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In the beginning was 1HeckOfAGuy.com …
1HeckOfAGuy.com was a hodgepodge of essays, poetry, music, oddities, jokes, photos, videos, visual puns, and, of course, more. Then, I went on a Leonard Cohen jag until gradually the new content was 95% Cohencentric. In 2015, things began to slide, slide in all directions. 1HeckOfAGuy.com and its sibling site, DrHGuy.com had to be dismantled. DrHGuy.com is now inaccessible, 1HeckOfAGuy.com exists only as a single post referring visitors to Cohencentric.com, my site featuring Leonard Cohen and AllanShowalter.com, my site for everything else (i.e., the original hodgepodge minus Leonard Cohen).
My initial goal for AllanShowalter.com is the reposting of the best non-Cohencentric items from 1HeckOfAGuy.com. Stay tuned.
That great waterfall photo used in the AllanShowalter.com header was taken by Neil Ellis.
Search, Subscriptions, Sidebars, & Such
On the home page, clicking on the "+" in the upper right corner slides open a sidebar.
The best place, however, to run a site search, sign up for email notifications of new posts, find the categories and archives, review the most recent posts, etc. is at the bottom of every AllanShowalter.com page.


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Course handouts are now available
Click here
Come to London
WATCH to find out why
Site updates:
Programme Updates. Programme Overview and - Video Symposium on Challenging Cases now available.
(results will display both Free Papers & Poster)
Study to evaluate corneal epithelial lysyl oxidase (LOX) mRNA expression in keratoconus with disease severity and correlation to MMP9 and collagen gene expression
Poster Details
First Author: N.Pahuja INDIA
Co Author(s): R. Shetty V. Arora P. Srivatsa A. Ghosh B. Shetty A. Ghosh
Abstract Details
Back to Poster listing
Since collagen forms an integral part of the cornea and is most affected in the ectasia that characterizes Keratoconus, it is important to understand the factors that regulate different forms of collagen. We therefore designed this study in primary patient epithelium to understand the role of corneal epithelium in the collagen regulation process. We further correlated the gene expression data with different grades of Keratoconus to elucidate any potential association of these genes with disease severity
A Tertiary eye care facility and teaching institute in South India
Corneal epithelium of 83 Keratoconus and 59 control (normal) subjects was collected after prior written consent. Pre- operative and post-operative retinoscopy, slit lamp biomicroscopy and topography using Pentacam (Oculus) and Orbscan was done. Patients were divided into normal and keratoconus and were further classified into 4 different grades of keratoconus as per Amsler-Krumeich classification. Epithelial cells were collected from the keratoconus patients under topical anesthesia before corneal collagen crosslinking or topography guided photorefractive keratectomy (T-PRK) and controls undergoing Photorefractive keratectomy. Epithelial tissue was homogenized in TRIZOL reagent and total mRNA was extracted for gene expression analysis. Total levels of LOX, MMP9, IL6, COL1A1 and COL4A1 were estimated by quantitative real-time PCR for each sample after normalization to actin.
We observed that LOX transcript levels were reduced in keratoconus patients (1.65+0.23) compared with that of controls (3.02+0.45). Furthermore, the transcript data demonstrated decreasing trend of LOX expression across grades I (2.0+0.36), II (1.25+0.31) and III+IV (1.26+0.58) as per the Amsler-Krumeich grades. However, MMP9 levels were highly up regulated in Keratoconus patients (7.82+1.44) relative to controls (3.12+0.95). Collagen I and collagen IV transcript levels were 14.8+3.4 and 5.0+1.3 in Keratoconus respectively while they were 21.9+5.5 and 3.9+1.5 in controls. IL6 levels did not show any significant trends at the transcript level.
The data supports the hypothesis that Lysyl oxidase levels are reduced in Keratoconus patients. Up-regulation of MMP9 levels as expected based on previous data was confirmed in these patients. Interestingly, collagen I levels were reduced, while collagen IV levels were slightly increased. The reduction in collagen I, the primary collagen type in cornea may have a functional role in the ectatic process. Type IV collagen is often associated with healing processes and its up regulation may be an attempt by the corneal epithelium of KC patients to counteract the disease. In summary, the reduction in levels of LOX is suggestive of a pathological role of the enzyme in the ectasia associated with Keratoconus and may represent a possible biomarker for disease staging and therapeutic target for treatment in the future. FINANCIAL INTEREST: NONE

subset: commoncrawl


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HTC has finally launched it's QWERTY Facebook phone the HTC ChaCha in India after unveiling the Salsa last month. The ChaCha comes at a retail price of Rs.15990 and Tata Docomo (3G and 2G , Prepaid and Postpaid ) customers get some free data usage and other benefits. If you are diehard user of Facebook and want to constantly share your location, thoughts, photos on Facebook and crave for a QWERTY+Touchscreen combo , the ChaCha looks very promising.
- 3G customers -3GB free data & 3 Hours of Mobile TV valid for 3 months
- 2G customers – 3GB free data & 300 Tata-to-Tata calling minutes valid for 3 months
HTC launched the device at this year's Mobile World Congress. check out the video below
You can check out our preview of the ChaCha and also a short review of the Facebook phones.


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As with so much of this crazy trip, though, it's not as simple as turning on Siri, pointing the Mokka and hitting the gas. After a lovely morning exploring Carcassone, its walls, the beautiful Basilica St. Nazaire (a stained glass window lover's paradise), and doing a little bit of trinketeria shopping, we got ready to hit the road. Not five minutes in, Mokka sent us a scary message about the pneu. Without a two year old's vocabulary in French but knowing that in English, pneu usually refers to something inflated we inferred that there was an issue with a tyre, a theory confirmed by the helpful dashboard graphic with one tyre looking inflamed. We pulled over just before a toll booth.
Naturally, as always happens in these stories, much hilarity ensued. A phone call to Ernestine The Telephone Operator would have been more helpful than the one to the rental company, who wanted me to hike to the nearest phone box and get the Highway Department to help. The nearest box was no where in sight. According to the GPS the next test stop wasn't even on the screen. Just get me Jedgar Hoover, Ernestine.
What does any self-respecting, frustrated Polish guy do? Why, make an illegal u-turn, in the middle of the tollway, of course!
We found a repair shop in short order, but they were at lunch. We waited nearly two hours, not knowing if we had a big problem, only to have the very French repairman sneer at my language skills. I did have what we needed on Google translate, he read it with appropriate French contempt, put some air in the tyre, and we were on our way.*
Our destination for the night was a tiny little town called Sarlat de Caneda. The hotel was a quaint, and charming little place, and we had a room in the garrett (yes, enjoy that family. A Garrett in the garrett.) Today, Saturday, dawned grey, ominious and raining. Not just ominous rainy, antedeluvian ominous rainy. At one point at breakfast, it was pounding down so hard that we couldn't hear each other speak. During the course of this meteorological event, I checked the weather advisories and the French weather folks were predicting unusual weather, with flash flooding and washouts of smaller roads. So much for caves. Plus, we still have to be in Normandy tomorrow, so we changed our plans, yet again, and are now safely ensconced in a Novotel in Le Mans. For us, the only reason for Le Mans was that it's only three hours from Bayeaux, so there's not a whole lot of driving to do. Having said that, the drive through rural France has been very interesting. Many of the villages look like time has totally forgotten them. It's so easy to think of France as Paris, or maybe the Riviera but the reality is that this is still a very, very agricultural nation. As with all travel, it's best to just park the expectations and revel in the experience!
*To be absolutely honest, this guy is the only person in France, in two trips here, that has treated us like that. Everyone else, and I do mean everyone has gone out of their way to make themselves understood, especially, if they see that you are trying to speak in French. I have become quiet fluent with:
*To be absolutely honest, this guy is the only person in France, in two trips here, that has treated us like that. Everyone else, and I do mean everyone has gone out of their way to make themselves understood, especially, if they see that you are trying to speak in French. I have become quiet fluent with:
Je suis désolé. Mon français est très mauvais, mais je vais essayer. (I'm sorry. My Frenchis very bad, but
I will try..)


