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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24236723822232007682015-12-23T08:14:43.382-08:00My Peace Corps ExperienceKristie in DRhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-69361444057953821852014-03-21T19:27:00.000-07:002014-03-21T19:27:11.791-07:00So yesterday I went to do an overnight stay in a new volunteer site, it was my second one and I enjoyed it a lot. I spent the evening hanging out with the new volunteer's host family and playing Dominoes. Then in the morning I was given the opportunity to go on a tour of the communities organic chocolate (cacoa) tour. It was pretty cool :)

This is a cocolate tree... Here's an interesting fact, when cacoa is ripe it turns green, when it's unripe it's purplish red. It's the reversed of a lot of fruits... Like the banana which is green starting out and then turns yellow as it ripens.

The inside of the cacoa fruit is white and sweet, and it's the seeds within that are later processed as chocolate. First they are removed and then they are either fermented, baked, or dried in a green house like the photo below. To tell the quality and type of the cacoa they cut the dried seed down the middle and compare their colors.

Kristie in DRhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-67373620222234405682014-02-21T07:53:00.001-08:002014-02-21T07:53:32.868-08:00Close of Service Conference... What's Next?

 So the past few weeks have been pretty loaded with new activities and life events. I was able to bring a kid from my town to a plastic surgery medical mission two weeks ago to fix a cleft lip that she was born with. She is healing wonderfully and I'm so happy that I had the opportunity to do this in my life.
I've also been spending lots of time with my awesome project partner... working a little on trying to develop a community website... we've managed to explore new parts of the river and plan to see more potential tourist attractions. I am also happy to say that she has started running with me in the evenings, which allows me to go down my favorite road again with safe company.

Finally the most emotional and overwhelming experience in the new year is here... it's time that my group is preparing for their close of service. This is the first time that our entire group has been reunited for a conference since we all left for our sites close to two years ago. In an uncharacteristic turn of events we are in a classy hotel, with our own private beds, hot water, all you can eat buffets, and a gym... Needless to say we're all happy this day has come. We've worked on updating the all important resume and trying to figure out how to describe what we've done with the past two years of life. We've started to come to terms with the idea that even though this experience is coming to an end, we are going to have to adapt and readjust to another lifestyle all over again. Alas while most my peers are preparing for this journey home, I am preparing for my new job as Regional Leader. I will be extending 6 months until November. Kristie in DRhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-68939037508087979332014-02-05T18:28:00.001-08:002014-02-05T18:28:46.627-08:00Well I know I have to keep this up because Jessica keeps on me when I'm slacking... It's nice to know that someone reads it at least.
February 2, was groundhog day... which doesn't mean much to be besides the fact that it reminds me of my dad's birthday every year. He was born 57 years ago in a black out, and was the 500th baby born in the hospital. I still tell people that matter-a-factly, as if it's their pleasure to know. I miss my dad dearly and can't wait to be home for his next birthday! (It's been too long)
On his birthday I think I had the biggest impact that I will in this country on an individual's life. I took a 13 year old from my community to the Capital to be operated on for a cleft lip, at a medical mission from the United States. It went well and she is recovering really well! It was a long trip and made me exhausted. Sunday I was able to help with the initial intake day by translating, and it reminded me that I need to remember to always bring comfy shoes to the capital because I can't stand all day in flats...

Then Monday my stomach returned to it's upset ways and threw me back a few days in training for this 1/2 Marathon in April. I semi calculated in on my phone today the amount of miles I will be running to train for it if I run 4 miles, 3x a week, and progressively do long runs, by the time I get to run day I will have run over 220 miles starting this week alone... holy cow was my response :P Let's see if I can make this happen... I'll try to keep you updated. Also I agreed to run a 10k on my birthday in Puerta Plata with Simona, which will keep me going after april...

Finally I have to say something about this, as it's been on my mind a lot lately. My family in the states told me last week that they're moving soon to a new house. While I'm so excited for them, and I know it's what they want it makes me sad too. I knew things wouldn't stand still at home when I came here... and I wasn't even hoping to live there much longer when I return, but I will always cherish that house as the home I grew up in. I have been blessed all my life with amazing family, both at home and here I know I'll never be without family. There goes another chapter :)... not that we won't still dig up the time capsule in the backyard someday. Kristie in DRhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-17787671855994860002014-01-21T16:24:00.000-08:002014-01-21T16:24:00.331-08:00I really want a boat95% of the people who build boats don't finish them.... except boat builders of course.
I have no ambitions of ever building a boat, but I do love to be on them and row them. I live by a bay here, on my side of the river the streets are paved, the majority of the houses are concrete and there is running water in most of the houses. My projects are hard, because the mostly involve motivating and re-motivating people to do things that will improve their lives, but maybe not enough to make it worth the effort to them. That doesn't mean we don't do things, and I don't find things to love about living in this town. It just means that every once in a while I feel like staying here is equal to hitting my head against a wall continuously.

On the other hand and back to boats... My outlook changes when I cross the river. The first part is the boat ride across, and I do look forward to it. Cacon is the boat taxi man, and it's a really simple little lola. I love it because I'm pretty sure Cacon sees me get on the boat and immediately signals me to row the boat. This is AMAZING exercise, and reminds me dearly of my days in Crew. The town across the river is a challenge, it has a tiny dirt access road that no one takes. The majority of people just take the lola across with Cacon. It has a tiny school with a teacher that crosses the river and gives class in the morning, however most of the kids are pretty far behind. I finally gave up on the hope of recruiting a water volunteer to build an aqueduct when I realized that everyone there is just waiting to sell their land to whatever resort/company comes in and pays them enough. I go once a week and give a small class to 4-5 kids in literacy and math and when I can organize it I do an outdoor activity (visiting the beach, or hiking to some cave) with a group of older kids. Then I get to row the boat back.

I have a special place in my hear for those little kiddos.

On a different note I'm pretty sure I want to own a house boat someday.

Also I killed my housemate the mouse with poison... I knew he was dead cause I could smell him but it was Archer (my hero of a dog) that pointed out that he was inside of a mattress. I had to cut the mattress open and remove him with my gardening gloves. (#thingsIneverimagineddoing)

Kristie in DRhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-33327651913813194612014-01-08T18:40:00.000-08:002014-01-08T18:41:56.184-08:00Here's to the good life :)Ok it's a new year... and I'm back! I enjoyed an amazing visit from my bff Alana... who was a sweet heart and cared for me through my first amoeba in the DR... Luckily the medicine worked and I was able to get rid of it by my second day in the USA... Where I enjoyed washing my hands with hot water... lots of food, the company of some of my favorite people... and my amazing family.

Upon getting home I realized that I had house guest while I was out... rats! They left me little gifts and I saw one hiding in the spare bedroom... Determined to get rid of them I went to town today to get some poison and other supplies...I just have to say it was slightly comforting to jump in the guagua on the way home and be the 20th person squeezed into a 12 person van... There is always room for one more :)....
My women's association had our first meeting of the year and we set some good goals to lead up until April... I have the feeling I'm going to be mad busy...
...Later today, my stove broke, and I jerry-rigged (is that the saying?) it so that it will not leak from that burner if I turn the gas on and kept on cooking... I might invest in a new stove soon... as I do not want to test my luck...

I'm pretty sure that I killed at 2013! There was nothing left of it after I got done with it... I hope that 2014 is as awesome and brings me as much luck. Life's good in the DR, once you get used to the water and kill the amoebas...Kristie in DRhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-6950037182012988752013-12-07T17:33:00.003-08:002013-12-07T17:37:58.403-08:00Saturdays are the New Long Run Days... centipedes, run, and laundry... gross but productive day...

 Today is mostly going to be a photo blog...
So today I had planned on getting up at 6 AM and running until 8... I slept in until 7:30 and ran from 8-10ish...While I was getting dressed I got surprised by this little guy on my pants... I proceeded to kill him. I'm sorry I don't usually like to kill bugs, but when they break my bubble things change...
 and no I did not wear those pants afterwards...

The run did get off to a good start and I will show some photos of happier things now...

 This is the view of the ocean from about 100 ft from my house.

 Archer says hurry up mom!!
Also the just paved this part of the road :)

If you look closely you will see some interesting birds that Archer loves to terrorize on the reg...

In between this photo and the next there was a dead horse on the trail... I thought it best not to put a photo of a dead horse on this blog...

...And we go further

 It rained a little...

 This is the swimming hole that I should be swimming in more often!

After I ran today I decided that anytime there is a centipede in the clothes it's time to do laundry so I spent the rest of the day cleaning and doing laundry...
Today I ate a banana pre-run, a Cliff protein bar during the run, and a smoothie and coffee while doing the laundry.... I made chili for dinner... This chili was amazing and cost me $200 RD but it will last me at least 2 days :) Ohh and that fruit is papaya... Interesting note about papaya, I had never tried it before coming to this country... upon tasting it the first time I thought it tasted like puke... but if you ease it into your diet with smoothies one can develop quite a taste for it...DON'T think of puke when you try it for the first time!

Kristie in DRhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-47305581467878146632013-12-06T17:21:00.001-08:002013-12-06T17:21:26.612-08:00Ok, I get it... the underlying theme of this blog is really about how much I hate mosquitoes. It just goes to show how much I think about them on a daily basis. For instance recently I've been thinking of how I could do a comparison of blood loss during all of the times I've donated blood in my life... every 4-6 months from the ages of 19-24... to the amount of blood stolen from me by mosquitoes in this country. I mean really I kill at least 3-6 a day, but I get bit about 3x an hour during the day double that at night. Those are conservative estimates... Also I think if I going to go into biology (which I hate) I would try to develop a mosquito virus to kill all mosquitoes... this would inevitably backfire and lead to zombies (I know I should not be a biologist). On that note, life does go on in this mosquito filled world...

