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July 17, 2016
A mixed bag
My bags haven't really had a look in on here since I started doing the outfit round-up format! So this post is for showing them a little love. (And no, they are not usually this artfully arranged on the coat stand.)
Canvas tote. Probably my most used bag - I like how a canvas bag dresses down an outfit. I got it from a natural history themed store in NYC back in 2012 because I liked the skull (it's the residual emo kid in me). I never take it travelling though, I prefer to have a bag which I can zip up, to keep my things safer.
Small cross body. I use this to keep bits and bobs when I'm on the wards. I did a what's in my bag post with it last year. I guess I'll use it at work until I'm senior enough to get a med student to hold my things, ha ha. I rarely use this as a main bag on casual outings because I generally carry more stuff (e.g. my camera).
Handbag. Or, what I like to call, my grown-up bag. This is a cheap one I bought in Madrid. I only use it on the rare occasion that I need something more formal looking than my tote or backpack, and also as a carry-on bag on planes/secondary day-to-day bag for travel.
Backpack. Kankens are the best backpacks ever! I've been using this for almost five years now, and it's still going strong. I've never owned another backpack that's lasted this long. Waterproof, roomy, surprisingly comfortable despite the thin straps. I would definitely buy another if it breaks down, but I don't think it will for a while (I've probably jinxed it now though).
Are you a fellow carry-everything-in-a-big-bag person, or have you managed to enchant a little bag (à la Hermione) so that it fits everything you need?
Labels: clothes
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I had this image pinned to my Art pinboard for quite awhile, but I finally got around to clicking over. And, wow! I was so glad I did. Absolute inspiration!
Once I soaked in the beautiful color + texture of Alisa Burke's post "creativity-with-crayons" ...I couldn't resist. I had to PLAY. (Click over and take a peek. I promise you'll be inspired too.)
I have had a long-standing love for crayons + watercolors. There is something about opening up a big box of crayolas or a palette of paints. It must be the vast array of COLOR + all the possibilities of CREATING.
I put a little VALENTINE SPIN on Alisa's crayon + watercolor idea. As you know, I've been all about pink + red lately.
SO, here it is, my Valentine art creation...
Though I did it all from memory, there is a great how-to here.
|{image via pinterest}
Happy Friday!

subset: commoncrawl


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Internet Privacy: How Cookies Have Changed Everything
As you may have seen me mention before, the internet has changed the way consumers seek information. Today, advances in information technology are allowing businesses to track and monitor online traffic through cookies. Not the chocolate chip kind, but the bits of information stored by your web browser that allow different websites you visit to link to one another. For example, a cookie could let an online retailer know that you viewed a video game trailer on YouTube, and suggest similar games for you to purchase based on that. While many are aware of this, and clear the cookies on their web browser accordingly, there are new developments such as Flash cookies that accomplish the same task but can be more difficult to find and erase.
With the current boom in social media usage, riding the overall improvement of accessibility to the internet, it can be easy for many to speculate that today's generation is less sensitive about what personal information is visible online. Even Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg mentioned that "People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people." Research, however, says otherwise; 92% of teens surveyed in a Zogby poll believe they should be able to request the deletion of all their personal information held by a search engine, social network, or marketing company. 85% would like to see these sources request permission before they collect data at all. And while Zuckerberg mentions these shifts in public thinking, Facebook is still constantly changing its privacy structure to meet consumer's needs. Most recently, they changed the format of Facebook Groups and other applications in order to offer increased privacy, creating smaller social groups that will allow friends to keep in contact with one another.
As individuals, internet privacy can have a profound impact on our image. As a college student, and a marketing student in particular, I am constantly monitoring the information I post on my Facebook, tweet on Twitter, send through emails and so on. Now, more than ever, it is becoming easier for job recruiters to pull up information about you that is posted online. There are facts to support this, as in many cases businesses have refused to hire students because their online information presents the exact opposite of a professional image.
While the internet has created great ease in information search and retrieval, it has proven to be a double-edged sword. All information, including personal details about your spending habits, your demographics, your interests, etc., is readily available online. Are you taking the steps to make sure the information you put out there represents you in a positive manner?
"Code That Tracks Users' Browsing Prompts Lawsuits"
"Teens Want More Privacy Online Too"
"Facebook adds new privacy…"
"Is Your Online Identity Spoiling Your Chances?"


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Bond set, Blagojevich warned
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich arrives at his home on Sunnyside in Chicago following a bond hearing in federal court. His wife, Patti, tries to pull him towards the door. Blagojevich's bond was set at $450,000 and he was ordered to post his North Side house and Washington condo as collateral despite the defense declaring that the Chicago residence is up for sale. U.S. District Judge James Zagel called Blagojevich and his wife Patti before him to issue the standard warning that they could lose both properties if the former governor violated bond conditions. "I have no intention of violating the bond," Blagojevich said.
David Pierini, Chicago Tribune
Copyright © 2019, Chicago Tribune


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Tears for Fears have entered the studio to record the follow up to 2004's reunion effort Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, which didn't find near the audience it probably should have. That Donnie Darko momentum didn't quite have the legs the duo was counting on, but never a band to give a wit about time TFF will reinvent itself once again almost a decade on. The band just posted a stream of the first fruits of its recent labors with a cover of The Arcade Fire's "Ready to Start," which sees the band embracing its synth-heavy origins to great effect. If this is the sonic direction, then Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith may reignite some of that lost momentum. [via Slicing up Eyeballs]
STREAM: Tears for Fears Cover The Arcade Fire's "Ready to Start"
Posted August 20th, 2013 by Eric Greenwood · 1 Comment
Tags: new release · stream
1 response so far ↓


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|Plunging into the unknown.
It's all brand new and I'm ready for the ride. I'd love to have you join me, starting with the cover reveal and giveaway for my debut book, Secrets of the King's Daughter. Covenant Communications will feature my cover this Friday, January 29, 2016 on their Facebook page, including a giveaway that you can enter. I will repost it on my Author page and other places. Later in February I will host an online book launch with more contests. The book will be out the first week of March and I'm scheduling a few book signings. It's finally real!
This marketing ride has been a long time in coming--long enough that I've written the book's sequel already and just need the finishing touches. I want to thank all those who have taken an interest, supported me, read my blog over the past five years, etc. The ride is much more fun with friends along!


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I kinda sorta understand the political logic behind Republicans not wanting to be the "lone Republican" who signs on for something. But on another level, I don't really get the point of some of these flirt acts. Lindsey Graham's long dance with John Kerry over climate change legislation has already earned him the enmity of the kind of conservative groups who organize and finance primary challenges. We saw in the Robert Bennett story out in Utah that the mere fact that one's bipartisan dalliances don't get consummated isn't good enough for the real purgers out there. All abandoning ship does is ensure that you end up friendless and alone when your enemies come after you.
Look at Graham's sad effort to explain his views of carbon emissions to Kate Sheppard in response to the question "if carbon emissions aren't warming the planet, why are they bad?"
His reply:
"I just think it's bad … the reason I don't hang out in traffic jams and get out and suck up the wind is I think this crap is bad for you. We've had an increase in asthma cases, if you've ever been to Thailand stuck behind 400 motorcycles, it's a lousy place to be. It doesn't take a rocket scientist in my view to understand that the stuff floating in the Gulf, if you burn it doesn't make it better for you. If you wouldn't go swimming in this stuff, why would you burn it and want to breath it?"
On the science and policy merits, it's quite true that burning fossil fuels has a lot of non-climate environmental impacts. But this generally isn't the carbon dioxide that's doing it. And it is possible to produce "cleaner" varieties of fossil fuels that aren't so problematic (this is one reason why the air quality in developing world cities tends to be worse than in rich countries), but things like "clean coal" don't reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
And politically, who is this muddle supposed to appeal to? Who is Graham expecting will take his side on this? Intern Ryan notes the precedent of Bart Stupak, who managed to make himself History's Greatest Monster in the eyes of basically everyone.