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Open Closet Storage
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As adjective
not closed or barred at the time, as a doorway by a door, a window by a sash, or a gateway by a gate:to leave the windows open at night
(of a door, gate, window sash, or the like) set so as to permit passage through the opening it can be used to close
having no means of closing or barring:an open portico
having the interior immediately accessible, as a box with the lid raised or a drawer that is pulled out
relatively free of obstructions to sight, movement, or internal arrangement:an open floor plan
constructed so as to be without cover or enclosure on the top or on some or all sides:an open boat
having relatively large or numerous spaces, voids, or intervals:an open architectural screen; open ranks of soldiers
perforated or porous:an open texture
relatively unoccupied by buildings, fences, trees, etc
:open country
not covered or closed; with certain parts apart:open eyes; open mouth
without a covering, especially a protective covering; unprotected; unenclosed; exposed:an open wound; open electrical wires
extended or unfolded:an open newspaper
without restrictions as to who may participate:an open competition; an open session
accessible or available to follow:the only course still open to us
not taken or filled; not preempted; available; vacant:Which job is open?
ready for or carrying on normal trade or business:The new store is now open
The office is open on Saturdays
not engaged or committed:Have you any open time on Monday?
accessible, as to appeals, ideas, or offers:to be open to suggestion
exposed to general view or knowledge; existing, carried on, etc
, without concealment:open disregard of the rules
acting publicly or without concealment, as a person
unreserved, candid, or frank, as persons or their speech, aspect, etc
:an open manner
generous, liberal, or bounteous:to give with an open hand
liable or subject:open to question; open to retaliation
undecided; unsettled:several open questions
without effective or enforced legal, commercial, or moral regulations:an open town
unguarded by an opponent:an open wide receiver
noting the part of the sea beyond headlands or enclosing areas of land:to sail on the open seas
free of ice, as a body of water or a seaport
free of navigational hazards:an open coast
(of a seaport) available for foreign trade; not closed by government regulations or by considerations of health
(of a microphone) in operation; live
(of a delimiting punctuation mark) occurring at the beginning of a group of words or characters that is set off, as from surrounding text:open parenthesis; open quotes
Compare close (def )
not yet balanced or adjusted, as an account
not constipated, as the bowels
(of a vowel) articulated with a relatively large opening above the tongue or with a relatively large oral aperture, as the vowel sound of cot compared with that in caught(of a syllable) ending with a vowel
(of a consonant) continuant (opposed to stop)
(of a class of items) readily admitting new members, as the class of nouns, verbs, or adjectives (opposed to closed)
(of type) in outline form
widely spaced or leaded, as printed matter
(of an organ pipe) not closed at the far end
(of a string) not stopped by a finger
(of a note) produced by such a pipe or string or, on a wind instrument, without the aid of a slide, key, etc
(of an interval) containing neither endpoint
(of a set) consisting of points having neighborhoods wholly contained in the set, as the set of points within a circle
(of a map from one topological space to another) having the property that the image of an open set is an open set
free from frost; mild or moderate:an open winter
Animal Husbandry
(of a female animal) not pregnant
(of a fabric or weave) so loosely woven that spaces are visible between warp and filling yarns
As verb (used with object)
to move (a door, window sash, etc
) from a shut or closed position so as to admit of passage
to render (a doorway, gateway, window, etc
) unobstructed by moving a door, window sash, etc
, away from it
to render the interior of (a box, drawer, etc
) readily accessible
to clear (a passage, channel, etc
) of obstructions
to clear (areas or passages in the body)
to give access to; make accessible or available, as for use:to open a port for trade
to establish for business purposes or for public use:to open an office
to set in action, begin, start, or commence (sometimes followed by up):to open a campaign
to uncover, lay bare, or expose to view
to expand, unfold, or spread out:to open a map
to make less compact, less closely spaced, or the like:to open ranks
to disclose, reveal, or divulge
to render accessible to knowledge, enlightenment, sympathy, etc
:to open one's mind
to cut, blast, or break into:to open a safe with nitro
to make or produce (an opening) by cutting or breaking, or by pushing aside or removing obstructions:to open a way through a crowd
to make an incision or opening in:to open a boil
to recall or revoke (a judgment, decree, etc
) for the purpose of allowing further contest or delay
to make the first statement of (a case) to the court or jury
to begin a hand by making (the first bid), placing (the first bet), or playing (a given card or suit) as the lead
to sail (a course) so that the apparent location of a distant fixed object changes with relation to a nearer fixed object (sometimes followed by out)
As verb (used without object)
to become open, as a door, building, box, or enclosure
to afford access:a door that opens into a garden
to have an opening, passage, or outlet:The room opens into a corridor
(of a building, theater, etc
) to open its doors to the public:The museum opens at one o'clock
to begin a session or term, as a school
to begin a season, series of performances, or tour, as a theatrical company:The play will open in Boston
to begin, start, or commence an activity:The game opened with the national anthem
to part, or seem to part, so as to allow or reveal a passage:At last the cliffs opened to show us that we were heading for the sea
to become disclosed or revealed
to come into view; become more visible or plain
to become receptive to knowledge, sympathy, etc
, as the mind
to disclose or reveal one's knowledge, thoughts, feelings, etc
to unfold or expand, as a blossom, so as to reveal the interior
to spread out or expand, as the hand or a fan
to spread apart or separate, as pages of a book, newspaper, etc
:Open to page
to spread or come apart; burst:The wound opened
to become less compact, less closely spaced, or the like:The ranks began to open
to make the first bet, bid, or lead in beginning a hand
(of hounds) to begin to bark, as on the scent of game
As noun
an open or clear space
the open air
the open water, as of the sea
an opening or aperture
an opening or opportunity
a contest or tournament in which both amateurs and professionals may compete, especially in golf and tennis
the open
the unenclosed or unobstructed country
the outdoors: Vacations in the open are fine for the entire family
the condition of being unconcealed, recognized, or publicly known: The scandal is now out in the open
As Verb phrases
open up, to become or make open
to expand, especially before the eye: A breathtaking panorama opened up as we reached the top of the hill
to achieve the initial development of: to open up a business office; to open up trade with China
to increase speed or the speed of (a vehicle)
As noun
a small room, enclosed recess, or cabinet for storing clothing, food, utensils, etc
a small private room, especially one used for prayer, meditation, etc
a state or condition of secrecy or carefully guarded privacy:Some conservatives remain in the closet except on election day
Gay liberation has encouraged many gay people to come out of the closet
water closet
As adjective
private; secluded
suited for use or enjoyment in privacy:closet reflections; closet prayer
engaged in private study or speculation; speculative; unpractical:a closet thinker with no practical experience
being or functioning as such in private; secret:a closet anarchist
As verb (used with object)
to shut up in a private room for a conference, interview, etc
(usually used in the passive voice):The secretary of state was closeted with the senator for three hours in a tense session
As noun
the act of storing; state or fact of being stored:All my furniture is in storage
capacity or space for storing
a place, as a room or building, for storing
memory (def )
the price charged for storing goods
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Everett to Tacoma route map has been given with driving direction, The given road map may assist for your travel in different ways. You can calculate the Everett to Tacoma travel distance and travel time using our map. Our driving direction from Everett to Tacoma can guide you to reach your destination. The google direction map consist of blue road which connect Everett with Tacoma. It also shows the nearest places, hotels, petrol pump and tourist places around the route between Everett and Tacoma. You change the via route by drag and drop the blue line between Everett to Tacoma.
The shortest route from Everett to Tacoma may available in google map. You can simply drag the way point to different route. The shortest route between Everett to Tacoma is calculated based on the distance. The balloon with the letter 'A' denote the starting point of the road map. The letter 'B' on the second balloon is a destination point.
The straight line route or flight route from Everett to Tacoma is a crow fly distance route. Just it is a direct line between these two places. The highway numbers are shown with yellow color background. You can print the Everett Tacoma road map on paper using your printer.


