
Origins No Puffery Cooling Mask 30ml & No Puffery Cooling Roll-On 15ml ( here )
I'm combining these two into one as I've barely got anything to say about either of them, and for the same reason; I've barely used them. No good reason why, I've just forgotten about them all-together and never found they quite fit into my routine. It's such a shame, but there you go. They are now super old and it's definitely time to let them go as they are definitely expired.
Filorga C-Recover Radiance Anti-Fatigue Concentrate 10ml ( here )
This is one of three of these treatments that come in a box. This is my first one that I've finished, I'm about to finish my second one that will be in my March empties. I've been absolutely obsessed with it since I started using it. It gives my skin the most amazing glow and has evened out my skintone like nothing else. When I've used up the whole kit I'll definitely buy another one, this stuff is incredible.
Ole Henriksen Pure Truth Youth Activating Oil 15ml ( here )
This is nice, a nice rosehip oil, but I definitely still prefer my favourite version by Pai. The Ole Henriksen one just doesn't give the same immediate results that one does. Still, it's a decent rosehip oil, but if you have the choice between the two; I'd say go for the Pai.
Kanebo Sensai Silky Purifying Cleansing Oil 8ml ( here )
This is a very nice cleansing oil. Not too greasy, and easy to get off. I still prefer the Aesop Parsley Seed Cleansing Oil though.
La Prairie Advanced Marine Biology Day Cream 5ml ( discontinued )
This used to be one of my favourite day creams. It's been discontinued, so no need to go into great detail, but it was a good one.
Kanebo Sensai Silky Purifying Cleansing Cream 30ml ( here )
This is a great morning cleansing cream. It's light in texture, doesn't irritate or make skin red, and washes off easily.
Nude Progenius Omega Treatment Rescue Oil ( here )
I love this oil. It hydrates, balances and makes skin plump and radiant. I've got the full-size and have been through a few bottles already.
Ole Henriksen Power Peel 4ml x 3 ( here )
This is a really good treatment. The first step is a manual scrub, then there's a two-step peel. First you apply the peel in "step 2" and then you add the "step 3" mask on top of the "step 2" peel. It's really good. It's a thorough peel, quite potent, but it didn't irritate my skin. My skin is not sensitive, but it can lean towards sensitive and there are definitely the occasionall product it reacts to. If you are looking for a more "serious" at-home peel, I'd recommend giving this one a try.
Vichy Idéalia Skin Sleep Recovery Night Gel-Balm 1.5ml ( here )
There's never too much to say about a sachet, but it was good. I liked it fair enough. Didn't bother my skin, didn't suffocate it, but provided enough hydration.
Nars All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation in Light 2 Mont Blanc 30ml ( review - here )
One of my all-time favourite foundations. This is the fourth bottle I've gone through. I wanted to go at least a month without re-purchasing, to use my other foundations, but failed. I've grown so used to this I just had to buy it again, I need it on-hand. It is extremely thin in texture, but covers well and is really buildable. I love buildable foundations. They make it so easy to get ready quicker as I can just build it up where I need more, and honestly skip concealer if I really don't have the time. This also lasts really well and looks super natural.
Clarins Supra Volume Mascara in 01 Intense Black 3.5ml ( here )
An great mascara! It's really good! Gave lenght and volume, and no clumping. The serum in it really works - my lashes are definitely longer since using this. The sample also lasted me almost 2 and a half months! That's incredible!
La Mer The Powder in 01 Crème 25g ( review - here )
I'm sad this is finished, but as I've been working on getting through it a small part of me is happy I used it all up as well. This is a really nice powder - keeps makeup on all day, but with a semi-matte completely natural finish. It's recently been re-formulated and re-packaged so this isn't available anymore unfortunately. If it was I probably would have re-purchased.
Tom Ford Bronzing Powder in 02 Terra 21g ( review - here )
Terra has been one of my favourite bronzers since getting it, and I am definitely sad it's all gone. There's stilll a bit around the edges, and I've been trying to use that, but it has a hardened top surface, and my brushes get too damaged. Tom Ford seem to have a new bronzer formulation, that I will be excited to try. I hope it's as good, or even better, than the old formula, and really hope the colour is exactly the same - as that is part of what makes Terra so good for my pale skin.
Normal: 11
Deluxe Sample: 2
Sample: 5
Makeup Item: 4
Deluxe Sample/Mini Size Makeup Item: 0
Sample Makeup Item: 0
Nail polish: 0
Mini nail polish: 0
Jumbo Size: 2
Normal: 27
Deluxe Sample: 3
Sample: 6
Makeup Item: 5
Deluxe Sample/Mini Size Makeup Item: 1
Sample Makeup Item: 0
Nail polish: 0
Mini nail polish: 0
Jumbo Size: 2
*This post contains affiliate links


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Red Wing motorcyclist injured in barbed-wire crash
A Red Wing man was recovering Thursday after riding a motorcycle into a barbed-wire fence Wednesday outside a rural Ellsworth home.
A spokeswoman said the rider, Anthony J. Pirri, 45, was listed in good condition at Regions Hospital.
READ MORE: Hastings man dies after Wis. trench collapse
Pierce County Sheriff's Office deputies were called at 2:18 p.m. July 4, 2018, to W5774 Highway 10 in the town of Ellsworth for a motorcycle crash. Deputies determined Pirri was driving an off-road motorcycle on private property when he lost control and struck the fence.
Pirri was taken to Regions by Ellsworth ambulance for his injuries. Ellsworth firefighters assisted deputies at the scene.
READ MORE: Fighting poverty at home | City wraps EAB awareness around town

subset: commoncrawl


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I've gotten myself into quite a pickle. I am in a 15-year relationship with a partner who has a history of screaming fits and hitting things. He quit his job, went back to school and then stole money out of the mortgage to pay for it, even after I specifically asked that he take the money out of his RRSP. I try to be supportive, but I feel like I'm walking on eggshells. It bothers me that I have to support him through school, that he stole the money out of the mortgage to do it and that it's taken him seven years to complete a three-year program. I feel used and cheated out of the things that I want to do. What should I do?
Money and marriage make for a crazy cocktail. While there are two sides to every story, it does sound like you married a jerk.
But as one wise friend of mine says, "marriage isn't reform school." And the reality is that there isn't much that you can do to change him. That said there are changes you can make to improve your situation. And that is where we're going to focus today.
Ask better questions
You need to start by ask better questions; ones that will allow you to learn about yourself, what you want, and what you need to do to get it. For example:
What are my boundaries when it comes to money? He "stole" money out the mortgage and there weren't any consequences. He took four extra years to complete his program and you didn't draw a line in the sand—either because you didn't have clear boundaries in your mind or because you crumbled when he breached them. Take a step back and think about which behaviours around money you are willing to accept and which ones you aren't. Then determine what the consequences will be if he doesn't adhere to the boundaries and how you'll enforce them.
What kind of a person is he with? I have a great deal of compassion for your circumstances, but at the same time I think you need to ask yourself what this situation says about you. You sound like a strong and successful woman and yet you have cast yourself in a starring role in this drama as both victim and martyr. Is that how you see yourself? Is that who you want to be? I sincerely doubt it.
What do I want to do? You feel cheated out of things you want to do. It is time to write those dreams down on a piece of paper so you can start working on bringing them to fruition, with or without him. I think there is a risk that you are deriving a juicy payoff by staying with your jerk: It allows you to justify why you haven't been doing what you want to do and you get to avoid taking responsibility for having a great life. I highly recommend you stop doing that so you can get a handle on your money and live the life you want.
Consult the professionals
It should go without saying that you need to find a therapist or counsellor that you can trust to help you work through these issues. This person will be able to help you assess the situation more objectively, including the risk of violence, and understand your part in the destruction of the relationship. Together you'll be able to outline steps you can take to learn from it and improve your marriage or determine how you can leave the relationship safely.
Given that this is an advice column about money, the second call you need to make is to a family lawyer. It is very important for you to understand what both your rights are in terms of the financial assets, and also, what your obligations may be as the higher income spouse.
Prepare yourself for some crappy news on the financial front. It may take awhile for you to unwind yourself from him, if that is the route you choose. But don't stay because it is cheaper in dollar terms in the short run. The cost in emotional terms, in the long run, may be incalculable.
Talk to your spouse
At some point in the near future, you need to talk to your spouse. You may want to wait until you have consulted a therapist and gotten a little more clarity on what it is that you're committed to in this relationship. At its most basic, the conversation likely starts with something like this: "I haven't been happy in our relationship and I've decided I'm going to do something about it."
That is the key: It is time to do something about it.
Good luck.