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An academic report is issued roughly every six weeks which includes details of the current assessed level of attainment in each subject as well as an indication of the student's progress in relation to a teacher determined target grade.
One academic report per year will also include detailed written comments on an individual's strengths and areas to improve.
There is one parent/teacher/student conference held per year for each year group to give parents the opportunity to meet their child's teachers and discuss academic progress in each subject. Students are also encouraged to attend this conference and actively participate in discussions to benefit their own learning.
In several subjects we have organised students into sets of similar ability. This is an efficient way to encourage students to become more confident within a subject by working at the level appropriate to their ability and in doing this we hope to enable them to achieve their full potential. Movement within and across sets is always possible according to performance.
Assessments form an integral part of the learning process. These will vary and could comprise of quizzes, completing practical tasks, speaking, creating artifacts or peer assessments. All are designed in some way to shape a student's learning to maximise their potential by guiding the student in terms of their successes as well as informing them on areas for development.
In addition to the ongoing assessments listed above, there are more formal tests and exams in most subjects at the end of each academic year for Year 9 students and above. In addition, the Alice Smith School runs computer adaptive tests in Years 7, 10, 11 and 12 which require no special preparation and are generally enjoyed by the students. The test results, which are analysed by the University of Durham, measure academic potential and offer a valuable insight for teachers to help them set targets in specific subjects.
Year 11
(International) General Certificate of Secondary Education - (I) GCSE
Year 12
Advanced Subsidiary Level (AS Level)
Year 13
Advanced Level (A Level)
The Alice Smith School Primary Campus
2 Jalan Bellamy,
50460 Kuala Lumpur,
Phone: +603 2148 3674
Fax: +603 2148 3418
Email: Contact Us
The Alice Smith School Secondary Campus
3 Jalan Equine, Taman Equine,
43300 Seri Kembangan,
Selangor, Malaysia.
Phone: 603 9543 3688
Fax: +603 9543 3688


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About us…
Ramon Helgers and Karsten Gesing founded Madame Janette April 2nd 1999. Their collaboration resulted in a place, which offers fine dining in a casual atmosphere. Ramon is responsible for the exotic fruits, herbs and vegetables you will find in not only our dishes but also in most supermarkets on Aruba. Karsten, a European Master Chef, trained in 'old school' traditions creates, with help from his knowledgeable international staff, tasteful and creative dishes. Their combined worldwide experience gives their dishes an original flavor with a touch of Caribbean in it.
We call it the Madame Janette Experience! We hope that you will have a wonderful dining romance.
Biggest special beer collection of the Caribbean
Madam Janette has one of the biggest special beer collections of the Caribbean. From white to blond, from double to triple. We got it all.


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Performance Details
Event 800 Meter Run
Mark 2:37.61
Place 3rd
Race/Results Page Complete Results
Round Finals
Heat 1
Native Country USA
Season Outdoor 2017
Level HS
Meet Date Apr 26, 2017
Age Group Under 16
Date Added Apr 27, 2017
Grade 2020
Timing FAT
Personal Best? No
Season Best? No
Venue Blue Springs HS, Blue Springs, MO, USA
No comments on this performance. Add a comment