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You may have heard me say "diversity is perversity," which is a saying that I borrowed from Dr. Michael Weiner. This is not an attack on ethnic and racial diversity, but rather an attack on multiculturalism and forced diversity, otherwise known as reverse racism. I think it's great when people with diverse background get along, just not when they are forced to by government, academia, or corporate America.
British P.M David Cameron made headlines recently by demanding an end to multiculturalism. But first, what is multiculturalism?
At one level the term means the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g. schools, businesses, neighborhoods, cities or nations. In this sense multiculturalism approximates to respect for diversity.The term may also describe people who have more than one culture in them (people who grew up with more than one cultural identity, also sometimes called bicultural).
In a political context the term has come to mean the advocacy of extending equitable status to distinct ethnic and religious groups without promoting any specific ethnic, religious, and/or cultural community values as central. Multiculturalism as "cultural mosaic" is often contrasted with the concepts assimilationism and social integration.
In contemporary society, different understandings of the term has resulted in two different and seemingly inconsistent strategies:
- The first focuses on interaction and communication between different cultures. Interactions of cultures provide opportunities for the cultural differences to communicate and interact to create multiculturalism.
- The second centers on diversity and cultural uniqueness. Cultural isolation can protect the uniqueness of the local culture of a nation or area and also contribute to global cultural diversity. The policy "Cultural exception" introduced by France in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations in 1993 was a precise example of protecting one's own cultural safety.
Cameron was refering to "state multiculuralism," which basically means the government promotes multiple cultures. This is done because well-meaning but foolish liberals wanted to make Muslim (and other) immigrants feel welcome in the U.K. This strategy has eroded the British cultural by allowing immigrants to forgo assimilation and keep their native culture completely in tact. In the U.S., we thankfully have immigrants who come here because they want to be part of the American culture. Yes, people keep their cultural traditions, but they also follow U.S. customs and laws.
In Europe, multiculturalism has divided countries upon internal ethnic lines. This is dangerous because it creates cultural instability. Here's P.M. David Cameron:
Multiculturalism is also a problem in Australia. Apparently they have bureaucrats to enforce multiculturalism:
The Islamic Youth Movement used to meet in Australia's biggest mosque, the one in Lakemba presided over by Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, for years the Mufti of Australia, despite praising suicide bombers, backing the Hezbollah terrorist group, calling the September 11 attacks "God's work against oppressors" and saying uncovered Australian girls invited rape.
Among its activities, the IYM published a magazine called Call to Islam, edited by Bilal Khazal.
In it appeared fawning interviews with members of some of the world's worst terrorist groups, including the one that bombed the World Trade Centre in 1993 and another that killed 58 tourists in Luxor, Egypt.
It even interviewed — and praised — al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, who'd already declared war on the West and was planning his September 11 attacks on the United States.
It also published articles by extremists such as its translator, Keysar Trad, now head of the Islamic Friendship Association, who wrote: "The criminal dregs of white society colonised this country, and now, they only take the select choice of other societies, and the descendants of these criminal dregs tell us that they are better than us."
Now here's how our government-funded prophets of multiculturalism and their fellow travellers dealt with this hotbed of imported hate and us-against-them separatism.
Khazal's youth movement was not punished (at first), but given three government grants. Two were multicultural grants totalling nearly $7000 from the NSW Government, to teach its supporters not English but Arabic.
The other was a federal work-for-the-dole grant to spruce up its office and arrange its library of propaganda.
Yes, true.
How perfectly multicultural. Here were our multicultural commissars, so broad-minded, encouraging young Muslim Australians to keep their distance, speak Arabic, loathe their new home and recruit others for their jihad.
So tolerant of us. So insane.
Nor did it end there. Hilali himself benefited from the political carpetbaggers who exploited the vote-trading possibilities that multiculturalism inevitably encouraged, with its doling out of cash to favourite ethnic "spokesmen".
In 1985, the Hawke government's immigration minister, Chris Hurford, finally decided Hilali, here from
Egypt on a visitor's visa, had outstayed his welcome. He ordered the bigot thrown out.
But Paul Keating and Leo McLeay, Labor MPs representing the electorates where Hilali's followers were most numerous, lobbied hard for a permanent visa for this hatemonger, and Hurford was overruled.
Nor was that the first favour done Hilali. In 2001, SBS, the multicultural broadcaster, filmed him in his mosque praising suicide bombers as "heroes" days before September 11.
Then came the terror attacks, and rather than show Australians proof that the ideology that had just killed 2985 people, including 10 Australians, was shared in at least part by our most prominent Muslim cleric, SBS destroyed the tape.
It would give us the "wrong idea", it claimed. Which actually means the "right idea" — about Hilali, Islam in Australia and the multicultural project of which SBS is a beneficiary.
Hilali thrived, and four years later won the greatest honour multicultural politics could deliver, ironically from one of the policy's greatest critics, prime minister John Howard.
Having preached separatism for so long, Hilali was one of 14 Muslims picked to advise the prime minister directly on how to deal with the very problem he himself had helped make worse.
Howard quickly regretted what he'd done, especially after learning a full third of his advisers, nominated by multicultural experts, were supporters of Hezbollah, listed by his own government as a terrorist organisation.
In almost every detail of this example you see the madness of our multiculturalism, and that suicidal accommodation by government agencies with hostile values they should resist.
This is exactly the approach Cameron now rejects — letting in hate-preachers, defending them, rewarding them, and giving them platforms to advance values at fundamental odds with those that have made this country so free, stable and cohesive.
It's taken Muslim immigration to break multiculturalism here as it has in both Britain and Germany, where the Chancellor, Angela Merkel, three months ago declared the policy had "failed, utterly failed".
Our governments' most fundamental duty is not to keep a community divided into tribes, but to defend the shared values that are our only hope of making a one out of many.
So how about a little more loving for the things that unite us, whether it's our history, symbols, institutions or traditional values?
And how about saying to the ideologues who reject them to do so on their own dime, not ours?
Time we woke up. To spend public money to create a nation of tribes is the great experiment that has failed — because it's succeeded only too well.
Let's hope we don't fall for the "multiculturalism" trap in the U.S., although I wouldn't be surprised if Obama appoints a multiculturalism czar to oversee government support for diversity measures.
Diversity is perversity.


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text:
My father is not a gruff man… not a hard man with harsh words or ways. My father is a man of opinions and fixed ideas. A man who believes he knows what is right in things he has experience in. His unending advice and parenting has been a thing I have carried throughout my life… take responsibility for your actions… simple, plain words with a heavy mantel that sits on my shoulders. He wasn't lax in his parenting… his preferred discipline was the measured tone of expressing disappointment instead of his leather belt. As he has aged, I have noticed that his moments of anger or disappointment are more silent scowl than vocalized ire. Oddly, my first real memory of my father is one of where he was gruff… of course this is a memory that I have thought of for decades, in reality, my memory of his voice and gruff directions may be nothing more than a mental interpretation… potentially a memory that is more of how I would react than his actual actions.
We had a German Shepard… Ralph… Ralph was my father's dog. We lived at Fort Riley, Kansas. Ft. Riley is an old cavalry outpost that sits on the Kansas plains… Custer and the other blue woolen soldiers had traipsed across this territory hunting the ultimate guerilla fighter… the Native American warrior from Ft. Riley. By the early 1970s, Ft. Riley was home to the 1st Infantry Division… bloodied and bruised from years of jungle fighting in Vietnam and in the midst of the transition from draft Army to all-volunteer force. My father was an Army sergeant, he was no draftee… he had joined before Vietnam, his early service days were ones of preparing for potential invasion of Cuba and watching a small corner of the world… Vietnam… loom on the horizon. Like the 1st Infantry Division, Ft. Riley in the early 1970s was where my father was recovering from his second combat tour in Vietnam. For his service, the Army had established him and our family in a squat light brown duplex on post.
This memory of this color may be utterly incorrect… but in my mind this duplex is light brown… we lived in the one on the left when facing the front. Covered parking spaces separated the two homes where they met in the middle. The front of this duplex, however, is not what sticks out in my memory. The thing I remember most… the memory that settles at the top of my memory list is a creosote soaked telephone pole. It was in our backyard… specifically, it set as the boundary where our backyard ended and the common area of our housing area (neighborhood for you civilian types) began.
This first memory is warm, fresh-cut grass floats in the air as lightly as the smell. The only way you don't know this smell is if you were born on the moon or raised in the desert. It is that sweet… almost sugary wet… smell of growth… even the texture of cut grass resonates with this smell. For some the color green is immediately connected to this smell because of the distinct flavor it leaves in the air and upon the tongue. This first memory is that sweet green smell of cut grass twirling in warm summer air.
Punctuating the smell is the sound of a lawnmower. The heavy vibrating beat of a gas-powered lawnmower. The gasoline exhaust of the lawnmower mixes with the grass smell… imaginary fuel slickness adds to the fresh-cut grass clippings… a coating that is both real and felt. This is the smell of summer… the warmth of the plains' sun and cut grass… if a video was made it would have a sound track of the a lawnmower moving to and fro. As the video begins the mower sound would be moving closer… then a slight change in pitch… as the mower moves away. Grass would be tossed from the side and caught in a slight summer breeze… summers in Kansas are notoriously still… amber waves of grain only happen when the fall winds work their dance when a chill begins to come down from Canada. This imagined video is my first memory.
The gruff voice of my father finally breaks in… the mower stops. Ralph and I are playing… not sure what sort of play an under 4 boy with no fear and a large German Shepard may be engaged in… but we are playing. I am probably bugging the shit out the dog… it is my style to poke and prod… to explore and push boundaries. These are qualities that were not only foundations in my little child self, but they are characteristics that guide me through my adult life. Yes… I am probably bugging Ralph. My father has had enough… he is probably… at that moment… not only responsible for cutting the grass but also responsible for making sure his pugnacious son and dog aren't permanently injured. The mower goes silently… my father firmly instructs… again I imagine it is a gruff instruction… Ralph and me to go sit by the telephone pole… go sit as far away from his mowing yet still within the boundaries he has established as his domain… his yard. His son, his dog, his yard… these are things my father sees before him.
Ralph and I obey… Ralph probably moves quicker and more obediently… I'm sure I dawdled… I am sure I stopped to pick some freshly cut dandelion or scoop a handful of grass to bug Ralph with. Finally, the two of us are seated by the telephone pole and my father returns to his mowing. It is a cloudless sky… skies on the plains are always cloudless in my mind. Later, when I was in Kansas during my own military service, I remember standing outside on a fall day and marveling at how amazingly pure and clear the sky was… harkening back to the day of my childhood when I had gazed at that same sky as I sat by a telephone pole and my father's dog.
That telephone pole was pure creosote. Creosote is chemical that is basically watered-down tar that is used to keep wooden telephone poles from rotting. Creosote, like fresh-cut grass, has a distinct smell… that smell filled my lungs it isn't chemical but it doesn't seem natural either… maybe a dark and earthy smell… joining lawnmower exhaust, grass, and the dusty air of a Kansas plain. The darkness of the creosote… thick gobs of creosote… tar… push out from the pole's cracks. I touched the tar… it submitted to my short stubby finger. My fingerprint left an impression in the tar. This creosote telephone pole towers… looms… above me. Ralph lies down and assumes the position of a guard dog… casually eyeing me and his owner, my father. In my child's mind I think about the tar, contemplate the smell of creosote… it is a completely new smell… and I watch my father cut grass. This is my first memory… I try now as an adult to figure out if this is some analogy for life… my life specifically. Nothing comes, yet I know this is a significant moment.
Later, as a teenager on my family's farm… my father has retired from the Army and settled in Tennessee… we build a catch pen for our cattle (polled Herefords). A catch pen is a circular or square fenced in area that farmers use to round-up their cattle. Here is wear you worm and cut bull-calf balls. Here is where you count heads, tag ears, and provide medical attention. Here is where you look at a living and breathing investment. After the Army, my father turned to animals and gardening… years of military services and constant human interaction had pushed him back to a time when he was young and growing up a sharecropper's son. His father, my grandfather, had never been in a position to count heads in a catch pen… now my father could do what he had wished for his father. I don't know this as a teenager… I know it now as a man… but it is a presumption on my part… my father doesn't speak much of his thoughts or dreams. His horses hear his whispers though and I imagine he tells them tales of growing up poor and making a world for himself.
We had to place creosote posts in the ground to anchor the catch pen. The creosote is necessary so the wood doesn't prematurely rot. What I didn't know as a toddler is that creosote can sting and burn the skin when mixed with sweat. As a teenager, assisting in the building of the pen that summer on the farm, I got a red nasty rash from man-handling the poles into the ground… fruits of my labor… the rash shined and burned on my skin.
I don't know if our duplex at Fort Riley still stands… Fort Riley is still nursing men and equipment as they return from war though. I doubt the telephone pole still marks my father's former domain. I do know that the catch pen still stands… it is grey and weathered nearly 30 years later. Today, my father keeps his horses in it… he feeds there and in the winter the ground is a nasty mixture of mud and horse shit… a muck that my father tracks in the house… my mother has scolded him for 30 years about tracking mud and shit in… for 30 years he continues to do it.
Creosote poles have become an unexpected icon in my life. I imagine princes have looked at thrones and crowns and pictured their fathers. I imagine men have looked at a lot of common things and thought of memories of fathers. Me… I look at creosote telephone poles as they tick by on the roadside and muddy… broken down… catch pens and think of my father. I guess I imagine there is a bit of creosote in him, slowing down the aging process and ensuring that he isn't rotting as fast… Fuck who tears up about creosote?


