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Holding true to the instrument of destruction for which it is named, the 1983 film Sledgehammer will bludgeon your psyche until all that remains is an unrecognizable pulpy mass. I'm not sure what I was expecting from this movie, purportedly the first shot-on-tape slasher flick made for the home video market...okay, maybe I expected a few things, considering it hails from David A. Prior, the writer/director of a little something called Killer Workout. I expected some laughs. I expected lots of, you know, 80s-ness. That "shot-on-tape" angle had me expecting crappy quality and the onset of a large bout of warm fuzzies (you know I loves my VHS). I got all of that, certainly, but then I got so much more, so much I had no way of anticipating. You see, you don't watch Sledgehammer, oh no. Sledgehammer HAPPENS TO YOU.
The film opens with a shot of a nice farmhouse nestled in a lush valley. After lingering on this farmhouse for 20 seconds or so, we become privy to the horrors that wait within: mom's a big ol' slut who's here with her lover, but also with her son. She finds a quick resolution to this problem by locking her son in a closet. At this point, we witness the Sledgehammer's first egregious use of slo-mo. The time it takes to zoom from here:
to here:
is 30 seconds. 30 seconds! It's obvious that the slo-mo represents the idea that being locked in a closet totally messes with the boy's mind; it takes longer for the viewer to realize, however, that it also means that Sledgehammer is messing with your mind. Sledgehammer plays by its own temporal and spatial rules, but the thing is, it actually HAS no rules. Sledgehammer does what it wants! Sledgehammer says FUCK YOU.
As mom and lover are about to get down, someone wielding a sledgehammer- go figure, right?- also gets down, but, like, in a death-making way, not a love-making way. That would just be sick!
Ten years later, a group of...of...people, I guess...okay. I know they're people, yeah, but that's the best I can figure out as to who these people are. In my notes, I wrote "Van full of___________?" They're a group of people. They're driven to the house in a van, then dropped off. I guess they're friends...? There are some couples. They're all too old for college. They unpack their bags from the van in slo-mo. They really enjoy going "Woo! Wooooooooo!" a lot. I guess it doesn't really matter who they are or why they're at this house, beyond that most horror movie of reasons: a weekend of partying. Woo! Wooooooooo! Sledgehammer plays by its own rules, period.
One of the couples, Chuck and...girl, are apparently having problems. Chuck insists that for this weekend, at least, they should forget their troubles and have a good time (Wooooooooo!). It's a good attitude to have, for it saves the writer of Sledgehammer the bother of things like "explanations" and "character development". All we need to know about Chuck is this: he is played by Ted Prior, star of Killer Workout and brother of director David. He walks around barechested most of the time. He plays the acoustic guitar whilst barechested. He looks like a walking, talking page from the International Male catalogue. I love Chuck! All we need to know about his girlfriend "girl" is this: she puts up with Chuck.
In a sequence meant to show that Chuck and girl are, I guess, forgetting their troubles, tender flute and guitar music plays as the couple walks...and walks. Then Chuck grabs a handful of girl's hair and yanks her backwards.
Then they walk some more, pointing to something offscreen. Then they walk. Then Chuck puts his beer can on girl's head, then their romantic walk is over. Oh, by the way- this all happens in slo-mo, and the scene takes TWO MINUTES.
Hold on, I just got a telegram from Sledgehammer!
After a party scene where the guys go "Woo! Wooooooooo!" and crush beer cans, there's a dinner scene. Chuck dumps mustard on girl's head, and this leads to a food fight and more "Woo! Wooooooooo!"-ing. This group continues to baffle me, particularly girl. Chuck, our hero, is an a-hole!
That night, Chuck decides they should hold a seance. He tells the story of Easy Mom, the Lover, and the Boy in the Closet, and we see...everything we saw at the beginning of the film. Again. Slo-mo included. Chuck and one of the other guys have set up some practical jokes to go along with the spirit summoning, but as you might expect, the real spirit of the boy in the closet is resurrected. I think? I don't know.
As you know by now, Sledgehammer does as Sledgehammer wants, and what Sledgehammer wants is not to explain squat. All I know for sure is that years of living in a closet didn't stunt the sledgehammer-wielding dude's growth at all, because he's 10 feet tall. No really...he barely fits in the hallway!
Is it the boy? Did he survive and grow up, like, in the closet? Where did the (admittedly creepy) mask come from? You'll never know what's going on- not ONLY because nothing is explained, but because like I said: Sledgehammer follows its own rules of time and space. The man is there, then he's gone, then he's the boy, then he's the man, then he's in two places at once. It's even suggested that the hammer itself is a ghost- a ghost sledgehammer!- I guess. At least, that's what I understood when it faded from view. There's no logic to ANY of it. Oh Sledgehammer, you so crazy!
All of this mindfuck is wrapped up in a fuckier mindfuck: the INSANE amounts of slo-mo and freeze frames used throughout, and oh honey, the score. The synth track drones and drones and drones and persists in your earholes until it becomes something akin to tinnitus. It's possible that you're not even really HEARING it anymore, but it's there, always there, knocking at the back door of your brain. There's a lethargy to the entire affair that you cannot escape. Eventually it's over, but then...it's never really over. Again, this is a movie that happens to you and once Sledgehammer is in your head, my friends, I fear it will never leave.
And that is nothing short of awesome! It's rare that you meet a movie that doesn't give a flying fuck about things like rules and logic and reality and what YOU think- and I mean all that not strictly in regards to filmmaking acumen, but more in regards to...I don't know, the accepted laws of SCIENCE. Sledgehammer just IS, and you can either get with that program or not. It's SO goddamn VHS, from the "Director of Videography" credit to the fonts used in those credits to the impression you get that it was largely edited in-camera to the feel...the feel of it! The sound of it! The slight blur, the white hallways, the washed-out colors, the tin can audio...Sledgehammer feels less like a horror movie and more like an ambitious home-made commercial you'd see on public access.
If this has you on your knees crying "I need to see Sledgehammer!", then my work here is done, because you DO need to see Sledgehammer. Gather your friends, lock the doors, sit back, and let Sledgehammer pummel you into submission.


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"American Street left me absolutely breathless. Ibi Zoboi has written a story about family, first love, and the crossroads of faith and hope. Through the lens of Zoboi's gorgeous prose, Fabiola's voice soars as she struggles to make sense of her new life, longs to be reunited with her mother, and finds herself faced with an impossible choice. This is YA at its very best: aching, revealing, and so true it hurts."
— Stephanie Appell, Parnassus Books, Nashville, TN
A National Book Award Finalist with five starred reviews
A New York Times Notable Book * Publishers Weekly Flying Start * Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * ALA Booklist Editors' Choice of 2017 (Top of the List winner) * School Library Journal Best Book of the Year * Kirkus Best Book of the Year * BookPage Best YA Book of the Year
American Street is an evocative and powerful coming-of-age story perfect for fans of Everything, Everything; Bone Gap; and All American Boys.
In this stunning debut novel, Pushcart-nominated author Ibi Zoboi draws on her own experience as a young Haitian immigrant, infusing this lyrical exploration of America with magical realism and vodou culture.
On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie--a good life.
But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola's mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit's west side; a new school; and a surprising romance, all on her own.
Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola soon realizes that freedom comes at a cost. Trapped at the crossroads of an impossible choice, will she pay the price for the American dream?

subset: commoncrawl


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Today James Sturtevant @jamessturtevant helps us hack our classroom presentations. So, whether they are flipped or in person, you can have more engagement with these tools and ideas. We're also giving away a copy of his book to a lucky winner, Hacking Engagement Again. Awesome!
Show Sponsor: PowerSchool This summer, PowerSchool announced the Unified Classroom. The Unified Classroom brings together the teacher's grade book, learning management system, student information system, and assessment in one powerful platform with just one log in. Take a look at the unified classroom from PowerSchool at coolcatteacher.com/powerschool.
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Below is a transcript modified for your reading pleasure. For information on the guests and items mentioned in this show, scroll down to the bottom of this post.
Hacking Engagement Again Book Giveaway Contest
Transcript for Episode 122
3 Ways to Hack Classroom Presentations with James Sturtevant
Link for this show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e122
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VICKI: Today's show is sponsored by Powerschool. I use their student information system and learning management system but do you know they have brought it together in one unified classroom? Stay tuned at the end of the show for more information.
Episode 122 – 3 Ways to hack presentations
VICKI: Today we're talking to James Sturtevant. He has a book coming out, Hacking Engagement Again. This is 50 more hacks to improve engagement and we will be doing a book giveaway. But today for edtech tool Tuesday we're talking about three ways to present to 21st century students, so we are hacking those lame, boring presentations that some of us, yes, even me, I have given. So, James, what can we do to be better presenters?
JAMES: Here's one thing that I'm really excited about. This is year 33 in education for me coming up. And I can't retire because I'm having a lot of fun. One thing that's happened to me over the last five years is I have totally evolved the way I present to students.
Now, one thing that I'm very bullish in is education is changing. We're moving to more a self-directed model. We're moving to more personalization and all those things are good. But there are occasionally times when you still have to go up and be the sage on the stage. There are times when you have to get in front of those kids and engage them.
But you can't do it the old fashioned way. So, I remember being a college student and sitting in lecture halls for 50 minutes in this very passive method of instruction. And so what I've done over the last five years is revolutionize that. And I'm going to talk about three ways that I did that.
Idea #1: Use Presentation Zen Techniques from Garr Reynolds
VICKI: OK, let's get started, what's your first?