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ART 4 2-DAY 17 May v.10.40
Died on 17 May 1656: Dirk Hals,
Dutch painter born on 19 March 1591, brother of Frans
Hals. Dirk Hals studied under Abraham
Dirk Hals was born and died in Haarlem. He was the younger brother of Frans Hals; who was probably also his first teacher. But the painters who influenced Dirck were Esaias van de Velde and Willem Buytewech. Apart from a few small portraits, he devoted himself exclusively to the painting of conversation pieces — the cheerful life of prosperous burghers in their houses, gardens, or public places. Dirck was not interested in the serious side of life; in his work he depicted people in conversation or while flirting, making music and dancing, eating and drinking. His interiors are hardly worked out, all the emphasis is put on fashionable dress and colorful representation. He succeeded in rendering peoples high spirits through facial expression, costly dress, posture and loose grouping.
The Merry Company (42x77cm)
another Merry Company (53x75cm; 574x800pix, 83kb _ ZOOM to 1451x2024pix, 298kb)
yet another Merry Company (45x67cm) _ Dirk Hals was apprenticed to his older brother Frans. Yet while Frans Hals specialized in portraiture, Dirk Hals concentrated primarily on genre paintings and conversation pieces in the manner of Esasias van de Velde and Willem Pieterszoon Buytewech. From the 1620s onwards, he frequently had the figures in his paintings added by his own specialist, Dirck van Deelen. He preferred a courtly setting and noble society, whereas his several versions of the Merry Company follows in the tradition of the brothel painting and the tale of the prodigal son. The bed on the left in the background, and the body language of the couples leave us in little doubt as to the situation. At the same time, however, this is also a "five senses" scene: not only is the sense of touch satisfied, but there is also music and singing, smoking and drinking, while the eyes feast on an empty jug or a bodice. The interior also gives us an idea of how paintings were displayed in Holland at the time. They have been hung on a shabby wall without any evident system: a landscape, a marine painting, a portrait. It is clear that paintings had by now become objects to be taken for granted. Some might be cheaper or more expensive, better or worse painted than others, but they were no longer laden with iconographic significance.
— A Party at Table (1626, 28x39cm) _ This type of elegant interior with a group of well-dressed people enjoying themselves around a table is known as a "merry company". Such examples derive from representations of biblical subjects, for example, The Prodigal Son Feasting, and were often engraved with moralizing verses which condemned foolish behavior. In the left background is a map; on the wall to the right is a painting representing The Betrayal of Christ.
Seated Man Smoking a Pipe
La Fête Champêtre (1627, 78x137cm; 770x1359pix, 181kb _ ZOOM) _ A party is taking place in idyllic parkland near a villa. The guests are wearing festive clothes and having a merry time eating, drinking, making music and flirting. Dirck Hals portrayed the various figures in great detail. He borrowed two of them — a woman and a dog — from Willem Buytewech. This outdoor party scene is not based on reality, but recalls the garden of love, a popular late medieval theme.
— Garden Party (1620) _ In the background a fountain with Bacchus can be seen. Dirck Hals often used this theme. Subjects and setting varied, but the message remained the same: warning against lightheartedness and an encouragement of modesty.
— Amusing Party in the Open Air (1621, 34x61cm; 533x985pix, 101kb_ ZOOM to 1149x2048pix, 199kb) _ detail (869x595pix, 121kb) _ Dirck Hals was one of the two brothers of Frans Hals, the first great Dutch painter of the 17th century. He painted mostly charming interior scenes. This rather theatrical scene represents the easy-flowing and sparkling style of Dirck Hals. Dirck Hals tried to emulate the fresh and casual style of his brother Frans, particularly in his spectacular way of painting, splendid clothes made of expensive fabrics. The colors are almost too vivid, like the early genre paintings. In this picture the festive party, seen against a background of columns and draperies on the left, seems to be momentarily frozen into a tableau in which the participants pose to welcome a new arrival — the spectator.
Musicale (1623, 43x47cm)
Seated Woman with a Letter (1633)
— Merry Party in a Tavern (1628, 28x36cm)
— Banquet Scene in a Renaissance Hall (1628)
Born on 17 May 1861: Maxime-Émile-Camille-Louis
Maufra, French Impressionist
landscape and marine painter and printmaker who died on 23 May 1918.
{Comment est-il mort? Il a fait maufrage?}
— Maufra began painting at the age of eighteen under the guidance of local painters in Nantes such as the brothers Charles Leduc [1831–] and Alfred Leduc [18501913] and the landscape painter Charles Le Roux [18411895]. He went to Liverpool to train for a commercial career. While in Great Britain he admired paintings by the Old Masters and by Gainsborough [1727-1788], Constable, and Turner. He returned to France at the end of 1883. From 1884to 1890 he continued in commerce at Nantes, painting in his spare time. He became acquainted with Impressionism and was encouraged by the Nantes painter Le Roux and the sculptor Le Bourg.
He exhibited for the first time in 1886 at Nantes and, with two landscapes, in the Paris Salon with critical approval. He gave up commerce in 1890 and traveled in Brittany, where at Pont-Aven he met Gauguin and Sérusier [1864-1927] in 1890. The work of these artists overshadowed the influence he had undergone from such painters as Pissarro and Sisley. By 1890 Maufra was greatly affected by synthetism, the style invented by Émile Bernard [1868-1941] and developed by Gauguin, that translates forms into flat colored planes arranged in a decorative pattern. This style is most apparent in Maufra's etchings, lithographs, and drawings.
Maufra settled in Paris in 1892 at the Bateau-Lavoir but returned to Brittany each year, in particular to the Quiberon region, where he did much of his painting. But he also painted at various points on the Normandy coast and in and near Paris. In 1894 Le Barc de Boutteville mounted an exhibition of his work which revealed his individual talents to a wider public. Maufra subsequently exhibited with Durand-Ruel, to whom he remained under contract for the rest of his life. Maufra's art was enriched by his travels in the the Highlands of Scotland (1895-1896), Dauphiné (1904), the Midi (1912), Algeria (1913), Savoy (1914), and occasionally in Touraine.
— The Leguenay Bridge, Bruges (1894)
— Near the Mill (1897)
— The Port of Sauzon, Belle Isle en Mer (1905)
— Rentrant au Port à Douarnenez aka Finistère (1906)
— Saint Jean du Dougt (1906)
— Le Quai de Lagny inondé (46x55cm)
— 75 images at the Athenaeum
Died on 17 May 1622: Leonello Spada,
Italian painter and draftsman born in 1576 in Bologna.
— He began his career as an apprentice in the studio of the decorative painter Cesare Baglioni [–<1625]. By the early years of the 17th century Spada was active, together with Girolamo Curti, as a member of a team specializing in ornamental friezes and quadratura painting, of which he painted many in Bolognese churches and palaces, but virtually all are lost. In 1604 he went to Loreto, where he made an unsuccessful bid for the commission to decorate the new sacristy of the basilica of Santa Maria. By then he had already gravitated to the Carracci Academy, having contributed to the decorations for the funeral of Agostino Carracci in 1603. His earliest surviving major painting, the altarpiece of the Virgin and Saints Dominic and Francis Interceding with Christ (1604), shows that he had modeled his style entirely on that of Ludovico Carracci. He frequently collaborated with other students of Ludovico, especially Francesco Brizio. Spadas figurative style gradually became more robust, although still closely dependent on Ludovico, as shown by the Miraculous Draught of Fishes (1607)
— Leonello or Lionello Spada was trained as a quadraturist in the workshop of Cesare Baglione. He was the companion, and, according to contemporaries, the assistant of Caravaggio, and he underwent his influence. He continued his development alongside of Dentone and Brizio, while at the same time gravitating increasingly towards the Carracci Academy. There he fell under the influence of Ludovico Carracci, whose stylistic tendencies remained a constant in all of Spada's subsequent production.
— Aeneas and Anchises (1615,168x122cm; 700x506pix, 164kb) _ In Greek legend, Anchises was a member of the junior branch of the royal family of Troy; he was king of Dardanus on Mount Ida. There the goddess Aphrodite met him and, enamored of his beauty, bore him Aeneas. For revealing the name of the child's mother, Anchises was struck blind by lightning. In later legend and in Virgil's Aeneid, he was conveyed out of Troy on the shoulders of his son Aeneas (as shown in the painting), whose descendants founded Rome, and he died in Sicily.
— The Concert (1615, 143x172cm; 832x1030pix, 119kb) _ The Musicians (1596, 92x118cm, 912x1188pix, 182kb) was the most frequently imitated musical painting of Caravaggio. Whereas the concert paintings by Caravaggio's earliest followers, those done during the first two decades of the 17th century such as this one, adhere closely to the original and generally depict a chamber concert with musical scores, paintings in later decades, especially by foreign artists, present scenes which are substantially different.
_ See
_ Musical Group on a Balcony (1622; 1050x737pix, 126kb) and Concert on a Balcony (1624, 168x178cm, 870x975pix, 103kb) by van Honthorst
_ The Concert (1626, 102x83cm; 803x641pix, 57kb) and The Concert (1629, 90x127cm; 798x906pix, 90kb) by Terbrugghen
_ Concert (1635, 110x147cm; 750x979pix, 102kb) by Preti
_ Concert (1652, 76x65cm; 575x493pix, 121kb) by van Loo
_ The Concert (1666, 73x65cm; 977x868pix, 112kb) by Vermeer
_ The Concert (1675, 1040x800pix, 124kb) and A Concert (1675, 58x47cm; 880x703pix, 64kb) by Terboch [1617-1681]
Saint Jerome (1618, 112x143cm; 802x1030pix, 128kb) _ Stylistically, this painting differs significantly from the rest of the accepted production of Spada. A close connection is evident to the works of Ribera [1591-1652], to whom this painting was attributed until 1997. This would suggest that Spada encountered the Spanish artist in Rome; however Ribera's documented presence in Rome from only 1613 onward does not match the proposed chronology of Spada's voyage there in 1608-1609. This discrepancy opens new questions about the chronology of Spada and the reconstruction of his career. _ See these few of the 44 versions by Ribera: Saint Jerome Hears the Trumpet (1626; 741x523pix, 22kb) _ Saint Jerome and the Angel of Judgment (1626; 704x430pix, 20kb) _ Saint Jerome (1637, 128x102cm; 1015x801pix, 81kb) _ Saint Jerome (1640; 380x292pix, 10kb) _ Links to paintings of Saint Jerome by 30 artists _ More about Saint Jerome [341 – 30 Sep 420] _ Biblia Sacra _ Sancti Hieronymi Epistvlae
Died on 17 May 1695: Cornelis
de Heem, Dutch painter, specialized in Still
Life, born on 08 April 1631, son of Jan
Davidszoon de Heem, brother of Jan
Janszoon de Heem [bap. 02 Jul 1650 – 1695].
His father was Jan Davidszoon de Heem [1606-1684], one of the greatest Baroque painters of still life in Holland whose most numerous and characteristic works are arrangements of fruits, metal dishes, and wine glasses; compositions of books and musical instruments; and examples of the popular "vanity of life" theme, with such symbolic articles as skulls and hourglasses. Cornelis de Heem, was not quite the equal of his father Jan, yet worthy of note. Jan's younger brother, David Davidszoon de Heem, and Jan's eldest son, David Janszoon de Heem, were also well-known painters.
— Still-Life with Fruits (600x849pix _ ZOOM to 1400x1982pix, 458kb)
Still-Life with Flowers and Fruit (56x74cm) _ detail _ This still-life displays a masterly technical ability placed in the service of a poetic and melancholy reflection on nature.
Still-Life with Flowers (1660) _ The success of Jan Davidszoon de Heem's flower pieces won him many students and imitators both in Flanders and in the northern Netherlands, and occasionally it is difficult to separate his hand from works done by his followers. His son Cornelis de Heem can come dangerously close to his father, as in this picture.
Vanitas Still-Life with Musical Instruments (after 1661, 153x166cm) _ The artist belonged to the second generation of the famous dinasty of still-life painters. He spent his youth in Leiden and as demonstrated by this work, he established close connection with the Leiden school of painting. This splendid painting invokes the memory of the golden age of Dutch still-life painting. The sumptuousness of the instruments is especially fascinating. Most prominent among them is the six-stringed, inlaid viola da gamba leaning against the chair, with a lion's head for decoration and an "S" shaped sound hole (more characteristic of violin). Next to it on the ground are two types of lutes, a trumpet, a flute and a mandolin; in a chair on the left, a violin, a bagpipe and a small pocket violin. On the table, richly laid with fruits and golden objects, are the traditional symbols of Vanitas. To illustrate the transitoriness of pleasures gained from wealth, plentitude and eating and drinking, there is an up-ended wine jug from which its content have spilled onto the ground, symbolizing that earthly pleasure is short-lived and man will return to dust. In this context the instruments are symbols of physical love. Next to them the painter depicted a snail on the ground. It was generally believed that this animal was born of mud, thus it became the symbol of sin. In contrast, the ivy crawling up the wall in the background promises immortality. The peach, melon and fig, since they are cut open and their seeds are revealed, symbolize reviviscence and resurrection. This image make the message of the painting less somber, although its warning intent is unmistakably recognizable.
— Stilleven met bloemen en planten (56x74cm) _ Het werk van Cornelis de Heem, zoon en leerling van de beroemde Hollandse stillevenschilder Jan Davidszoon de Heem [1606-1684] is, evenals het werk van zijn vader, meer verwant met de Vlaamse barok. Vader en zoon leefden en werkten te Antwerpen. Het Stilleven met bloemen en vruchten van Cornelis de Heem is van uitzonderlijk hoge kwaliteit en behoort tot de topstukken uit de collectie 17de eeuwse meesters. De toeschouwer wordt in de eerste plaats getroffen door de tastbare schoonheid en verbluffende realiteitsweergave van elk detail in een evenwichtige en tegelijk weelderige compositie. Een dergelijk werk had echter voor de 17de-eeuwse kunstminnaar en verzamelaar een religieuze en moraliserende betekenis, die ons duidelijk wordt uit de emblematische literatuur en uit opschriften bij een aantal stillevens. Korenaren, druiventros en een roemer wijn zijn reeds in de miniatuurkunst bekend als symbolen van het offer van Christus en van de eucharistie. De sinaasappel vervangt hier de gewone appel als symbool van de erfzonde. Dikwijls worden in bloemstukken ook kleine dieren en insekten geschilderd, "de minst geachte schepselen, waarin de wonderen der natuyr aldermeest ende by uytnementheyt ghevonden worden" (Johannes Goedaert [1617-1668]). Maar ook deze diertjes hebben een diepere betekenis. Slakken zijn symbolen van standvastigheid maar ook van luiheid en zonde, terwijl de spin het kwaad symboliseert. De bloemen tussen de vruchten zijn bijna alle zogenaamde Mariabloemen. Een 'pronkstilleven' als dat van Cornelis de Heem is bijgevolg niet bedoeld als louter verheerlijking van het aardse. De symboliek van vergankelijkheid en ijdelheid is echter versluierd, en de traditionele vanitassymbolen zoals de doodskop, zandloper of zeepbel zijn hier niet aanwezig.
— Flower Still-Life (53x43cm)
Died on 17 May 1510: Alessandro
di Mariano Filipepi Sandro Botticelli,
Italian Early
Renaissance painter born on 01 March 1445. — {He was more fun
than a little barrel of monkeys?}
Sandro Botticelli, born Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, is considered one of the leading painters of the Florentine Renaissance. He developed a highly personal style characterized by elegant execution, a sense of melancholy, and a strong emphasis on line; details appear as sumptuous still lifes.
Botticelli was born in Florence, the son of a tanner. His nickname was derived from Botticello (little barrel), either the nickname of his elder brother or the name of the goldsmith to whom Sandro was first apprenticed. Later he served an apprenticeship with the painter Fra Filippo Lippi. He worked with the painter and engraver Antonio del Pollaiuolo, from whom he gained his sense of line; he was also influenced by Andrea del Verrocchio.
Botticelli had his own workshop by 1470. He spent almost all of his life working for the great families of Florence, especially the Medici family, for whom he painted portraits, most notably the Giuliano de' Medici (1476). Adoration of the Magi (1477) was painted on commission (though not for the Medicis), and contains likenesses of the Medici family as well as a likeness of himself. As part of the brilliant intellectual and artistic circle at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici, Botticelli was influenced by its Christian Neoplatonism, which tried to reconcile classical and Christian views. This synthesis may be the theme of two larger panels commissioned for Medici villas, Primavera (1478?) and Birth of Venus (after 1482). While scholars have not yet conclusively deciphered these paintings, their slender elegant figures, which form abstract linear patterns bathed in soft golden light, may depict Venus as a symbol of both pagan and Christian love.
Botticelli also painted religious subjects, especially panels of the Madonna, such as the Madonna of the Magnificat (1485), Madonna of the Pomegranate (1486), and Coronation of the Virgin (1490), and Madonna and Child with Two Saints (1485). Other religious works include Saint Sebastian (1474) and a fresco, Saint Augustine (1480). In 1481 Botticelli was one of several artists chosen to go to Rome to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. There he executed The Youth of Moses, the Punishment of the Sons of Corah, and the Temptation of Christ.
In the 1490s, when the Medici were expelled from Florence and the fanatic Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola preached austerity and reform, Botticelli experienced a religious crisis. His subsequent works, such as the Pietà (early 1492) and especially the Mystic Nativity (1495) and Mystic Crucifixion (1496), reflect an intense religious devotion.
Botticelli's studio assistants included Jacopo del Sellaio.
Alessandro Botticelli was born in Florence, the fourth son of Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, a tanner. Alessandro's nickname was derived from the one given to his eldest brother Giovanni, who, because of his corpulence, was called Il Botticello (little barrel). It is believed that Botticelli was apprenticed as a goldsmith before being sent, probably in the beginning of the 1460s, to Fra Filippo Lippi in order to study painting.
Since 1470, Botticelli ran his own workshop in Florence and, in 1472, he became a member of the St. Luke's Guild. His early woks were mostly small religious pieces. In 1470, he was commissioned to paint Fortitude (1470) for the Florentine Tribunate di Mercatanzia. In 1474, his first monumental work St. Sebastian (1474) was mounted on a pillar in the Florentine church of Santa Maria Maggiore. He painted Adoration of the Magi (1475), on which he depicted members of Medici clan, the ruling family of the Florence, also his Portrait of Giuliano de' Medici (1477) was well known. He had a lasting fame as a painter of Madonnas. Among his best are Madonna and Child with Eight Angels (Tondo Raczynski) (1478), Madonna del Libro (1480), Madonna of the Magnificat (1481), Madonna of the Pomegranate (1487), Madonna del Padiglione (1493).
In 1480, Botticelli was commissioned to paint the fresco St. Augustine (1480) for the Ognissanti church. At that period he also created another fresco, which did not survived. In 1481, Botticelli was commissioned along with Domenico Ghirlandaio, Cosimo Rosseli and Pierro Perugino by Pope Sixtus IV to decorate his cappella magna, which was later named the Sistine Chapel after him, with frescos. He created The Temptation of Christ (1482), Scenes from the Life of Moses (1482) and The Punishment of Korah (1482).
In the next years he painted The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti (1483), a series of 4 frescos based on the novella in Boccaccio's Decameron for the decoration of the Pucci villa, and his most famous mythologic works Primavera (1482) and The Birth of Venus (1485). He created several great altarpieces for Florentine churches, such as Virgin and Child Enthroned between Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist (Bardi altarpiece) (1484), Virgin and Child with Four Angels and Six Saints (San Barnabas altarpiece) (1487), Coronation of the Virgin with the Saints John the Evangelist, Augustine, Jerome and Eligius. (San Marco altarpiece) (1492).
In the 1490s, Botticelli became influenced by the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola, in whose sermons and writings he conjured up visions of the Apocalypse at the imminent turn of the century and warned people to repent and embrace asceticism. Botticelli's style became more severe and strict. In the late 1480s, the artist made illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy. Among his last known works are Calumny of Apelles (1495), The Story of Virginia (1504), The Story of Lucretia (1504), Mystic Nativity (1500) and St. Zenobius panels (1505). The last years of Botticelli's life are unknown. He died in Florence.
–- Birth of Venus (1485, 172x278cm) _ detail _ This was probably painted on behalf of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici or otherwise commissioned to be presented to him. In his villa at Castello, near Florence, the painting is documented at the half of the 16th century, as well as two other masterworks by Botticelli, the Primavera and Pallas and the Centaur. The scene represents Venus, born of the sea, being sped by Zephir towards land, where an Hour is ready to cover her with a beautiful cloak. This mythological subject was very important in Renaissance literature and philosophy, so the scene can hint different allegorical means. The canvas certainly reflects the presence of Botticelli among the Florentine humanistic circle and his study on classical sculpture, since this celebrated Venus recalls many ancient statues of the goddess.
— Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, the patron who commissioned this painting for his country villa, was a member of the rich and powerful family of the Medici. Either he himself, or one of his learned friends, probably explained to the painter what was known of the way the ancients had represented Venus rising from the sea. To these scholars the story of her birth was the symbol of mystery through which the divine message of beauty came into the world. One can imagine that the painter set to work reverently to represent this myth in a worthy manner. The action of the picture is quickly understood. Venus has emerged from the sea on a shell which is driven to the shore by flying wind-gods amidst a shower of roses. As she is about to step on to the land, one of the Hours or Nymphs receives her with a purple cloak. Botticelli's Venus is so beautiful that we do not notice the unnatural length of her neck, the steep fall of her shoulders and the queer way her left arm is hinged to the body. Or, rather, we should say that these liberties which Botticelli took with nature in order to achieve a graceful outline add to the beauty and harmony of the design because they enhance the impression of an infinitely gender and delicate being, wafted to our shores as a gift from Heaven.
–- Primavera
–- Venus and Mars
–- Pallas and the Centaur
–- Calumny of Apelles _ detail: Truth and Remorse
–- Discovery of the Body of Holofernes (1472, 31x25cm) _ The picture was probably created in pendant with The Return of Judith; both of them are documented at the end of 16th century in medicean collections, where entered as a gift received by Bianca Cappello, the second wife of Grand Duke Francesco I. In Renaissance art the biblical story of Judith, the heroine who killed Holophernes oppressor of her people, was frequently selected to symbolize liberty and victory on tyranny.
–- Return of Judith to Bethulia (1472, 31x24cm) _ The picture was probably created in pendant with The Discovery of the Murder of Holophernes; both of them are documented at the end of 16th century in Medicean collections, where entered as a gift received by Bianca Cappello, the second wife of Grand Duke Francesco I. The two panel paintings, which are both painted as finely as miniatures, would presumably have been extremely valuable pieces of art that would have been carefully stored away and occasionally brought out and put on view. In Renaissance art the biblical story of Judith, the heroine who killed Holophernes oppressor of her people, was frequently selected to symbolize liberty and victory on tyranny.
–- Mystic Nativity (1501, 108x75cm) _ There is no documentary evidence to prove whether or not Botticelli was one of Savonarola's follower. But certain themes in his later works - like the Mystic Nativity - are certainly derived from the sermons of Savonarola, which means that the artist was definitely attracted by that personality so central to the cultural and political events of Florence during the last years of the fifteenth century.
It has been suggested that this picture, the only surviving work signed by Botticelli, was painted for his own private devotions, or for someone close to him. It is certainly unconventional, and does not simply represent the traditional events of the birth of Jesus and the adoration of the shepherds and the Magi or Wise Men. Rather it is a vision of these events inspired by the prophecies in the Revelation of Saint John. Botticelli has underlined the non-realism of the picture by including Latin and Greek texts, and by adopting the conventions of medieval art, such as discrepancies in scale, for symbolic ends. The Virgin Mary, adoring a gigantic infant Jesus, is so large that were she to stand she could not fit under the thatch roof of the stable. They are, of course, the holiest and the most important persons in the painting. The angels carry olive branches, which two of them have presented to the men they embrace in the foreground. These men, as well as the presumed shepherds in their short hooded garments on the right and the long-gowned Magi on the left, are all crowned with olive, an emblem of peace. The scrolls wound about the branches in the foreground, combined with some of those held by the angels dancing in the sky, read: 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men' (Luke 2:14). As angels and men move ever closer, from right to left, to embrace, little devils scatter into holes in the ground. The scrolls held by the angels pointing to the crib once read: `Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world' the words of John the Baptist presenting Christ (John 1:29). Above the stable roof the sky has opened to reveal the golden light of paradise. Golden crowns hang down from the dancing angels' olive branches. Most of their scrolls celebrate Mary: 'Mother of God', 'Bride of God', 'Sole Queen of the World'.
The puzzling Greek inscription at the top of the picture has been translated: 'I Sandro made this picture at the conclusion of the year 1500 in the troubles of Italy in the half time after the time according to the 11th chapter of Saint John in the second woe of the Apocalypse during the loosing of the devil for three and a half years then he will be chained in the 12th chapter and we shall see [...] as in this picture.' The missing words may have been 'him burying himself'. The 'half time after the time' has been generally understood as a year and a half earlier, that is, in 1498, when the French invaded Italy, but it may mean a half millennium (500 years) after a millennium (1000 years): 1500, the date of the painting. Like the end of the millennium in the year 1000, the end of the half millennium in 1500 also seemed to many people to herald the Second Coming of Christ, prophesied in Revelation.
At a time when Florentine painters were recreating nature with their brush, Botticelli freely acknowledged the artificiality of art. In the pagan Venus and Mars he turned his back on naturalism in order to express ideal beauty. In the Mystic Nativity he went further, beyond the old-fashioned to the archaic, to express spiritual truths — rather like the Victorians who were to rediscover him in the nineteenth century, and who associated the Gothic style with an 'Age of Faith'.
–- Daughters of Jethro
–- Adoration by the Magi _ detail _ (1475, 111x134cm) _ The picture was commissioned by Guasparre di Zanobi del Lama for the Epiphany's chapel he made build in the Florentine church of Santa Maria Novella. This sacred scene is today very important because many figures portray features of members of the Medici family: Cosimo the Elder as the old king in front of the Child, his son Piero, called the Gouty, as the kneeling king with red mantle in the center, Lorenzo the Magnificent as the young man at his right, in profile, with a black and red mantle. The figure looking out at the spectator is probably the self-portrait of Botticelli. Restored in 1981
–- Temptation of Christ _ (345x555cm) _ detail 1 :: background: Christ's threefold temptation by the Devil, as described in the Gospel according to Matthew, with the devil disguised as a hermit. At top left, up on the mountain, he is challenging Christ to turn stones into bread. _ detail 2 _ detail 3 _ detail 4 :: Among the crowd of people making up the Jewish sacrificial scene, a woman in the left-hand foreground who is carrying on her head a bowl with hens in it strikes us familiar. This figure is a copy of Abra, the maid in the small panel of The Return of Judith to Bethulia, which Botticelli had painted a decade before. The posture of the woman carrying wood in the right-hand foreground (this picture) may also be derived from this picture. These similarities lead to the assumption that Botticelli kept sketches of his compositions and figures so to have a stock of motifs upon which he could then draw his later pictorial creations. In contrast, Botticelli borrowed the small boy holding bunches of grape, and who has been frightened by a snake, from Hellenistic sculpture. _ detail 5 :: center: Christ and the Devil standing on a temple, with the Devil attempting to persuade Christ to cast himself down. _ detail 6 :: right-hand side: Satan is showing the Son of God the splendor of the world's riches, over which he is offering to make Him master. However, Christ drives away the Devil, who ultimately reveals his true devilish form. _ detail 7 _ This fresco, which Botticelli began in July 1481, is the third scene within the Christ cycle and depicts the Temptation of Christ. Christ's threefold temptation by the Devil, as described in the Gospel according to Matthew, can be seen in the background of the picture, with the devil disguised as a hermit. At top left, up on the mountain, he is challenging Christ to turn stones into bread; in the center, we see the two standing on a temple, with the Devil attempting to persuade Christ to cast himself down; on the right-hand side, finally, he is showing the Son of God the splendor of the world's riches, over which he is offering to make Him master. However, Christ drives away the Devil, who ultimately reveals his true devilish form. On the right in the background, three angels have prepared a table for the celebration of the Eucharist, a scene which only becomes comprehensible when seen in conjunction with the event in the foreground of the fresco. The unity of these two events from the point of view of content is clarified by the reappearance of Christ with three angels in the middle ground on the left of the picture, where He is apparently explaining the incident occurring in the foreground to the heavenly messengers. We are concerned here with the celebration of a Jewish sacrifice, conducted daily before the Temple in accordance with ancient custom. The high priest is receiving the blood-filled sacrificial bowl, while several people are bringing animals and wood as offerings. At first sight, the inclusion of this Jewish sacrificial scene in the Christ cycle would appear extremely puzzling; however, its explanation may be found in the typological interpretation. The Jewish sacrifice portrayed here refers to the crucifixion of Christ, who through His death offered of His flesh and blood for the redemption of mankind. Christ's sacrifice is reconstructed in the celebration of the Eucharist, alluded to here by the gift table prepared by the angels.
- Pietà
- Saint Barnabas Altarpiece
- Coronation of the Virgin
- Saint Dominic
- Dante
- The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti by Bocaccio, illustrated by Botticelli
— The Annunciation (1485, 19x31cm) _ This picture is one of the jewels of 15th-century Italian art, embodying the achievements that made Florence so famous and influential. The classical architectural setting is carefully rendered in linear perspective, one of the great discoveries of Florentine artists. The figures of the Virgin and the archangel Gabriel, virtually mirror images of each other, are separated by the centre row of pillars, but they are subtly drawn together into a unified composition by the rays of light carrying God's message from heaven. The complex composition, as well as the lyrical quality of the drawing and the transparency of the colors, are characteristic of Botticelli's mature style.
The Annunciation (1489, 150x156cm) _ This picture was painted for the church of the florentine convent of Cestello in borgo Pinti. The scene is notable for dramatic force suggested by the pose of the Virgin; the figures are placed inside a perspective space, open in the background on a beautiful landscape.
— Adoration by the Magi (1475, round, 132cm diameter)<
— Dante (600x400pix _ ZOOM to 1400x933pix)