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Oh ya, baby. The best damn party in Rotterdam is coming up in a few weeks... Pijnackerplein Bluegrassfestival. I was very happy to be asked to do the design work again this year. The organizer of this festival is Guido de Groot of Kito Cartoons. Guido does the illustrations and i try to match his vibe with my graphic design. I think it's a good marriage. And this year, not one cage fight during the process.
I really like that Guido doesn't go the 'Babe and Hot Rod' route with this fest. Not that i have anything against Babes and Hotrods, but it seems that so many festivals use that 'look'. I love the quirky-ness of the whole affair at the Pijnackerplein... a true reflection of this wild and wacky little neighborhood here in Het Oude Noorden.
Wanna see more? Click on the image and then click next to see the back of the flyer which highlights all the amazing things you can see, hear and do during this years fest.
So, if you are going to be in the neighborhood of Rotterdam, make yourself a note: 28th & 29th of June. See You There! Yeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaw!
June 11, 2014
And, the Flyer...
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Posted by Shelley Rickey at 10:57 PM
Labels: Graphic Design
2 comments:
- Craig West said...
Excellent font usage. LOVE.
- June 12, 2014
- Shelley Rickey said...
Thanks so much, Craig!
- June 24, 2014
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About Rationally Speaking
Rationally Speaking is a blog maintained by Prof. Massimo Pigliucci, a philosopher at the City University of New York. The blog reflects the Enlightenment figure Marquis de Condorcet's idea of what a public intellectual (yes, we know, that's such a bad word) ought to be: someone who devotes himself to "the tracking down of prejudices in the hiding places where priests, the schools, the government, and all long-established institutions had gathered and protected them." You're welcome. Please notice that the contents of this blog can be reprinted under the standard Creative Commons license.
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Talking to the media, a cautionary tale
19 comments:
This article has convinced me. I should join New York City Skeptics and go drinking with you guys.ReplyDelete
Well, at least he spelled your name wrong.ReplyDelete
Perhaps Liu was referring to proof of a hypothetical negative, because otherwise in reading his article, he doesn't seem all that dumb as you've described him.ReplyDelete
He certainly seem to spot right off that psychotherapists don't know doodly about the belief systems of whales.
Yeats said regarding journalists that there is nothing in them but "tittering jeering emptiness." It's wise to avoid them.ReplyDelete
Why were the diners "slack-jawed" at Leslie's comment?ReplyDelete
Because she insisted that whales' communication is just as sophisticated as human language. She also said there is empirical evidence that there is no difference between a human brain and a chimpanzee... Predictably, the journalist had to pick on that one contribution to the discussion.ReplyDelete
That makes a lot more sense than what's described in the article.ReplyDelete
My point exactly...ReplyDelete
"The Observer piece then continues by labeling New York City Skeptics as a cult."ReplyDelete
The piece by the (arguably misnamed) Observer certainly implies that the NY Skeptics were like a cult, but I don't see an explicit labeling as such. The only place I even see "cult" mentioned is in the quote, "I spent my 20s in a cult. I'm now devoted to Skepticism because I want to understand how I ever could have believed the things I believed." That's a relatively minor point, though. I get the impression that Liu's angle was Skepticism as just another religion, and he force-fit what he saw to fit in that mold.
BTW, I stumbled on a year-old Cracked article called "6 Subtle Ways The News Media Disguises Bulls**t As Fact." Sadly, it seems on topic for this blog post.
@Oyster MonkeyReplyDelete
Ha! That might be the high point of his article.
This is why I won't ever do an interview or allow a reporter near me without a signed contract giving me final right of refusal. I won't demand editorial content, but I would require that any parts about me be excised entirely.ReplyDelete
This is also why I am never interviewed. :-)
Well, if nothing else, I enjoyed the voyeurism into your social life that the article provides, Massimo. :-)ReplyDelete
Reading it also made me miss living in NYC, where the demographics make regular gatherings of this kind feasible. [Such was the trade-off of escaping to the country, although the (skeptical) web definitely helps to alleviate that.]
You gotta give the guy a break. He was from the New York Observer, not the New York Thinker.ReplyDelete
@J. J. RamseyReplyDelete
"For New York City Skeptics, the sect that sponsors the monthly dinner"
So, right, he labels the NYCS a sect, not a cult. Not much difference there...
Well, send a letter to the journal, or check next time what he writes before it is too late, if that is possible.ReplyDelete
Why a journalist can not attend and/or be interested in such things?
Really glad you posted this. The Observer has been known, I think pretty much since inception, as a vanity paper where no one is paid much, there is no fact checking, and people are encourage to be as opinionated as they like - the more so, the better. Seeing you as a focus of approval presumably set off the instinct of a certain type of "reporter" that they will "explode the myth" and "call it as they see it". The facts that they don't know what they are talking about, misconstrue contexts, focus on irrelevancies - in short, perhaps, indulge the neuroses that make them the particular individual they are, without too much concern about 'correspondence' to truth - are all pretty much non-issues with The Observer. You are a brave man, and you are the stronger for the mild vitriol flung in your direction. And now we all more about Jonathan Liu....ReplyDelete
The idea that Jesus gesticulates like an Italian is also a reference to The Last Supper.ReplyDelete
What, the "animated" version? ;-)ReplyDelete
This is why Milan Kundera stopped giving interviews and instead only agreed to the publication of full dialogues which he had the right to edit.ReplyDelete