JAMES: Well, I read this book about four years a go that changed everything about the way I present. It's called Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. And the whole…
VICKI: Great book.
JAMES: Oh, you've read it.
VICKI: Oh yeah, it changed mine too. And I changed how I taught presentations!
JAMES: Once you've read this book every presentation you go to and you look at a slide that is filled with bullet points. You just want to take the person aside and give them the book so they'll stop doing that. So what Garr is all about is he wants image rich slides populated by very few bullet points, a sentence tops.
Or maybe, a title. And when I started doing this, I did a little research and I found out that the typical sentence is roughly 15 words long. And so I gave myself that limit. And then I tried to populate my slides with just incredibly compelling images. And, Vicki, I couldn't get over the difference. My students were no longer having to multi task. They didn't have to listen to me try to read the bullet point, try to take notes all simultaneously. They just relaxed and started to listen to me.
So that was a relatively old school fix to a problem of student engagement during presentations. And one other thing, the big change I made in that regard is [that] I shortened the length of the presentation. I was inspired to do that just by watching TED talks and then reading some of the research behind the length of TEd talks.
So, I try to populate my slides with compelling images. Hold myself to 15 words or less. And not go over 10 minutes on a presentation. That's adjustment number one.
VICKI: Yes. And that's great advice for all of us.
VICKI: I know some teachers are saying, "I wish somebody would tell so-and-so that."
JAMES: laughter
Idea #2: Use PearDeck to Engage Students in Live Presentations
VICKI: OK, what's our second?
JAMES: Here's the other thing that happens with presentations is I don't care how compelling your images are or how neat your explanations are. A lot of times you're still just having a handful of kids participate by asking questions or answering questions or throwing up observations. And you have five kids doing that and twenty kids just sitting there passively. So, I was searching for some tech tools that will pull those 20 wallflowers in by the virtual lapels just pull them into the presentation. And what I found is called, Pear Deck. Have you used Peardeck?
VICKI: I haven't. I've heard all about it. And, tell me.
JAMES: Here's the thing. If you do your presentations on Google Slides or PowerPoint, it's just simple to upload them to PearDeck. And, Vicki, I teach in a class. I imagine you teach in a similar situation where I have a projector in the front of the room. LIke a SmartBoard.
VICKI: Yes, I have a big old massive touch screen TV type thing.
JAMES: Yes, but here's the thing. I have students that are twenty and twenty-five feet away from that board. In my room on a sunny day all of a sudden that board just isn't quite as crisp as it is in a dark room. So, the first thing that PearDeck does is it instantly places your presentation on their device. So, its inches from their face. And all of a sudden it's very clear and these compelling images are right there in front of them. You, then, control the pace of the presentation.
But here's what makes it so cool. Is then you insert prompts into the presentation that the kids respond to. And then their responses come anonymously on your smartboard. It is one heck of a way to insert a hook at the beginning of a lesson. And if you have 25 kids it says 25 responses there. So those kids that were the wallflowers, those kids who were introverted who were reluctant, maybe, to put their hand up during a class discussion are participating.
VICKI: Love that, what's our third?
Idea #3: Use Edpuzzle to Increase Engagement in Your Videos
JAMES: I'm a huge proponent of flipped presentations. I probably flip about 75% of my presentations. I did that because just in observing students in my class during their downtime, they are constantly on their phones watching absurd videos.
So, I thought, when in Rome, you just got to do like the Romans. So, I started flipping my presentations five years a go. And I was so pleased to hear those unsolicited compliments. That's when you know you're striking gold with kids. They're like, we like this better. We watch at our own pace. We can watch parts of it and take a break. We can multi task like kids do and still watch a presentation. But, Vicki, there was something missing. I didn't know for certain whether they were watching. And I also felt a little disconnect when they were watching my video at home.
VICKI: Yes.
JAMES: So, the key to me was Edpuzzle. Have you used Edpuzzle?
VICKI: I know about it. But tell us.
JAMES: So, Edpuzzle was the way, just like PearDeck, that you insert prompts into a video. And this is what's beautiful, Vicki, its like on demand programming. The kids cannot fast forward through the video. They have to watch it in real time. They can pause it. And they can rewind. But they can't fast forward. So, all of a sudden it's like you are there with them wherever they are watching it. You're asking them a question. They are responding. You can comment back to their responses. You can see the responses on your dashboard. And what's also cool, this gives kids an incredible accountability factor as well because you can see what time they watched. You can see what percent they watched. So, gone is the concern that these kids just copied the notes off someone else and they didn't even watch.
VICKI: I love that! Thank you! I'm sitting here and like "Oh wow." I've been recording interviews all day and this amazing PD and you've just given me two great tools. And then, now, I understand Edpuzzle and appreciate that explanation in understanding it.
JAMES: And let me just say one more thing. With Edpuzzle and PearDeck if you teach in a Google School in particular, Edupuzzle, those kids just bam, they're in. They sign in with Google and "Pow" they're in, there's nothing to it.
VICKI: So, the name of the book is Hacking Engagement Again, you can get lots more information from James Sturtevant. Please go to the show notes so you can enter to win because we all need more ideas to hack engagement and this is 50 more. Of course he has his first book, Hacking Engagement. And now we have fifty more Hacking Engagement again. And, you've just hacked our presentations in such a great way, James.
JAMES: Thank you.
Thank You to our Sponsor, PowerSchool, and their Unified Classroom Product
VICKI: This summer, Powerschool announced their Unified Classroom. The Unified Classroom brings together the teacher's gradebook, Learning Management System, Student Information System, and assessment in one powerful platform with just one login. Take a look at the Unified Classroom from PowerSchool at coolcatteacher.com/powerschool.
Full Bio As Submitted
James Sturtevant
In August, I'll begin my 33rd year teaching high school social studies. I've been married for 26 years to the lovely Penny. I have 3 children and 2 grandchildren. I live on the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio.
Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a "sponsored podcast episode." The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.)
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This is an exclusive handprinted unique cyanotype that takes its inspiration from the mid-century modern shapes.
It's made by layering paper cutouts and different exposures using uv-light.
+ Title: Mid-Century Shapes II
+ Year: 2024
+ Stamped and Certificate of Authenticity provided
+ Measurements : 70x100 cm (28x 40 in.), a standard frame size
+ All cyanotype prints are made on high-quality Italian watercolor paper
* Frame is for illustrative purposes only, artwork is sent carefully rolled in a tube.
The cyanotype (a.k.a. sun-print) process is one of the oldest in the history of photography, dating back to the 1840's.
Cyanotypes were then made famous by Anna Atkins, considered the first female photographer. Inspired by nature, we feel the need to look back at a craft that is handmade, analogue, and using an all-natural light source: the sun.
Our cyanotypes are made by coating high-quality Italian watercolor paper with a light-sensitive emulsion. We then expose it in direct sunlight for several minutes using a photo negative to get the best image quality. Finally, the print is washed and fixed with water to stop the reaction and prevent fading.
What you get is an amazing, royal blue image, with absolutely no ink involved. And since each print is handmade, tones will give gorgeous, subtle variations. The beauty of cyanotypes is that each print is absolutely unique.
1-4 business days
I'll do my best to meet these shipping estimates, but can't guarantee them. Actual delivery time will depend on the shipping method you choose.
Buyers are responsible for any customs and import taxes that may apply. I'm not responsible for delays due to customs.
Just contact me within: 7 days of delivery
Ship items back to me within: 14 days of delivery
Buyers are responsible for return shipping costs. If the item is not returned in its original condition, the buyer is responsible for any loss in value.
Please contact me if you have any problems with your order.
Since cyanotypes are one of the oldest photographic prints known, they must be stored properly. Cyanotypes involve an intricate process with light-sensitive chemicals and high-quality papers to get the best image quality possible, so they are very different to regular inkjet prints.
Although image quality is quite stable, there may be some fading if exposed to direct sunlight for long periods of time, and placed in extremely humid or acidic environments. For your print to last a lifetime, which it can, it would be best to put it in a glass or plastic frame, and try to keep it indoors, away from direct UV light- indirect light is fine! If you have any more questions, please ask!
We offer discounts for the purchase of multiple prints, whether it be the same image or a series of images. Please contact us for specific details about your order.
Remember that each cyanotype print is unique, since they are all hand-made and exposed in direct sunlight, so there may be subtle variations in tone and texture. When expecting multiple prints of the same image, don't expect them to all be exactly the same, there may be small variations- that's the beauty!
We send all our art prints and paintings with expedited shipping, which arrives in less than a week with tracking info.
All items are shipped unframed, carefully rolled in a tube.
A lot of people like to float-frame our cyanotypes and paintings, since the borders where the emulsion is applied are very interesting, but some people also like to matte the pieces so that they look bigger. If you're interested in a diptych or triptych we recommend framing them to the edge of the paper, that way they can be displayed relatively close together and will suggest continuity between the individual pieces.
We generally suggest thin frames, either white aluminum or a mild or light wood-plated aluminum. UV-protection or museum glass is also recommended.
We do not accept returns for custom and personalized orders


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Suburban Senshi: Proven to be Obsolete for centuries
My name is Meioh Setsuna. After taking a severe demotion at work even after years of painstaking guard duty and babysitting an
ungrateful child who repaid me by trying to steal my man, now it is my task to present you these archives of other people who are
generally not me having fun on the internet. So, enjoy it. And tell me what enjoyment feels like because to me it is a dead memory. Dead, like me inside.