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Janice M. Cordell age 57 of White Bluff, died on August 20, 2016 at her home. Visitation will be held on Sunday, August 21, 2016 from 4pm until 9pm and on Monday from 11am until the time of service. A funeral service for Janice is scheduled for Monday, August 22, 2016 at 5pm at the Taylor Funeral Home with Ken Kerns and Doc Stone honoring her life in tribute. Place of rest will be in the Williams Cemetery in White Bluff, TN.
Janice was born January 13, 1959 in White Bluff, TN. She was a 1977 graduate of Dickson County Senior High School. Shortly after she began a career with the White Bluff Elementary School where she would spend the next 38 years. She had a passion for White Bluff Elementary and each and every student that entered through its doors. She was deeply involved with school functions and daily operations. Janice also favored the pastime of outdoors and hunting. She loved her family and enjoyed every opportunity to spend time with them.
Janice is survived by her husband of 35 years, Steve Cordell of White Bluff; her father, Raymond L. Mason (Anita) of White Bluff; her son, Mason Cordell of White Bluff; her mother-in-law, Ellen Cordell; sisters-in-law, Patti Collins, Deborah Westbrook, Gail Gilliland; cousins, Charlene Fox, and Barbara Burns; several nieces and nephews; her pet dog, Smokey.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Mildred Burns Mason; her father-in-law, Bill Cordell.
Taylor Funeral Home, Inc. has endeavored to provide the most up-to-date information for the families we serve. We trust that you will find the information listed on this website to be of value to you.