Today I was rather lazy. I probably ran about 1.5 miles and walked a lot. I went to la Romana to get my secret santa gift for the Women's Association christmas party, and picked up a few gifts for some special people back home :) On my way I tried to read more of the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Which is an interesting enough book most of the time, however like most self-help type books I think I would get just as much out of it if it were 50 pages, as opposed to 358 pages... I hate the feeling of reading the same thing repeated 10 times, just to fill some space. On the other hand it is interesting to look at development work through the perspective of the core paradigm shifts he discusses. All too often we try to improve our lives through an outside in perspective (changing our environment, and expecting a real change in our live) as opposed to focusing on changing from the inside out (focusing on improving ourselves and habits to change our lives). And then come the development workers... and that whole dependent, independent, and interdependent thing comes into play... and I won't bore you by going into it.
After the trip I went and traded more books with kids and ended up playing card games until it was dark and the mosquitoes made me go home...
Today's diet- papaya & banana smoothie & coffee in the morning, grapefruit for dessert
Today's diet failure- I was hungry on the way to la Romana and I bought a slice of pizza $50Rd (it was the worst looking pizza I've ever eaten but I conquered it of course...) and then I was hungry on the way home so I bought a chicken and corn empanada and my favorite empanada place $50 + $20 RD coke (so delicious, and worth it). Finally I was relatively cheap and fried a platano to make toastones drenched in tabasco sauce and ketchup, ~$20RD + $10 Rd grapefruit... so all in all I spent about $180RD which is $4.50 US :(Kristie in DRhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-68939291705324099892013-12-05T19:09:00.002-08:002013-12-05T19:19:44.831-08:00Day 6 of 12 day count down until Alana arrives!It has been cooler these days... ~70*, which has it's benefits, I don't start sweating just walking down the road or even just sitting in my chair, I can sleep at night if the lights go out and I don't have a fan pointed at me, when I wear jeans I don't feel like I'm suffocating my legs. On the other hand, taking cold showers, which in the summer can be surprisingly pleasant, is dreadful, it's also not cold enough to kill all the extra mosquitoes that have come to life with all the rain. Well with the change of weather I get to see how little water I need to shower, as I boil a small pot on the stove and mix it with 3/4 of a pitcher, when the warm water runs out I am done...

Today I went on a 2 mile run/walk... mostly walk... During which I had an inspiring idea for a side project I want to do next year during my free time... Mostly walking around and taking photos of the oldest and most interesting houses/buildings in the East, and interviewing some of the oldest and most interesting people.... We'll see if I can keep the motivation up. I think I'm going to start with my town... and just try to do a small spotlight/tourist booklet on my town. I love my runs :)

Then I spent the rest of the morning studying for GRE and preping to make Christmas cards with the kindergarten.
We made Christmas cards for their moms... and the organization in this photo speaks to the total organization in the classroom during the project... however it was pretty fun :)

Today's diet:
1 smoothie, 1 coffee
left over rice, and chinola juice
1pan dulce- $5, 1 kola real -$10
1 more pan dulce $5
Then for dinner I at 2 breads-$10 and $25 in cheese and a banana... so all in all I spent about $65 on food plus ~$40 on food I already owned... so pretty close. Still so much bread! but it tasted so good.

Also, the world lost a great man today. When I read about Nelson Mandela's passing I started crying. His life is an inspiration in an often confusing and overwhelming world.

Kristie in DRhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-44516669685127715342013-12-04T17:44:00.001-08:002013-12-04T17:44:16.177-08:00Today I was woken up at 6:30 by Sirens... No there are no fire men in my town... but these guys had come from the town over at 6.30 AM because a light/ electrical post had caught on fire... just another way to be woken up these days.

So today I did not go for my typical run, instead I did yoga. Then I spent the majority of the day making christmas presents for people I hope to see soon :) And answering emails. Now I have to admit that I have always been a slacker... especially in HS. However as I listened to an NPR Health podcast about how stressed High Schoolers are these days, I really just did not have any sympathy. There is no reason a kid needs to be taking 4 Honors classes in HS... and if you want to do that to yourself or your parents are telling you to do that, than you're a darn fool (or you're parents are...). It's high school, get over yourselves and relax a little.
Archer had a visit from his bff Toby today... Toby tends to come when Acher is backing super loud at other dogs running by... Toby comes and tries to calm him down, or eat his food. It's adorable.

Today I didn't have my typical smoothie... as the electricity was out due to a fire on the pole... I had yogurt, grape nutes, and a banana... followed by a tasty salad for lunch. Sparkles (dominican rip off skittles), and bread and juice as a snack. For dinner, I tried something new. I cooked rice for the first time in this country... Usually I figure that I get enough rice from Dominicans that I don't need to actually make it... Dinner was pretty tasty. Washed down with chinola juice :)

Kristie in DRhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-69596377461647935642013-12-03T17:17:00.001-08:002013-12-03T17:17:36.473-08:00Enjoying day 4 in 12 days of december before Alana Arrives!I was so close to sleeping in... I was dreaming of this hot guy... and we were flirting in some dominican- american mixed world (maybe at a renaissance fair, I feel like we were in line for a turkey leg... I know I'm weird).. and then Archer broke down the door, and decided it was time to wake me up by running all around the bed... I guess I know why I can't sleep past 7:30 these days. At first I thought it was cool and funny that he could open doors if he hit the handle just right... it really isn't.

Anyhow... back to the real world. Today I ran 2 miles (as usual), then studied GRE flash cards... I tried to make someone a christmas gift, but I didn't like it so they will probably never get it... After lunch I made a weird christmas tree with letter ornaments, and brought it to the preschool. We read books, practiced counting, and numbers for a few hours. Then I walked around and traded books, until I wound up at a dona's house were people were playing dominoes... I ended up drinking coffee and watching dominoes for an hour.
On a good note for the day... A guy on a motorcycle carried my huge bottle of water back to my house... this is one of the chores I loathe most, and often think during these long walks that I would consider shaking up with a Dominican guy if I could just get him to carry my water bottle home... then I come back to reality.
Then I took a moment and called my first favorite dona... Pancheta... I missed her a lot but I have to admit if I were her real child she would have disowned me by now for never calling. I'm horrible. She was so happy to talk and I made plans to stop by the house on the 13 as I go up to see Sabine.

Today I ate a smoothie and coffee for breakfast. Post run I made what I would describe as an asian dish. There were noodles, cabbage, tomato, onions, and cucumbers cooked in a pot with teryaki sauce, honey, and crushed red peppers. It didn't taste bad... After my preschool class I ate cheese, bread, and a tamarindo juice. As I was watching Dominoes, I got gifted plantanoes, so for dinner I boiled one plantano, fried one platano and boiled two eggs. All washed down with a banana smoothie. This will sound like a weird dinner... but it was greatly enjoyed... I love fried plantonoes and boiled ones too, but I've never allowed myself to fry them before... All and all today I spent about $110 RD.

Kristie in DRhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-14631532942364298582013-12-02T17:14:00.001-08:002013-12-02T17:51:31.349-08:00day 3 of 12 days of December... until Alana arrivesLast night when I woke up ( I guess I have woken up every night for the past month) I was hungry... I went back to sleep eventually.

I started today off well, with the breakfast and a 2 mile run, followed by yoga, and other exercise until I was exhausted again... Then I listened to Snap Judgment (NPR) and studied GRE vocab. Note about Snap Judgement... the stories always make me cry (in a good way most of the time), do not listen to this on a bad day. I crossed the river today and practiced numbers and letters... and played cards with some kids. Then I traded books and came home.

I did not do well on the whole diet thing... I had a smoothie and coffee for breakfast... crackers for snack after run, More pasta and passion fruit juice (because I literally had nothing else to eat in the house). On my way to the playita I ate a small bag of cookies, and upon returning I bought a $30 RD slice of Pizza. Dinner was salad and more passion fruit juice. So I'm pretty sure I stayed under $100 RD in food today... so I guess that's a good day.

Final note, a life goal of mine is to live in a place where I can sit comfortably and eat any meal I please without being molested by mosquitoes.... jajaja.

Kristie in DRhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-41260967282622314072013-12-01T18:03:00.002-08:002013-12-01T18:08:21.565-08:00Day 1 of 12 days of December Dedication and Devotion in 2013... maybe I will pick a better name. So today was a great start! As far as the Thanksgiving stole all my money and I'm broke diet goes... I had a coffee and Papaya Batida (smoothie) for Breakfast. Crackers for snack....Pasta and homemade passion fruit juice for Lunch. 2 Boiled eggs, 2 Bananas & Banana bread for dinner. Total Spent $92 RD

Ohh... and I was gifted a fish empanada... as to be honest.

Today's Accomplishments:

This may not look like it but this is my new Yoga studio (hey there's a mat and some pictures of Yoga...)

1 Dead Scorpion in the bedroom...Maybe this is what bit me the other day in bed... We'll never know.

3.5 mile Run :)

Re-registered for the GRE... going to show up on the right day this time.

Cleaned House... Dear Archer, I love you... but you SUCK! If you continue to stand in my dust pile and try to attack the broom you will regret it...

Organized/ Improved my Wall of Inspiration.

Visited neighborhood people and played with kids...

Reading and sleep will follow... Tomorrow starts the real work.

Kristie in DRhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-84621002963369604942013-11-30T18:38:00.000-08:002013-11-30T18:39:09.049-08:00Let's finish 2013 in my site with a BANG! and Start and Awesome Month :)Thanksgiving was Awesome! I loved spending some quality time with the girls... even though part of it involved planning for saying goodbye to one of my closest friends in Peace Corps... I'm going to miss your face Sabine... and our talks... and everything about you in general.