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Fuji 6×92011/07/10
So, after a long time, you are finally ready for a larger format. Almost 'large format'. To be exact: ½ size of the 4×5 large format. Or you are already shooting LF but need a camera that is faster to set up. Anyway, you are ready for the ultimate experience in photography. Welcome!
Here we go. This is 'The Brick' or 'The Texas Leica'. The Fuji GW 690 III Professional with the famous EBC Fujinon 3.5/90mm
image © 1999-2011 by jens g.r. benthien
And the second Brick. The Fuji GSW 690 III Professional with the famous EBC Fujinon 5.6/65mm
image © 1999-2011 by jens g.r. benthien
Each of them comes with a weight of around 1.400 grams or 3.08 pounds net weight, plus tripod adapter, strap, cap, film. They are solid. Rock solid! When people say they can slam nails into a wall with a Nikon F4s, these cameras are good to hammer bolts into iron.
Fun aside, the Fujis will never let you down. Nowhere. They don't feature any electronic gadget, not even a light meter. They are pure, lean cameras, made to follow your command anywhere, anytime.
Someone in a forum once said: You pay for the lens, Fuji throws in the film holder for free. Almost true, but the lenses are really breathtaking. If you know ZEISS lenses on a Hasselblad, translate the same quality and sharpness to the 6×9 format. The EBC Fujinon lenses delivers perfect sharpness, perfect color rendition, perfect contrast, they are flare and distortion free. All these advantages are achieved with a very precise 5 blade aperture, which – in my opinion – is amazing.
The GW 690 III with the EBC Fujinon 3.5/90mm is equivalent to a 40 mm lens on a 35 mm system, the GSW 690 III with the EBC Fujinon 5.6/65mm is equivalent to a 28 mm lens on a 35 mm system. That's it. You can't change the lenses, just the cameras. The advantage: always razor sharp images as long as you focus correctly. There is no problem with a bayonet or the flange distance – the fixed mounts don't allow any movements.
If you want to see the very rare GSW 680 III, please visit the web site of Daniel Herlent. Scroll down the page a bit.
The camera bodies are made of steel and brass, covered with a plastic 'leather' and rubber coating (for the grip). They are definitely not made of plastic as some people say. Nonsense. They feature the same built quality as their predecessors, the GW 690 II and the GSW 690 II. Or the GW 670 II or the GW 680 II.
As opposed to a Hasselblad or Mamiya RZ the Fujis are rangefinder cameras, that means you focus through the viewfinder, aligning a bright patch over the main image. The smooth moving focus ring gives you the precision you need for even the finest alignment. The viewfinder is bright and clear.
Winding the film requires 2 strokes: the first to advance the film, the second to cock the shutter for the next exposure. The frame counter is made for 16 (220 film), 8 (120 film) and 4 exposures (sold only in Japan, and my guess is that only Fuji made this sort of film). Turning the pressure plate adjusts the film-flange distance for either 120 or 220 film, the latter being thinner.
The GW 690 III from top · image courtesy of Babar de Saint Cyr
Flash sync is up to 1/500 seconds, either via the hot shoe or a separate socket. The aperture and exposure rings are in the front part of the lens barrel, covered by the lens shade when it is in the retracted position. When you pull the lens shade out, you have access to a very nice system: once you've set your aperture and exposure, you can move both rings with one finger to change the aperture – the exposure ring follows automatically, keeping your EV at the same value. Or vice versa. Just apply enough pressure to move both rings and make sure they lock in into exposure settings, not the aperture settings, because there are no intermediate values for the shutter. Though many users complain the aperture ring features 'only' half stop locks, I know this is more than sufficient, even for slide film, if you use a precise hand held light meter.
My GW 690 III and me in the Axarquía national park in Andalucía. Now you know why I call these cameras 'bricks'
My apologies for the weird looking sunglasses, but the reflections in my sunglasses are from a huge white limestone rock behind the photographer.
To use these cameras you need an external light meter like the Gossen Profi Six or the Sekonic L-608 or one of the newer models. Your best choice will be an incident light meter or a meter with incident and reflective metering because of the precision they deliver. Sure, shooting this way is considerably slower than firing a full frame DSLR with 8 frames per second. But it is faster than working with a 4×5 or even 5×7 LF camera. However, there are some drawbacks with the Fujis: using a filter – other than a screw in type – can be a pain. If you want to use Lee filters, you'd better look for an alternative if you use the Lee system very often. A polarizer filter is a lot easier to use, if you happen to have a Heliopan filter with the numbers on the front ring.
Though you definitely can shoot without a tripod, I recommend to use your tripod, because in my opinion it would be a waste of the large film format and the sharp lenses if you spoil the result with unnecessary movements. OK, the Fujis come with two shutter release buttons: one at the front and one on top, which accepts a standard wire/cable release. Both buttons can be locked with one switch. The advantage of the front shutter button: you won't move the camera as opposed to pressing a button on top of the camera.
DOF table for the EBC Fujinon 3.5/90mm (click to enlarge)
DOF table for the EBC Fujinon 5.6/65mm (click to enlarge)
When you load a film, just make sure that you press your thumb on the feeding spool to hold the film tight. Advance the take up spool a bit, then use the lever until the mark on the film reaches the mark in the camera, close the back and do a few strokes to advance the film until the counter displays the number '1'. It's really simple as that.
Fuji delivered a thin translucent piece of plastic with each camera – it functions as a ground glass if you open the back (without a film), for example to calibrate the camera for a nodal adapter or check the lens focus (which actually is not necessary). I've never heard about any complaints about the focus of these marvels. Only one complaint about a maladjusted rangefinder patch, which can be corrected in less then 10 minutes from any mechanically savvy technician.
The two sisters next to a Sekonic L-608 · © 1999-2011 by jens g.r. benthien
Forget the camera bags that came with the cameras – they are a joke. Forget the lens caps – get some good stuff, if possible snap-ons or metal screw-in caps to protect the lenses.
Unfortunately the Fujis don't have a 'B' setting on the exposure ring, and the 'T' setting doesn't react to a second trigger of the shutter release button like the real large format lenses. Either use the 'hat method' to cover your lens after a long time exposure, or advance the lever. IMO and experience using the hat method delivers better results :-).
Image curtesy of antiquecameras.com
Both cameras feature a built-in bubble level right above the viewfinder to level the cameras horizontally. Though I wish Fuji would have integrated a two way level, I really appreciate this solution because I'm doing lots of architecture, interiors and industry. However, after several measurements I know that the hot shoes are perfectly leveled on these cameras. So if you need a very precise level for two directions, you should consider this nice electronic level from Seculine:
The advantage of this electronic level: its precision. While a standard bubble level delivers a precision of 35′, this one comes with a precision of 6′ (minutes of arc). Watch the video here:
Though the shutter is absolutely noiseless, each time you push the button you'll hear a tiny 'Pfhlong': it is the frame counter mechanism or actuator in the bottom of the camera. The 3 digits don't display the number of shots, but number of shots x 10. That means if the counter displays 500, you've fired the shutter 5.000 times and it's time to send the camera to a CLA (Clean, Lubricate, Adjust), where the shutter will be replaced. However, because the shutter is robust, you can extend the maintenance interval to 10.000. Just make sure you'll get the Fuji Repair Manual for these cameras, so that any savvy camera mechanic will be able to repair or adjust them.
The image quality is awesome. Just imagine: you have a slide of approximately 6 (!) times the size of a 35 mm slide on your light table. Throw in a fine grain slide film like the Fuji Provia 100F, a Fuji Astia, a Velvia, or a Kodak Portra 160 or an Ilford Delta 100. The results will blow your mind. Scanning these negatives or slides with a dedicated film scanner gives you a whopping 130 MegaPixels per image and a file size of around 650 MegaBytes per image @48 bit color depth. This is more than you'll get with a 4×5 inch LF slide on a flatbed scanner.
The 6×9 Fujis are real marvels in the hands of an experienced photographer. I've read many posts in a variety of forums where people regretted that they've sold them. Getting one with a low figure on the counter is almost impossible. Be prepared to pay around Euro 1.200 up to 1.500 for a model in excellent shape. If this sounds expensive – well, that's a relative number, because you'll be able to pass on these cameras to the next generation.
If I will have the time I'll post some sample images here the next weeks.
I really would appreciate if you would support me for this and future projects:
ermita dilar · © 1999-2011 by jens g.r. benthien
This is the full size image. See the little plate above the door at the right?
This is a 100% crop.
Camera: Fuji GSW 690 III Professional with EBC Fujinon 5.6/65mm
Film: Fuji Provia 100F, exposed to 100 ASA, tripod, scanned with a Nikon LS 9000 ED @ 4000 ppi and 48 bit color depth.
This means if you print this image at a size of 3,4 meters x 2,27 meters or 11,16 feet x 7,45 feet, you'll end up with the same resolution as this tiny part of the image. Step back one meter or 3 feet and you won't see any grain.
Mind boggling? Any questions?
More information:
www.antiquecameras.net/ fuji6x76x9.html
The history and development of the Fuji 690 and G series
illustrated manual on how to load a film into the 690 II
owner manuals for the 690 and the GW/GSW II
Michael Hockney and his Fuji cameras
metro station · palma [crop 2:1] · Fuji GSW 690 III
sculpture parque de la mar · palma [3:2] · Fuji GW 690 III
centro comercial alhsur · granada / la zubia [crop 2:1] · Fuji GSW 690 III
café varadero · palma [crop 3:1] · Fuji GW 690 III
bridal fashion shop · palma [3:2] · Fuji GW 690 III
banco gallego · palma [crop 1:1] · Fuji GSW 690 III
plaza de la reina · palma (pano stitched from two slides) · Fuji GW 690 III
embalse de bermejales · andalucía [crop 2:1] · Fuji GSW 690 III
huerta solar sierra nevada · andalucía [crop 3:1] (pano stitched from two slides)
· Fuji GW 690 III
borne at night · palma [crop 2:1] · Fuji GSW 690 III
all images © 1999-2011 by jens g.r. benthien
Don't miss The Fuji Rangefinder Pages with tons of images made with the Fuji Rangefinders!
If you are interested in super wide angle photography for the 6×9 format, click here for some information about the Plaubel 69W ProShift Superwide.
Oh, and before you'll say 'nice images the camera has taken':
cartoon curtesy of Aaron Johnson
(If you don't understand this joke, I guess you are not yet ready for [pure] photography)
Watch Martin Schoeller performing professional assignments with his 6×9 Fujis:


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Got this in the mail today, and found it amusing.. So, sharing it with all.. Whoever thought of it, please do not sue me, I am only bringing appreciation to your work :)
1. Ali Baba and the forty thieves are now Ali Baba and the thirty thieves. Ten were laid off..
2. Batman and Robin are now Batman and Pedro. Batman fired Robin and hired Pedro because Pedro was willing to work twice the hours at the same rate.
3. Iron man now "air-pooling" with Superman to save fuel costs.
4. Women finally marrying for love, and not money
5. Q: With the current market turmoil, what's the easiest way to make a small fortune?
A: Start off with a large one.
6. The credit crunch is getting bad isn't it? I mean, I let my brother borrow $10 a couple of weeks back, it turns out I'm now America's third biggest lender.
7. Q: Why have Dubai real estate agents stopped looking out of the window in the morning?
A: Because otherwise they'd have nothing to do in the afternoon.
8. Q: What's the difference between an American and a Zimbabwean?
A: In a few weeks, nothing.
9. Dow Jones is re-branded as "Down Jones".
10. Quote from a Wall Street banker: This is worse than divorce. I've lost half of my assets and I still have my wife…!!!!..
ps : On an unrelated note, I have enabled Adsense on the blog, which effectively means that I would be paid some amount if enough people click on the advertisements displayed on the right side and bottom of the post. Since I have a very selective readership, in order to make up for the numbers, request each of you to be kind enough to click at least 50 times on each of the ad's. Every penny counts in these times of recession..
pps : First thing in the morning, I wished the husband a very happy 'Husbands' Day'. Also, promised to cook a grand meal to celebrate 'his special day'. Poor thing, he is spending the day dreaming of the dinner at night. For people still wondering why, A Happy Fools' Day to you :)
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Recession Updates!
Posted by Violet at 12:25 PM
Labels: copy-paste, Just-like-that, Occasion
4 comments:
- Smitha said...
LOL ! That was fun :)
So did you husband have a 'Happy Husband's day ' :)
- April 17, 2009 at 4:36 PM
- Violet said...
I had a 'Happy Husbands' Day', he took me out for dinner.. which is where I wished him the "Fools' Day" too :)
and yes, thanks for dropping by :)
- April 17, 2009 at 4:46 PM
- Sundar Narayanan said...
tagged you..
- April 18, 2009 at 12:54 PM
He he he. Good one :-)
And thanks for your lovely comments on my blog. Made my day!
- April 29, 2009 at 1:17 PM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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ETTU apologises for live scoring defect last weekend
ETTU sincerely apologises to all table tennis fans and followers for the poor delivery of the live scoring system during last weekend. Live scoring during the second round of the ETTU Cup was not up to our high standards.
Of course we are doing our utmost to prevent problems like this recurring during the 2015-2016 European table tennis season and hope you will be able to enjoy top table tennis from our top clubs without further problems.


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Woo Hoo!
The School Report Card Bill (HB 2461) has passed both houses of the Illinois legislature and was signed into law by the Governor on August 25, 2017. This bill amends the School Code which requires school report cards to include the most current data collected and maintained by the State Board of Education. The State Board must now include, in the school report cards, certain demographic information concerning gifted education and advanced academic programs as well as information concerning the number of teachers in a school who hold a gifted education endorsement.
Read the full Public Act http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/100/PDF/100-0364.pdf


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William B. Leitzen
Mr. William B. Leitzen, 89, of Manila, Ark., died Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012, at Monette Manor Nursing Home. Mr. Leitzen was born June 9, 1922, in Stockton, Ill., to the late Oscar and Lula Susan Hall Leitzen. Mr. Leitzen enjoyed cracking pecans, making wooden ornaments and spending time with family and friends.
Survivors include four sons, Thomas Leitzen and wife Darlene of Leachville, Ark., Douglas Leitzen and William Leitzen, Jr., both of Manila, Ark., and Walter Leitzen of California; four daughters, Cathy Carter and husband Ricky of Manila, Ark., Margie Thrasher and husband Terry of Leachville, Ark., Rita Armstrong and husband Horace of Lepanto, Ark., and Mary Jo Eddings of Manila, Ark.; one brother, Jim Leitzen of Iowa; one sister, Ilene Graber of Indiana; 38 grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren; two very special friends, Bernice Meade and Blake Davis; Alishia Douglas, caretaker who took care of him the past two years; and a host of other family and friends.
Mr. Leitzen was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Shirley Leitzen; one sister, Eloise Coats; two sons, Tony and Ricky Leitzen; and one daughter, Janice Leitzen.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan.10, at Faith Funeral Service with Rev. Gary Galloway officiating. Burial will follow at the Manila Cemetery.
The family received visitors from 6-8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9, at Faith Funeral Service in Manila.


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The Bishop of Bling:
Monsignor Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst
Ordinary of the Diocese of Limburg, Germany
[October 23, 2013]
Summary: Breaking News
As reported today in the Italian daily, il Fatto, Pope Francis has decided that Monsignor Franz Peter Tebartz-van Elst, bishop of Limburg, Germany, but currently in Rome to explain the out-of-control spending in his diocese on a restoration project…
"[translated from the Italian] will not return to the diocese until light is cast upon the renovation expenses of the episcopal see…"
An Apostolic Administrator has been appointed on an interim basis to run the diocese.
According to a Vatican statement,
"[translated from the Italian] there has been created a situation in which the bishop for the present may not exercise his episcopal ministry."
This is significant, and goes far beyond the alleged spending habits of one among several thousand Catholic bishops and eparchs around the globe:
It signals the seriousness of Pope Francis' campaign against displays of luxury and profligate spending by high-ranking clergy;
It comes with lightning speed after a private audience between the pope and the bishop two days ago, where the bishop was given an opportunity to explain himself;
It is a swift reaction to lame news management efforts by the bishop yesterday, with a posting on his diocesan website to the effect that the papal meeting had been 'very encouraging';
It goes against the ingrained view within the Curia Romana that when it comes to cardinals and bishops, scandal must be avoided at all costs;
It hauls on the carpet one of Pope Benedict's favorites, a protege he elevated to the rank of bishop at the youthful age of 47 (making Tebartz-van Elst at the time the youngest bishop in Germany);
There is nothing doctrinal about this episode, 'it's just business' as Tessio said in The Godfather.
German and Italian media, and to a lesser extent some outlets in the U.S., have been reporting the widening controversy about the spending habits of Monsignor Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, ordinary of the Diocese of Limburg in Germany, within the Ecclesiastical Province of the Archdiocese of Cologne. [I will avoid a facile riff about the pungent smell of local Limburger cheese.]
The issue is whether Catholic bishops and Eastern rite eparchs take seriously the pope's admonitions about living large…
There is also the complicating factor that Tebart-van Elst was hand-picked by Pope Benedict and elevated in 2007 as the then-youngest bishop in Germany, clearly destined for higher duties, and a prelate in the mold of Pope Benedict.
The Facts of the Case, below, are drawn from the excellent reporting of two full-time Vaticanisti: Robert Mickens of The Tablet and Andrea Tornielli of La Stampa.
The End Comment is my responsibility.
Facts of the Case
The renovation of a cluster of diocesan buildings close to the Cathedral, including the bishop's residence, began some years ago with a budgeted cost of about €5 million (almost $7 million), and has soared to a current estimate of €31 million ($43 million); a six-fold increase.
As frequently happens, a particular item has become the 'gotcha' symbol for a complicated tangle of technical details:
€15,000 ($21,000) for His Excellency's bathtub
Comment: Remember the $600 ashtray in a USAF stealth airplane? Turns out that the plane was pretty damn good, btw…
Separately, His Excellency got into a dispute with a wide-circulation German weekly, Der Spiegel, over his trip to India a few years ago to a poverty conference, and the cost of his air fare.
This episode has drawn comments from some leading personalities in Germany and in the Vatican:
Chancellor Angela Merkel, daughter of a Lutheran minister;
Archbishop Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a German national;
Archbishop Robert Zollisch, head of the German conference of bishops; and
Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Cardinal-archbishop of Munich and Freising, and a member of Pope Francis Group of Eight cardinal-consultors; a German national.
It lines up 3:1 against the Bishop of Bling.
Chancellor Merkel has described the Limburg situation as a 'scandal'.
This is remarkably direct for someone whose defining trait is prudence.
But before anyone howls about 'separation of church and state' it should be kept in mind that the German government provides a handsome subsidy to the Catholic Church in Germany (and to other recognized religious denominations):
German taxpayers may direct to their designated religion the "Kirchensteuer," about 8-9% of their tax bill.
So government officials have a stake in how money is spent by subsidized religious denominations. Pity that dozens of American attorneys general and district attorneys could not get it through their heads that the religious exemption from property taxes is in fact a taxpayers' subsidy, something that any Ec-101 student could explain.
We are also four years away from the date of Martin Luther's 95 theses, posted almost half a millennium ago in 1517; an anniversary that will have a lot of resonance in Germany.
Archbishop Gerhard Müller rose to the defense of Bishop Tebartz-van Elst last month, and described the media campaign against the bishop as
"a building of lies…the bishop stays…"
Interesting resonance here…when Pope Benedict was urged to remove his #2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone he reportedly answered,
"Der Mann bleibt" [the guy stays].
Further back in time, when the Boston clergy sex abuse scandal broke in January of 2002, several American cardinals were summoned to Rome in March, including Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law. With a pack of eager media types waiting to hear the results of their meeting with Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Law skipped the presser, and the lead spokesman for the Church, then-prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, told the assembled scrum:
"Concerning the problem of sexual abuse and pedophilia…It's already an X-ray of the problem that so many of the questions [are] in English"
This was his adorably oblique was of suggesting that pedophilia is most prevalent among Anglophones.
On the other hand, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch and Cardinal Reinhard Marx had some rational things to say about the Limburg situation:
Archbishop Zollitsch said, "we have an enormous credibility problem";
Cardinal Marx described what was happening in Limburg as "disturbing."
End Comment
The German episcopal conference has launched a commission to study the matter which is technically quite complex. So it is still possible that the bishop of Limburg will be exonerated. But two circumstances suggest otherwise:
a) The exiling of the bishop from his own see.
Interesting canonical question, usually, when an Apostolic Administrator is appointed (Boston, December, 2002 through July, 2003), this is because of a sede vacante (vacant seat); but in Limburg there is a sede plena sed absente (full but vacant see). But how can a single sede accommodate two prelates?
b) As noted above, three very senior stake-holders in Germany have weighed into the fray.
And there is quite a back-story here.
Pope Benedict's selection of Tebart-van Elst in 2007 for the Limburg see was remarkable, and not just for the bishop's age at the time (all of 47).
Monsignor Joseph Ratzinger himself was named bishop of Munich and Freising in 1977 at the age of 49, still slightly older than Tebart-van Elst at the equivalent times.
Previously, Monsignor Ratzinger had taught at Regensburg University; almost ditto for Monsignor Tebart-van Elst who had taught at Münster University.
Furthermore, the Limburg see is within the Ecclesiastical Province of Cologne, and this would make the Limburg ordinary a contender for one of the most prestigious big-city sees in Germany, the Archdiocese of Cologne.
It is too soon to draw any firm conclusions, but in the event that the Bishop of Bling's temporary exile becomes permanent, this suggests an interesting avenue of recourse for beleaguered Catholics whose churches are being sold off while the local hierarchy lives large. Follow the advice that Pope Francis gave in Rio, and
'make a mess in your dioceses'


