text:
What's Hot on Your Bookshelf, March 2019
If you're like me, your reading list is forever growing and evolving and not to be moody or anything but life's sometimes as weird as it is in your favourite fictional chronicles. Some days you just want the world to leave you alone and let you figure it out. No matter the situation or day though, there's always an escape in a trusty book. And as I make this list a monthly feature on HSF, here are my top five picks for the month ahead.
'Daisy Jones & The Six' by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it's the rock 'n' roll she loves most. By the time she's twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she's pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.
The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.
Shop this title on Amazon
'Hollywood's Eve: Eve Babitz & the Secret History of L.A' by Lili Anolik
Los Angeles in the 1960s and 70s was the pop culture capital of the world—a movie factory, a music factory, a dream factory. Eve Babitz was the ultimate factory girl, a pure product of LA.
The goddaughter of Igor Stravinsky and a graduate of Hollywood High, Babitz posed in 1963, at age twenty, playing chess with the French artist Marcel Duchamp. She was naked; he was not. The photograph, cheesecake with a Dadaist twist, made her an instant icon of art and sex. Babitz spent the rest of the decade rocking and rolling on the Sunset Strip, honing her notoriety. There were the album covers she designed: for Buffalo Springfield and the Byrds, to name but a few. There were the men she seduced: Jim Morrison, Ed Ruscha, Harrison Ford, to name but a very few.
Then, at nearly thirty, her It girl days numbered, Babitz was discovered—as a writer—by Joan Didion. She would go on to produce seven books, usually billed as novels or short story collections, always autobiographies and confessionals. Under-known and under-read during her career, she's since experienced a breakthrough. Now in her mid-seventies, she's on the cusp of literary stardom and recognition as an essential—as the essential—LA writer. Her prose achieves that American ideal: art that stays loose, maintains its cool, and is so sheerly enjoyable as to be mistaken for simple entertainment.
For Babitz, life was slow days, fast company until a freak fire in the 90s turned her into a recluse, living in a condo in West Hollywood, where Lili Anolik tracked her down in 2012. Anolik's elegant and provocative new book is equal parts biography and detective story. It is also on dangerously intimate terms with its subject: artist, writer, muse, and one-woman zeitgeist, Eve Babitz.
Shop this title on Amazon
Water Cure: A Novel by Sophie Mackintosh
King has tenderly staked out a territory for his wife and three daughters, Grace, Lia, and Sky. He has lain the barbed wire; he has anchored the buoys in the water; he has marked out a clear message: Do not enter. Or viewed from another angle: Not safe to leave. Here women are protected from the chaos and violence of men on the mainland. The cult-like rituals and therapies they endure fortify them from the spreading toxicity of a degrading world.
But when their father, the only man they've ever seen, disappears, they retreat further inward until the day two men and a boy wash ashore. Over the span of one blistering hot week, a psychological cat-and-mouse game plays out. Sexual tensions and sibling rivalries flare as the sisters confront the amorphous threat the strangers represent. Can they survive the men?
A haunting, riveting debut about the capacity for violence and the potency of female desire, The Water Cure both devastates and astonishes as it reflects our own world back at us.
Shop this title on Amazon
'The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays' by Esmé Weijun Wang
An intimate, moving book written with the immediacy and directness of one who still struggles with the effects of mental and chronic illness, The Collected Schizophrenias cuts right to the core. Schizophrenia is not a single unifying diagnosis, and Esmé Weijun Wang writes not just to her fellow members of the "collected schizophrenias" but to those who wish to understand it as well. Opening with the journey toward her diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, Wang discusses the medical community's own disagreement about labels and procedures for diagnosing those with mental illness, and then follows an arc that examines the manifestations of schizophrenia in her life. In essays that range from using fashion to present as high-functioning to the depths of a rare form of psychosis, and from the failures of the higher education system and the dangers of institutionalization to the complexity of compounding factors such as PTSD and Lyme disease, Wang's analytical eye, honed as a former lab researcher at Stanford, allows her to balance research with personal narrative. An essay collection of undeniable power, The Collected Schizophrenias dispels misconceptions and provides insight into a condition long misunderstood.
Shop this title on Amazon
'The Lost Night' by Andrea Bartz
In 2009, Edie had New York's social world in her thrall. Mercurial and beguiling, she was the shining star of a group of recent graduates living in a Brooklyn loft and treating New York like their playground. When Edie's body was found near a suicide note at the end of a long, drunken night, no one could believe it. Grief, shock, and resentment scattered the group and brought the era to an abrupt end.
A decade later, Lindsay has come a long way from the drug-addled world of Calhoun Lofts. She has devoted best friends, a cozy apartment, and a thriving career as a magazine's head fact-checker. But when a chance reunion leads Lindsay to discover an unsettling video from that hazy night, she starts to wonder if Edie was actually murdered—and, worse, if she herself was involved. As she rifles through those months in 2009—combing through case files, old technology, and her fractured memories—Lindsay is forced to confront the demons of her own violent history to bring the truth to light.
Shop this title on Amazon
'Gingerbread' by Helen Oyeyemi
Influenced by the mysterious place gingerbread holds in classic children's stories, beloved novelist Helen Oyeyemi invites readers into a delightful tale of a surprising family legacy, in which the inheritance is a recipe.
Perdita Lee may appear to be your average British schoolgirl; Harriet Lee may seem just a working mother trying to penetrate the school social hierarchy; but there are signs that they might not be as normal as they think they are. For one thing, they share a gold-painted, seventh-floor walk-up apartment with some surprisingly verbal vegetation. And then there's the gingerbread they make. Londoners may find themselves able to take or leave it, but it's very popular in Druhástrana, the far-away (or, according to many sources, non-existent) land of Harriet Lee's early youth. The world's truest lover of the Lee family gingerbread, however, is Harriet's charismatic childhood friend Gretel Kercheval —a figure who seems to have had a hand in everything (good or bad) that has happened to Harriet since they met.
Decades later, when teenaged Perdita sets out to find her mother's long-lost friend, it prompts a new telling of Harriet's story. As the book follows the Lees through encounters with jealousy, ambition, family grudges, work, wealth, and real estate, gingerbread seems to be the one thing that reliably holds a constant value. Endlessly surprising and satisfying, written with Helen Oyeyemi's inimitable style and imagination, it is a true feast for the reader.
Shop this title on Amazon


text:
Become a Member
Types of Membership:
- Individual
- Family
Already a Member? Renew your membership through Pay Pal (see button on right) and let us know what you think about Solutions Recovery Club through this Membership Survey!
Why become a member?
Here are the benefits:
- Help keeps SRC open to provide a safe and secure meeting place
- Your own personal counter coffee cup
- Discount prices on coffee
- Voting rights at the SRC Annual Meeting to review the direction and organization for Solutions Recovery Club
- Service Opportunities through Volunteering – The reward is gratifying
Pricing (Individual/Family):
- Annually: $80/$120
- Monthly: $8/$12
- Lifetime: $1,200/$1,500

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The North Corktown Neighborhood Association meets 4 times a year. This specific meeting will also include the annual election of the NCNA board. For more information on the meeting, elections, or to be put on our email announcement list, email email@example.com.
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: June 16Neighborhood Bar Night
Later Event: December 13NCNA General Meeting


text:
Every minute of spring is precious on a small farm, so when our neighbor Glenn asked me to stop in Idaho and pick up a tractor implement he'd found on Craigslist, while on my way to pick up a trailer base for the next best chicken barn, I was a little leary. But it's hard to say no to the kind of neighbor who wanders up on a July evening to pass a plate of barbecued ribs and a packet of cornbread over the fence while we move irrigation pipe. (And Glenn is from Lousiana, so when he says he made barbecue, you take it seriously, trust me.)
He assured me that I could make it a quick stop, didn't need too much mental energy, and that if the envelope of cash he handed me wasn't enough to convince the seller, then I could just continue on my way. Of course it ended up a little differently than that, and not just because the old rancher I found turned out to be selling most of his place, "keeping the house and a couple of mountains, but selling off the rest."
The moment we guided the old s-tine cultivator off the tractor tines, dropping it into the truckbed with a thunk, I knew I was sunk. I wasn't sure what Glenn had been planning to use it for, but it was exactly what I wanted to try for cultivating beds of broccoli, squash, cabbage, and kale, this season. The whole drive home I fretted and schemed, wondering how I could convince Glenn to let us buy this tool instead of him. From a rest stop, I texted Mary "I've been scheming."
Coffee is pretty much my go-to tool for convincing anyone of anything, so I asked Glenn to join us in the yurt the next morning for a cup. A little nervous, not wanting to offend or outbid him, but knowing Mary is a tough negotiator and had my back, we chatted about all sorts of neighborly things for a while before going to check out the tools. I showed him our "quacker" first, a burly iron clawed tool built by our friend Leon, and informed him I'd drop it as his place later, for him to use whenever he wanted. By the time we had perused the assortment of trailers I've collected, talked a little more about alfalfa and seeding, he was pretty easy to convince to sell the cultivator to us for exactly what he paid for it. All he wanted was to take a quick look at "the implement I just bought and sold" in our truckbed.
We hope that hauling season is winding down, but as we get closer to planting season it seems that the season of wheeling and dealing may just be ramping up. Which reminds me, we are still signing people up for our farm "feed bag" memberships. Whether you reserve one for yourself, or convince your neighbor to get one and then hustle if off of them, it's all good for us! We have about half our membership slots filled, and hope to have the rest reserved as soon as possible. If you know you are ready to join, you can jump right to the online registration form here. Or read details of this years membership here.
In the finale of wheeling and dealing, we could also use your help finding our final team member for the season. Glenn doesn't have any employees we can steal, he's done some fabrication for us, and we already hijacked the youngest daughter of some of our closest local friends, so we need you to help spread that word that we are hiring one half-time employee for the full growing season (early April through mid-November). If you or anyone you know is interestedin a season with this scrappy farm team, have them email us for an application.