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DART is improving your fare payment options with the introduction of new fare products and new features as part of the upcoming fare change effective August 18, 2018. Click the link below to view answers to some of the most commonly asked questions:New Fare Products and Features
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"And in my fraying head there plays a new medley of war and instability, financial collapse and bad schools; foreclosure, eviction; cynicism, climate crisis; 7/11 - and the melody switches to my personal theme song (Concerto of Failure and Regret in E Minor) as life bleeds out from my feet and puddles in the hallway..."
When the recession was in full swing books started to come out that were clearly inspired by the sense of doom that was permeating the Western world. With redundancies, house prices collapsing and repossessions all daily news the response from some writers, particularly in the US, was to pen novels that addressed that situation.
Then We Came to The End was one of the first I read that described a working world in an advertising agency collapsing in on itself and this book has a similar starting point with Matt Prior about to lose his home. The book tells his story and his oddbeat response to impending doom in a way that is clearly meant to be funny. It doesn't always pull that off because there are perhaps some problems trying to make the hero some sort of likable anti-hero as Prior looks to solve his problems by selling drugs.
His move into dealing cannabis starts in a mad moment when he pops out not just to get milk but to get some air to escape from the home he is losing and the wife he is lying to. After meeting some drug dealers and being dubbed 'slippers' because of his attire that evening he starts to see real possibilities to save his home and get things back on track.
But he becomes sidetracked by the idea that his wife is having an affair with an old college flame and spends too much time picking over the bones of his past. The idea of offering financial advice in the form of poetry might have failed by Prior doesn't seem to have any real alternative plan.
He manages to sell drugs to some of the very same people who have been part of his collapsing world from ex-colleagues to those that are involved with squeezing him with the credit crunch. He even ends up in the bizarre situation of managing to convince the dealers that he might be a suitable person to buy and run the operation.
But of course morality creeps in and although this might not be the happy ending we are all looking for it does indicate that the credit crunch can be something to look to get laughter out of. In its way that was the main problem for me with the book. It didn't make me laugh as much as it probably should and I never found the idea of selling drugs as 'crazy' as it was probably meant to be.
The other danger of course is that a novel so clearly identified with the credit crunch is one tied to a specific moment in history and could find a readership drifting away from wanting to find laughter in a black time to one that is simply happy to move on and forget all about it.