Sabine and I had a discussion about our perfect months we did earlier in the year... I think we both agreed they we ambitious, yet the simple setting goals made it easier to accomplish things that are often set aside, and build better habits. Out of my perfect months I have started the habit of making awesome smoothies for breakfast everyday, running on the reg, I studied more for that GRE, and in general writing and planning personal goals. However I did not stick to my plan completely (life gets in the way). So here's to making goals and finishing out 2013 in the DR with a bang. From the 1-12 of December I've made some personal goals to be accomplished in my site. From the 12-18 of December I will have the lovely Alana with me, and one should not plan personal goals when they are planning on seeing their best friends for the first time in 2 years! My goal from that time will be to relax and let loose a little.
So here are the goals for 1-12:
-Finally conquer GRE studying... I planned badly last time and I guess it means I need to study more.
- Plan party for my book club
-Plan/possibly do another mural
-Create collage with photos for Women's Association
-Run! everyday
-Blog! everyday... food journal... Maybe I should include photos?
-Write out more concretely the next two years of my life that I planned out last week... (we'll see)
-Yoga/exercise other than running
-Swim twice a week (why not... ?I live next to the ocean)
-Dance party at my house every night...
-Read another book (Simona if I read this book that you told me to read, and you don't, than our private book club is off!... get on that!)
On a different note, it has come to my attention that I might be broke, even in PC terms (We all know I've been broke for the past two years...) So I've decided to save some money for my visit with Alana, who will be coming on the 12th by controlling my diet a little. I know volunteers often go with less than $4 a day on food, hell half the time I do too, but not consistently. My goal for the next week is to not spend more than $4 a day (completely possible) but focus on spending $2.5 a day ($100 RD...maybe possible). I've done the math... kind of... and this is the break down as it stands now. in a week I will spend $200 RD on Breakfast (Papaya Smoothies and Coffee). That leaves $71 RD or $1.79 US to spend on lunch and dinner. Staples will include onions, tomato, cucumber, lettuces/cabbage, eggs, bananas, plantains, and milk. I will be cheating slightly by using pre-owned whole grain pasta and noodles. Kristie in DRhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-8678097421390044362013-11-22T04:44:00.001-08:002013-11-22T04:44:24.471-08:00The other side of the riverLast month I hit a wall with my projects... The river trash problem is what it is... How can one fix a problem on a local scale that comes from a problem on a national scale. My water project fell apart due to a company coming in to buy up all the land... People stopped coming to meetings... it was hard. I struggled with the idea that I'm wasting my time here, that I am not the type of person that can create meaningful change in other people's lives. Luckily it was rainy season so I had a good excuse for hanging in my house and giving myself the space needed to get over the poor Kristie mood. I decided to take a break from the town across the river, and focus on other things that seemed more successful (Books and Trading Books like cards with neighborhood kids).
Wednesday I saw the president of the Junta de Vecinoes of the other side of the river, and he was happy to see me. He asked the typical questions when one's been absent.. Have you been gone? Did you go home? We thought that you went back to your country! and he asked me to come back to the meeting Thursday. So I did. Everyone was happy to see me :) Menga, one of the christian grandmothers, told me how happy she was with my work and how the Teacher had really started to teach this year. We did a campaign to get him to act more like a teacher over the summer... She said he loved the mural we did at the school and was using it to teach the kiddos. I got her kid to read me a book (which is amazing considering last summer I was trying to get her kid to identify letters). I don't know what kind of impact I've truly had but I was proud yesterday. I'll go back again next week.Kristie in DRhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-71556547013447540322013-11-09T11:46:00.000-08:002013-11-09T11:46:16.807-08:00Guagas...In training we went in depth about guaguas (public buses)... Try to have exact change, always have your ID on you (especially around the border), DON'T ride hanging onto the side or half way in if it's full (This is not safe...), be aware of where the hands of the people sitting next to you are and your wallet....ohh and get off if the driver is drinking...

Well I have to say I have had a passionate love hate relationship with guaguas and the adventures that they come with. I have had a crazy old man sit next to me and sing loudly about me (the gringa that doesn't want to tell him her life's story), I have gotten lost many a times and found myself with the help of some friendly cobradores.. If you ask me about it I'll tell you about my close call with the train and the many reasons I'm happy to be alive today. I have been on a guagua when it ran into another guagua, at which point the cobrador got off put the bumper back on and we were off again...Yet I have to say that at this point I love going on guagua rides. I have always loved staring out the window of a moving vehicle and doing it on a guagua with the Dominican countryside passing in the window and background music of Bachata it's a perfect way to clear one's mind. I like knowing that I don't have to know exactly where I'm going because there are Donas (old Dominican women) that will guide me... They will go so far as to call someone on the phone to check directions when they don't know... They will get off with you and walk you to the right street or house. I am sure that I can not explain the feeling I get about guaguas... It's like floating along with your life in the hands of a complete stranger, but also knowing that for the most part everyone just wants to go to the same place and are willing to help you get there. I guess that's life, most days. Maybe I just like asking directions, because the responses tend to surprise me :) Anyhow this is my advice... Follow the instructions given above (just good common sense) and always ask directions, even if you know where you're going you might find a better way. Kristie in DRhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-11958914466187183992013-10-25T08:02:00.001-07:002013-10-25T08:02:47.483-07:00Ohh OctoberOk so I'm calling the month of October! I'd like to squeeze it in the last week of September and into what was my October and call it a day with October right now. In September one of my best friends here went home :( She did what was right for her and I completely respect that, but I miss her. This is not an easy position to do, especially when you reach transition when you don't know exactly what you're supposed to do. So here is my account of the bad in the month of October... I got the flu :( luckily I was blessed with a week of rain and a ton of honey to pass the time. Then Archer got into a fight with other dogs and come home all injured. He refused to lay down for 3 days, resting his head on my bed and looking up at me with his big puppy dog eyes. My water project has been scrapped because a mysterious company is buying up all the land in the Playita so they can develop it (I'm not sure if this is good or bad, only time will tell). Worst of all I feel like a hermit...

On the upside of October... I started a girls group, painted a world map with my BV kiddos, my first kid finished his reading card, which means he has read over 25 of my books now, and his mom tells me he's a much better reader than last year. It's rained lots :) this however has brought many nasty bugs.

So I'm going to let go of this month that has frustrated me so much and next week I'm going to do a Med Mission and translate for American doctors in Dajabon. A place I have yet to see. Next month will be harder as I will be teaching a lionfish cooking class, and if you know me well you know that fish is not something I tend to cook in general. I'm going to run more and be more social with my community.
Kristie in DRhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-7402909001128917022013-08-01T18:55:00.000-07:002013-08-01T18:55:04.051-07:00Friends.. Family.... what kind of life I chose to lead.Ok ....so I don't even remember the last time I wrote a blog but I guess I should do it on a more regular basis... In the past two months I went to one year IST (this kind of blew my mind because I had to reflect on what I've done with the last year of my life... and what I'm going to do with the next). I enjoyed popcorn ;) I got to go home and see my friends and family... and finally my mom and dad came to visit which was awesome... My father's portion of the trip was cut short my a countrywide stand-fast due to a tropical storm, and included a neutering of my wonderful dog Archer... After he left, my mom stayed with me in my site and helped me readjust to being Dominican (which was interesting). She also helped me while I held my dog in my lap and removed his surgery stitches (another thing I thought I'd never have the chance to do in my life...). I dropped my mom off at the airport today and I know that in the next few days I'm going to be super depressed and feeling more alone than usual. I know that I need August to be the "perfect month" more than ever. I am determined to try to do all my list and keep up with kayla to help her too.. So you may ask what is the "perfect month"... it's the goal I've set for my august to try to do all the things I imagined doing in the peace corps and all the great Dominican Ideas I've had without letting my Dominican and peace corps obligations hold me back... I know I need that extra push and I need to feel like I'm moving towards my personal goals. Wish me luck... one of my goals is to write more in my blog and in general. Kristie in DRhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-2525235932794558052013-05-01T18:47:00.000-07:002013-05-01T18:47:27.299-07:00Confidence Well I have to say that this blog has been inspired by the salsa I made for dinner tonight... it was well seasoned.
Anyhow I've been thinking about it lately but I think that I am more confident than I have ever been in my life and I guess I have to pay credit where it's due. Now don't get my wrong but I've always been overly confident when it comes to brains (I mean I know I'm smart). However everyone has their flaws and I've always been aware of mine... and upon coming to this country I think all of my flaws were amplified tenfold and I'm sure new ones arose. My weight, my speaking ability, my shyness around strangers... nervousness, cooking ability and I'm sure there where many more... It was all tenfold and it made me rather depressed...

Something about knowing that tomorrow marks a year in site is amazingly freeing. I was walking down the street today after a meeting and even though the day didn't go as I planned and I didn't get everything done I still felt like I did more than most people could (or would want to). I am not only fitter and cuter than when I got to this country but I'm sassier, a better cook, smarter, and happier. I have the confidence that only an experience of being scared shitless by trainers, and then sent into a community of complete strangers and having to make it a home while developing some kind of job can give oneself.

I am content that most dominicans will never like my food (it's too spicy and lacks salt and sugar) because I love to eat it so much I don't want to share...Kristie in DRhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-79692492188625211142013-04-16T18:58:00.000-07:002013-04-16T18:58:13.550-07:00No... I didn't forget that I have a blog... it's just that everytime I think about sitting down to write I always think of something more "interesting" to do. Things that I've found more interesting include playing tons of Soduku (which I am now an expert at..), looking up random info online, sitting with Dominicans (this is pretty fun, and reminds me of my grandpa wayne and how when he would visit we would all sit in lawn chairs in front of the house for hours), and playing with my dog.

Well here is the update.

March marked my one year anniversary of being in this country. I have to say that while it's been the longest, hardest year of my life, I've also learned more in the past year than I could have imagined. I basically relearned how to live (which makes me wonder what it'll be like going home). It took me a while to integrate into my community but I do feel like this is my home (not my forever home because it faults so many crucial people). Also we went to los Patos (The ducks) for our one year celebration and it was great. It was the first ever beach of peables that I have seen (which I was told by scot is not that rare and has something to do with underwater currents). It was rare for me and awesome! Also on this trip I started to really enjoy dominican music, and I admit that it took me a long time to do that... But sometimes you need to be away from the normal surroundings and with people you are completely comfortable to enjoy dancing and listening so something. Maybe that's just me...

My dog is huge and apparently very malcreado (he does't have good dominican manners). I love him anyways. In March he inspired me to start running (mostly to tire him out and also because now he's big enough that I feel safe running by myself) and I signed up for my first 10K. I ran the entire 10K, which for me is a big deal, and at the end I decided that 'maybe' next year I need to do the half marathon. I still have no intention of ever running a whole marathon in my life, because I can't really imagine how running that much at one time is good for somebody. On the same trip as the 10K I managed to get myself a muffler burn from a motorcycle, and it was a rookie mistake because I got it mounting the bike... (shows how often I ride motorcycles in this country). The burn has prevented me from running much in the past week and a half because it just won't scab over :(

However the past few weeks have been pretty good... My women's group is making progress with the their art and I think the ones that are progressing are beginning to get more serious about the project. The government organization that works with aquaducts came to visit last week, so it looks like we are going to be moving forward with my solicitude for a response water volunteer (fingerscrossed). And I had a fun visitor, who gave me good music, and explored parts of the town I've yet to have seen :).