Oh, hello dears. Obviously, I, "Michiru", need no introduction, but as a courtesy I shall remind you that I, Kaioh Michiru, scion of the venerable Kanzaki family, am a world-famous concert violinist and painter. Here you shall find a rare and exciting opportunity to browse my exceptional galleria which, of course, features not my own works (which are limited to the eyes of the super-elite) but those of inferior talents to whom I am regrettably indebted for web hosting space. Do enjoy~
Hino Rei here. I am the Head Priestess of the Hikawa Jinja in Azabu-Juuban (where we're currently offering a discount on blessings.) I graduated from Toyo Eiwa's graduate program in business, and I collect many different kinds of manga along with my husband Yuuichiro. You can see some of the
various pixel manga I've collected on my old Toyo Eiwa homepage, which Tomoe-hakase has archived for me here. If you'd like to visit the shrine, please do, my grandfather has retired to help run a martial arts dojo in Nerima. So there will be no problems.
So some stories sprawl so significantly that simply sticking to a single canonical continuum is completely constricting, creating conditions ripe for revolutionary revisions to the holistic hierarchy of history itself. Such is the stimulus that spawned the Suburban Senshi Expanded Universe, which I, Sakura Xadium Aino, am part and parcel of! Take a trip into the tantalizing tangle of tales told beyond a town in Tokyo-- twisting and turning through Time and Space, constantly collaborated on by our community of valued visitors!
Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm Jay Daito. I am a man of wealth and taste who has been around for a long, long year and, thanks to the financial sway of my Dark Intellectual Property Management Shell Corporation in the Cayman Islands, I have managed to achieve the long-desired, passionate merger of the venerable Sailor Moon Forums with the Suburban Senshi forums, thus bringing me closer to my goal of world
The sheer amount of data that can be collected on a person in his day and age is truly, astoundingly magnificent, and thanks to the power of Mizunomics Quantum-scale
computing and Haruka-san's abysmal security practices, I have been able to amass portfolios on so many people, places and things it's astonishing! Science is truly the
god of mankind, and I am deeply in love with its tender intellectual embrace. You may access my data below.
sew sum ov da odar ppl hear hav hoamepagez (i dew tew) bat lik whos gat tym 2 updat dam anymoar,
i'm gona lank dam haer becaz da intarn akszed mi tew an shiz nyce 2 mi bat seriazsli fak des gais dey mkak fan of mai spellang ean tho i em fram da futar an laguaige evalves an diz iz hoe wi all typ gaddmmit
As CEO of Ginga Media Enterprises and a super-famous Crime Fighting Idol, no one knows better than me how important Social Media is to getting your message out there! Here are the different sites we post to, (but mostly they just link to what we do here ^^;;;) Still subscribing is a good way to keep up with updates when we aren't being lazy!! |


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How does alcohol affect men and women?
Ralph Blackman explains the science behind alcohol and how it affects men and women differently.
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Ralph S. BlackmanPresident and CEO of FAAR
Mr. Ralph S. Blackman is currently the President and CEO of the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility. The Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, founded in 1991, has received nearly $250 million dollars from the distilled spirits industry to fight drunk driving and underage drinking. Mr. Blackman began his tenure at the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility in 1996 as Vice President for Public Affairs. Currently, Mr. Blackman is responsible for strategic planning, operations, and management of 15 staff members.
In 1992, Mr. Blackman was appointed by President George Bush as the Assistant Administrator for Private Enterprise within the U.S. Agency for International Development. Mr. Blackman oversaw a staff of 100 professionals, a program budget of nearly $40 million, and a $220 million portfolio of U.S. government loans designed to stimulate growth in developing countries around the world. Mr. Blackman represented the agency on the President's Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee and at meetings of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
Prior to joining the Bush Administration, Mr. Blackman founded Public Access Inc., a corporate relations firm headquartered in Washington, DC. As President of the firm, Mr. Blackman and his staff provided public affairs and international trade-related assistance to clients interested in business ventures abroad. Blackman and the firm were responsible for facilitating the creation of the first nationwide chain of franchised computer outlets in Hungary.
In 1986, Mr. Blackman was appointed by President Ronald Reagan as the Associate Director of the White House Conference on Small Business. In addition to organizing conferences held in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Mr. Blackman was responsible for liaison with congressional leaders and federal agencies, and supervised the preparation of the Final Report to the President.
In 1981, Mr. Blackman joined the Republican National Committee where he held the positions of Local Elections Field Representative, Regional Political Director and Director of Business Programs.
From 1976 to 1980, Mr. Blackman served the Governor of Illinois as a Legislative Assistant and the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives with the responsibility for economic and business development issues.
Mr. Blackman is an alumnus of Leadership Washington. He also sat on the Faberge Arts Foundation Advisory Board, was a member of the Dept. of Commerce's Industry Sector Advisory Committee for Small Business and Trade Policy, and served on the "Competing in the Global Marketplace" council of the National Policy Forum. Mr. Blackman was recognized by the University of Illinois Alumni Association with the 2014 Alumni Achievement Award.
An Illinois native, Mr. Blackman graduated in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Western Illinois University. In 1976, he completed his Master of Arts degree in public administration from the University of Illinois-Springfield. Mr. Blackman recently received his Mixologist Diploma from the Professional Bartending School in Arlington, VA.


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Faceted Square Rose Quartz Gemstone Stud Earrings in Sterling Silver
Simple and stylish handcrafted sterling silver stud earrings with faceted square shaped gemstones. The facets of the stone catch the light beautifully adding a subtle sparkle. Other gemstone options available. Also available in gold plated sterling silver.
- Sterling Silver
- Gemstone: Rose Quartz
- Stone Size: Approx. 8mm x 8mm
- Total Earrings Size: Approx. 10mm x 10mm
- Comes in a Gift Box
Gift Wrapped
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Whether you're looking for an beautiful engagement or wedding ring or a timeless necklace, we can design and create the very piece you've been searching for.


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The state health reforms overseen by Mitt Romney while he was governor of Massachusetts have received significant attention throughout this campaign season. But the health policy record of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee goes beyond this state law to include a range of hot-button issues -- from the future of the federal health law to plans to revamp Medicare and Medicaid costs as well as a range of market-based initiatives –- that will continue to draw attention as the November election approaches.
KHN has assembled this resource to show in detail how these positions are taking shape.
On Massachusetts Health Reforms, Romney:
Was a key player in the effort to reform Massachusetts' health care system. Before his election as governor, he campaigned on a health overhaul plan that included the following elements: charging co-pays to higher-income Medicaid recipients to expand coverage, requiring employers of more than 10 employees to offer insurance or pay a penalty, extending favored prescription pricing in the state's drug plan for elderly and disabled residents and negotiating an increase in federal funding for Medicaid. In 2005, he proposed Commonwealth Care, which helped frame the negotiation for health care reforms that ultimately became state law.
After his term as governor ended, he cited the 2006 state health reform law as a point of pride, but has since distanced himself from it because it is often considered a prototype for the federal Affordable Care Act, an assertion he rejects. The Massachusetts law includes the creation of an online insurance exchange known as the Health Connector, as well as fines against businesses with more than 10 employees that don't offer health insurance plans and a mandate that all individuals not covered by public health insurance purchase health insurance.
"If somebody could afford insurance, they should either buy the insurance or pay their own way. ... We said: If you can afford insurance, then either have the insurance or get a health savings account. Pay your own way, but no more free ride. That was what the mandate did." – Romney, GOP candidate debate, Jan. 30, 2008
Defends Massachusetts' individual mandate because it was a state-level decision -- not a matter imposed by the federal government.
"Mr. President, if, in fact, you did look at what we did in Massachusetts, why didn't you give me a call and ask what worked and what didn't? ... I would have told you, Mr. President, that what you're doing will not work. It's a huge power grab by the federal government. It's going to be massively expensive, raising taxes, cutting Medicare." – Romney, GOP candidate debate, June 13, 2011
Advanced a managed care plan for seniors who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.
Was silent on a 2005 proposal to extend health care benefits provided by the state government to same-sex couples.
Proposed tort reform legislation in 2006 that would reduce legal fees and make a hard cap of $500,000 on non-economic damages. Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey led this effort.
"I like what I proposed in Massachusetts when I was governor. And even though the final bill and its implementation aren't exactly the way I wanted, the plan is a good model. Today, almost every Massachusetts citizen who had been uninsured now has private, free-market coverage, and we didn't have to raise taxes or borrow money to make it happen. We may find even better ideas in other states. But let's make certain that conservative principles are front and center. A big-government takeover of health care is the next thing liberals are going to try, and it's the last thing America needs" – Romney, CPAC Convention, Feb. 27, 2009.
On Medicare & Aging, Romney:
Favors Medicare reforms that would give future beneficiaries a "defined contribution" or "premium support" and allow them to choose between private and traditional plans.
Maintains that seniors already enrolled in Medicare, or those nearing retirement, would not be affected by his plan, which also would retain a fee-for-service option.
"I wouldn't repeal it. I'd reform Medicare and reform Medicaid and reform Social Security to get them on a sustainable basis, not for current retirees, but for those in their 20s and 30s and early 50s" – Romney, Tampa Tea Party Debate, Sept. 12, 2011.
All plans would have to offer coverage at least comparable to what Medicare provides today, though premiums for "traditional" coverage would rise if private companies can provide the same services for less. Critics say that capping the government's contribution would likely mean that beneficiaries' costs would increase.