text:
Make Your Cat Feel Better Today
Receive Knowledge
Learn the causes, symptoms and treatments of cat renal failure.
Realize Options
Learn about the different options available, from home remedies to surgery.
Understand Your Pet
Get the information you need to understand what your pet is going through and how he or she is feeling.
Make Empowered Choices
Knowledge is power. Get the tools you need to make the best choice for your pet.
Help! My Cat has Renal Failure: How Kitty Can Still Live a Healthy, Happy Life
Renal failure occurs when the kidneys are no longer able to filter toxins from and balance fluids within the body.
Renal failure is broken into two categories: chronic renal failure and acute renal failure.
Chronic Renal Failure
Chronic renal failure is not reversible, but it is manageable.
Chronic renal failure is the progressive destruction of your cat's kidneys.
Mostly a disease of older cats, chronic renal failure progresses slowly but is ultimately terminal.
Increased blood pressure due to hyperthyroidism is a common culprit in the development of chronic renal failure in geriatric cats.
Acute Renal Failure
Acute renal failure tends to be more aggressive and shows symptoms within a few hours or days after the initial onset.
Acute renal failure can be reversed with aggressive treatment.
Eating poisons, such as lilies, raisins, grapes, radiator fluid, certain pain pills like ibuprofen, and extreme dehydration can cause acute renal failure.
Acute renal failure is an emergency.
If you suspect your cat has been exposed to any of the above substances and appears sick, contact your veterinarian immediately.
If your cat has been diagnosed with chronic renal failure, we can help!
Download your free ebook today and learn different treatment options so your cat can live a long, happy life.


text:
Scene 2. House
Scene 2. House
from 35.00
Below are featured examples of all of the individual prints from this scene. The name of each print corresponds with the name of the items in the drop-down menu.
All prints (except House - 10) are A3 format, 29.7 x 42.0 cm, unframed. House 10: A2 format, 42.0 x 59.4 cm, unframed.
Click on the image to see it close up.
Scene 2. House:
Add To Cart


text:
Proverbs 12:23
Good Morning,
I hope you had a good weekend and enjoyed the time you spent worshipping the Lord with fellow believers at church. We had a good beginning to our revival services, please continue to pray for these meetings.
This morning I would like to focus on Proverbs 12:23, "Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding." Here we have a list of valuable items to hang on to, to store up in an abundant supply. Truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding are virtues beyond value, none of which are for sale. Therefore, the writer of this proverb urges his son to spend whatever is necessary to obtain truth and wisdom. Though we may buy a material possession and later sell it, the admonition here warns of never getting rid of truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding. The greater thought is of obtaining the related virtues of truth and never letting them slip away.
Do you value the things listed in verse twenty-three? Often, I'm afraid we have a higher regard for items not very important. Learn the principle taught herein, and become the person God intends you to become.
Have a great day!
Your Friend and HIS,
Pastor Abbott


text:
DIMOREGALLERY is a home, a journey, an experience, a dialogue between past and present. Every object selected or created by designers Emiliano Salci and Britt Moran, has a story and an allure capturing imagination in a way in which only art and design are able. Each room unveils a different emotion (joy, surprise, nostalgia) leading the visitor towards the discovery of elusive colors and precious materials, where the quest for form reveals the presence of objects and makes this journey unique and emotive. Designed and produced by Emiliano and Britt, objects from far-away worlds live next to sculptural furniture.
"Progetto Non Finito": a series of seating, tables, cabinets, bookcases and lamps is translated into a contemporary language finding origins in the past as a source of inspiration. Corroded metal alternates with precious alloys, aged silver and oxidised brass; glossy lacquers blend with rough-finished fiberglass; textiles with a classical point-of-view are made contemporary by creative interpretation.
The exhibition area has been conceived as a living space, housing iconic pieces from the Progetto Non Finito collection by DIMORESTUDIO, together with works that represent symbols of excellence of Italian design, in order to create a perfect dialogue between past and present; contemporary and aesthetic codes of the 30's, 40's and 50's.


text:
AutoStore is a Norwegian tech company, leading innovation in the field of robotic warehouse automation. Following the brand film Tendril created for AutoStore, they produced a film that focuses on the First Generation Black Line Robot to salute the state-of-the-art technology and highlight its new innovative features.
Design/Animation/Direction : Tendril
Original Music & Sound Design : CYPHER


text:
Apple revealed that iTunes coming to Samsung's newer smart TV. Something you might not have just expected to see Apple do.
This means that it will be possible to rent and buy content from iTunes directly on your Samsung smart TV. iTunes is going to be like an app on the TV, where Samsung for a time has exclusivity, but may it also move in with other manufacturers in the future.
Apple has recently focused on privacy where, among other things, before CES started this poster hung up:
But what happens when an Apple service comes on a Samsung smart TV? Apple says that while iTunes is coming to Samsung's platform, the viewers won't be able to target advertising and the like through the use of iTunes.
AirPlay 2 for several TV producers
So far, only the Samsung is getting the iTunes app, but several other TV producers seem to be taking Apple's AirPlay 2 to it. This means that via an iPad or an iPhone you will be able to stream and mirror content directly to your smart TV.
Whether these manufacturers will also be able to offer iTunes content is still unknown. However, there are no TV producers who have announced anything officially yet.
A new Apple streaming service?
With AirPlay 2 for multiple smart TVs and iTunes for Samsung smart TV, it suggests an upcoming Apple streaming service and perhaps a focus shift. A shift to focus more on streaming and online services. Time will tell.
CES is in full swing so hopefully more exciting information will pop up around this soon.


text:
Momma's not even thinking about my elder brother's pregnancy when he rummenigge was a footballer. So, I know nothing about him as a player all I know is that he helped us make shaqiri's deal come true and credit's to him.
Momma's not even thinking about my elder brother's pregnancy when he rummenigge was a footballer. So, I know nothing about him as a player all I know is that he helped us make shaqiri's deal come true and credit's to him.
Interviewed by some local media, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge discussed the deal for Xherdan Shaqiri. "Why did you immediately refuse Liverpool's offer of €20 million?" they asked him. "I don't owe explanations to anyone," said the former Nerazzurri man. "But if you really want to know, it's very simple: the boy only wanted to join Inter and it was the same for us. End of story. I also refused offers from half the continent back in the day so I could join Inter. Inter are Inter."
See? Not just rumours. He's a ... certified Interista. A very important one I'd say.
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
They own the player. They can sell him to whomever they damn well please.
Why the club would give permission is entirely up to the club. Some offer better players, some just have a better connections, some has histories, some aren't threats to their season targets (leauge/cups), or just higher price. For example, Fio hates Milan and Roma hates Juve for their past transfer histories, and usually avoids transfers if possible.
Well, there are bunch of clubs/players that talk behind with or without the permission, but anyways that's the rule.
Herzlichen Dank Karl-Heinz Rummenigge!
Very colorful guy..remember him once calling Gobbi&Moggi Mafioso
Can he give us some more players?
"Moggi was just a grape in a vineyard of bullshit"
Bayern selling Xherdan Shaqiri to Inter at a 'discount' - Rummenigge - ESPN
By Ben Gladwell 1 Day Ago
Rummenigge: FFP Is Damaging Serie A Teams and We Must Help Them - 90min.comBayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says his club did Inter Milan a favour by selling them Xherdan Shaqiri since they could have earned more by selling the Swiss midfielder to England.
Shaqiri joined the Nerazzurri during the winter transfer window on an initial loan deal which becomes obligatorily permanent in the summer.
The transfer will cost Inter in the region of 15 million -- less than the money Liverpool had reportedly offered the Bavarians.
"This is the deal we have," Rummenigge said. "We could have earned more by selling him to England, so we've given Inter a discount."
According to the former Inter player, Rummenigge not only did the Serie A club a favour, but he also acted in the best interests of the player.
"Shaqiri needed to be playing regularly and I advised him to go to Inter, even though there were lots of English clubs interested," Rummenigge told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"Given the troubles Inter are having, they've hit the jackpot by signing him. He's got quality, he's young and he is capable of making a difference.
"He's going to become even more stable as time goes by because he just needs to feel good and feel he's at home."
While Shaqiri has had a positive impact for the Nerazzurri, the same cannot be said about Lukas Podolski, who will almost certainly return to Arsenal at the end of his loan spell in the summer with Inter unlikely to exercise their option on the Germany international.
"I'm sorry because I know his performances haven't been up to much while at the same time he keeps delivering for the national team," Rummenigge said. "Maybe he's suffering from the fact that he needs to have room to work in and you don't get that room in Italy."
Picking up points in Milan appears to be easier than ever this season and this also concerns Rummenigge.
"If things carry on this way it will be a pity for Italian football and for European football," he said. "Clubs like Milan and Inter have big names and they belong in [European] competitions.
By Nemanja Grbic on 3 Apr 2015
In a interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the chief executive of Bayern Munich, spoke about financial problems Italian football is facing, with teams not getting enough money from TV deals, merchandising and sponsors.
The head of European Club Association also told that they need to find a way to help without breaking strict Financial Fair Play rules, which are currently, at this level, damaging Italian teams.
Its a pity not just for the clubs, but also for Italian and European football, teams like Milan and Inter are big names which are used to the competition (the Champions League). However, complaining does not help. I saw (Inter director) Marco Fassone yesterday, and I immediately thought: five years ago Inter won the Champions League'."
Football can be strange sometimes, but in the last five years something has gone wrong. We need to have a clear plan, with all financial options available, yet without going against Financial Fair Play."
Rummenigge, who played for Inter in mid 80's, also stated that current rigid FFP rules are not only damaging the Italians, but major part of Eastern Europe and some big clubs in Western Europe as well.
If you have a hole, you cant plug it without any fresh money. Ive read that Milan could be sold, but the new owner couldnt put in too much money without going against UEFA limitations. So, its up to us as big names to find a solution which wont penalise them any more.
There are clear, rigid laws but we must think about not hurting clubs too. Almost all clubs from Eastern Europe suffer because they dont have a lot of revenue from television, sponsors and merchandising. So we need to look at how we can lend a hand to those clubs, but also some big clubs in Western Europe who now find themselves in trouble.
Such a boss!
I'm starting to like Bayern more and more and he is one of the reasons!
Ajax just thrashed Juve!! Fuck whoever uses the 'experience' excuse for signing bunch of mediocre 30+ year olds who do nothing other than laying in the treatment room and demanding high wages.
That is a man that should lead FIFA or UEFA not the corrupt ones we have right now.
Ziyad Of Boston
Rummenigge: "If you look at the market, it has been quiet this summer. The only major transfers are a 33 year old for 112 million to Juventus and a goalkeeper to Liverpool. Otherwise we haven't seen a lot"
Luis Figo: "When I signed for Inter it was simply about looking for football happiness."