I'm very excited for the next year and I've decided that August is going to be my perfect month.... I picked august because it is the hottest most uncomfortable month of the year, so I have to make it my perfect month or it's going to just be the worst month. My goal is to make a list of all the things that I've wanted to do in my life while I'm here like get up early to run (instead of running in the afternoon when it's mad hot), or make tortillas every week, and meditate and force myself to try harder to do it, if only for the month. I'll be making the list for the next few months and I'll try to remember to post it before the time.

Also to any peeps back home that don't already know... I'm coming home for a visit in late June :) plan to make plans to see me, because I'm cool... and you know you miss me.
Kristie in DRhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-47725972455066151322013-02-03T19:22:00.000-08:002013-02-03T19:22:11.324-08:00Ok so I know that it's super early to start making this list.... considering I have another 14 months or so in country... but I love my list and I want a distraction from my real life. So here's a list of food I want to eat and things I want to do (mostly food):

1-I want lots of breakfast food! waffles with whip cream, maybe strawberry sauce and bananas..whole wheat banana and chocolate chip pancakes, with whip cream.... and an omelet with mushrooms, and veggies galore and hot sauce. I will wash all this down with coffee, but it'll probably make me want dominican coffee again.
2- Popcorn ;) this will be necessary I'm sure
3-go to a movie... maybe the next star trek... but I'll probably have to rent that cause it will be out of theaters by the time I get home.
4- I want Thai food with feiven and kim
5- I want spicy pho, sushi, indian, and all other asian foods that I don't get to have here
6-Montclair chicken salad
7-Happy hour margaritas with mom
8-Jessica, you and I are going to finish that bike trail-I'm probably going to have to fix my bike up for that... or maybe buy a new one with y readjustment allowance (road bike :)
9-Take a hot shower
10-Go out with my friends and stay in with my family :)Kristie in DRhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-51755867760247446372013-02-01T11:18:00.000-08:002013-02-01T11:18:48.777-08:00It's rained all week... and I love it! I missed having rainy days and I hope it stays like this for months.

This month I've been running around like a chicken with it's head chopped off trying to prepare my women to apply for a grant... that I'm not sure we're ready for... but at least in the process of preparing we will be getting ready and they are making process in deciding what they really want to do. I've also been working on getting a response water volunteer for the town across the river... :) which I think might actually happen now!

On a more personal level this month I got to go kayaking in a mangrove that let out into the ocean. Which was pretty sweet and next time I have good internet I'll load the photos. Also Archer is getting huge... I'm not sure how I'm going to bring him home, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to at this point cause I know he thinks I'm his mommy... He drives me crazy though... so far this week he has managed to bring about 5 bones into my house... the most interesting/ nasty of which was either the jaw of a horse or cow (the only large mammals that live in this county). Today was irritating though cause he brought home a dirty diaper and while I was distracted by two of my youth group girls he spread it around my house... I had to ask the girls to leave so I could collect myself enough to clean it up not go crazy...

Also I have seen two squirrels in this country and that just cracks me up cause squirrels are only here to my understanding because dominican's think they're cute as pets... but they're so crazy that they have to let them go.
Kristie in DRhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-12088025577147327392013-01-06T16:39:00.001-08:002013-01-06T16:39:26.422-08:00Things I think about...here

Why do my feet always get so freaking dirty in this pais (country)... well maybe because all I wear is sandals at this point...maybe because I cross the river a lot and put my feet in the dirty river water...it's possible that the fact that there is very little grass in peoples yards makes all the dirt much more dusty... I have a dog that seeks out dirt and then brings it back to the home on his paws (he only gets a bath 1-2 times a week).

I do kind of enjoy the fact that I have to greet most everyone I see on the street... It makes me feel more part of the community and like I fit in better... I do not think however that I will ever feel really comfortable with the cheek kiss that hispanic countries are accustomed to... Idk I just never feel like I'm doing it right... idk if i'm supposed to really kiss the cheek or if i'm supposed to kiss the air around the cheek and just press cheeks together... sometimes you go in to give a cheek kiss and it's too quick and your bones hit and that kind of hurts... I'm an american and my culture I think makes my security bubble bigger and I just do not enjoy being that close to so many people.... (if read wrong that whole paragraph is dirty)

Is my dog prettier than the other dominican dogs cause he gets cleaned on a regular basis and given good food or is he just naturally really pretty?

Who the hell would let ANYONE under 12 years old drive a motorcycle?

How long would it take to swim home? How quickly would I die at sea? If there really are more sharks on my side of the river?

I think I might actually enjoy dominican music if it weren't blasted so loud that I think my eardrums are going to pop.

I wonder how hard it would be to create hybrid fruit trees that would survive back home...Kristie in DRhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-46190205272648263422013-01-05T18:53:00.001-08:002013-01-05T18:53:34.863-08:00First week of the year...
So this week I've felt like I should be preparing for a great new in site... I bought an internet plan (it took 3 hours to buy and then another 2 hours or so to return when it did not work...) I bought a new daily organizer which I do think will be incredibly helpful because if I don't have a plan it can be really easy to get distracted and end up doing the opposite of what I planned on in a day. Organized and labeled all the books mom brought be so I can start a mini personal library exchange program. Went to the playita :)

Also I went to a sweet sixteen birthday party where a dominican man (who has tried on numerous occasions to tell me that I am perfect for his son) made fun of me by saying that I love my dog and I'm going to take him home with me... As if that's something bad... That I might actually prefer my dog to the idea of dating his son and taking him home with me... CRAZ|Y RANT MOOD!

Other accomplishments this week include reorganizing my home so now my spare bed is a sofa in my livingroom. Also kind of started walking/running archer every morning... well that's the goal. Sometimes I things I have to do early in the morning... but he will get a walk tomorrow Morningand he had at least 3 this week in the morning. Kristie in DRhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-78703683425607822012012-12-13T19:11:00.003-08:002012-12-13T19:11:31.128-08:00Alana- (I know you follow this and I felt like I needed to say this out loud... so this is for you) I miss you so much Alana!!! I live my life in my head repeating words that I want to say and wanted to say and will say over and over. Its like a constant conversation between me, myself, and I. Sometimes its interrupted my reality where I often say the exact opposite of what I want to say so that I know for sure how people will react. This past year has been the most jumbled up stream of conversation and reality of my life. Not only is it in Spanglish cause I suck at Spanish but Dominican culture never fails to surprise me. This makes me think of you Alana of course because you are just neurotic enough to understand how that feels and it makes me love you even more and I'm sure it makes you love me even more.

Ok... so there are other things that have happened in the past year that I have yet to write about because I'm a pretty bad blogger but let me por lo menos write a semi-end of the year blog to share my thoughts and experiences with family and friends. Those of you who know me the best will know that I like lists so I'm going to break this into a number of lists cause it's how my brain focuses...

List 1- Things I accomplished and take pride in for 2012!!
1-I learned spanish!!! I maybe never be the best at it but I understand it and people understand me and that is freaking amazing!
2- I started an environmental youth group and my kids are awesome.
3- I became a pc volunteer, I have lived in the DR for 8 months now and have yet to give up.
4-I have jumped off of a waterfall, I've also jumped off of rocks into natural springs (I do now think I'm scared of heights thou)
5-I've lost 35lbs, and I'm not sickly
6- I'm proud of my work with my women's group (we've mostly just done fundraising, but I think we've bonded and they've learned some things from me... maybe)
7-I have been taking a cake decorating class- I do this to encourage my women to take it but I am also pretty excited to take home and eat a piece of cake every monday.
8-I'm scuba certified
9-I hiked in DR :)
10-I feel like I've made myself a dominican family and group of friends
11-I have cooked arroz con leche and habicules con dulce (not that I'd be able to do it again)
12-I made a solar oven (it works but i made it late in the year so I haven't had much opportunity to cook with it)
13-I've learned how to travel in the DR on public transport (this I think makes me brave and crazy)
14- This is the longest I've lived on my own and away from home in my life
15- I got a dog

List 2- Things I've missed in 2012.
1- My family!!!! I can't even say how much I've missed my family it makes me want to cry thinking about it and the little things that I've missed in their lives and I haven't been able to share about my life with them.
2- My friends. I've know for a long time that whatever kind of god there is or power in the universe likes me cause I've been blessed with the best family and friends. I've missed my pw friends even though from the sounds of it we have scattered throughout the world. I've missed my eip and gmu crew, when I come home we are all going out to Thai food and $3 movies, and I want to play soccer (which ends up with me laying in a grassy field with kim and feiven watching clouds in the sky and talking ). I've missed my bike/hikes with jessica.
3-My bed (my bed was freaking amazing back home (my parents told me in september that they got rid of it and bought me a new one... I don't even know what to say to that.
4-The 2012 elections... This makes it two presidential elections I've been out of the country for... the only two that I've been legally eligible to vote in too.
5- Lots of birthdays... I'm sorry I'm so bad at remembering too!
6-
List 3- Not so good things in 2012
1- I saw a car accident and it really freaked me out (the month of July had way too many funerals in my town it was just depressing)
2- Dominican food- not that it's horrible by any means but it's not really my slice of cake. Dominican food like any other cultural thing has some really great things that should be cherished but they do not include the use of sopita, salt, parts of the chicken or cow that include the feet... or any of the things that have made me sick.... On the other hand I have gotten over my disgust of cabbage because it's the main part of salad here.
3-Machismo- bad dominican come-ons, the idea that I should have babies and a husband by now, paripos (this goes along with come-ons but it's basically the things men yell out in the streets)
4- I have felt more awkward this year of my life than I have since I was in elementary school.
5-I had the best and I mean best donias in training, especially in cbt in santiago-she made me feel like part of her family and she cooked really great and was so sweet, the only reason this is not so good is cause I feel really guilty for not keeping in touch with her and that makes me a bad person.
6- Chisme (this is the spanish word for gossip) I hate the gossip that goes on in my town and in my women's group... I don't know how to navigate it.
7- Sometimes I feel inadequate to do my project... this stems mostly out of not knowing really what my project is half the time... and the fact that I've yet to apply for any grants... I guess that's normal for some at my stage and very unnormal for others... but I try.