Backed the December 2011 Medicare proposal by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Prior to the Ryan-Wyden plan, supported the Medicare overhaul included in the Ryan budget plan that was approved by the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.
Supports the notion that wealthier seniors should pay more toward their health coverage and lower income seniors should receive a higher subsidy.
Wants to publish a yearly federal balance sheet to help people understand the impact of entitlement spending on the budget and economy.
On The Health Care Marketplace, Romney:
Wants to strengthen high-deductible health savings accounts by allowing consumers to use them to pay insurance premiums.
Supports caps on non-economic damage awards in medical malpractice lawsuits and funds for states to develop other ways to deal with the liability issue, such as health care courts.
Urges restricting federal regulation of health care insurance, although he supports limited rules to bar insurers from denying coverage to those with preexisting conditions when they have had coverage for a specified period of time.
Supports "co-insurance" plans, in which consumers pay a fixed percentage of the cost of their care.
Says insurers should be allowed to sell their products across state lines.
Endorses ending "tax discrimination against the individual purchase of insurance" and has suggested allowing tax deductions for people who obtain health insurance on their own; also favors allowing individuals and small businesses to join together to buy insurance.
Wants to issue "Consumer Reports"-type ratings of insurance plans.
"The reason health care is so expensive … is not just because of insurance, it's because of the cost of providing care. And one reason for that is the person who receives care in America generally doesn't care how much it costs, because once they've paid their deductible, it's free. And the provider, the more they do, the more they get paid … And so what we have to do is make sure that individuals have a concern and care about how much something costs. And for that to happen [we need] health savings accounts. Give people a stake in what the cost of insurance is going to be, what the cost of it is going to be. Co-insurance, where people pay a share of the bill, that makes a difference." – Romney, Tampa Tea Party Debate, Sept. 12, 2011.
On Health Reform Philosophy, Romney:
Says he would allow states to opt out of the federal health law and encourage Congress to repeal it.
Believes that "each state should be able to fashion their own program for the specific needs of their distinct citizens," and that states are the "laboratories of democracy."
Maintains that "market dynamics" such as increased competition, provider performance ratings, cost comparisons for procedures, co-insurance and lowering the number of uninsured will improve the health care delivery system.
Endorses efforts to find an alternative to the fee-for-service payment model.
"I want people to be able to own their own insurance, if they wish to. And to buy it for themselves and perhaps keep it the rest of their lives and to choose among different policies offered from companies across the nation," he said. "That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. It also means, if you don't like what they do, you can fire them." -- Nashua, New Hampshire, Jan. 9, 2012
On Medicaid, Romney:
Opposes the health law's expansion of Medicaid coverage to as many as 17 million people.
Supports Medicaid block grants to allow states to use capped federal contributions to run the program with more flexibility.
Would limit federal standards and requirements on private insurance and Medicaid coverage.
Favors reducing the amount of money the federal government spends on Medicaid.
"My view is get the federal government out of Medicaid, get it out of health care. Return it to the states." – Romney, South Carolina GOP Primary Debate, Jan. 20, 2012.
On Abortion/Contraception Issues, Romney:
Campaigned for governor on a promise to not change existing abortion laws, neither making them stricter, nor more lenient. In 2005, he vetoed a bill expanding access to contraceptives on these grounds.
Maintains that Roe v. Wade should be overturned by the Supreme Court so that the abortion issue can be decided by states, but also says that until that happens, Roe v. Wade should be considered the law of the land.
Wants to implement abstinence awareness programs in schools.
Outspoken against the 2010 health law's requirement for employers' health plans to cover contraception without a copayment.
Opposes federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
Romney's Reaction To Supreme Court Health Law Decision:
In a statement after the court's decision was announced he said that "Obamacare was bad law yesterday, it's bad law today."
Agreed, during an interview with CBS News, with the Supreme Court that the individual mandate is a tax.
Deep Reads:
The Daily Beast: The Answer Is Unleashing Markets, Not Government
Our divide is fundamental: Republicans believe health care can be best guided by consumers, physicians and markets; Democrats believe government would do better. Some Democrats would have government buy health care for us; set the rates for doctors, hospitals and medicines; and decide what medical treatment we would be entitled to receive for each illness. If you liked the HMOs of the '80s, you'd love government-run health care...But government can't match consumers and markets when it comes to lowering cost, improving quality and boosting productivity...The right answer for health care is to apply more market force, not less (Mitt Romney, 05/01/09).
Boston Globe: Preston's Blueprint
Long before Mitt Romney unveiled his ambitious plan to provide health insurance to everyone in Massachusetts, he hired Ron Preston -- "the best health and human services secretary in the nation," as the governor once called him – to work on a plan to do in the Commonwealth what no other state has been able to do. Romney took the wraps off his vision in November 2004, and Preston, apparently no longer the best health and human services secretary in the nation, was nudged out by the next May. Preston and a tight group from inside and outside the administration spent six months answering Romney's basic question: Could it be done? Their answer: Yes, Massachusetts could insure all its residents. But how the Preston working group planned to do it differed, in critical aspects, from what Romney eventually proposed (Bailey, 1/11/06).
FactCheck.org: 'Romneycare' Facts And Falsehoods
As the 2012 presidential campaign gets under way in just a few months (believe it or not), we expect to see an increasing number of attacks on so-called "RomneyCare." So as part primer and part preemptive fact-checking, this article is our attempt to set the record straight (Robertson, 5/25/11).
Boston Globe: Romney And Health Care: In The Thick Of History
The former governor has faced a fusillade from the right for the plan they call RomneyCare. But a look back at the birth of the Massachusetts law shows why he can't, and won't, back away. It was an amazing political feat, and no one's role was bigger than his (Mooney, 5/30/11).
Boston Globe: 'RomneyCare' - A Revolution That Basically Worked
The former governor's health plan is a policy piñata among his rivals. But a detailed Globe review finds the overhaul has achieved its main goals without devastating state finances. The remaining worry is future costs (Mooney, 6/26/11).
New York Times: Ted Kennedy Helped Shape Mitt Romney's Career, And Still Haunts It
When Gov. Mitt Romney signed legislation in April 2006 requiring most Massachusetts residents to have health coverage, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy stood by his side, beaming like a proud father. They were onstage at historic Faneuil Hall in Boston, a setting that had a special resonance for the two (Stolberg, 3/24/12).
The Real Romney (book): Pride In RomneyCare Shows In Official Portrait
In 2008, for Romney's official portrait, he had been clear about the image he wanted to convey for posterity. He would be sitting on his desk in front of an American flag, next to symbols of two things he held dear. The first was a photo of his wife, the center of his personal universe. The second was the Massachusetts health care law, represented by an official-looking document with a caduceus--often used as a symbol of the medical profession--embossed in gold on the cover. Romney was deeply proud of the law and felt strongly that it should figure prominently in the portrait, which would hang alongside others dating back to the Colonial era. He wanted to be remembered for that (Kranish and Helman, p. 261-262, 1/17/12).
New York Times: Jonathan Gruber, Health Care's Mr. Mandate
After Massachusetts, California came calling. So did Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Minnesota, Oregon, Wisconsin and Wyoming. They all wanted Jonathan Gruber, a numbers wizard at M.I.T., to help them figure out how to fix their health care systems, just as he had helped Mitt Romney overhaul health insurance when he was the Massachusetts governor. Then came the call in 2008 from President-elect Obama's transition team, the one that officially turned this stay-at-home economics professor into Mr. Mandate (Rampell, 3/28/12).
NPR: Romney On The Health Insurance Mandate
In 2006, as Massachusetts' governor, he talked about the state's mandate in decidedly non-ideological terms: "We're going to say, folks, if you can afford health care, then gosh, you'd better go get it; otherwise, you're just passing on your expenses to someone else. That's not Republican; that's not Democratic; that's not libertarian; that's just wrong" (Liasson, 5/25/12).
Los Angeles Times: Romney's Health Care Plan May Be More Revolutionary Than Obama's
As he pushes to "repeal and replace" President Obama's healthcare law, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has turned to proposals that could alter the way hundreds of millions of Americans get their medical insurance. In public, Romney has only sketched the outlines of a plan, and aides have declined to answer questions about the details. But his public statements and interviews with advisors make clear that Romney has embraced a strategy that in crucial ways is more revolutionary — and potentially more disruptive — than the law Obama signed two years ago (Levey, 4/23/12).
Boston Globe: Mitt Romney's Plan May Undercut Mass. Law
A proposal by Mitt Romney to curtail Medicaid spending would dramatically undercut the way the Massachusetts health care overhaul law has achieved near universal coverage. Although the specifics of Romney's plan are not public, his overall intent - to rein in how much Medicaid money Washington sends to the states - would probably cripple the Massachusetts health care law, which was made possible by an expansion of Medicaid funding. If Romney succeeds, the result could have an ironic twist: the governor who ushered in the country's first universal health plan would, as president, put in place policies that could undermine one of his signature achievements (Jan, 5/4/12).
This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.


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The days are getting longer, and the temperatures are slowly warming—and although winter isn't officially over for a few weeks, we're already looking forward to more sunshine and less "blah." We're guessing you feel the same way—especially if you're one of the unlucky Harrisonburg plumbing customers who got to experience the "joy" of frozen pipes this winter!
We hate to be the ones to say this, but you might want to hold off on your hooray-for-spring celebration. If you've had frozen pipes this winter, the thaw could actually be just the beginning of your plumbing problems. In fact, we get more calls about thawed pipes than we do frozen ones. Keep reading to learn why.