text: Immerse | Culture | People | Arts and Architecture | Barbados Ewan Atkinson: boy next door The fictional Neighbourhood invented by Barbadian artist Ewan Atkinson is like a childhood fantasy complicated by grown-up concerns, Allison Thompson writes By Allison Thompson | Issue 136 (November/December 2015) 0 Comments Photo by Bart SimsInstallation view of The Nelsons' New Neighbourhood Reader. Courtesy Ewan AtkinsonFrom The Nelsons' New Neighbourhood Reader (2010). Courtesy Ewan AtkinsonThe Governing Body, from The Neighbourhood Report. Courtesy Ewan AtkinsonThe Inland Sea, from The Neighbourhood Report. Courtesy Ewan AtkinsonPoster from the Only in Our Imagination series (2015). Courtesy Ewan AtkinsonPoster from the Only in Our Imagination series (2015). Courtesy Ewan AtkinsonPoster from the Only in Our Imagination series (2015). Courtesy Ewan AtkinsonPoster from the Only in Our Imagination series (2015). Courtesy Ewan AtkinsonTravelogue (2015). Courtesy Ewan Atkinson Who are the people in your neighbourhood? They're the people that you meet each day. A neighbourhood is a familiar place. It's a community, demarcated by its geographical boundaries as well as the social bonds between its residents and the quotidian rituals that take place within it. Among neighbourhoods made famous in popular culture, Sesame Street is a particularly iconic one, embraced by millions of young television viewers worldwide, with its community of humans and hybrid muppets who share discoveries and challenges along a traffic-less New York City street. Growing up in Barbados in the 1980s, Ewan Atkinson would return from school to his middle-class residential neighbourhood of Pine Gardens, not far from Carrington Village, the setting for George Lamming's novel In the Castle of My Skin. But the distance between a village and a neighbourhood is significant. Young Ewan would wait patiently for the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation to resume its daily television programming promptly at 4 pm — and every day the first show was the same: Sesame Street. "This is not just my story," Atkinson recalls. "It became every Bajan kid's story, and we watched long after we passed the age of the show's demographics. It is embedded in my psyche beyond belief. I was a huge fan." There's a lot to be said for the enduring impact of communal socialisation within a small and conservative space. Before the single-channel television broadcast of CBC, there was Rediffusion radio, which transmitted a single broadcast of classical music and serial dramas into tens of thousands of subscribers' homes across Barbados, and which could not be turned off; the volume could only be turned down. When Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier visited Barbados in the late 1950s, he commented that homes without the "radio apparatus" were scarce: "In the afternoons, walking through the pathways of St James, issuing from the homes of workers, artisans, or farmers one could hear pieces such as Brahms's Variations on a Theme by Haydn, or Rinaldo's aria and fragments of The Messiah by Handel, a great deal of Handel." Carpentier went on to speak of public libraries, the local newspaper, and the numerous churches, all signs of the admirable development of the island. Nevertheless, he cautioned that he was not suggesting Barbados was "some kind of Earthly Paradise as depicted by the cartographers of ancient times," since there was some injustice which had been buried beneath its surface. The public library and the public schools, community theatre, and of course the church — they all served as cultural conduits, and endure in our shared memories with a sense of nostalgia. Every generation has its signposts. Fast-forward into the twenty-first century, and Ewan Atkinson has fashioned his own fictional community of characters that negotiate the hidden potholes and pitfalls of paradise. This "staggeringly obtuse aggregate of individuals," as he calls them, makes up his Neighbourhood, and has consumed his attention for the greater part of a decade. In many ways, the residents are hybrid characters, like Jim Henson's muppets, marginalised misfits who find sanctuary in the Neighbourhood. Plots and profiles have gradually evolved into interwoven histories and intrigues that riff on a range of sources, from serial dramas and pop songs to literary classics, all intended for popular consumption. And Atkinson is voracious in his desire to sample them all. The rituals of childhood, particularly the classics of children's fiction, continue to impinge on Atkinson's world-view. Alice's Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh's Hundred-Acre Wood, and Peter Pan's Neverland have provided timeless journeys into the elsewheres of make-believe where boys and girls evade the greatest peril of ever having to grow up. It is not surprising, then, that the Neighbourhood characters made their first public appearance in Fiction, Atkinson's 2007 solo exhibition at Bridgetown's Zemicon Gallery. Curator Therese Hadchity noted the deliberate "ambiguousness" of the images: "Surrounded by vast expanses of empty space, these places are free of any specific geographical or historical context (though some place-names, as well as Atkinson's familiar fences and cane-fields, have an unmistakably Barbadian ring)," she wrote. "Their scale and location and the significance of the figures is completely open-ended: we are in the realm not of the existing, but of the imaginable!" Six years later, Atkinson launched his blog, The Neighbourhood Report, which provides an ongoing platform for developing storylines, fleshing out the histories of established personages, as well as introducing new ones, and gradually revealing the origins and boundaries of the Neighbourhood itself. Like a serial novel or a television soap opera, each post reveals bits of information while impishly leaving other details shrouded in mystery. Several of the Neighbourhood characters have made cameo appearances in "outside" projects. The Nelsons' New Neighbourhood Reader, subtitled "Morality Tales for the Discerning Neighbourhood, pages 18 to 27", is an updated take on the Nelson's West Indian Readers, former staple textbooks of Anglophone Caribbean schools. Atkinson's text is a revision purportedly written by the Neighbourhood's Nelson brothers, and adapted to provide a "more relevant neighbourhood experience." Relevant to whom? The thinly veiled moral tone of the original reader is upended as Atkinson introduces themes of homosexuality, cross-dressing, and online sex, testing the entrenched — and hypocritical — conservative veneer of traditional Barbadian society. First exhibited as part of the Caribbean Pavilion at the 2010 Liverpool Biennial, ten pages of The Nelsons' New Neighbourhood Reader were displayed within a classroom-like installation complete with small children's tables and chairs and a jar of coloured pencils. Viewers were invited to respond to the exercises following short narratives such as "Planning a Trip" and "The Naughty Dog." Atkinson's interest in involving the viewer in a more interactive way reflects his lifelong fascination with theatre and performance. The Liverpool installation was exhibited again the following year in Barbados at the Morningside Gallery as part of the Black Jacobins exhibition, and in early 2015 as part of the Salamanca Art Centre's Colonial Afterlives show in Hobart, Australia. Whether in Britain, Barbados, or Australia, from one end of the colonised globe to the other, the work resonated with viewers, and the invitation to regress to early childhood school days was irresistible. The walls surrounding Atkinson's pages became crowded with additions from spectators, some responding to the assignments, many of them more intuitive, spontaneous, and personal. Can you tell me how to get, how to get to . . . Where is Atkinson's Neighbourhood? The location is deliberately obscure. The spelling (neighbour with a "u") situates it within the realm of the former British Empire. The recurring appearance of palm trees confirms its tropical setting. But in many ways it is the antithesis or inversion of Atkinson's own Caribbean island, with an "Inland Ocean" (described as a large body of saltwater that sits at the centre of the Neighbourhood). At the same time, the appearance of iconic landmarks and characters such as the Empire Theatre and Mother Sally are embedded in the Barbadian cultural experience. And if the Neighbourhood characters seem familiar, it's not simply because they have made recurring appearances: it's because they bear a distinct resemblance to the artist himself. In this virtual one-man play, Atkinson assumes a wide range of guises, confirmation that this community is a construction of the artist's imagination. Only in Our Imagination is the title of Atkinson's latest project: a series of travel posters produced for the 2015 Havana Biennial that invite the viewer to venture to the Neighbourhood as a desirable tourist destination. Based on the theme "Between the Idea and Experience," the twelfth Havana Biennial aimed to abandon the "meta exhibition" structure of works situated in a central venue, opting instead for the "interstices" of the city, non-traditional and often outdoor spaces, in an effort "to feel the city and its people." The invitation to participate seemed tailor-made for Atkinson's Neighbourhood characters, for it is precisely in the interstices — the small breaks or gaps in the social fabric, the inbetweenness of spaces — where they make their home. The travel posters were produced in two sets, one in English and one in Spanish, and pasted on public walls in Casa Blanca, a suburb of Havana. They included stickers directing viewers to the Neighbourhood Project website. Described as "a Collection of Information and Esoterica culled from the Neighbourhood and its various inhabitants," the website provides brief descriptions for each of the characters and locations, as well as links to all of the related Neighbourhood Report blog posts. A new bilingual edition of the posters has been produced for the inaugural Biennial of Asunción in Paraguay (which opened in October 2015), with text in both Spanish and Guaraní, the two official languages of the country. Atkinson's fictional world is conjured primarily through images, rather than written language. Nevertheless, with the blog and the posters, text has become an integral part of both the design and the message. The pairing of words and images is presented as self-evident. From the earliest illustrated travel accounts of encounters in the New World, strange flora and fauna along with indigenous peoples were labelled with an explanatory precision which disguised the vagaries and inaccuracies that shrouded Europe's attempts to market its campaign of empire-building. Tourism campaigns have maintained much of this tradition. Only in Our Imagination highlights the surreal and performative nature of representations intended to impress and fascinate the viewer. Atkinson's Neighbourhood does indeed lie beyond the borders of reality, like Neverland or Wonderland; like the tropical paradise of the New World Eden illustrated by sixteenth-century explorers and modern tourism bureaus. The title echoes a popular advertising campaign launched by the Barbados Tourism Board in the 1990s. "Just beyond your imagination" was the slogan used on posters and TV commercials, accompanied by scenes of sea and sand, marketing Barbados as the idyllic tropical paradise, removed from the pressures and demands of reality. Around the same time, another campaign aimed at Barbadian "locals" announced that "Tourism Is Our Business, Let's Play Our Part." The marketing of the country was positioned as the responsibility and business of all citizens, while acknowledging the performative obligations to play along, inherent in the service industries and the staging of fantasy. It was a double-pronged approach aimed at convincing foreigners to come to the island, and locals to welcome them. The imprecise nature of translating the text from English to Spanish to Guaraní and the subtle shifts in meaning that occur heighten the ambiguity of the message in Atkinson's posters, as well as affirm the challenges and compromises of cross-cultural outreach. One of these things is not like the others . . . Ewan Atkinson has just turned forty years old, not an insignificant milestone for the boy who never wanted to grow up. He was born in 1975, into an artistic family: his mother Hetty was a dancer, active with the Barbados Dance Theatre, and his father Arthur is an accomplished artist and graphic designer. "Because of what my parents did," Atkinson recalls, "I was always at exhibitions and rehearsals and performances, and that influenced a lot of what I did. I made puppets and put on shows. I turned a shelf into a stage and got Christmas lights and put on productions for myself. I was not an extra-curricular kind of guy. I liked my toys and I liked my books. And I did always draw. Always." Growing up in a biracial family has contributed in some part to Atkinson's interest in spaces of difference. When asked what impact this had, he replies that as a child it was non-existent. "It was not anything I noticed. That changed around secondary school. But I don't think I started really thinking about it until college, when it began to colour my experiences as I moved back and forth from one country to another. You become more aware as you get older, as it influences how you see the world and how it might see you. I became quite comfortable in what I started to see as an in-between place." Atkinson received a BFA from the Atlanta College of Art, and recently completed an MA in cultural studies at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill. In addition to participating in a number of important international exhibitions, Atkinson has found recognition at home (the National Art Gallery of Barbados has to date acquired fifteen of his works), a feat which at times he has thought might be more challenging, since he stands virtually alone in his willingness to openly address themes of queer visuality. Perhaps part of what has allowed him to indulge in the fantasy of perpetual youth is his situation within the Barbados Community College, where he works as the coordinator of the bachelor of fine arts programme in studio art. He also recently co-founded the Punch Creative Arena, an initiative that aims to foster creative action. A recent event, "Punch-In", saw four artists, including Atkinson, commit to three weeks of intensive in-studio collaboration which foregrounded process, interaction, and exchange as an antidote to an environment where artists often work in isolation and lack open critical dialogue. In Travelogue, one of the outcomes of that experiment, Neighbourhood characters and landforms appear within a grid of porthole windows — small samplings, like a map's key that opens up the possibility of a fuller reading. The significance of reading as a critical engagement with all that surrounds us has grown in importance for the artist. When asked what the Neighbourhood has come to mean to him after many years of investigation, Atkinson explains that when it started, he defined it as a "head space" because he wasn't sure where it was going. He also toyed with the idea of making it some kind of failed utopia, but that idea is fading. Instead, it has become a place in which the artist can work things out. "Histories, relationships, language, learning to read — these have interested me for years, and it just gets more and more true as my definition of reading expands. What it means to read — books, people, images — and the idea that how we do that is influenced by everything we have experienced." Ultimately his intent has not been to "represent the space I live in in my head," but rather to use the characters who reside in the Neighbourhood to connect with other people who may have shared similar experiences, and encourage the dissection of those experiences. "Putting them on display is a way to either connect with somebody else or draw a boundary, or both." It's the process of coming of age. Find out more about Ewan Atkinson's Neighbourhood Project at www.theneighbourhoodproject.com