So 2012 has been a super long and interesting to the least year. I'm happy the world didn't end on the 12 of December and that my family is coming on the 22nd... so I hope it doesn't end that day either. I hope next year is as interesting as this year but maybe a little easier but with the hard things often come the greatest and most lasting memories

Kristie in DRhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2423672382223200768.post-48048814627865171772012-10-03T08:29:00.000-07:002012-10-03T08:29:35.641-07:00Sept flew by and here's octoberI'm living on my own now :)... I'm pretty sure I'm getting the pc soft experience because I would live in my apartment here in the states if I could... I have a two bedroom apartment with an indoor bathroom... a real kitchen and tiled (not cement) floors. Sure it smells a little (there's wetlands behind my house), there's still lots of bugs, and I don't have a fan yet so it's burning up at night...but it's lovely and I'm ready for visitors!!

I got my scuba diving certification last month, and I'm really excited to continue diving in the next two years (in money allows)... While I was diving I saw an octopus, 3 manta-rays, and lots of other really cool fish.

In my community I'm been doing english classes 3x a week, and a Brigada Verde youth group once a week. I'm still working with my women's group trying to figure out exactly what we're doing... Hopefully soon we'll plan another clean up because the roads are getting a little dirty.

Commentary on Dominican cuisine... they sell juice packets (fruit punch) that come with oatmeal in them... I actually kind of like it... it's a different texture.Kristie in DRhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Get the wrap up on the hottest stories in the fashion industry from this past week.
~Christy Pastore @christypastore
Image Source: Zimbio
Vanity Fair gave us a preview of its 73rd International Best-Dressed list today with the top spot going to Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge again for the second year in a row. The Duchess has gained worldwide recognition for recycling fashions and wearing accessible brands. Catherine also knows how to make a glamorous entrance wearing stunning, figure flattering gowns to charity galas and red carpet events, and she does it all effortlessly.
The Duchess will appear on the cover of the magazine's September issue available at newsstands, but it's Oscar nominee, Jessica Chastain's cover that will be delivered to subscribers' mailboxes.
Jessica made the list for reasons none other than her elegance and striking red-carpet looks including wearing breathtaking designs from Zac Posen, Gucci and Elie Saab.
Other style stars on this year's list include fashion designers, models and a bevy of royals: Stella McCartney, Diane Kruger, Alice + Olivia designer, Stacey Bendet, Erika Bearman aka Oscar PR Girl, Jay Z, Matt Lauer and Prince Harry.
Which cover do you prefer? Who would you have liked to see make the list?
Image Source: Vanity Fair, Zimbio, People
All content © Fashion Wrap Up LLC 2010 - 2015 - All Rights Reserved

subset: commoncrawl


text:
By: Becky O'Sullivan
Each summer during the last two weeks in July, staff from the West Central Regional Center of the Florida Public Archaeology Network put on a Junior Archaeologist summer camp for children between the ages of 7 and 11 at the Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center in St. Petersburg, FL. It is both extremely rewarding, and extremely tiring, to teach 20 kids about archaeology for a week, but we wondered what actual messages were getting across to our campers from the educational activities and archaeology hikes we were leading them through. No kid wants to participate in a pre- and post-test at summer camp, so how could we get a better idea of what the kids were taking away from our Junior Archaeologist camp curriculum without resorting to more formal testing methods?
Over the past few years, FPAN staff has used art as a means of assessment at our summer camps as a way to gauge the effectiveness of our message. This is a simple method to get some immediate feedback on what the kids have learned, as well as what messages we need to do a better job of getting across. Each day of camp we have one or two art competitions where campers draw a picture based on one of the themes we have covered during the day. The kids have fun being creative and competing against one another for a small prize, and we get good feedback on what they have learned (as well as a stack of adorable archaeology-related pictures).
By looking through their pictures we can get an idea of the main ideas that are getting across to the kids, then tweak our approach and activities in order to make sure that they aren't missing out on the important preservation-related messages we are trying to impart. Artistic expression works much better than written questions and answers in this context because it is more informal, and easier to accomplish for the relatively wide age range we have in our camp groups.
This method has also been useful at public archaeology days as a means to assess the public's perceptions of specific archaeology topics that are on display. So the next time you are planning an archaeology related school visit, public day, or event, make sure to bring some blank paper and crayons so you can see for yourself what messages you are really getting across!
Becky is an archaeologist working at the West Central Regional Center of the Florida Public Archaeology Network, located at the University of South Florida in Tampa. If you would like more information about public archaeology or have some ideas for how to assess educational programming please contact her at email@example.com


text:
St. Charles County
|John Uthoff is a Vice President of St. Johns Bank with an office at the O'Fallon branch. John has many years of commercial lending experience and has been working at St. Johns Bank since 1999. John can help you with any of your loan needs but specializes in commercial real estate. You can reach John by calling (636) 978-7404 ext. 3609 or emailing him at firstname.lastname@example.com.
|Ken Kozma is a Vice President at our branch in St. Peters. Ken began working at St. Johns Bank as a teller and eventually moved over to the commercial lending department in 2003. He is a graduate of the Graduate School of Banking and specializes in SBA loans. You can reach Ken at (636) 939-2005 ext. 3903 or email@example.com.
|Brandy Ebers is a Vice President and Commercial Loan Officer with an office at our Harvester location. Brandy has more than 15 years of banking experience. She is a graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale with a degree in finance. Brandy can help you with any of your small- to mid-sized business lending needs from lines of credit to commercial real estate. You can reach Brandy by calling (636) 939-3495 ext. 3288 or emailing her at email@example.com