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National service
Mikey Robins and Ian Rogerson enjoy the prospect of a countrywide gamble.
Unperturbed by the uncertain future of their new employer, veteran broadcasters Mikey Robins and Ian Rogerson will launch themselves into a new national breakfast show next Monday on Radio 2 from flash new studios at the Homebush Olympic complex.
Both have packed substantial success into their careers, but this will be far
and away their biggest challenge - persuading listeners to go looking for them at the far end of the dial.
Radio 2 is a network of 50 off-band AM licences around Australia, bought for a song by a company called World Audio that has sunk millions into getting the network up and running.
The station is also heard on the Foxtel and Austar pay TV channels, streamed on the internet and carried on a trial satellite radio service in Darwin that reaches parts of Asia.
Backed by investors with muscle such as retailer Gerry Harvey, World Audio is making a strong pitch to be treated on a par with the mainstream networks when the industry shifts to digital - and Robins and Rogerson are part of the gamble.
They plan a show for adults, 35 and older - a relaxed mix of news and current affairs, intelligent discussion, humour, talkback calls and the sort of music they listen to themselves.
They promise no celebrity hype, prank calls and corny competitions, the staples of FM radio. "We're certainly not going to be sitting there talking about Britney Spears," Rogerson says. And there'll be no tub-thumping, fear-mongering demagoguery, the convention among commercial AM talk hosts.
"I haven't found a soapbox strong enough to hold me," Robins jokes.
In recognition of their latent drive for a healthier lifestyle, they thought of calling the new show Muesli and Patches (as in nicotine), but have settled on the straightforward moniker Ian and Mikey.
Robins and Rogerson are well aware of the controversy surrounding World Audio, and are happy to take the punt. But the radio stations are low-powered and in Sydney, on the 1611 AM frequency, it only reaches the outer-western suburbs.
Though both broadcasters have had their share of career highs - on commercial radio, Triple J and on TV - neither had a full-time gig when approached by World Audio a couple of months ago.
For them, it is the chance to work together, to reach a national audience and make radio for adults with plenty of creative freedom.
It's hard not to catch their enthusiasm. "It reminds me of the late '80s, early '90s at Double J when we were about to go national, and then regional," Robins says. "That sense of being at the start of something really exciting."
Ian and Mikey begins on 1611 AM on Monday from 7-10am.


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"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right." (Henry Ford)
You read a lot of inspirational quotes on the backs of shirts of marathoners when you're in the back-of-the-pack, but this one sticks with me (like "I was the fat kid in gym class")...
Quadzilla, that's 4 marathons in 4 days. Used to be, the only quadzilla was the Bizz Johnson + Tahoe Triple. Then they moved the BIzz Johnson. Then some dude in Cali made his own quadzilla. Made sense that budding RDs Matt "Pooky" and wife EatDrinkRunWoman made their own quadzilla here in Seattle, i.e. Maniac central. 29 people signed up for the quad, another 15 each for the "Turkey Triple" and Ghost Double. If you're going to be crazy, be crazy all the way.
Marathon #1: Wattle Waddle, Cedar River Trail, Thursday Nov 25. Start of race: 27 degrees, 4 inches snow, was really jealous of those who remembered their Yak Traxx. Like running in sand but icy. End of race: 33 degrees, melting snow falling on your head from pine trees, frozen solid, could not uncurl fingers for 2 hours. Run "fat ass" style, i.e only 1 rest station, no porta potties, so ran with camelback pack. Severe backpack chafage. 4:46:29.
Marathon #2 (27.8 mile ultra), Crescent Forest in Gig Harbor, Nov 26. RD Bill reversed direction of course from last year, harder this year, but at least there were Huckleberry pancakes. Severe left armpit and chest chafage, stubbed left toe (?broken?) but no face-plant. Slushy mudfest, totally lost mental focus and morale, beautiful trail but even beauty can become monotonous when you're suffering. Drove down with VVN and met some nice Maniacs, it's nice, you don't have to explain your running stories to Maniacs. 6:15:58.
Marathon #3: Ghost of Seattle, Lake Washington/ Seward Park Nov 27. Late once again, though in my own neighborhood. No medal (or Wild Turkey or Advil this year), but still nice to see Maniacs on out-and-back and hotdog at end. 4:34:00.
Marathon #4: Seattle Marathon (my 4th) Nov 28. Met some more Maniacs, including 2 Hawaiians (one ran a 3:17 on day #4!). 2 British guys flew in just for the quad. And my fave Maniac Monte who puts my mileage to shame.
Saw Kadlec 2x on the out-and-back, looking strong between the 3:10 and 3:30 pace groups. Kate did the 1/2, I didn't see her though. I came in 4:25:17. probably added a few seconds doing a premature "victory dance" when I got my quadzilla medal, before the actual finish line. Nice black eye, eh? One one Maniac asked me about it, a souvenir from my fainting spell on monday which left both my kneecaps swollen and black/ blue like my hair. Met up with VVN who finished her triple with ease, and May, who won an age-group prize.
Marathon #5? I wish. Much better than going back to work..... learning a lot about preventing chafage for the 100 miler which remains on my bucket list. Next is the New Year's double prior to HTTM. Will there be a Marathon de Mukilteo next?
Sunday, November 28, 2010
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In this article I will be reviewing the Nokia Lumia 900 camera. Lumia 900 is a Windows Phone device, featuring a 8MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics 28mm f/2.2 lens, dual LED flash and autofocus. The Lumia camera is vastly compared against the Nokia N8 and the iPhone 4S. There is quite a lot of people bashing the Lumia 900 camera image quality. In this review I will investigate this issue (if it's an issue at all) myself, to see how good the image quality is.
Microsoft Needs Nokia (and Vice Versa)
As much as I love what Google have done with the Android OS, I just wish that Window will find the right track to success with its Mobile Phone devices. I believe in Microsoft technology and innovation and believe that many C# developers want to develop great apps for the Windows Phone 7 / 8 mobile operating system. The only barrier is that Windows Phone aren't popular. I hope that the partnership with Nokia can yield some great products. I also hope that Windows 8 will have great integration with the Phone itself and Cloud Computing environment. I have tons of ideas for great apps to work with the camera.
We also know that Nokia is in financial troubles right now. However, the Nokia 808 PureView is a proof of what Nokia engineers are capable of. No other mobile phone camera can get close to the image quality of the 808 PureView. I wish that this camera will find its way into future Windows Phone devices as well, and not end on the PureView. Although the Nokia Lumia 900 doesn't utilize the same camera, or better to say, sensor technology, I believe that in the future to come, we will see innovative technologies coming from Nokia and both Microsoft and Nokia will be back on the track with their mobile phone technologies, and succeeding in competing against Android and iOS based smartphones.
Maybe Microsoft really needs to get Windows 8 operating system out already. Microsoft designed Windows 8 OS to work across other mobile platforms, including smartphones and tablet devices. Microsoft Windows Phone 8 operating system will be launch shortly after Windows 8. Let's hope that everything goes well for Microsoft, so we will have more selection of devices, apps and games to enjoy.
Lumia 900 Camera – Fails to Impress
There are already a few Lumia 900 review's editors that are disappointed with the Lumia 900 camera. It seems that everything about this phone is great. Nokia's N9 has an excellent camera with 8MP, images looks beautiful with vivid colors, well balanced exposure and sharp. Not everything you read has to be 100% accurate. Many people just don't have the right knowledge in photography, so they tend to blame the camera. I've read a nice article on mywpstory.com about how to take better photos with the Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone. You can find some solutions to various problems that many people encounter when they start to exploring the world of digital photography.
Maybe the fact that the Lumia 900 camera doesn't have a backlit (BSI) sensor like the N9, Galaxy 3, iPhone 4S and others, maybe that's why the image quality fail to impress (although some sites continue to claim that the Nokia Lumia 900 does have backlit sensor, go figure). Anyways, Let's leave the boring technical stuff aside, because after such a big mass finding the correct technical data about the sensor, I think that I will give the photos and videos to speak for themselves.
Lumia 900 Sample images
Let's looks at some test shots taken with the Lumia 900.
Nokia Lumia 900 Test Video
My impressions:
I've browsed through quite a lot of Nokia Lumia 900 sample photos on Flickr, enlarged them and did some pixelpeeping. In general, image quality is pretty god. However, it seems that colors just don't have the punch that I wanted. Noise is certainly very apparent in the images, even in bright daylight. The way to test it is to shoot outside and catch the blue sky area. In fact, the Lumia 900 camera produce pretty noisy images I have to say. HTC One X camera as well as iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy S3, all result in better image quality (IQ) overall. Again, if indeed the Lumia doesn't have a BSI sensor, maybe that explain why we see so much noise.
The other problem I've notices is that the Lumia 900 camera tends to produce quite amount of burn highlight areas, both in stills and videos. So I think that the camera just overexpose. That's sits well with the fact that it produces quite a lot of noise, and we see more noise in dark areas of the image.
Some photos looked very nice (See macro shot above).
Another thing that I've notices is that the overall color rendering doesn't looks that natural. The blue sky didn't look natural blue, rather cyan-greenish like. It seems like it's tricky to get a good shot. Only on certain well exposed scenes you get an image that looks good. Sharpness was good though.
So it seems that the Nokia Lumia 900 camera suffers from some problems: blown highlights, unnatural colors (in some occasions), relatively dull colors (doesn't have that punch) and quite a lot of chrome noise, even when shooting in a daylight.
After reading the negative opinions about the Lumia 900 camera and seeing it in my own eyes, I can say that the Lumia 900 camera does disappoint. In fact, it wouldn't be fair to even compare it to the Samsung Galaxy S3 and needless to say, the Nokia 808 PureView.
Don't get me wrong here, the Samsung Galaxy S3 does have some degree of noise, but the colors are vivid, image has great contrast, it's very sharp and camera exposure meter works great to reveal a well balanced image.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Sample image
The Nokia Lumia 900 camera isn't bad, but considering the fact that this is a great smartphone, I can agree that one of its downsides is the camera. So I came to the same conclusion as many reviewers and Lumia 900 owners that the image quality is mediocre. That's quite a shame considering that the phone itself looks great and it seems many people really love it, except for the camera performance.
So I know this is not what you wanted to read, and I really wanted the Lumia 900 camera to be good, so the whole smartphone will be a great package. If you are looking for good image quality, and you care about camera performance, I recommend looking somewhere else.
Do you agree or disagree – post your comment below.
Amazon Ads