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I have recently come to believe…pumpkin is a way of life. Similar to cilantro, the flavours and spices that combine to make the savoury pumpkin dessert taste aren't for everybody. I'll tell you one thing though, it is most certainly for me. Before I get into this delicously simple recipe (things taste better when they are cheap and easy, no?) – I'm going to delve into some of my deep-rooted childhood issues.
If my Mom or Dad read this, I apologize for airing your dirty laundry and I still love you. Long, long ago when I was just a little Jess (or Jess the Mess to enemies, which I rebuttled and won with Jess the Princess – BAM), my parents must have assumed I wouldn't like the taste of pumpkin desserts. I could have said something at some point about how I didn't want to try it, I could have commented on pumpkin guts, who knows – but either way, pumpkin anything was really never a dessert staple at any of our Thanksgiving or fall-festive meals. Up until two years ago, when I brought two Aussie friends home for Thanksgiving dinner, did my Mom decide to add a little pumpkin pie to the menu so that our foreign guests could have the full Canadian Turkey dinner experience. Well, I might as well have been a foreigner too – because I looked at the brownish-orange dessert with confusion, hesitation and upset the way that they did. Until I tried it, and life as I knew it had changed. At 21 years old, I had found my calling. Pumpkin.
Now it's really just a problem. An unhealthy, indulgent obsession fueled by a (most likely unintentional) lifelong deprivation of maybe my favourite dessert taste. Red Velvet? Nah, I'll take a pumpkin pie. Frosted cupcakes? I'll take some pumpkin loaf instead, thanks. September 21st as the first day of beautiful fall? Absolutely not; it's the first day of beautiful pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks.
So, needless to say, if I can whip up some of this scrumptious fall flavouring in my own kitchen, in the form of a batch of cookies that I can eat into the late hours of the night with no judgment because I live alone – I'm going to be happy as a clam. Sue me, I love pumpkin. Here is a healthy, quick and easy pumpkin cookie that you can munch on at any time of year, regardless of what people say:
Pumpkin Cookies
What you'll need to make 20 cookies: 1 1/2 tsp of sugar substitute (or 1 1/2 cup of fugar), 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. ground cloves, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce (or light butter), 1/2 can of pumpkin puree, 1 egg, 1 tsp. vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and salt; put this bowl aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the 1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce and sugar-substitute. Then, add the pumpkin, egg and 1 tsp. vanilla extract to that apple sauce mixture.
4. Mix in the dry ingredients and whisk together until creamy and thick.
6. Take tablespoonfuls and plop onto a cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 20 -25, remove from oven and glaze with icing or dip in fat-free vanilla yogurt.
8. Don't wear all black when baking…classic mistake.
9. ENJOY YOUR COOKIES! And, long live pumpkin…in a nutshell.


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Now we know what makes a Grinch green: greenbacks.
Showing amazing resilience in the face of stiff competition, "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" remained safely ensconced atop Mt. Crumpit . . . er, the weekend box-office charts, grossing $73.5 million over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday. The Ron Howard comic fantasy, starring Jim Carrey as the Grinch, saw its box-office take drop only 5% from its opening weekend.
"I knew this picture would be stupendous," said Nikki Rocco, who heads distribution at Universal Pictures. "Did I think it would be as huge as this? In this business, you can never predict numbers like this."
Meanwhile, fans of last year's supernatural hit "The Sixth Sense" flocked to theaters to see "Unbreakable," the new collaboration of Bruce Willis and director M. Night Shyamalan. The film grossed a hefty $46 million over the five-day holiday, contributing to a box-office record for the period.


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noun /ˈsnəgərē/
A cozy or comfortable place, esp. someone's private room or den; cubby: a small secluded room
Beautiful Susannah.
I truly believe the absolute best we can do is to just be there. I believe it is what they will remember, as will we!I am glad your little one is better Sannah!


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Sweet Pea is 18 months, and we have done a little painting here and there. We've dabbled in finger painting (huge mess=lots of fun), and water painting on those sheets that have colored dots. It didn't turn out so well. So we tried watercolors that I made with the help of Happy Hooligans!
Sweet Pea still has a tendency to slip things into her mouth here and there, so I wanted to make sure our watercolors were non toxic. After looking at several paint recipes and what I had in the pantry, I decided to give this recipe a try. Click on the picture above or the Happy Hooligans link to get the super easy recipe and see Jackie's amazing blog.
I followed the recipe as is, and it did beautifully. I made it several weeks ago, but we finally got to enjoy it outside on this particularly beautiful warm day last week.
She loved it! I tried to get her to go in a process of water, color, paper... water, color, paper... which she did well for a while, but then she just kept going water, paper, color... water.... which defeated the whole color on the paper... BUT she and I had fun anyway and she got to the color again eventually. <<<that is one sentence my friends... I'm the queen of run-ons.
At one point, she gave up the brush, put her hand in the water, and started drinking it, saying "mmmmmm." Crazy kid. :)
(Glad I did the whole non toxic thing)
This is her masterpiece which I absolutely love. The colors were vibrant and moved easily on the watercolor paper. Even when she loaded down the paper with tons of water, the colors still remained. AND we still have left over colors! I let them dry and hopefully this Saturday, we can paint outside again (we are waiting on the weather.)
This recipe can even be used on the cement! The color stayed amazingly well until I took a hose to my drive and washed away our fun from the week... along with rice and beans that were stuck to my car because I forgot my leftovers on the roof of my car. Fun times. Keepin' it real folks, keepin' it real.
Happy Watercoloring! (may not be a word, but it's okay!) :)


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I really wanted to get this posted yesterday but we don't have our internet set up at our place yet sooooo I'm at the mercy of whatever wifi I can get when I can get it! So I now sit at the neighborhood Mickey D's with a large sweet tea trying to knock out my blog posts before I do my grocery shopping!
Let me just say that starting a reading challenge (and a new blog for that matter) isn't the smartest thing to do when you're weeks away from getting married. February was just the whirlwind I knew it would be. My now-hubby and I gave it a good go last month but we are still working on our book. But that's okay! We have chosen our next book and I am excited to talk about our plans for March!
March – Healthy Living
It's the last month of the quarter and spring will soon be here. Time to shake off the winter and start waking up our bodies for warmer days. Steven and I really want to get back on track with our work out routines and I need to be stricter with my diet. Healthy living is the perfect theme for us for March!
Our Book Selection: Brain Maker by David Perlmutter, MD
The subtitle of the book is rather intriguing – The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain – for Life. The saying goes you are what you eat (oh, the irony of me writing that as I sit under the golden arches!). Steven and I read the summary and listened to intro for the audiobook and are looking forward to this read. It makes sense that what you eat effects the performance of your brain as well as the rest of your body. This book is going to make me feel super nerdy and I can't wait to learn more about how that actually works!
It is also said not to judge a book by its cover but let's be real – every bookworm does. It was the cover that grabbed me when I first saw it at the bookstore awhile ago!
Focus Word of the Month: NURTURE
I believe that God gave us these awesome bodies to take care of and treat with respect and dignity. I don't always remember that but this month I want to focus on nurturing and caring for my body better. I will say that for the past several weeks, Steven has been EXTREMELY good about eating really well. I rather envy his self discipline and am going to try really hard to follow his example in our home!
Activity of the Month: 14 Day Bootcamp
I almost wish we hadn't come up with this one cause now I need to prove I'm not all just talk! For two weeks we have to challenge ourselves to some good, solid healthy living changes. Steven and I haven't talked about what those changes are going to be but I'm looking forward to setting some healthy goals and crushing them! 😀
Well here it goes! Our first full month of married life and we're going to start on a healthy foot!
Happy March and Happy Reading 🙂


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Volunteer and Internship Opportunities
The Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo, NY hosts and partners in many community supporting events and outreach programs on a year-round basis. We are always looking for dedicated and community conscious individuals and organizations that are willing to assist as volunteers. In addition, the nonprofit Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo offers fulfilling internships to college undergrad and graduate level students in a variety of disciplines (Health Promotion/Nutrition/Exercise Science, etc.; Communications/PR ; Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, Environment, etc) .
(Above: Intern Taylor Marino & Executive Director Phil Haberstro hard at work!)
For more information on volunteering and applying for internships please contact us:
65 Niagara Square - Room 607, Buffalo NY 14202