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firstname.lastname@example.com | 01484 473612
Consultant Clinical Psychologist in Learning Disabilities in Huddersfield / Senior Visiting Research Fellow, University of Huddersfield.
As a senior member of the team developed and establish the Learning Disability and Quality of Life Masters course at the University of Huddersfield.
I am currently a member of the Institute for Research in Citizenship and Applied Human Sciences and the Centre for Applied Psychological Research.
Over the years I have focused on: (a) Reduction of challenging behaviour in people with learning disability in particular anger and aggression. This has mainly involved mata-analysing the published literature. In addition, a number of single case studies demonstrating effectiveness of assessment and treatment methods have been published. (b) The measurement of IQ in people with learning disabilities. Several theoretical papers on the limitations of IQ testing with people with learning disabilities have been produced. Currently a meta-analysis of reliability of intellectual assessments is in preparation and an empirical analysis of IQ assessments done in the Learning Disability Clinical Psychology department has just been submitted for publication. (c) The nature, definition and naming of Learning Disability. In addition, papers have been produced on evidence-based practice, the prevalence of learning disabilities, and the prevalence and nature of mental illness. Ethical approval has been obtained to do further work in the assessment of challenging behaviour and on the effectiveness of intellectual assessments.
I have an additional research interest which is "The assessment of low intellectual ability".
Whitaker, S (2017) 'Assessing the intellectual ability of asylum seekers' International Journal of Developmental Disabilities . ISSN 2047-3869
Whitaker, S (2015) 'Guidance on the Assessment and Diagnosis of Intellectual Disabilities in Adulthood: Getting there but still some way to go' The Bulletin of the Faculty for People with Intellectual Disabilities , 13 (3), pp. 16-21. ISSN 2056-3094
Whitaker, S (2015) 'Error in the measurement of low IQ: Implications for research, clinical practice and diagnosis' Clinical Psychology Forum (274), pp. 37-40. ISSN 1473-8279
Whitaker, S (2015) 'Intelligence across the life span'. In: Annual Conference of the BPS North East of England Branch, 7th September 2015, York St John University, York
Whitaker, S (2015) 'How accurate are modern IQ tests at categorising people as ID or non ID?' Clinical Psychology Forum (270), pp. 49-53. ISSN 1747-5732
Simon, W (2014) 'Legal definitions of intellectual disability: do they work?'. In: 4th International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities IASSIDD Europe Congress, 14 to 17 July 2014, University of Vienna, Austria
Whitaker, S (2013) 'Some problems with the definition of intellectual disability and their implications'. In: British Psychological Society Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP) annual conference, 4 to 6 December 2013, York, UK
Whitaker, S (2013) Intellectual Disability: An Inability to Cope with an Intellectually Demanding World . London, UK: Palgrave Macmilan. ISBN 9781137025579
Whitaker, S (2013) 'Error in the measurement of low IQ: Implications for the diagnosis of Intellectual Disability in court cases'. In: Intelligence Quotient: Testing, Role of Genetics and the Environment and Social Outcomes Intelligence Quotient: Testing, Role of Genetics and the Environment and Social Outcomes. New York, USA: Nova Science Publishers. pp. 111-128. ISBN 978-1-62618-728-3
Whitaker, S (2013) 'Defining Learning Disability: critique of current: can we measure low IQ?'. In: Definition in Context Furture Direction in Defining Learning Disability, 7th June 2013, London, UK
Whitaker, S. and Gordon, S. (2012) 'Floor effects on the WISC-IV' International Journal of Developmental Disabilitiess , 58 (2), pp. 111-119. ISSN 2047-3869
Webb, J. and Whitaker, S. (2012) 'Defining learning disability' The psychologist , 25 (6), pp. 440-443. ISSN 0952-8229
Heaton, S. and Whitaker, S. (2012) 'The attitudes of trained and untrained staff in coping with challenging behaviour in secure and community settings' International Journal of Developmental Disabilities , 58 (1), pp. 40-47. ISSN 20473869
Whitaker, S (2012) 'The measurement of low IQ with the WAIS-IV: A critical review' Clinical Psychology Forum (231). ISSN 1747-5732
Whitaker, S. and Laird, C. (2011) 'Error in the measurement of low intellectual ability:Implications for research'. In: Joint Congress of the European Association for Mental Health in Intellectual Disability & IASSID Challenging Behaviour & Mental Health SIRG Conference, 1st - 3rd September 2011, Manchester, UK
Whitaker, S (2011) 'Are people with Intellectual disabilities getting more or less intelligent II: US data' British journal of developmental disabilities , 57 (113), pp. 159-166. ISSN 0969-7950
Laird, C. and Whitaker, S. (2011) 'The use of IQ and descriptions of people with intellectual disabilities in the scientific literature' British journal of developmental disabilities , 57 (113), pp. 175-183. ISSN 0969-7950
Whitaker, S (2011) 'The US death penalty and the implicatons for measurement of low IQ'. In: British Psychological Society Annual Conference 2011, 4-6 May 2011, Glasgow, Scotland
Whitaker, S (2010) 'A floor effect on the WISC-IV and WAIS-III'. In: 10th 'Seattle Club' Conference on Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 6th and 7th December 2010, Llandudno, North Wales
Whitaker, S (2010) 'The measurement of low IQ and its implications for the death penalty in the USA'. In: 1st Conference on Intellectual Disability and Criminal Justice, July 8th 2010, Chester, UK
Whitaker, S (2010) 'Error in the estimation of intellectual ability in the low range using the WISC-IV and WAIS-III' Personality and Individual Differences , 48 (5), pp. 517-521. ISSN 01918869
Gordon, S., Duff, S., Davidson, T. and Whitaker, S. (2010) 'Comparison of the WAIS-III and WISC-IV in 16-Year-Old Special Education Students' Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities , 23 (2), pp. 197-200. ISSN 13602322
Whitaker, S. and Shirley, G. (2010) 'Profile Analysis on the WISC-IV and WAIS-III in the low intellectual range: Is it valid and reliable?' Clinical Psychology and People with Learning Disabilities , 7, pp. 34-38. ISSN 1746-6008
Whitaker, S (2010) 'Are people with intellectual disabilities getting more or less intelligent?' British journal of developmental disabilities , 56:1 (110), pp. 49-55. ISSN 0969-7950
Whitaker, S (2009) 'Case record analysis' The Behavior Analyst Today , 9 (3/4), p. 175 -183. ISSN 1539-4352
Whitaker, S (2009) 'Error in the measurement of low IQ: implications for the death penalty in the USA'. In: Fifth International SIVUS Conference on Mental Retardation, 14 - 16 October 2009, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Whitaker, S (2009) 'Are people with low intellectual ability getting less intelligent?'. In: British Psychological Society North East Branch (NEEB) Conference 2009, Friday 26th - Saturday 27th June 2009, Sheffield, UK
Whitaker, S (2008) 'The merits of mental age as an additional measure of intellectual ability in the low ability range' Clinical Psychology Forum , 191, pp. 44-47. ISSN 1473-8279
Whitaker, S (2008) 'Can we measure low IQ'. In: British Psychological Society North East Branch (NEEB) Conference 2008, Thursday 26th - Friday 27th June 2008, Leeds, UK
Whitaker, S (2008) 'WISC-IV and low IQ: review and comparison with the WAIS-III' Educational Psychology in Practice , 24 (2), pp. 129-137. ISSN 0266-7363
Whitaker, S. and Gordon, S. (2008) 'A comparison of the WISC-IV and WAIS-III in the low IQ range'. In: British Psychological Society North East Branch (NEEB) Conference 2008, Thursday 26th - Friday 27th June 2008, Leeds, UK
Whitaker, S. and Gordon, S. (2008) 'A comparison of the WISC-IV and WAIS-III in the low IQ range'. In: Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society 2008, April 2008, Dublin
Whitaker, S (2008) 'The stability of IQ in people with low intellectual ability: an analysis of the literature' Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities , 46 (2), pp. 120-128. ISSN 19349556
Whitaker, S (2008) 'Is modern technology making people with low intellectual ability less intelligent?'. In: British Computer Society Health Care Computing Conference 2008, April 2008, Harrogate, UK
Whitaker, S (2008) 'Error in the assessment of low IQ'. In: University of Huddersfield Research Festival 2008, 25 Feb-13 March 2008, Huddersfield
Whitaker, S (2008) 'Intellectual disability: a concept in need of revision?' The British Journal of Developmental Disabilities , 54 (106), pp. 3-9. ISSN 0969-7950
Whitaker, S., Lowe, F. and Wearden, J. (2008) 'When to respond? And how much? Temporal control and response output on mixed-fixed-interval schedules with unequally probable components' Behavioural Processes , 77 (1), pp. 33-42. ISSN 0376-6357
Whitaker, S (2007) 'Error in assessment of low IQ'. In: British Psychological Society Conference, December 2007, London, UK
Whitaker, S. and Wood, C. (2007) 'The distribution of scaled scores and possible floor effects on the WISC-III and WAIS-III' Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities , 21 (2), pp. 136-141. ISSN 1360-2322
Whitaker, S. and Read, S. (2006) 'The prevalence of psychiatric disorders among people with intellectual disabilities: an analysis of the literature' Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities , 19 (4), pp. 330-345. ISSN 13602322
Whitaker, S (2006) 'Whats in a name? Alternatives to learning disability' Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Research and Practice , 3 (2), pp. 177-191. ISSN 1743-6885
Whitaker, S (2005) 'The uses of the WISC-III and the WAIS-III with people with a learning disability: Three concerns' Clinical Psychology Forum , 50, pp. 37-40. ISSN 1473-8279
Whitaker, S (2004) 'Learning disabilities registers: Who should we register and why?' Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Research and Practice , 1 (1), pp. 45-51. ISSN 1743-6885
Whitaker, S (2004) 'Hidden learning disability' British Journal of Learning Disabilities , 32 (3), pp. 139-143. ISSN 13544187
Whitaker, S., Walker, T. and McNally, C. (2004) 'The use of time base lag sequential analysis to look at the relationship between environmental events and challenging behaviour in people with learning disabilities' Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , 32 (1), pp. 67-76. ISSN 1352-4658
Whitaker, S., Lowe, F. and Wearden, J. (2003) 'Multiple-interval timing in rats: Performance on two-valued mixed fixed-interval schedules' Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes , 29 (4), pp. 277-291. ISSN 0097-7403
Whitaker, S (2003) 'Should we abandon the concept of mild learning disability?' Clinical Psychology (29), pp. 16-19. ISSN 1473-8279
Whitaker, S (2003) 'Fact, hypothesis and infallibility' Clinical Psychology (28), pp. 9-11. ISSN 1473-8279
Whitaker, S. and Hughes, M. (2003) 'Prevalence and influences on smoking in people with learning disabilities' The British Journal of Developmental Disabilities , 49 (2), pp. 91-97. ISSN 0969-7950
Whitaker, S. and Porter, J. (2002) 'Letter to the editor: Valuing people: a new strategy for learning disability for the 21st century' British Journal of Learning Disabilities , 30 (3), p. 133. ISSN 1354-4187
Whitaker, S. and Hirst, D. (2002) 'Correlational analysis of challenging behaviours' British Journal of Learning Disabilities , 30 (1), pp. 28-31. ISSN 1354-4187
Whitaker, S (2002) 'Maintaining reductions in challenging behaviours: a review of the literature' British journal of developmental disabilities , 48 (1), pp. 15-25. ISSN 0969-7950
Whitaker, S (2002) 'Evidence based practice: Have we the evidence?' Clinical Psychology (11), pp. 11-14. ISSN 1473-8279
Whitaker, S (2001) 'Anger control for people with learning disabilities: a critical review' Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , 29 (3), pp. 277-293. ISSN 1352-4658
Whitaker, S. and Lamb, R. (2001) 'Analysis of Case Records to Identify Setting Events to Challenging Behaviours in People with Learning Disabilities' Clinical Psychology Forum , 147, pp. 26-29. ISSN 1473-8279
Whitaker, S (2000) 'The potential influences of frequency of challenging behaviour on treatment: an analysis of the literature.' The British Journal of Developmental Disabilities , 46 (1), pp. 83-88. ISSN 0969-7950
Learning Disability in general or Psychometrics, or Challenging Behaivour.


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A 4-year-old boy died early Wednesday morning from injuries he sustained in a Charles County crash that also caused injuries to two siblings and the children's mother, officials said.
Darius Harsha, his 2-month-old sister and his 6-year-old brother were being driven by their mother on Monday when the mother lost control of her car and struck a tree in the 9500 block of Billingsley Road in Waldorf, according to the Charles County Sheriff's office.
The children were flown to Children's National Medical Center. Darius had life-threatening injuries and died shortly after midnight Wednesday. His siblings were admitted in critical condition, but their injuries do not seem to be life threatening, officials said.
The children's mother, 25, was flown to Washington Hospital Center and was admitted with non-life threatening injuries. The crash is still under investigation.


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london. — Tottenham occupy the fourth and final Champions League spot following their 1-1 draw at Goodison Park, which prevented them from reopening a five-point lead over fifth-place Manchester United.
Aaron Lennon put Everton ahead against his former club in the 22nd minute, controlling Romelu Lukaku's knock-down and lashing a half-volley past Hugo Lloris.
But 19-year-old Spurs midfielder Dele Alli equalised in first-half stoppage time, brilliantly chesting down Toby Alderweireld's 40-yard pass and guiding a volley into the bottom-right corner. Centre forward Harry Kane was not far behind either, striking the post while defender Ben Davies advanced to pummel a shot against the bar. At times it was a little embarrassing for Roberto Martinez and Everton as they struggled to compete at times on their own pitch.
For Tottenham, however, a second goal didn't come and after Martinez changed shape and personnel 15 minutes in to the second half – against the wishes of the home fans it should be added – the momentum shift was dramatic enough to have the London club hanging on a little at the end.
Ultimately a point will not be sniffed at by Pochettino. His team have still lost only twice in the Premier League this season. Nevertheless, in a season when opportunity knocks for Tottenham, afternoons that see them play so well away from home really should end differently.
Few people, if any, talk about Tottenham as contenders for the title and that is probably how they like it. The football they played early on here, however, indicated just what a confident and talented team they have become under Pochettino.
Perhaps they sensed that Everton were a little nervous. Perhaps they had merely looked at the home team's recent results at home and realised how vulnerable they could be. — AFP.