text:
Worth Reading - 2/9
1. The recent case of the abusive family in California serves as a reminder of the compelling need for Christians to neighbor effectively.
2. We forget most of what we read or watch, but the experience is still formative.
3. There are common patterns in a good testimony of God's faithfulness. Turns out, there are common patterns in convincing testimonies when people turn away from their faith, as is evidenced by a recent interview with Jen Hatmaker. Michael Kruger breaks it down on his blog:
4. [Note: This is not for the faint of heart.] A graphic description of how porn usage is impacting teenagers and their views on sex. For those seeking an understanding of the extent and future potential problems of pornography, this is an informative and well-researched article.
5. Wesley Hill discusses the need for conscience protections for medical professionals in light of recent trends in activism to try to coerce all doctors and nurses to participate in morally objectionable practices.


text:
Hi friends.
I wanted to let you all know that I have just published & put up for sale in my Etsy store a handmade colour photography zine of my series 'A Christmas Bushfire'. The zine is bound with hand painted watercolour card & is made to order. The zine contains 15 colour photographs on separate pages. A5 in size. Available here for $7 each.
Series Description;
I recently returned home just before Christmas from a whirlwind trip overseas to learn that there were multiple out-of-control fires raging very close to my family's home. Before finally being extinguished after Christmas, the fire destroyed scores of homes & thousands of hectares of land. Fortunately, my family's home was spared, with the containment line of the fire being within 20 meters of our back fence. I cannot express enough gratitude to the NSW Rural Fire Service & the local firefighting volunteers who put their own lives on the line to protect the community.
The following is a series of photographs I captured about 50 meters from my family home, in an area that had been so badly burnt that the soil is now scorched pure white. The photographs express what I cannot articulate in any other form or medium.
For my Melbourne friends, 'A Christmas Bushfire' will be available for purchase at the one & only Sticky Institute in early December.


text:
Job Promotion Spells
My job promotion spells work to create positive situations to get you promoted. You will be surrounded with an aura of confidence, knowledge and likeability. If several people are up for the same job promotion, this casting will separate you from the pack. You will stand out in a positive way, while the spell works, to clear away all obstacles standing in the way of your job promotion. Now is your time, to get the job promotion you desire.
After completing your purchase, you will be taken to an order form. With-in 24 hours of receiving your request and payment. I will contact you with the time and date of your job promotion spell casting. After completion of the casting, all the details from the spell will be provided to you. I will also provide a time line of spell manifestation.


text:
We're expected to bounce back immediately after having a baby. And when we don't, no one truly understands what's wrong. Post natal depletion is more common than you think, What can you do about it??Read More
Kefir and berry ice lollies
I grab any opportunity I can to sneak in extra health boosting ingredients into my littles. Luckily my kids enjoy kefir and are quite used to the slightly sour taste that is unfamiliar to a lot of kids, but these ice lollies are a perfect introduction for kids who aren't used to the flavour, but could really benefit from some extra good gut bugs - which is basically all of us! These are refreshing, naturally sweet, refined sugar free & absoloutely DELICIOUS!
If you haven't heard of kefir before, you're not alone. It's a traditional fermented drink that tastes like a strong yoghurt, which has been drunk in many corners of the globe for centuries to boost our overall health. We know that probiotic-rich foods like kefir can improve everything from digestion to skin complaints, our mood, immunity and may even prevent tons of diseases as there are links being drawn to the gut and many diseases on a daily basis.
I use fermented foods a lot in my kitchen and talk about them with almost every client I see in clinic. You can absoloutely make kefir easily yourself but it's now readily available in most big supermarkets such as this brand I used here 'The Collective Great Dairy'. You can get some lovely coconut milk kefir drinks too if dairy isn't your thing - i like to mix it up & have a little of everything, personally.
A handful of raspberries or any other fruit you have lying round
A 250 ml bottle of kefir - I like this coconut & honey flavour - sweet enough for us
A drizzle of honey or maple syrup before you freeze, if you need a little more sweetness
Ice lolly moulds & lolly sticks - I like these from Silikomart Professional available on Amazon
Simply place a few berries on the bottom of the ice lolly moulds then fill with kefir to the top & freeze for a minimum of 5 hours then demolish. As easy as that. If you want to, you could add a little extra drizzle of honey on top before you freeze.
One ingredient Watermelon Ice in two simple steps !
Watermelon is my ultimate Summer crush. So when we've experienced the longest hottest Summer for decades, we've got to get creative with the old faves. This is the most refreshing treat when you just can't cool down. Totally natural & so hydrating....why aren't you freezing your watermelon already?!Read More
Model Nutrition Workshop with Squad Model Agency
Lucky enough to be invited to give the nutrition workshops for the Summer Squad Development Day, I was overwhelmed at how interested this bunch of new superstars were about nutrition. I genuinely love getting involved with model nutrition as there are a lot of myths out there. I know this first hand, having worked closely in the industry for 15 years prior to retraining as a Nutritional Therapist and Naturopath. So it's an honour and such a sign of the times that top London models agencies like The Squad are aligned with helping their models be in supermodel shape the right way, and truly care about, and invest in their models' health.Read More
OK Magazine Feature
I was so excited to be featured in OK Magazine, and included by the Fashion and Beauty Editor Rosie Underwood as one of "the best holistic treatments to get you glowing from the inside out".Read More