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- 21 & over
- Two drink minimum
- All Sales are Final
- All showtimes are subject to change. Valid Photo ID Required.
- Special Event
50 W. Jefferson St.
Phoenix, AZ 85003
Comedy Central Certified
MARC MARON (Special Event)
Purchase Tickets
Saturday, October 13, 2018 7:00 PM
StandUpLive, Phoenix, AZ
Share with your friends:
Show Details
- Ticket Price: $30.00
- Show Type: Stand Up
- Tags: Mainstream
21 & over
Two drink minimum
All Sales are Final
All showtimes are subject to change. Valid Photo ID Required.
Special Event
For over twenty years, Marc Maron has been writing and performing raw, honest and thought- provoking comedy for print, stage, radio, online and television. Best known for his hit podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, Marc has interviewed iconic personalities such as Conan O'Brien, Robin Williams, Keith Richards, Ben Stiller, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lorne Michaels and former US President Barack Obama. It has become a worldwide phenomenon; averaging 6 million downloads each month, with nearly 410 million lifetime downloads. Maron currently stars in the hit Netflix original series, GLOW, alongside Alison Brie, and his critically acclaimed half-hour scripted television series, Maron, aired on IFC and can be found on Netflix to stream. Marc has also performed guest starring roles in the series Girls, Louie, and Joe Swanberg's Easy, and can be seen in the feature films Get A Job and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. He released his stand-up special, Thinky Pain, on Netflix in 2013 and as an album in 2014. His next special, More Later, premiered on Epix in December 2015 and is also available on wtfpod.com. Maron's most recent stand-up special, Marc Maron: Too Real, was released in 2017 and is currently streaming on Netflix.


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Political party income in 2012
The most recent accounts submitted to the Electoral Commission show that of the three main parties, Labour generated the most income, with £33 million received in 2012.
The chart and table below show where the parties got their money from last year.
- Affinity income: Money received from joint commercial ventures, such as sponsored credit cards.
- Government grants: 'Short money', given to the opposition, and policy development grants available to all political parties.
- Notional income: Value of goods and services, ie. seconded staff
- Recharges to public bodies: Income received by Lib Dems from the branches of the party in England, Scotland and Wales.


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We're recruiting Customer Service Consultants to join our fast paced and professional team who support customers with fair, ethical and realistic light management in Zhongshan city, Guangdong province. Our products about different kinds of lamp, light and chandelier, western style furniture, the main market is North America and South America.
Job Description:
* Confer with customers by telephone or email to provide information about products or services, take or enter orders, cancel accounts, or obtain details of complaints through Amazon.
* Check to ensure that appropriate changes were made to resolve customers' problems.
* Keep records of customer interactions or transactions, recording details of inquiries, complaints, or comments.
* Monthly salary at least 10, 000 RMB per month according to your working experience;
* Accommodation is provided;
* Business visa accepted;
* Single trip airfare ticket provided after completing one year contract;
* Working visa not provided;
Working Schedule:
* Monday to Saturday 8: 00am A's 6: 00pm, Sunday off;
* Native English speakers;
* Female candidates only;
* Experience working in customer services is not essential, we're looking for passionate candidates who are hungry to progress, further their career and reap the rewards of hard work.
* The ideal candidate will want to learn, develop and become a valuable member of the team.
If this sounds like an ideal role for you then please do not hesitate.
To apply visit this link:
Alternatively, send your CV, passport copy, certificates copy and photo to E-mail: email@example.com
Or for more details call: (China) +86(0)20-37303381 Or (UK) +44 1202 935052


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The Advantages Of Reading An Electronic Cigarette Review
Smoking is hard enough to quit. There are few matters as unkind as directing an enthusiast to believe that you're supplying something that may allow it to be possible for him to become smoke free, only to mislead him about what your product can or will do.Taking a closer look at the case shows there are indicators on the side for charging. Yes, the case is a charger, effective at recharging two smoke batteries at the same time. Both batteries are merely lost to the case and charge. No more screwing the battery right into a charger. Only drop and charge. A charging index in the side shows just how much charge is in the batteries. Once the batteries have completely recharged, the lights cease cycling along with the pack vibrates as one more signal. The battery indicator exhibits how much charge is made in the spare battery. Close the lid with the spare interior to see just how much charge is in the battery. Moreover, the blue triangle symbol to the front of the pack lights up when the lid is opened to suggest just how much charge is in the pack itself.After entering the Manchester, NH mall and several others in this state, you pass with a pretty young woman puffing away on an e-cigarette. She seems cool and what she is showing is that smoking is cool. Revealing the state is allowing for the Ecig to be displayed and used in a mall setting which is a sanctuary for teens, is reckless at best.It does not cause any environmental pollution. It does not make any stain on teeth. It does not cause any bad breath or odor. It isn't allergic to non smokers. It has broad region of application. It helps the chain smoker in reducing or discontinuing up the smoking habit. The smoker enjoys e cigarette without any risk of tobacco.Gone are those days when users had to carry with them an extra battery so that they do not run out of electricity. For frequent smokers, there are portable charger kits which enable recharging battery repeatedly prior to the kit itself must be recharged. This proves to be a great choice for those times when you're from power sources. Recall the next time you go out camping together with friends and family or family, you will not need to worry about charging the cigarettes at all.Generally speaking, eSmoke is a reputable, quality area to get your e cigs. Their prices are generally a little higher if you're taking a look at their Pro series but the cost is worth the investment which is what it is, an investment.John Vo, a nearby variety store owner, is amazed with how many folks of most ages are purchasing electronic cigarette at his shop on Speers Road. Every day I keep selling more and more, he says while pointing to some nicely-crafted display of e-cigs on the counter near his cash register.Battery life. Once you find the most effective e cigarettes uk are you are planning to utilize it often throughout the day? If so, you need to ensure that your battery has battery life that will persist for a whole day. You may also need to contemplate a battery charger for your car in case you're on the road a great deal.Baily stated that he saw Velasquez pull out the firearm and shoot Kayla Peterson, his fiance. She had been crying in the teenagers since they followed Baily residence when they saw him buy smokes at the store. When the shooting started Goolsby ran away, however he's still in trouble over it because of Pennsylvania laws.You can purchase them at the factory outlet or directly from online stores. Purchasing on the internet might be an easy measure since many e-cigarette wholesalers provide low priced and high quality ecigs. You too can purchase various accessories like cigarette holder, chargers and nicotine capsules from them. The payment approach is safe and if you purchase in bulk, you are exempted from paying tax. Although you have to take care that the bought mini e-cigarettes are as per your requirement and suit your budget.


text: A Chick Who Reads Review: A SEAL's Secret Tawny | 02/05/2015 "Tawny Weber knows how to write a hot steamy military romance. This story is no different. Mitch and Livi are similar and yet very different. A SEAL's Secret is her 6th book in the Uniformly Hot series, and if you love military romance, you'll want to read all of them."~ A Chick Who Reads I'd love it if you'd share:FacebookTwitterPinterestEmailLike this:Like Loading... Related


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AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Sept. 23, 2010 — Plex Systems, Inc., providers of Plex Online software for the manufacturing enterprise, today announced it will participate in the Eighth Annual ERP Vendor Shoot Out October 6-7, 2010 at the Renaissance Hotel in Dallas, Texas. Geared toward ERP selection teams and decision makers for companies with a manufacturing, distribution or project-oriented requirements, the ERP Vendor Shootout™ is ideal for businesses that are budgeting for or are currently evaluating Enterprise Resource Planning software.
Moderated by Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) of Montreal, Canada, this event is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for you and your team to quickly build your selection short-list by seeing the best in Enterprise Software Solutions in the world all in one place, all at the same time!
The 8th event, scheduled for October 6-7, 2010 at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel in Dallas Texas, will include the top ERP packages in a side-by-side comparison. Suitable for automotive, industrial, food processors, medical device manufacturers and others, the ERP Vendor Shootout is ideal for companies that are currently evaluating ERP software. The target audience for the event is mid-sized companies ($350M and below annual revenue) with manufacturing, distribution or project-oriented requirements.
Featured at the event will be demonstrations of SaaS ERP solution Plex Online covering sales operations, inventory and procurement, manufacturing, financials, and workforce management features. The audience will also learn how Plex Online meets the unique needs of each enterprise, and is continuously improved so no update is ever required. Participants may register online.
"Plex Online is pleased to participate in this innovative and lively event which has proven to be useful to ERP selection teams and decision makers," noted Plex Systems President and CEO Mark Symonds. "Attendees will get a true comparison of the technology products presented. We're confident participants will clearly see the competitive advantages delivered by Plex Online ERP delivered as a software as a service."
The goal of the event is to simplify the ERP software selection process. This event alleviates some of the painful inefficiencies of the selection process by coordinating onsite software presentations and delivering them in a two day event. End-user attendees will see a series of scripted demos from vendors and resellers, gaining a side-by-side, comparative view of product functionality, user interfaces, and overall usability. In addition to the scripted demos, each product presenter will cover additional topics and key functionality specific to each product.
For additional information, sponsorship opportunities or to register for the 8th ERP Vendor Shootout™ visit www.erpshootout.com or call 877.907.2702.
About Plex Systems, Inc.
Plex Systems, Inc. is the developer of Plex Online, an industrial strength, software as a service (SaaS) ERP solution for manufacturers. Plex Online extends beyond the boundaries of legacy ERP software to provide a comprehensive solution for manufacturers, including Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Quality Management Systems (QMS) functions for the factory floor, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) features for sales and marketing, and Supplier Management functions for procurement. Plex Online's comprehensive feature set and real-time data distribution empower workers to make smarter decisions, and enable management to run a manufacturing business at maximum efficiency. Plex Online is widely used in highly regulated, quality-driven manufacturing industries such as automotive, medical device, aerospace and defense, and food and beverage processing. Founded in 1995, Plex Systems is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, with customers around the globe. More information is online at www.plex.com.
Plex Systems and Plex Online are trademarks of Plex Systems, Inc.