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Texas purports to have a free market for electricity, but to solve the problems with electric deregulation, regulators are turning more and more to a controlled market.
While we're unlikely to return to the days of monopoly utilities, regulators seem to be encouraging an oligopoly in which market power is concentrated among a few big companies.
Deregulation has been a flop for consumers, but this could actually make it worse. "Deregulation," of course, was never an accurate term. It was a sales pitch, a way to convince the public of benefits that never materialized.
By the end of the summer, any lingering pretense of a free market is likely to have melted away.
As concerns about reliability mount, the Public Utility Commission is acting much as it would have in the old days of regulation — enacting policies to direct a specific market outcome.
If the PUC succeeds with its plan, improved reliability will come with higher prices and fewer choices for consumers — the exact opposite of the benefits promised when deregulation was introduced more than a decade ago.
"At every stage, they go further and further from competitive markets," Robert McCullough, a Portland, Ore.-based energy analyst who follows deregulation issues, told me recently.
Last week, I wrote about "voluntary mitigation plans," one of which has already been approved, under which the PUC will pre-emptively rule on potential market manipulation by big generating companies.
Those plans, combined with the PUC's earlier vote to raise the price limits on the wholesale market by 50 percent, will give big generators greater potential to control the market.
Meanwhile, the higher prices that are supposed to encourage companies to build additional generation haven't attracted any new capital.
In fact, NRG, the state's biggest power producer, just agreed to spend $1.7 billion for Houston-based GenOn, another generating company. NRG President David Crane hailed it as "a new era of scale, scope, and market and fuel diversification in the competitive power industry," but it's unlikely to bring many of those benefits to Texas.
Crane, in a conference call with reporters, said the merger won't result in new generation here.
"We stand ready at our sites to build more as soon as pricing tells us it's time to build," he said. "The pricing point hasn't been there yet."
Don't expect it to get there anytime soon.
The PUC already has indicated it intends to double the cap on wholesale rates again next year. If you were NRG, would you be in a rush to build generation when you know you have the potential to sell power at double the current price limits next year?
As I've written before, the higher price caps mean more volatility in the wholesale market, which will make it more expensive for retailers — companies that sell you your electricity — to hedge against price swings.
Already, one retailer, Epcot Electric, has gone under since the higher caps took effect. (YEP Energy acquired its customers and assumed their contracts.) More may follow.
In a free market, of course, weak competitors get driven out, but in this case, the PUC is adding volatility to the market and causing a shakeout of smaller retail competitors.
Companies with deep pockets — primarily retailers backed by generators such as NRG and TXU — are better able to weather the volatile market.
We've seen this happen before. In early 2009, NRG bought retailer Reliant for a song after Reliant got upside down on its hedges. It was the classic offer that couldn't be refused. NRG topped that deal by buying two other retailers: Green Mountain Energy and Energy Plus.
Even if the PUC succeeds in driving prices high enough to encourage more generation demand in a few years, the market by then will be more concentrated, less competitive and dominated by a few large players that share pricing power in both the wholesale and retail sides.
That may not be re-regulation, but it isn't deregulation, either. It's the worst of both.
Loren Steffy, firstname.lastname@example.com, is the Chronicle's business columnist. His commentary appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Follow him online at blog.chron.com/lorensteffy, www.facebook.com/LorenSteffypage and twitter.com/lsteffy


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Troy State University football games
Think about what career is best suited for you, and where you want to study. Request more information now.
Think about what career is best suited for you, and where you want to study. Request more information now.
Think about what career is best suited for you, and where you want to study. Request more information now.
Get the facts about Troy State University football games, and registering for discussion sections and departmental electives. Not all recruiting is done like NCAA Division I teams. College coaches at different division levels have different recruiting practices. Finally, check with your major department for assistance with prerequisites, tuition payment deadlines, and Troy State University Football information. Please use the form above to request admissions info for Troy State University.
You don't have to quarterback the university football team to a state championship to earn an athletic scholarship. Most major sports that field a team in intercollegiate competition have sports scholarships available. From women's gymnastics to men's track and field, coaches are seeking players to build a team around. Further, that leadership role often is accompanied by a full-scholarship.
The best time to begin searching for scholarships is before your senior year, in order to meet deadlines. Schools confirm that it is important to file financial aid forms such as the CSS Profile early in the school year. There are many sports scholarships that focus on less tangible qualities, such as the ability to lead a team, motivate others, and learn new skills rapidly. Take stock of your athletic abilities as you mature through high school. Cameron University baseball game today may encourage student-athletes to apply via early decision. Students who are considering applying via early decision should be aware of the rules and obligations that this commitment entails. Beyond consideration for Troy State University football games, you may think about Black Hills State University class availability for complementary electives to your primary course of study.
Industrial / Occupational Athletic Trainer (ATC)
InSite Health
InSite Health is a rapidly growing, athletic-trainer owned company which provides clients nationwide with on-site occupational health services using a sports..
6 days ago Sports Camp Coach
ESF Camps
Coach, manage, referee or assist with all camp programs. Sports Camp coaches are hired in the following age groups..
19 hours ago Industrial / Occupational Athletic Trainer (ATC)
InSite Health
Our team of certified athletic trainers is committed to keeping the working athlete healthy and productive. A minimum of two years athletic training experience.
6 days ago Head Football Coach - BVNW
Blue Valley School District
Position Type: Athletics/Activities/ Coaching Date Posted: 2/15/2017 Location: Blue Valley Northwest High School Description: Head Football Coach.
1 day ago Group Fitness Instructor & Personal Trainer
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We are looking for a certified personal trainer who also has a passion for group fitness classes. Has a personal training certification or bachelors degree in..
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HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival
Enjoy classic films under the stars on the big screen
Bring a blanket and sit on the Lawn to enjoy great food, friends, and a classic Warner Brothers cartoon before the start of each film. Lawn opens 5pm, pre-show entertainment presented by WeWork starts at 6pm, and film begins at sunset.
Food items for sale curated by Hester Street Fair on the Fountain Terrace.
Check out this video from last year's film fest to see what it's all about.
Find this on the Bryant Park map
June 19 – August 21
Lawn opens at 5pm, films begin at sunset (typically between 8pm-9pm)
June 19 – King Kong
June 26 – On the Town
July 3 – The Muppets Take Manhattan
July 10 – Sabrina
July 17 – Wall Street
July 24 – Pillow Talk
July 31 – The Hustler
August 7 – All That Jazz
August 14 – North by Northwest
August 21 – Dirty Dancing
The Basics
- The Lawn opens 5pm for blankets and picknicking
- Films begin at sunset (typically between 8pm-9pm)
- All packages including bags, briefcases, and backpacks are subject to inspection
- No dogs allowed on the Lawn
- No chairs, tables, or plastic ground coverings (including sheets, tarps, bags, or pads) are permitted on the Lawn
- Forgot a blanket? Buy one at the Bryant Park Shop on the Fountain Terrace
- Hester Street Fair hosts food vendors on the Fountain Terrace with drink and delicious snack and meal options
- Captions are displayed for each film
- Did you know the Film Fest has its own dance?
Getting on the Lawn
For the protection of all Film Fest attendees, all bags, briefcases, backpacks, etc. will be inspected before entering the Lawn area (the Lawn and surrounding gravel area)
The gravel area surrounding the Lawn opens 4pm. The Lawn opens 5pm. Be prepared right at 5pm to claim your spot!
Should you leave the Lawn area, all packages, bags, etc. will be inspected again upon re-entry. The checkpoints are necessary to safeguard all those in attendance at the HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival.
Enjoy the film!
Food and Drink
Hester Street Fair brings the city's best vendors to the Fountain Terrace each week to make your Film Festival picnic the most delicious it can be.
Breads Bakery
Burger and Lobster
Joey Bats
Pokee NYC
Renegade Lemonade
Taiyaki NYC
Tijuana Picnic


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The man they call Jayne is returning to the stage to celebrate the 10th anniversary of beloved, and gone too soon, sci-fi series [easyazon-link asin="B0000AQS0F"]Firefly[/easyazon-link]. Adam Baldwin will return to Comic Con for the special event on Friday, July 13 at 12:30PM in Ballroom 20.
Also confirmed for the panel are creator/executive producer/Mayor of Comic Con Joss Whedon, writer Tim Minear, Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Sean Maher, and Michael Fairman. We're still waiting for the full schedule to be released, but barring something like Peter Jackson offering a one-on-one interview, we'll be there!
(No, the schedule for NerdHQ hasn't been released yet. We'll post when it is.)


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in : Unassigned
To say that I'm delighted with my new cold frame would be the understatement of 2008.
To say that I'm delighted with my new cold frame would be the understatement of 2008. You might recall that Paul made it one afternoon last summer from some old windows and a few banister spindles from our old staircase.
Okay, it's not that new, but it still seems so to me as I haven't grown many crops in it. Last summer all I had time for was a few chillies and some pak choi - both of which were fab.
Then I took a chance in the autumn with some salad leaves and parsley, in the hope that they'd overwinter okay and provide some early salad. My gamble has well and truly paid off - we've been eating lovely mustard ('Giant Red' and 'Red Streaks') and fresh flat-leaf parsley for a few weeks now.
I've been using the cold frame crops along with some overwintered wild rocket to supplement the odd lacklustre shop-bought lettuce (I know I shouldn't but I am getting bored of winter crops now) and it's really livened things up a treat.
I'm also using my salad stuff in my sandwiches for work too - it really must be spring as I'm now off the soup!
Gardeners' World Web User
06/04/2008 at 19:15
how often do you need to water the salad items in a cold frame?
Gardeners' World Web User
18/04/2008 at 21:45
Interested in making a cold frame - are there any plans available anywhere?
Gardeners' World Web User
01/06/2008 at 10:17
Made coldframe from instructions in gworld end 2006 bit of trouble getting perspex for top but now works well
Gardeners' World Web User
08/06/2008 at 22:20
Got coldframe from our local free cycle, had to get a couple of pieces of glass cut but it has been brill for starting our babies off (seedlings), easy to make from any bits of wood and perspex or glass, old windows.
Gardeners' World Web User
28/11/2011 at 18:31
I wish with all my heart that I could grow salad in my cold frame, BUT here in NEW BYTH we can't even think of using the cold frame until the end of April earliest. By the way New Byth is 6 miles outside of TURRIFF, but the weather is nothing like TURRIFFS.