When the water inside your pipes freezes, it expands—putting stress on pipes and joints, which often creates drips and leaks. Unless the pipe actually bursts and creates an obvious crack in an visible spot, you won't know any of that's happened until the water thaws. That's no good. So what should you do?
Thaw frozen pipes as soon as possible. Notice we did not advise you to thaw them as quickly as possible. Many homeowners make the mistake of applying intense heat to a frozen section of pipe to get things flowing fast. Unfortunately, that can cause large chunks of ice to break off and bang their way through the pipe, causing potential damage. Plus, DIY methods of thawing pipes—typically heat lamps, hair dryers, and space heaters—create an electrocution hazard.
A professional Harrisonburg plumber will slowly and safely thaw the pipe and inspect for damage along the way.
Preventing Frozen Pipes
If you're among the lucky ducks who haven't had their pipes freeze this winter, way to go! Now let's keep it that way. We posted some tips for preventing frozen pipes a few weeks ago, but to recap:
- Insulate exposed pipes.
- Keep your garage door closed.
- Drain your garden hoses and hose bibbs.
- Turn off your water if you'll be gone for a few days.
- Allow your faucets to drip.
- Open vanity cabinets.
- Check for drafts.
- Inspect your pipes for bulges.
- Do not turn off your furnace.
If the Thaw Creates a Waterfall…
As temperatures warm up, check everywhere for drips or leaks. Inspect your ceilings for evidence of water damage, check under every sink, and pay particular attention to pipes in uninsulated portions of your home, like the basement. If you notice a problem:
- Turn off your main water valve.
- Turn off all faucets.
- Then, open the hot and cold taps in the lowest level of your house. That will drain the system so the burst one won't spray all over.
- Call in a professional Harrisonburg plumber to help.
In fact, if you had any frozen pipes at all this winter, it's a good idea to have your entire system inspected. Just because nothing burst this year, doesn't mean you'll have the same luck next year. It's much easier and far less expensive to replace weakened components now than it is to deal with a flood later on.
Have concerns about your pipes? Give us a call today!


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Maker's Row Stories
Check out the success stories of just a few of our users.
Check out the success stories of just a few of our users.
Thank you! This is hands down the best website out there with this information. We had been looking for over 8 months without any luck, and we found 5-10 very worthy manufacturers within the first couple weeks. Well worth the money. Thank you.
OMG! ~ Maker's Row was the best thing that has ever happened to our business! It does not only matter if you have a great product, at a great price and offer great customer service. What really matters most for business growth is that you place yourself in front of the right niche audience. We offer wholesale custom woven damask clothing labels from the US. Having so many apparel designers in one spot (Maker's Row!) is amazing for traffic. The audience couldn't be more appropriate for those who supply to that industry. We joined Maker's Row last summer. After years of "tweaking" and playing with (very) expensive Google Adwords campaigns, we could not believe what was happening...Maker's Row was bringing us more qualified leads that lead to more sales in just one month, than we were for over 6 months with Adwords. So, we reduced our campaign budget (which in itself saved a ton of money!) and we decided to become a premium member of Maker's Row. We knew we weren't going anywhere else! Each month was built upon the prior month and referrals from happy customers were coming from everywhere. We just don't know what else to say except how THRILLED we are that Maker's Row, a much needed source for designers and factories finally find each other! What a great match! THANK YOU MAKER'S ROW!
Just had a fantastic meeting with a new client that we met through @MakersRow. This this one might be a fun one. #product #interiors
At first, Unionwear was very surprised at how quickly Maker's Row was generating qualified leads for our custom hat and bag cut and sew. But then we realized that there was nothing like Maker's Row in the marketplace — no way for designers to easily find domestic textile factories and filter through their capabilities and market niches to find a perfect match. We have even begun using Maker's Row to find raw materials, and an additional benefit is that we now have a place to send clients who are looking for products, materials, or quantities that are not in our wheelhouse and know that they will find a domestic source.
I just published my @MakersRow profile two days ago, and I already have a quality lead and pending meeting! Cool!
This has worked great for me! Until Maker's Row I would get my work mainly by word of mouth referrals and from being in the needle trade community here in Seattle. Since I started using Maker's I have a lot more work coming in for Sewn Goods. Because of that I can really choose the projects that I want to do. Thanks to you and your team for providing such an amazing service. You guys are awesome!!!
I started an apparel business 2 years ago and slugged through bad leads of failed businesses, visited countless factories, spoke with and emailed hundreds if not thousands of suppliers. Your listings are great, thorough and would have my life SO much easier. Happily and frequently I direct newer (or older businesses moving back to US production) businesses to your site.
Maker's Row rocks!!! I've been searching for years, literally to find U.S. manufacturers for my handbags. I had my first successful run made in China, and am soooo glad that I found you! I feel like I hit the jackpot.
Found some great resources at your site, talking with them about work now! Thanks.
We love Maker's Row, and the designers that find us through it.
Found a very responsive and helpful manufacturer right here in Brooklyn thanks to @MakersRow
This site is great! I was able to find suppliers on here for our new line. Designers resources in one place. Finally. Thanks Maker's Row!
It is because of Maker's Row that we were able to find manufacturers in the US and launch our Kickstarter Project!
I have pages filled with product concepts that I'd like to produce. One of the hardest parts about running a small brand is sourcing, and Maker's Row has already been an awesome resource. For the last couple years I've been searching for a place to make custom bags and I finally found the exact type of manufacturer that I've been looking for through Maker's Row.
Maker's Row has evolved the designer to manufacturer relationship. Handbag designers can now connect with us in such a quick, effective way thanks to this site. No longer do you have to go through word of mouth to get access to the best manufacturers in town. Our business has grown and the designers can find us with the click of a button. It's a win-win situation.
Maker's Row has been an invaluable resource for Leon + Bella. In the past, we spent countless hours doing outside research and sourcing, until now. It has been such a timesaver to have many resources all in one place.
It's so exciting to finally have a resource like Maker's Row. For those of us who are committed to making production work in the garment district, now there is a place to share relationships, tips, warnings and recommendations. This will also hold the factories to a high standard, and level the playing field for new arrivals. Best of all — we can drive business to the great vendors who work so hard to deserve it!
The daily client emails I get through Maker's Row has greatly helped define and evolve my business. Through the site's innovative descriptions, potential clients are given a head start in understanding the process of bringing a product to life.
Maker's Row has solved a void in the apparel industry with their comprehensive database that makes factory sourcing easy and educational. By providing information that is accessible and relevant, they've opened up the much-needed conversation between designers and vendors while also helping to revive American manufacturing.
@MakersRow is one of the most important steps to reshoring manufacturing. I used it to find a factory. It works!
@MakersRow turns the sometimes harrowing experience of researching factories into basically online shopping. Easy Peasy!
Found some great resources there! New website @MakersRow connects you to American manufacturers.
THIS COMPANY IS GENIUS! Our industry was yearning for this site! Thank you!
I've been looking for something like this forever! Finding manufacturers is not easy.
Thanks, thanks, thanks! Your website is going to be so helpful as I expand my business!
Omg, @MakersRow is incredible! Chicago designers here's an awesome resource for all your contractor & supplier needs!
Really liking @MakersRow and their objectives. It makes sense as a customer, manufacturer and supplier to have access.
I was looking for an obscure type of elastic from a US producer, but had no luck. Then I searched Maker's Row and I was ordering samples 5 minutes later. AMAZING!
When I started my business last year I had a business background but little knowledge of the textile industry. I spent weeks doing Google searches, mining my network, and cold-calling. Without a personal connection or a long history in the industry many of the manufacturers and suppliers that I was able to find either didn't respond or didn't take me seriously. Then I found Maker's Row. I was able to search for local manufacturers and suppliers, set up face-to-face meetings, and finally start moving my idea forward. A year later we launched http://www.sparrowparkgoods.com. Thank you Maker's Row!
I just wanted to thank you for a fabulous and brilliant site. I am an inventor and after months of searching for manufacturers online, and on Alibaba, and on Thomas.Net with no luck … you guys and your site where heaven sent, you helped me find a magnificent manufacturer in NY, AND you provided me with consultation on initial production costs. I have been working with the manufacturer found on your site for 2 months now, happily.
I first learned about Maker's Row from a friend in mid-2013 when I was just starting my women's apparel collection, Kiki Lynn. Because producing in the USA with mostly domestic materials was critical for my brand, I immediately went to the Maker's Row website and began searching for domestic factories and fabric and components vendors. I found the site very user friendly and I do not know how I would have found this information on my own! I am still using the button and thread vendors I found on Maker's Row and perhaps most importantly, I have a wonderful relationship with my Brooklyn, NY based factory that I also found on Maker's Row. I launched kikilynn.com in July 2014 and still use Maker's Row when searching for new vendors.
We knew we wanted to create the most comfortable, best-looking lounge pants for men but we had no idea where to start in regards to production. Maker's Row provided the blueprint and helped us find the partners that we needed to make our vision a reality. We could not have done it with out them. Thank you!
Maker's Row is fantastic. They helped me find the manufacturers I needed quickly when my own research didn't come up with anything worthwhile.


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A century ago a President's murderer went on trial for the first time in our history. The issues raised then continue to trouble us.
June/July 1981
The twentieth President of the United States was shot in a Washington, D.C., railroad station on July 2, 1881. He died seventy-nine days later from infections resulting from his wound.