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The members of The Liberty Coalition (Third Party Alliance) want a new Official Logo!
The Winning Prize for the best entry is:
A set of two (2) Silver Coins – one (1) ounce each .999 Fine Silver. Coin designs are our choice. Coins will be shipped to the Winner.
Thank you in advance to all those who provide entries. Good luck to you all!
Please read the rules below carefully.
Remember – only you can support Freedom and oppose Tyranny.
In Liberty,
AJ Arias, Founder and Director
The Liberty Coalition (Third Party Alliance)
Here are the RULES:
1. Contestants must become (if not already) members of The Liberty Coalition group page on Facebook by the entry date.
2. Entries must be submitted via e-mail ONLY with a picture format attachment to firstname.lastname@example.com.
3. Designs must be based on one of the following icons:
a. a Deer with antlers;
b. a Coiled Snake based on the Gadsen Flag
c. a Wolverine; or,
d. a Symbol of Freedom
4. You may copy and paste these RULES in an e-mail to friends or family who may also compete in the Contest.
5. Once any entry is selected that design becomes the sole property of The Liberty Coalition (Third Party Alliance), a political corporation. The designer may use the design under fair use.
6. Entries must be submitted no later than Tuesday, November 3rd at NOONTIME 12PM. This is the official Entry Date.
7. The Liberty Coalition has the right to reject ANY and ALL entries and has the sole discretion to choose which entry may become its Official Logo.


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Ron Trachtenberg was appalled. In a protest email to members of the city of Madison's Alcohol License Review Committee, the Madison attorney and former alderperson called it "a disaster" and "disgusting."
Trachtenberg was referring to a pair of bartender license applications heard by the ALRC on April 15. The first was for a 29-year-old woman he described as "cute, blonde, curvaceous, good breasts and articulate, with a killer smile." Her application had been flagged for review by the Madison Police Department because she failed to report a traffic violation and several administrative actions for noncompliance stemming from two OWIs she received in 2004 and 2005. (She also had past convictions for battery, bail jumping and marijuana possession.)
She explained, basically, that these just slipped her mind. That she had two OWIs and was seeking a bartender's license was remarked on by one committee member. But Madison Capt. Carl Gloede said this in itself would not have triggered a review, and the committee granted the license.
Next up was a 50-year-old man who needed a bartender license for a new job. He had no alcohol-related offenses and no one challenged the fullness of his disclosures. But he was convicted of growing pot in his home (a felony) in 2003, and had slightly older convictions for retail theft and disorderly conduct.
The man, who already has a job as an alcohol server, said he'd had an undiagnosed autism-related condition but has since been taking medication and become "a much better member of society." The ALRC rejected his application.
"The ALRC treats people really summarily," says Trachtenberg. "They're just really rough on them."
And it's true, there seems to be little logic to how the ALRC handled these two cases. Why should someone with an obvious drinking problem get a license and a guy busted for growing pot six years ago be denied? Could it be simply that the committee found one applicant more pleasing?
See if you can come up with a better theory: The back-to-back applications are archived on Madison City Channel (www.cityofmadison.com/mcc12/index.html), Part 1 of the ALRC's April 15 meeting, around the one-hour mark.


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If there is one PDF quick read that you must save to your computer it is Dan John's 40 Years of Insight. I love lesson 13 (ok, all of them) as I try to apply it to my coaching and learning. Consequently, it serves as a reminder to those having a goal in sports performance or fitness. Nonetheless, read it and let me know what you think and maybe you can apply it to something in your life.
"I love the word "glib." Usually, it means nonchalant (that has to be a French word; we need to find a way to say this glibly), but it also means "lacking depth and substance." Now, most of my ex-girlfriends say that about me, but I digress.
I've always taken about six weeks a year to assess, reassess, and deal with my weaknesses. It's always around the same few issues.
I'm too fat.
My hamstrings are too tight.
I need to work on X, Y, or Z.
So, how does one usually address these issues? Most people usually address weaknesses while also doing literally everything else. So, what happens in a typical 6-week assessment program is we continue doing everything we did before and hope the weaknesses vanish magically. Without Harry Potter, that isn't going to happen.
In the last decade I've discovered that weaknesses demand full concentration. As I've argued before, if you want to really address fat loss, do the Velocity Diet. Oh sure, there are other fine options but do the V-Diet once and then decide how "grueling" Atkins or Ornish or the Zone are in terms of sacrifice.
Weaknesses need to be given full attention. If you have flexibility issues holding you back, then you need some kind of challenge. In the past I've recommended the Bikram Yoga 30-day challenge (you promise to go to the 90 minute sessions every day for 30 days) and I still can't think of a better way to address the issue.
Weaknesses need to be attacked with depth. I charge you to examine every possibility in your search to ridding yourself of this issue. I've had people squat 5 days a week to address poor squatting technique and do 1,000 full turns a month to deal with discus throwing issues. If you have a clear weakness, total focus with every tool and weapon you can muster has to be the plan.
Don't be glib."
When I first read lesson 13, I compared it solely to my training. Deadlift better, squat better, ok just train better. After reading it 5x through, we can apply lesson 13 to anything. Diet, family life, beliefs, training technique, sleep patterns, recovery, enjoying life, being nicer to people, caring more, loving more, going out on a limb for somebody. Does this seem like a bit more than training? Improve your weaknesses. For me, every time I know I am not up to par with coaching something, I try to read a quality article or cue from other coaches and ask questions. Seek advice.
Categories: Conditioning, Core Training, Injury Prevention, Nutrition, Recommended Resources, Speed Training, Strength Training, Stretching/Soft Tissue Work


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By Isaac L. Mylar. Originally published by Evening Pajaronian, Watsonville, California in 1929. Republished by Valley Publishers in cooperation with San Juan Bautista Historical Society in 1976.
Mylar's reminiscenes of persons, places, and events in and around San Juan Bautista, principally between 1855 and 1880, are among the relatively few available accounts of the "City of History" in the early years of its American Period. 204 pages.


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I'm helping with the decorations for an activity for the young women in our church.
I wish I could say I'm really good at decorating.
But I'm not.
And the idea of being in charge of decorations gives me a panic attack.
So I'm not in charge.
Just helping.
Our theme for the night is Arise and Shine Forth.
So we're decorating in Sunshine colors.
My most significant contribution is a paper rose ball on a vase.
I've gone above and beyond this time, I know.
Just kidding. It's almost embarrassing how little this is compared to all of the other decorations going into this.
I've gone above and beyond this time, I know.
Just kidding. It's almost embarrassing how little this is compared to all of the other decorations going into this.
There is one thing that's awesome about my paper rose ball.
I didn't cover the whole thing in paper roses because it is a large ball and it just fit better on the vase this way.
But, if you turn it on it's side it looks like an old fashioned swimming cap on a Styrofoam wig stand.
Makes me giggle.
I was tempted to get some mister potato-head eyes, nose and mouth to stick on it.
I know, I find strange things entertaining.
Oh, and ignore the hot-glue spider webs all over everything. I seriously thought I'd cleaned them all off.
Apparently not because there they are clear as day in every. single. picture!
I'm very proud of my vase....if I do say so myself.
It was a thrift store find --- $1
It was just clear glass.
I spray painted the inside with white gloss paint.
It looks a lot better in real life.
I did get a little enthusiastic with the spray paint and so I have some drips.....oops!
I'm okay with it.
Kind of gives it a marbled look....adds character...or whatever.
So, the paper rose idea came from my niece Jamie who made one because she saw it on Pinterest.
My Internet was out at the time and so she explained to me how to make paper roses over the phone.
She got her inspiration from The Idea Room.
In the mean time I documented my flower making in pictures below.
But you should really check out the original here.
I did do a couple of things differently.
I used hot glue as I went, in a few spots.
It seemed as I twisted and gathered it needed some glue to keep it in place.
Also, When it was all finished I glued the little stem to one side to make the rose a little flatter and easier to glue to the ball.
My flowers don't look the same as the original but not bad for being told the gist of how to make them over the phone.
The key does seem to be twisting and gathering to make it look like real pedals.
I'll try and get some pictures of all of the finished decorations.
Happy Flower Making!