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A cathedral for the arts
Ulrike Grafberger, Monday, April 15, 2013 , 973 Views
This major event is imminent: On the 13th of April 2013, the Rijksmuseum will be opening its doors again. Queen Beatrix - as her last official engagement - will have the task of re-opening it. In the run-up to this, the media - and not just the Dutch media - are full of entire articles about the Rijksmuseum, the Albert Heijn supermarket chain is selling packs of milk and yoghurt with images of masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum and the return of Rembrandt's The Night Watch has even been broadcast on German television. Why all this media hype? Is the Rijksmuseum not just one museum among many? An unequivocal no.
The Rijksmuseum is Holland's top museum. It displays around 8,000 works of art from 8 centuries in 800 rooms. The Rijksmuseum therefore provides an overview of Dutch history from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. And it reflects the identity of the Dutch. Hence the Rijksmuseum is not just an artistic experience, but also a journey through time. I got to take a peek into the new Rijksmuseum along with 140 journalists from all over the world. And what can I say? I was extremely impressed.
Simply overwhelming
The Rijksmuseum is inspiring not just because of its unique works of art, but also because of its building, which has taken ten years to renovate. What have they been doing over ten years? For that you need to delve a little into the history of the construction.
The Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers (1827 – 1921) handed over the monumental museum building to the City of Amsterdam in 1885. But they weren't very happy with the result. To the Dutch Protestants, the building was too pompous, too catholic and too fanciful. The Liberals found the neo-gothic building anachronistic. So the colourful walls were whitewashed and the painted decors of the Austrian painter Georg Sturm removed. A certain sobriety set in. In the meantime, however, the building has been reconstructed again – using old photos and drawings – as defined by Cuyper. The painted decors have been painstakingly re-fitted in the vaults and old wall paintings uncovered. The wonderful mosaic and terrazzo floor have also received a facelift. This is particularly impressive in the entrance hall, the renovation of which alone has taken two whole years.
The two large inner courtyards have also been restored to their original condition: floors added over the years have been removed to create more exhibition space. Today the Rijksmuseum welcomes its guests in two large atria flooded with light, from where you get to the individual exhibition rooms. And you'll never cease to be amazed here. The dark-grey walls and the unique lighting design developed by Philips specifically for the Rijksmuseum show off the works of art to particularly good effect. The borderless, antireflective glass display cabinets on the sides make you feel that the works of art are within your grasp.
The Gallery of Honour
The real highlight of the Rijksmuseum, however, is on the second floor. "You open the doors, go in as if entering a church, the aisles revealing works of art, but the magnum opus is on the front wall in the chancel: The Night Watch", is how the art historian guiding me through the Rijksmuseum sees it, making comparisons with a church. The focus of the entire room was in fact on a single work of art: The Night Watch. The painting 3.60 x 4.30m in size is certainly the highlight of the Rijksmuseum. It shows officers and guards of an Amsterdam militia. Well-known works from the Dutch Golden Age also hang in the Gallery of Honour: The Milkmaid, or The Kitchen Maid, by Johannes Vermeer, The Jewish Bride by Rembrandt (van Gogh was a great fan of this painting), the Merry Drinker by Frans Hals and The Threatened Swan by Jan Asselijn.
The focus in the Gallery of Honour is on the masterpieces of the Golden Age and the other rooms – such as the Haarlem Reception Room and the Amsterdam Canal Room – similarly combine several art forms: furniture, paintings, porcelain, silver tableware of a certain era – all combined in one room, which is a totally new display method. "You're not just entering a room, you're entering an entire century", explains Jean-Michel Wilmotte, the architect responsible for the exhibition.
Typically Dutch
Hence the Rijksmuseum is not just a Museum of Dutch art, but also a museum of Dutch history and way of life. The Rijksmuseum is Holland's top museum. "Every Dutch school-age child will have seen The Night Watch", is the wish of Wim Pijbes, the Museum's Director. Admission to the Rijksmuseum is therefore free for children and young people under 18.
Another very different and very practical matter demonstrates how typically Dutch the museum is: the Rijksmuseum would probably be the only museum in the world where a quite normal cycle path runs through the middle. Museumstraat runs straight through the building, linking the Museumplein with the city centre. In Holland, the country of cyclists, they haven't once taken their right of way from them even through the museum's reconstruction.
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Museumstraat 1, Amsterdam
Opening hours: EVERY day from 9 am until 5 pm
Admission price: adults aged 19 and over 15 Euros
Tickets are also available on-line