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News & Announcements:EUSD Students Soar to New Heights with Math
Fifth and sixth grade teams representing all 23 Escondido Union School District (EUSD) elementary and middle schools participated in the 2017 EUSD Math Field Day, held at Del Dios Academy of Arts and Sciences on Saturday, March 6th. School teams, consisting of seven students, worked together to solve a series of hands-on mathematics and engineering problems during the morning. The teams with the highest scores received medals at the end of the event.
In addition to the student competition, family members in attendance had the unique opportunity to participate in a workshop and demonstration by Edward Price, Professor of Physics, California State University San Marcos (CSUSM). This presentation served as an introduction to the Mobile Making STEM Afterschool Program that is currently available at two EUSD middle schools, and that will be offered at all EUSD middle schools during the 2017-2018 school year.
In total, 168 students and their family members participated in this year's Math Field Day.
The following school teams were awarded medals for their outstanding team performance during the 2017 Math Field Day:
5th Grade Winners
Honorable Mention: North Broadway


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The Atlantic takes a stand against security theatre.
Episode 2 of Forumwarz is out.
Mr. Tucson Lepht: How do you plead to the charges of Haxx0ring and Blowing the Fuck Up of a Nuclear Power Generation Facility?
The second episode of the world's finest massively single-player online game is not free, but at 10$, it's still more than reasonably cheap.
Iso Suomen Kielioppi is now available for free on the web. I haven't read a single thing about the finnish grammar since high school, but now there's no hurdles on the way of learning.
This week's photo thursday takes its inspiration from a seventies' thriller: Desmond Bagley's Tightrope Men, translated as Suomalainen nuorallatanssi (Finnish tightrope dance) back in the day.
Decided to go for a concrete image this time, and chose the closest high wires around – a very visible part of the power grid over Pikkuhuopalahti. Haven't seen any aspiring artists atop the pylons, and certainly no-one in their right mind would attempt to cross the bay using the wires.
This week's thursday challenge is appropriately autumn.
My participation in the gathering is the attached image of a brightly colored rowantree.
Metallica has announced back-to-back concerts in Hartwall Areena in mid-June next year. Sweet. Apart from the fact that the gigs will be sold out in minutes.
A far more mysterious entry in the calendar is a brand-new outdoor event planned for 80000 attendees. Of the artists, there's nothing beyond wild speculation at this time.
Movie posters that list all products placed in the film. Sex and the City absent, the canvas used is simply not big enough without resorting to a microscopic font size.
I bought a new toy today.
A CCD-based barcode-reader that hooks up to the USB-port.
"Why on earth", I hear the collective cry of perplexed millions.
The answer is simple, I'm going to catalogue my books.
Indeed, I've been a paying member of the fabulous librarything for a while now. The social network / collection site boasts a decent interface and easy means to export the data (one of my main beefs with the otherwise interesting Delicious Library).
Even when the site boasts a very nifty ISBN-based book adding mechanism, typing the ten+ digit numbers is both a chore and error-prone. Hence the reader, which emulates an external keyboard perfectly.
It will be a while before the contents of the shelves have been fully documented, and I'll definitely keep up commenting both the site and the progress.
The Marson reader itself is a solidly built piece of plastic, whose only unfortunate feature I've discovered thus far is its eagerness to let out a piercing beep upon successfully deciphering a set of parallel bars.
Loosing Cry by Brit. (CC)
Got swept for the first time this season, both teams lost their games. Neither with a worrisomely big margin, but even a single point counts, that's been seen before. Both teams are now 4-2-0, which is not a bad place to be, considering that there's still eight games left in the regular season.
The loss for Hakkapeliitat was dealt in Monday Night Football. Browns' offense finally got going, and Braylon Edwards had his first good game this season – 150+ yards and a touchdown do not bode well for a tight margin. Hakkapeliitat executed themselves unevenly – Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings continued the Green Bay's unexpectedly good aerial attack. Sadly, last week's hero, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, was very subdued – that's easily explained by working in front of a substitute quarterback, though. The worst managerial decision of the week was benching Cowboys' Marion Barber, after a quiet game last week, his output would have guaranteed a victory. Oh well, next weeks he'll definitely be on the gridiron, since the Dallas Cowboys' Tony Romo will be sidelined with a broken finger and it's likely that the ground game will be featured a lot more heavily.
Niners lost to a winless team, stumbling to a halt behind yet another well-executed game of Drew Brees. Neither the receivers nor the running backs mustered much of a game. Especially the thus far productive rookie squad (Tim Hightower and Jonathan Stewart) did not pound the ground much. I traded for Brandon Stokley last week (upon hearing how thin the Broncos' receiving corps had been pruned), but stupidly forgot to slot him in. He scored once, but suffered a concussion, thus making the job for the offensive coordinator even harder. LT's scoreless days continued. And while Nick Folk kicked a mighty 52-yard field goal, his scoring was lower than expected, as was the ball-capturing ability of the usually reliable Bears.
Bring on week seven.
The first week of hockey turned out to be a nova-bright start for Hakkapeliitat.
The opponent was swept off his feet – 10-0, a solid victory in all categories, propelling the team to the very top of the standings.
The groundwork for victory was laid by the duo of goalies, behind the five victories, one shutout and an excellent stopping percentage, the first three points were pretty much lowest-hanging fruit in a good while. Offensively, the greatest damage was done by Coyotes' Shane Doan, but the week was a low-scoring affair on both sides.
Bring on week two, and inevitable fall from grace.
The brightest scoring prospect of the Hakkapeliitat defensive line, Marek Židlický seems to be suffering from a mysterious ankle ailment. Considering that the entire scoring power rests on rather meek shoulders right now, I'd certainly want him back on the bench and on the ice, subsequently, as soon as possible.
I just subscribed to my first ever blog written in swedish.
No, I don't have a sudden need to have a meaningful discussion using Finland's second official language. Just felt like a good idea to get exposed to swedish more often than accidentally once a year.
And yes, my swedish is indeed hopelessly rusted up, and it takes considerable effort to make sense of the entries.
And there's probably something seriously wrong with the title of this post, but I couldn't let a perfectly good Balle Ramstedt-impression go to waste.
In the long list of "why wasn't I aware of these things before?"
- Blacksad is a beautifully drawn graphic novel that replaces men with animals (cats, dogs, reptiles – the gang's all here) in a seriously noir environment. Wind in the Willows mixed with Philip Marlowe.
- Grand Magus is an old school heavy metal band that is not ashamed of its ancestors nor reluctant to expand beyond the traditional. Black Sabbath meets Candlemass.
- Château d'Yquem is officially the finest white wine I've tasted. Sweet, obviously, but just the thing to accompany a carefully picked glob of Roquefort.
The results of the de-made classics competition are out.
It'd been a long while since last perusal of demotivators at Despair Inc.. The new set for 2009 seemingly isn't out yet, but a beautiful (and not very cynical at all) t-shirt is. Time to check out the rest of the wares, this multi-flavored product on blogging would definitely come in useful every once in a while as a reality anchor.
By a day that is.
The closest-looking of the web's photography challenges moves from sunday to monday.
Thus, the reponse to spice will be revealed tomorrow.
Bought J.J. Abrams-produced Cloverfield dvd from Stockmann's crazy days at a very reasonable price and found the film worth the five euros spent.
The movie mixes 9/11 imagery, Blair Witch Project, Lovecraftian monsters and awkward acting to an effective eighty minutes of cinema.
There's no incidental music. No big-name actors. No explanations. And ultimately, no pulling of any punches.
But there's plenty of panic. Plenty of futile military action. Plenty of bad dialogue. Plenty of plot devices that fail to convince
Not everybody's cup of tea. Especially if you're prone to motion sickness. The camera twists and bounces fiercely in Cloverfield.
But it's a nice short ride for a boring evening.
Chinese Democracy is almost upon us.
Though the exclusivity given to best buy is very worrisome, there's no reason to doubt a simultaneous proper international release. Or failing that, the album's imminent arrival in a convenient p2p site.
Today is also the release date for a second new song (possibly off the forthcoming album): If the World is played during the credits of Body of Lies. The first song was Shackler's Revenge on Rock Band 2 earlier this fall. And obviously, Oh My God was on the 1999 End of Days.
That's not a library. This is a library.
This week's photo thursday challenge once again commands participants to continue from a picture. This time the source picture is some sort of radio telescope or radar array.
Clearly such a massive piece of equipment needs a good reason to exist. I bet their mission is to figure out why the moon is twisted in the sky.
The picture is taken on the southern hemisphere, and there the moon is indeed hanging upside-down.
This is by far my favorite license plate, as requested by thursday challenge.
We actually discussed the existence of the "CO 2″ plate a month ago over a coffee at work and came to the conclusion that it's either used on a monstrous SUV or one of the very few hybrids rolling on the finnish roads. Happily enough the car carrying the plate turned out to be the latter – a Toyota Prius.
There are now 5 months / 271 entries left in the effort to move all blog content into WordPress.
And a definite need for some category-shuffling once the content is all snug and safe in the database. I'm not thoroughly happy with the categorization right now. Some of them have grown way too big, and it's time to slice and dice their entries into carefully divided subcategories. And correspondlingly there are some pairs of groups whose division inbetween seems very artificial (and the categories themselves have not gathered that much content thus far).
Some examples:
- Games will inherit at least "video games" and "computer games". Possibly a couple more.
- Music shall give birth at least to "concerts".
- Movies will beget "movie reviews".
- Sports will be shaken up a lot – sport-specific division will be added, and the cup-specific categories folded into "soccer".
- Food and Restaurants will be combined.
- As will Drink and Bars.
And some entirely new categories might appear as well: such as liveblogging (even though those events are rare indeed).
That's the plan. And it will still take a a while to implement.