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Home / WAKE UP FOLIO
WAKE UP FOLIO (Discontinued)
WAKE UP FOLIO offers different convenient viewing options. Prop up your iPad 2 for seeing videos comfortably, or lay it in lower position for easy typing. The upper cover simply close the case to put your iPad 2 in sleeping mode, and open it to instantly wake up the device. The sleep function support will save your battery power while WAKE UP FOLIO protects your iPad 2 anytime and anywhere.


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Today is Blog Action Day, and team Inhabitat is joining thousands of other sites around the world as we spread shock waves of awareness around the issue of climate change! As the web's largest blog dedicated to sustainable design, we tackle this issue on a daily basis through our headlines – but today we also wanted to share a more personal response from our team. By nature climate change is an issue that extends to every corner of the globe, and our worldwide team of writers are engaging with it on a daily basis – read on for our responses!
MIKE CHINO, Managing Editor, San Francisco, CA
A lot of people see climate change as abstract – an intangible impending storm on the horizon, or an ideological substrate condensing in the atmosphere like so many sulfurous clouds. The shifting valence of the terms we use to talk about its effects doesn't help – remember when global warming surged through the headlines on a daily basis? In the past years we've acknowledged through facts, statistics, and far-reaching reports that climate change will comprise an tremendous range of disastrous consequences not limited to temperature increase, and we're starting to see its effects around the world.
The factors causing climate change aren't abstract – they're just as real as the effects, and they're present all around us in every object we encounter – from the beds we wake up in, to the houses we live in, to our commute to work, the clothes we wear, and the food we eat for dinner. Within all the objects that we create lies a choice that impacts the world and its climate. For now these impacts are generally negative – everything is produced from some cache of natural resources, and the overwhelming majority of enterprises in the world lack long-term sustainability.
But we're starting to see an incredible range of designers and businesses offering truly sustainable solutions – just look through these pages for a glimpse. There's something to be said for voting for these designs with your dollars – every purchase is a choice, and by supporting sustainable businesses we can all contribute to the economies of scale that will drive down the price of green design and increase its distribution.
It's encouraging to find climate change coverage everywhere you turn these days – from major news outlets to small independent publishers like blogs. We're also seeing climate change enter the realm of cultural production with increased force – years after the release of An Inconvenient Truth we now have The Age of Stupid, which gives us an even more dire view of the years to come. Lets make the right choices, keep the dialogue going, and do all that we can to avoid that future.
BETH SHEA, Managing Editor of Inhabitots, Portland, OR
Devastating reminders of climate change are abundant in today's world. As the mother of a very bright two year old, I walk a fine line in teaching her about important issues to help her grow up to be an ecologically responsible person. At her age, she can't understand, nor should she be exposed to the maladies and destruction brought on by global warming, but we introduced the concept to her by taking her to see the polar bears at our local Oregon Zoo. Our family visits them on a near weekly basis to bask in their brilliance and be awed by their size and personality. Polar bears have always been a symbol of global warming to me. Pictured in proverbial life vests floating between melting ice caps, or swimming aimlessly on Planet Earth footage in a futile attempt to reach land and survival. We have taught our daughter on a very elementary and poignant level that if we don't become more responsible with our planet as a human race, that we may not be able to see polar bears one day in the not too distant future. I think if we all approached climate change with this heir of childlike awe and humility in the face of a giant, noble reminder who comes in the shape of a majestic polar bear, we could make the issue more about each and every one of us on an individual level — global warming should not be left to discussions by the UN, it should be woven into the fabric of every family's daily existence.
YUKA YONEDA, New York Editor, New York, NY
We've seen some incredible strides this year for climate change awareness. I remember that a few years back, the common sentiment was that the warming of the Earth was not an issue that we needed to address with immediacy, and some people did not even know that a problem existed! Now, with COP15 planned for December and the most influential nation in the world, the US, finally stepping up to the plate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – and with the long-suppressed Bush White House Climate Change document coming to light this week – we've come a long way! I am extremely excited to see what further progress will come out of COP15 and will continue to wage my own quiet war on climate change by taking public transportation, turning off my lights and electronics when they're not in use, and the yummiest way of all – chowing on locally grown foods so that they don't need to travel far to get to my plate.
JORGE CHAPA, Down Under Editor, Sydney, Australia
With Copenhagen right around the corner, we will hear about offsets, targets, banks, and aid figures. We will read about people arguing how much carbon an acre of forest can store; whether a rich country can pass its obligations to a poor country; whether a carbon market is better than a carbon tax. You will be told that fighting climate change is impossible. Economically destructive. That the technology just isn't there. In the end, spin will come out – 'we got a good deal' they'll say, but in our hearts we'll just know that, very likely, our hope for a good outcome was all for naught.
So why bother? why fight so hard? why bike to work when everyone else drives an SUV? Because the path that we are heading towards is one that we can't stop, but we can mitigate it. We can start preparing for a more resource constrained world. We can start teaching and learning the skills that we need to tackle all the problems that are snowballing towards us. It isn't a case of whether it is too late to stop climate change, but whether we have the skills to take on those problems and tackle them upfront.
This is something that we often see in this website and others like it. Every week innovative solutions from people who choose to do things slightly different are highlighted. Stories from researchers trying to make low-cost dirt powered batteries, or non-profits creating learning landscapes for rural schools. They are tackling the issue of climate change not just by looking at our carbon emissions, but by looking at how the core concept of what our society is has become.
Inhabitat's mission is to highlight green design. Not just because green design is cool, or in, or fashionable. But to highlight that good, green, sustainable design is about looking at things in a new light, about getting skills that we will need if we want to solve the problems that we will soon face.
In this action day, don't despair. Don't look at Copenhagen for solutions. Look to yourself to create them.
JASMIN MALIK CHUA, Managing Editor, Ecouterre, New York, NY
It might be gauche to quote a Keanu Reeves' movie, of all things, but his character in 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' sums up the truth of the matter in a manner that manages to be both succinct and completely disquieting: "If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives." What we're fighting for isn't the future of the planet—the planet will go on just fine and dandy without us—it's for the survival of the human race.
ABIGAIL DOAN, Senior Editor, Inhabitat and Inhabitots / Textiles Editor, Ecouterre, New York, NY
I cannot say that I have a whole lot of call-to-action specifics or scientific data to offer up regarding climate change, but as someone who grew up on a small family farm impacted directly by dramatic weather and the severity of each season, I am always vigilant about changes in the land and the atmosphere, even as a part-time urban dweller today. Things are indeed changing noticeably and impacting people in my immediate sphere and beyond. Crops on our farm in Italy have been parched, vegetable gardens in the Northeastern U.S. manifested signs of blight this past summer, and alarming news in the far corners of the globe certainly makes us look down at the soil beneath our feet to ponder the planet that we inhabit and continue to 'cultivate'. Without sounding trite, I implore folks everywhere to carefully examine their day-to-day habits and the ecology of their households and their own backyards. Statistics are often so overwhelming that we chose to burrow deeper into ourselves and our trusted routines when change is at our heels. Imagine yourself as a 'farmer of the future' who is critically reliant on the limited natural resources in your immediate sphere, and issues of global magnitude might suddenly be closer than you would otherwise calculate. Make, think, act, and share the bounty you are able to create by being thrifty, thoughtful, and aware of the plot that you are singly responsible for. Your neighbors may subsequently catch on as well, creating a homespun patchwork effect that rivals high-tech solutions that we are quick to adopt.
BRIDGETTE STEFFEN, News Editor, Park City, Utah
What I'm most impressed with is what people are doing on a local level. Cities and towns are really leading the charge these days, calculating community carbon footprints, issuing challenges on a local level, educating citizens about hyper-local opportunities and ways to save. Take for instance my own home town – Park City, UT. As as ski town, we rely almost solely on tourism dollars from skiing, meaning we rely on a good ski year and a lot of powder. Our community has started an organization called Save Our Snow, dedicated to curbing climate change on a local level in order to maintain our snow pack for years to come. They've commissioned a study on how our snow pack will be affected in 75 years and issued challenges to skiers and people in the community. Additionally, the City has developed a local website, called Park City Green dedicated to providing residents in the area with the tools and knowledge to reduce their own environmental footprint. They have an incredibly innovative carbon footprint calculator that takes data directly from our water, electricity and natural gas providers and dumps it into each person's footprint. There's also an extensive section on ways to reduce energy usage, save water, support the local economy, exclusive to the Park City area. Basically, I'm more impressed with my own town and what they're doing to reduce their footprint than anywhere else. So check out what your area is doing, join active organizations, and support local causes to help reduce climate change.
Kevin Gardner, Contributing Writer, San Francisco, CA
A three-point action plan would tip the balance back in our favor:
1) Paint all roofs and pavement white.
2) Safeguard trees as air supply and coolant.
3) Limit reproduction to 1 person, 1 child.
Interesting tie-in: Two mature trees can supply enough oxygen annually to support a family of four. Households could grow or adopt however many trees to match their breathing requirements.
Local governments could carry out all three action items via education, legislation, enforcement and resourcing, i.e. white paint, new trees, contraception, civic workers and neighborhood networks. Local agencies could educate, resource, legislate and enforce.
If enough folks painted their roofs white and planted a few trees, we'd cool things down a bunch. Instead of wasting time and resources trying to create synthetic trees, why not outlaw the unnecessary slaughter of real ones? Destroying a key source of our air supply, carbon filtration and natural cooling should become a crime against humanity.
ARIEL SCHWARTZ, News Editor, San Francisco, CA
I think we're at a tipping point right now. The changes we make (or don't make) in the coming year will determine the severity of climate change, which is why it's especially important to take action today. If we wait too long to deal with the problem, we'll be left with a ravaged world. If we pass strict emissions laws and initiate cap-and-trade projects, we might just have a chance.