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William Woods was the right choice for me!
This is Lisa, with the second part of my "origin story." So, I began to research schools that would work best for me.
Small Size - I was looking for a small university. I wanted a small student-teacher ratio. With smaller classes, it would be easy to build relationships with my professors. I already knew what it was like to be just a face among a sea of other faces, since I had already graduated from a large public state university.
At William Woods, each student has every opportunity to acquaint themselves with the faculty. Every professor makes him- or herself available to students. Every student has the option of reaching out and establishing a personal rapport with every instructor. This enhances the learning experience tremendously. It is really valuable not competing with dozens of other students who also want individual time with an instructor.
The Right Offerings for Me - I was pursuing my dream of attending art school, but I also needed to temper that dream with the reality of competing in a Web 3.o world. William Woods offers a BFA in both Graphic Design and in Studio Art, AND has quality Business and Management Information Systems (MIS) offerings. I could immerse myself in creative processes in the Kemper Art Center's studio art spaces. I could learn new skills in Kemper's Mac Lab with its state-of-the-art iMacs running Adobe Creative Suite software, like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. And, I could learn the latest in web development, marketing, public relations, and entrepreneurship.
Commute - The quality of my commuting time was also important to me. I wasn't terribly interested in competing in the Daytona 500 every morning and afternoon. The commute on US63 between Jefferson City and Columbia reminds me of NASCAR restrictor plate racing.
Adding Central Missouri weather and transportation projects adds a unique "road course" flavor to the race. In contrast, the Fulton-Jeff City commute is a relaxing transition between my "day job" of being a student, and my other life in JC.
When the time came to select the school for me, the choice was obvious!


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Upon several requests to make new and better Terrorist skins, I was inspired today by the thought of a highly trained, and well-equipped mercenary pulling off a job. So I thought of some high-tech type of gear that maybe a Cat-Burgler or a Night-Op assassin would use. So I made sort of a mix skin.
This is a VERY dark skin intentionally. The reason I did this was first off, it does offer contrast with the vest, but more importantly the goggles better. I used RED goggles because they are the most striking. And I have personally seen a few goggles with a red filtered lens. It does help filter out the more distracting light-rays while maintaining the detail obained normally via the human eye. You'll also notice on the back I have scratched in white pen, "LEVEL IIIA", this of course referring to the Level IIIA standard of body armor. Obviously it goes Level I (which you really can't buy anymore because it wouldn't stop much), Level II, Level IIA, Level III, Level IIIA, and the HIGHLY expensive, but highly effective LEVEL IV.
Personally I've only dealt with the LEVEL IIIA, so that is what I used. The vest I added different shades of darkness to give it more "tech" of a flavor. I also added (thanks hollywood), a forearm information panel, with random buttons, but also the time in green. On his Mask, right under the ruby-red goggles, you'll notice there is a screen mesh. This is obviously to help the guy breathe more efficiently with less obstruction. I've seen many balaclava's, with some sort of mouth/nose venting opening.
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"The deadline was extended one month at the request of the state of New Jersey," FEMA said. "Through Wednesday, Jan. 23, more than 57,500 storm survivors have been approved for help through FEMA's Individual Assistance program in New Jersey."
Among other things, individuals and families can request money to pay rent, make home repairs and make up for other losses that are not covered by insurance.
Thursday evening, New York Governor Mario Cuomo announced that FEMA has also given New York a 30-day extension for applying for individual assistance.
In addition, FEMA has extended access to its Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, by 14 days. That will allow New Yorkers to stay in hotels through February 9 if their homes were damaged by the storm.
Cuomo said these changes will help affected residents facing the prospect of losing their shelter during the current cold snap.
"We remain committed to assisting all victims of Hurricane Sandy, ensuring that they have the shelter they need, especially in this cold weather," Cuomo said. "The Transitional Sheltering Assistance program will continue to provide shelter to those New Yorkers who do not have homes to return and help others with critically needed funding to rebuild."
On Friday, FEMA confirmed that the deadline for Connecticut to apply for Sandy relief would be extended from January 28 to February 12.
The extensions for the three states come as Congress is considering a $50.7 billion Sandy relief bill for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The House has already approved that bill, and is waiting for the Senate to take it up, which could happen next week.
President Obama has already signed into law a bill that allows the National Flood Insurance Program to go $9.7 billion deeper into debt in order to deal with Sandy-related claims.
— This story was updated at 7:25 p.m. Thursday and again at 1:48 p.m. Friday.


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Most websites that carry the Major League standings these days have a column with an elimination number. Looking at this number from the point of view of the first place team, it can also be called the "magic number." This is the number of games the first place team wins plus the losses of the team in question that will total the elimination number.
But there's a factor missing in "mathematical elimination" that I wish would appear in the elimination number. I will explain.
Scenario #1: Suppose Team A is in first place, two games ahead of Team B with three games left to play. Team A's magic number (which is the same as Team B's "elimination number") would be two. Team B can win the division if they win their three games and Team A loses its three. Or the could tie and Team B could win a playoff game. That's simple.
Scenario #2: Now suppose Teams A and B are tied for first place, and Team C is two back with three to play. Team C has an elimination number of two, but both Team A and Team B have magic numbers of four against each other. Well, in this case it is less likely, but if Team C wins all its games and both Team A and Team B lose their games, Team C still will win the division. In this scenario, Team C still has a chance.
Scenario #3: Well, there's a potential catch to scenario #2. What if Team A plays Team B the last three games of the year? Even though Team C is only two back with three to play, because one of the teams, A or B, necessarily will win at least two of three against the other, Team C has already been mathematically eliminated! Their "elimination number" is still two, but it's impossible for them to win. They were already eliminated at least from the previous game played. Elimination numbers don't take into consideration the number of games played between multiple teams in front of that given team. And if there are more than two teams ahead of the given team, it becomes even more complex. In short, the problem is that guaranteed future wins are not counted in the elimination number.
A real life example came from 1989. With a month left in the season, the Giants were 5 games up on the Padres. A short news clip noted that the woeful Braves were mathematically eliminated the previous day. The assumption was that the Braves could have won all their remaining games, the Giants would lose all their games, and the Padres would lose all games but at most five. A three-way tie would result and the Braves could win a tie-breaker. But upon looking at the schedule, I saw that the Giants and Padres still had six games against each other to play. How could the Giants lose all six and the Padres win five at most? Only if both teams lost the same game, which couldn't happen. So I figured out that the Braves were actually eliminated the day before that.
How can the real elimination number be calculated?