Recent historians have not included James A. Garfield among the nation's immortals, and it is difficult today to convey the grief and outrage his assassination precipitated a century ago. Garfield was not, to his contemporaries, one of Thomas Wolfe's "gravely vacant and bewhiskered faces" who presided over the country in the decades after Lincoln. Rather, he was the embodiment of the American ideal: a poor Ohio farm boy who had scrambled to obtain an education and to make his way in Republican politics. He was a family man, a pillar of his church, and a major general of volunteers during the Civil War. Now he was dead at the very outset of his administration.
The church bells scarcely had stopped tolling when the nation turned its attention to the man who, by his own admission, had fired the fatal shot. For the first time, a presidential assassin was to be brought before the bar of justice.
Charles Jules Guiteau—he pronounced the name "gittow"—was thirty-nine years old. His mother had died when he was seven, and young Charles had grown up under the erratic guidance of his father. Profoundly religious, Luther Guiteau was a respected citizen of Freeport, Illinois, and a long-time superintendent of schools there. While Charles was still a lad, however, his father became a convert to the Utopian communalism of John H. Noyés. A sometime minister, Noyes sought to bring out the good in man through communal living. Young Guiteau was very much impressed with the dark-bearded Noyes, who often called on Charles's father to exchange religious revelations.
The boy attended school in Freeport until he was twelve, when, to Charles's bitter resentment, his father remarried. Thereafter, relations deteriorated until Charles was sent to live in Chicago with his sister and her husband, George Scoville. Eventually there was a reconciliation, and Luther Guiteau even persuaded his son to join Noyes's Oneida Community. But Charles was not temperamentally suited to work in the fields, and after passing the Civil War years at Oneida he left for New York City. By then Charles himself was something of a zealot; he intended, Guiteau told friends, not to give up his work for the Lord but merely to practice in a greater arena.
Away from Oneida, Guiteau began a hand-to-mouth existence that continued up to the time of his assault on President Garfield. He first attempted to launch a religious newspaper, the New York Theocrat , but this failed, and Guiteau was obliged to return to Oneida for a time. He left for good in November, 1866, however, after a quarrel with Noyes over compensation that Charles felt was due him. Unable to obtain newspaper work, Guiteau decided upon a career in the law and began reading Blackstone. In Chicago, while clerking with a law firm, he married an attractive sixteen-year-old named Annie Bunn, who would testify that she had been much impressed with her husband's piety. She soon began to have second thoughts, however. Guiteau had no money with which to indulge his expensive tastes, and their life together was one long round of sneaking out of the best hotels, being evicted from comfortable boardinghouses, and cheating merchants. Guiteau responded to Annie's complaints by locking her in closets overnight.
Notwithstanding this precarious existence, Guiteau was capable of making a good impression. He had no trouble borrowing ninety-five dollars from the pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in Manhattan and continued to attend services there long after the minister had given up any hope of seeing his money again. Guiteau might have continued indefinitely as a petty con man had he not suffered a number of setbacks beginning in 1873, when his wife obtained an uncontested divorce, on grounds of adultery. Then the New York Herald published an exposé of his practices as a collection lawyer, an article that virtually destroyed his business. Guiteau brought suit against the paper for one hundred thousand dollars but soon dropped it, explaining that he did not wish to have the Herald as an enemy should he run for President.
For several years Guiteau dabbled in preaching, journalism, and the law. He gained some income from a collection of religious lectures that he modestly entitled The Truth: A Companion to the Bible . But sales fell off, and soon the author's lecturing was also going badly. Guiteau sought new horizons. He had long been attracted to politics, and as the 1880 presidential campaign approached, he worked up a speech in pamphlet form in support of former President Grant, who was seeking a third term in the White House. During the turbulent campaign the Republican party split into two factions: the "Stalwarts," who backed Grant, and the "Half-Breeds," who supported James G. Blaine. This latter group eventually swung over to Garf ield, but the Republican Convention nominated Chester A. Arthur for Vice-Président as a sop to the Stalwarts. Guiteau marked the shift by making some superficial changes in his pamphlet and, thus armed, sought speaking assignments from party headquarters in New York City. The Republicans had plenty of big-name speakers and used Guiteau only for one minor rally. But while no one appears to have taken him very seriously, Guiteau did manage to gain a degree of acceptance at party headquarters, where he had at least some access to Arthur.
The Garfield-Arthur ticket won a narrow victory, and Guiteau wasted no time in importuning Garfield for a diplomatie appointment. When his letters went unanswered, Guiteau joined the swarm of office seekers who descended on Washington after the inauguration, and eventually he gained entrée to Garfield, thereby achieving the distinction of being the only presidential assassin to interview his future victim. "As soon as General Garfield was at leisure," Guiteau later related, "I stepped up to him and gave him my speech. Of course, he recognized me at once.… I told him that I was an applicant for the Paris consulship… and I left him reading the speech and retired."
A White House clerk subsequently told Guiteau that his file had been passed to the State Department, and the run-around began. Guiteau bombarded Garfield and Secretary of State James G. Blaine with letters and copies of Garfield vs. Hancock , all to no avail. When, in mid-May, he accosted Blaine concerning his prospects, the Secretary grew livid. "Never speak to me again on the Paris consulship as long as you live!" he exploded. But several days later Blaine listened as Guiteau expressed confidence that he could persuade President Garfield to remove the incumbent consul from Paris and give the post to him. "Well, if he will do so … ," Blaine began, trailing off into something noncommittal. To his dying day the Secretary would reproach himself that his temporizing may have led Guiteau to blame the President for his misfortunes.
It was several days after this that Guiteau first conceived the idea of murdering the President: "I retired about eight o'clock … depressed and perplexed on account of the political situation … and the idea flashed through my brain that if the President was out of the way everything would go better. At first this was a mere impression. It startled me, but the next morning it came to me with renewed force, and I began to read the papers with my eye on the possibility that the President would have to go.…"
Guiteau claimed to have resisted his "impression," only to have it keep returning, fed by editorials that saw the resurgent factionalism of the Republican party as threatening its destruction. By June 1 the impression had grown stronger, and Garfield's fate was sealed.
"Two weeks after I conceived the idea my mind was thoroughly settled on the intention to remove the President. I then prepared myself. I sent to Boston for a copy of my book The Truth … and added one or two new chapters, put some new ideas in it and I greatly improved it. I knew that it would probably have a large sale on account of the notoriety that the act of removing the President would give me.…"
For much of June Guiteau stalked his victim, but always there was something wrong about the time or place. Then, on the morning of July 2, 1881, Guiteau arose at five in his room at Riggs House, had breakfast, and took a short stroll around Lafayette Park. He then returned to his room and wrote several letters, one of which offered his rationale for the assault later that morning ("The President's tragic death was a sad necessity, but it will unite the Republican party and save the Republic"). At nine o'clock Guiteau, like the President, took a carriage for the Baltimore & Potomac depot, where Garfield planned to board a train for New England. Half an hour later, Guiteau fired two shots, one of which struck Garfield squarely in the back. The assassin told police, "I am a Stalwart and Arthur is President of the United States now. "
President Garfield did not die right away, and for a time it appeared he might not die at all. He survived the initial shock of his wound and began what the country hoped would be a convalescence, only to fall victim to infection. The country suffered vicariously with its leader, and his death on September 19, 1881, brought an outpouring of grief reminiscent of that for Lincoln. When the impaneling of a jury to try the President's murderer began in mid-November, passions were still high. Some 159 prospective jurors were examined before 12 could be found who were acceptable alike to the prosecution and the defense—12 who represented a cross section of urban America. There was a restaurant owner, a retired businessman, a cigar dealer, three "merchants," an ironworker, two grocers, a machinist, and two plasterers, one of whom, Ralph Wormley, was carefully identified in press accounts as Colored.
Leading the prosecution was District Attorney George B. Corkhill, who was assisted by special counsel, Judge John K. Porter of New York City and Walter Davidge, a prominent member of the Washington, D.C., bar. The presiding judge was fifty-five-year-old Walter S. Cox of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. Cox had been in private practice and had taught law at Columbia University, but he had served less than two years as a federal judge. His main contribution to the forthcoming trial would be forbearance. Guiteau's defense was known to rest on a plea of insanity, and Cox was determined to permit the defendant reasonable latitude in demonstrating his alleged incompetence.
Unlike the prosecution, the defense was short of funds and badly organized. Its ostensible leader was George Scoville, a Chicago patent lawyer who happened to be Guiteau's brother-in-law. Midway through the trial he was joined by another Chicago lawyer, Charles Reed, who had considerably greater courtroom experience. Both were handicapped by the fact that Guiteau had made it clear that he intended to participate in his own defense. Thus, he sat not in the prisoner's dock but at the table reserved for defense counsel.
Guiteau already had been examined in his cell and pronounced competent to stand trial; public opinion probably would not have tolerated any other conclusion. The press had indulged in a spate of self-congratulation concerning America's respect for law and for the legal safeguards being offered "that wretch" Guiteau. But most Americans, with the memory of Garfield's sufferings still fresh, held a deep loathing for the prisoner, and not everyone was convinced that he merited any trial at all. One letter to the Washington Star suggested that Guiteau be forced each day to consume two ounces of his own flesh "until he eats himself up." The New York Times was slightly more tolerant; "Guiteau should have a fair trial," ran one editorial. "Everything that can be urged in his behalf should be patiently heard. It is the right of the meanest thing that bears a human form, but such a trial, such a hearing, in a community of intelligent beings can have but one result." Guiteau's comings and goings from the courtroom frequently were accompanied by verbal abuse from onlookers, whom the court reporter described as "not composed of the better and more intelligent class of citizens." And each day brought threatening letters to the defendant in his cell.