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So, I ended up taking a little, unannounced vacation from blogging for a month.
Sorry about that...
I don't think I'm really blogging, anyway. I'm just kind sharing things I find funny every couple of weeks. I wonder if I'd have any readership if I actually started writing posts again. I fondly reminisce about how interconnected I used to be with other writers and in the writing community, but I don't think I have the energy to try to renew those connections, or make new ones. It takes so much work and time to engage on social media, and I'm shorter on time now than I was before I moved. Sounds like an excuse, but it's just my truth.
Strangely, after moving, I let go of expectations, and pretty much dropped any sense of need or responsibility to writing. Over the last couple of months I've been contemplating how much of a commitment I'm ready to make to writing again and what would be doable within the structure of my current life. Maybe that's what I should write a post about. *rolls eyes*
Anyway, here are some funny photos! It's been so long, let's just start fresh with new ones.
|Their faces are perfect!
Caption by bajio6401
Caption by TuckerBentley
|Of course you do!
|I love these memes.
|Ah, yes. Now I truly feel old.
|Looks innocent enough to me...
And a pun!
|By tamaleknight
I love Vlad, but the kinky camels have my vote this week.


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SDARI Contact Information
San Diego Association For Rational Inquiry
Post Office Box 623
La Jolla, CA 92038-0623
For general SDARI information see other pages of this website, or e-mail:
Uptown Community Center phone number: (619) 543-9967. They do NOT have any SDARI information.
SDARI Board of Directors and Executive Committee Members
- - President
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See us on MEETUP.COM
SDARI has a page on MEETUP.
The SDARI YahooGroup Forum and E-Mail List
SDARI has established a YahooGroup, an unmoderated forum for sharing information and distributing special notices such as meeting announcements.
You may subscribe using the form above, or by sending a blank email to: email@example.com, or by sending an e-mail message to and indicate that you want to be on the SDARI e-mailing list.
Membership in the SDARI Group is not restricted to SDARI members -- anyone may join. SDARI Group members can read and post messages, either via e-mail or via the Web. Options exist to receive all posts as individual e-mails or as a single daily message ("Digest" mode), to limit group e-mail to Special Notices only, or to receive no e-mail at all (and read the Group on-line as desired).
Visit the Yahoo! Groups SDARI Group Page to read posts on-line. You may change your membership settings on this page also, but you must have registered (free) with Yahoo! Groups to change settings; you will be prompted to register, if necessary.


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Barbara Felker is Chief of Branch 3 in the Office of the Associate Chief Counsel (International), Internal Revenue Service. In this position she has principal review responsibility for all matters relating to the foreign tax credit, including issues regarding the creditability of foreign levies, the computation of the foreign tax credit limitations, the calculation of deemed-paid taxes and associated earnings and profits, the effect of foreign tax redeterminations, and foreign currency translation. She supervises the production of regulations, technical advice memoranda, revenue rulings and revenue procedures, and private letter rulings, and provides advice in audit and litigation matters, in this subject area.
Before joining the I.R.S. in 1987, Ms. Felker was an associate in the tax department of the Washington, D.C. law firm of Hogan and Hartson (now Hogan Lovells). She graduated with honors from Harvard Law School and Princeton University (Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs).
All Contents Copyright © 1996-2019 Practising Law Institute. Continuing Legal Education since 1933.
© 2019 PLI PRACTISING LAW INSTITUTE. All rights reserved. The PLI logo is a service mark of PLI.
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Last week we made the drive to Provo and moved into our new apartment. George and Charlene joined us and it made the move easier and more enjoyable to have a set of parents there. We tried the famous Iceberg ice cream which had great malts that held up to my standards. We also went to Crown Burger and I tried a crown burger and inhaled it. . . not to mention the onion rings were to die for. Now we are basically unpacked in our apartment just waiting to get a few more pieces of furniture.
We slept on the floor our first night in our apartment because we didn't have a bed
We went to an English store just for Jesse so he could get some treats
He was in heaven here!
We drove into Provo Canyon and hiked to Stewart falls
We made it! Gorgeous hike and falls
The view from the top of the falls
I had to make a wish on this gigantic dandelion


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In the previous videos, we touched on geometry creation with polysolids and surfaces, like how windows and doors can be placed. Even how selections can be made and how the features are accessed with the Quad. Now, we get to an even more interesting part: how to add data to your BIM. Data can be added in numerous ways. We'll highlight two that serve as gateways to utilizing even more powerful tools in BricsCAD BIM, such as the structure browse.
Two ways to add data
The first way is to select the surface, access the Quad and click on the feature to classify it as a wall. There are numerous properties associated with it. BIM, IFC and Quantity sections have been added. So the type is now designated as wall. Now, you'll find the wall in the building elements in the Structure Browser.
The second way is to assign compositions to the object. You can add compositions by selecting multiple walls. Select assign compositions in the Quad and then chose the composition from the dialog box. Another way is to select walls, highlight the desired composition on the BIM Compositions browser. Then drag and drop it onto one of the selected walls.
Adding data to your BIM by utilizing classifications and compositions provides a way to quickly begin to leverage the "I" in BIM. It enhances the ability to investigate, adapt, and ultimately work with the BIM in creative ways.


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Just thought I would stop in a share a few sneak peeks of some of the assignments that I completed for March. Yes, March.... goodbye to the coldest February E V E R !
These projects will all be featured on the Jillibean Soup Blog in March. Make sure you stop by to check them out as well as all of the other amazing projects created by the rest of the Design Team!
Thanks for stopping by!


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I have to admit I'm a novice when it comes to cooking pork, but this straight-forward recipe came highly reccommended and it was awesome!
I hope you enjoy it!
Oven-Fried Pork Chops
4 (5-ounce) lean center-cut loin pork chops (1/2-inch thick)
1 egg white
2 tablespoons unsweetened pineapple juice
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Cooking spray
Trim fat from chops; set chops aside. Combine next 5 ingredients in a shallow bowl; stir with a wire whisk. Combine breadcrumbs and paprika in a shallow bowl. Dip each chop into egg white mixture, and dredge in breadcrumb mixture.
Place chops on a rack coated with cooking spray; place rack in a shallow roasting pan. Back at 350 degrees for 25 minutes on each side or until done.


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Award calls for agencywide information services and integration support
Science Applications International Corp. has won a 22-month IT contract extension from NASA that could be worth more than $62 million if all options are exercised.
Under the Unified NASA Information Technology Services extension, SAIC will continue helping the NASA Information Technology Service Network with agencywide information services and integration support, according to a company statement today.
SAIC will provide IT services that include managing worldwide network services, audio-visual services, telecommunications, IT procurement, security, and computing and mainframe system support.
The extension also supports the NASA Enterprise Applications Competency Center by providing system administration and mainframe operations administered by NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
SAIC, which has provided IT assistance to NASA since 2004, will provide these services to all 10 NASA field centers, NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., the NASA Shared Services Center, and international NASA partners to support NASA's focus on pioneering the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research, Doug Wagoner, SAIC senior vice president and business unit general manager, said in the announcement.
SAIC Corp., of McLean, Va., ranks No. 5 on Washington Technology's 2010 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors.
About the Author
David Hubler is the former print managing editor for GCN and senior editor for Washington Technology. He is freelance writer living in Annandale, Va.
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These gorgeous shoes are Ingenue's submission for this month's 21Shoe, two pairs of Marie stilettoes in Cherry and Berry prints, and rigged for Belleza, Maitreya and SLink, for just $295L I simply love the clean classic lines and the yummy prints which really pop because of the plain coloured toecap and heel.
In case you have not heard of 21Shoe before, it is a a 24-hour event that takes place on the 21st of each month. The event offers virtual shoeaholics (Zsa raises her hand high) the opportunity to snap up new and exclusive shoes at two-for-one pricing. Each designer provides two pairs of shoes which are either new or exclusive, but always two for the price of one. For more information, and a catalogue of each month's offerings, please visit the 21 Shoe blog here.
The shoes are only available at each designer's mainstore, so to grab these fantastic shoes, head straight to Ingenue on the 21st.
Pose: Magnifique Poses - See My Stilettoes (this is a mp link as I can't find them inworld)