text:
Esthetician Services
Facial Options
If you're looking for esthetician services such as Hydrafacial, Chemical Peels in Livermore that can provide an experience promoting relaxation and rejuvenation, look no further than our services here, at Sculpt MD!
Sculpt MD offers esthetician services in Livermore for those looking to combat and improve their complexion problems. Our Esthetician is trained in skin wellness, offering different facial services to help you improve the tone, texture, color, and youthfulness of your skin. Choose a specific facial or customize your own to help fight lines, wrinkles, dry skin, eczema, acne, sun spots, pigmented skin, and more!
Why See an Esthetician
We often view facials as something you only do when you feel like treating yourself to something luxurious. In the long run, you could be saving yourself some money by engaging in preventative facial care.
An unfortunate amount of pollution, dirt, grime, and dead skin will accumulate on our face. It's unavoidable, but we can do the best we can to keep it clean. Facials help treat your skin at levels that your normal skin care cannot. Getting facials regularly – whether every few months or year – can save you on spending in the future with:
• Makeup
• Skin care
• Anti-aging
Estheticians are also trained to detect skin problems that might require a healthcare provider's attention, so getting regular treatments can also help you monitor your skin's health.
The Benefits of Facial Treatments
Getting a facial isn't just relaxing or renewing for your mind, but it's important for your skin. There are many different facials that help you treat the unique combinations of problems our skin may experience.
• Refreshed and relaxed skin – A facial massage is usually incorporated into the facial, not to mention the deep dirt and grime the facial is pulling from your skin. Facials leave your skin glowing and radiant!
• Skin cell renewal – Many different facials include exfoliation, which helps removed dead skin from your face. It helps start cell turnover and encourages the growth of new, healthy cells. Exfoliation also helps aid in diminishing the appearance of acne scars.
• Instant results – Results are instant with facials. It is rare that you'll find a skin care treatment or product that doesn't live up to its high expectations, especially with our amazing and personalized services here at Sculpt MD. After just one facial, you can see immediate results.
The HydraFacial™ takes non-invasive skin rejuvenation to a new level. Proven in clinical studies to provide better results than many other skin rejuvenation devices, it uses patented technology to cleanse, extract, and hydrate. The HydraFacial™ super serums are made with nourishing ingredients that create an instantly gratifying glow, restoring confidence in your skin.
At Sculpt MD, we offer many different HydraFacial™ treatments that you can tailor to yourself:
• Signature Treatment
• Age Refinement Treatment
• Restorative Treatment
• Radiance Treatment
• Clarifying Treatment
• Platinum Treatment
• Brightalive® Boost
Sculpt MD wants to help you create a skin care regimen that can help you improve the complexion, tone, and texture of your skin with long-lasting results. Schedule a consultation with our esthetician today to customize your facial with products like PCA®, SkinMedica®, and DefenAge®! Rejuvenate and refresh your skin for a glowing, youthful appearance.
Oxygenating Trio
Ideal skin type: acne prone, oily skin
The Oxygenating Trio is a 3-step system to promote radiance and a healthy glow by stimulating oxygenation and circulation of the skin. This antioxidant therapy helps rejuvenate sluggish, stressed or acne affected skin. This facial is perfect 2-3 days before a special event and leaves a glow that can last up to 10 days! The Trio consists of an activator, detoxifier, and oxygenator.
Ideal skin type: all skin types
While a chemical peel may sound painful, the reality of the PCA chemical peel is that it's a skin friendly and effective peel that helps treat acne, hyperpigmentation, and fine lines and wrinkles. You won't have to deal with downtime, and your face will look plump and hydrated. You'll leave your appointment with a healthy glow and all you have to do is follow the simple, post-procedure regimen
Vi Peel
Ideal skin type: sun spots and pigmented skin
The VI Peel is the perfect skin care treatment for those looking to: clear acne and reduce scarring, brighten stubborn discoloration (Melasma), and smooth away rough textures on the skin. This simple, pain-free procedure helps restore your skin to the tone and texture you deserve.
Advanced Skin Care Products
At Sculpt MD, we offer different advanced skin care products to help you continue a healthy skin care regimen that will make your results last! On top of our different facial treatments, we also offer various products and services like PCA Skin®, SkinMedica®, and DefenAge®.
Frequently Asked Questions
We want to create the perfect treatment for your skin. By consulting with our esthetician, we will be able to help you find the perfect facial treatment for your skin. Sculpt MD makes sure to match your skin with your own customized treatment by combining different products and services offered at Sculpt MD. You can book your consultation to discuss your skin care needs with our esthetician and together we can provide you with the youthful glow you desire.
Those receiving the chemical peel treatment only feel a mild stinging sensation during the treatment. After the procedure, you can use a mild pain reliever to relieve any discomfort. Sometimes, but very uncommonly, you may experience a form of mild, beginner's peel. Consulting with our esthetician will ensure you receive the correct treatment for your skin.
The Oxygenating Trio produces no stinging or irritating side effects. The only sensation you may experience is a rosy flush and rapid warmth to the skin. The treatment leaves the skin radiant with a healthy look that lasts seven to ten days! Consult with our esthetician to learn if it's right for you!
Generally, it is safe to get a chemical or Vi peel every 4 to 6 weeks. If you suffer from acne, there are some peels that you can do every 2 weeks. Consulting with our esthetician will help you determine the best course of treatment for you!