Even before the trial began, one of the guards at the federal jail had taken matters into his own hands. In early September Sergeant William Mason had aimed a shot at the prisoner from outside his window, missing only by inches. Mason surrendered quietly, complaining that he was tired of riding over the rough streets each day to guard "such a cur as Guiteau." He eventually was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment, but a Washington newspaper thoughtfully initiated a fund-raising drive on behalf of his family. Guiteau was moved into a more secure cell.
Physical preparations for the trial were completed by November 13 with the installation of temporary flooring and extra seats in the capital's somewhat dilapidated criminal court. The trial was to begin four days later, and early that morning a crowd waited outside the court. Deputy marshals with their bright red badges were everywhere, and for the first time in anyone's memory, people claiming to be reporters were required to produce credentiak About half the seats were reserved for lawyers, newsmen, and "distinguished guests."
As testimony began, there was no question that Guiteau had shot the President and that he had acted alone. (There would be no serious conspiracy theories concerning the death of Garfield; despite his allegiance to the Stalwarts, Guiteau was emphatic that he alone—in consultation with the Deity—had conceived and perpetrated his assault.) The only issue was that of legal responsibility. Defense attorney Scoville was basing his case on a plea of insanity and had an array of potential witnesses who were prepared to testify to a strain of hereditary insanity in the Guiteau family. But he was handicapped not only by limited popular understanding of this complicated issue but also by Guiteau's own insistence that he was as sane as the next man, except for the brief period when he had been dominated by his "impression." As the trial unfolded, it would prove to be, on one level, a spectacle— Guiteau would see to that—and on another level, a forum for conflicting views on the subject of legal insanity.
The prosecution began its four-day presentation on November 17. Many thought it far too long, considering that the facts of Guiteau's act were not in dispute. Prosecutor Corkhill even introduced a section of the dead President's backbone, to show the path of the bullet. There were ugly rumors that Guiteau had been allowed to fondle this grisly relic, but the assassin, who admired things "high-toned," went to some pains to deny this. The episode probably had its origin in rumors that the defense would claim Garfield's death had resulted from medical malpractice. The defense had in fact toyed with this idea, but questioning of one of Garfield's surgeons persuaded Scoville that it was a dead end.
Guiteau took the stand on his own behalf on November 8 and testified for the better part of a week. His ianner was nervous, and with reason. The previous week, as Guiteau was being returned to jail in the prison van, a horseman had galloped up alongside and fired a shot at him. The shot barely grazed his arm and had the effect of convincing Guiteau that he continued to be favored by the Deity. The assailant, a Maryland farmer named Bill Jones, was identified and arrested, then released on bail and never brought to trial.
Testifying in his own behalf, Guiteau recounted his life story, with emphasis on his formative years. Scoville anticipated that the prosecution would seek to discredit the defendant as a moral leper, one who had mistreated his wife and defrauded many an honest innkeeper. Scoville pointed out that Guiteau did not smoke, never frequented saloons, and never used profanity. Since his character was basically harmless, according to Scoville, the explanation for his violent act must lie elsewhere; it lay, according to Scoville, in the defendant's "shortcomings of mind." Here, at a time when Scoville probably had the jury's full attention, Guiteau chimed in with one of his many interruptions. He had brains enough, Guiteau insisted, but "there is no money in theology, and I ran behind on that pretty badly. "
The climax of Guiteau's testimony came with his recounting of the 1880 election campaign. The prisoner still seemed puzzled by the reception he had been accorded at Republican headquarters in New York City. He had found the party leaders "delightful"; indeed, he allowed that he could approach vice-presidential candidate Chester A. Arthur and talk to him as freely as you please. (Guiteau was not exaggerating; in a written deposition to the court, President Arthur would concede that he had met Guiteau "ten, possibly as many as twenty times," mostly in New York City.) Nevertheless, nobody had shown much interest in giving him speaking assignments. After several letters to Presidentelect Garfield about possible diplomatic posts had gone unanswered, Guiteauwentto Washington, ostensibly concerned about the President's split with the Stalwart wing of the party. Then, in early June, came the lethal "impression. "
On the third day of Guiteau's testimony, John Porter began cross-examination on behalf of the prosecution. Porter retraced the defendant's checkered career, implying that the symptoms that Scoville had sought to portray as hereditary illness were in fact nothing more than the by-products of a life of debauchery. Porter even developed an additional motive for Guiteau's assault on Garfield when he led the defendant to concede that he expected the assassination to increase sales of his book, The Truth . For the most part, however, Porter belabored Guiteau's hopes for reward from a new President:
PORTER : Did you say to Officer Scott, on leaving the depot…, "General Arthur is now President?"
GUITEAU : I decline to answer that.
PORTER : Why do you object to answering that?
GUITEAU : I suppose I did say that; I want it distinctly understood that I did not do that of my own personal volition, but on the inspiration of the Deity. I never would have shot the President on my own personal account.
PORTER : Who bought the pistol—the Deity or you?
GUITEAU : I said the Deity inspired the act, and the Deity would take care of it.…
PORTER : Were you inspired to buy that British bulldog [pistol]?
GUITEAU : I do not pretend that I was inspired to do that specific act, but I claim that the Deity inspired me to remove the President, and that I had to resort to my own means to accomplish the Deity's will.…
PORTER : Did you contemplate his removal otherwise than by murder?
GUITEAU : No, sir; I do not like the word "murder."
PORTER : I know you do not like the word "murder. " It is a hard word, but it is there.
The upshot was that Scoville was reduced to an insanity defense. In the end twenty-three doctors would testify for the prosecution and thirteen for the defense. Although most had impressive credentials by the standards of the day, they practiced at a time when Freud's theories were unknown and the term "schizophrenia" had not even been coined. The role of expert witnesses, however, was already controversial, and thoughtful observers deplored the marshaling of opposing experts in adversary proceedings. This was small comfort to the jurors in the trial of Guiteau, however, who would have to reach a verdict in the face of diametrically opposed psychiatric testimony.
Insanity as a legal defense was still in its infancy in 1881 and was viewed by the public with skepticism. It had been successfully employed for a number of "crimes of passion," but in many of these the jury was assumed to have been predisposed in favor of an injured spouse. Popular attitudes were conditioned by a belief that an individual was responsible for his actions, however eccentric his personality. This popular view coincided closely with the narrow interpretation of legal insanity—the so-called M'Naghten Rule—which applied in most jurisdictions. Under the M'Naghten Rule, a person was legally sane if, at the time of an alleged crime, he knew that what he was about to do was unlawful.
Early in the trial the defense attempted to broaden the narrow base for an insanity defense represented by the M'Naghten Rule. Contrary to popular belief, Scoville maintained, most insane people do not behave in an outwardly irrational manner; rather, they are unable to reason properly, and lack a sense of proportion. In this line of reasoning Scoville was not without supporters. The term "moral insanity" had gained a degree of acceptance within the medical profession as an explanation for certain forms of compulsive behavior not clearly related to accepted signs of mental disturbance.
The defense set out to demonstrate that a strain of madness had marked most of Guiteau's adult life. Not only had the defendant's father been regarded as "cranky," but the defendant himself had been seen as unstable. Dr. Alexander Neil, an Ohio physician, told how Guiteau had attempted to sell him a theological pamphlet; Neil was convinced that the man was insane. Similarly, Guiteau had approached a prominent Chicago merchant, Charles Farwell, in connection with his attempt to found a religious newspaper. Farwell testified concerning Guiteau that he "never thought him a sane man," but on cross-examination Farwell added that he had never thought Guiteau so insane as to be unable to distinguish right from wrong—a key point, given the M'Naghten Rule.
The prosecution introduced a succession of rebuttal witnesses to demonstrate, in Corkhill's words, "that what the defense calls insanity is nothing more than devilish depravity." The Manhattan pastor from whom Guiteau had borrowed money testified that the defendant had spent wages earned by his wife on prostitutes, thereby contracting "a vile and loathesome disease." A succession of boardinghouse keepers told of midnight departures and unpaid bills. As for Guiteau, he kept up a running commentary from the table reserved for defense counsel. One day, he maintained, the country would speak not of "Guiteau the assassin" but of "Guiteau the patriot." He mused concerning his special relationship with the Deity: "Here is a quartet: the Lord, the jury, the court and me. "
The defendant's interruptions titillated the gallery and drove editorial writers to deplore the trial's lack of decorum. When one witness disparaged Guiteau's election pamphlet, the defendant shouted that he was not a fool, "and I won't allow you to make me out one." As Scoville examined a prosecution witness, Guiteau interjected, "You are making altogether too much out of this kind of fellow. You have not got much more sense than he has." It was difficult to say whether the defendant reserved greater invective for the district attorney or for his own counsel; on another occasion he described Scoville as "stupid as a jackass," fit only to examine title abstracts. The spectators guffawed and the public fumed, but Judge Cox remained tolerant—he wanted no grounds for a reversal of the jury's expected verdict. But after one string of interruptions, even Cox had had enough. "Keep your mouth shut," he told Guiteau, "and don't interrupt during this trial. I do not desire it; but if the trial cannot go on without resort to gagging, it will have to be done."