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Flywire is peerTransfer's springboard to serving a whole new category of consumer: the global citizen of the world.
That's how Flywire's Chief Customer Officer, Rob Rosenblatt, explained the company's impetus for the company's new branding strategy in an interview with MPD CEO Karen Webster before the announcement was made public.
"In today's world, consumers are global, with opportunities to study, live, travel and explore around the world. Flywire will become the brand they trust for reliable, transparent payments in a world without borders," Rosenblatt remarked.
Starting today (Sept. 16), peerTransfer will be known as Flywire.
[bctt tweet="Flywire is peerTransfer's springboard to serving a whole new category of consumer"]
Today, Flywire solves a problem that sounds like it shouldn't be much of one at all: helping students living in one country pay their school tuition (in full) for a school that happens to be in another.
Before services like Flywire came into the market, students were forced to get creative about getting money into the country to make international payments for tuition. Sometimes that involved bringing large amounts of cash in suitcases into the country. Others, it was being forced to leverage traditional bank transfer solutions that were costly, took a long time for the school to receive, and once there, created a reconciliation nightmare for the school due to the number of "hops" and associated fees incurred along the way.
Flywire solves for that via a global platform and a totally transparent process that enables a student and her family to pay tuition, using her preferred payments method, including alternative payments such as Alipay. On the school side, Flywire eliminates the reconciliation hassle by matching payment to the student on behalf of the school.
"For the most part, the schools don't want to be the international banks of these students. We're solving a need on both ends and it's a pretty desperate one," Rosenblatt remarked.
Flywire serves over 750 educational institutions in the U.S., Europe and Asia, with students making payments from 200 countries. Top originating student markets include China, India and South Korea.
Rosenblatt said that the rebranding comes at a significant time of growth, and expansion of its products and services.
"We started out four years ago serving colleges and universities as the first truly global payment processor for education clients," Rosenblatt said. "Since then, we've built a platform that is completely modular, supporting any currency, any payment vehicle and any type of institution serving international consumers."
Flywire processed $1 billion in cross-border payments during the 2014-2015 academic year, and estimates it will hit more than $2 billion in the 2015-2016 school year. According to the company, its discounted currency conversion rates can offer savings compared to home-market banks and credit card providers. Brown University, Cornell, MIT, University of Miami, University of Massachusetts–Amherst and University of Western Australia are just some of the schools offering the service to their international students.
Although, today, a student's brand connection with Flywire comes more through the connection established by their educational institution, Rosenblatt explained that the company's ability to transform the cross-border payment options for international students has kept strong relationships with those clients beyond just the few years of college.
"There's more that we can do for them, so it makes sense to create a brand from the ground up – build a personality around it, begin the dialogue and at minimum to convince them to keep using our products certainly during their 4-6 years at school. And hopefully beyond," he said.
As for other use cases, he hinted that there are more ways that the Flywire brand can expand its relationships with its university clients, including working with universities on health care payments, for example.
"In the university sector, many universities have very large health systems and they've asked us to at least consider whether or not there isn't some entry point that might involve what we call medical tourism," Rosenblatt noted as one use case for possible service expansion one day.
In related announcements, Flywire also recently announced it would be moving into China, following the news that it raised $22 million in venture capital. China accounts for 28 percent of international students attending higher education institutions in the U.S.
[bctt tweet="Flywire wants to 'earn the right to be the most innovative payment brand' in large x-border payments"]
The company also moved into new headquarters in Boston and expanded its presence in Valencia, Spain. Flywire CEO Mike Massaro explained how the development facilities set the stage for its next series of innovation and provides a hub through which the company can continue to nurture its mission.
"Our new world-class facilities in Boston and Valencia were necessitated by the growth of our core education payments business, as well as the significant market opportunity we have with adjacent products and services," Massaro said. "Each space was custom-designed to create a highly productive, collaborative environment that reinforces our unique company culture. Both are conveniently located in city hubs, and each is a one-of-a-kind work space in its own way that we think will support our recruiting efforts."
Rosenblatt believes that Flywire is a brand new concept that will stand over time and the one that will fuel its expansion around the world in support of the global payments needs of the global citizens it serves.
"We want to earn the right to be the most innovative payment brand when it comes to large payments that have to cross borders. And, we will work very hard to do that," Rosenblatt said.
Latest Insights:
Our data and analytics team has developed a number of creative methodologies and frameworks that measure and benchmark the innovation that's reshaping the payments and commerce ecosystem. Check out the February 2019 PYMNTS Financial Invisibles Report


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When you grow up Catholic, you learn early that Sunday Mass is non-negotiable. Unless you are dying, or certifiably contagious, you go to Mass. I was in school before I had a friend who was not Catholic, whose denomination did not require Sunday attendance on the road to salvation, and my first thought was: WHAT? I envied her birth into a non-Catholic family.
There are ways to fudge the Sunday requirement: Saturday evening Mass is a wonderful gift from God for keeping your Sunday free, especially during football season. My grandmother decided that when you got old, God didn't expect you to show up every week. She believed God had given her a pass to miss Mass without facing any additional time in Purgatory. I hope she was right. Then there was my dad's pre-Vatican-II philosophy that he learned in Catholic school in the 1930s, so it must be true, which was that as long as you were present, meaning "in the building," for the Offertory, Consecration and Communion, which he would tick on three fingers, you'd met your Sunday obligation. You could thus rest easy about the possibility of being hit by a car during the week ahead and ending up in Hell because you had missed Mass. We skipped the final blessing of many Masses when I was a kid.
My dad tried to teach the Offertory/Consecration/Communion three-finger rule to my children, but since that meant that as soon as Communion began, he'd turn to the nearest kid and say, "OK, let's go!," I had to nix it. We stayed until the end, until the last note of the recessional hymn, because that's when Mass was over. Then we'd say hello to Father outside, and only then would we go have doughnuts.
My children have mostly not grown up to be practicing Catholics, so I usually go to Mass alone now. Several years ago, when a nameless volatile pastor turned the post-Communion announcements into a 10-minute harangue about what was wrong with us as a parish, I found I was leaving Mass angry. So I started slipping out the back door after Communion. It was for the sake of my sanity, I told myself, remembering my dad's three-finger plan. Gradually, I ran into other parishioners on the way to the parking lot. Some even parked in the street for a faster getaway. The ranting pastor noticed this trend. One morning, as some of us were leaving when the announcements began, he roared, "The only one who left the Last Supper early was JUDAS!" This only got my Irish up, and from then on I left early on purpose.
We often don't question our habits until they are challenged. I continued to cut out of Mass early, even from other parishes, even with a new pastor, because it had become a habit. But then a homily by priest in Los Angeles illuminated the error of my ways. When we leave Mass early, he said, we miss an essential part, when we are sent forth into the world, to carry the Gospel message with us wherever our lives take us. When we gather for Mass, we are nourished as a community of believers. But gathering is not enough. If we only gather together to feed ourselves, we are missing half of the equation of faith. We are to be gathered and sent, he told us.
When we leave early, we are not sent, even symbolically. In leaving too soon, our actions say that we accept God's sustenance, but reject the mission that Jesus entrusted to us. We are being selfish. The final blessing, when we are told to "go in peace to love and serve the Lord," is essential to our Catholic mission. Leaving early signifies that we are leaving the Gospel behind us, and will visit it again for an hour next Sunday; that our faith is something that helps us, but doesn't help anyone else.
I haven't left Mass early since. Turns out I need that final blessing.


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Remember my first YOU:create? The chalk board I made from an old tabletop to write scriptures on for my kids to learn each week? The one I botched up?
Well, I finally got around to having another go at it. It still isn't perfect, but it will do the job. As Nester says, It Doesn't Have To Be Perfect To Be Beautiful.
I sanded off as much of the crappy spray on chalkboard paint as I could
Then, to make it look not quite so fresh, I rubbed chalk all over it, then dusted it off. I didn't bother much (at all) with distressing, as I figure it'll get bashed around pretty well just by moving. I'll have another look at it later.
And thus, this is what resulted...
I bought hanger things to go on the back, but, like most things around here, they have grown legs and wandered.


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I wanted to prove her otherwise.
Luckily a month later I spotted the jumper again but this time with even more money off. Don't you just love it when that happens? I always believe in fate with clothes. Some pieces are just meant to be!
Here I have kept it simple with a fringed necklace from Lipsy and some trousers from Zara. I wish my camera was slightly better so you can see how amazing these trousers are! I call them my 'alternative' disco pants as they suck me in and keep the great silhouette that the disco pant covets. I am also wearing my new lipstick from Topshop which is the perfect bright pink (Brighton Rock).
Sorry for the quick post, but I will be back soon with lots of snazzy photos from my new camera (finally). Let me know what you think of this jumper and whether, like me, you can't get enough of cut outs!


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Rhode Island Real Estate Continuing Education
RHODE ISLAND School Permit: REE.0001035License Renewal Requirements
4.0 hours Disclosure Is Not A Secret Course Syllabus
Course Syllabus:
4.0 Core Topic
So, how bad must a defect be to count as material?
Many real estate disputes deal with the non-disclosure of material facts regarding the property. A fact is material if it is likely to influence the decision of a potential buyer, such as the square footage of a house, any hidden construction defects, or flooding problems. For pre-existing homes, sellers generally are required by law to provide a disclosure statement providing information regarding known problems or conditions with the house.
Not all problems in a house are equally serious, and the seller needs to disclose only those considered material. A leaky sink that simply needs something tightened is dramatically different than a crack in a plumbing pipe that needs to be completely replaced. A material defect is a problem that cannot be corrected with simple maintenance it's something that will require significant effort to repair.
As a practical matter, however, sellers are usually best advised to disclose any defect that they're not sure whether to call material or not ' or to fix it before completing the disclosure form.
This course provides a practical approach to the various disclosures a real estate professional may encounter. Case studies with real world examples are provided to aid in understanding.