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If We Make It Through December
Filed under: anxiety, automobiles, awkward, Bay Area, Be Better!, big weather, business is business, California, Celebration, changing seasons, cloudy, country music, cranky, da blues, disappointed, disapproving boss, drama, driving, first world problems, gratitude, hellidays, iPhone, iPhoneography, irritated, latent childhood, learning, life, make it work, melancholy, memories, mi corazon, Music, nostalgia, Opinions, overwhelmed, play through, pondering, rain, show and tell, the feline, The Good Man, water, where I come from, whining, work, worried, yes boss
If we make it through December
Everything's gonna be all right I know
— Merle Haggard
Every year "If We Make It Through December," a classic Merle Haggard song that was released for the first time all the way back in 1973 becomes the theme for my holiday season. I have been playing it on repeat in my car as I drive back and forth to my job.
I also play it when it's dark in the morning and when it's dark in the evening. As the rain comes down. As protestors shut down access to my home and helicopters hover in the sky. As my feet ache and my head hurts and I wonder why, for another year, I'm anxious, depressed and overwrought during the happiest time of year.
Every year I look forward to December and the holiday season, hoping to capture some small bit of that childhood joy and anticipation and magic. I watch movies like "White Christmas" that are filled with optimism and dancing and songs about snow.
Every year I feel crushed by an avalanche of end of year business activities. It's the nature of the profession I have chosen that December is just always going to be craptastic.
And then current political events put a little exponential anxiety to this year's festivities.
Now I don't mean to hate December
It's meant to be the happy time of year
Happy, yeah. Full of cheer. Ho, ho, ho. Yesterday should have been a really good day. My boss held a breakfast holiday celebration for all of her team. Then one of my main client teams had a holiday luncheon for us too. A day of eating? Hell YES!
But in between those two events, I had a bunch of other meetings. I was late to most of them and got chewed out. I was running hither and thither to get to these "fun" events where my attendance was fully expected.
At the end of the day I had an inbox full of emails and angry voicemails from people expecting me to get my other work done.
So I stayed late at work (again!) and tried to get somewhat caught up. I worked off most of the code red items and left the code orange for another day.
Then I went home exhausted and emotionally shut down. I was not a good spouse to The Good Man or a good human to my Feline.
Hell, I didn't even plug in our Christmas tree yesterday. Yes, last weekend I managed to get our fake tree put together, but it is not decorated. I usually love to make cookies for the holidays, but not this year.
Instead I made toast for dinner and then went to bed. Feliz Navidad.
If we make it through December we'll be fine
But as I whine on and complain loudly, I suppose all is not lost. This year I introduced The Good Man to December's theme song. This happened while we were taking a drive to go see Merle Haggard play a live show at my favorite concert venue in Napa.
How bad can my month be if I get to see one of my all time favorite musicians play live? A musician who has written songs that make up a lot of the soundtrack of my life.
The Good Man is going through his own turmoil this December and so the lyric we most often repeated to each other on our hour long drive was this one, "If we make it through December we'll be fine."
And we will. We'll be fine. This hell and highwater (literally, one of the highway exits in our town was flooded out so we had to seek an alternate route) will recede and we'll find our way back to level ground.
I don't mean to hate December. It's just sometimes it feels like December hates me.
Photo copyright ©Karen Fayeth, 2014
Photo copyright ©Karen Fayeth, 2014. Taken with an iPhone 6 and run through Instagram. Photo subject to the Creative Commons license found in the far right column of this page.
From The Department Of Useless Knowledge
Filed under: adorable, animals, awesome!, awkward, charming, learning, life, make it work, miscellany, monkey mind, Opinions, peculiar, pets, play through, pondering, the feline, weirdity
"Hey baby, you smell nice!" she says.
He grins, "thanks, it's Calvin Kle—"
"ROWR" goes the leaping jaguar.
"Why can't I ever meet a guy who lives longer than ONE date?" she wails.
: cue sad trombones :
My little story is a parable. A lesson. A warning.
Seems that large kitty cats with big claws and big teeth get a little fired up for….
…wait for it…
Calvin Klein Obsession For Men.
Makes 'em nutty. Makes 'em curious. Makes 'em lusty. Serious, click the link and let the knowledge seep into your brain.
(Regarding the feline in your home, your milage may vary, but give it a try. Ol' Scratchy might just become Fluffy McLapcat.)
Jaguars, tigers, snow leopards, cheetahs, pumas, ocelots, tapirs, peccaries and coatis, oh my!
Hey baby, wanna see my ocelot?
I learned this random fact this morning while perusing the news over a onion bagel.
Now you know it too.
My work here is done.
Hey baby, how YOU doin'?
Image found here.
Feliz Año Nuevo
Filed under: addictions, adorable, amazing, anxiety, awesome!, awkward, beautiful, being sick, blogging, bragging, business is business, Celebration, cranky, da blues, doooooom!, good eats, gratitude, hellidays, iPhone, iPhoneography, kerfuffle, latent childhood, life, Love, love and marriage, make it work, objectophilia, Opinions, our happy home, play through, show and tell, stubborn, sugar & fat & salt, the feline, The Good Man, they call it stormy Monday, truth is stranger than..., yes boss
Today feels more like New Year's Day to me than it did on January first. This is easily explained, as today is my first day back at work and the reality of 2014 is slowing sinking in.
Today was the first day back to old routines and old problems and that dratted alarm clock squawking at me at some unspeakable hour when even the sun doesn't want to be disturbed in his slumber.
But here I am, back in the grind, wondering how I can keep myself stress free and high energy for all of the many days that lie ahead until my next two-week break.
As such, it's time for me to turn my attention back to words and writing and the ol' blog.
I thought I'd kick off the New Year by doing an update post, addressing many of the things we've chatted about over the past month or so.
Where to start?
Oh Fair New Mexico
Well, let's be a little meta and start by talking about my little blog. March will mark seven years of writing words on Oh Fair New Mexico.
Total count (before this post) is 566,730 original words over 1,669 posts.
For the loyal readers, I give you a huge hug and lots of thanks for keeping up with the wild meanderings of my mind.
In the past I was able to consistently post every weekday, and did so for years. Lately that flow has slowed quite a bit.
Is it that I just don't have anything more to say? Hardly.
The nature of my job is such that I rarely have a free second of time during my days. This job is high energy and decisions required moment to moment.
In my former gigs, I was able to write up a post over my lunch or while on a break. Now, when I eat lunch (at my desk, usually) I have a line of people out my office door wanting to chat.
I often hear "Oh she's there!" outside my cubicle walls and an "Oh, are you eating lunch? This will just take a minute" when a face peeks around my doorway.
My employees are top-notch folks and I take working for them very seriously.
But dammit! Mommy needs some alone time!
I get quite frustrated sometimes over my lack of time. It's something I'm working on in this new year.
I'm telling you all of this by way of saying that even if a week goes by and I haven't posted something, don't give up on me. I'm still here and I'm still writing.
750 Words
Nice segue. Speaking of writing, lately I have been getting a nice boost from a website named 750words.com.
If you ever read the book The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, then you learned the value of morning pages. Per Ms Cameron, morning pages are three handwritten pages about any topic you please. The intent is to help prime the ol' pump and get the creative juices flowing.
I have done morning pages off and on for years and they sure help, but it's easy for me to let them drop. They are kind of a pain in the butt sometimes, plus my handwriting sucks. Also, my hand can't go fast enough for my brain.
Enter 750 words. The creator of the website did the math and figured out that three pages is, give or take, 750 words.
So it's morning pages, online, with reminder emails and badges and statistics and fun.
Why I'm telling you this is because I have been working on words on that site and boy can I tell a difference.
Hopefully that difference will show up here on Oh Fair too.
The Feline
Just before Thanksgiving, I wrote a pretty sad post about my little fuzzy one.
She had just spent a weekend in the pet hospital and when we brought her home she was weak and quite skinny.
At the time, we didn't think she would make it to Thanksgiving.