text:
Transform the System: A Work in Progress
by Wade Lee Hudson
From Penn Garvin:
I really appreciate all the work you have done to bring this book out. There is a lot of really good history, perspective on how it relates to where we are now and analysis of the present movement and its problems. You are a very good writer and it all flows really well. Thanks for your ideas and love and care for the movement. All of that comes out really clearly in what you have written. You refer to a number of movements towards integration of thinking which I have been following and really glad that you incorporated. Your proposal for a new mission is really good and one I applaud and think it would be a good move on the part of the movement to start discussing and thinking about this mission.
My work right now keeps me so busy and involved that all I can really offer is how I would integrate all of this into the hands- on work I'm doing. I founded a trainers group (ActiveCommunityTraining.org) in which I really have tried to incorporate how we treat each other as an integral part of our work -- more or less successfully but it's there and we talk about it. I am working locally to bring groups together and am also working with the Poor People's Campaign to bring those agencies working on the front lines with the poor and marginalized together with political progressive organizations who are demanding change. Neither of us can do it alone and we need each other. I'm also working with the local community center where I was staff person years ago and now on the Board to look at issues of toxic trauma which leads to ACEs which leads to the need to teach resiliency and strengthen bystander actions and how this relates to leadership and citizenship. Much of what you speak about we try to incorporate but from a very "middle of the road" perspective given that we are in the middle of Trumpland.
My suggestions for your book are basically two:
(1) I believe that until this nation deals with the history and legacy of white privilege which has distorted our democracy from the beginning, we will never have a truly democratic nation. I am beginning to talk about these issues with progressives I work with and truly believe that we as a movement have not taken this issue seriously in terms of structural changes needed. There are many who are writing about this-- Carol Anderson in White Rage, Ta Ne-hisi Coates in his many Atlantic articles, Black Lives Matter, Glaudy Jr. etc. It would be good if you could incorporate some of this into what you have written.
(2) I would give ideas of how to help activists who are already doing so much to integrate what you have suggested into the work they are already doing rather than suggesting they form new circles to study and talk about this. That's really not going to happen among those I know who are out in the field and overwhelmed already. There are some who may want to and yet there are many who could integrate the new mission and some of your perspectives into the work they are already doing. This would be more practical for them and would give you some hands-on ideas of how to integrate your ideas into the social change movements and activities that are already going on.
Not sure any of this is helpful but hope it is! I truly support you in your work and appreciate so much how consistently over the years you have focused on how to make our progressive social movement the best it can be and the most effective! I send you my greetings, my approval and my love, Penn
From Roma Guy:
Yes, I know Penn, like her comments too. I have been trying to figure out if I can host a small discussion at my house. Not sure still today. I am stilling helping [personal] ...On Sunday Diane and I review scheduling and I will discuss your suggestion. Clearly though I can't organize another outreach and agenda at the moment. ... I am [also] trying to close out (University of Oregon) an archive project for another activist, Norma Hotaling and we are in final negotiations and I am still trying (but not on-top of) jail reform—in the middle of budget with Mayor and Board of Sups including Sharon Johnson who is working with Sup Jeff Sheehy. Just being honest about my situation. I am [personal] will try to call you later if you are around. Let's see if I can find time and focus to at least comment on some of the writing you forward.
From Robert Anschuetz:
Thanks so much for sending along this update on your booklet, along with the access to it. I've read the first three sections, and find both the flow of your argument and the writing itself quite terrific. I honestly wish I had time to do as you suggest and post specific comments at the end of each chapter, but, at the moment, I just don't have the time to do it. I'm involved now with an international anti-war organization called "World Beyond War" and already committed to writing chores that consume much more of my retirement life than I might have wished. However, from my previous involvements with progressive stages in the writing of your book, I have a pretty good grasp of at least many of your ideas for reforming "the system." I know already that you make a convincing case for that reform and also that I myself am on board with it. I even buy into your idea that, in order to build "a compassionate community dedicated to the common good of all humanity," we Americans must ourselves first "become better human beings." In my own case, though, I'm just more comfortable pursuing that goal by my own efforts than through participation in a support group. What I do intend to do in response to your book is to read it through as soon as possible. Congratulations on completing it, and best of luck in transitioning now from what I believe is sound (and realistic) theory to the reality of at least its beginning implementation in the flesh.
From Bruce Schuman:
I really like this, Wade – it's very good. I just sent you a little note from your web site about it, and I bought the booklet on Amazon. Right now I am printing chapter on Mission – 21 pages of Big Print..
If you got a minute, take a look at something quick that is emerging for me. I think the concept will resonate for you – kinda like the Charter for Compassion by Karen Armstrong – but this the Charter for Co-creation http://charterforcocreation.net/
You probably have some great insights and ideas on these themes and I am sure I will absorb a bunch from the booklet… I bought the booklet on Amazon -- the price was right! I want to read all that stuff you put in there -- a lot -- and see what i can learn and maybe assimilate into a somewhat related project that is starting to emerge for me, that I call "The Charter for Cocreation". I've been reading your blog posts for a long time. If you got a minute, take a glance at this thing. I want to learn from you. ...Thank you so much.
Web message. Subject: Masterpiece. Just -- passing thru, Schuman-the-Human -- but you are onto something great here, Wade. I want to hang out with this and keep breathing and see what I can absorb. I think we're on a resonant wave.
Wade's reply: Bruce, I like the direction you're headed, though the emphasis on the economy on your Welcome page seems a bit exaggerated. Very interesting list of like-minded organizations. I look forward to more communication.
Bruce's reply:
Good to hear from you, Wade, thanks. Yes, on that statement about the economy, you are right – it's a bit one-sided. The actual creative energy that was driving this project as it started to emerge involved this group called "WE-All" – led by Stewart Wallis, who was formerly the head of Oxfam and is determined to do something about what he is calling the wellbeing economy. There's another small discussion going on that includes him and some people from the Great Transition Initiative –http://greattransition.org – including Paul Raskin.
That conversation is pretty quiet now – but Stewart Wallis is out there doing things like signing up entire nations to something like this agenda. A lot of this originally emerged from the King of Bhutan saying that we ought to replace the concept of gross national product with "gross national happiness". This notion of "wellbeing" came into my world from that angle – and it seems a pretty good fit for a universal standard – though as I think you suggest – it's not just the economy we need to work on. I think Wallis is in the process of converting to something more universal – the kind of thing your book is about.
Here's a link on WE-All: http://www.rapidshift.net/a-movement-of-movements-to-transform-to-a-wellbeing-economy-weall/
And your book – yes, very charming and nicely done. It arrived promptly on time, in perfect condition and beautifully printed, with a little date on the very last page, "Made in the USA. San Bernardino CA 30 March 2018" Very elegant.
I've been influenced by many of the sources you cite in your notes and bibliography. I've read many of those books. No doubt I will go through those sections looking for connections I can list here:
Blessings, thanks
Wade's reply:
Yes, I too was inspired by Bhutan's call for Gross National Happiness.
From Susan Quinlan:
Nice work and nice website! Though I enjoyed perusing your site, I don't currently have time to read and comment with care. Best of luck getting the feedback you request and moving your project forward.
From Roger Marsden:
Re "Preface" -- nice humble tone - is inviting.
Re "Introduction" --
I like the humility in your introductory comments about your experiences; what has worked; what hasn't; seeking collaboration, etc. stated in a way that invites collaboration.
The sections are nicely organized - feedback to click to next section.
"Fear is essential." hmmm? I always understood the opposite of love is not hate - it's fear. (?)
In that part with William James and James Baldwin there could be some CG Jung shadow work.
America needs to transform itself into a compassionate country...etc., there are points made as to how to do it but more about people who don't just "disagree" but hold VERY different values. Negotiation requires desire on all sides.
America's major problems - more about how we evolve with more people and less jobs.
Freedom without connection becomes alienation, etc... I like that.
Wade's reply:
Thanks for the kind words. I agree that Jung's shadow work is relevant, given my limited understanding. Given that dangers are real, yes, I believe some degree of fear is essential -- if it is balanced with realistic trust.... The thesis is that fear can lead to hate, and trust can lead to love. It's an effort to get to the root causes of the love/hate tension. Thoughts?
Re "The System" -- self breeding for cooperation -- basic human values - lush environment = peaceful -- cycle of expansion to domination to dependence to resentment to rebellion to revenge to victory to... expansion, etc. twists and turns through history as external factors change - not innate human qualities which is why I would question that "in all developed societies males dominate - See the work of Maria Gimbutas:
Wade'e reply:
According to the wikipedia, "The Civilization of the Goddess articulated what Gimbutas saw as the differences between the Old European system, which she considered goddess- and woman-centered (gynocentric), and the Bronze Age Indo-European patriarchal ("androcratic") culture which supplanted it. According to her interpretations, gynocentric (or matristic) societies were peaceful, honored women, and espoused economic equality. The androcratic, or male-dominated, Kurgan peoples, on the other hand, invaded Europe and imposed upon its natives the hierarchical rule of male warriors." Though her analysis is disputed, if it's correct, the period she studied seems to be referred to as "pre-history." So I wonder how "developed" it was. It seems to have been about the same time, 5000 BCE, that I describe as the transition to male-dominated stratified societies. So her thesis seems consistent with mine.
From Steve Love:
Good to hear from you...it's been a long time, but see you are still pursuing a better world. I think you are right regarding the importance of unity. The problem is that we have a mission statement at the beginning of our Constitution, but there is no effort by either political party to use it as a guide to policies.
From Karolyn Lee:
although I'm not sure that I will have time to read and help edit your whole book, I just wanted to commend you for writing it, as I also believe that the system has to be changed for the better. There's so much potential in the American people, it's just that the system has been "gamed" and is not working correctly anymore....
From Conny Ford:
thanks for sending me this.... I want to red this booklet but probably will not be able to for a while.... Thanks for your patience.
From John Cloud:
You may not realize it, but I have been reviewing and meditating on your work for years now. I look forward to further pondering of your current ideas and notions and have purchased your book on Amazon.
Myth making is what makes Homo Sapien different from all other species.
Unless we harness that "skill" and use it "skillfully" I am afraid that the current paradigm will continue cause much more suffering.
Powerful myths that are deeply ingrained in our psyche and reveal themselves in our actions took a long time to grow and become the force they are today. Why some succeeded and others didn't is a mystery. Many powerful truths were destroyed by barbaric behavior.
Perhaps your proposed myths of much better aligned and nobler truths will plant itself and grow strong. In comparison, the weeds are having a field day!
These are simple ramblings and musings and I simply wanted to share the best email answer and let you know I bought your book....
From Genevieve Marcus:
You write:
If the American people unite, we can transform the United States into a compassionate community dedicated to the common good of all humanity, our own people, the environment, and life itself.
If we build massive movements that focus on proposals supported by strong majorities of the American people, we can achieve that goal.
Wade, I'll read your pamphlet when I get a moment. Right now, getting the American people to unite around anything is problematic. Even gun control.
I've been thinking about forming massive movements, myself. Today I sent a letter to a organization that would be helpful, but first I must struggle with the contemporary obstacle of actually getting my letter through to someone there. We'll see. So we agree on the goal. I just see how hard it will be because I've been exploring it for awhile.
From David Marshall:
Thanks for your outreach, and congratulations on publishing your new booklet, Transform the System: A Work in Progress. I look forward to reading it and giving you my feedback. Boy, does the world ever need whole system Thanks for your outreach, and congratulations on publishing your new booklet, Transform the System: A Work in Progress. I look forward to reading it and giving you my feedback. Boy, does the world ever need whole system transformation! It reminds me somewhat of a longer book my dad published several years ago: The Road from Empire to Eco-Democracy.
From April Hurley:
Hi Wade! I've been following your work and admire your dedication. These are all good ideas. Please include World Beyond War's pledge (David Swanson) and Democracy at Work ideas (Marxist Richard Wolff) in your resources. I believe that a series of Constitutional Conventions (on-line, live, beloved leaders brainstorming all diverse views, perhaps interactive) could be convened and a parallel country created that people would support and engage in, while disempowering the Prison-Military-Industrial-Capitalist cabal that you call The System. Best wishes for all you do. All Good!
Wade's response: Good to hear from you. Glad you like those ideas. Best of luck in NJ. I added Beyond War's pledge (David Swanson) and Democracy at Work to my Resources: Possible Additions list.
From Lisa Rankow:
Thank you for the invitation to participate. Unfortunately, i am not even keeping up with the work already on my plate and don't have the bandwith to join you.
I do, however, appreciate your commitment and wish you all the best.
From Loren Goldner:
Hi Wade, Perhaps you remember me from the Summer Resident College, Cloyne Court, 1967?
Glad to see you're still in the trenches. So am I (see below). I'll take a look at your stuff
and let you know my thoughts. Best Loren (Goldner) Break Their Haughty Power
From David Smith:
Here's my take on how to Transform The System: "Occupy Theaters: A New Political Process to Reorient Government to Serve the People" Kindle edition $0.99.
Most Americans know their democracy has been hijacked by Big Money; that politicians are working for their rich contributors and leaving We The People in the lurch. The Tea Party knows it, and so too does the Occupy movement and both want to get out of the hole. The problem is the Tea Party wants to dig deeper, and the Occupy movement doesn't where to find a ladder.
Reformers today are confronted by the following uncomfortable reality: No reform is possible until Big Money's stranglehold on the democratic process is broken. All present attempts to "get money out of politics" suffer from the same fatal flaw, namely they require the cooperation of lawmakers who owe their offices to Big Money. Little Money can't outspend Big Money. Big Money can only be outflanked.
In "Occupy Theaters," Dartmouth- and Stanford-trained economist David L. Smith provides the ladder, proposing a new political process to break the Big Money's stranglehold on American Democracy, thereby reorienting government to serve the People.
In this new democratic process, the current dominant political medium, television, would be replaced by Internet social media, through which large numbers of people would be persuaded to gather from time to time in a nationwide network of Internet-linked multiplex movie theaters. Multiplex theaters would become the dominant political venue, replacing the couch in front of the television in which passive, solitary voters are force-fed Big Money's propaganda. A portion of ticket sales to these Assemblies and of food concession sales would replace Big Money as the dominant source of funding. Thus liberated from the corrupting influence of Big Money, candidates nominated and elected through the new process would serve the interests of their constituencies.
Occupy Theaters represents the next logical step in political organization: local, city, county, state and, ultimately, national town meetings taking place in Internet-linked theaters at times when they would otherwise remain unused. High-tech meets high-touch -- all well within today's technical capabilities, lacking only the vision and the popular will to make it happen. "Occupy Theaters" provides the vision; readers must supply the popular will.
Good luck,
David L. Smith
Author: The Predicament
Click here to order.
Wade's reply: I like the idea of using movie theaters for civic events. Thanks. I'd be interested in your comments on my booklet.
David's reply: I think a marriage of your set of humanistic organizing principles with my Internet/theater-based organization would achieve the desired result.
From Mike Miller:
I'm in the midst of three book projects plus a number of articles, so can't say if I'll get to your book anytime soon. But I do have this quick response to these questions that you raise in your letter,
From my perspective:
If the American people unite, we can transform the United States into a compassionate community dedicated to the common good of all humanity, our own people, the environment, and life itself.
If we build massive movements that focus on proposals supported by strong majorities of the American people, we can achieve that goal.
If we learn how to treat each other and ourselves with more respect, we can encourage inactive individuals to become active.
If we support one another to become better human beings, we can be more effective.
If we clarify how the issues we face are interwoven, we can nurture a systemic worldview that holds us together over time.
To use an analogy--which I know is a bit of a stretch--your "if" questions are something like this: "If elephants had wings they could fly." But they don't.
You can't get to what you identify as the "key question" (What is "the system" and how should we change it?") without overcoming each of these "if" problems: we aren't united; we don't have a massive movement to support these proposals; we don't treat each other with the kind of respect required, or to become better human beings; we don't have the commonly held clarity you indicate is needed.
Wade's response:
Precisely. Point well taken. The "Evolutionary Revolution" chapter addresses your concern. The four methods delineated can reinforce one another and help achieve the goal one-step at a time. Perhaps future communications should address this issue more clearly. Thanks.
Bill Kruse:
Ok, I will look at this and give you some feedback over the next couple of days. Since it is Easter I have other things that I must do but I will follow up after Sunday. I hope you are well.
Jed Riffe:
Thanks for sending. I will check it out as soon as I get a minute and respond to your questions.
Kristen Walsh:
great; we'll get a copy and read it
Carol Lopez:
I will view the links below and respond ASAP. I'm also going to ask my son Michael to check it out and provide feedback as well.
Mary Kay Magistad:
Congratulations on publishing your booklet!
I'd be happy to read it again and provide feedback, as long as you don't mind waiting for it until late May. I've got a cascading series of deadlines between now and then, and coincidentally, I was literally just sitting down to figure out what I need to do when to meet all of them when your email came through.
I admire the spirit behind what you're doing, very similar to the spirit I saw in the "March for Our Lives" rally I attended last Saturday in San Francisco. I'm still not sure how many people are going to want to meet regularly in the kinds of small groups you propose, but see that many people will come together organically around an issue or set of issues they care about, and long may that continue to happen.
Let me know if feedback several weeks hence will still be useful to you. If so, I'll send it.
From Dan Nissenbaum:
Wade! I'm glad you decided to keep me on this list and again wish I had more time. I have put off looking at this email for more than a week because I'm in another slog of 80-hour work weeks. I don't like being so often in these phases of overwork and I've been in them before when you've corresponded, but I'd rather send a note than postpone. When you send valuable work I want to be in a decent emotional headspace when I consider them, and when that headspace isn't present, I postpone. I still haven't taken the time to consider this. I hope you continue working and that I have time to respond next time.