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posted: May 08, 2017
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4 Resolutions to Help Find Your Spark in 2016
Happy, happy New Year! We love everything about the start of a fresh new year (minus the fact that the holidays are over, of course), and we are definitely fans of crafting a set of resolutions that will inspire us as we head into 2016.
Instead of settling for the same old resolutions that we hear year after year (live a more healthy lifestyle, save money, pursue happiness), we challenge you to come up with innovative resolutions that are specific and creative, allowing you to continually find inspiration long after January is over. Here are some ideas we came up with, so let us know what you think of them. And share your ideas in the comments section, too. We'd love to be inspired by your resolutions!
Image via Madi Ellis


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Sorry I disappeared again. It wasn't a good time to talk about what's going on because still nothing is resolved but sometimes I want to talk anyway and I've wanted to for a while now.
A friend asked today about the meaning of metaphor to me, because it seems kind of outsized to people who aren't me I suppose. (And I didn't know what to say to him, that it's that or care about PEOPLE? That this is what you get for asking how I liked Wonder Woman?) But I do like metaphors. Last night I put on my pomegranate necklace and this morning I paired the bangles I've worn for over a year down to two, one with four raw birthstones for the girls and me and one a little evil eye bead on a delicate chain. The pomegranate is delicate too, a little stamped circle suspended in the crooked hollow between my collarbones.
I wrote about pomegranates when I was 19 and trying to make sense of having been raped. I thought I was a Persephone of sorts because I knew how it felt to have the wide sky above me and the earth falling to abyss beneath my feet. I knew the allure of swallowing what it would take to bind myself to the land of the dead, admitting too that this meant not ripping myself away from my rapist. I knew that there was a part of me left behind even when I walked on safe land again, that there was an emptiness that could pull me back in and I would never fully escape.
I've talked about some of those feelings with my support group for non-offending parents of abused children, because these stories aren't new to me the way they are to parents who might not have lived in this world for years. I wear a pomegranate now for Demeter, ancient goddess of shared custody, for the time I know my child is serving as queen of the world of shadows before she returns to my embrace and the dull, repetitive, necessary work of keeping the world fed and things where they need to be. I have grown old and I understand differently now.
It's not a fertility symbol for me, though in general it is. My womb is empty and will finally be emptied in ablation this summer. The commitment after to never being able to carry a pregnancy pushed me to grieve that a bit for the first time, but I know it's the right and necessary choice. I have the children I'll be having for now at least and Colton and his wife are set to make me a grandmother before the year comes to a close. I have borne fruit in other ways.
Plus pomegranates are delicious, tart and tender with the papery toughness at the core of each ruby explosion, their worthwhile stain left on fingers. Sometimes things also just are what they are. I'm reading Roxane Gay's Hunger and devouring the ways she talks about surviving and building herself around the sexual violence she suffered. I feel a need to caveat that hers was younger, worse, and yet it resonates so strongly with me, the guilt and the shame and the hiding and confusion. The need to make a story out of something that can never be a simple story.
I wrote the Persephone prose poem at the end of my teens. I wrote a sort of related sestina too because everything I wrote then was related to that moment that had broken me and left me trying to break myself more to feel and be as awful as I felt was right. The sestina did well for me, got published and passed on for a prize it didn't win and didn't deserve to. That had been my dream from my early teens in fact, just to be nominated for a Pushcart because winning seemed like silly hope. And there I was 19 and in an abusive relationship and I had accomplished what I'd set out to do in life and I wanted to make sense of feeling I deserved nothing more or nothing better. I thought making that story of understanding might change what I felt I deserved, that running a support group or writing a whole music composition with accompanying video might somehow capture enough that it would move me, but knowing everything I could read about rape and trauma helped but didn't save me. I wanted things to make sense but sometimes they don't and can't.
Foster care in theory takes into account "the best interests of the child" except it's in the child's best interests never to have needed foster care. By the time we get there, the brokenness is part of the story. And I tried to be aware of that in writing stories here, in eliding what I felt I should and revealing what felt okay. But it's all such a tiny partial view from one moment in life. I'll be older and I'll see things differently. The children I've cared for will have their own stories of me and of themselves. That's all as it should be.
Today Selah is wearing a dress that Mara wore to her own kindergarten picture day. Selah will have something else when it's her turn this fall; the girls like matching still. We saw Mara's kindergarten teacher at a city festival a few weeks ago and she saw Mara twirling in my arms and said, delightedly, "She was always the girl who turned around and around and around!" I had never noticed that about Mara but of course it's accurate. She was and is just Mara, my first little child, so special that it's hard to even know which parts are extraordinary. I've never had a metaphor big enough to hold her or any of the children. I've written a few poems about them, but they're all too personal to share.
No one has ever asked about my necklace. I'm not sure I'd have an answer except that there's something about stories about goddesses that makes it easier for me to remember that there are many ways to be human. I thought that mine would be as storyteller or sense-maker but I'm not sure to what extent that's true; mine is just mine.


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21 November 2001
21 November 2001 The British government has announced plans to push emergency legislation through parliament next week to ban live-birth human cloning. The bill will be published tomorrow, and the government plans to rush it through all stages in the House of Lords next Monday (26 November) and in the House of Commons next Thursday (29 November). The bill will not ban destructive research on cloned human embryos which is currently unregulated following last week's judgement by the English High Court invalidating existing legislation. Pro-lifers are being urged to telephone their MPs as soon as possible, to ask MPs to call for a ban on all forms of human cloning. MPs can be telephoned at the House of Commons on (020) 7219 3000. Further information on this campaign can obtained from Anthony Ozimic, Political Secretary to the Directors at SPUC . Colombia has approved sales of the abortifacient morning-after pill. Announcing the decision in Bogotá last Sunday, Mr Miguel Rueda, the country's acting health minister, claimed that the drug was inexpensive and safe for women. Abortion is illegal in Colombia, but health officials claimed that the drug was not abortifacient. The Catholic Church condemned the move. [VOA News, 17 November, via Pro-Life E-News] The Irish government intends to push its proposals to hold a new referendum on abortion through a parliamentary committee within a week, despite opposition demands that all amendments be considered by the full chamber without time limits. Mr Bertie Ahern, the Irish taoiseach [prime minister], hopes that the referendum bill will pass all parliamentary stages by Christmas so that the poll can take place in February. Mr Michael Noonan, leader of the Fine Gael opposition party, said that it was unprecedented and "a disgrace" that the committee stage of a bill relating to a change in the constitution was not being held in a full plenary session. [The Irish Times, 21 November ] The Vatican's representative at the United Nations has said that any international ban on human cloning must prohibit both live-birth [so-called reproductive] and experimental [so-called therapeutic] cloning. After condemning live-birth cloning, Archbishop Renato Martino said of experimental cloning: "This exploitation of human beings, sought by certain scientific and industrial circles, and pushed forward by underlying economic interests, retains all its ethical repugnance as an even more serious offence against human dignity and the right to life, since it involves human beings--embryos--who are created in order to be destroyed." [Zenit, 20 November ] Participants at the second European Pro-Life Forum, held last weekend in Paris, urged all European governments and institutions to respect the fundamental right to life from conception until natural death. A statement issued at the conclusion of the forum, attended by leaders and representatives of pro-life groups across Europe, demanded that human embryos "be granted the same rights and respect as any other citizen of Europe". Accordingly, they "must not be wasted, selected by pre-implantation genetic diagnosis or destroyed for scientific reasons". The statement also condemned euthanasia and suggested legal action against those governments which legalised it. Dominic Baster, SPUC's international secretary, reported from Paris: "The forum demonstrated the common resolve of pro-lifers throughout Europe to defend the fundamental dignity of human beings from the moment of fertilisation until a natural and dignified death. The participants stressed the equality of all human persons, including in vitro and pre-implantation embryos, and renewed their resolve to promote this truth at the European level." Researchers in London claim to have discovered a key gene which causes neural tube defects, the best known of which is spina bifida. Scientists at Imperial College and the Institute of Child Health have suggested that a mutation affecting the LPP1 gene could cause neural tube defects by preventing such tubes from developing normally. Professor Andrew Copp at the Institute of Child Health said that the discovery could facilitate the development of treatments in the womb, although reports suggest that the discovery could more readily be used to identify and eliminate embryos with neural tube defects through pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. [BBC News online, 20 November ] An Italian national newspaper has claimed that an organisation in Turin has been organising so-called death trips to the Netherlands, where euthanasia is now legal. Following the claims in La Stampa, Italian police raided the premises of Exit, a pro-euthanasia organisation, on Sunday and confiscated computers and documents. If convicted, those behind the scheme could face up to 15 years in prison. [Zenit, 20 November ] Pope John Paul II has urged the bishops of Thailand to make fresh efforts constantly to address the "scourge of abortion". Speaking to the Thai bishops in the Vatican, the Pope said that lay people should be trained to promote the family and human dignity "in every area of political, economic, social and cultural life". [LifeSite, 16 November ]