She did.
Then I was just certain she would not make it to Christmas.
She has.
So here I am on January 6th feeling pretty amazed that The Feline is actually doing ok. Through the wonders of modern veterinary medicine, she is not only ok, she has gained a little weight and is clear eyed and feisty and full of vim and is feeling like her old self.
It's kind of amazing. The Feline will never recover from her ailment, what she has is terminal, but The Good Man and I now understand how to manage it. We got her steady and we have more time with the little punk than we thought.
She will be 15 years old in March, and now my hope is that she gets to celebrate her little cranky feline birthday.
Here's a photo taken about a week ago. This was the first time I really realized she was feeling better and it's become one of my favorite photos of her:
Copyright © 2014, Karen Fayeth
That Damn Chocolate Bear
You listened to my tale. You sympathized with my anxiety. You heard my cries.
The response was best summed up by a New Mexico friend:
"Snuff the Yogi."
And I want to. Oh. I want to.
Here is the status of the Bear as of this morning.
Copyright © 2014, Karen Fayeth
He sits there, mocking me. He is in residence on the shelf set aside for snacks. During the height of holiday madness, that shelf was cram packed with delicious treats and he survived by cowering in the back behind the biscochitos and the sugar cookies and the See's Candy and the rocky road treats made by The Good Man's little sister.
After the piranhas had their holiday feeding frenzy all that's left is that damn bear and a crappy candy cane.
Yes, people, I'm telling you that the bear is still intact.
I asked The Good Man, "What kind of maniac doesn't eat a freaking chocolate bear?!"
He politely responded that since things have escalated, he will be seeking a safe house where the bear can be granted asylum.
He's just doing this to torment me. He knows one day in the not too distant future I am going to tear the apartment apart and walk through that bear's gold foil restraining order and tear him chocolaty limb from chocolaty limb.
Oh it's happening.
Well there we have it. I think that gets us all pretty much current and caught up as of today.
I am through most of my first Monday back at work. All in, it was not bad.
Onward until tomorrow.
Feliz Año Nuevo my friends.
I just realized that it's only two weeks until the glorious three day weekend of MLK Jr. day.
I can hardly wait.
All images © Copyright 2014, Karen Fayeth, and subject to the Creative Commons in the right corner of this page.
Shall We Play The Game?
Filed under: addictions, amazing, awkward, business is business, Celebration, curious, don't want!, family, first world problems, hellidays, life, love and marriage, make it work, objectophilia, Opinions, people are people, play through, pondering, show and tell, Thanksgiving, the feline, The Good Man, tradition, truth is stranger than..., turkey
"So, did you get caught up in the Black Friday stuff last week?" a coworker asked me this morning as we kibitzed about the Thanksgiving holiday break.
"No. Did you?"
"Yeah, we were at Target until 2am standing in line for an iPhone on Thanksgiving day. It was crazy."
That's all I had to say. Wow. There was no other answer I could muster. Why would anyone would want to stand in line at the ungodly hour of 2am to buy a piece of electronic gear?
And I'm a big fan of my iPhone. Still, I don't need to take part in that.
I know, I know. Because it was a deal. Because it was on sale. Because it means saving a couple of bucks.
I think that people forget that their time and their sanity also has a value.
This is something that The Good Man reminds me of with some frequency. I was raised by an engineer. Engineers are fairly squeaky with the wallet. The lure of a good deal is strong with me.
If I take a look at my paycheck and then divide down (I'm salaried) I can figure out how much my employer pays me by the hour. Then I can apply that to the time standing in line just to get 20% off an iPhone.
Or, I can try to figure out the value of time spent with family and friends.
My coworker left for Target at 8pm after having turkey and cranberry with the family. Stood in line to get in the door. Stood in line until 2am to get the phone and spent another hour waiting to have it activated. 8pm to 3am is seven hours.
Seven. Hours. That's dang near a whole workday.
Maybe I'm just a stodgy ol' fuddy duddy but I spent those same seven hours with The Good Man and the Mom-in-Law and petting the ailing Feline. Those were good hours and time well spent.
Ah well, rereading this post I realize that I am judging and that's not right either.
As my mom used to say, "To each their own."
Happy Kickoff to the Crazy Days leading up to the Holidays.
Don't forget to hug your sweetie a little bit before you run off to get in line. I'll hug mine twice for you.
Image found here.
Gobble, Gobble
Filed under: anxiety, Autumn, awkward, big weather, blue sky, California, cranky, crazy, crying, drama, fall, family, fat and salt, friends, gobbles, gratitude, green chile, Hatch, homesick, iPhone, iPhoneography, kerfuffle, latent childhood, lazy, learning, life, Love, love and marriage, make it work, New Mexico, nostalgia, Opinions, our happy home, pets, play through, sensitive girl, sleep deprived, thank you, Thanksgiving, the feline, The Good Man, tradition, where I come from, work, worried
And here we find ourselves again on the eve of the Holiday of Big Eats. Of all the holidays each annual cycle brings, Thanksgiving and Halloween rank up there as my favorites. Mainly cuz of the snacking aspect so central to them both.
I do love a good day of eatin'.
So at this year's Thanksgiving fest as I nosh and nom, I have many things to be thankful for.
I'll start with gratitude for each and every reader of this blog. You may not be many in numbers, but you are huge in providing motivation. I love reading comments both here and on Facebook and each comment just spurs me on.
Thanks also for putting up with my most recent and quite maudlin post. I was in a pretty dark place that day. Writing the words out on the page always help me exorcise those demons. It is my greatest therapy.
I cried through just about every word of that post (a little awkward at work, so I had to stop and finish it up at home) but getting it all out really helped.
I've been a bit MIA since that post as I've been dealing with a lot of stuff. Work got really weird last week and of course I am already weird, so when weird is doubled down, it's not really a good thing.
The good news is that I am off work this week. I have to admit I didn't know how much I needed a vacation. Needed it so much. Yesterday I slept in to a reasonable hour, something like 7:30, and got up and started doing stuff around the house. Then I felt nauseous and had vertigo. So I did the only logical thing: I went back to bed. For the whole afternoon.
Turns out my body was saying "Lay it down sister, we need rest." I have been running full throttle for a long while and when I let off the gas, I needed to actually rest. So as much as I hated to lose a whole day of vacation, it was totally worth it.
Today I'm full of the usual quantities of both piss and vinegar, so it's game on. Look out world, I'm back! And grateful to feel good again.
So I'm thankful for my job, the ability to take paid vacation days, and for rest. All of these together make me a better Karen.
I might also mention here how thankful I am for The Good Man who puts up with my special brand of crazy including chronic rantings and frequent bad moods. He is the cream in my coffee, the salt in my stew, and he makes me a better person every day. Thanks for being you.
Also, looping back to my dark post from last week, I am thankful for the magic of veterinary medicine. The Feline is back up on her paws. She still has a chronic and quite terminal condition, but with some medication, some subcutaneous fluids and some love, she's almost back to her usual zippy almost 15-year-old self. Who knows how long we have left, but we have her feeling ok today. And I am very grateful.
And finally on this by no means all-inclusive list, I am thankful for my best friend who, earlier this year came to my home bearing bags of green chile that she had stowed in her suitcase. Yesterday I discovered them in my freezer and realized that two of those bags were chopped chile, just perfect for making a green chile stew.
As the chiles and cumin and potatoes roiled and boiled, I was thankful that I am a New Mexican, grateful for the mouthwatering food, and thankful that my New Mexican by way of Texas best friend in the whole wide world cares enough to share her chile stash. That's love.
Most of all on this sunny and warm California Wednesday, I'm just happy to be alive, to be loved, and to have my place here on my little blog where I can be weird or depressed or lame or just simply be me, and that's ok.
Happy Day of Gobble Gobble to you all! May you have a wonderful holiday, wherever in this big ol' world you may be.
Had to post this image, it's tradition.
Photo and doodle Copyright 2010, Karen Fayeth, and subject to the Creative Commons license in the right column of this page. Photo taken with an iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app.