text:
The most popular New Year's promises are related to healthy living, and most of us begin the year with a true commitment to our fitness New Year's resolutions. By February or March, however, we find ourselves slipping back into old habits, picking up fast food on the way home or forgoing that trip to the gym to binge watch our favorite show on Netflix.
A recent Gallup study found that more than half of Americans – 51 percent – would like to shed pounds, but only 26 percent of them are seriously taking steps to accomplish that goal. Further, the study found that while 63 percent of Americans are either obese or overweight, only 36 percent of those surveyed would put themselves in that category. So there is a reluctance to get active and eat healthy as well as an aversion to self-identify as being overweight.
With all of this information, you might be wondering how to make 2015 different and stick to your New Year's resolution to make this your healthiest year yet. Thankfully, plenty of trends in health and fitness are making it easier and less stressful to attack health-related goals. Here are a few 2015 trends in health and fitness that will help you achieve your New Year's resolution.
Fashionable Active Wear
Part of starting a new job is buying a new suit, right? An expectant mother buys maternity clothes. A college student purchases school colors to get ready for his new adventure. So if you are making a lifestyle change towards an active existence, you are going to need new clothes. More than just looking great, active wear is important because it keeps your body cool as your heart rate rises. The right exercise clothes won't constrict your movements or retain heat. VF Outlet is the perfect place to buy workout clothes because we offer the lowest prices on a wide assortment of basics and necessities from brands you know and love.
Richard Simmons, famous American fitness guru, said once of exercise, "No. 1, like yourself. No. 2, you have to eat healthy. And No. 3, you've got to squeeze your buns. That's my formula." Simple, sure, but you can't squeeze your buns if you've only got business attire in your closet. Whether shopping for men, women, juniors or plus sizes, VF Outlet has you covered.
A new healthy lifestyle will make clothes look and feel better, so purchasing stylish active wear is a must. If you prefer to try on clothes in person, click here to locate the store nearest you. Some of our stores also sell athletic sneakers, which is another reason to check out VF Outlet before you start pounding the pavement. Whether shopping online or the stores, becoming a member VF Outlet's VIP Rewards Program will allow you to earn points towards rewards gift certificates and receive advanced notice of VIP-only sales and chances to earn bonus points.
Simply put, the saying "dress for success" applies to workout attire as much as business attire, and VF Outlet can help you get there.
How to Stick to Your New Year's Resolution? Let Technology Help
Now that you've got the right gear, let's talk about some of the ways technology and social media can make 2015 the year that your New Year's resolutions turn into permanent lifestyle adjustments.
- Couch to 5K
There are plenty of Couch to 5K apps out there, which you can find by searching in your phone's app marketplace. A program like C25K is a good option because of its incremental approach to running and it's completely free to use. Even if you don't picture yourself as a runner, this app takes away any guesswork about how long to run or how often. The app offers three workouts a week, alternated with rest days, which will prompt you to warm up with a five-minute walk, then listen for prompts to alternate between walking and running, and finish with a five-minute cool down.
C25K is easy to use, and the prompts will play over any music or podcast you're listening to, so you can be distracted while exercising, which makes the time pass very quickly. As the name suggests, by the end of the eight weeks, you'll have built up the endurance to run a 5K. Now wouldn't that be a great accomplishment in 2015?
- YouTube Videos
Heading to the gym isn't realistic for everyone. It can be expensive. It can be crowded. It can be impossible to leave the kids. However, most of us can find 15 or 30 minute in the morning or evening – or even on our lunch break at work – to watch a video on YouTube. The best part is that they're free.
There are many good workout videos on YouTube, from low-impact yoga to high-intensity interval training. Last year, VF Outlet sponsored a 30-day challenge and promoted it through fitness videos on our YouTube channel. If you commit to exercising to these videos once a day for 30 days, but the end of the month you'll have formed a fitness habit that can carry you through the year.
No matter which workout you choose, think about participating in these videos next time you're watching an adorable cat video or clips from Jimmy Fallon or Jimmy Kimmel on YouTube. Why not use those few minutes to participate in a Pilates or kickboxing video instead?
- FitBit
Wearable technology is a major trend – think Google Glass and Apple Watch. A lot of wearable technology seems out of reach, either because of the price tag or because they don't seem practical. However, the Fitbit is wearable technology that is so slim it's almost unnoticeable and tracks steps, distance and calories burned.
You can log onto Fitbit or use the app to track your progress, so if you've barely moved by lunch, you can get out for a quick walk to meet your daily steps goal. If competition motivates you, Fitbit has leaderboards, badges and notifications to encourage friendly rivalry with friends and family. If you wear your Fitbit at night, it will even measure your sleep quality based on the amount of movement at night.
Popular blogger and Food Network show host The Pioneer Woman explained her success with Fitbit this way, "I first got my Fitbit late last summer and hit it hard, really enjoying the info it gave me about my level of activity, which was much lower than I would have guessed, and the amount and quality of sleep I was getting."
That is true for most of us: We convince ourselves that the walk around the grocery store or the two trips to the basement to do laundry constitute activity. The Fitbit and other pedometers take away that guesswork and make us face reality: We aren't as active as we need to be.
- Fitness Information at Your Fingertips
So far we've talked a lot about exercise, but fitness is just one part of a healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, there is no magic pill you can take to be healthy or to lose weight. Any doctor will tell you that both exercise and healthy eating are necessary to get fit.
For many people, counting calories, reading labels and remembering what you've eaten throughout the day makes keeping track of food consumption an obstacle to healthy eating. Years of misinformation about what constitutes a healthy diet also leads us to believe that a food may be healthy when it is not. Ever reach for a low-fat item only to see how much sugar is loaded in it? In that case, low fat isn't necessary a healthy choice because of the added sugar. Or you think you are doing right by ordering the salmon when you are out to dinner, but it is prepared in a heavy lemon butter sauce that packs in the calories.
As you can see, eating well can be so confusing that it becomes seemingly impossible to fulfill your 2015 New Year's resolution to eat well. Enter MyFitnessPal. This free app and website is preloaded with millions of foods and restaurant meals, so no need to read labels or complete mental math. Users add foods throughout the day as they eat from the list, adjusting the serving size as needed. Users can also input their exercise for the day, and MyFitnessPal will calculate how many calories were burned.
MyFitnessPal also allows you to set goals and will adjust your calorie intake to help you achieve those goals. So instead of thinking you have to starve yourself to lose 10 pounds this year, MyFitnessPal will give you a realistic daily calorie intake goal and will notify you when you are approaching or exceeding that goal. You'll also be alerted when you add a particularly healthy or unhealthy food, with MyFitnessPal explaining what is high in protein, sugars or other ingredients. It's like having a nutritionist in your pocket.
One user, Alida Marraccino, said about MyFitnessPal, "Frankly, I thought that MyFitnessPal would not work. I figured it would start out free and once I was hooked, there would be a price involved ... but that has not happened – free really means free. With a few clicks throughout the day, you are able to monitor your calorie intake, set goals and ultimately, see the scale trend down."
MyFitnessPal doesn't align itself with one fad diet or instruct you to cut out entire food groups. If you eat a donut at that morning meeting, enter it in your MyFitnessPal diary and you'll know how many calories you need to make up for the rest of the day, or how many minutes you need to add to your workout to burn off the doughy treat. It's a common-sense, informed approach to healthy eating.
Finding the Workouts That Work For You: 2015 Fitness Trends
Ultimately, all of these apps, websites and videos make fitness easier, but they don't do it for you. You'll still have to shop for healthy foods at the grocery store and order well when out to eat. You'll be the one zipping up your hoodie and lacing up your sneakers for a run. You'll be the person sweating it out at the gym.
So just as important as committing to a healthy lifestyle in 2015 is finding the right workout for you. Are you a runner or a strength trainer? Are you a treadmill junkie or a Zumba fan? Do you like yoga more than pushups?
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) surveyed thousands of health and fitness professionals across the world to discover the new fitness trends for 2015. According to the study, the most popular trend in fitness is body weight training, which "uses minimal equipment making it more affordable. Not limited to just pushups and pullups, this trend allows people to get 'back to the basics' with fitness."
"It's no surprise to see body weight training claiming the top spot this year," said Walter R. Thompson, Ph.D., FACSM, the lead author of the survey. "These kinds of exercises provide the benefit of requiring little to no equipment and are incorporated into many fitness programs that are currently popular."
This 2015 fitness trend is important because these types of exercises can be done at home, without the purchase of a gym membership or fancy equipment. That's yet another reason 2015 can be successful. Other popular workouts include High Intensity Interval Training, which consists of short bursts of intense activity followed by a short time of recovery. These types of workouts only last about 30 minutes. Rounding out the list of the top 10 ways to work out are personal training, yoga, programs for older adults and group personal training.
The 2015 fitness trends can give you plenty of ideas about the types of workouts to add to your fitness routine to make this year the most successful yet.
Successful Fitness New Year's Resolutions
President John F. Kennedy said, "Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity."
There are countless reasons to commit to being fit in 2015: personal health, self-confidence, increased energy levels and more. Thanks to your resolve and the new fitness trends for 2015, no matter your motivation, this year can be the one in which you make this life-changing adjustment to healthy living.
Prepare for your new year by visiting VF Outlet to purchase your stylish active wear and commit to a new and improved lifestyle.