The defense produced eight "alienists"—the term then used for psychiatrists—to testify to their belief that Guiteau was insane. Each, if given the chance, doubtless would have set forth imaginative if subjective explanations of how he had arrived at this judgment. But Scoville, unwisely, did not inquire; rather, he put to each doctor a hypothetical question in which he described Guiteau's history of aberrant behavior and asked the witness if he would regard such a person as insane. The answer was predictably affirmative, but much of the impact of this expert testimony was lost because there was no elaboration.
It was through no fault of Scoville's, however, that the potentially most influential medical witness proved a mixed blessing. Twenty-nine-year-old Dr. Edward Spitzka was a German-born alienist who had studied widely in Europe before setting up a practice in New York City. He was the enfant terrible of the fledgling psychiatric establishment, and in particular was an outspoken critic of the M'Naghten Rule. Even before setting eyes on Guiteau, Spitzka had written in a professional journal that he was certain that if Guiteau, "with his hereditary history, his insane manner, his insane documents and his insane actions were to be committed to any asylum in the land, he would be unhesitatingly admitted as a proper subject for sequestration."
Having first had an opportunity to examine the defendant in his cell, the self-assured Spitzka elaborated on his views in court. When Scoville asked whether he thought Guiteau had been insane on the day of the assassination, Spitzka replied that in his opinion Guiteau had been "in a more or less morbid state throughout his life, and that he was probably insane at the time you mention." The prosecution, recognizing the confident Spitzka as a potentially dangerous witness, attempted to discredit his testimony. In reply to one question, Spitzka conceded that he had never taught at a medical college, but only at a school of veterinary medicine. Asked if this did not mean that he was a veterinarian, Spitzka snapped, "In the sense that I treat asses who ask me stupid questions, I am. " This was a tonic to the gallery, but it did nothing to make Spitzka's testimony more palatable to a skeptical middle-class jury.
The government, for its part, called no fewer than fourteen alienists in rebuttal. As if to mock Scoville, each was asked a hypothetical question much like that employed by the defense attorney—in answer to which each replied that he regarded the defendant as sane. One of the government's witnesses dwelt on Guiteau's megalomania, the trait that was probably most grating to the average American. "Boasting… is not the result of disease," Dr. Fordyce Barker observed. "It is a result of vanity and self-conceit and love of notoriety, and these are vices and not diseases."
The prosecution's counter to Spitzka was fifty-six-yearold John P. Gray, the superintendent of an asylum and editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Insanity . Dr. Gray was noted for his work in improving living conditions for asylum inmates and was one of the most respected names in the field of mental health. He had interviewed the defendant for two full days and had taken extensive notes. In four days of testimony—he was the last prosecution witness—Gray stressed the conventional wisdom that where there was no disease, there was no true insanity: "A man may become profoundly depraved and degraded by mental habits and yet not be insane. Such a man may become insane in the midst of his depravity, or afterward, but without such preceding disease it is only depravity."
Describing his interviews with Guiteau, Gray emphasized the defendant's rationality, his intelligence, and the amount of planning that had gone into his crime. Most damaging was his description of the defendant's premeditation; he quoted Guiteau as having told him, "I knew from the time I conceived the act, if I could establish the fact before a jury that I believed the killing was an inspired act, I could not be held to responsibility before the law." While Scoville wondered how to counter this damaging testimony, Guiteau broke in to affirm his statement to Gray, noting, "That is the law; that is correct."
If, after two months of testimony, there were any waverers on the jury, Dr. Gray's testimony may have been decisive. He was the last witness, but the proceedings took several more days to wind through the closing statements. Scoville alone talked for four days. On January 16,1882, Guiteau finally was granted permission to address the jury. Following a rambling rehash of his earlier testimony, he closed with a threat. "As sure as there is a God in Heaven," he warned the jury, "if you harm a hair on my head this nation will go down in blood. You can put my body in the grave, but there will be a day of reckoning." He assured the jury that "the mothers and daughters of the republic are praying that you will vindicate my inspiration, and their prayers I expect will prevail."
It was dusk on the afternoon of January 25 when Judge Cox completed his charge to the jury. Through it all ran the dictates of the M'Naghten Rule. Was the defendant's normal condition of mind, because of disease, such that he could not understand the nature of his actions, or distinguish between right and wrong? Or did he have sufficient intelligence to know that he was about to commit a wrongful act? The court recalled Dr. Gray's testimony that Guiteau, even as he planned his assault on the President, was designing a defense based on insanity.
At the close of the eleven-week trial, it took the jury only sixty-five minutes to reach its unanimous verdict: guilty as charged. The spectators cheered, and Guiteau exchanged angry words with Scoville. A subdued defendant was escorted once more to the prison van, which returned him to the jail through a cold winter rain. On February 4 Judge Cox sentenced him to death by hanging, but Guiteau was not to be denied the last word. "And may God have mercy on your soul," the prisoner replied. "I had rather stand where I am than where the jury does or where your Honor does."
The defense initiated the usual appeals, but to no avail. The Supreme Court denied a writ of habeas corpus, and President Arthur declined to order either a stay or a pardon. The date of execution was set for June 30. Guiteau was slow to realize that there was no avoiding the gallows, but in his final weeks he met daily with a prison pastor.
On June 30, at noon, he was led to the scaffold where some two hundred and fifty people, some of whom had paid up to three hundred dollars for admission, had gathered for the day's spectacle. Guiteau did not disappoint them. From the scaffold he read from the tenth chapter of Matthew ("And fear not them that kill the body but are not able to kill the soul"), but after fourteen verses he put the Bible aside, stating that he had a "pathetic hymn" of his own to read. Declaiming in an artificially high-pitched voice, Guiteau delivered his farewell:
For most Americans, Guiteau's execution marked the close of a bizarre but transitory episode. There were those in the legal profession who criticized Cox's gingerly handling of the trial, but his defenders were able to point out that he had given no grounds for a mistrial.
It was in the medical profession that the Guiteau case lived on. Alienists who had testified in favor of acquittal, or who had supported such a verdict, maintained that had Guiteau shot anyone other than the President, he might have been committed without even having to stand trial. Because the question of brain disease had figured prominently in the trial, there was much professional interest in the autopsy performed on the assassin. The autopsy revealed signs of syphilitic paresis but, on the whole, was inconclusive.
As time went on, the general feeling came to be that Guiteau must have been insane in medical terms, if not in the eyes of the law. Ironically, some practitioners were won over to this view only by the assassin's deportment on the scaffold. One physician, speaking at a convention, expressed his belief in Guiteau's incompetence, "especially at the last, when he got off that whang-doodle Oh! Lordy song."
The rest of the country seemed satisfied with the trial and its outcome. An editorial in the Washington Star mirrored the national mood: "Let us drop him, now. Guiteau, we mean. His attorneys have done their best by him; counsel for government have done theirs; the Judge did his, and the newspapers have done theirs. The miserable wretch has had a fair trial, and a great deal more notice and consideration than he deserved. "
Even from the perspective of a century, it would appear that if Guiteau was a victim, it was simply of the primitive state of psychiatry in 1881. Given the M'Naghten Rule then in vogue, it would have been almost impossible for a jury to acquit a man who committed an assassination in expectation of increasing sales for his book and who admitted that an insanity plea was an integral part of his planning. There was no railroading of Charles Guiteau. So strong was the case against him, in terms of the law of his day, that not a jury in the land could have voted for acquittal.


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Last week, I rode and ran my triathlon loop to get a base line.
Here's the scoop:
SWIM – My swim is what it is. 2013, the goal was to just learn how to swim and finish without putting my feet down. In 2015, I finally reached that goal. I swam the entire length without stopping and finished smiling. This year, the goal is to do that again, with more strength. Simple as that. I just swim, and transition smiling.
BIKE – My bike is going to be fast, damn fast. I'm going to push through flats like wind whipping around the corners of my house. I'm going to use the hills to my advantage. I'm going to learn to work the gears and cadence.
RUN – The run has been eating me alive. Although I began my triathlon journey the least worried about my ability to run, it has become the thing that has me jiggling in my seat. Everyone else is so unbelievably fast. They fly…I lope. So I persevere. I run and run and run. I sprint and sprint and run again. My knees ache. My asthma kicks in. I keep running. It's painful. But my run, like my bike, need to be fast. I'm going to make it fast.
Here's my beautiful graph that my partner/coach helped me put together. I was very discouraged by my baseline performance until I had the chance to see how much I have improved since 2013. The final point on the graph includes my swim time and transitions from the previous year, assuming they won't change much. I took off twenty-minutes! Woohoo!
Only twenty more to go and then I have a shot at placing in my age group…


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Heart 3D roller embroidered Patch (Iron On)
Regular price$7.00
- In stock, ready to ship
- Inventory on the way
Iron-On Patches at home!!! Make shorts, skorts, t-shirts extra special with iron-on patches. We have TESTED TESTED & TESTED these patches. They will not come off in the wash.
Dimension 2" wide
1. Preheat iron to cotton setting & turn off steam
or for heat press 325 degrees
2. Be sure fiber content of prewashed fabric
project can withstand heat setting required for
application. (not recommended for use on 100%
synthetic or delicate fabrics).
3. Position iron-on right side up on project,
cover with cloth, and press firmly for 10-15
4. Turn project inside out and press back side of
iron-on for 20-25 seconds.
5. Let iron-on cool for 1 minute, check for full
adhesion, and repeat step 4 if needed.