text:
Lisa and Chris are two ultra sarcastic, incredibly talented individuals who have a slight obsession with cats and fine wine. They're both in the television industry, where they've worked on shows like Orange is the New Black, My 600 Lb Life, and Catfish - so rad!
Upon meeting Lisa & Chris, I quickly figured out how nice they were and loved that they wanted artistic, fun images. For their engagement session, I drove up to Los Angeles for the day and photographed their Burbank Engagement Session, which included lots of hiking, champagne, and lots of goofiness.
On their wedding day, we started off at the Beach Terrace Inn in Carlsbad, where they got ready and then saw each other for the first time on the beach. We then took a large bus to Leo Carrillo for some portraits, and then headed to Oceanside for their ceremony on the beach. After the ceremony and a few more portraits, we headed back to Leo Carrillo where the couple danced and partied the night away!
For photographers: I used a Nikon D5 and Nikon D850. I also used a 14-24mm & 24-70mm for the reception, and 35mm, 45mm, 58mm, and 85mm for the rest of the day. I also used Flashpoint flashes for the reception.
Photographer // Carlsbad Wedding Photographer, Sage Justice
Venue // Leo Carrillo Ranch
Coordinator // San Diego Wedding Coordinator, Christine Ong with Lavish Wed
Florist // MR Floral
Makeup // Tara Buenrostro
DJ & Emcee // DJ Bill Calhoun
Second photographer // Josh Mitchell


text:
lol SC2 made it to the top 10 vaporware list
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:20 pm
Check it out: http://www.wired.com/culture/culturerev ... rentPage=2
chris wrote:duke is the undisputed king and symbol of vaporware.
chris wrote:It's sad.
Lavarinth wrote:The funny thing is.. They planned to have this entirely completed over a year ago.. And now they say "it's so epic, it needs three releases." ... Imagine how bad it was going to be before.


text:
'The Big Bauble' Christmas cushion PDF pattern
'The Big Bauble' Christmas cushion PDF pattern
Go joyously big this Christmas and stitch up a giant bauble cushion!
Finished size: 30cm (12") diameter (about the size of a basketball)
This project is constructed using English paper piecing. Instructions are given for making your own paper pieces by printing them out on sturdy paper, or card.
The pattern includes:
List of fabric requirements
Detailed cutting, layout and assembly instructions, diagrams and photographs
Templates to print your own paper shapes for EPP
Helpful tips throughout
This pattern is an 11-page 2 MB downloadable and printable PDF document.
Price is in US dollars. Upon receipt of payment, you will receive an order confirmation to your nominated email address. Please ensure that your email address is correct. The confirmation email will be followed by second email containing a link to the file. This link will expire 24 hours after it is first clicked. Please save or print your copy of the pattern immediately. There are no shipping charges.
Please respect that this pattern has taken considerable time and effort to produce. Do not reproduce or distribute this pattern without permission, or use for commercial purposes.


text:
Why Branding Matters ?
Stand Out in the Crowd
Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small, retail or B2B. Does your logo design stand out from the crowded. Your logo is the face of your company. A Branding and Marketing strategy helps you create a unique brand persona that can increase brand relevance amongst consumers.
Modern and evergreen logo for your business.
Branding that stands out in the crowd.
Strategic approach towards redesigning brand.
Our Process


text:
Episode 17 of The Truck Show Podcast, Plus Happy Fourth of July!Posted in News on July 4, 2018
The Fourth of July holiday didn't stop hosts Sean Holman and Jay "Lightning" Tilles from busting out Episode 17 of The Truck Show Podcast, Presented by Nissan. If you have some down time between burgers and fireworks, take a listen. Otherwise, save it for tomorrow's commute. Either way, we wish you all a very relaxing, safe, fun, refreshing, and family-filled Fourth of July.
In Episode 17, go for a ride along with Holman and Jim Morrison, head of Ram Trucks, North America in a 2018 Cummins-powered Ram 3500 at FCA's Chelsea Proving Grounds while finding out all about the 2019 Ram 1500, and join the fun as hit the trails in a 2018 Ram Power Wagon. Then listen to Lightning's interviews from the ground at Nitto's Auto Enthusiast Day with PCH Rods and their C10R and learn from Daley Visual all about paint protection and the best ways to keep your truck looking its best!
Listen to and download The Truck Show Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Podbean, and Spotify. You can also find us on iHeartRadio and Stitcher. We appreciate your 5-star review, but also look forward to publicly ridiculing your critical emails. Since social media is a must in today's digital world, visit our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages for more information and links to additional stories. If email is more your thing, we always enjoy hearing from you. Hit us up at firstname.lastname@example.com. Since you probably don't even remember how to hold and form letters with an ink pen, we're not even going to bother including an address. Who wants to waste money on stamps anyway?


text:
The End Part III
Of the various platitudes I received while writing this blog, one was heard the most: I enjoy reading your posts, they're short. On one hand it's high praise, implying that I pack good material in a concise package. On the other, it's proof that my original mission still stands.
When I launched PeopleThink I implored that we need to stop living headline to headline, lift our eyes from the pixels in our hand, and think deeply about the world around us for ourselves. The length of my posts allowed readers a brief reprieve from the fire hose of social media, hopefully to inspire deeper thought. But that's not enough.
Increasingly we are informed by the extreme sides of any news story by the slanted links shared on Facebook. Rarely do we study, research, and speak to others of differing opinions in a civil manner before forming an opinion of our own. No, we can't all be scholars of every subject, but the ones we choose to defend require more of us.
So what's next? Perhaps one more.


text: I'm Mark Whittaker, a senior marketing strategist. I love to use my experience to help clients communicate with customers and prospective customers. I have been a newspaper writer, editor, online director and consultant. I have a journalism degree from Temple University in Philadelphia and a master's certificate in internet marketing from the University of San Francisco. I am a lifelong baseball fan and have at various times rooted for the Yankees, the Phillies and the Pirates — but never the hated Orioles. I read science fiction, spend a tad too much time with Netflix and struggle to get to the YMCA as often as I should. When I have a chance, I love to golf. I live in Pittsburgh, where me and my wife, Susan, spend our spare time with our grandchildren and learning to live in a house ruled by five cats and a dog.


text:
The Phalaenopsis Orchid is the ultimate in luxury, chosen for their timeless elegance and ease of care. These exotic flowering orchids are locally-grown in Queensland and expertly potted to order, and hand-delivered at the peak of blooming to ensure months of enjoyment. Planted into clear glass that is lined with moss make a truly wonderful gift. It's really the gift that keeps on giving!
The delicious sweets we offer are all handcrafted by local confectionary makers 'New Farm Confectionary' and 'Belgian Delights' using the highest quality ingredients and assembled with the finest attention to detail.Size Guide
Australian-made, natural, pure products that are eco conscious. Salus home spa products inspire relaxed and enjoyable experiences that calm the mind and nourish the body. Powerful botanicals work to reduce premature ageing, whilst natural plant extracts assist with hydration and pure essential oils promote health and well being. Salus products are formulated with ingredients that protect the skin and are 100% free from synthetic fragrance and colour, sodium laurel sulfates, parabens and mineral oils.Size Guide
We gift box or bag your wine gift in our signature style wrap.
* Queensland Law states that alcohol can only be accepted by an adult and cannot be left unattended. Please ensure someone over 18 years of age is able to accept your gift or it will be returned to our Wilston store for either collection or re-delivery at an extra charge.Size Guide
If you'd like to go beyond the basic teddy bear we've got some very sweet and quirky plush toys that will allow baby to use his or her imagination during play and can be a beloved childhood toy for years to come.Size Guide